Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Ten

Eve could feel Kaitlyn's eyes on her, the younger woman silently asking if she wanted her to stay... And the truth was, part of her did. It was nice to have a little moral support around when bad news was delivered. But the quick about-face in Kaitlyn's attitude toward her - despite the fact that the younger woman did have an explanation for it - still made Eve a little wary of her, and if it was especially bad news, she wasn't sure she wanted someone that she'd only been on good terms with for maybe a week to stand there and hear it with her.

"Go on ahead. I'll be fine," the older diva said, and Kaitlyn frowned, but nodded, the younger woman heading on down the hallway, glancing back at them once before continuing on her way... Teddy Long's smile faltering as he turned to watch her to, then looked back toward Eve.

"You two are supposed to hate each other," the man said, and Eve shrugged.

"You know women... A lot of us don't like to do what we're 'supposed' to do," she told him, and Teddy's frown deepened.

"I just meant that after what happened at Night of Champions and all-"

"Maybe you should talk to Aksana about that," Eve interrupted him, unable to stop herself from smirking a little. Apparently Aksana hadn't confessed to him that she'd spilled the beans about their little plan to get Eve fired - and for Aksana to get her job - and how Kaitlyn now knew that the attack on her had just been a means to get that done. Of course, Aksana had told them that Teddy had dumped her for not managing to get Eve fired... But something told Eve that wouldn't last for long. Teddy had always seemed to enjoy any attention he got from the divas, and if Aksana was the only one he could get attention from, he would definitely go back to her eventually.

Teddy's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, talk to Aksana?" he questioned, then shook his head as if to clear the question away, like he thought it wasn't important. "Whatever. As I said before, I have some news for you."

"I'm sure you do," Eve replied, the diva trying not to let her imagination get too wild on her, though she couldn't help but consider a possibility or two for what Teddy might have come up with now... Maybe he would make her defend her title in some sort of handicap or gauntlet match or something... Or maybe he would put her in an intergender match against Ryback... Although she didn't think that Booker T would approve of him going *that* far-

"You have a match tonight," Teddy announced, a smile playing at his lips as he spoke, a sign that he was very pleased with whatever it was that he'd come up with... Which likely meant it couldn't be good for her. Eve fought to keep her expression neutral and not show that she was a bit worried.

"Well, this is a wrestling show. People have matches all the time, so it's really not all that surprising," the divas' champion stated, fully aware that her words were likely to annoy the man in front of her, but unable to stop herself. Teddy Long just made her so angry sometimes... The snarky words just kind of popped out, even if they were a bad idea and could get her into trouble. Or just more trouble.

Teddy glared at her. "It seems like someone doesn't have the necessary respect-"

"I have respect for people that deserve it. You're not one of those," she replied, then tilted her head to the side, glaring at the man. "Now tell me about the match, or move over and let me pass, because I'm sure I'll find out about it anyway if you don't tell me now," the woman stated, actually starting to walk past the man... And when Teddy reached out to grab her arm in an attempt to prevent her from leaving, she immediately spun out of his grasp, her instinct kicking in, the woman barely able to stop herself before she swept his legs out from under him. From the look on his face, he knew he'd been about to end up on his ass. She arched a brow at him. "Don't. Touch. Me. Ever."

Teddy's expression made him look like he was made of stone. "You're facing AJ Lee and Dolph Ziggler," he told her, and Eve nodded slightly.

"Do I have a partner?" she wanted to know, a decent-sized part of her expecting him to say no. She wouldn't put it past him to stick her in an intergender handicap match... Or at least try to do so. She still didn't think that Booker T would allow him to just straight out do that. Booker may not like her, and he may have fallen for Teddy's little scheme to make all the women manage someone - whether they wanted to or not - but she didn't think he'd go that far. Not yet, anyway.

Teddy smirked. "Oh, you have a partner. In fact, you have your choice of partners," the man said. "You can team up with any member of the Shield. You're their manager, after all, which I'm sure they're so pleased about," he said, his smile widening. It was clear he still thought the Shield would be mad at her for this whole manager thing instead of being mad at him.

"I can choose any of them?"

"Certainly you can. Of course, that doesn't mean that they have to agree to team up with you. That's the catch, Eve... Your only choices for partners? Are Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose. And the three of them? Have the option to say no if they want to," he told her, his smile widening again. "And if those three say no? Then the tag team match? Is a handicap match. Intergender instead of mixed, of course... Because what would be the point of AJ having Dolph Ziggler as a partner if it wasn't intergender? Now you have fun picking your partner, Eve. And I'm sure they'll have fun turning you down," Teddy said with a laugh, starting to reach out and pat her on the shoulder as he walked by... But perhaps he realized that wasn't the best of ideas, because he stopped himself, instead just giving her a very self-satisfied smile before he headed off down the hallway, clearly very proud of himself.

Shaking her head, Eve stood there for a moment, the woman taking a few deep breaths to calm herself... Starting to walk down the hall again, then stopping short when she saw someone standing about twenty feet down the hall, leaning up against the wall and watching her. When he saw that she'd seen him, he straightened up, making his way over to her, the largest member of the Shield frowning as he looked down at her... Then surprising her by reaching out, taking her bag from her.

"Come on. We grabbed a spot to hang out tonight. I'll take you to it," Roman Reigns said, turning and heading down the hallway, the strap of her bag slung over his shoulder... Eve feeling that she had no choice but to follow.