AJ has to remind herself about her revenge plan at the very least ten times a day. Otherwise she forgets and when she forgets she slips up. She starts to have feelings that are getting harder and harder to shove under her tough exterior. These days are the harder ones, she goes onto youtube and types in, 'CM Punk embarrassing AJ Lee' and starts from scratch. Right back to revenge.
She drinks her pumpkin spice coffee as she walks into work, her bag snug over her shoulder. She happily walks with a slight skip in her step, waving to various members of the production crew. She's stopped by none other than Stephanie McMahon.
"Hey AJ, we wanted to talk to you about Royal Rumble." Stephanie says with a smile that's too pulled together at the edges to actually be real. Her eyes are wide with her lies and her lips are just the same. AJ nods and grudgingly follows Stephanie to her office. They sit down, Stephanie pulling her big black leather chair to her desk. She folds her hands together.
"So, AJ, we don't think we'll need you for Royal Rumble." Stephanie begins.
AJ resists the urge to allow her eye to twitch but it betrays her, "Is that so?"
Stephanie nods, grimacing, "It's just, we don't really need a Divas match for Royal Rumble, there just won't be any room for it on the card." Stephanie raises her hands up in defeat, "The timing just won't work out."
AJ glances down, biting her lip, "So what? Batista needs 15 minutes to celebrate a victory that is going to be handed right to him? Am I hearing you right on that? Why am I being held back from my potential every time I walk through these doors? Can you tell me that, Boss Lady? For someone who wrestled in the most sexist time in WWE, I figured you'd be more willing to help me. We're the same, Steph."
Stephanie looks taken back by AJ's sudden outburst, leaning back in her chair. Then she leans forward, hastily whispering, "Where do you get off talking to me like that? You do know who's in charge here? Don't you? Well if you don't, allow me to remind you, it's me. I have your contract nice and snug in this drawer, but I could easily take it out and rip it to shreds and have your good luck in your future endeavors letter on WWE's website so fast it would make your head spin." Stephanie offers AJ a sinister smile, "Are we clear?"
AJ glares at Stephanie, "Crystal." She pushes away from the desk, storming out of Stephanie's office without so much as a goodbye.
AJ has been losing her matches every week since her confrontation with Stephanie. She knows Stephanie is pulling the strings but AJ is holding the scissors. She cuts the strings one at a time. It's the night of Royal Rumble and AJ spots Punk stretching.
"There's my number one." AJ jokes loosely about the fact he was thrown into Royal Rumble as number one for pissing off Kane. "You nervous?"
He smiles, shaking his head, "You know me, I don't get nervous. I just go out there and I win, as I usually do."
"Except for tonight."
"Except for tonight." He affirms, tying up his boots sadly, he glances over at her. "This whole system has gone to shit, you know that? People like you and me, we're always going to be second best to guys like John Cena or in your case the Bella Twins. It's never been about the wrestling, it's always been about who looks the best on the posters." He finishes tying his boot, "So fucked up."
AJ looks at him seriously, "Are you okay?" She asks as she notices his hands are shaking.
"No, no I'm not fucking okay. I have to go out there, put on the best performance of my fucking career, and I don't get anything out of it. I don't get to main event Wrestlemania, I don't get to even look at that championship much less be the champion. What are they going to do with me now? Huh? They want me to fight Triple H at Wrestlemania, can you believe that? The audacity of these people.." He shakes his head, his breath shaky, "I don't think I can do this anymore."
"Do what anymore?" AJ asks.
Punk looks at her with sad eyes, "Be in the WWE."
A quick breath escapes AJ, "What? Are you joking? Are you serious right now? Leave WWE? How are you going to fix anything when you're sitting on your couch in Chicago? How is that going to fix this? Isn't that what you wanted to do? Fix up WWE?"
"I can't fix it if they won't even trust me with a mic." Punk stands up straight, "I'm fucking losing my mind, AJ. These people, these fucking hypocrites. They spit at me, saying they'll get me into the championship picture but they never do. They put me on their damn collector cups and give me new shirts but nothing, nothing real, nothing for me to hold onto. They are drowning me, AJ. This has all been for the wrestling and they're barely letting me do that." He's close to shouting at this point and the entire production crew is staring at him. He grabs AJ's arm and pulls her into one of the backstage rooms.
"Hey, you need to calm down, you're making rash decisions and it's scaring me." AJ says in a hushed whisper, "Don't do this, don't jeopardize yourself like this. You have an entire career ahead of you."
Punk was shaking so AJ grabbed his hands, keeping them still in her own. His hazel eyes meet hers, he notes softly, "I'm going to wrestle like that's the last match of my career." Then he withdraws his hands from AJ's and leaves.
He wrestles like it's his last match and it makes AJ terribly sad. Stephanie happily watches with Triple H, pointing out the number of times Batista allegedly 'shone' during the match, and how 'happy they were to have him back'. They barely talked about CM Punk.
When CM Punk is thrown out, AJ can see the fight leave his eyes.
He's gone.
He comes backstage and waves everyone off. Stephanie and Triple H take notice but they ignore him. Drawing their eyes back to the Royal Rumble playing on the TV screen. AJ quickly follows him to his locker room. Once in the locker room, Punk turns around to face her. He looks so angry, for a split second, she was worried he'd lash out on her.
"That's it, then." He says it in such a quiet tone it scares AJ.
AJ can tell he's waiting for her answer, so she does the only thing she can do, she ruins his career. "That's it." AJ turns around and she leaves.
Revenge tasted sweet.
Punk isn't there for RAW. Week after week, he's not there and AJ ignores his text messages. She can't ignore them when it's made known they're going to Chicago next week. She says she'll meet him at his house.
AJ knocks on his home in Chicago, he happily answers the door, looking well-rested and.. happier. He lets her inside with a smile still painted on his lips. AJ glances around his Chicago home, "Nice." She says.
Punk shrugs, "'Suppose so."
"So, this is what you've been doing, huh?" AJ picks up one of the Walking Dead comics he left to lay around, "Caught up on your reading."
"Not much else to do. I'm still under contract with those assholes so I can't wrestle." Punk explains, following her as she walks about his house, her eyes scanning for something yet finding nothing.
"Or, you could just come back." AJ offers as an option, "Then you could wrestle, then when your contract is up in July, you can leave in all of your glory. It'll be like Money in the Bank."
"With you in a referee outfit?" He suggests loosely.
Her cheeks flush and she turns to flash a smile, "We all have dreams."
Punk sits down at his counter, and AJ stands in front of him, he glances down at her. "So, why have you been ignoring me, Lee? Too busy caught up in all of your Total Divas vs AJ matches?"
"Busy destroying the division while you sulk on your couch."
"Ouch, that hurt." Punk holds a hand to his heart, "Understandable though, you miss me. It's okay, I get it. I'd miss me too."
"How did you figure me out? I don't have enough tattooed lunatics in my life." AJ shrugs, "What does a girl do?"
Punk jumps off of his stool, "Do me a favor, Lee, just this one time, be honest with me, that's all I ask. No bullshit, none of this craziness that seems to have completely overtaken your personality.. just.. just you."
AJ wraps her arms over her chest, staring at him, her eyes a little scared through her black rimmed glasses, "Shoot." She says proudly.
"Would you really be so against giving this another go?"
AJ's cheeks flush and she thinks about the videos. The embarrassment, the verbal abuse, everything they'd ever gone through. They flash through her mind like photographs and in that moment, she hates him. She wants to slap that smirk off of his face that's probably stolen a few hearts.
"I would be, actually." AJ admits, for the first time, she's honest with him, "It's hard enough just being friends with you - after all we've been through-"
"Don't tell me you're still holding onto that."
"You know what? I am. You hurt me and I can't let that go. I know it sounds stupid, and sappy, but it's true. That's what happened. You broke me, then you skipped away and I can't forget that." AJ snaps at him, feeling her anger from her head to her toes, "I won't ever forget that."
Punk looks confused for a moment, "So what, what was this whole friendship about then? What purpose were you trying to get at?"
AJ almost spills it all, right then and there. He's staring at her so intensely and she can almost see a flicker of hurt in his eyes but it disappears just as quickly. His eyes are begging her for the truth but her lips keep spilling lies.
"I thought we could at least be friends." AJ lies, her lips dry.
Punk nods, looking away from her, "I'm sorry, Lee. I didn't mean to..." He pauses, thinking, "Come on that strong. Strange, total character swap, eh?" He nervously scratches the back of his head.
"Um.. it's fine." AJ says quietly, "I should go though, I have to practice with Tamina. A new move we're trying." She points her thumb at the door, "So I'll see you later.."
Punk nods, "Okay, bye." Though he reaches forward quickly, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. He realizes his mistake and backs off quickly, "Uh, sorry, habit." He admits sheepishly, his cheeks flushing.
AJ gives him a small smile, "Uh, it's fine." She softly says, then she turns around, and she leaves.