Author's Note: This chapter is longer than I usually write but I had a lot to say.
Also, I'll be pretty busy within the next couple days since I have some company, namely, the WWE out here visiting me. Well, I guess they have that PPV as well. So I'll try to update and review sometime this weekend when Dave, Randy, and Cena aren't rubbing my feet, cooking dinner, and giving me bath massages.
Vera (and yes, I'll have full and explicit details…with pics hopefully…on the myspace page)
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"Hey, Dave. Me and Ayanna aren't coming in today. We went out last night and got a really bad case of food poisoning. Yeah, we'll try to make in tomorrow."
Dave listened to the voicemail from Randy. He didn't suspect anything unusual and Randy sounded legit by his raspy voice. I hope they feel better. He then got on the phone with Melina. "Could you meet me in about 10 minutes? I need to go over the plane schedules and designs? Thanks."
Dave began preparing his meeting but his thoughts were concentrated on Randy and Ayanna. What is going on there?
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During their impromptu meeting, Dave and Melina went over the itinerary for the next few weeks, including Dave's planned trip to Italy to pick out new leather sofas for their top fleet, aptly named the SilverLining series. The series were the jets and planes that were considered crème de le crème. Everyone at Parker-Williams could not stop talking about how luxurious the plane was. Quite a few were jealous at Randy and Dave since their contracts at Parker-Williams guaranteed them 10 personal uses of any plane a year.
"…and the SilverLining III is in Vegas." Melina finished.
"Wait a minute. Why is the SilverLining III in Vegas?" Dave asked.
Melina looked over her notes. "Randy used one of his personal trips last night." She shrugged. "It should be coming back tomorrow."
"Hey, Dave. Me and Ayanna aren't coming in today. We went out last night and got a really bad case of food poisoning. Yeah, we'll try to make in tomorrow." Really, Randy? Food poisoning. This should be fun. "I see." Dave smiled.
Melina caught the gleam in Dave's eyes. There was a twinkle of childhood glee and vengeful joy. "Wait a minute. Randy took the plane last night. He took Ayanna didn't he?" Melina asked.
"Probably." Dave shrugged.
"Ooh, is he going to get fired?" Melina smiled.
"No one is getting fired, Melina. He used one of his personal trips to take the plane. He's within company policy."
"But he lied! He lied!" Melina bounced. "I can contact HR right now."
"Melina, I'll handle it." Dave emphasized. "I know exactly how I'm going to deal with Randy."
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Ayanna woke up to an empty bed. She turned over and saw Randy was gone. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as she briefly looked around. She noticed the no-fail evidence of a tryst in progress. Their clothes were in a heap on the floor. Two condom wrappers were discarded in another separate pile. And the bed itself? Ayanna was surprised there were sheets left on it.
She then paid attention to the faint sound of water streaming. She got up and covered herself with the bed sheets. She walked inside the master bathroom and saw Randy attempting to sing his own coveted version of Zero the Hero by Black Sabbath. It's a good thing you're fine, Ayanna quipped.
Randy pulled back the shower curtain and grinned at his girlfriend. "Hey, hey, Sleeping Beauty."
"Hey Randy."
Randy stepped aside and pointed to an empty spot. "Wanna join me?"
"Sure." Ayanna removed the sheet and stepped inside the shower. She stood in front of the showerhead while Randy was directly behind her. He kissed her neck and massaged her body with his hands.
"How are you feeling?"
"A little sore. I might have trouble walking for the next couple days."
"Yeah, I've been known to have that effect." He smirked. Ayanna turned to look at him. "What? I do."
"Mmm hmm…" She couldn't argue for she knew firsthand it was true. "How are you feeling?"
"Great." He wrapped his arms around her. "I have my girl with me and I had great sex. I'm feeling wonderful."
"I'm your girl, huh?"
"Um, I thought so." He softly kissed her. "Unless you changed your mind."
"No, I haven't. It's just I don't know how to do this."
"Do what?"
"Randy, we're dating and we work together. There are rules and protocols about that."
"Yeah, and we broke each and every one of them."
"This could be really bad."
"Or it can be really great."
"Are you always this stubborn?"
Randy smirked. "Always."
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"Feeling better?" Dave approached her.
Ayanna returned to work the following morning. On the way home, she and Randy formulated the excuse of all excuses—food poisoning. A death in the family could be proven. A wedding required an invitation. But food poisoning—no one would question or ask to see evidence of what happened. "Feeling better?" Ayanna was puzzled. It then occurred to her why Dave asked her. Duh, Ayanna! "Yeah, I feel a little better. My stomach is a little woozy, though."
"Damn. What did you eat?"
"Chinese." Ayanna answered quickly—maybe a little too quickly. "Chinese. Yeah, that Chinese didn't sit well with either of us."
Ah, yes. The good ol' Chinese food poisoning excuse. It never fails. "It's a shame."
"Yeah, but I'll be better soon."
"I hope so. Anyway, we're going to cancel our dinner this weekend…"
Thank you, God.
"…instead I'm going to take Melina with me."
Ayanna sat upright in her chair. She slightly squinted her eyes together and shook her head. "Melina?"
"Melina, the office manager…"
"I know who Melina is, David." Ayanna replied sharply. "I don't understand why you're taking her."
"The reason I asked you to dinner was so we can pick out the leather sofas for the new line."
Ayanna shook her head in more confusion. "So I don't understand why Melina is going?"
"I needed someone to come to Italy with me. But you're sick so you probably can't make it."
Italy?! Ayanna had always dreamed of going to Italy. Besides Spain, it was on her list of countries to visit when she had time and more namely, money. A paid-for company trip was not something she was going to turn down. "I'm better!" Ayanna jumped up. "Really! See? I'm better!"
"I thank you for your enthusiasm, Ayanna, but you're sick. I should've asked you sooner to see if you had a passport."
"I have one!" She interrupted. "It's at home but I do have one!"
"Well, if you say so. The plane leaves Friday at eight in the morning. Be here and the driver will take us to the airport."
"Okay! I'll be better by then, I promise!" Ayanna smiled.
Dave smiled at her back. "Good to know."
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Ayanna walked into Randy's office. "Are you busy?"
Randy looked up form his blueprints. "No, not at all." He motioned for Ayanna to close the door and the blinds. "What's up?"
Ayanna walked over to Randy and sat on his lap. "I can't make it to our date this weekend."
"Oh? What's going on, Yani?"
"Dave is taking me to Italy to help pick out the new line."
The pen Randy was holding in his hand suddenly dropped and rolled off the desk. He knew about the Italy trip for weeks and Dave was planning to take Ayanna with him. It didn't stop Randy from feeling pissed off about it. "Alright."
Ayanna turned around and looked at Randy. "If you want, I can cancel it. I don't want you to be mad at me."
"Yani, I'm not mad at you. Really, I'm not." Randy sighed. "I knew about the trip for a while and you're Dave's assistant…"
"Well, I'm your assistant, too."
"True, but Dave pays both of us." Randy remained calm despite the fact he was seething. "It's okay that you go, Baby."
"Okay…" Ayanna slightly frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yani, I'm positive." Randy wrapped his arms around her. "I just have to give you something during the next couple days so you'll be thinking about me in Italy."
Ayanna turned around and straddled him. "Or you can give me something now…"
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After work hours, Dave and Randy stayed to hash out the new expense proposal for the upcoming line. The SilverLining jets were the top fleet and hourly rates began at $5,000. International companies already had bids on the first jets—and they weren't released yet. If it wasn't for the perks of being an executive, Randy's date with Ayanna would've cost close to fifty grand. "So are we good to go?" Randy asked.
"Yeah, I say we're good." Dave rubbed his face. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling alright." Unlike Ayanna, Randy wasn't caught off-guard with Dave's questioning. He was more than prepared for it. "Still a little sick but I'm doing well. That Italian food was killer."
"Italian?" Dave wondered. "Ayanna told me Chinese."
"It was both." Randy jumped. "We had Chinese for lunch and then Italian for dinner. Both made us really sick."
Damn, you're a horrible liar. "Got it." Dave smiled. "Well, I'm glad both of you are feeling much better."
Damn, you're gullible. "Yeah, thanks, man." Randy replied.
"I do have one question, though…"
"Yeah?"
"You know the company pays for our personal use of the jet, right?"
"Yeah?"
"So this is what I don't understand. Technically speaking, this Italy trip is going to cost close to fifty grand. Your little dinner date was pretty close to that amount." Dave chuckled. Kristal once shared with him that Ayanna dreamed of going to Italy. "I mean, you had the resources to take her anywhere in the world and you chose Vegas out of all places. Is that the best you can do?"