Lettie was snapped from her thoughts by a frantic voice.
"Gee, Lettie are you ok?" Ashley asked, worry covered her face.
"I thought I killed you." She said, almost crying.
"Stop. I'm fine. Look at you, you're getting soaked." Lettie said, turning off the water and pulling a towel around her sore body.
"Look at that bruise on your arm! God I could have killed you."
"Don't, it wasn't your fault. I was off-balance. It was an accident. But I'm fine. Really. Stop worrying." Lettie said, a moan leaving her lips as she sat down. "It's not like this is my first fall from the top rope." She forced a grin, while digging through her bag. She pulled out all of her stuff that she needed to get ready.
"I just, I'm..." Ashley started.
"Don't you dare say sorry Ash. I mean it. I'm fine." Lettie said firmly.
"Well, hello hot stuff." Alex's voice yelled down the hall.
"Where are you going all dressed up?"
"I don't want to fight with you, so I will plead the fifth." Lettie smiled, walking past him, her heels echoing down the near empty hall, as the night was coming to a close, a lot of the wrestlers were already gone, out on the town, or heading to where ever they were spending the night.
"No way Scarlette." He turned jogging to catch up with her.
"I won't let you do this."
Scarlette turned sharply.
"What makes you think you have a say so, Alex? I told you earlier, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I know what I'm doing." She snapped, making Alex stop in his heels. She regretted talking to him like that as soon as the words left her mouth.
"Sorry. I really have to go."
"You want me to wait for you?" He asked.
"Please." She said, walking to the gorilla. Bobby was standing there, she almost hated to break his concentration. He looked so beautiful standing there, bouncing back and forth on the toes of his feet.
She simply walked up and stood next to him.
He looked, sensing that there was someone there, he had to do a double take, making sure she was really there. His music hit and he reached down and grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers. Not a word was said until they reached the top of the ramp.
"You look amazing." He smiled.
Lettie walked with him to the dressing room.
"Listen, I'm going home tonight. I'm not scheduled for tomorrow. I figured that way you could have a little time to yourself and really think about us." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"Man I wish I had time to stay, cause the things I would do to you. My flight is leaving in less than two hours. I'll call you tomorrow though. We'll talk some more." With that he disappeared into the locker room, and Lettie turned to go get her bags. She ran into Alex, who was waiting for her outside the women's locker room.
"So?" He asked, leaning up against the wall, freshly showered.
"So?" Lettie questioned back.
"Why?" He asked.
"We have a lot of history. I can't just stop it in a second. But this is it, his last chance." Lettie said.
"Keep trying to convince yourself, cause I don't believe it." He said.
"Well, I guess then I will have to prove you wrong." She smiled.
"So where is Prince Not-So Charming?" Alex laughed at his own joke.
"He's going home. He doesn't work tomorrow, so he is taking some time to unwind."
"Really? So whats your plan?" He asked.
"I have none. Any ideas?" She smiled.
"Yeah, dinner and a movie. Let's go see if we caught anything tonight." He smirked.
Sure enough, there was another rose. Lettie smiled to herself, Bobby was right, it felt good to be wanted.
Alex headed back to his hotel room while Lettie stopped and grabbed a couple pizzas, before heading to his room.
"Well," Alex said, mouth full of pizza.
"Tonight is different, but no better. For some reason there is such a glare bouncing off the windshield, making the camera catch nothing."
"Great." Lettie said, sitting down on the other bed disappointed.
"Don't get down. I called a buddy of mine, and he's going over the camera, he's better at this shit than I am, so we will figure out a way to get film on this guy." He started laughing.
"Or girl."
"Oh come on Alex." Lettie huffed, but laughed at his joke.
"You're a nut."
"Just saying, you never know. Here come and look at what we got tonight. You can make out the edges." He pushed play.
"Ok, so not much, but those are so man hands. See, not a women, thank you very much." She laughed.
"Ok, so we can see the hands, there are no tats, so that rules out anyone with tattoos on their hands." He said.
"See, now we're getting somewhere." They must have gone over the tape 20 times before Alex's phone rang.
"This is my friend, let's see if he has figured anything out." He said to her, answering his phone. Lettie listened to the one-sided conversation intently. "Alright, yeah, I never thought of that. We'll give it a try." He said hanging up the phone.
"Well, he had some suggestions. He said turn the car around, because of the glare, and with the camera being behind the glass, if there is any light shining on the windshield, then you will get that glare."
"So that's it?" She asked, still feeling defeated.
"Come on Let, we will get this." Alex said.
"I don't know, I'm about ready to give up." Lettie whined.
"Stop. I'm making a little progress on the first footage. Once tomorrow is done, I should be able to spend much more time on it, and get it done, and I'll be back home, where I will have my good stuff, then it should only take a week. Cheer up, we will get this." Alex smiled over at her.
"How are ya feeling?" Alex asked.
"I'm fine, I caught the ropes on the way down, so that took most of my momentum away. It was scary as hell though." She said, still feeling sore.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I saw the guys at the top of the ramp, it distracted me, I guess. It just happened so fast. It could have been a lot worse than a sore back." She said.
She did what Alex suggested, instead of backing in, she pulled her car into its slot. She had spent the afternoon working out and went out to lunch with some friends. She walked down the hall, shifting her heavy bag on her shoulder, as she turned the corner to go to the women's locker room, she was caught by a stage hand.
"You're wanted in the office." He told her.
"Alright, let me put my stuff down." She said. She took a deep breath as she knocked on the door, and opened it.
"Hey?" She said softly.
"Hey Lettie, come in, have a seat." A very chipper Jeff Jarrett said. Dixie was sitting next to him. Lettie looked around the room, and noticed it was full of suits.
Shit, I'm fired. She thought.
Jeff caught her looking around, and saw the nervous look on her face.
"Oh, hey, don't pay attention to them, they ain't here for you."
Lettie took a deep breath.
"Thank God."
"So, we wanted to see if you could make a couple of appearances for us next week? Are you available?" He asked.
"Yeah. Where at?" She asked.
"OVW." He said.
"I'm being sent down?" She asked, shifting her weight in her chair.
"No." He laughed.
"Just a couple matches, help pump up the pay per view. I was hoping that maybe you could drive and stop for a few interviews along the way?"
"Drive? All the way to Kentucky?" She thought about it.
"I mean I guess I can, I don't have anything planned."
"Alright, so, how are you feeling?" He asked.
"I'm ok, a little sore, but I had a nice massage today, so I'm loose. It's nothing that will keep me out of the ring." She smiled.
"Yeah what can keep you out of the ring? You went a whole match with a torn bicep tendon. And you still wanted to come back." Jarrett laughed.
"Alright, I think production is ready for you outside, here's your stuff for tonight, I'll have someone give you the road plans sometime tonight. Cool?" He asked.
"Yeah. Thanks Boss." She smiled as she walked out of the room. She was going over her script, while headed to her car, where she was being met with a camera. She folded up the paper and shoved them into her jeans pocket. She walked up to her car, and her face crumbled. She grabbed for her phone, only to have a camera in her face.
"Really guys? Give me a few minutes." She said walking away from them.
"Whats up?"
"Hey, just so you know, your friends brilliant idea, fuckin' back fired on us." She said into the receiver.
"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.
"The rose, it's on the trunk! Now what?" She asked.
"Give me a minute, I'll be there." A few minutes later Alex dashed out to the car. Lettie took the rose and threw it at him.
"Alright Let. I'm going to see if we caught anything. You do what you have to do, while I check." Alex said going to his car.
Lettie walked back over to her car, and shot her promo. She popped her trunk and grabbed her other bag, and her dress.
"So, tonight management has given you a choice of taking the match as a win, and Madison being disqualified, or a rematch. Which is it?"
"Are you serious? Have I ever said no to a match? Come on guys." She flashed a smile at the camera.
"Well, not before, but you're a part of Immortal now. They don't do things the right way, they do them the easy way."
"Let's get one thing straight, real fast, I'm not a part of Immortal. I'm a part of Fourtune, and just because the guys have taken to doing things the easy way, doesn't mean that I will. I have built my career on integrity, and hard work, and I won't lose all that because of one group. I have fought through a lot to get where I am, and I will keep fighting."
"Speaking of fighting, that was a hard fall last week, how are you feeling?"
"I'm not going to lie, that was scary. But when you take chances, things go wrong. I'm ok though, a little sore, but I'll live." She said.
"So your fighting tonight?"
"Madison, I know you can hear me, get your gear on darling, cause you're in for a fight tonight." She said walking off.
"CLEAR." As soon as she heard that she turned and went back to Alex.
"Come on Lex, give me some good news." She said, peering over his shoulder.
"Sorry Let, nothing. Nothing at all." Alex said softly.
"It's ok. I'm sorry for pushing you so much."
"No, Let, you didn't. You can always fly to my place and watch me work on the frames I have." He laughed.
"You laugh, but it may be funner than what I actually have to do." She said.
"Which is? Or should I not ask, because it will piss me off?" He retorted.
"No. I have a couple of appearances next week at OVW."
"Ah, PPV pump." He laughed.
"I can't believe you let yourself get roped into that."
"Yeah, well when I walked into the office and the suits were crawling from floor to ceiling, I thought I was getting fired, so I'll take the road trip anytime." She smiled, as they walked down the hall.
"Yeah, well, you're a hot commodity." He grinned.
"I gotta get ready, I have second match tonight, and some more promo's." She said, tucking into the locker room. When she came out she was met in the hall by Immortal.
"What's wrong with you?" Bischoff yelled.
"I gave you your ticket to the title match, and you just throw it away? What the hell were you thinking?"
"I don't need anything handed to me by you! I can handle things myself." She said walking passed them, but James stepped in her way.
"Maybe we weren't clear on our conversation. You do what we say. You got that?" Flair said.
"No, maybe you should go back over the contract, Flair. My contract says I am to accompany you to the ring, it says nothing about taking orders from you, and especially not you Bischoff!" She turned back to James and pushed him.
"Get out of my way, I have a match. Did you hear that, I have a match, not you, or you, or you." She said pointing to everyone.
"No where in the contract does it say that I need an escort, so stay the hell out of MY matches." She demanded, walking away.
She heard her name being called so she turned to see AJ, Kaz, and James walking up to her.
"You know it doesn't have to be like this?" AJ said.
"You, you're a valuable part of Immortal."
"Shut up AJ! Don't give me your valuable asset shit. You know you were once a great guy, all of you were. The people loved you guys, you all did the right thing, now, I just don't know about you all."
"Don't you see how far we can get aligning with Immortal?" AJ asked.
"No, I don't see anything good coming from them, I see a lot of handouts and broken promises. Come on guys, think about it, since you joined, since you started doing their dirty work, how many times have you gotten a shot at ANY title? Hmm, I know you're told you will get the next shot, but how many have you had?" She asked, they all looked at each other.
"I know how many, NONE! I know you guys think that this will better your careers, but it won't. I know you all think that this is a good group, but it's not. I can tell you a good group, Fourtune. We used to have a good thing going. I will tough this out for the hopes that you guys might remember what we had, how we used to fight the good fight, how we used to do what was right. I don't know what all happened while I was gone, but I know that I will never get sucked into their bullshit. I will continue to stand for what I know is right. And I meant what I said, DO NOT come out during my match. I don't need the distraction again, I'd like to leave the match with my life intact." She said, storming off to the ring.
"Your winner and number one contender, Scarlette!" Christy's voice filled the arena, barely heard over the cheers from the crowd. Lettie raised her hands, thanking the crowd, as she headed to the back.
"Good match." Alex said, as she was walking out of the locker room.
"Thanks Lex." She smiled, trying to juggle all her bags.
"You out?" He asked.
"Yeah, going home for a few days. I just got the schedule for all the interviews, a few turned into six, half there and half back, but hey, at least it will keep me busy." She said. Alex helped her get her things to her car, and she was off.
"Hey. whats up Lex?" She asked.
"Not much, you ready to get back to work?" He asked.
"I don't know, I'm enjoying my time off."
"Really, it's cold as fuck here." He grumbled.
"Ha, I'm actually outside on my deck, in shorts and a tank top, enjoying my almost 80 degrees." She laughed.
"That's it, I'm moving to Georgia Sabs."
"Where are you guys? Shouldn't you be on a plane by now? We have a taping tonight." Lettie asked.
"Yeah, we're walking into the airport right now, hence me freezing my balls off." He said.
"Wait, we? Like Chris is coming back?" She asked.
"Just to visit. He isn't cleared yet. Anyway, shouldn't you be on your way, too?"
"I was just getting up, my car is already packed, I was just savoring the sun for a few more minutes." She said, slipping her flip-flops on, and locking her house as she headed towards her car.
"How are things going with Bobby?" He asked.
"I will over look your sarcasm, and tell you anyway, things are going good. He came over for a couple days last week. He was really nice, thanks for asking."
"Ok, well, to get to the real reason I called..." He said.
"Cause it's not enough to just talk with me?" She joked.
"I got the frames." He said.
"What? Really?" He had ended up calling his genius friend in to help him, after having a hard time to clarify them.
"Yep. I can send them to you if you want?" He said.
"No, I'm about to pull on to the highway." She said.
"Ok, we'll be there in about 3 hours, you wanna meet at the regular spot?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'll be there. And Alex, thanks." She said.
"Don't thank me yet, you may not be happy with who it is. Talk to you soon Let."
Three and half hours later she arrived at the small restaurant they frequented while in Orlando. Due to the major traffic jam, the guys had beaten her there.
"Hey, sorry I'm so late." She said, taking a seat.
"No, we just got here. We haven't even ordered yet." Jamie said.
Just the waitress came over and everyone ordered.
"So do you all know who it is?" Lettie asked.
"No, Shelley wouldn't tell us." Jamie complained.
"I feel bad enough for knowing before she does. I wasn't about to tell anyone else." Alex smiled.
"Well, come on, show me." Lettie said, nervously shaking her leg. Alex pulled out his lap top and handed it to Lettie. She gasped as she scrolled through the stills. After looking at them four times, she passed the laptop to an anxiously waiting Jamie and Sabin.
"So, what are you going to do?" Sabin asked, as they all finished their lunch.
"I don't know. I still can't believe its him." She sat there for a few minutes thinking.
"If you need any help, just let me know." Alex said.
"Thanks. I think I'm going to take a drive, clear my mind a little before going to the arena. If I need you I'll call." She said, throwing some money on the table before saying bye to everyone. She found herself at the lake. She pulled her hair back, and slid on some over sized sun glasses, as she stepped out of the car. For as nice as the day was, the lake wasn't as crowded as she expected it to be. She took one of her favorite paths, that lead you right to the lake front. She found a bench and sat down, thinking for a few minutes, before it hit her. She looked at her watch. Most everyone would be there by now. If she could time it right, she could catch him at her car. She jogged back to her car, and made it to the arena in record time. She pulled a thin sweater on over her tank top, and grabbed her bags out of the trunk. She walked in just like always, where she met Jamie, who took her bags. She knew it wouldn't be long. She had parked fairly close to the hall, so she could hear. Finally she heard the noise she was waiting for. Foot steps. She peered around the corner, and smiled slyly to herself, as she stepped out and folded her arms across her body. She felt like all the air was pulled out of the building. Maybe it was her deep breaths that caught his attention, as she forced herself to remember how to breathe.
He froze, one hand pulling up her windshield wiper, the other placing the rose. There was no place to go, no way to hide what he was doing.
"Can I help you, Mercer?" She asked.