Laying on the mat was all she could do for a few seconds, catching her breath. She knew the final move that was to be done on her was about to happen when she saw one of the brothers, Jon, climb the to the top turnbuckle. She felt the other, Josh, grab her legs, lifting her up to hold onto her mid-section. Jon played up the crowd for a moment before taking the dive down the mat. She knew he tried not to land on her so hard, Josh also helping in trying to soften the land.
It hurt regardless, and she felt her back connect flatly to the ring. She then heard the screaming of Michael Cole as he announced the fourth member of The Shield coming down to the ring. Closing her eyes, she felt the familiar hands grab her and pull her from where she lay. He was shouting at the other two members, telling them to move away. Rita saw him push Rollins, all in character, then he pulled her up into his arms.
"Are you okay? Cherie! Please! No, get away!" Ambrose swung an arm wildly.
Getting her mind back into character herself, she nodded, falling to her knees as she was pulled out to the mat surrounding the ring. Ambrose's hands pulled her back up to her feet, and she felt her body melt into his as he hugged her. He was still shouting, still pushing away Rollins and Reigns. Then came the moment she knew would happen, but it was all too soon...
He swooped her down in his arms, fiercely pressing his lips to hers. The crowd went insane and she could see flashes going off all throughout. Their kiss went on longer than it should have, but eventually he broke it and hoisted her over his shoulder. As planned, he leaped over the barrier, somehow keeping her balanced on his broad shoulder. He still kept in character, yelling at his faction members, who were standing in the ring.
As Ambrose turned to walk them back up through the curtains, Rita saw the sight in the ring. Reigns pushed his hair out of his face, a disappointed look on his face over Rita being taken away. When he turned around in the ring, Rollins turning around as well, they were both met with a dropkick from the brothers. Reigns was pushed out of the ring by Josh, and Jon covered Rollins for the winning pin.
"""""
The crowd seemed to be excited over the result of the match, but in the backstage area, it was completely different for Rita. Randy had watched the entire thing, and he was not pleased.
"What the hell is that, Steph!"
"Randy, Randy," Paul tried to intervene. "Calm down, it was a spot. Okay? They both agreed to it."
"Agreed to it? You made her kiss that motherfucker!" He kicked a trash can in the hallway, the bits of trash in it sent flying down the tiled floor. "She agreed to it?!"
"Yes, Randy, she did," Stephanie said. "And what you need to do now is get ready for your match."
"Fuck my match!" He stormed out of the area. "Where is he?!"
He spotted Rita not a minute later, Rollins embracing her, saying something in her ear. She nodded and patted his back with a hug of her own.
"Rita!" he shouted, causing her to jump.
She held out her hands to him, the anger she saw in him unreal. "What?"
"What do you mean, what? Have you lost your fucking mind?"
"Hey, Randy, that was an awesome match," Rollins said, trying to divert Orton's rage towards Rita. He didn't exactly know all about their relationship, but possessive didn't begin to describe how Randy was over her. On their championship title tour, it could have fooled him if Randy's arm hadn't literally been glued around Rita's waist.
Paul had followed Randy in the path of destruction to finding Rita. Stepping in between Randy and the three that had just put on a great match, he pushed Randy back.
"No, get off me, Paul! Where is the motherfucker! I'm gonna kill him!"
Rita grabbed her neck, watching her boss have to pull Randy away from where they stood. She hated him like this. He had never been this way before. She waited until she could no longer hear Randy yelling before talking.
"Thanks, guys," she said softly. "I'm sorry for that. You didn't need to see all that."
"Hey, I don't blame him," Reigns said, placing a hand on her shoulder as they headed to their locker room. "A beautiful girl like you... Would be a shame to lose you."
"""""
Rita knew sharing a hotel room with him could be a mistake. He was so full of rage after seeing her kiss with Jon. But it was all for the show. It was part of the match, of this storyline. It wouldn't have been the same without it. No, she hadn't told him about it, and as she sat on the bed, waiting for him to step out of the shower, she guessed she should have.
All running thoughts in her mind stopped when she heard him say her name.
"What were you thinking?" he asked, his voice eerily serene, especially after the showing he gave in front of their co-workers and bosses.
She sighed, not wanting this moment to happen. Couldn't he just let it go so they could get some sleep? "It was part of the script."
"And you thought it was okay for you to shove your tongue in his mouth?"
She looked up at him, her jaw defiantly set. "There was no tongue involved," she truthfully told him.
"Oh, so that makes it better, right?"
"It was just a kiss, Randy."
He slipped into some loose gym shorts. "You wouldn't like it if I did that, even if it was for a script, and you fucking know it."
"Maybe not," she admitted, "but I wouldn't have embarrassed you in front of everyone tonight."
"Trust me, honey, you won't be embarrassed until I get my hands on that piece of indie trash."
Rita felt her nose flare up in anger. "He is not trash."
"Sticking up for your boyfriend now?" he mocked, clicking his tongue. "Rita, I try so hard for you. I try so hard to make you happy. To give you the nicer things in life, and what do you do?" Shaking his head, he laid down on the bed next to where she sat against the headboard, his arms propped behind his head. She remained quiet, looking at him from the side. "You want to go running off to that garbage."
"I am not running off with him. It was a kiss, a scripted kiss, and if you can't fucking handle that, then maybe you should find someone who wants to be stitched to your ass."
"You mean like you were?"
Talking – no, arguing with him about it was proving hopeless with him. Randy wasn't going to listen to her now, maybe not ever. Everything with Randy now seemed hopeless, and she felt absolutely helpless. She felt powerless in this downward spiral they were spinning in. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she was unhappy with it all... or perhaps he just didn't care. Sometimes, she believed he never really cared for her.
Sinking down under the fluffy comforter, she turned her back towards him. She didn't want to talk to him anymore. She didn't want to deal with this anymore. Randy might have been more refined, brought up in a world where the spotlight never left the top of his head, but right now... Rita would much rather prefer being with the "indie trash" from Cincinnati. At least Jon knew how to cherish what he had.
"""""
Rita listened to Paul as he told her the plans for tonight's RAW. She was, in fact, scheduled for one more appearance. A short skit where Ambrose would take her away. Randy, of course, wasn't happy with this, but at least he knew in advance this time. Paul made sure of it. None of them wanted a repeated of Randy's rage from last night. She concentrated to the directions of what she was supposed to do, the door to the office catching her attention.
"Randy," Paul said, holding a hand out to him.
Randy shook Paul's hand, tilting his head towards Rita. "Go change into your gear and meet me in my locker."
She ignored the look of sympathy Paul gave her, and did as he said, exiting the room. When she was finally snapped into the nylon vest, a white tank top underneath, and her black shorts, she was slipping her boots on when she saw Trinity pull a chair up in front of her. Turning the chair backwards to Rita, she sat down.
"Everything with Randy good?" she asked Rita. "Joe told me what happened after the match. Glad I missed that blow up."
"Wish everyone else missed it too," she commented, humiliated by the situation all over again. "I just don't know why he has to show his ass like that."
Trinity nodded her head. "Yeah, I mean, it was a fantastic match." She stood when Rita did after she was done lacing her boots up. "I appreciate you working with me so much. Enjoy your time off."
Accepting the hug from Trinity, she put on a smile. "You enjoy that title, girlie. You deserve it."
"Thank you," Trinity brightly grinned.
Rita hurried out of the women's locker room. Any other time, she would have been happy to stay with Randy in his dressing room. Now, with him acting like how he was, she didn't even want to be around him. She was glad that she'd been gone for a couple of weeks after tonight. She desperately needed the time away from him.
"""""
The singles match between Rita and AJ had started a few minutes ago. Rita was instructed to turn her attention to Tamina for tripping her while the referee wasn't looking. Sliding out of the ring, she pushed Tamina slightly, but before Tamina was able to reciprocate the shove, Michael Cole started shouting that Ambrose was coming down the ring from the audience.
He came up from behind Rita, wrapping his arm around her waist, taunting to Tamina.
"No, no," he told her, in character. He pointed between Rita and him. "We are outta here!"
"They're leaving?" she heard Michael Cole ask from the announcer's table as Jon pulled her towards the barrier. AJ stood in the ring, her hands up in the air, a baffled look on her face. "Dean Ambrose, taking Cherie Greene away from the ring. I have no idea what's going on here, folks."
Instead of jumping back over the barrier, he pulled her by the waist to follow him up the ramp. She pretended to be confused with her hand on her head, looking back and forth between him and the ring. She screamed at him, shouting his name as he continued to pull her away.
There was a waiting camera behind the black curtain for them. Ambrose knocked into it, causing it to shake as it captured their exit.
"Dean! Dean, stop it!" she shouted in character, struggling against him. He stopped suddenly to press her up against the painted brick wall of the corridor, planting another kiss to her lips. This one, however, was not scripted to happen. The crowd cheered though as they watched on the Titantron, looking on as Ambrose resumed pulling her into the parking garage.
He ignored her, yanking open the backseat door of a black SUV and pushing her inside. She stumbled backwards onto the seat, moving her legs just in time of him slamming the door shut. He patted the window, his hand smudging the tinted glass. Opening the driver's side door, the sound of Rita calling out sounded, being cut off by Ambrose shutting the driver's door even harder.
The camera followed them as the black vehicle sped away, the screech of tires the last thing to be heard before they cut to commercial break.
Rita sat up in the seat, holding a hand to her chest as she laughed. "That's going to look fucking awesome." She straightened herself out, hastily unbuckling the nylon vest and removing it from her shoulders. Leaving the vest in the backseat, she boosted herself into the front passenger seat. "Bet they'll love that."
"I bet you I'll be fined for that little impromptu moment."
She couldn't help but laugh some more. "Oh, I'll be getting hell for that too," she said as she untwisted the white tank top that seemed to wrap around her. "It was worth it though. Did you hear the rumble of the crowd with that?"
He smiled, glancing over at her as he made a turn. "No," he said. "I was too busy listening to my heart jump up into my fucking ears."
Her own heart thumped in her chest as she looked over at him. Putting a smile over the serious expression on her face, she looked at the street ahead. "I'll tell you what you will be fined for," she started cautiously. "Not turning back around."
He shrugged. "Fuck it, I wasn't planned to do anything else. The boys can have their match without me."
"""""
They found a cozy little diner not too far from the venue. While Jon had turned off his phone, Rita sent a text to Stephanie.
"I kind of wish I hadn't put our phones in the car now. Do they have to know?" Jon asked her as he raised his eyebrows. He fiddled around with the fork and knife that was wrapped up in a napkin.
"I'd prefer not to lose my job because a certain someone doesn't want to be found in the world, yes. Besides, if you knew you were planning this, you should have at least told them."
He laughed, tilting his head down. "I highly doubt you'll be the one they fired. Like they would really keep a loser like me over you."
"Oh be quiet," she hushed. "You're not a loser. They value you, and you know it." She placed her phone onto the table, resting her hands in her lap. She looked around the diner with a subtle smile. "I like this place. Reminds me of home."
"Philly, right?"
She nodded. "Yeah. No place like it."
He huffed, blowing out a breath from his top lip. "Tell me about it. I loved being there."
The tension she felt from sitting there with him was lifted some when the red-haired waitress brought their drinks over. The woman, around Rita's age, popped the gum she chewed as she pointed pen to pad.
"And what can I get you two tonight?" she politely asked.
Rita looked over the menu once more, making her decision. "I'll have a patty melt, no onions please."
The redhead nodded, jotting down on her ticket pad. She looked towards Jon expectantly. "And you?"
"Uh, I'll have a club sandwich," he finally said. He held his hand out towards Rita, pointing to something on the menu. "Let's split a basket of mozzarella sticks, what do you say?"
Rita nodded, "Sure."
"Great, I'll have it right out to you," the bubbly redhead said.
"Shouldn't cost too much," Jon said when the waitress walked away. "Glad you didn't order something that costs like, a hundred bucks. Or better yet, a salad."
"Hey, I like salad," she defended. "Just as long as they have some type of meat. And I'm paying for my own meal, thank you very much."
"No way," he said, holding up his palm to her. "I'd never take a lady out and expect her to pay for her own food."
Rita's throat suddenly went dry. Calm yourself, Rita. This wasn't a date. It couldn't be. They were in a random diner, in a random city, in a random state. Not exactly how she had pictured their first date. Wait... had she even pictured their first date? No... no, I haven't.
"So," he said, catching onto her silence. His phone beeped and vibrated, signaling a message. Checking it, he laughed out, showing her the screen. "Colb said you're trending worldwide on that Twitter shit."
She rolled her eyes, sipping from her straw. "If this whole social media crap didn't put us at the fan's fingertips, I wouldn't even care about it."
"Yeah, I noticed you love interacting with everyone."
"Oh, it's fantastic. Isn't it awesome to you how someone just believes in you so much? If it's one thing they did get right, it's the fan events." She looked down, twirling the straw wrapper in her fingers. "Did they tell you what will happen with this line we're doing?"
He sat back in the booth. "No idea. I just know I won't be getting time off like you. My guess is that they'll have a turn on me, and then I'll be out for a week or two."
She wanted to ask him if he wanted to spend a few days with her in Philadelphia. He seemed to like the area she called home. But as she parted her lips, the red-haired waitress came back with a tray perched on her palm, and one of those folding serving stands. With a chew of her gum, she popped the stand open with the flick of her wrist and placed the tray on top.
"Patty melt," she said as she placed down Rita's plate. "And a club. Here's your cheese stick basket, and drink refills." After everything was placed down, she stuck the tray under her arm and gathered the serving stand. "Enjoy."
She smiled at the couple and trotted off back behind the service counter.
"She awfully fucking happy to be working this late," Jon said, shoving a fry into his mouth.
"""""
Rita didn't feel like spending her first day of her time off going to Randy's. But here she was, making the drive from the airport to his house. The trip itself was so familiar, so well-known to her that it didn't bother her. What bothered her was when she pulled up into the driveway of his house. He didn't know she was coming over, but considering he had three days off, she figured he wouldn't mind.
The metal ring that held all of her keys jingled in her hand as she walked up the front steps to unlock the door to let herself in. She hadn't even bothered bringing her bag in; She wanted to grab a few items she left over his house and then leave. She agreed with herself to only stay if he wanted her to stay... which was highly unlikely after another blow up over the second kiss on RAW two nights ago. And when she refused to tell him where she went afterward... Well, she really needed to stop pushing him.
"Randy!" she called out as she had so many other times before. Her feet stomped up staircase, and she entered his bedroom. She heard the shower in the master bathroom running, and she tapped on the door, "Randy, I'm just going to get some things, and then I'll be going back to Philly."
She turned from the door, heading over to his dresser and pulling open a top drawer. What she saw in it surprised her. The jewelry box she refused to take from him. She lightly fingered the intricate detailing over the glass window before grabbing the item she came for.
"Rita?" the female voice said from the now open bathroom door. Rita turned sharply, looking over the brown skinned girl. Her dark, curly hair dripped with water that was fresh from the shower.
"JoJo?" The shock Rita felt jolted down to her toes and made its way back up through every part of her body. This girl was naked, showering, in Randy's house.
"Randy's not here right now," she said, tucking the fluffy towel tighter on her body. "He went to the store."
"Oh," Rita said, her head tilting up in confusion. She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, pointing towards the dresser. "Well, I just wanted to get a bracelet that I had here." She swiftly turned back, shutting the drawer. She tried her best not to look at the girl that Randy had invited over as she crossed the room to leave... Clearly, he had moved on. But JoJo's soft, nervous voice stopped her.
"Rita?" She uneasily rubbed her arm. "How did you get in here?"
Rita paused at her question. If she were just another step further, she would have been out the bedroom door. Cursing under her breath, she turned to face the other woman.
"I have a key," she told the younger girl. "I've had it for years." She fumbled with the large metal ring that held her keys, feeling her heart twist as she took off the key ring that had Randy's house key on it. In three strides, she was standing in front of the girl, the hand that held his house key in offering. "But I guess I don't need it anymore."
JoJo held out her hand, unsure of Rita's reaction. She hadn't known that Rita and Randy were serious. She let Rita drop the key into her hand, watching the older woman as she turned on her heels and walked out of the bedroom.