Chapter 10

Ageless

Rachael stood there, blushing from head to toe not knowing what to say. Scott also remained silent. The three women were blocking their only way out and didn't seem to act like they were going to budge any time soon.

"Scotty…" said Kim, "I thought you'd straightened up." She said almost scolding him. Scott just scoffed at her.

"Last I checked Kim; you are in no place to be giving me moral lectures."

"Oh shove it Hall," Kim spat back, "and what are you, 13" she said snidely to Rachael.

"I'm 21, actually." Rachael said crossing her arms becoming suddenly defiant.

"And how old are you again, Scott?" Spice asked. He scowled cruelly at the three women.

"Listen Kim, one word about this, and I'll have a little talk with Paige about your little rendezvous with Scotty Steiner."

"You really are a fucking bastard, aren't you?" Kim snarled.

"Just as much as you are easy." Scott said taking Rachael's hand, steering her out of the room of inquisition. Scott's steps were quick, Rachael having to jog to keep up which was extremely difficult as shaky as she felt. They rode the elevator in thick silence and continued to not speak until Scott pulled her into his room. She couldn't find the gall to look him in the eyes.

"Scott, I'm sorry, this is my entire fault, and I should have just done it here." She said still trying to regulate her body's convulsions.

Scott, who was now sitting at the table in his room, let out a laugh.

"Well, when you got something like that on your mind, it's kinda hard to think past it, I should know… c'mere and sit." He said motioning to the chair next to him. She obliged, sitting to face him, as he leaned forward on his knees, "Don't worry about those girls, hardly anyone takes them seriously, and Kim's too much of a chicken shit to fess up about her problems."

"What about me…are Jae and I included with 'those girls'?" She asked staring into his eyes.

"No, we don't associate with most girls here, you two are different…" He said clasping her hand in his.

The look in his eyes, the feelings emanating from him, made it hard for Rachael to breath. She couldn't take this, she had to tell him. Lying to this man was going to kill her.

"Scott, I …." She began, he waited for her to finished, but she couldn't get the words past her tongue. Instead something equally as important slipped out, "I think I'm falling for you." She did realize what she was saying until it was already out in the open. She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to see the way he reacted. Slowly she peeked out from one eyelid and saw he was smiling.

"You know, as crazy as it sounds I think I'm right there with you. I shouldn't, I really shouldn't. When we talked this morning, I thought we could manage this just, ya know, casually, but it's been what only a couple hours and I still can't focus…"

"Jeez, was it that good?" Rachael said, laughing in embarrassment out her sudden outburst. A second later, Scott's rumbling laughter joined hers.

"Well, if you're gonna put me one the spot…I'll have to say yes." The laughing died very quickly as they locked eyes. Their eyes seemed to say the same thing, neither speaking. They seemed to say, 'We are so wrong for each other', 'There's a million reasons, we shouldn't be doing this', 'I wasn't looking for this,', 'This is the last thing either of us need.'. But, no matter what convictions seemed to creep into their consciousness, they couldn't help but want to be with each other. As if to cement their decision, Scott spoke.

"You do know how old I am, don't you?" He asked, she nodded, "I guess we could say, even if I was single, there'd still be some kinda controversy. It's almost a 19 year difference, you're sure you're cool with that?"

Guilt gnawed at her stomach like an insatiable parasite, it was now or never, she would either tell him now or continue to hide her secret. She looked down, unable to keep eye contact while trying to weigh the consequences and benefits of either decision. She looked back up at Scott, who was watching her concerned. She swallowed the swelling lump in her throat.

"When I think of you, I don't think of an age, it's just a number they assign to us to keep people separated. I feel closer to you than a lot of other people that have ever been in my life…so to me, it's just a trivial fact."

Scott smiled, taking her hands again, raising them to his mouth, and lightly brushing kisses across her knuckles. It was only a slight, gentle touch but her entire body felt it. Her knuckles were still against his lips, when there was a quick succession of raps on the door, Kevin entering. Scott dropped her hand and she pulled it away simultaneously, but not before Kevin got a glance at them. He raised his eyebrows at the two, but declined to vocalize his puzzled expression.

"Just came by to see if you were ready," Nash said, his eyes shifting back and forth from the two, "Plane leaves in a couple hours, we need to get going. Already rounded up Pac, he's getting' the car."

"Yeah, bell boy came and got my bags 'fore we met up last time."

"What about you, Rach?" Kevin asked, motioning towards her "Ain't you supposed to be coming with us?"

"Hell if I know, they never tell me anything." She said smiling.

"Well, I figured as much, they like to leave up all the announcements to us seasoned professionals." Kevin said sarcastically, "so I had your stuff sent with ours to the lobby."

"Cool, thanks, appreciate it." Rachael said standing, Scott following suit.

When they exited the hotel, Sean was waiting in the car for them, right by the door; he rolled down the passenger side window.

"You all always fuckin' stick me in the back seat, it's my turn to drive god dammit!"

"Jesus, Pac, chill out, I don't give a shit if you drive." Kevin said throwing their bags into the trunk. Rachael laughed at how domineering Sean tried to be. He was quite a bit taller than her, but still came up short next to his two friends, she knew his big talk and his big game were just trying to compensate. Scott seemed in no rush to call shotgun, nor did he seem to care about Nash heckling him when he beat him to it. Scott turned to Rachael, winking at her; she couldn't help but smile. As she started to enter the car, she saw Jocelyn exiting the building, followed by Marcus, Curt, and Scott Norton. The men waved to them, but Jocelyn made every effort not to look there way.

Rachael sat in the car, a new crop of problems surfacing in front of her very eyes. She should have at least confided in Jae; she had always been there for her, regardless of any gain or loss she acquired. She should have known better than to think that she would really let something like that slip. She'd have to get with her on the plane and apologize. She sighed to herself as the rest of the oversized passengers filed in the car. She was not one to ever admit any wrong doing; apologizing was one of her least favorite pastimes and here she'd done it in less than a week in WCW.

She glanced over at Scott who was looking back at her with a mildly amused look. Rachael had to admit the consequences of the first apology had turned out quite favorable. As if reading her thoughts, Scott nonchalantly laid his arm over the back rest of the backseat. She smiled again as his fingers brushed the back of her neck lightly. She smirked at him and proceeded to look out the window as the car lurched forward.

"And you wonder why we don't ever let you drive..." Nash said after a long string of curses.

When they arrived at the airport, Nash unloaded the luggage and flagged down some workers to check the bags. He tipped them and Rachael followed the three men into the bustling airport, becoming a little unnerved at the flurry of activity, fearing she'd get lost. She lost count of how many times she stepped on the back of one of the men's shoes, disrupting the quick gaits. She repeatedly mumbled apologies until she almost made Kevin fall.

"Ok, you're driving me crazy, what are you doing back there?" He said, slipping his foot back into his shoe.

"Trying not to get lost!" She retorted defiantly, masking her uncertainty.

"Here, hop on up…" Kevin said facing his back towards her, bending at the knees. He was offering her a piggy-back ride, and as juvenile as it was, it was a welcome gesture. "Come on, we don't got all day."

She stepped forward, glancing at Scott, who wore an almost angry look, but it was directed at Kevin who was oblivious to his friend's ire. Rachael, though not wanting to upset Scott, was thankful for the gesture and took it.

"Well at least this will get me accustomed to air travel." She said now well above everyone else in the airport, she never really appreciated how tall Kevin was until this moment and she hugged his shoulders tight, fearing a fall from this height could really be painful. Scott seemed miffed, and Rachael tried to attract his attention inconspicuously, but he seemed too involved in his thoughts to notice.

"Hey guys, I'll meet you at the terminal, just gonna grab a mag or somethin'." Scott said hitching his thumb toward the direction of what Rachael suspected to be the bookstore.

"All right man, don't forget, plane leaves at 11:00 sharp…" Sean said, but Scott was already briskly walking away from them without even another nod. Rachael looked after him concerned, but did not chase him; all she needed was to get lost in Jacksonville's Airport. Maybe he needed some alone time.

'Maybe he needs to call his wife…' the voice inside her head had to add its two cents worth. She continued gripping Kevin as they wound their way through the crowd, who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that a 7-foot man was walking amidst them.

They reached their terminal in one piece, stopping twice to sign autographs, Rachael signing her first one, which was extremely exciting. She was still on that high when the two men stretched out in the waiting area, occupying almost a whole row of chairs. She sat across from them, absent-mindedly watching the news. She checked the time.

10:15.

She didn't see Jocelyn or Marcus anywhere; a few others had shown up, but not them. She was a little concerned hoping they made it okay. Wondering what was taking Scott so long, she hoped he was too, signing autographs, she hoped he had calmed himself a little; it seemed to Rachael that he was overreacting a bit. When she glanced down one walkway, she noticed a tall man with black, slicked back hair and smiled. It was Scott.

He greeted everyone as he sat down next to Rachael, resting his arm on the back of her chair. She smiled, relieved; she hoped that he was not going to be some controlling maniac she'd always been warned about.

Scott struck up a meaningless conversation with Rick Rude, who sat across from them. However, the more he talked, the more Rachael noticed he didn't sound like he had earlier. She frowned and looked in Kevin's direction. Both he and Sean were looking at Scott with a mix of distaste and concern. She caught Kevin's eye and he looked at her. They shared an almost unspoken conversation, where by the end, Rachael knew something was wrong, and Kevin and Sean knew what it was; they were not happy about it. She looked back at Scott who was increasingly leaning in closer to her, as if trying to cuddle with her, apparently forgetting the idea that they would try not to show affection in the company of others.

It was then she noticed it. The closer Scott got, the more she could smell the alcohol on his breath, and not just as if he had one beer. It smelled closer to a fair amount of shots of whiskey. Whiskey, at 10 in the morning. When the full comprehension dawned on her she looked back at Kevin. She understood now, why they were upset. Kevin however, just rolled his eyes and went back to watching the television. Apparently this was not the first, nor a rare occurrence.

When their flight was called, everyone stood up stretching, making their way towards the doorway that led to the plane. Scott stood up, leaning a bit on Rachael. It was no secret that Rachael was not weak, but Scott was just too large for her to support and she had great difficulty maneuvering around to the doorway. Kevin came up beside her taking Scott's arm.

"Naw man, I'm walking my lady to her seat…it's fine." Scott said, slightly slurring.

"She's right behind us man, come on." Kevin said trying to control his anger, steering Scott toward the plane. Rachael exchanged a worried look with Sean who walked next to her toward the plane. As they entered the hallway, Rachael realized how many pairs of eyes of wrestlers were on her. This was not going to be easy to explain