The cab ride from the airport back to Stu's home had cost Molly about $35, but was worth every penny. After her confrontation with Tori, she asked Stephen to help her reschedule her flight to an earlier one and immediately left for the Toledo airport. Her plan was to pack up her belongings, including Barry, drop him off at the new apartment, and buy a bed to sleep in. Actually, she didn't even care about the bed, she just didn't want to be home when Stu returned. Staying at Stu's home was more trouble than it was worth and she knew the apartment she was moving in to was already vacant. It was time to move.
She could hear Barry's meows through the front door as she approached. Apparently, she hadn't left enough dry food out for him over the past two days. She dropped her luggage in the hallway and grabbed a can of wet food, dropping its contents in the bowl and creating a happy kitty in the process. "Eat fast, because we're outta here," she said.
Opening up the freezer, Molly pulled out the same pint of Ben and Jerry's that Stu had grabbed from her a few nights previous. She frantically ripped off the cover and shoved a spoon-full of delicious CInnamon Buns into her mouth, leaning back against the counter. She pressed the container to her right eye, letting the cool soothe in to her bruise while she chuckled at the thought of the look on the cab driver's face when he picked her up. Pure terror. Molly knew that none of them would stop for her if they could see her face, so she made sure to stand with the hood of her sweatshirt up, even if it was 75 degrees outside. She opened up her purse and took two more aspirin for her headache that just wouldn't quit. It was then she realized it was far too late for her to pick up her apartment keys and decided to turn in for the evening. If she got an early jump on the day she could still be out of the apartment before Stu came home.
She sprawled out on the living room sofa and picked up the instructions for the television Stu had reluctantly wrote out for her. She smiled when she managed to get everything working correctly on the first try. Barry curled up next to her on the sofa while Molly scooped the last few bites of ice cream into her mouth and watched a rerun of 30 Rock. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep on the couch, exhausted from the days activities.
Stu was relieved to see Molly's Honda in the driveway when he arrived home from the airport. He had also rescheduled his flight home to be back in Tampa early. He didn't feel like dealing with the crowds at the airport in the morning and just wanted to get where Molly was. He knew he owed her an explanation. It was 6am and the first signs of sunlight were just starting to creep through the hazy Tampa sky. Stu knew he hadn't left the television on when he left for the airport the other day, so he was pleased to see that Molly had figured out how to turn it on herself, just not how to turn the system off. He walked over to the coffee table to pick up the remote and saw her sleeping soundly on the sofa, Barry curled into her hip.
The sight of her face made him uneasy. She looked far worse than he had imagined. Aside from the bruises, she looked defeated and worried. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, whisps framing her swollen face. A black hooded sweatshirt on top of a hot pink Wonder Woman t-shirt and dark jeans covered her. It wasn't cold in Tampa, but he could tell by the way she rested that she felt cold, alone, and embarrassed. Her clothing was her only means of protection.
The click that the television made when it turned off stirred Molly awake. "Did I scare you?" Stu asked.
"Not this time," she said. "Did I scare you? With my face?" she asked, groggy.
He didn't laugh this time. "It looks really bad, Molly."
"I know," she said quietly as she sat up creating space on the couch for Stu.
He sat down next to her. She could see the sympathy in his light green eyes. "I am very sorry," he began. And that was all it took, Molly's eyes filled up with tears as she fought to keep her lips from trembling. She used the sleeve of her sweatshirt to shield her face. "Molly, I know that nothing I can say to you is going to take back anything that happened. I'm glad Ste took good care of you." She nodded. He had been absolutely wonderful to her in Stu's absence. "I never imagined that anything like this would happen. And I know I said I would protect you."
Molly cleared her throat. "It's not your fault, Stu. I should go up to my room and lay down." She didn't want to discuss this anymore.
"Stay here and rest. I'll make you something to eat and we'll find something to watch on Netflix." His offer was genuine. Stu knew this was his chance to make things right between them. He wanted to help her; he owed her at least this much.
She shook her head. "Look, I know that at some point today Tori is going to show up at your doorstep like some some raged lunatic and try to get back together with you. I shouldn't be a factor in your relationship so if you want to be with her, be with her. Don't let me being here stop you from what you want." She started to walk away.
"It's not what I want," he said. He figured that was enough to get her to come back and engage, but it wasn't. He heard her walk up the first few steps to her room. "That was quite a speech you gave her yesterday." He smiled knowing that would get her attention.
She peeped her head from around the corner of the stairs. "You heard all that?" she asked.
"Stephen and I were hiding. I sincerely doubt she'll be coming over here anytime soon," he said. "I'm proud of you. I just wish you hadn't needed to defend yourself."
"Thank you," she squeaked out. Her head hurt from the pain and all the processing she had had to do over the last 36 hours.
"Get some rest. Let me know if you need anything. I'll make you something to eat later on," he said smiling. "Oh, and Molly?" She turned back. "There would've been something else eventually if this all hadn't happened. And I'm really glad you're here."
She nodded before heading upstairs. Barry was curled up in a ball laying on top of her comforter. Her bed never looked so warm and inviting. She climbed in and curled herself in a ball around Barry. He purred at the contact. She carefully wiped the tears that had fallen from her swollen eyes and held the ice pack in place. "What have I gotten myself into?" she whispered at her cat, who just purred louder at the sound of her voice. She closed her eyes and drifted off to a sound sleep.
"Faster, Tori! I said 'Faster!' You can do better than this!" Bill DeMott yelled from across the gym. Tori was hunched over, pushing a football sled across the gym. Her arms, thighs, and legs were killing her from all the physical tasks FCW trainer Bill DeMott was throwing her way. She collapsed on the ground in tears. "Get up!" Tori's cries turning to wails. Bill rolled his eyes. "Alright, come on. That's enough for the day."
"I'm sorry," she managed to squeak about between sobs.
"I don't need to tell you that you're on thin ice, do I?" He crossed his arms in front of him. Bill DeMott was one of the most intimidating guys to ever set foot inside a WWE ring. His presence was powerful; his words meant something. "Personally, I'm ashamed of what you did to Molly Grimes the other night. That kind of behavior and that sloppy work makes this company look bad. She was throwing punches and you were acting like nothing was happening! Do you know how bad that looks to everyone? You need to figure out if you really want to be here because you love the business or if you want to be here for the fame and glory. I'll tell you right now, sweetheart, you've got a long way to go in this business and you're not making any friends. A lot of people lost a lot of respect for you the other day, myself included." She stared up at him with puppy dog eyes hoping to gain some sympathy, but it was lost on him. "Now, get yourself cleaned up and I'll see you back here at 7:30am. Tomorrow is going to be much, much worse, Victoria."
"Oh come on," Stu said out loud to no one as he jockeyed the xbox controller with his thumb. He lived for his moments of solitude, which had become rarer these days. His game was interrupted by the doorbell, but he took his time answering. He expected to see Tori when he opened the door, but what version of her, he wasn't sure.
"Hey fella." Stephen smiled at his friend, a container of soup from Panera Bread in his hands. "I wanted to check up on Molly, bring her something to eat since I know you don't cook."
"For your information, I was just about to order us a pizza, you wanker. Come on in. She's asleep. I'll go get her," Stu said as he headed toward the stairs.
"You don't have to wake her up," Stephen said. "Just tell her I swung by."
"The doorbell woke me up," Molly said as she came around the corner. "Hi Stephen."
"Sorry, lass," he apologized. "I just wanted to check up on you, bring you some soup." He handed her the container.
"That's sweet. Thank you," she said. Molly was genuinely touched by the gesture. "I don't want to be rude, but I am starving, do you mind?" Both gentlemen shook their heads.
"How are you feeling?" Stephen asked.
"Like a million dollars," she said. "I think some of the swelling has gone down, but I can't really tell." Neither wanted to speak up to tell her it actually looked worse.
"Let me get you some ice," Stu offered. He pointed to the living room. "Go sit on the couch."
"Hey, are you going to order that pizza?" Stephen asked as he followed behind Molly. Stu mouthed "wanker" slowly at Stephen.
Stu vacated the room to make the call. Stephen glanced over his shoulder and waited until Stu was out of earshot. "I thought you were moving out?"
"I had planned on it," Molly began. "But Stu was so sympathetic and apologetic. I kinda feel bad for him right now. She may have beat the shit out of me, but she embarrassed him." Stephen nodded. "And, besides. I kinda figure that as long as I'm here, she may not stop by and bug him."
"His relationship is not your problem, Molly." Stephen's tone was serious.
"I know. The real reason I haven't left is that I fell asleep on the couch. I'm too exhausted to do anything right now," she said.
"If you need my help moving, I'm more than happy to help," he offered. "Even if you want to stay at my place tonight." Barry curled up around Stephen's legs. "He can come too," he said smiling as he reached down to stroke under Barry's chin. "Think about it?"
Molly nodded. "I...I just don't want to build up a reputation," she said. "But that is a very generous offer. Thank you."
"Don't mention it," he said.
Molly sat on the couch between Stephen and Stu, watching John Carter. When Stephen had made the recommendation, she didn't speak up and say how much these types of movies bored her. Despite their gruff demeanor, both men loved nerdy action films. Molly couldn't follow the plot as she was drifting in and out of consciousness. Her head wavered to the left, resting on Stu's shoulder briefly before she shifted and her swollen eye made contact with his shoulder. "Sorry," she mouthed sleepily. Her eyes slowly drifted shut again and her head slumped on to Stephen's shoulder. He tensed up, worried about how to react. Stephen glanced over at Stu seeking approval. Stu rolled his eyes and his friend and nodded. Worried he would wake her, Stephen moved his arm slowly.
"Must be the pizza," Stu said laughing as the sound of the doorbell woke Molly and ended the romantic moment.
"I'll grab it," Molly said as she stretched. She was desperate to get away from the movie.. "You guys have been waiting on me hand and foot." She opened the door to see Victoria Crawford, clad in her finest I'm sorry attire. A white blousey tank top and black leggings gave the illusion that she was angelic, but Molly knew the truth. Molly stood stunned in silence. Tori's eyes were sympathetic as she stared into the face of the damage she had caused. The two women stared at each other momentarily, both unsure of what to say. "Stu?" Molly yelled behind her without taking her eyes off Tori. "It's for you."
Stu stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Tori in his doorway. Molly backed away while mentioning she would go stay at Stephen's house. "That's unnecessary, Molly." He turned his attention to Tori. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Tori smiled hoping to ease the tension of their conversation, but Stu remained guarded. "I came to see you," she said. "I think we should talk about..."
"There's nothing to talk about," he interrupted. "I'd like you to leave."
"I have some things here. Can I get them, please?" she asked. There was a lot of history between Stu and Tori. He had pined after her for years dating back to their days at OVW together. He was 26, she was 21. They had been instructed by officials not to date either Tori or Barbie Blank. This hadn't stopped men from asking out Barbie or stopped Barbie from accepting offers. Tori was different. She didn't seek out the male attention, but instead focused on learning how to wrestle. She had been given an amazing opportunity that she never once took for granted. Stu admired that about her. As she stood before him, he thought back to the type of person she used to be; the person that he fell in love with. A firm hand on his shoulder shook him back from his memory.
"I'm gonna take Molly back to mine so she can get some rest," Stephen said. He glanced at Tori. "Good luck," he said, not taking his eyes off of her.
Stu bit the inside of his cheek. "Come on in."
Wow! Thank you all for the amazingly positive reviews! I am so happy you're enjoying this story. It's been very fun to write and has gone in a completely different direction from what I intended. I really love reading what you all think - your feedback is very helpful and greatly appreciated! Have a wonderful day :)
