You guys are so amazing! I heart you all! I want to give a big shout out to everyone that has read the story so far. I want to send a special 'Thank You' to AngelsDestiny22, KimmieCena, angelshavetheirwickedschemes, psion53, Randy4rkocenahardy, ElleEnein, lookitsria, xDarlingNikki, adb226, and AmyFazz. You guys rock! \m/ (^.^) \m/ Here's chapter 10. Enjoy!
Two Months Later:
"Thank you. Have a good day." I handed the gentleman his bag and smiled pleasantly at him. I held it in place till he let the door shut behind him and then I let the fake happiness fade from my face. I stepped from behind the counter and went back to working on the front tables.
I had been working for Gary for just over two months. I really liked my job. It and waiting tables at the bar two blocks away three nights a week, kept me busy. Kept my mind occupied.
"Hey, Emery." Gary walked into the front. "Nice display." He nodded towards the table I had been working all morning.
"Thanks." He patted my shoulder.
"You did a good job." He walked behind the counter to check on the totals so far. "We just got our shipment of magazines in. Would you put the new ones out and strip the old ones for me?"
"Sure." I headed to the back and rolled out the couple of boxes of new magazines out to the newsstand. When I would pull a new issue out of the box, I would take the previous months issue off the stand and replace it with the new ones. I would spend a few hours 'stripping' the cover off the old issues when I was finished. We would send those 'stripped' covers back to the distributor and get credit for the ones we didn't sell.
I worked steadily for awhile, humming along with the music that was playing overhead. I paused when I came to the WWE magazine. The six magazines were wrapped in plastic with a packing slip over the cover so I couldn't see who got it this month. I pulled the two we still had from last month.
I couldn't help the little smile that came across my face. Shawn Michaels and Triple H were smiling back at me. I sat them in the box of last month's issues and started to open the plastic surrounding the magazine. I pulled out the packing slip, wondering who was on the cover. Maybe it was John. Cena hadn't had the cover in about six or seven months. He was due another one. I laid the packing slip in the pile with the rest of them.
I grabbed the top of the magazine to pull them out of the plastic. I froze with them half way out when I noticed who was on the cover. The picture started to blur as my eyes filled up and I pulled them the rest of the way out. Thank God I was already sitting on the stool cause my knees would have failed me.
Legacy was smirking at me from the cover. All three of them. Randy, Ted...and Cody. I softly drew a fingertip across his picture, a couple of tears rolling down my face. I clutched the top magazine to my chest and quickly put the others away. I finished the last pack of magazines and cleared up my mess.
I ran back to the register and rang up the magazine. I went to the back, shoving it into my bag. I went and found Gary in the small kitchen.
"Gary, do you mind if I head home early today? I feel a migraine coming on. Is that okay?"
"Sure, Emery. You go on home and get some rest. Feel better, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks." As quickly as I could, I rushed to my car before I lost it. I sat in my car for a good five minutes, crying hard. I didn't realize that just seeing him would be this hard. Yeah, I cried all the way home.
Thank God, no one was at home. Dad had class until 4pm and normally spent an hour, an hour and a half in his office before he came home. Mom was the librarian at one of the local high schools, so she was still at school too, at least for another hour.
I went straight up to my room, locking the door behind me. I sat down on the foot of my bed. I took a deep breath and pulled the magazine out of my bag. I sucked back a sob when I flipped through it and came across their article. I wanted to read it but I couldn't stop looking at the picture of Ted and Cody on the second page. Just like I had at work, I stroked Cody's picture over and over, crying. God, I missed him so much. I rubbed at the hollow aching pain in my chest, the spot where my heart used to be. The heart I had left back in Marietta.
I sat there a good 15 minutes, crying my heart out before I could pull myself together. I knew what I needed. I got a pair of scissors off my desk and cut out the picture. I shoved the magazine under my bed. I sat down at my desk, opened my journal and started writing the newest letter. When I finished, I stuck the picture in that page and closed my journal.
Did I feel better? Maybe a little. Did I still miss Cody? God, yes. More than I had words for. I got up from my desk and crawled into bed. I found Cody's shirt that I kept hidden under my pillow. I clutched it to my chest as I curled into a ball and cried myself to sleep.
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A month later:
Ted waited until Cody cleared the door before he got up. He knew Cody's saying 'I left my carry-on in the car' was just a ruse. He knew exactly what Cody was going to do. Ever since things had happened with Emery a little over four months ago, Cody had been going steadily down hill. He had become distant and sometimes confrontational. Ted thought for sure Cody and Randy were gonna come to blows when Cody picked a fight with Fallon. Now, she wasn't talking to him, at all. But lately he had been sneaking around and doing something he knew would piss Emery off.
Cody had been drinking. Not that Emery had a thing against drinking. She just didn't do it herself and she hated watching people getting drunk. She always said, 'There's no reason in the world to get so wasted that you can't control yourself or even remember what you did the night before. It's just stupid and a waste of time.' Just the thought of Emery...Ted knew how much he missed her. He couldn't even fathom how Cody felt. That was probably why he was doing what he was doing.
Every night after work, Cody had been drinking till he pretty much passed out. And for the last week or so, he had been slipping out to the back lot and drinking at work. He didn't get drunk. He would just say that he needed to take the edge off.
Ted had been trying to talk to Cody, trying to keep him from screwing up his career. He blew him off at every chance. Told him to fuck off repeatedly. To mind his own damn business.
Cody's downward spiral was not only destroying him, it was ruining his relationships with his co-workers and his friends.
Ted made his way down the hall quickly. He knew by doing this, he was risking losing his best friend but it was a risk he was willing to take. He knocked on the door to Stephanie McMahon's office. He opened the door and shut it behind himself. She looked up from her paperwork.
"Ted. What a surprise. Come in, sit down." She motioned to a chair near her desk. He shook his head.
"I won't be long. I'm...I..." He cleared his throat. "I'm worried about Rhodes. I don't want to tell on him cause this isn't Junior High but I think you need to go talk to him. He's in the lot behind the arena where we parked this afternoon."
"Ted, what's going on?" Ted shook his head again.
"He needs to get caught. That's the only way he'll see he has a problem."
"Ted..." He opened the door.
"I gotta go." Ted was gone before she could say another word. Stephanie sighed. That was completely out of character for Ted. She stood up. Because that was so out of character, she decided she should at least do him the courtesy of checking it out.
Stephanie made her way down the halls, speaking to people here and there. She found the door leading outside to where Ted had directed her. She opened the door and walked through the maze of production trucks. Just as she cleared the last truck, she caught sight of Cody. He was standing at the trunk of one of the rentals. Thinking of how grateful she was that she picked today to wear her soft sole flats, she walked closer.
The closer she got the more it was obvious what he was doing. She recognized the small little tale-tell bottles that Cody lifted to his mouth, quickly emptying the liquid inside. Cody was drinking during work hours. She needed to put a stop to this, right now.
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I dug in my carry-on looking for my stash. I found it, in the bottom of my bag, snug, wrapped up in one of Emery's shirts that I found in my bag about two months ago. Every time I saw it, I dug into the tiny bottles again. I knew I shouldn't be drinking. Emery never drank. But I needed it. I needed the buzz to dull this pain. The constant aching pain deep in my chest every time I saw that shirt, every time I thought about her. And I thought about her nearly every second of every day. The only time I didn't was when I was in the ring. I focused on my job and thought about nothing but the sound of the crowd and my next move. At the end of the night, I drank till I didn't think about anything. Even my beautiful Emery.
I took out three bottles, not even looking at what they were. I downed the first one quickly, cringing at the taste as it burned its way down my throat. I cracked the second one, drinking it just as quickly. I had this weird feeling of someone watching me but I brushed it off. I repeated the actions with the third. I headed to the dumpster to toss the empties/evidence. Just as I was about to throw them in, someone called my nameā¦
"Cody?" I froze, mid-toss, with the bottles still in my hand. If that voice belonged to who I thought it did...
I dropped my hand and slowly turned to find Stephanie standing behind me. Shit.
"What are you doing Cody?" She looked down at my hand, still clutching the bottles.
"Oh...ah...I was just cleaning out the car. Had these in my bag."
"How much have you had today, Cody?"
"What? None." She shook her head like she didn't believe me. "Really. I haven't..."
"I saw you drink the last two. You know better than this Cody. What the hell are you thinking?" I dropped my head.
"More like trying not to think." I mumbled. Stephanie stepped up close to me, putting her hand on my shoulder.
"I know. This is rough, I know but you can't do this to yourself." She stopped for a second and hit me with the guilt bomb. "She wouldn't want this for you." I couldn't say anything in my own defense. "You know this is grounds for immediate termination, right?" I nodded, knowing I had done this to myself no matter what my head told me. My heart would never let me blame Em for this. Ever. "We've known each other for a long time haven't we?" Again, I just nodded. "So that's why I'm gonna approach this as a friend and not your boss. Go back to the hotel and sleep it off. I'll write you out for tonight. I'll tell everyone you're sick." She physically lifted my head so that she could my face. "Don't ever let me catch you drinking at an arena again. You know there's no next time, right?"
"Yeah, I do. I'm sorry." She just hugged me quickly and walked away. I had barely gotten out of that.
Damn it! Strike two.
I would really appreciate if you keep the reviews coming. Please take a couple of seconds and let me know how I'm doing. Since you guys are awesome, as soon as I get my 10th review for this chapter, I'll post the next one. Thanks! =^.^=
