Rhonda quickly slapped his hand away. "Go to hell you fucking fire bush mick."
He grabbed her chin and squeezed tightly. "Yer going to learn to control yer tongue, lass" he spat venomously at her.
"Fuck you."
"Oh, Ah know yeh want to but not right now. Ah think right now Ah will just sit back and watch yeh and Stu crash and burn."
"I can't believe you right now. Just shut up and go away!"
"This is my house, slag, in case yeh forgot, and Ah am not going anywhere. Besides yeh didn't mind my presence when Ah had my dick in yeh did yeh?"
"That was a mistake. Just leave!"
"Ah'm not the one leaving. Stu blames yeh, remember?"
"Because you are a good fucking liar."
"But Stu doesn't know that. He will kick yeh out soon enough. Ah could have made sure yeh were taken care of."
"I would rather sleep in my car." Rhonda walked out and went down to their bedroom and started packing her stuff. Stephen followed after her and shut the door. "Leave me the hell alone!"
"Where are yeh going?"
"I am leaving. You are fucking crazy and Stu doesn't believe me so there is no reason for me to stay." She took some of her clothes from the drawers and stuffed them in her bag and took things down from the closet. She grabbed her hair brush and make-up and she walked into the bathroom to grab some more of her things and Stephen followed her.
"Yeh know, if yeh just would have given into me, none of this would have happened. This is really yer fault."
"My fault? Because I wouldn't have sex with you? You ruin your friend's reputation all because of that?"
"His reputation isn't ruined. Ah probably helped him. Free publicity and since he is off with an injury, he needs it. If yeh would just have given me a chance, Ah know yeh would want me. Not Stu. There is nothing he can give yeh that Ah can't."
"Have you lost your mind? I care about Stu and am not cheating on him. Even though, I apparently think more of him than he does of me. And as for wanting you, that will happen the very next day after hell freezes over. I would rather fuck a leper than some pasty, Bart Simpson wannabe paddy!"
Stephen was furious and backed Rhonda up against the wall. He grabbed her arms and she raised her leg, and swiftly kneed him in the groin.
"UGH! Fuck! Yer going to regret that, bitch!" he said through a strained voice as he was doubled over.
"Put your grubby hands on me again and you'll get more of the same! You caught me off-guard before, but now I know what a snake you are, and you won't get away with it again. Don't ever touch me as long as you live."
Drew was lying on his bed when he heard the screaming coming from Stu and Rhonda' room. He ran into the room and saw Stephen bending over with an enraged look on his face. He looked at Rhonda and saw the fury in her eyes as well. "What the fuck is going on in here!?"
"Why don't you ask your mate?" She took her bags and stormed passed Drew. She grabbed her keys and purse and ran out the door, still in her pajamas. Stu saw her car speed off and waved her down, but she drove right passed him. He jogged back to the house and found Stephen and Drew squaring off in his bedroom.
"What the bleeding hell is going on!?"
"That's a good fucking question" Drew said, looking at Stephen.
"Ste?"
"She went mental and kicked me in the balls, then took off, mate."
"Where did she go?" Stu asked.
"Ah don't know. She didn't say."
"Ste, why were you in here with her to begin with? What did you do to make her kick you in the nuts?"
"Ah was trying to get her to just tell the truth. Ah said yeh would forgive her if she just 'fessed up. Ah told her she didn't have to go, but maybe it is fer the best. Yeh don't need a woman like her around anyway."
"Fuck. Well, I don't have time to piss with it at the moment. I have to work on damage control. God, I never thought anything like this would happen to me."
"Ah will help yeh any way Ah can mate."
"Cheers. First I have to get that video down somehow."
"How about contacting YouTube and seeing if they will take it down?" Stephen suggested.
"Yeah, I will do that."
It all seemed very odd to Drew. He knew Rhonda was crazy about Stu and didn't seem like it was something she would do. He wasn't convinced that Stephen had nothing to do with it. He didn't want to believe his best friend was that conniving or malicious. But things weren't really adding up. Stephen never said anything to him about Rhonda coming on to him, and Stephen left out the part about having a thing for her. And why would he turn her down if he did want her? All these thoughts were running through his head, wondering if he should tell Stu. He really didn't want to get in the middle, but if Stephen was responsible, he needed to pay for it.
Rhonda drove to the Radisson and carried her bags in. She walked up to the front desk and the manager saw her in her PJs. "Rhonda, what's going on?"
"I had a huge fight with my boyfriend. I had nowhere else to go. Can I check into a room?"
"Oh, I am sorry to hear that. Of course you can."
Rhonda reached for her billfold, "no, don't worry about it. You can stay here for a few days while you and he work it out."
Rhonda felt so relieved and touched that she would be so nice to her, and she barely knew her. "Thank you so much Nina."
"You're welcome. I hope you can patch things up soon."
'Not likely' she thought to herself. Nina looked at the desk clerk "Jodi, comp Rhonda a room please."
She nodded and went to the computer. She registered Rhonda for a room on the 4th floor and programmed her key. "Here you go."
"Thanks you guys. I am going to go up and get some sleep since I got so rudely awakened at 5:30 this morning."
"Okay, sleep well. See you this afternoon."
Rhonda took the elevator up to her room and flung herself on the bed. She looked at her phone and Stu hadn't even tried to call her yet. She crawled under the covers and started to cry into the pillow. She tried to go to sleep and couldn't so she got up and grabbed a drink out of the minibar. She hoped it would settle her nerves so she could rest.
Stu had emailed YouTube help and the video had been removed. He wasn't happy but at least no one else would see it. Paul Levesque called him to find out what the hell happened and he relayed the story to him. He was very displeased that they now had this scandal to deal with. He told Stu he better get to the bottom of it and quickly. He said that he was glad he was off TV so they wouldn't have to work around it. He also instructed Stu not to talk to any media but to let the public relations people handle all of the damage control.
Stephen was acting concerned but inside he was laughing. He had succeeded in compromising Stu's faith in Rhonda and in showing Rhonda that Stu didn't really trust her. He didn't like getting rejected and spurned, so he was determined to make her suffer for her insolence. Now, it wasn't even that he wanted her anymore, but he wanted to punish her.
After Stu got off the phone, he called Rhonda but she didn't answer. He called several times and left voicemails, telling her he wanted to talk. Part of him was angry and hurt, but part of him didn't want to believe she would do such a thing to him. He also didn't want to believe that Stephen would set out to destroy him like that.
Drew spoke up "I am going to go to McDonalds and get some breakfast for us. Looks like it is going to be a long day." He took Stephen by the arm and spoke low "I need to talk to you, mate. Right now. You need to come with me."
"Not now, Drew."
"Oh yes, now."
Once they were in the car, Drew started grilling Stephen. "So are you going to tell me you had nothing to do with this?"
"Ah told yeh already, fella. Ah didn't have anything to do with this."
"It seems very convenient that all this happens after you tell me you still have a thing for Rhonda."
"Well, that was a mistake. Ah didn't know just what kind of woman she was."
"I see. So why didn't you tell me about her hitting on you?"
"Ah didn't think it was yer business."
"Oh aye, and if you had such a thing for her, why would you turn her down, eh?"
"Why are yeh interrogating me like Ah am on the witness stand, mate?"
"Chalk it up to my inquisitive nature. Look mate, I don't know how you did it, but I know you are involved somehow."
"Andrew, seriously? How long have we known each other? Yeh really think Ah would do that to Stu?"
"I know you can be very spiteful when you don't get something you want."
"Well, that may be true, but Ah wouldn't hurt my mate like that." Stephen hated that Drew knew him so well and he remembered that Drew has a degree in criminology. He was afraid Drew was going to bust him eventually.
They rode the rest of the way in silence except for ordering food. Drew was going over everything in his head and things weren't adding up. He hated that he was now in the middle, because he was sure when the truth came out, Stu would probably beat the hell out of Stephen and their friendship would be over. Then he would have to choose between them. He had to say, even though Stephen was his best friend, he would choose Stu.
When they got back home, Stu was sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands. Stephen actually started to feel a little bad, but he figured it would all die down soon enough and life would go back to normal. Drew handed Stu his sack and saw the dejected look on his face. "Rhonda won't answer any of my calls. I don't even know where she is. I shouldn't have let her leave."
"Not to pour salt on the wound mate, but what did you expect. You don't know whether to believe her or not, so why should she stay?"
"I don't know what to think."
"I don't either, but even if she had something to do with it, I don't think she did it alone."
"What do you mean?" Stu demanded to know.
"You just need to figure it out" Drew told him, glaring at Stephen.
Rhonda was finally able to go to sleep and when she woke up, there were several missed calls and texts from Stu. She glared at her phone "fuck you, Stu." She sent him a text back and all it said was "don't worry about where I am."
She went downstairs and clocked in to start her shift. She noticed the woman that was training her, Mandy, kept looking at her funny. Finally Mandy spoke up. "Okay, this may sound crazy, but I saw this video and I swear you look just like the chick in it."
"Really? That's crazy. What kind of video was it?" Rhonda answered, trying to be nonchalant.
"Don't laugh, but it was a homemade porno."
"Oh wow! Really? Me?"
"I know, crazy right? I am a huge WWE fan and this morning I saw this headline about one of the wrestlers doing a sex tape. He is hot, so I checked it out. I'm not going to lie, I did. You look exactly like his girlfriend."
Rhonda nervously laughed "well, they say everyone has a twin right?"
Mandy chucked "yep, they say that. Anyway, I was kinda hoping it was you. That would be completely cool. This man is fine as hell and has a huge dick. He did not disappoint! I felt a little creepy watching it, but I got over it. I would love to have a night with him like that! He definitely knows how to please his woman. She is lucky."
Rhonda's face started to flush. "That's funny. So how many check-ins have we had?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
Later on, she and Mandy ordered pizza and were having a break, just talking. "So, Jodi told me that you are crashing here for a couple of days since you and your old man had a fight."
"Yeah. I am grateful that Nina isn't charging me. We had a massive blow-out first this morning so I took off. I moved down here for him, and now I don't know if I should just go home."
"Where are you from?"
"Cincinnati. Born and raised."
"Wow! That's cool. How did you meet this guy?" Mandy asked.
"He came in the hotel where I was working and we just hit it off. He was on business and I actually ended up flying out to Milwaukee to see him. He asked me to come to Tampa with him, and we have been together ever since."
"Awesome. He must be a really good guy for you to do that."
"Yeah, I thought he was. Until this morning."
"Well, you know what? Do you like wrestling?"
Rhonda looked shocked at her "um, yeah I guess so. Why?"
"Well you know a lot of guys from FCW, which is like the WWE minor leagues live here in Tampa. There is a show tonight and one of the bars here in town they hang out in. My friend Melissa and Dana from housekeeping, and I are going after work tonight. I thought since you are new here, and don't really know anyone, and you could probably use a drink, you might want to come with?"
Rhonda thought about it for a minute. She hadn't met any of the guys from FCW so she figured none of them would know her, and she could use a night out, so she agreed. "That sounds fun. I could use a few drinks actually. Thanks."
"No problem. It's casual so don't worry about dressing up."
"Cool."
"Jo is driving and we brought clothes to change in to, so we'll just wait for you in the lobby."
A few hours later when their shift was over, Rhonda went upstairs to change. She put on some jeans and heels with a halter top. She really didn't pack much since she left in such a hurry. She freshened up her make-up and splashed on some more perfume. She grabbed some money, her debit card and her ID and headed back downstairs. Mandy introduced her and they piled into Melissa's Charger. They drove for a few minutes and pulled into the parking lot of a bar called the Tiny Tip Tavern.
They walked in and headed straight to the bar. She caught someone's eye from across the room and he made a bee-line for her. They were waiting their turn and she felt someone beside her and smelled cologne, but she didn't look. When the bartender came and asked what she wanted, she heard a deep, gravelly voice speak first. "I'll buy this one. I know what she wants: a 7 and 7."
Rhonda turned, knowing that voice. She looked up at his grinning face with dimples shining and smiled. "Jonathan Good! What in the hell are you doing here?!"
He laughed "I finally made it to the WWE. Well, almost."
"My God. Really? I am so proud of you!"
He looked back at the bartender "give me a Heineken please." He turned his attention back to Rhonda "so do I get a hug or what?"
"Oh, of course you do!" Rhonda hugged him tightly and motioned for him to sit down. "Boy, you look amazing!"
"Thanks. So do you. So what the fuck brings you in here?"
"Oh, just out with some girls I work with. Sorry, I don't mean to stare, but damn, I can't believe it is really you!"
Jon laughed "well, I told you I would I would be big time one day."
"You sure did and look at you now! I can't tell you how proud I am."
The bartender handed them their drinks and Rhonda took a sip. "Thanks for the drink. I can't believe you remembered that."
"Shit, of course I did. I couldn't believe someone would ruin whiskey with 7-Up! So how did you end up in Tampa?"
"That is a long, shitty story that I really don't want to get into right now. That is why I am here, to get drunk and forget."
"Hell yeah! Sounds like a plan. We can get fucked up together."
Mandy peeked over Rhonda's shoulder "so who is your friend?"
"Oh, this is Jon. Jon this is Mandy. We work together."
"I thought you didn't know anyone here?" Mandy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh hell, I have known Jon since we were teenagers. He is from Cincy too. I haven't seen him in years though."
"Cool. It really is a small world after all. Well I will let you two catch up then." Mandy walked off to join the other ladies and left them to talk.
"Hey, you care if I smoke?"
"No, go ahead. It is bad for you though" she told him.
"Yeah and so is cheap booze but they haven't got me yet" he said sarcastically as he lit his Marlboro. "So how is your sister? She still married to that douchebag?"
"Unfortunately. They have six kids now."
"Fuck, dude! Six kids! They need to like, learn what causes that."
"I know right!"
"You got some kids?"
"Me? Oh hell no. You?"
"Nope. Fuck that."
"At least none you know about, you should say. I know about all the bitches you were screwing around with!" Rhonda said with a laugh.
He chuckled "dude look, I wrap it before I slap it."
Rhonda laughed so hard she almost spit out her drink. "Good policy."
"Hey, you still suck at shooting pool?" he asked.
"Bet I can still beat you."
"Okay, so why don't you show me?"
"Sure." She took her drink and followed him over to the pool table to start their game. He put in a quarter and racked the balls. "I am even going to be a gentleman and let you break."
After they played for a few minutes, Jon got her another drink. "Maybe you will get better with some more liquor in you" he laughed.
As she was bent over the table, he couldn't help but stare at her. "You know, you still have a nice ass."
She giggled "Still? Well, thanks I think. Glad you approve, but distracting me isn't going to help you win."
"Oh yeah?" He leaned over her and draped his arm across hers. He pressed his hard body against her back "you need some help to make this shot?" he grumbled into her ear.
"Nope" she answered as she slid the pool cue through her fingers, making the ball go into the pocket.
"Damn it!"
Rhonda smirked "nice try though."
After she won that game, they played a few more and had several more drinks. By the time they were finishing their last game, everything was blurry and the ball jokes were flying.
When the last game was over, Mandy told her that the she and the other girls were leaving. "Oh, okay. Jon, I need to go. She is my ride."
"If you aren't ready to go, I will make sure you get home safely. Scout's honor."
Rhonda snickered "pfffft! You definitely weren't a Boy Scout."
"It's an expression."
"Hey, Mandy, I am going to stay here with him, if that's cool."
Mandy pulled her aside. "Are you sure? I heard he has a bad rep and he can be a little crazy and dangerous."
"Jon? No. That's an act. I'll be just fine. Thanks for bringing me."
"No problem. See you at work tomorrow."
As Mandy left, Jon took Rhonda by the arm "okay, more booze."
"Yes! Brilliant idea! Lead the way."
"Let's close this mother fucker down."