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Summary: After his loss against John Cena, Shawn Michaels is left and beaten and broken man. Can a new woman in his life bring him back to the place he once was?
Authors Notes: Due to the last few chapters, I have changed the rating to this story. I did not plan on making this one go the way it has in terms of the visions Shawn is having, but I am a writer of the moment and that was what seemed fitting at the time for the moment I was in and I am always in when it comes to that man. So on with the show as they say.
Lifting the beer to his lips, Hunter listened as his friend repeated the nights events to him in chronological order. He was trying not to smile as Shawn spoke of the dreams he had been having, but the longer it went on, the harder it was for him. Just how long was it going to take for his friend to wake up?
"So Hardy comes in thank God, and wakes me up before it could go any further. It turns out I was about two seconds away from not even showing for my match. I don't know how much more of this I can take."
Hunter nodded and then laughed. It was about time his friend got a reality check and if he had to be the one to give it to him, then so be it.
"So are you going to stop acting like an asshole and do something about this then?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Shawn man, we've known each other a long time right? So in that vain I need you to listen to me now. You obviously have a thing going strong for this girl, and for some unseen reason, you won't act on it. But man, you've been divorced for over a year now, and you haven't had so much as one date since the day you called it quits. I say you get over this huge age difference, the whole career thing, and just take a chance. She might just surprise you."
What did Hunter know anyway? He was married to the one woman that could possibly revolutionize the wrestling business, and they had a happy and fulfilling marriage. Who was he to tell him that Ashley needed a chance?
Thats right, he was only Shawn's best friend in the entire world and the person that almost knew him better then he knew himself. Thats who he was.
"Man you know I can't do that, mixing business with pleasure. It's never been my style. I mean even Rebecca was from WCW and a Nitro girl for crying out loud. She had nothing to do with my company or my actual career when I got with her."
"Yeah and we all know how well that turned out don't we? Look from one friend to another, I had to get my girl in my business, I had to have someone who truly understood just how screwed up the road can be. So I did and look at me now. Sure you had kids with Becky, and the two of you were happy for a very long time, but times change and she's now happy somewhere else. So I say that what you need is more then a good lay. You need more then someone who sort of gets it. You need Ashley. And if you haven't figured that out by now, then I don't know what else I can say to you."
He knew that his friend had a point. Much like the same point that Maria has made over a week and a half to him in the car on the way back to the hotel she was staying at. But he had been brutally honest with her that night, and he was going to do the same with his friend now. There was no way he could be what Ashley wanted him to be.
"Man, what would she want with an ex champion who is so washed up he couldn't even win the belt of Cena?"
Hunter didn't say anything for a few minutes, just studying his friend and finally realizing just where Shawn's head was at with the entire thing. He wasn't worried about the age difference at all anymore. He was worried that Ashley would want a Champion.
"See, I knew that you wouldn't have an answer for that. Probably because you believe it too."
Hunter looked his friend dead in the eye and put the beer roughly down on the table in front of him. "Actually man, I think thats the stupidest thing you've ever said to me. She doesn't want the career you have had, or the one you think you can have now. What she wants is your heart."
The song ended and she pushed repeat. She had been sitting in the dark and dank hotel room for the past two hours listening to the same song over and over. The same thoughts that had been invading her mind for the past three weeks did the same now.
Why can't you just admit that we have something and get it over with? Why do you have to be afraid of what could happen?
She knew asking herself that question would get her nowhere, and that she had better ask Shawn if she wanted a direct answer. Sure she had admitted to Maria she would play the game with him, but she knew she didn't want too deep inside.
After all of the games she had gone through with Matt, the last thing she wanted to do was get involved with another set of them. But she knew that if there was even one shot of getting that feeling again, the one that sent shivers down her spine and warmed her heart, the same feeling Shawn had given her when he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her, then she had to play the game.
She let the words to the music overtake her, and she pictured Shawn the way he had been last Monday when they had worked together. He had tried his hardest not to look at her, to acknowledge anything going through them and she had played along with it.
She had taken extra care to make herself look amazing, knowing that it was more for the man she was with then the crowd she was there to entertain. Sure she had done that in spades, but the only one she had wanted to reach had been Shawn, and with the long looks he had been throwing her way throughout the entire match and night, she was sure she had hit her mark.
Why does he have to be like this? With the kiss he gave me, he made it clear that he wants more then just some casual fling. So why can't we just be there for each other?
There was a knock on her door then, and shutting off the mini stereo she carried with her, she jumped off the bed to answer it. When she pulled open the door and saw the person standing on the other side of the door, she almost closed it again.
Just what was he doing here?
"Can I come in? I think we need to talk."
She moved away from the door and motioned for the man to enter. He had never been to see her before, and although they had worked for the same company and he was married to the boss, he had never chosen to give her the time of day. So why was he now?
"What can I do for you?"
"You can do something about Shawn and do it quick."
She almost laughed in his face. Little did he know that for the past two weeks all she had been able to think about was what she had wanted to do with Shawn, or at the very least to him. But along with that came the question as to why Hunter cared at all what she did with his friend.
"He's miserable you know? You are the reason for it and since I told him I wouldn't get involved anymore, you need to do something and you need to do it quick and make it good."
"What business is this of yours Hunter? I mean I know you and Shawn are close, but what does it matter if we get together or not? Why would you want your friend to be with someone like me anyway? You have made your opinions about Playboy and the girls that do it very clear."
Hunter ran his hands through his hair, obviously more agitated at being there then he was letting on until that point. He had just come from hearing Shawn tell him what a washed up wrestler he was. If he had to hear the same thing with this Diva he might just pull his hair right out of the roots.
"Shawn's ex did a real number on him. He had kids with her, kids that he hasn't seen in ages. He just lost a big match, one that he was basing his whole singles comeback on, and he is now being placed with you and he thinks hes washed up. I am sure you already know this because he told me that he told Maria the same thing the other night in his car. He needs someone, he has always needed someone, but not just some bimbo. He needs someone who gets it. Ashley, what I'm saying is that you get it, you can help him come back to where he needs to be. Playboy or not. So will you help me make Shawn the man he is destined to be?"