A/N: Hey everybody, I'm sorry it's been sooo long since the last update. I was sick for a couple weeks with the flu and I was playing catch up with school until this past Monday so this was the first chance I've had to really sit down and think about how I wanted this to go. I'm doing my best so bear with me here… on to the chapter!
Chapter Ten: Aftermath
One Week Later…
John walked through the backstage area of the arena in Chicago feeling lonely for the first time in a while. Morgan had flown out to Connecticut for a court date she was needed for and wasn't scheduled to be back until the next Monday in Columbus Ohio. John reached the catering area and looked around for an open seat when he saw one next to Randy and walked over.
"Hey man, what's up" he said to his best friend. John sat down at the table and waited for his friend to answer.
"Oh hey. Nothing much really, just kinda hanging out until the match later on" Randy replied. "What about you man" he asked.
"Oh you know the usual… still waiting to hear from Morgan, she was supposed to call when she got out of court today but I think she might have forgotten about it. I hope she gets back soon, I feel like I'm losing my mind without her around. She keeps really good track of all my appearances and stuff, she's good at keeping on top of things like that. I guess she'd have to be in order to be a lawyer ya know…" John trailed off when he realized Randy wasn't really listening anymore. "Sorry dude, I guess I was rambling a little huh" he said.
Randy laughed openly. "Ya think, dude you're like a lost puppy. For someone who's trying to keep this relationship a secret you're not hiding your feelings all that well" he told John. "Man, just call her. She probably forgot or just hasn't finished up yet, sometimes court can take a while. I'm sure she'd appreciate the phone call anyway" he told his friend. Randy got up from the table, slapped John on the shoulder and walked away shaking his head at his friend and chuckling to himself.
Hi! You've reached Morgan Barlow, sorry I can't take your call right now but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
John waited for the familiar beep to let him know to start his message…
"Hey Morgan, it's John. Just called to see how court was going…" John was silent for a moment as he thought about what to say. "I miss you… it's pretty boring on the road all by myself and Randy's been no help at all lately." John chuckled lightly and ran his hand over his head before continuing.
"I hate you being away like this. It feels like every time we finally get away from everybody we get separated again…" John sighed heavily and said "Call me okay, I miss hearing your voice. Love you".
John hung up the phone and tossed it in duffle bag and sank onto the bed in his hotel room.
Only seven more days… he said to himself. He heard the vibrations of his phone a few minutes later and shot across the room to his bag thinking it was Morgan calling him back.
He sighed when he read the caller ID. Orton… figures he scoffed and answered the call.
"What's up dude?" he asked.
"Hey, just thought I'd let you know, I overheard Steph talking to Paul earlier and it seems they managed to book Morgan an earlier flight. I don't know all the details just something about how her court appearance went really well and they were able to finish sooner than expected or something. I'm sure if you talk to Steph she'll probably give you the flight info" Randy told him.
John was ecstatic and forgot Randy was on the other line. He hung up the phone and grabbed his key card and practically body-slammed the door open before heading to the arena to talk to Stephanie.
Randy sat on the other end of the phone and lightly chuckled to himself before hanging up. Damn fool, he's got it bad… he thought to himself before heading back inside the arena to warn Stephanie of the impending Hurricane Cena she was about to encounter.
Stephanie was waiting in her makeshift office at the arena when John came barging in twenty minutes later.
"Hey Steph, Randy told me he overheard you..." Stephanie put up a hand to stop him from continuing.
"I know why you're here John. Randy informed me that you'd be showing up soon. Here's the flight information, Morgan's flight will be arriving in Columbus a day earlier than expected" she told him.
John smiled and thanked her. "Thanks Steph. It's been hell not having anyone around lately" he told her.
Stephanie smiled back. "I understand John. I don't like it when I have to be away from Paul either. Love can really mess with your head sometimes" she said and winked at him.
John looked stunned. "Wait, how did you know, we haven't told anyone yet except Randy" he asked.
"Oh I can tell, woman's intuition I guess. Besides, you two were obviously in love with each other from the start, it just took you both a while to admit it" Stephanie replied. "Now, go get some rest. Can't have my WWE Champion falling asleep in the ring now can I" she said.
John thanked her again and left the office. He stopped by catering to talk to some of his friends and waited for Randy to finish a workout in the ring with Cody and Ted before they headed back to the hotel.
John grabbed a bite to eat and sat down with a magazine he'd picked up the previous week but hadn't read yet. He opened the cover and a small note on blue paper fell into his lap. He picked it up and smiled when he read it.
Johnny,
I figured eventually you'd read your magazine while I was gone. Looks like I was right again huh. I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I miss you and I can't wait to be back in your arms. It's only a week and then I'll be back. Try not to be too bored without me and tell Randy to keep "us" to himself or I'll body-slam him. Oh and please don't kill Ted, he's not worth it remember.
Love,
Me.
John slipped the note in his pocket and looked up when he heard Randy Cody and Ted approaching.
"Hey J, what's up man" Cody asked him.
"Hey Rhodes, nothing much just hanging out until Randall's ready to get out of here. What about you guys" John replied putting emphasis on Randy's name sarcastically.
"Oh gee, thanks John. Thought we were friends you jerk" Randy said while fake crying. "God, I hate you" he said and started laughing. Cody and John joined in the laughter while Ted watched in silence glaring at John.
Randy noticed the look on Ted's face and nudged John in the shoulder lightly to get his attention and silently motioned towards Ted. John turned his head slightly and saw what Randy was referring to. John seemed to momentarily forget what Morgan said in her note and turned to face Ted.
"Do you have a problem with me Dibiase" he asked.
Ted was surprised that John would confront him and thought twice about saying anything back at first before glaring even harder.
"Yeah I've got a problem. Why don't you stay away from my fiancée, we might be having a fight right now but we'll work it out and when we do, you better stay away" he shot back.
John laughed out loud and realized that they had now attracted a bit of an audience.
"Ted, why don't wake up alright. You cheated on her, why would she ever come back to you? Tell you what, why don't YOU stay away from Morgan. It's obvious she doesn't want you or need you so just back off" John replied snidely.
He turned to walk away and stopped dead when Dibiase replied.
"That's what this is all about isn't it. I get it now. All those times I was out late she was with you wasn't she? Fine, you want her, you can have her. She's a two-timing bitch anyhow" he said smugly.
John turned and the small crowd that had gathered saw fire in his eyes.
"Take it back" he said angrily.
"Make me" Dibiase replied.
Suddenly John lunged at Ted and tackled him to the floor. He started throwing punches left and right and got a couple of good shots in before Randy, Cody, Dave and a couple others broke up the fight and restrained the two men. John's chest was heaving and Ted had a busted lip and the beginnings of a shiner on his left eye.
"YOU GONNA TAKE IT BACK NOW F*CKER!" John yelled while struggling to break free from Randy and Dave's grip.
"YOU DON'T HAVE A CHANCE IN HELL WITH HER" Ted yelled back. "I'll get her back just wait until she hears what you did" he said more calmly. Ted shrugged off the guys holding him back and walked out of the catering area wiping his lip on his shirt.
Randy and Dave brought John over to a chair and sat him down still holding onto him in case he decided to go after Ted.
Everyone was quiet for a little while before Dave finally spoke.
"Dude, what the hell was that about" he asked John.
John sighed and looked up at Dave. "He's been harassing Morgan for the past week because he thinks he still has a chance to be with her even after what he did to her, and then he has the nerve to say what he did. He just said it to the wrong person at the wrong time" John replied.
"You'll probably be suspended for that" Randy began, "unless you can get enough people to say he provoked you" he finished.
"Count me in" said Dave. Randy agreed saying "yeah, me too".
"We all saw what happened John. We'll stick up for you" they heard and turned to see who it was.
Mickie James and Kelly Kelly as well as Paul, Shawn and Cody stood behind them. John smiled.
"Thanks guys, but I think I'll handle this one by myself. Steph and I have an… understanding" he told them. "If I need you guys, I'll let you know though" he finished.
John left the catering area and headed back to Stephanie's office to talk to her about the fight he was sure she already knew about.
"Come in" Stephanie called out.
"Ahh John, I've been expecting you" she said. "Please sit down, it seems like we're seeing a lot of each other today" she told him.
John sat down and hung his head a little. "Steph I'm really sorry, I don't know what came over me" he said guiltily.
"John, I've already taken statements from some of the other people who saw what happened and as it stands you don't have much to be sorry for. It seems that Ted provoked you and insulted your best friend. If it had been me, I would have done exactly the same thing. However, I can't just not do anything simply because I have some insider knowledge here" she replied.
"I understand Steph. You gotta do what you gotta do" John replied sadly.
"That being said, considering this was a first offense and it wasn't entirely your fault I don't see the need to strip you of the belt. I don't expect it to happen again either considering I know the kind of person you are John. I've spoken with my father and a couple of the story writers and we've decided that a two-week suspension without pay is punishment enough. We wrote a short segment for tonight's Monday Night Raw in which Randy will head-punt you and give us the perfect way to get you out of the ring for two weeks without hurting the storyline or taking the belt from you. Do your segment tonight, go home and don't ever let me hear of you getting into a fist fight with Dibiase or anyone else for that matter ever again, do you understand me". Stephanie motioned for John to stand up and he did.
"You can go now" she said matter-of-factly.
"Thank you Stephanie. I appreciate your understanding about this" John said and left her office.
Man how am I gonna tell Morgan about this… he thought.
Meanwhile in Connecticut…
Morgan sat in her small apartment in Stamford Connecticut looking over the documents she needed for the case she was working on when she remembered that she'd gotten a call earlier she hadn't been able to answer.
She reached for her phone and saw she had a voicemail and smiled when she heard it.
Hey Morgan, it's John. Just called to see how court was going…I miss you… it's pretty boring on the road all by myself and Randy's been no help at all lately. I hate you being away like this. It feels like every time we finally get away from everybody we get separated again…Call me okay, I miss hearing your voice. Love you.
Morgan checked her watch and realized it was almost 9 o'clock.
I can't call him now, Raw's about to start and he wouldn't have time to talk anyways. I'll just call him after the show she thought to herself.
She turned on her small television and tuned to the USA network just as Raw's opening pyrotechnics display was finishing. Morgan went to the kitchen and made herself something to eat and returned to the living room and sat down to watch Raw for the night.
Finally at quarter to 11 it was time for John's match with Randy to start and Morgan was paying close attention. She knew John wasn't booked to win the match but still didn't know anything about the fight between him and Ted or the aftermath it had caused for the show that night.
Randy came out to the ring and talked about how he would beat Cena at the next pay-per-view and Morgan couldn't help but laugh as the crowd booed him and shouted "Orton sucks" among other obscenities.
If only they knew what he was really like. Poor guy gets enough hate mail as it is… she thought out loud.
Morgan continued to watch and smiled brightly as John's music filled the room and his image appeared on the screen. He told Randy that he would win at the next show and that he wasn't intimidated and never backed down from a fight.
The bell rang and the two men in the ring squared off. They wrestled a good match and Morgan watched intently. She cheered when John hit a good move or kicked out of a pinning situation and grimaced when he fell hard or took a bad beating.
At the end of the match, John went for the Attitude Adjustment but Randy countered into the RKO and John went down hard onto the mat. He started to lift himself up and Randy moved to the corner of the ring to prepare himself for the head-punt. Morgan watched, her eyes wide, as Randy punted John square in the head and left the ring as medics raced to John's aid.
Stamford, Connecticut
Morgan picked up her phone and immediately called Randy who picked up on the first ring.
"He's fine Morgan" Randy told her before she had a chance to get a word out. He heard her sigh on the other end and chuckled to himself.
"Are you sure he's alright, it looks bad" she said.
"It's supposed to look bad Morgan, it's television. He's absolutely fine, it's just part of the storyline" Randy replied. "Why don't you call him later, he's going crazy without you" he finished.
"Alright, if you're sure he's okay then I guess I'll let you go. Tell him to call me before he goes to bed will ya" she asked.
Randy agreed and they said their goodbyes just as John was ''wheeled" into the backstage area. Once they were off the air and well out of the view of the audience John jumped off the gurney and went into the locker room.
Chicago, Illinois
"Hey man, Morgan just called me freaking out. I can't believe you didn't at least tell her you were getting punted man" he heard Randy say.
"Oh crap, I knew I forgot to do something. I guess in the craziness of everything this afternoon I just forgot. She's not mad is she" John asked him.
"Nah, I don't think so. She'll understand that it was last minute. Are you gonna tell her about your fight with Ted, because I know he will if ever gets her within earshot. And if he doesn't someone else surely will, word gets around fast here you know" Randy replied.
"yeah, I gotta tell her, I just don't know how. She'll be so angry at me for it but what was I supposed to do ya know, just let him say nasty things about her that weren't true. I mean, come on, even Steph said if it was her she'd have done the same thing…" John trailed off and after a second he sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair.
"Man, what am I gonna do" he said to Randy.
Randy sighed. "I don't know man, but you have to tell her because if she finds out from someone else, or god forbid Ted tells her, she's going to be even more angry" he told his friend.
"By the way, she said she wanted you to call her before you go to bed tonight. I would suggest you do it now because it's almost midnight in Connecticut" he said.
"Good point. Alright I'll talk to ya later. Thanks" John said and left for the hotel.
Connecticut- 11:30pm
Morgan sat quietly in her living room finishing up a brief she needed to file first thing in the morning when her phone rang loudly at her side.
"Hello" she said.
There was silence on the other end for a moment and then the caller spoke.
"Morgan, it's Ted. Don't hang up, there's something you should know" he said.
"What is it Ted" she asked annoyed. Morgan couldn't believe that Ted would be calling her after all they'd been through.
"Has John called you yet" he asked her.
"No, he hasn't. Has something happened to him" she asked suddenly a little afraid.
"No, he's fine" Ted replied sarcastically. "He attacked me today" he told her.
"HE DID WHAT" Morgan yelled.
She took a few moments to gain composure and continued on a little more softly.
"Why would he attack you, did you do something to provoke him" she asked Ted.
"No, I didn't do anything. We were just talking in a group and I asked how you were because well, we haven't talked since well, you know, and I knew you and he were close and I just wanted to see how you were doing and then he said that I needed to just leave you alone and back off or else and I tried to tell him I just wanted to be friends again, and maybe work things out if we could, and he told me to stay away from you and lunged at me" Ted said.
"Oh my god. Are you alright" Morgan asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a busted lip and a black eye, nothing major" he replied.
"Alright, well thanks for letting me know. I'll definitely have a chat with John, for now I suggest you stay away from him alright" Morgan told him. "Call me if anything else happens alright. I've gotta go, someone's beeping through okay" she finished.
"Okay, thanks Morgan. I miss you. Bye" he replied.
"Bye" she said and switched over to the other phone call.
Ted sat down on the hotel bed and smiled mischievously. There, that should take care of Cena. Now I've just got to convince her that we belong together… he thought.
Just you wait Morgan, we'll be back together soon enough he said out loud.
Morgan answered the waiting call still slightly shaken by what she'd just heard.
"He…Hello" she stuttered.
"Baby, is that you? You sound upset is everything alright" John asked her.
Hearing his voice made her blood boil in that very second and Morgan couldn't control the anger burning inside her.
" How could you…" she said softly. "Why, I don't understand. This is so unlike you John"
John was a little confused. "I don't understand. Baby what are you talking about" he asked concerned.
"YOU BEAT UP TED!" she screamed. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU" she yelled even louder.
"What! Did that jackass tell you that because…" Morgan cut him off before he could finish.
"Just stop John. I don't want to hear it. I don't care who said what or who did what to whom, I don't want to talk to you right now and I swear if I hear that you so much as looked at Ted after today you can forget about me coming back, do you understand me" she said angrily.
John sighed. "Morgan, I wish you'd let me explain. It isn't what you think it is. I wouldn't just attack someone, you said it yourself it's not like me. You have to believe me…please" he asked softly.
"John, I said I don't want to talk about it. Furthermore, I don't really want to talk to you right now either. I need time to think. I'll assume you know I'm coming in a day early so I'll see you then I guess" she said coldly and hung up the phone.
Morgan set the receiver on the base and unplugged the phone line. She turned off her cell phone and pager and finished up her work on her laptop before shutting that down too for the night. She climbed the stairs to her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed more tired than she had been in a long time.
Morgan laid in bed and stared at the ceiling for hours before finally drifting off to sleep at three am. John sat in his hotel room in Chicago, his broken phone smashed against the wall, head in his hands muttering to himself about how much he'd screwed things up again.
I need a drink he said to himself and headed down to the bar…
A/N: There you have it, the long awaited Chapter Ten. WHEW! I finally got it done, and just in time for Christmas too. I'm going away for a week or so and I'm not sure if I'll have internet access where I'm going so it may be a couple weeks until I can get a new chapter up. I'm also going to be working on a few alternate storylines involving John and Morgan. They'll probably be a couple of one or two-shots maybe, just alternate story progressions that I've been tossing around in my head for a while. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!