Jessica smoothed down the hem of her navy blue Lacoste Polo as she exited her brand new 2007 Dodge Charger Super Bee, handing the keys to the valet.
Despite the six hour drive down the coast, passing her reflection in the window of the restaurant, she noticed that her caramel waves were still smooth and intact.
Immediately, upon entering the upscale café, the hostess recognized the young woman and led her over to a reserved table in the middle of the restaurant.
"Can I get you something to drink, Ms. McMahon?" the thirty-something blonde asked her politely and handed her a menu.
"I'll just take some water," Jessica replied with a sweet smile. "Thank you."
The woman nodded and left her to look over the menu.
"Look at you… in a polo shirt… all prim and proper. My little rebel's all grown up," a deep voice noted, causing her to look up from the list.
As her hazel eyes lifted from the menu impulsively, a slow smile spread across her lips as she caught sight of the half-Samoan man standing in front of her for the first time in almost three years.
"Hey, I'm still wearing my jeans," Jessica countered as she rose to her feet in a pair of black platform sandals and gestured to her dark blue jeans. "See?"
He looked down at her hands and let out a hearty laugh, "You're still all grown up… and this might truly be the first time I've noticed."
Jessica approached him and wrapped her arms around his torso, covered by a white button down shirt, "I've missed you, Dwayne… a lot."
"I've missed you too, Jess, he replied, wrapping his arms around her in kind. "Come on, take a seat… people are staring."
"Right," she nodded and let go, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she sat. "I've forgotten what the Miami cuisine is like, it's been so long…"
"I, for one, am shocked and appalled," Dwayne laughed, opening his menu. "Can you still speak Spanish?"
Jessica arched an eyebrow at him in response.
"I'll take that as a yes… wait a second. That's my move!"
"Just like old times," Jessica let out a laugh and closed her menu.
"Yeah… except you're not sporting the crazy-colored hair," Dwayne added, following suit.
A moment later, the waitress arrived and took their orders, briefly returning with Dwayne's iced tea before disappearing yet again.
"You really have grown up, Jess."
"Thank you," she nodded. "It's been a wild ride."
"Yeah… so where's Loverboy?" he teased her. "I'm surprised he didn't come down here too."
"He had some plans with one of his friends," Jessica shrugged and took a sip of water. "I was probably better off. Honestly, he would have wanted to drive and we would have gotten pulled over at least six times before we got here."
"Damn," Dwayne shook his head in marvel. "Your insurance rates must suck."
"Mine doesn't, his does," she informed him with a wry smile. "We won't share insurance until we're married."
"Always the smart girl," he nodded. "So… when are you getting married?"
"You sound like my sister… and Perez Hilton," she laughed. "The answer is that I don't know."
Now it was Dwayne's turn to arch an eyebrow.
"Here we go," she rolled her eyes at him. "I remember how this goes…"
"You mean to tell me that you haven't talked about it?"
"We have, I swear," Jessica assured him. "But we haven't even been together for a year yet. I don't want to be one of those girls who picks out her own ring and knows when it's coming. I'm a spontaneous kind of girl, you know that. I'll leave it up to John."
After pondering for a moment, Dwayne spoke again, "Us guys… well, we could wait forever."
"I've already waited twenty years for him, I'll wait forever if I have to," Jessica replied simply and then adjusted the napkin on her lap. "Now, enough about my marriage, which hasn't even happened yet… let's talk about your marriage. How's Dani?"
"She's doing well," he nodded with a smile as their food arrived. "Keeping me in line, as always."
"Good, good. How's her firm going?"
"Very well, actually," he grinned. "JDM Partners is one of the top wealth-management firms in all of Florida."
"Wow, that's impressive," Jessica nodded. "And how's my amazing Goddaughter?"
Dwayne let out a laugh, "Amazing. Simone's keeping me on my toes… as it should be. She misses her Auntie Jess, though."
"And I miss her too," the girl's Godmother confirmed. "Did she get my Valentine's Day present?"
"She most certainly did… and Mommy and Daddy finished it off yesterday," Dwayne chuckled and smiled brightly, flashing his set of white teeth.
"You and Dani finished off a five pound chocolate kiss? By yourselves?!?"
"Well, we finished what was left of it," he admitted. "We had Tonga… you remember Haku… and his boys over… Tevita, Pate, and Taula. The four of them had a blast with that thing. It was down to a few normal sized chocolate kisses by last night."
"Wow."
"You should come over and visit her later," Dwayne suggested. "Seriously, you sound like you've been out of practice."
"Excuse me," she put her hand over her chest in a mock wound. "I have four other godchildren, John's nieces and nephews, to keep me on my toes. And they live relatively close to me, not to mention the fact that there's a set of triplets in the mix… thank you very much."
"But Simone was first."
"And don't tell anyone this," she leaned into him and then looked around, "But she's my favorite."
John knocked on the door of his friend, Rob's, house which he shared with his girlfriend. As he waited for him to answer, he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his left leg.
A minute later, the door pulled open and Rob stood before him, "What's up, man?"
"Nothing much," John shook his head as he embraced his friend. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah…" he trailed off looking down at the floor. "About that…"
John sighed, "What now?"
"Kasey wants to come."
"Oh man," the larger man whined, "It was just supposed to be us this time. You know that she can never keep her mouth shut for more than… oh, hi, Kasey."
"Hey, John," the young and peppy, short-haired blonde smiled at him from beside her boyfriend. "You guys ready?"
John forced a cheesy smile, "I'll be waiting in the truck."
"Rob, you go with John," Kasey waved the man with the buzzed hair onward. "I'll be right out. I just want to run upstairs and change my jeans… I got some paint on them before."
"Okay, baby," Rob smiled back at her and followed John to his 2006 Dodge Viper Pickup.
"You know I've been hearing nonstop about this album of yours…" Dwayne informed her as they waited for their respective cars. "Any chance I'll get to hear it before it drops?"
Jessica reached into her pocketbook and produced a copy of her album, "I'd say there's a good chance you will."
"Always prepared," he mused as his Cadillac STS appeared in front of the restaurant, which was soon followed by Jessica's Super Bee.
"Just like old times…" Jessica shrugged.
"Nice car… when did you buy it?" he asked her curiously.
"I didn't buy it, Loverboy did," she chuckled in response as they both tipped the valets.
"John got this for you? When?" he questioned her, impressed by her boyfriend's actions, and opened his car door.
"Yep. He surprised me with it yesterday," Jessica smiled proudly.
"He gets some major points for that one. So you'll follow me down?"
"Yeah," Jessica nodded.
"I'm sure you'll have no problem keeping up," he laughed.
Jessica shook her head and opened her own door, "Never do."
The half-Samoan watched as the blonde got in her car and shut the door, taking that as his signal to do the same.
Instinctively, he shut his car door and placed his hands on the steering wheel.
"Hey there, Rocky," the twenty-two year old blonde smiled. "You good for our match tonight?""The Rock is always good."
"Jess," the tanned man looked up at the pacing twenty-three year old. "Stop that."
"What?" she glanced across the room at him. "Oh, sorry."
"Just calm down," The Rock laughed at her antics. "You're going to be fine. No Diva can stop you. Come on, I'll escort you down…"
The Rock entered the dressing room he shared with his twenty-four year old girlfriend and smiled as he caught sight of her in a pair of shredded jeans and a "Just Bring It" tank top, "Hey."
"Hey yourself," Jessica smirked at him, her auburn hair cascading down her shoulders as she stretched.
"You ready?" he asked her, leaning against the wall.
"Mhmm," she nodded and stood up, walking over to drag her finger along the neckline of his matching shirt. "Are you?"
"Baby," he smirked and kissed her for a moment, leaving her breathless after he had pulled away. "The Rock is ALWAYS ready."
The twenty-five year old Jessica McMahon looked up at him with sad eyes, "I guess this is it, huh?"
"Yeah," Dwayne nodded sadly. "This is it."
"I can't believe it," she shook her head and bit her lip.
"Look, Jess," he approached her and pulled over a steel chair, "I know it's gonna be hard. It's going to be equally as hard on me, but you're my best friend and I don't want to see you hurting," he sighed and sat down in the backwards chair. "I know that since you've been here, you haven't made a ton of friends. Really, it's always been just you, me, and occasionally Paul. Please, just try and talk to some other people, I mean… Amy and Matt still love you," he smiled at her and glanced at the clock. "They'll be here any minute. You… you know what it's like to be green, to know nothing. I hope that I've taught you everything you need to know in this business."
"You have," she finally managed to speak up, "I've learned everything from you."
"Then please," Dwayne continued, "Take one of the rookies under your wing, pass it on to one of them."
"How… how will I know who to choose?" Jessica asked him out of confusion.
"You'll just know, Jess… as I just knew that I was meant to teach you. Too many people come through these doors, expecting the world and receiving nothing in return. You're an incredible wrestler, better than many of the guys I've worked with. You're one of my greatest accomplishments in life. I only wish you could feel the same way someday."
Jessica wiped away the tears from her eyes as the production crew entered.
"Alright, we're all set for you two… you ready for this?"
Both of them nodded as the light went red for the last time.
"We've got a lot of momentum heading into Summerslam," Jessica informed her boyfriend, "But I think if we win this match tonight, it'll give us just the push we need."
The Rock patted the championship belt over his right shoulder and raised a suggestive eyebrow, "You're all the push that I need."
A blush crept up her cheeks, "Stop it."
He let out a hearty laugh, "So, you'll follow me down?"
"Yeah," she agreed with a nod.
"Good," he replied with a nod of his own and opened the door. "I'm sure you'll have no problem keeping up."
A smug grin spread across the blonde beauty's face as she stepped through the door, "Never do."
"Yeah, Jess," he commented to no one in particular and shift the car into drive, "Just like old times."
"Painting?" John asked as they slid into the car.
Rob nodded and laughed, "Her new hobby."
"How's that going?"
"Not too well," his friend rolled his eyes. "She's ruining my carpeting, man."
"Not surprised," the blue eyed man shrugged.
"So…"
"So…"
"Are you mad at me?" Rob turned to him and asked.
John bounced his knee at the wheel, holding back his temper, "Yep."
Rob shook his head and laughed as Kasey appeared near the car, "I'm not too worried. You'll forget about all this in four or five months anyway."
"Dani!" Dwayne's voice echoed throughout the house. "I'm home."
"And I'm working!" a loud, feminine voice answered back.
"But I've got something I think you'll want to see…"
"Alright, alright!" she relented and the audible shuffling of papers could be heard overhead. "I'm coming."
"Is she always like this?" Jessica snickered.
"Yep, always giving me a hard time," he shook his head. "Damn woman."
She rolled her eyes as the footsteps shifted from overhead to her left, "Just don't let her hear you talk like that."
"Dwayne, what do you want… oh my God!" Dani yelled in shock and ran towards her friend. "Jessica!"
"Hey, Dani!" Jessica laughed as she embraced her friend. "Long time, no see."
"Too long," the older woman agreed as she pulled away.
"How've you been?"
"Busy, but good. It's hard balancing motherhood and a career, but oh well. I love it!"
"As you should," her friend smiled.
"You know what," a grin spread across her face, "Simone got home from preschool an hour ago. I'm sure she'd love to see her Aunt Jessie. I'll go wake her up."
"You really don't have to…"
"Come on, Jess. She's been dying to see you, I'll get her," she assured her and retreated back up the stairs.
"I have to warn you, she's grown up a lot too," Dwayne cautioned her lightheartedly.
"The last time I saw her she was just starting to talk in sentences."
"And now she won't shut up…"
"Look who I've got," Dani announced upon her return downstairs, carrying a small child in her arms. "Simone…"
"Mommy…" the child whined. "I was sleeping!"
"Simone, look who's here…" she cooed to her still sleepy daughter and placed her on the ground.
The child turned around and caught sight of her godmother across the room, "Aunt Jessie?"
"Mhmm," her godmother smiled at her and nodded.
"Aunt Jessie!" the girl exclaimed brightly and ran over, locking her arms around Jessica's legs.
"Hey, Simonie Spumoni," she laughed and picked the girl up into her arms. "How've you been?"
"I'm good," Simone giggled. "But I'm a little mad today."
"You're mad?" she scrunched her nose at the preschooler. "Why are you mad?"
"Because a bunch of my friends came over and ate a lot of the chocolate kiss you gave me for Valentine's Day!" the girl cried. "And then Mommy and Daddy ate the rest of my kiss without telling me."
"Sweetie, it's not nice to tattle on anyone, especially your Mommy and Daddy. I'm sure that Mommy and Daddy wouldn't…" she began, but then stopped abruptly when she noticed Dani wincing and shaking her head across the room. "Alright, tell you what… how about I take you out and we get you a new chocolate kiss?"
"Can we, Mommy?" Simone wriggled free from Jessica to the floor. "Please? Please?"
"I don't know…" Dani trailed off warily and then finally gave in. "Oh, alright. Jess, just take it easy on the sweets, okay?"
"I want these too!" Simone exclaimed joyfully as she moved down the length of the sundae bar, her godmother trailing behind her.
"Go for it girl," Jessica instructed her playfully.
"But didn't Mommy tell you that I can't have too much sugar?" she asked the older woman curiously.
"What Mommy doesn't know won't hurt her, Simone," she whispered to the child. "I won't tell if you don't."
"I won't!" Simone assured her. "I triple pinky swear… wait. I only have two pinkies…"
Jessica outstretched an arm and held out her hand, "Mine makes three. Alright, that's it then… triple pinky swear?"
The preschooler nodded intently, "Triple pinky swear."
After a long drive back to Tampa, Jessica pulled into the driveway of the house she shared with John and turned the key in the ignition, followed by the headlights.
With a deep sigh, she leaned her head against the steering wheel in complete and total exhaustion. Briefly she glanced at the digital clock on her dashboard, which read three a.m., and peeled herself out of the car.
After rubbing her eyes, Jessica trudged up the sidewalk and opened the door to let herself into the house.
Immediately upon entering, she noticed that the downstairs lights were on, but chalked it up to John falling asleep upstairs without turning them off. However, once she reached the end of the hallway and arrived in the family room, she was quite surprised to find her boyfriend sitting on the brown leather couch, watching "Anchorman" for the millionth time.
"Hey, baby," Jessica greeted him as she entered the room. "Why are you up so late?"
John shrugged at her, "I was waiting up for you. How was your day?"
"Pretty good," she nodded with a weak smile. "How 'bout yours?"
"It was great until Kasey tagged along," he rolled his eyes at the thought.
"Oooh…" Jessica winced. "Harsh."
John let out a half-hearted laugh, "Yeah, tell me about it. How was Dwayne… and Dani and Simone?"
"They're good… really good, actually."
"That's good to hear," John replied sincerely. "How are you doing?"
"Well, I was great…" she sighed and then bit her lip. "Until I got a very angry phone call from Dani on the way home about sugaring up Simone. Now, I'm just tired," she added, flopping down on the couch, her head grazing the denim leg of John's jean shorts.
John looked down at her face, noting how cute she looked when she was exhausted, "Yeah, the drive must have been tough."
"Mhmm," she concurred and then sat up for a moment, only to lay back down with her head in John's lap. "Six hours is not fun."
"How did the Super Bee run?"
Jessica struggled to keep her eyes open, "Like a dream…"
"Sounds like you're ready to dream," John mused and slid a hand under her head to push her upwards.
"Ugh," she groaned as he pulled her to her feet. "I don't even want to move."
"Come on, Jess, you're virtually dead," he tried to coax her, but all she did was turn around, wrap her arms around his torso, and press her head against his chest as her eyes fluttered closed.
"Seriously, I could just fall asleep like this," Jessica informed him sleepily. "Just stand here."
John rolled his eyes and teased her, "Nice way to treat the boyfriend who just bought you a car."
"You'll get over it," she muttered into his chest.
"Oh, come on," John chuckled at her, still holding onto her body as he backed her up down the hallway.
"Please don't make me move," she begged him.
"Sorry, Jess," he apologized as they approached the stairs and he turned her around to push her up the stairs. "We're almost there."
"Remind me to fly down there next time," Jessica mused as they reached the top of the stairs and John directed her sharply to their bedroom on the left.
Almost immediately, Jessica fell face down onto the left side of the bed.
"Don't you want to change?" John asked her, attempting to stifle a laugh.
The blonde pressed her face into the pillow, "Fuck pajamas."
John shrugged and threw off his shirt, followed by his denim shorts, leaving him in only a pair of deep blue boxers.
Jessica cracked an eyelid open and looked at her boyfriend, "Seriously, I think that's the quickest I've ever seen you strip."
A/N: This is what I like to call the chapter of death. Know why?
I had to re-write the whole damn thing from memory after my computer mysteriously deleted it!!!!
UGH. Okay, now that I'm done with my little rant…
This chapter might have appeared to be a little fluffy and fun, BUT there are two key lines in this chapter that you have DEFINITELY overlooked as meaningless. Think again!
One of these lines is essential to the ending of this story. Another will be further discussed in She's a Rebel III!!!
Come to think of it, another line pertains to Randy Orton and will be further discussed in She's a Rebel IV, in conjunction with a character that has yet to be introduced, as it is only 2006 in the story.
Shout-outs:
JeffHardyFan02 – Since you saw the Whisper in the Wind off the top of the cage, I'm sure you saw the Swanton off the top of the beam. Um… what the hell? That was insane. And as for Cena, I'm so glad that he's a nice guy in person. And no, I can't blame you… at all. I'm most likely going to the 4/28 RAW the night after Backlash at Continental Airlines Arena… wait. EXCUSE ME. The Izod Center. What a stupid name… anyway. Yeah, I'll most likely stop at around 21-22 chapters and then numero tres will be upon us!
Chain Gang Princess – I wish he'd buy me a Super Bee too, especially the new 2009 model that's coming out. SERIOUSLY, though… it costs forty-five thousand dollars.
Candace – I hope you enjoyed these flashbacks, as well. They were the only part of the story I added in AFTER the re-write. I hope you didn't ignore the Orton-Hardy match on RAW and you learned your lesson!
Giftiebee – Yeah, it is a hot car. Um… I believe we almost died when Jeff jumped off of the beam, did we not? Seriously, for a good hour we were OMG-ing.
Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – Screw getting a guy like that, I'd like John, personally. Haha. And yeah, definitely a SAR III and SAR IV. As a matter of fact, I definitely know the whole plotline of She's a Rebel III in detail. It's going to be in a very different, original format. I've actually written the first chapter already. As for SAR IV, I have a beginning, an end, and a few details, such as the fact that it will return to the original format of the first two stories. I'm almost certain, however, that number four will conclude the saga.
Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – I hope this one makes you smile a little bit too!
JCEdgeRKO – Jeff is just crazy in general, I swear. I kind of hinted to who the friend was when I wrote "FINALLY, we'll get to see what he's been up to." No one seemed to pick up on that though. Hmm.
I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – Since I don't intend to kill you, it wouldn't be first degree murder. Secondly, since we are neither married nor living in each other's immediate households, it does not qualify as domestic violence either. I'd simply be defending myself against the attack that at the very beginning of the story, you threatened me with. So subsequently, the idea of self-defense in the case would hold up and you would lose. What now? Oh yeah… and I love you too.
Goddessofthenite – You know I love to confuse you. Hopefully, this one was a little more straightforward. Although, I know John's little bits here and there didn't seem relevant, but they are.
Animal-Luvr-89 – You did hear correctly. There will be a SAR III and a SAR IV. And if you think that chapter was romantic… gah! I wish I could tell you more, but I can't… sorry.
Miniature-hero – Life will be getting a little chaotic for Jessica before the story ends in July 2006. Remember, she's got a lot going on in her life until then… the arrival of her newest nephew, and promoting her album, training for her return, amongst other things. While the you-know-what will not be hitting the fan in this story, prepare for it to do so in She's a Rebel III. Once again, I wish I could tell you more, but I can't.
Nic-002001 – Wow, if Cena was a chick he would be Jess? That, I find, quite odd… considering the fact that everything about Jessica is everything about me, including my ability to know that much about cars. Julia (goddessofthenite) will vouch for me on that one. Wow, Cena would be me if he was a chick then, I guess. That's quite a bit scary for me. Anyway, I can promise you one thing, however, Jessica and John will still be together at the end of She's a Rebel II. How strong their relationship is… well, you'll see.
On a side note, there is now a portion of my profile that has been hacked by Jessica McMahon. Currently posted is some info about her album and it's pretty cool, so check it out and let me know what you think. Also, let me know if you want me to give you the track listing of her album. I totally could.
Once again, please review everyone! I need eleven reviews this chapter to get to 140 reviews for 14 chapters and an average of 10 reviews per chapter! So review! Review! Review!
All for now… expect a More Than Words update either tomorrow or Friday.
Oh and in reference to my response to Nic's review, remember how a while back I asked what you thought of the girl I used for my She's a Rebel Banners? Yeah, surprise! That's me!
Danielle