Disclaimer:
No, I don't own any of the WWE wrestlers, divas, associates, CEO's, anyone else. I wish I did...but, I only own my OC's, and my ideas.
It was two weeks since the gang moved from Steve's old apartment to the new house, and things were...interesting. At the moment, Stephen was watching a furious Maria drinking bottle of water after bottle of water, and every other cold drink she could get her hands on. Punk had gone to get her something to eat, while Nikki was sitting at the other end of the table, watching Maria with a huge grin on her face. Steve shook his head at the blonde, "You are a psychopath."
All Nikki did was shrug, before she got up and left. This was the umpteenth time something like this had happened since they moved in here. It all began two days after they moved, when Maria took the liberty of filling Nikki's shampoo bottle with glue. The blonde looked like an electrified zombie, with her hair sticking up all over the place, as she marched into Maria' and Punk's room, not paying regards to the fact that they were in a hot make out session, and dumped an entire bucket of water over the redhead's hair, and consequently Punk's, silently.
The next week, Maria retaliated by taking Nikki's red car on a ride all night long, until it was out of gas, and brought it back like nothing happened. Steve had the burden of taking Nikki to OVW's training facility the next morning.
Not one to be one-up-ed, Nikki went ahead and took the liberty of stealing Maria's iPod and filling it with Britney Spears' music, all of which, according to Punk, Maria despised. This went on almost every day since the shampoo incident, until tonight, when Nikki made sure she got Maria the extra spicy dish at the Indian cuisine place she got dinner from.
Steve and Punk had lost faith in their ability to do anything other than just watch, and prevent them from killing each other whenever things escalated. It was kind of crazy, and Stephen was worried that his friend might be losing his mind between trying to keep his girlfriend happy, and maintain his friendship with Nikki. Steve suspected that along with that was the internal pressure Punk was exerting on himself by trying to figure out what exactly to do about this whole love triangle that had developed. If it wasn't all so serious, Steve would have gladly sat back and had a good laugh; he kind of did anyway, but he was still worried for his friends.
"I'm going to kill her," said Maria, between gasping for breath. "How could she do that to me?"
Steve looked amused, "Well, you did turn all her white clothes orange two days ago. You knew she hates orange."
Maria sent him a glare, "Whatever. That wasn't bad enough to kill her; I could have died tonight! What if I was allergic?"
Steve couldn't help chuckling, just as Punk walked in, carrying a bag of take-out. He placed it in front of Maria, before rubbing her shoulders, "Your favourite Chinese. How're you feeling now?"
Maria's face brightened as she took a look at the food, "I survived, but she might not once I figure out what to do."
Punk sighed, nodding, before going to sit next to her, "Take it easy, alright? You have a bright future, you don't want to ruin it by getting sentenced for life, now, do you?" He grinned a little bit, trying to lighten up Maria's mood, and it seemed to be working.
However, he spoke too soon, because the next moment, Nikki walked by, saying with a wide smirk, "I wouldn't eat that if I were you; interviewers don't get much of a chance to burn off the extra calories, I hear." Winking at Maria, Nikki turned around and grabbed her coat.
"Where are you going?" asked Punk, curious.
"Out. With people," replied Nikki mysteriously. "Bye!"
"I'm not fat!" exclaimed Maria, nevertheless, looking down at her own body to check.
Punk sighed, squeezing her hand, "Of course not. You look perfect. You know Nik, she's just trying to get on your nerves."
Maria felt a little bit better, but that didn't mean she wasn't planning revenge as she ate. What was even more annoying was that Nikki seemed to be enjoying the back and forth battle. Maria would never ever admit it out loud –she was having trouble just thinking it- but it was sort of fun. That didn't mean she didn't hate Nicole; oh, no, she hated her very much.
The next morning, Maria awoke to find her boyfriend already out of the bed. Once she showered and changed, she went downstairs and walked in on a scene she wasn't too pleased with. Phil was standing by the door, holding his car keys high over his head, while Nicole tried to grab it from him; it wasn't exactly the situation that bothered Maria. No, it was the look on Phil's face; he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself, as he teased Nicole.
"Morning," said Maria, making her presence known. Nicole and Punk turned around, greeting her, before Nikki quickly snatched the keys as Punk made to walk over to Maria.
"I'll see you two out there," she said, blowing kisses.
Punk shook his head, before going over to kiss Maria. He waited for her a she made herself some coffee, all the while Nikki was playing loud music in Punk's car and honking at them. Ever since they moved they took turns driving either Nikki's car or Punk's. Today it was supposed to be her boyfriend's turn to drive, but apparently the blonde annoyance had her own agenda.
"What's with her?" asked Maria, glaring at the general direction of the door.
"She gets to meet her 'boyfriend' today," replied Punk. When Maria frowned at him, unsure what he meant, he added, "Mike Mizanin, the guy she'll be in a storyline with."
Maria nodded, before snapping the lid on her coffee, and grabbing her gym bag. Punk followed after her. When they finally appeared outside, Nikki exclaimed, "Finally! What took you guys so long? Get in, I'm driving."
Punk frowned, and said, "I don't think so; my car, I drive." He extended his hand for the keys, but Nikki simply shook her head. Realising that there was no way he could win this unless he physically pulled Nikki out of the car, Punk sighed, and got in the backseat with Maria. He regretted letting Nikki drive almost as soon as she pulled out of the driveway. She was definitely a reckless driver; it was a miracle she was still alive to this day.
As soon as they reached their destination, Nikki jumped out of the car, and waited impatiently for Punk to do the same. When he did, she threw the keys at him, and ran inside before they could say a word.
Once inside, Nikki knocked on the door to Jeremiah Daniels' office, tapping her foot impatiently. She could hear him speaking to someone, but she wasn't sure whether it was on the phone or someone actually with him, so she didn't want to interrupt. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the door opened.
"Morning gentlemen!" she greeted them cheerfully.
Jeremiah was standing by her side, while another guy whom she could only assume was her storyline partner was sitting on a chair opposite Jeremiah's desk. He looked pretty tough, with piercing blue eyes, and exuding confidence. It practically radiated off of him; he looked like a guy who knew what he wanted, how to get it, and add to that, he looked like someone who thought he was pretty darn fantastic.
"Morning, Nicole," Jeremiah replied. He gestured to the man, "Allow me to introduce you to Mike Mizanin. Mike, this is Nicole, the girl I told you about."
Just as Nikki was studying Mike, he was taking his time studying her as well. She looked good, he had to admit that, if only to himself; definitely attractive enough to be his 'girlfriend'. But she also looked too cheerful. Then again, he remembered that the storyline sort of required that anyway.
He stood up, approaching her, and said, "Not too bad. I was expecting a hag. I think she'll do, as long as she doesn't speak too much, and works out a little more...actually, a lot more."
Nikki raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
"Yeah, see, right there, sweetheart," said Mike. "That was not necessary; I didn't need to hear that. Your voice is annoying, your posture is bad, and you obviously don't take good care of yourself, that dress makes you look like you have chicken legs, those shoes are out-dated, and you have split ends."
Nikki glanced at Jeremiah, a little bit stunned, before regaining her composure, and turning her attention to Mike again, "Well, aren't you just awesome. You might want to get used to the voice and everything else, 'cause I'm no silent little trophy girlfriend, alright, darling?"
Mike did not look impressed at first, before sharing a look with Jeremiah. When he turned to face Nikki again, he was smirking in satisfaction, "Not bad; you passed your first test."
Nikki was quite confused by now; she turned to ask Jeremiah, "What is he talking about?"
Jeremiah, who was enjoying the interaction, chuckled, before explaining, "Mike likes to test his limits, see how people handle his attitude. You didn't throw a tantrum, so, I think that's an A+ in his books, right, Mike?"
"No, it's actually a C-, not even, maybe a D," replied Mike. When Nikki looked at him incredulously, he shrugged.
Jeremiah laughed, before ushering the two of them out, "Alright, you two go talk about your storyline, and make sure you're ready for your debut next week. Hey, go in the ring for a bit, if you feel like you need it. Bye bye." With that, he shut the door, leaving Nikki staring after him, not quite sure what just happened.
"Alright, babe, let's go, I need to let you in on how to be my girlfriend," Mike shrugged his arm around Nikki's shoulder, saying with a confident grin, "We're going to have an awesome time."
It was past 7 PM, and Punk was done for the day. Actually, all three of them were supposed to be done by now, yet here was, sitting on top of the back of his car, waiting for Maria and Nikki. Almost as if on cue, he heard Nikki's voice from somewhere behind him. He turned around to look, only to see the blonde girl laughing at something some guy said. He didn't look too impressed, but Nikki obviously thought it was funny; Punk raised his eyebrows when her next act was to slap the guy's butt as he walked away. He could only assume that the guy was Mike Mizanin, who didn't look too happy about the way Nikki was treating him, and to be frank, neither was Punk.
Still, he said nothing as she approached him, greeting loudly, "Hey Pretty Boy! What's up?" She jumped up to sit next to him.
"Not much, waiting for you slow pokes to get here," he replied. Punk nodded towards Mizanin's retreating figure, adding, "I'm guessing that's Mike?"
"Yep, that's him; disappointing, no?" said Nikki. When Punk didn't appear to understand, she added, "I was expecting some massive, muscular stud. He's pretty fit, and strong, I'll admit that, but still. I was thinking more along the lines of, I don't know, Batista."
Punk laughed, looking at her with amusement, "You want to be Batista's girlfriend? Didn't think he was your type."
Nikki shrugged, "He's not, which is why it would be fun to date a Batista-like figure on-screen, so I don't miss out."
Punk had to wonder how her mind worked, when she said things like that. Miss out? Was she planning to date every kind of guy out there? He wasn't sure he liked that idea; in his opinion, there was only one type of guy that fit her, but that was beside the point. He shook his head, laughing, "You're insane. So, do you think you're going to like it, the whole storyline stuff?"
Nikki mused on the idea; at first she wasn't sure she could pull off the acting part, but after a few sessions with the trainers and Punk, she realised that it wasn't too difficult. It was actually fun. She nodded slowly, "It's not bad; I think I'll have fun, but I really, really, really want to try a heel. Jeremiah said they'll present me as a tweener, and they'll tailor my character according to the crowd's reaction." She shrugged, "Could be fun!"
"What's that?" came Maria's voice.
Nikki replied, "Playing a heel." The redhead nodded, but didn't say anything else, as Punk and Nikki got off the top of the car.
By the end of the day, Maria felt sore. She had to go at it with her trainers today for over four hours, and she was exhausted. Then she had to do interviews, and be smacked over the head 'accidently' as per storyline, not to mention other outside the ring training crap. It was very tiring. All she wanted to do was take a long, warm bath, and sleep.
Once they got home, they found Steve wearing his glasses, with papers all over the dining table. He had been working on a new script for a while now, but he absolutely refused to let any of them even so much as look at it. When he heard the three of them walk in, he jumped to his feet, saying, "Whoa, stay where you are! Let me just...pick these up." He hurriedly gathered his papers into a neat pile, before facing them again, with a more relaxed smile. "Alright, come on in."
"I call dibs on being the lead of that movie," said Nikki, looking pretty amused by Stephen's protectiveness over his script.
"I don't think you'd like that; she's a librarian, and not the cool, she's-really-a-secret-spy-undercover type," replied Steve, smirking, as he took his work and headed to his room.
Nikki grimaced, "Yeah, no, I'll pass! Maria can do it, the character fits her."
Maria rolled her eyes, but she was too tired to say much, "You're so funny. I think I'll turn in early. You coming?"
Punk glanced at the clock, considering it, before saying, "I think I'll watch some TV; I'll be in soon, though."
Maria was honestly too tired to argue, so she nodded, "Alright; keep your hand off my guy, bitch."
Nikki laughed, replying, "Will do; thanks for the reminder. And the one before, and the one before that one too."
Punk shook his head, but he was slightly relieved to see that the two girls were at least adding more of a joking feeling to the banter. He could still sense the tension underlying, but at least they weren't full out fighting like they did the first week they moved in. Maybe things were finally calming down.
Too bad he didn't know that it was only the calm before the storm.
A/N:
things are cooling down a bit, but don't put down your protective shields just yet ;)
Shout out to the reviewers:
HeldAtRansom: Haha, Nikki appreciates that :P Maria doesn't...but...oh well, she'll have to deal ;)
SwantonBaby: I do plan on doing a bit of Miz/Nikki, but I don't think it'll be the way you expect ;) Wait and see lol!
As always, thanks to all the reviewers, and readers, past and new! Please review; I really like getting feedback lol. Thanks :)