The private gym affiliated with the AstroDome was filled with WWE talent the morning after the big Raw event. A few house shows had been scheduled during the week following the Smackdown that evening. Most of the Superstars would be in town for a couple of days and relished the chance to work out in a private, lavish gym with state of the art equipment that included a ring.
Fresh off her triumphant performance the night before, Mallori had been so excited the previous night that she had barely been able to sleep. After a late night dinner and drinks with ShowMiz's Paul Wight and Mike Mizanin, she had retired to her hotel where the grin on her face had remained until she finally had found sleep. Her passion had been renewed. After a quick breakfast alone, she had been the first in the gym that morning.
Like the day at school when the popular clique first accepts the new girl, Mallori had shyly accepted the invite from Mickie James, Barbara or Barbie "Kelly Kelly" Blank, Nattie, and of course her thrilled good friend Serena to work out in the ring. Serena who had only flown into town that morning had greeted her with a hug so powerful that it had knocked Mallori to the ground. But she didn't care. She hadn't felt that great in a long time.
For the most part everyone was being nice or at least nicer to her. Just like in real life, the WWE had its own cliques. On Smackdown it was Michelle McCool and on her onscreen partner, Layla El. Layla was certainly the nicer of the two but they hung together, Michelle clearly the leader of the pair known for their attitudes backstage. Serena, Nattie, and Mickie often hung together while Elizabeth Carolan, known as Beth Phoenix, was nice to everyone but pretty much a loner.
On the Raw brand Victoria Crawford, or Alicia Fox, Barbie, Eve Torres, Gail Kim and Jillian Fletcher were friends while the true divas were Maryse, Melina, and the Bella twins Brie and Nikki Garcia. Melina had been conspicuously absent during the WWE's stint in Houston but her presence had been more than felt. As the ladies had bumped and scrimmaged in the ring, Mallori had more than once felt Maryse, Brie, and Nikki's glares when she had been seen talking to John.
Standing in the corner in full view of the ring, Kofi and John worked together on weights. Taking turns on the bench and spotting each other, the two men were good friends and had often traveled together. The Raw and Smackdown drafts had often split them in their respective careers so it was nice to hang out whenever possible.
"Last night was awesome, man," Kofi smiled as they took a break and he tossed John a bottle of water.
"Yeah it was."
"I have to admit, I was worried. I mean, I saw Smackdown Mallori's first night and you know there is always talk in the locker room. I didn't quite know what to expect but she surprised me."
"What can I say? She's good," John responded. "I think she just let a lot of stuff intimidate her. You know how it is in this business, dude. The only person that can stand in your way is you."
"You got that right," Kofi agreed, enjoying a refreshing swig. "I got to know her last night. Mallori is pretty cool."
John looked over in the ring as he watched her show Barbie the secret to the Camel Clutch.
"Yeah," he said, his voice softening. "She's amazing."
Kofi looked over at his friend before bursting out with laughter.
"John!"
"What?" John wrinkled his nose.
"She's amazing," Kofi mocked. "What's going on, man?"
"What's going on with what?" John repeated innocently.
"You. Her. The googly eyes and that bitch voice that just took over, man. What the hell is wrong with you?" Kofi teased.
John good-naturedly punched his friend.
"Shut up. I do not have googly eyes or whatever the hell you're talking about."
"You hitting that?" Kofi asked.
"No. No, man. Come on. We're cool. We spend a lot of time together because we're partners. You know how that is. May as well talk and get to know each other. We're just friends."
"Alright, alright," Kofi raised his hands. "Didn't mean to touch a nerve. Just a question, bro, an innocent question."
"Well you got your answer."
"I did and that's cool but uh…if you were hitting that…"
"Then what?"
"Then you'd probably be one of the luckiest men working for this company right now," Kofi laughed. "Mallori is fine. And her body…son, her body is sick. She is a beautiful woman but after hanging out with her last night, she is a really nice girl. I mean that. I liked talking to her. She's fun and funny as hell. Very smart and sweet."
John smiled. She was all of those things. He had been seeing that for weeks. Now she was finally coming out of her shell so everyone else could see it too.
"She's cool, especially now that we're in sync in the ring. I guess I could have got stuck with a whole lot worse."
"You two have a lot of chemistry together."
"Chemistry?" John tried to laugh it off.
"I mean it. Just the way you two were interacting last night."
"And how was that?"
"Like two little Cocker Spaniels or something," Kofi joked. "You're cute."
"Dude, get out of here."
"All jokes aside, man, I know you've been through a lot. That Melina thing…that was screwed up. I know it messed with your head for a while. If you're ready to move on and take it to that level again, I think Mallori would be a good match for you."
John looked away. The Melina thing had more than messed with his head. Kofi was his friend and he had confided to him a few times but still only spatterings of what had happened and how he felt. Mallori was a pretty girl and they had fun together but it would take a lot more than that before he was ready for another relationship again, especially with a co-worker.
"Thank you, Cupid but Mallori and I are just friends. She's a good girl but it's not like that. Trust me."
"And Melina?"
John sighed.
"It's over," he stated simply. "Now let's get back to work. Just because I can bench press more than you doesn't give you the right to change the subject. I'm on to you, Kofi."
"Bench press more than me? In your dreams. My grandmother can bench press more than you, Hennigan."
"Looks like I'm just in time," a female voice joined them. "I never miss a good pissing contest."
Kofi smiled.
"Hey Mallori."
"Hey Kofi, hey John. What are you guys up to?"
"Just schooling this fool," John teased.
"You two are funny. Anyway, I'm beat. I was gonna go head back to the hotel."
"We saw you in there," Kofi nodded. "You looked amazing."
Kofi couldn't help himself and stifled a laugh as John shot him a death glare.
"Okkaaayyy. It's way too much testosterone over here and you guys are starting to weird me out. I'll see you both back at the hotel. John, you want to grab lunch?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. Lunch. That sounds cool. Buzz my room."
"You got it. Bye boys," she sauntered off with a grin.
Kofi and John watched as she walked away. They particularly watched the way her workout shorts accented her perfectly formed butt and legs.
"Amazing," Kofi shook his head.
"Man, get over here and spot me."
"You should definitely be hitting that."
"If you don't rack these weights I'm gonna hit you."
John just smiled as his good friend continued to rib him. Kofi was just being dumb. Mallori was a partner, a friend and nothing more. Besides he had been down that road before and it was one he'd think twice about traveling again.
