Chapter 14
Cake testing is at 11. Not going, my Mom is still upset from yesterday. Enjoy without me.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Lilianna tossed her phone to the side and shook her head, already feeling tears sting her eyes. Roman didn't care about this wedding at all, not after his mother ducked out of the planning. What was the point in marrying a man who would always side with his mother and not his wife? Lilianna exhaled a shaky breath and knew what she had to do, thinking long and hard about it for the duration of the night. Jecina stayed up with her, both venting about the men in their lives. She didn't understand what had gotten into Moxley, but then again, the man was known for his volatile mood swings. Honestly, she had her own problems and floundering relationship to deal with. Jecina could handle her own with Moxley, there wasn't a doubt in Lilianna's mind about that.
"If he's not going, I'm not going either." Lilianna muttered, refusing to text her fiancé back and shed the towel to get dressed for the day.
A simple white tank top and tan shorts – nothing fancy. She swept her blue hair up in a high ponytail and twisted it to make it a messy bun on top of her head. Slipping her brown sandals on, Lilianna contemplated what to do with her day and wondered if the girls would be interested in going shopping downtown. Pensacola had some amazing shops and they had to set Gabriella's plan into motion with her secret lover. Speaking of that…who was he? He worked for the company and wrestled sporadically; those were the only clues she gave and it puzzled both Lilianna and Jecina. Grabbing her phone, Lilianna deleted Roman's text messages and pressed Gabriella's name in the contacts to call her. Just then, a soft knock came at the door followed by Jecina stepping inside moments later, freshly showered and not looking happy.
"Who are you calling?" Jecina asked, needing to get her mind off what just happened between her and Jon. He was still lying to her and stormed out of the suite to go work out after she confronted him about it.
"Gabi. Hold on." Lilianna held her hand up in a one second gesture just as Gabriella's voice sounded in her ear. "Hey girl, what are you up to?"
"Nothing much, how are you feeling?" Gabriella had been worried about her friend ever since the blowup at the dress/tux shop the previous day.
"I'm fine. Jecina and I are going downtown to shop for a while and we were wondering if you'd like to tag along. Maybe we can even visit that shop I told you about…" Lilianna smirked over at Jecina, seeing her nod and knew she could use some time away from Moxley since he wasn't being truthful with her. "We're ready to go, can you be ready in 15?"
Gabriella wasn't sure about this idea of Lilianna's and groaned, hoping she didn't regret doing this. "Sure…" It sounded like Lilianna wasn't taking no for an answer and, after the fiasco the previous day, Gabriella figured this would be a perfect escape for her friend. Just grin and bear it, she thought, hanging up a few minutes later to get ready.
"So, let me guess: Roman called or texted you this morning and it pissed you off." Jecina surmised once Lilianna ended the call, sitting down on the bed.
Lilianna heaved a sigh, nodding. "I can't keep anything from you. Damn it, I hate how well you can read me. That asshole texted me this morning saying he was skipping the cake appointment because his mommy is still upset and she needs him. What kind of bullshit is that? He doesn't even care about this wedding, so I'm not going to care either."
"Are you kidding me? He actually texted you that and didn't have the balls to at least call you?" Jecina could feel her temper rise and took Lilianna's phone to look at the text message herself, gritting her teeth to the point of gnashing. "What the hell is wrong with him?! Has he always been up his mother's ass like this?"
Shrugging, Lilianna sat on the bed beside Jecina and buried her head in her hands. "Honestly, I don't know. Because of how much travel goes with our jobs, we hardly come home. Hell, I barely got a day here when I agreed to move in with him before we had to go back on the road to work. So, I haven't been around his mother this much or seen them interact. Ever since he turned the wedding plans over to her because of our hectic schedule, he's changed and not for the better." She sucked in another shaky breath and shut her eyes, deciding to tell Jecina what she planned on doing once they were back on the road. "I'm…calling it off."
"Lili…"
"I'm serious. I thought long and hard about this all night. Actually, I've been thinking about it ever since Roman started pulling his bullshit with this wedding." The last few months had been pure hell on Lilianna and she was fed up with everything, especially Lisa. "If I can't have a wedding that's to MY standards and what I want, I don't want it at all. He can marry his mother or find another bitch who is willing to put up with his momma boy ways. I love him, but I love myself more and have more self-respect than bowing to every whim his mother wants…to every whim HE wants. I did it for Randy and look how that turned out. I vowed to never again be in a situation where I bowed to whatever the man wanted. Roman knows what I've been through and he doesn't care or he wouldn't be pulling this shit and siding with his mother on everything. So, I'm done. I'm calling off the wedding and we can either stay engaged for a while longer until he agrees to elope or go our separate ways."
Jecina chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, not blaming her best friend one bit for how she felt about this situation. If the roles were reversed, she would've told Roman to go to hell and called off the wedding long ago. All Lilianna wanted to do was marry the Samoan idiot and have his babies, not minding eloping or having a small wedding. But his mother had turned it into a fiasco and drove such a huge wedge between Lilianna and Roman, the bride was now calling everything off. Wrapping an arm around Lilianna's shoulders, Jecina let her friend cry on her shoulder and soothed her the best way she could. This was killing Lilianna and Jecina felt helpless because there was absolutely nothing she could do to take the pain away or make things better.
"Tell me I'm doing the right thing and I'm not being stupid. And don't say it just because I told you to. Tell me truthfully if I'm doing the right thing, Jeci." Lilianna pleaded, sniffling and wiped tears away from her eyes, looking into her best friend's emerald orbs full of sympathy.
Jecina cupped Lilianna's face in her hands and rested her forehead against hers. "You are doing the right thing. I'm just so sorry he won't get his head out of his ass in time to see what he's doing is wrong. But don't ever doubt yourself and go with your gut instincts. You are doing what you feel is best for you and there's nothing wrong with that. If it was me, I'd do the same thing."
Smiling sadly, Lilianna felt a big weight lift from her shoulders and hugged Jecina tightly around the neck. "Thank you, sis. I needed to hear that." She whispered heartfelt, pulling back and stood from the bed to wipe the rest of the tears from her eyes and cheeks. "Okay enough of the heavy, let's get going and pick Gabi up. By the way, I heard you and Moxley arguing. Everything okay?"
"Nope, he's not being honest with me. Something is bothering him and he won't talk to me about it. So, I confronted him about it this morning and he snapped at me and stormed out to go do his work out. Until he's ready to come clean to me about what's eating away at him, I have nothing to say to him." Jecina knew better than to push Jon to talk; when he was ready, he'd come to her and until then, she had to give him space and time. "Don't worry about me. You've got enough to worry about with your own personal life. I'll be fine. It's just another bump in the road for us."
"Well if you need someone to talk to, you can always come to me." Lilianna placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and squeezed gently. "We both could use a distraction. Sex shop with Gabi is the perfect escape."
Jecina laughed softly. "She's going to kill us before the day is out, you know that, right?"
"It'll be worth it."
"Do we really have to do this?" Gabriella eyed the shop suspiciously with the XXX on the front in bold black lettering and looked back at her friends skeptically. "There's gotta be another way to get the answers I want from him."
Rolling her eyes, Lilianna shoved the timid woman toward the front door and winked back at Jecina, who couldn't stop laughing. "There is nothing wrong with having a little kink in your sex life. Trust me, he'll probably enjoy being tied up by you."
"I – I don't know…" Gabriella groaned, knowing she was outnumbered 2 against 1 and reluctantly pulled open the door to step inside the sex shop. "Oh my god…" Her entire face turned the same color as her hair at all the…items hanging on the walls. "Umm…"
"Handcuffs. Need handcuffs…and possibly silk ribbon or rope." Lilianna walked past the mortified woman down an aisle, tapping her chin thoughtfully and stopped, sifting through the racks. "Here we go…come here, Gabi."
Hesitantly, Gabriella obeyed and looked at all the different kinds of handcuffs, rope and other items to subdue a person during intimacy. What the HELL had she gotten herself into? And how did Lilianna discover this side of sex? Lilianna shoved a pair of soft furry black handcuffs in her hands and Gabriella had to admit, it didn't feel too bad. Maybe there was a sex deviant inside of her, a dominatrix, she didn't know about.
"What would you be more comfortable with? Handcuffing him to the bed or tying him up?"
"More important question: Who the hell is this guy? And what does Baron think about this?" Jecina could tell Baron was extremely protective of Gabriella and how close they were. "I'm sorry, but I'm really curious and we're your friends. You can tell us anything. We won't blab it all over the locker room."
Gabriella shook her head, remaining steadfast in keeping her word to her lover. "I can't, I'm sorry Jecina. Believe me, when the time is right, I'll be able to tell you guys, but not right now. I don't break promises and as for Baron…why would he care who I'm with? We're just friends." He'd made that perfectly clear down in NXT and never gave her any indication he wanted more than friendship with her.
The way Baron looked at Gabriella, when she wasn't looking, told a completely different story though. Jecina wasn't blind; the man cared a great deal for the fiery redhead and obviously hadn't come clean about his feelings. Gabriella didn't see it though and Jecina wondered if she ever would before it was too late. Whoever this secret lover was, he had her friend twisted up and eventually it would only lead to heartbreak unless what they had turned into an actual relationship. None of this was for Jecina to say; Gabriella had to figure everything out on her own, including how Baron truly felt.
"Just friends, eh? God, I don't see how the hell you could be just friends with that man and not want to fuck him senseless." Lilianna had her blunt moments and this was one of those times. "The man is gorgeous from head to toe. Those tattoos and black hair…the way he carries himself…if I wasn't in love with another man, I'd jump him so fast it'd make his world spin." She nudged Jecina, trying to get her in on the conversation. "Admit it, Baron is fuckable."
"He's good looking and definitely easy on the eyes." Jecina admitted with a sheepish smile, watching the different displays of emotion cross Gabriella's face. One of them was jealousy. "There's also nothing wrong with a woman and a man being friends either, even if both are attractive."
The one secret Gabriella swore to take to her grave was about to come out full force and she couldn't stop the next confession that came out of her mouth. "I never wanted to be just friends with him." Her sky blues lowered to the carpeted floor, Gabriella suddenly finding her shoes more interesting than the conversation.
Both Jecina and Lilianna looked at each other and then back at Gabriella, their eyes wide in shock. "What do you mean?" They both asked simultaneously, each standing on either side of their friend to give her support.
"N-Nothing, it's nothing. I shouldn't have said anything. Let's just buy these," Gabriella jingled them, turning her back on both women. "And check out." That was her subtle way of telling them she didn't want to talk about what was just confessed…about Baron.
After they checked out with the handcuffs in a black plastic shiny bag, Lilianna and Jecina guided Gabriella to a nearby ice cream shop. It was her weakness and, if Gabriella consumed enough of it, she would spill her guts. Once they were seated and ordered, Jecina finally decided it was time to break the ice again. Keeping her feelings for Baron bottled up the way she had wasn't healthy for Gabriella. She had to come clean and who better to do it with than two good, trustworthy friends?
"You're in love with him, aren't you?" Jecina murmured quietly, reaching out to take Gabriella's hand and could feel the woman slightly trembling. "It's okay, sweetie. You can tell us anything and we won't say a word, I promise."
At least they weren't trying to pry who her secret lover was out of her anymore, but talking about Baron opened old wounds she tried desperately to close once they both left NXT. "Yes." She finally admitted, keeping her voice low and quiet, tears building in her eyes. "Damn it…" It'd been so long since these type of thoughts and feelings consumed her.
"How long, Gabi?" Lilianna had her suspicions about Gabriella and Baron having feelings for each other, but never voiced them out loud.
"A while. I'm not sure of the time frame, but…it started in NXT. He was the only one who was nice to me and befriended me instantly. Anyone who screwed with me down there, he stopped them and defended me. I fell in love with him and…I wanted to tell him so many times. I tried. You have no idea how many times I tried to tell him how I feel, but I've always chickened out." Gabriella took a big bite out of her banana split and wiped a few stray tears away. "So, when this fling started with who I'm currently with, I jumped at the chance. At least someone was giving me attention and, like any other woman, I have needs. But I don't love him. I love Baron and I know he doesn't feel the same about me."
Jecina remembered how confused she'd been being stuck in a love triangle between Jon and Dean. How she concluded who she could live without in her life and who she couldn't. Everyone thought it was Dean Ambrose she'd choose, but he wasn't who her heart wanted. Jon Moxley was. Dean never gave her any indication how he felt and, by the time he came clean, it was too late. She didn't want the same thing happening to Gabriella and Baron.
"You should tell him how you feel. Otherwise, you'll always regret it and I'm speaking from experience, Gabi. Even if he doesn't feel the same way as you do, at least you'll have closure and no regrets." Jecina suggested softly, not wanting to upset Gabriella more than she already was. "The decision is up to you though. And just between us girls, you may be surprised what you discover if you take the leap with Baron and tell him how you feel."
"What do you mean?" Gabriella raised a brow, not sure what Jecina meant by that.
"That's something you'll have to discover for yourself. I agree with Jeci, I think you need to confess how you feel to Baron and find out if he feels the same way about you. You won't know unless you try." Lilianna took a long swig of her double chocolate milkshake. "Even with the problems Roman and I are currently having, I don't regret being with him and falling in love with him."
"Same with me and Jon. He's rough around the edges, but I don't want to be with anyone else. He's my other half and Baron may very well be yours."
"And if he laughs me to hell and back?" Gabriella shot back quietly, looking from Jecina to Lilianna and folded her arms in front of her chest.
"Then at least you know and you can move on with this secret guy who has you all twisted up."
Gabriella had to admit they made valid points, but she wasn't sure if it was worth telling Baron how she felt, not when she was with someone else.
Relationship or not.