Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than Drea and other OC characters. Unfortunately enough, I don't claim any ownership to any WWE Superstars or the WWE itself. I'm entirely too poor and unlucky for that to be the case.
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Not too long past my txt lashing from my bestie, we started pulling into Phoenix proper. He was right – it was gorgeous at the very end of the day as the sun lit the sky purple. After winding through the crowded streets, we pulled up to the hotel – one of the fanciest places I'd seen in quite a while, and I crawled out of the car. John handed off the keys to the valet, and went behind the car to pick up the bags. I came back and stood behind him, picking up his duffel bag, and rolling the biggest suitcase behind me as I turned to enter the lobby. There was a young kid waiting with a luggage cart only half full, standing next to John, with both of them confused as they watched me.
"You sure you got that, Drea?" I turned around and he was grinning like a kid at the fair.
"No reason to worry, I got this." He laughed as he walked up beside me, with the bell boy trailing behind us, and into the hotel. As we entered, I saw the back of Matt's head sitting in a chair, buried in a book. I tried to creep up behind him, set down the bag and suitcase, and covered his glasses with my hands. "Guess who?" I smirked as he sat there, eerily calm.
"Well, I hope it's the person who is going to preoccupy Randy so I can get some work done." I moved my hands, surprised about what Matt had said, and he turned around with a giant smile crossing his adorable face. He got up and leaned across the chair, giving me a friendly welcome hug.
"How did the promo event go?" Matt had one of those faces; that even if he was angry, would probably look totally approachable and cute. Just one of those guys next door, who would have been your best friend through all of your formative years, and had every girl drooling over him as you walk through the halls in high school. His eyes were always warm and his glasses were only making him cuter.
"Ah, it was fine. Nothing big – other than the fact that Randy just would not shut up about yo-"
"Matt!" Randy was walking back towards the group from the check-in desk. Matt winked at me after the outburst.
Randy looked perturbed, and had the key cards in his hand. He nodded at John, and gruffly picked up the suitcase I had rolled beside me. "Follow me. We're up on the top floor, and we lucked out – there was an attached double suite." John and Randy fell in, leading Matt and myself to the elevators. Matt and I dawdled a bit behind the other two, and as John's duffel bag kept hitting me in the butt as we ambled to where John and Randy were waiting, Matt leaned a little closer to me. "You know Randy talked to Steph this morning, too. He asked her to keep you close; I think he likes you a bit. Didn't stop talking to about you the whole event."
I'm sure I was turning beet red, and Matt laughed softly before clearing his throat as we approached the open elevator. I glanced up at him, and mouthed, "Really?" in his direction. He nodded his head. The rest of the ride to the top floor was spent with me trying to stifle my girlish nervous giggling, Matt trying not to laugh, and listening to Randy huff and puff. I got the feeling that John knew something was going on but felt it smarter to just stay out of it, so he leaned against the wall. As the elevator dinged, we came pouring out, with Randy leading us to what looked to be the best room the place had, which was saying something.
Randy slid a card into the door, and opened it wide. I was impressed, to say the very least. There is a big living room area, and there were two rooms on either end of the community room. John and Randy tucked to one side, so Matt and I went the opposite direction. I tossed the duffel bag down, and ran ahead of him, jumping onto one of the beds. Matt leaned up on the door frame, watching my inane silliness, and laughing uncontrollably. "You'd think you've never stayed in a hotel before."
"Nothing this nice! Or big! I mean, wow!" My hair kept hitting me in the face as I bounced back up and down. I eventually tired of expending this much energy, and dropped down onto my butt on the bed. I leaned back with a whoof of air, and flung my arms above my head. Matt walked around my bed and set down his bag on the other.
"Well, you should have a ton of fun here then. Especially since you're going to have most of this room to yourself tonight. I have a date." He grinned.
"Oh?" I couldn't help but sound surprised.
"Yeah. I have a good friend from home who moved her a while ago. She is taking me out, and I'm sure we will end up hanging out at her place. You will be right here with the two gorillas in the other end of the suite." I leaned up and flipped over, laying on my stomach with my hands under my chin. I smiled at his elevated mood, and the warm smile that crossed his face at the mention of a kindred spirit. He was smitten, and it was easy to see. As he was wandering around the room, stowing his things here and there, I thought it might be the best time to ask the question that had been nagging me for sometime.
"Hey, Matt, can I ask you a question?"
"You already did, but I'll let you ask another." He was in a good mood, especially with the smart ass remark I just received. Oh well, better take my shot.
"What's up with the two in the other room? I've heard John makes questionable female choices, and Randy seems a little grumpy all the time. What's the story?"
Matt sighed and sat down on the bed opposite me. He smirked at me, and began, "I figured you would ask eventually."
"Well, if I'm going to work with you all, and now in a much more closely affiliated position, I think this might be pertinent information. Especially if one of them is talking about me out of school." I leaned up and sat cross-legged facing him. I grinned as his face lightened up further.
"Okay – but remember these are my friends, and you didn't hear anything from me." He smiled. "John and Randy have known each other for a while. It looks like they don't like each other, but they are friends. Randy is a third generation guy, and John's pretty well seasoned."
"Matt, that's not what I'm talking about. Why is Randy grumpy? And why does someone who is as cute as John bring home skanky girls?" I probably shouldn't have said the last, since I hadn't seen any of these girls up close, but it came flying out anyways.
"Well, John doesn't exactly bring home nasty girls. I mean, he makes choices that I don't think I would make, but I'm not as noticeable as he is. Plus, I didn't get divorced because my wife cheated on me all the time." Ouch. He was rebounding, and suddenly it made more sense.
"So he's just kind of in recovery then, huh?"
"Yeah, that's what we all figure. He loved her; he had that kind of love that makes men crazy and send flowers all the time, even if you're not the one who did anything wrong in the fight." Matt laughed softly. I knew what he was talking about, but not from personal experience.
I redirected him, "So, the wife had him all sprung out, and he finds out that she is double dipping while he is gone. That's sad – any girl who would cheat on a guy like that, sucks."
"It's pretty much the consensus around here. But he stays with Randy because Randy doesn't judge and lets him do what he needs to do to get back to normal."
"And so he is sowing his wild oats right now."
Matt nodded. "He picks pretty girls, but they just tend to be ring rats." He must have picked up my confusion with that one, because he started to explain immediately. "A ring rat is like a groupie. So he basically finds one that can keep his mind off the thoughts, and invites her back to the room. But, he does usually find the nicest ones, and they are far from skanky."
"Well, I totally understand why he would do that now. Poor guy." I suddenly had a pang of guilt for ever thinking that John would be that type of man to simply be looking to get ass. He was doing it to cope with a situation that might tear down someone, and he just didn't have the same access to family for support. I have to learn to keep my mouth shut and quit jumping to conclusions. "Clears up John. What about Randy?" Matt leaned back on his elbows, amused by my persistence.
"Randy is himself. He always seems a bit moody. But, like I mentioned earlier, I think he's intrigued by you. Couldn't stop talking about you whenever he got the chance. Sad, really," Matt giggled as I felt my cheeks get flushed.
"So married? Divorced? What?" I leaned forward a bit, waiting for his response.
"He is single; has been for a while. He doesn't date a lot, and doesn't date any women we work with – says they are all trouble." Matt's face scruntched up a bit. "Maryse tried a little when she first joined, but he shut her down all the time. She gave up."
I'd honed my rolodex of the employees, and suddenly the face that matched the name popped into my head; the blonde? Wow, he must really be a type-specific guy, or take his job super seriously. "So the blonde that Ted is chasing wanted Randy." Again, Matt nodded to me. "And he doesn't date, or …"
Matt smiled, and finished my answer, "He does date." He turned and looked at the clock, "And I would tell you more, but I'm going to be late. So, Drea, have fun with the two ogres without me." I climbed off the bed and met him at the end for a quick hug. "I'll be back in the morning most likely." He scribbled down his cell number on a pad of paper on the ledge and handed it to me.
"Be a good kid." Matt winked at my advice, which I'm sure, meant hell no. I watched as he bounded out of the room door on our side and I took a look around. A whole room wing, off a suite, at a gorgeous hotel, and I'm here on my own. Ish.
