For disclaimers, warnings,etc., see chapter one.
Author's Note: The end of this chapter is for lucyzigg's request.
Chapter XXI: We'll Do It My Way
Her exhaustion lifted as the adrenaline began pumping when Samia stepped foot inside the Joe Louis Arena. This was what she lived for week to week. Tonight was the third battle of the series: Shawn Michaels versus Dave Batista in a 2 out of 3 pinfalls in a cage match. The series was tied at one even and one faction would be on top after the evening. Leaving the guys to get situated, Samia went to check on the card. She was penciled in for Lita, a match she knew would eventually come but one that was dreaded nonetheless. Rob Van Dam was a lot more understanding than his friend Lita. Samia would have to be on top of her game to come out uninjured and victorious from this one.
The diva quickly checked in with the Wolfpack. They wasted no time in railing about how they barely made it out of the arena last night and how four wrestlers jumped them in the parking lot upon their arrival. She promised that she would have changed things if it was at all possible but that nothing could be done to sway Triple H. The guys had yet to employ a hitman against Evolution but promised that they had made contact with several men who were considering the idea. There was not much left to say, so she wished Shawn luck and left.
The hallway was still clear and Samia hurried to the end of the corridor and pivoted around the corner to see Christian heading in her direction. She glanced around for an exit but he had already seen her. She took a deep breath, crossed her arms on her chest, and straightened herself up as tall as she could. "What are you doing—following me?"
"Nah, I've just been looking for you," he grinned. "I wanted to know if you saw that I was on your side last night by being a lumberjack and beating up on Scott Hall."
"Really?" she strung out with narrowed eyes.
"See, you have nothing to fear from me. Now, how about that date so that I can give that information that you might find vital to you and Evolution?" he said with a leer and stepped closer to her.
"Eat crap and die," she prettily replied and smiled. To make a statement, this time she didn't run from him.
"I warned you not to turn me down."
"You forget who I work for—Evolution. Heard of them? You won't be able to walk again if you mess with me," she threatened, hoping that they would come to her aid if Christian actually attempted anything with her.
He laughed loudly, one of those laughs that sends shivers down a person's spine. "You are truly funny. I warned you and now you'll pay the price." At those words, all she could think about was screaming for the Wolfpack and running straight for the dressing room. She took a step back from him and he gave her a sideways smirk before turning around and heading back down the hall, his laughter echoing down the corridor.
Christian had given her the willies and she couldn't seem to shake them. Her match was not far away, so she dressed, hoping that warming up would take their conversation off her mind. The blonde stepped outside to find a secluded spot to begin stretching. A stagehand met her at the door with a message that Eric Bischoff wanted to see her. Tonight can't get any worse, she thought and made the trek to his office.
Bischoff answered the door when she knocked. The GM held it open and beckoned her in. She was surprised to see Christian there, sitting on the black leather sofa and dressed in his wrestling gear. He stood upon her entrance and spoke maliciously, "I warned you."
"Eric, maybe we should have a talk about this idiot—" she began but was cut off.
"I wouldn't be quick to call him an idiot, Miss Carlsen. He has requested a match with you since you so rudely—"
"No," she yelled at Bischoff before repeating the same to the other blonde in the room.
"Let me finish," Eric angrily replied. "Since you, Miss Carlsen, are so rude to other wrestlers and the both of you can't civilly solve your differences, I've granted the both of you a match. Don't leave that ring until you've fixed your problems, preferably by pinfall."
She crossed her arms on her chest and matter-of-factly stated, "I won't agree to it unless it's a Singapore cane match."
"You don't have a choice," Christian replied.
"Watch me. Singapore cane or nothing."
"Fine, we'll do it your way. It'll make it sweeter when I win."
"We will talk later," she ground out, pointing at Bischoff, and then turned to Christian to throw ice daggers at him. "I'll see you in the ring." The diva stormed out of the office.
"By the way," the GM called after her, holding the door open. She stopped but didn't turn around. "You don't want to even know what I'll do to you or Evolution if any one of them interferes."
Samia was so angry, she was shaking. Eric Bischoff was supposed to be on her side because she was on his...well, until she got the job done, that is. If she wasn't so concerned about her upcoming match, she would be formulating vengeful plans against Bischoff. The diva jerked opened the door to the dressing room, ignoring the looks of surprise coming from the rest of the group. She threw her gym bag aside and jerked up two canes from the harness. Twirling them once, the blonde stormed back across the room. Triple H caught her by the arm before she reached the door. "What's going on?"
She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding and explained what had happened in the GM's office, conveniently leaving out that Christian had offered her information on Shawn Michaels. Hunter only knew that the other wrestler was trying to get the diva to go out with him.
"We'll jump him in the parking lot later, if you want us to," the leader offered.
"That's not necessary," she replied with a smile that turned into a glare of vengeance. "I'll take care of him."
Watching her stalk off, Hunter laughed and turned back to the guys, "Don't ever piss her off."
Samia stood behind the black curtain and calmed her breathing. She wasn't afraid of him, she was just severely angry at the situation. The soft keys of the piano helped to soothe her nerves before she stepped out. The fedora was forgotten, lying on an end-table back in the room. As metal crunched in the sound system, she twirled the canes, creating a soft whirring, as she bounced down the ramp to where Christian waited for her in the ring.
The wrestler laughed slightly and pranced about the ring, tossing his cane like a majorette, to taunt her. Before taking the black steps up, Samia handed off one of her sticks to a ring-side attendant and gave careful instructions for him to give it to her when she called for it. She climbed into the ring, saying nothing, and sized Christian up. When the bell rang, the diva attacked first with Christian barely deflecting several blows. She feinted a strike to his chest and slapped his thighs. He stumbled away and she whacked him across the butt, much to the delight of the crowd. She took a bow and righted herself to block a swing from Christian. Several rapid-fire strikes drove her into the corner where they locked up.
Christian's cane blocked her hands from moving and Samia struggled against him. He leaned in close and spoke only loud enough for her to hear. "Remember that information I was gonna give you?" She ignored him as she continued to try to free herself. "I know about you and Shawn Michaels."
"Everyone knows about us," she replied and shoved him. He took a few steps back as she assumed a posture of attack.
"No, I know that you're working with him again while you're with Evolution." She laughed and raised her cane. "I know because I followed you each time you went to their dressing room. 'Did I do a good job?'" he said, mocking her from the night of the negotiations. Her jaw and cane dropped simultaneously. He took the opportunity and, with a baseball swing, struck her on the side. She dropped to her knees and began to roll out of the ring. Christian was immediately on her other side and hit her on the shoulders. The hand holding the cane fell to her side and he put a foot on it. Pain clouded her thoughts and she started to roll away again, leaving the weapon behind. Christian brought his cane down across her body once more and dropped down to pin her, but she was able to kick out on the second count. He twisted her arm around her back and leaned down close to her ear. "You will cooperate with me."
"No," she answered, crying out from the pain.
"I'll blow the whistle on you if you don't do exactly as I tell you." Christian dropped her arm and reached for his cane before she could move. After two more blows, he fell to his knees to try to pin her. Through the pain, she weighed his knowledge of her affairs and her defenseless and let him pin her. Her pulled her up to a sitting position by her hair and whispered in her ear. "Since I just kicked your ass, I'll give you a week to decide to play by my rules or face the wrath of Triple H after I tell him what you're doing."
The beaten diva slipped out of the ring while the referee held Christian's hand high. He didn't even glance in her direction as he left the ring and headed up the ramp. She took the cane from the attendant, whom she was never able to signal to, and followed at a safe distance until she branched off to see the medical assistants to have something put on several cuts and welts from the cane. After being tended to, she slowly returned to Evolution's dressing room in time for the main event of the third match.
Samia mulled over her one-sided conversation with Christian. She couldn't believe that he followed her. Every time a creepy feeling had come over, he was right there, hiding and listening. There was no telling how much he had heard. If she didn't agree to whatever it was he wanted, everything that had been thrown away to get her to this point would be for nothing. She didn't know what he wanted but she was almost positive it wasn't exactly something pleasurable. Neither side could be told so that they could come to her aid. She considered fabricating a lie about Christian to persuade one faction to attack him. However, perfect revenge would be for him to reveal the truth. Yes, she would agree to cooperate and try to twist her way out of his demands from there.
Her thoughts had kept her from seeing the first pinfall by Shawn Michaels. He had taken advantage of Batista's inexperience of cage matches and worked him against the cage instead of attempting to only wrestle between the ropes. Dave was quick to catch on to his opponent's tricks and used them against him. Shawn made one wrong move and met with a spinebuster before involuntarily succumbing to a three count. He was disoriented and rolled towards the edge of the ring, thinking he would drop off the apron. Before he realized he had nowhere to go, Batista was back to tossing him into the chainlinks. Michaels had dominated through to the first pinfall with Batista dominating the second third of the match. From there, neither one controlled and the blows went back and forth equally. However, experience won out over brute strength and two superkicks to the chin gave Michaels the win over Batista.
The other three members of Evolution had been victorious earlier in the night. Only Batista, the fourth full-fledged member, had suffered a loss and Triple H thought it his job to rail at him for the loss. Helmsley stood at the edge of the bathroom and berated the wrestler. Samia considered it ridiculous and intervened. She tapped on his shoulder and he turned around, giving her a view of the towel-clad Batista. "You know, I had an embarrassing loss. Isn't it only fair that you yell at both of us?"
Hunter stared at her for a moment and then stalked off. She looked up at Dave to see him clutching the side of his towel to keep it around him as he wiped dripping water from his face. He offered a word of thanks and her cheeks flamed red before she quickly disappeared.
Triple H cared little to keep tabs on Samia. He would ask, in passing, what her schedule was for the day but then left her alone unless he needed her. Getting out to meet RVD wouldn't be a problem. She offhandedly remarked that she would be out shopping for the day and disappeared. They agreed to meet at a café on the edge of town, which was large enough to reduce the risk of running across another WWE employee.
Rob stood outside on the sidewalk of the small restaurant, leaning up against the brick wall. He noticed her approaching and met her at the door. They glanced up at each other awkwardly and then down to the sidewalk. "Hi," he muttered.
"Hey," she replied, digging her toe in the ground.
"You doing okay? That match last night was rough."
"It's nothing much. I'm fine. Wanna go in?" He nodded and held the door open for her. She chose a booth in the back with no one around. They were barely seated when the server came to ask for their drinks. Not knowing any good way to start the conversation, she lied, "They'll be missing me if I'm gone too long. What is it you need?"
"There's nothing between me and Lita," he blurted out.
"I know that."
"There's nothing between me and Adrienne either," Rob added.
"I know that too."
"Really?" he asked with surprised.
The server appeared with their drinks and Samia waved him off when he asked for their orders. "Yeah, it's okay—" she began to answer Rob.
"Then why aren't we okay?"
Some days he could be so dense. Samia wouldn't lie to herself, he wasn't always the brightest bulb in the bunch. "Rob," she sighed. "It seems that all we can do is bring each other heartache. Maybe we should leave things as they are." He stared at her, slack-jawed. "I attract trouble. For some reason I don't know, I attract trouble in the likes of Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Why fight it? I've quit trying and let the chips fall where they may and here I am."
Rob finally closed his mouth and licked his lips in thought. "I don't know what to say to that. I just know that I want to be with you." Her stomach lurched at his words.
"Why do you want to be with someone who does nothing but cause trouble?" she asked with a wave of the glass.
"Maybe if you weren't so damn independent, that might not happen."
So damn independent? That was probably what she was most proud of about herself. "I don't want to be hurt again," she sighed.
"Like that's not gonna happen with Evolution?"
"Here, Rob, here." The diva patted her chest, her hand over her heart. "I can't do it again and you shouldn't have to either," she said and began digging through her purse. She threw a couple of bills on the table and slid out of the booth. "I have to go."
Rob almost tipped over his glass as he tried to get out from behind the table to follow her. She was about to turn the corner when he made it out the door. "Samia Devane Carlsen!"
She stopped in her tracks and whipped around. No one knew her middle name because she used her middle initial only for everything. She didn't know whether to be angry that he had snooped into her business or be impressed that he cared enough to find out.
The look on her face told him he had gotten her attention. "Does independent mean running away like you always do?" Rob couldn't believe that had just come out of his mouth.
Being impressed went out the door and she stomped up to him, shoving a finger in his chest. "Apparently I'm not so independent because I run away to get help from people like Evolution." She poked her nail into his chest one more time to emphasize her point and turned to go.
Van Dam caught her by the arm but she refused to turn around. "I don't want to fight. I'm sorry I said that." Samia slowly turned around to look up at him. "I won't break your heart. Whatever it is that you're trying to do by joining Evolution, I'll help you. What ever it is, I would have done it."
It was right there for the taking. He had every right to exact revenge on the same people and all she had to do was tell him. Her problems with Bischoff and Christian could be dealt with too. But every time he was hurt because of her--she was sure she hadn't thought of all of them--came to mind. "Rob, I don't want to walk away from you angry this time. Please, let me go." He dropped her arm. "No, let me go completely. Let me walk away knowing that you're not gonna worry about me and that you'll be safe because you're not associated with me." He opened his mouth to reply but she put a finger to his lips and pulled him down to kiss him on the cheek.
This time she didn't run but quietly turned on her heel to make her way to the rental car. The diva was blocks away before the tears fell and she had to pull over. This is getting ridiculous, she thought to herself and slung the tears away. Triple H would suspect something if she came back with a red nose and puffy face. Maybe a bit of shopping would do…
After a couple of hours at the mall, she returned with two new dresses and all the matching accessories for each…on Triple H's credit card. He had given it to her to take care of their hotel booking for this week and he would never notice that she had "borrowed" a couple of a hundred dollars to indulge herself. The blonde struggled with getting her bags out of the car and barely juggled them around to carry them all in. The revolving door proved the trickiest of all and the shopping bags went everywhere. The porter started to rush over but then Dave Batista appeared out of nowhere to lend a hand.
"Talk about being at the right place at the right time," she laughed and shoved packages back in their bags.
"I just got back from shopping myself," he replied and held up her newly purchased red dress. "Maybe you should wear this tonight."
"What's tonight?" she asked, taking it from him and placing it in one of the bags.
"A well deserved night out on the town…according to Hunter," Batista mocked, shuffling his bag around to pick up a couple of hers.
"It is well deserved."
"He doesn't quite think I deserve it but so graciously allowed me to come with him to keep up with appearances," Dave sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes
"Ignore him. It's one match and could happen to anyone. We'll not mention my match last night," she grinned. "Besides, me and you, we can have fun without them, even if they are there."
"I guess so," he replied with a half-smile.
They chatted about nothing in general as Dave carried her things to her room. She gave him a peck on the cheek in thanks and promised to meet him later for aperitifs before the group went out for dinner and "dancing." If you call the horizontal mambo 'dancing,' she thought to herself. Drinking and making out with girls were the extent of their outing and maybe an occasional dance if it got them the girl they wanted.
Samia laid out the dress that Dave had picked up. It was quite provocative and had been intentionally bought to wear for RAW. She needed to look like she belonged to Evolution but didn't want to give him the wrong idea. Holding the dress up to her body and peering into the mirror, she thought it wouldn't matter anyway since he wanted to get back with his wife. She slipped in the flaming red outfit that had a plunging neckline and tight-fitting bodice and spun to twirl the short skirt's folds. Satisfied with her appearance, she picked up the matching purse and headed downstairs to meet Dave in the hotel's bar.
He was already seated at the bar and immediately rose to meet her at the door. "You look great. I'm gonna be beating guys off all night just to protect you."
"Maybe if we stick together, I won't have to peel the women off your handsome body," she laughed in return and surveyed his gray pants and blue collarless pullover that clung way too well to his massive chest.
"I think it's a plan," he replied and held out his arm to escort her in.
The two had barely finished their first drink when the rest of Evolution appeared. Samia received several approving looks as they made their way out to the limo. The chauffeur held the door open for her and she slipped inside. Flair sidled up to Batista as Dave was about to step in. "You sure know how to pick'em," Ric laughed and patted him on the back.
"We're not—" Dave started but Ric disappeared inside the vehicle ahead of him. He let it go, assuming Flair would figure it out for himself.
After dinner and at the club, the same scenario played itself out again, except Hunter didn't bother to find an "escort" for Batista. Samia and Dave were both surprised but relieved that he didn't have to fool with someone that night. When they were settled at the table, Samia excused herself to go to the restroom.
When she was out of sight, Randy, seated beside Dave, immediately started in on. "When were you gonna tell us about you and Samia?"
"We're not together—" he tried to tell them again but Hunter's laughter cut him short.
"So, you just like her enough in bed to keep her around. Is that it?" Triple H asked.
"We have not slept together," he adamantly stated.
"But y'all went back to her room together last week. What else were you doing?" Ric quickly asked.
"I saw her back because I thought she might have had a little too much to drink."
"And nothing happened?" Randy asked.
"Nothing."
"You have kissed?" Hunter asked, even though it was more of a statement.
"No," Dave replied, taken aback at the way they were hounding him about their relationship.
"Geez, you need to get on the ball, boy. When she gets back, take her out there and kiss her," Ric ordered.
"Do it," Randy echoed.
"Guys, we're not—"
"Are you chicken? If you want to get anywhere you've at least got to start with a kiss," Ric continued to prod him.
Batista was grateful to see Samia return to get out of the conversation. She slid in beside him but didn't see Randy nudging him in the ribs as the DJ started a slower song. "Stop it," Dave hissed at him but received another poke in his ribs. He turned to the blonde beside him and asked, "Do you want to dance?"
"I don't dance," she replied with an apologetic smile.
"Sure you do," Hunter cajoled.
Only because of the pleading look in Dave's eyes did she agree. They settled into a steady rhythm before she asked what was going on to make him want to get away. She laughed at his explanation. "I can't believe they think that," she snickered. At first, he was upset that she thought his predicament was funny. At her laughter, he lightened up and joined her. "We should let them keep thinking whatever they want."
"I don't know about that."
"It'll be hilarious. Our own inside joke," she replied, trying to persuade him.
"But they're expecting us to kiss," he responded and glanced at their table.
"So? Kiss me."
"But—"
"Quit protesting and kiss me," she said and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to meet his mouth. She was hardly expecting the electricity that surged between the two. He pulled her closer and she parted her lips farther for him. They explored each other's mouths and finally pulled back when the song changed. Wow, she thought as she stepped back and her knees were slightly shaky, Don't need to do that again!
"I think that worked," he breathed out.
"Yeah. You, uh, wanna go sit back down?" He agreed and they returned to the barely concealed smiles of the guys and their ladies. Apparently, the women had been let in on the provocation of Batista by the rest of them. Samia laughed to herself over how many people she was stringing alone. Now, if she could only do the same with Christian.
TBC…