Chapter 9
Shortly after Unforgiven had ended, Randy sat backstage with an ice pack to his head. He would be the first to admit that it was a lot more fun playing the villain, but at times it did have its downfalls. This was one of them.
The match between him and John had been a huge success. The writers had been working for months to build Randy up as a "monster", cold hearted heel character, simply so the fans would embrace John, if not for only the last few seconds of their match. Although they had been friends long before their "feud", Randy and John's friendship had grown significantly through all their hard work and effort to entertain the fans.
It was for this reason that John was confident he could confide in Randy what he was really feeling about Maria.
"Hey man, could you have kicked me any harder?" Randy asked John sarcastically as John approached to see how he was doing.
"Believe me, I would have rather it had been someone else." He stated as he glanced over at Shane McMahon schmoozing his way around backstage.
It was obvious now to Randy that despite the fact their match had been a huge success, that John could have cares less.
"Ignore him. Let's go get a drink." Randy suggested.
'It's not that easy."
"Why?" Randy couldn't understand why John let a guy like Shane get to him simply because he had a thing for Maria. His behavior was more than just jealousy based. There was something more, but Randy had no idea what it was. He was about to find out though.
"Because you don't know Shane like I do."
Just then, John watched as Maria walked over to Shane. Her face practically lit up when she saw the man, it was as if he had her under some kind of spell. Where was the Maria he used to know he wondered? All the qualities that had drawn him to her were now clouded by her infatuation with the future owner of the WWE. John knew the girl he loved so much was still there, but it would take him getting her away from Shane to bring it out of her again. She and everyone else had to know what dirty little secret Shane McMahon was hiding behind his innocent, two faced, facade.
Randy raised an eyebrow, his curiosity now getting the best of him.
"Sure I do, Shane's gay and using Maria as his cover." He responded jokingly.
"I wish." John returned, not amused by all of Randy's joking.
As John continued to watch Shane and Maria together without them knowing, he could feel his heart growing heavy. For as long as Maria and he had been friends he had fought to urge to finally admit he actually wanted her for something more. Given the desperation he was feeling now, there just wasn't any sense in hiding it any longer.
"So uh, Randy." John said after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah man?" Randy replied still nursing his aching head.
"You have my back right?" John asked in a serious tone.
"You think I'd let you kick my ass in the ring like you did tonight if I didn't?" He responded. Randy had a good heart but he often had a hard knowing when to be serious.
After rolling his eyes, John cleared his voice, ready to tell Randy just exactly how he felt about his so called friend Maria.
"I think I'm in love with Maria." John finally admitted aloud.
Randy smirked. This wasn't any kind of shocking revelation to him. It was about damn time John admitted to it.
"No shit." Randy said more as a statement. "So don't tell me, tell her."
John continued to watch as Shane now motioned for Maria to follow him away from the group of people standing near them. It was obvious they didn't want anyone to know they were sleeping together. Not that Maria would have minded so much, but Shane was adamant they kept it secret. It just wasn't good for business, although most everyone backstage already knew that Shane had slept with more than a few of the divas already.
"I can't. I'm not exactly her favorite person right now no thanks to the million dollar prick."
"Man, you really do hate ShaneO." Randy stated, still not understanding completely what John's big beef with the boss's son was.
"More than you know, and for good reason."
"Okay, I'm listening."
John looked around to make sure no one could hear what he was about to say.
"This is between me and you, got it Orton." John said pointing a finger in Randy's chest.
Randy raised his hands in innocence.
"Okay, okay, I got it."
John knew he had promised Trish that he would not tell anyone about what he knew, but for whatever reason he was willing to put his trust in Orton.
"Shane raped Trish Stratus. That's the reason she left the WWE. That whole story about her just being burned out was a lie." John confessed.
Randy's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"How do you know?"
"I spoke to Trish. She told me herself."
Randy took a moment. Never in a million years would he have believed Shane McMahon was capable of doing something like that.
"And you're sure she wasn't lying?" Randy asked.
John was now starting to grow frustrated with his friend.
"Why would she lie? If you would have seen her face when she told me, you would know she wasn't lying. Shane raped her and Trish is still torn up about it. I just don't want the same thing to happen to Maria."
Randy got up from where he was sitting and now started pacing the floor. The pain in his head was now starting to get much worse.
"That son of a bitch. I'll kill him!' He spat.
Not only was it bad enough that Shane had used his power to rape one of the divas, but Randy had always had a special place in his heart for Trish Stratus. If Shane hadn't gotten to her first, he was sure that maybe the two of them could have started something special.
"No, he's all mine Randy. But you can help me call the mother fucker out." John replied. "Trish was adamant I not tell anyone, and Maria would never believe me if I told her anyway. I need to get Trish to tell Maria herself. It's the only way to get Maria to know what kind of man Shane is. Can you help?"
Randy scratched the lower part of his chin as a smirk crept across his face. He welcomed the opportunity to not only nail Shane's ass to the ground, but to possibly get a shot at "the one that got away".
"Can I help? You bet your candy ass buddy." Randy replied with a crooked smile.
A/N: Next chapter Randy goes to talk to Trish and sparks fly. Shane almost gets caught with Melina.
