Chapter 12: Paid In Full


AJ grabbed her bag and jumped into her rental and she knew this was a safe place for her to cry. She had been imagining being with Punk again but not like that, rough and against a door only to be crushed some more when his new girlfriend walked in the room right after. But the smug face he made at her when she introduced Jamie as his 'girlfriend' hurt her even more. He wanted her to feel this way, the same as he did.

She headed to her hotel and as she entered the lobby and waited by the elevator. She just wanted to forget all about Punk and Jamie for the rest of the night. This was not how she wanted to start out her new job. As soon as the elevator doors opened Punk and Jamie were laughing as they stepped off together.

"Hi" Jamie said with a smile as she walked out ahead of Punk

"April" Punk said politely as he lightly tapped Jamie on her butt as they passed her. AJ just forced a smile and stepped onto the elevator. Clearly they were heading to the gym, something she and Punk did together but again she wouldn't let him win or let him see he was getting the best of her.

As she entered her room she gasped upon seeing a familiar face sitting in a chair in her room.

"Not tonight" AJ muttered shaking her head

"It's been a while" Christian told her coolly as he placed his drink down and stood up "I've missed you" he said kissing her cheek lightly

"Get out" AJ instructed annoyed

"I just wanted to wish you luck. I'm proud of you April" Christian told her

"Right" AJ bit back "I'm sure you're really proud"

"I am" Christian confirmed "You've proven me wrong and I'm man enough to admit it"

"Not man enough to take a hint though" AJ muttered

"I've left you alone" Christian defended

"Jack still follows me" AJ reminded him "It's annoying"

"Life isn't fair April" Christian said to her "How's Phillip?"

"You should know that I don't have any contact with him" AJ told him

"I do know that and for that I'm happy" Christian told her bluntly "I was thinking we could have dinner tonight"

"I'd rather throw myself out of this window" AJ shot at him

"Stop with the dramatics" Christian laughed

"Get out or I'll call security and believe me I know you don't have any money in this hotel, I double check now" AJ said folding her arms

"It still won't keep me out of your room" Christian grinned "But before I go can we at least discuss your hair? It's far too dark and long-"

"Out!" AJ yelled opening the door

"April this isn't going to last" Christian told her as he walked towards the door

"It's been six months Christian" AJ reminded him "And I'm doing just fine"

"Life changes in a day" he said smugly "I'll see you again shortly" he said as AJ slammed the door in his face.


As Christian entered the lobby he spotted Punk grabbing two bottles of water and heading towards the gym and couldn't resist. He smiled lightly then headed into the gym that was fairly empty.

"Mr. Brooks" Christian said coming up behind him. Punk was joking around with Jamie when he heard the familiar voice he had thought he had forgotten.

"What the hell do you want?" Punk asked turning around

"I saw you passing by and thought I'd say hello" Christian told him calmly "Hi there" he said reaching to shake Jamie's hand but Punk slapped it away

"Give us a minute" Punk said to Jamie who looked worried but just nodded and walked away

"Not much of an upgrade from April" Christian noted

"Don't look at her" Punk warned "And don't even try to talk to her"

"There's that loyal protective side" Christian beamed "You're like a dog in that way…and other ways"

"Don't come near me again" Punk warned "I owe you for that beating I took a few months back"

"I read about that in the paper. It was terrible but I was in Puerto Rico during that time" Christian reminded him

"Right" Punk smirked "Get out of here"

"April just said the same thing to me" Christian left "It's weird how you two didn't work out and you both are so similar"

"Is that way you follow me around?" Punk asked "I hate to break it to you but I don't swing that way"

"I don't either but you know that already" Christian said to him

"Don't come around anymore" Punk warned "Leave me alone"

"Wherever April is where I'll be" Christian told him "Looks like you and I are going to be spending more time together"

"She doesn't want anything to do with you" Punk reminded him "You're looking more pathetic than you did before"

"I'm making headway I think" Christian told him smugly "April and I have unbreakable bond"

"Whatever" Punk said brushing it off "Keep it to yourselves and stay out of my way"

"You're really mad at her" Christian laughed "That's cute"

"That's what you wanted right?" Punk asked him tilting his head "You've got your wish so now you can obsess over AJ all you want without my interference"

"You wouldn't mind?" Christian asked

"Help yourself" Punk mocked as he started to turn around

"Maybe I'll go upstairs right now" Christian said to him "She's in room 615 as a matter of fact." He said out loud "I'm mad at her too Phil" he told him as Punk slowly turned around "Difference between us is I know what do with my anger." He said to him coldly "April was terrible to us both but don't worry Phil" he said as he leaned over to him "I'll leave a few marks for you" he said with a wink as he pulled away then walked out of the room leaving Punk speechless.

"Baby?" Jamie asked walking over to him "Are you ready?"

"No" Punk said to her "I've got to go check on something start without me" he said suddenly not liking the idea of Christian being so close to AJ

"But Punky" Jamie pouted

"Sorry I've got to go" Punk said quickly before he literally ran out of the gym, leaving Jamie on her own.


Punk took the stairs all the way to the sixth floor knowing it would be faster than waiting for an elevator. He remembered Christian saying AJ was in room 615 and jogged down to her and banged on his with his close fist.

"AJ!" he yelled waiting for her to open it "AJ open this door or I will kick it down!" he yelled but there was no response and now he was nervous. He knocked a few more times but still no response "Damn it!" he yelled loudly looking around then decided to just kick the door in. He looked around the room and saw no one there.

"What the hell are you doing!" AJ yelled walking out of the bathroom in a robe and her hair still wet, she was obviously just in the shower.

"Where is he?" Punk asked looking around and walked into her bathroom

"Who?" she asked confused

"I saw Christian downstairs he said he was coming up here" Punk told her

"He was already here like twenty minutes ago" AJ told him "He left"

"He's still here" Punk warned

"Did you really break my door?" AJ asked annoyed trying to close it

"How can you be so calm about this?" Punk demanded

"Because he does this when he's bored" AJ told him "He's been showing up randomly for the last six months. He doesn't do anything"

"He did something one time" Punk reminded her and that caused her to flash back to her encounter with Christian when she broke up with him

"Why are you here?" AJ asked annoyed

"He said he was coming up here" Punk defended now questioning himself as to why he raced up here "I just wanted to make sure he didn't hurt you"

"How noble" AJ muttered "An hour ago you told me you hated me"

"I don't want you hurt" Punk said to her

"We had sex" AJ reminded him "And you have a girlfriend!"

"We've done that before" Punk said with a shrug "You didn't mind when Beth was my girlfriend"

"How could you be so cold?" AJ questioned

"What did you expect from me AJ?" Punk asked annoyed "To sit and wait for you? I did! For two months! You never returned my messages! You never called me back! You moved out of your hotel and didn't even tell me where you were going! What did you want from me!" he yelled passionately

"I wanted you to understand!" AJ yelled back "I did this to protect you!"

"How sweet" Punk mocked "So I was still supposed to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs and just wait for you? You think that's fair? After everything I did for you?"

"Why can't you understand I did this for you?" AJ questioned

"I don't need your protection, I still don't and as a matter of fact I don't need you all" Punk told her coldly

"Same here" AJ said to him "Don't break down my doors and rush to save me from anything I can take care of myself"

"You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me!" Punk shouted the reminder at her

"Go back to your girlfriend" AJ instructed him

"I think I will" Punk told her smugly

"She must be great seeing as how you couldn't wait to get your hands on me" AJ shot at him "Shows what kind of man you truly are"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Punk questioned

"It means you've cheated on your last two girlfriends with me!" AJ yelled "Good thing we didn't last because I'm sure you would have done the same to me"

"Probably" he told her bluntly "It is good you left when you did because I probably would have gotten bored quickly. And you really didn't have much to offer me anyway"

"Is this what you do when you're hurt?" AJ asked folding her arms "You lash out and try to be as hurtful as possible?"

"No I do this all the time" Punk spat at her "This is who I am and it's who I've always been"

"You weren't like this when we first met" AJ pointed out

"Yes I was" Punk told her "You were just blind"

"I guess I was" AJ said to him "Leave me alone Phil" she sighed "I can't deal with you anymore."

"Fine just don't come crying to me when you get in over your head again" Punk said to her

"I never went to you- you came to me!" AJ pointed out "And I don't need you I've never needed your help"

"You were all too happy to take it though" Punk shot at her "You didn't exactly beg me to stop supporting your family when I told you I was. You just needed a new man with money"

"Oh speaking of that" AJ said walking over to her purse and pulling out a check "It's all the money you gave to my family while you were helping them" she said passing him the check "Plus interest. I was going to give it to you earlier but I got distracted"

"Good" Punk said accepting the check

"Now I owe you nothing" AJ said to him

"Except your career" he shrugged slightly

"I'm the one with the talent" AJ reminded him

"And I'm the one that made sure it got recognized" Punk said to her

"Woah" a voice said entering the room "What happened to your door?" Punk looked at the new person entering the room oddly

"Hi" AJ said nervously "I'm not ready yet" she told him

"It's cool I can see you're busy" John Cena said to her then looked over to Punk "You need more time?"

"Yea I just have to get changed" AJ told him "And Phil was just leaving. Bye Phil" she said coldly

"Are you sure? I didn't mean to interrupt" Cena said looking at her

"Yup we're finished" She said glaring towards Punk who just held back laugh and walked past John and out of the room.


Punk headed down the hall and almost made it to the elevator before John Cena stopped him.

"Punk wait up!" John shouted jogging after him

"What?" Punk asked annoyed

"There's nothing going on between us" John told him "I know you two used to have a thing a while back but this is professional. Vince wants us to work and angle with Ziggler and I just wanted to get to know her"

"Knock yourself out" Punk said with a shrug as he waited for the elevator "She's not my business anymore"

"I don't know what's going on between you two-" John started but Punk interrupted

"Nothing is going on" Punk shot at Cena annoyed "Go take her out to dinner and take her back to your room and give her the second best night of her life for all I care"

"Second best?" Cena smirked

"You'd never compare to me boy scout- in or out of the ring" Punk told him smugly

"It's strictly professional" John assured him

"Like I said" Punk said as the doors opened "not my business" then walked on and left John standing there.


As soon as Punk ran up the stairs Jamie stepped out of the gym and watched as he ran towards the stairwell doors.

"He seemed to be in a hurry" Christian smirked behind Jamie

"What did you say to him?" Jamie asked turning to face him

"Don't worry about that" Christian said to her

"I am worried" Jamie said nervously

"You're not getting paid to worry" Christian reminded her

"Right" Jamie muttered "What are you doing here Christian?"

"I came to see how you were doing" He told her "I wanted to make sure you were keeping him occupied but clearly you're not enough for him. One subtle threat towards April and he races to her rescue. You've failed"

"I walked in on them in his locker room" Jamie told him ignoring his comments

"What were they doing?" Christian asked

"Apparently arguing but she looked messy and he was sweaty" Jamie told him "My guess is your perfect little angel had dirty locker room sex with him" she smirked

"I thought we fixed this problem" Christian groaned

"Apparently not" Jamie shot at him

"Well then I guess paying you is useless" Christian frowned "You can't even do this"

"I'm doing the best I can" Jamie defended "He's a real jerk you know. And he doesn't exactly open up easily. I've asked him about April ten times tonight and all he said was that she was new and he knew her from her time with the company before. Is he up there with her right now?"

"I would bet my fortune on it" Christian said to her "I needed him away from you though so I could get an update"

"Well not much new to report" Jamie said to him "So what are you going to do?"

"You're going to have to work harder" Christian told her "Or do you not like your weekly paychecks? It's a lot more than what you made on the corner in Vegas isn't it?"

"I'm trying" Jamie frowned "Like I said he's pretty closed off"

"Open him up" Christian demanded "It's been two months now"

"I don't know what you want me to say" Jamie said to him but he caught her chin wish his hands and squeezed as hard as he could

"I want you tell me you're sorry and you'll do better" Christian told her coldly and she nodded as her eyes filled with fear

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I'll do better" Jamie promised

"Good girl" Christian said releasing her "I'll check in again next week"

"Ok" she said lightly rubbing her chin.


At dinner in the hotel AJ sat across from John and they chatted about some of his matches and how it was going to be with working with him.

"So Punk didn't seem to happy to see me" John said to her

"Is that anything new?" AJ asked sipping on her water

"I suppose not" John chuckled "I don't want to cause any problems between you two, I spoke to him and told him this was a professional dinner"

"Believe me there's nothing going on between us" AJ told him

"But there used to be" John pointed out

"About six months ago" AJ smirked "And it didn't last"

"I heard rumors about that actually" John admitted

"I'm sure you did" she said back

"It seems like it was pretty serious" John said to her "I remember the beating he took a few months back"

"Yea" AJ said sadly as she flashed to that night and receiving that phone call "But it's over and it's been over since than"

"He cares about you" John informed her

"I didn't realize you and Phil were such good friends" AJ teased

"Oh we're not but I have never heard anyone call him Phil besides his sisters" John said to her "But from the little time that I've known you I could already tell you that you could better" he smirked

"I can't be with anyone at the moment" AJ confided

"Crazy ex-boyfriend?" John questioned as AJ looked at him oddly "I hear things" he defended lightly

"Something like that" AJ said to him "And if your girlfriend wasn't here upstairs waiting for you I never would have agreed to this dinner or you could have been on his list next"

"Christian Scott doesn't intimidate me and you shouldn't let him intimidate you either" John told her seriously "Sure he's powerful but you have a voice, use it"

"It's more than that" AJ admitted "I just want to work and move on from it all"

"Well you're working and you're going to be getting a great push so now just focus on the moving on thing" John told her

"I'm trying" AJ said to him "I worked here before but now that I'm starting out on the main roster I'm really nervous. I feel like I have to relearn everything"

"You will" John told her "And I know you lost your teacher in Punk but I'm here too" he assured her "I'll show you the ropes don't worry"

"I appreciate that" AJ smiled


Punk and Jamie headed back to his room after working out for over an hour and she knew she had to work on this relationship before she ended up losing her job or worse.

"So who was that guy?" Jamie questioned

"Some idiot" Punk said as he kicked off his shoes

"He seemed to really bother you" Jamie noted with a frown

"He does bother me" Punk retorted honestly "He's a rich jackass"

"How do you know him?" Jamie asked

"What's with all the questions?" Punk questioned

"I'm just curious" she shrugged "You are my boyfriend and if someone is bothering you I want to know"

"That's sweet of you but I'm fine" Punk smirked

"Did you used to date AJ?" Jamie asked surprising him "I heard people talking backstage earlier"

"I wouldn't call it dating" Punk said to her honestly "We fooled around a bit"

"Were you two close?" Jamie asked

"More questions" Punk snorted

"I have a right to know" Jamie defended

"We were close for a very short about of time nothing for you to worry about" Punk assured her "I don't even consider her a friend anymore"

"Good" Jamie smiled "I don't want any competition" she teased

"She's no comparison to you" Punk promised as Jamie grinned happily "You're in a league all of your own"

"So I'm going to shower and wash all this sweat off of myself" Jamie said removing her top "Want to join me?"

"Not tonight" Punk told her surprising her "I'm kind of wrecked from run in with Ryback earlier"

"Ok" she said with a frown then gave him a quick kiss "I won't be long than you can go" she told him and he just nodded.

Punk reached into his pocket and looked at the check AJ had passed him earlier that night and ripped it into two and tossed it into the trash.


A/N: Jamie working for Christian... Cena being a friend...Punk saying hurtful words...alot to discuss...