Taking Mickie's advice, Alexa had decided to wait for Seth backstage near to Gorilla after his match ended. Congratulating him on what had genuinely been an impressive showing against AJ Styles was the perfect opportunity to do a bit of flirting, showing him that despite their previous two failed dates, she was interested in a third.
Remembering the last time Seth had asked her out, when she had found him sitting on an equipment case as he waited for her, she decided to do exactly the same thing herself. Climbing up onto the case, she only had to wait a minute before she saw AJ approaching. As the loser of the match, he had naturally been the first to leave the arena.
"Lexi," AJ said politely, giving her a smile as he walked by her.
"AJ. Nice job out there."
"Thanks."
As AJ disappeared around the corner towards the locker rooms, Alexa crossed her legs, trying her utmost to look cute and sexy before Seth arrived.
Moments later, he came walking down the hallway, carrying his championship belt and drinking from a bottle of water. After he downed the rest of the water, Alexa could see him smiling, having noticed her sitting there.
"Hey," Seth said as he neared her.
"Hello," Alexa said innocently, as if she had just happened to be sitting on a random equipment case in the hallway for no reason. "Nice match. You were very impressive indeed."
"Thanks," Seth said, his smile broadening. "You were impressive too."
"I barely did anything tonight," Alexa giggled.
"I know, yet you still looked badass."
"Why thank you," Alexa said, embarrassingly feeling her cheeks warming up. She felt like Seth realised she was trying to flirt with him, and was wavering on the edge of asking her for another date. She didn't want to push it any further in case she looked desperate. What he said next came as a surprise to her.
"Looking forward to Friday?"
Alexa had no idea what he was talking about. "What do you mean? Why would I be looking forward to Friday?"
"Oh, you haven't been told yet? Why does that not surprise me with WWE?"
"Been told what?" Alexa demanded, feeling even more confused.
"You and Becky are with Kofi, Hunter, Vince and I at the opening of the WWE Centre. Apparently someone realised it wasn't exactly appropriate to have the two male champions there and not the women."
"Oh!" Alexa exclaimed. "Well, that's news to me. I wonder when they were planning on letting me know?"
"Before you left tonight, I would imagine. Or at least, I would hope," Seth said, sounding unsure about how much faith to put in the communication skills of their higher ups.
Now that she had the news, even from the wrong person, Alexa was excited to be a part of Friday's event. The WWE Centre was the biggest step forward for the company since they had opened the Performance Centre. She had seen some pictures of the arena and its associated complex while it had been under construction, but taking a tour around the finished article was going to be something else entirely. And as if that wasn't enough, it was located not far from Disney World.
"I bet I can guess what you're thinking right now," Seth said.
Alexa smiled at him. "Oh, can you indeed? Go on then."
"You're thinking about how close we're going to be to Disney World while we're down there. I'm wondering if maybe I could take you there after we're done at the WWE Centre?" Seth asked hopefully, before immediately floundering. "I mean I could go with you, if you wanted to? You obviously don't need me to take you."
The way he tripped over his words made Alexa smile warmly. "I don't need anyone to go with me to a restaurant either, but it's nicer when they do."
Seth laughed awkwardly. "I don't usually have problems like this talking to women."
Alexa laughed too. "I think there was a compliment in there somewhere."
"There definitely was," he assured her. "What I'm trying to say is, I know neither of our dates went well. I've been seriously annoyed with myself over it. I'd like to go on another date, to Disney World, if you'll go with me?"
"I'll go with you," Alexa beamed. The speed dating trip had really given her a kick up the ass. She didn't want to end up as one of those luckless daters. Despite the less than ideal start they had made, she wanted to give things another shot with Seth. If she couldn't enjoy a date at Disney World it would be clear that it wasn't to be. But it was the perfect setting for them to have a great time, and hopefully make a meaningful connection at last. There was, however, one stipulation she had to lay down. "If I don't see you wearing Mickey Mouse ears, the date is off."
To his credit, Seth didn't miss a beat. "Mickey Mouse ears it is. I'll see you Friday. Have a good night."
"You too," Alexa said, flashing him another dazzling smile as he departed.
Alexa had been sitting with her phone in her hand. Now that Seth was gone, she typed out a quick message to Mickie: Seth asked me out again! We're going to Disney World on Friday!
A reply came back almost straight away: Yes! So happy for you! You'll have a great time!
"I sure hope so," Alexa said to herself.
The next morning, Alexa was traveling with Mickie and Mike Rome to the city where Raw was going to take place that night. It was Mike's turn to drive, and Alexa was sitting up front beside him. She had spent the past half hour telling him about her two dates with Seth Rollins, and about the third one that would be happening in a matter of days.
"I'm happy for you, Lexi, I really am," Mike said, glancing at her with a smile that she noticed was hiding another emotion.
"I feel like there's a but coming," she said.
"I'm just going to say if it doesn't go well again this time, it might not be the best idea to continue chasing him. Some things aren't meant to be, and I don't want to see you get hurt."
Alexa gave him a thin smile, having no doubt that he had her best interests at heart. "I hear you, Mike. I'm not going to get myself hurt, Seth and I are just trying to find our way. I'm very out of practice with dating. I'm confident that going to Disney World will a great time for us both. How could it not be? It's Disney World!"
Mike had to laugh, enjoying her excitement. "I know it's your happy place. I hope you have a great time."
"Thank you. Me too," Alexa said. "I'm also looking forward to being there for the opening of the WWE Centre. I can't believe Vince didn't come and tell me and Becky about it until we were about to leave the building last night, yet somehow Seth already knew."
"Typical WWE," Mike chuckled. "The person who needs to know is the last one to find out. It will be cool to be there for the opening, though. I can't wait to get down there and have a look around myself. I heard they're going to do a lot of cool stuff for fans down there too, like unannounced meet and greet sessions at the superstore, where superstars just walk into the place and start meeting people."
"I heard that too," Alexa said. "It will be a lot of fun for people. They'll go in there to shop and in the back of their heads they'll be wondering if they'll get to meet one of us. Plus there's the restaurant and bar, where people can watch WWE shows live."
After a second, Mike laughed, keeping a careful eye on the busy interstate traffic. "I was about to say we could go down there one night, the three of us. But we'll kind of be on the show."
Alexa laughed loudly. It was that kind of silliness that she really enjoyed about their friendship.
In the back seat, Mickie had been watching something on her phone with her earbuds in. Alexa's laughter made her look up and take them out. "What are you two laughing about?" she asked with a smile.
"Mike was about to suggest we go and watch Raw at the restaurant at the WWE Centre when it opens," Alexa said, laughing again.
Mickie joined in with the laughter. "I'm not sure that's going to work. We could theoretically go there to watch NXT, but honestly, I don't think it would be a good place for wrestlers to go for a night out. We wouldn't get a minute to ourselves, with people wanting pictures and stuff."
"This is also true," Mike said. "How about we just forget I had that idea?"
The ladies chuckled, but Mickie let him off the hook by changing the subject. "Guys, I was just listening to something really cool. I was sent it a few times on Twitter. You're tagged in it too, Lexi."
Alexa turned in her seat to look at her friend. "What is it? I hardly ever check my mentions on there."
"It's someone singing a cover version of our theme song. Here, have a listen."
"Covering a Motorhead song? That's brave," Mike said, keeping his attention on the road as Mickie passed her phone and earbuds to Alexa.
"True, but she does a great job," Mickie said. "It kind of gave me goosebumps if I'm honest."
"I'm going to put these in so I can hear it properly," Alexa said to Mike. The sound of their car's engine and the busy traffic around them did not exactly make good listening conditions.
"Alright. I'll check it out later," Mike said.
Alexa put the earbuds in and turned her attention to Mickie's phone screen. She found herself on a YouTube video posted on a channel simply named Clementine. The channel apparently had just over a million subscribers. Before watching the video in question, Alexa tapped to go to the channel page to see what other content this Clementine person put out. The list of videos were all cover versions of songs, some of which Alexa recognised the names of, and some that she didn't. The most recent video was titled 'WWE Evolution theme – Motorhead – Line in the Sand'. Alexa hadn't even known that was the title of the song, much as she liked it.
Tapping on the video to start it, Alexa saw a young African American woman sitting at a piano. She had her black her in two little pig tails. Cute, Alexa thought, liking her first impression. But it was when Clementine started playing their theme song on the piano and singing that she really started taking notice. Hearing the familiar tune sound so different played on a piano instead of with guitars was striking, and the way Clementine sang made it sound like a sorrowful song rather than an intimidating one. She had a voice that was so powerful, yet in a kind of understated way. It really was unique.
"This is amazing," Alexa said quietly as she listened.
"See my reflection change, nothing ever stays the same," Clementine sang at the start of the second verse, bringing to Alexa's mind an image of what she might look like herself in twenty or thirty years' time, as aging inevitable took a toll on her, as it did with everyone. It was truly moving.
"Wow. So powerful," Alexa said, taking out the earbuds. "That girl has some voice, and she can sure play a piano. I'm sure I'd appreciate it even more if I knew the first thing about how to play or sing myself."
"I agree," Mickie said. "I was reading the comments, and everyone is blown away. Loads of people were asking her to sing other WWE themes. It gave me an idea that maybe I could suggest to Hunter seeing if they can do some kind of deal with her. I know I'd buy an album of her singing themes, and maybe she could sing songs for promo packages and stuff."
Alexa nodded, appreciating the idea. "No harm in suggesting it to him. She's got a million subs, so there's some traction behind her. Even if they're not interested in any kind of music deal, they can invite her backstage to a Raw episode or something. It would be cool to meet her."
"I'll speak to Hunter about it tonight," Mickie decided.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review last time!
Regular readers of my work will be familiar with Clementine. I wanted to do something different with her character this time. Who would like to see her invited to a Raw episode?
Next time, the Raw after Money in the Bank. Have Evolution managed to rid themselves of the Becky Lynch problem?
