Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the WWE or its superstars.
RAW
I walked into the arena with purpose. I wasn't really in the mood to fraternize tonight. I went directly into my dressing room to change. I changed into my purple corset and metallic silver pants to match Zack tonight. I went to hair and makeup and got dolled up. The show was just beginning so I rushed back to my room to watch, I was on time for once.
Once again I had no match tonight. It seemed ridiculous to me that it had been four weeks since my last televised match and I was the Diva's champion. At least other women had gotten some air time, something that I defiantly wasn't short on.
About 20 minutes into the show, a Dolph and Zack promo came on.
Dolph was standing next to a card board cut out of me, posing.
"Dude! What the hell is this!" Zack asked angrily.
"What does it look like Ryder?"
"It looks like you are obsessed with my wife."
"I'm just seeing how great she's going to look on my arm when I win her from you this Sunday at Wrestlemania."
"You bastard…She isn't going anywhere."
"We'll see. I'm going to have your wife and the title and there's nothing you can do about it." Dolph picked up the cut out and walked away smugly.
I rolled my eyes. I hadn't even known they had a promo tonight. They sold it well….although there wasn't much acting involved. The two of them both didn't care for each other, and it really showed. I looked at my clock. I had about ten minutes until Zack's tag team match. I got up, adjusted my outfit, grabbed my title and headed towards the curtain.
"Kelsey?" I turned to face the voice.
"Yeah?"
"Oh my god, I'm so glad you're alright," Zack said with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, I'm alive and well," I said smiling at him.
"I was so worried after Natalya called looking for you. I thought something had happened to you."
"I'm sorry you were worried. I just went home for a night instead of coming here yesterday. I probably should have told somebody that I changed my plans but that's not the point!" I said with a giggle
"Oh, well going home is always nice. I was just there myself."
"It was nice, I rarely seem to go there so when I am its quite relaxing," I said fibbing a little. I really didn't need him to know about my melt down.
"I couldn't agree more."
"So are you ready for your match?"
"Absolutely, the final build up for Wrestlemania!" he said with a very Zack like arm gesture. I laughed at his enthusiasm.
It was time for the match. It was going to be Dolph and Cody Rhodes versus Zack and Christian. We were the last people out. Zack's music hit and we burst out onto the stage. I felt sick knowing I'd have to see Dolph out here. I plastered a huge smile on my face. Zack and I did some Woos from the stage with the crowd. Zack and I linked arms and he pulled me very close as we continued down the ramp. It was as if he knew I was having a hard time. He always knew. Tonight I was a little grateful for the support. We slid into the ring and posed together. Dolph made a pointing motion at me. 'You're mine' he yelled selling the story line. Zack grabbed my face and pulled me into a deep kiss to make a statement to Dolph. I exited the ring and the match got underway. I took a seat at the announce table as planned.
"Hello boys!" I said cheerily to Jerry and Michael Cole.
"Hello, we are being joined here by Kelsey Ryder," Jerry chirped.
"So Kelsey, you have a big night coming up at Wrestlemania," Cole said sharply.
"Yeah, you could say that. My managerial services are on the line after all."
"You seemed upset last week when the deal was made. How are you feeling about it now?"
"Well, honestly I was angry that he didn't discuss it with me, he agreed with literally no hesitation. We talked about it afterwards and I realized this was a good opportunity for him to get gold at Wrestlemania."
"What changed your mind?" Jerry asked.
"Yeah what changed your mind, your husband is willing to trade you to another man. A man who hits on you?" Cole interjected.
"Well, I'm Zack's wife and as his wife I want him to be happy and to achieve his goals. If a title is what will do that, I'm going to put my faith in him and hope for the best. "
"Wow, that's pretty selfless."
"Marriage is all about give and take!" I said enthusiastically. I felt weird pretending to be a perfect wife when in reality my marriage tanked so very long ago…not that anybody knew that. When people googled about our relationship statuses, the internet showed the truth, that Zack and Kelsey Ryder truly were a married couple.
I mindlessly chatted for the duration of the match. Soon enough, the bell rang. Zack was in the middle of the ring, having proudly pinned Dolph Ziggler. He had the biggest smile on his face. I removed my headset and got into the ring. Zack pulled me close and dipped me, laying on a huge kiss, a mere inches away from Dolph's face. He sat on the ropes to let me out of the ring. We made our way up the ramp hand in hand.
I breathed a breath of relief as we passed though the curtain. My first post sex Dolph encounter was over. It was uncomfortable but I had it behind me.
"So any plans tonight Kelsey?" Zack asked softly.
"Nope, absolutely none."
"Would you maybe want to grab a bite to eat with me after we get back to the hotel?" He asked hopefully.
"Sure, why not?" I said relieved to not have to dwell on things alone. A big smile crossed his face.
"Awesome! I'll meet you down in the lobby then."
"Sounds great."
Once we got back to the hotel, I quickly changed and met him at the hotel lobby. We found a pizza place a few blocks away.
"Thanks for coming out with me tonight." He smiled at me.
"Your welcome. I didn't really want to sit in my room alone anyways."
"Yeah, I can't blame you. So how have you been?"
"Good now that I'm with the WWE. I was kind of flailing before I signed the contract here."
"I'm glad you are finally happy. So…I know it's none of my business, but what happened to Ethan?" Somehow I knew this would come up. Of course Zack would be curious about the man that wanted to marry me after him.
"He left me, to be honest."
"Last I heard you guys were engaged. What happened?"
"Well, he couldn't marry a married woman. He gave me an ultimatum. I had 6 months to get a divorce rolling or he was gone."
"and I wasn't returning your calls…"
"Exactly. The night I came to see you was about a year after he'd left."
"I'm so sorry Kelsey. I didn't realize…"
"I know."
"Well, to be quite frank, I think you are much better off without him."
"Honestly, I have to agree. He was such a dick," I said bluntly. He laughed.
"You live and learn," he said shrugging.
"On a better note, what the hell is the deal for Wrestlemania?" I asked curiously.
"You know, we already know the play the play, but Dolph and I don't know the predetermined outcome yet."
"So you guys have rehearsed both endings?" I said amazed.
"Yeah, they can't make up their mind."
"I can see that being a problem. Either way has good storylines that could follow it."
"Exactly. Obviously, Me winning would be what the audience wants, but I don't know if they are willing to give this to them," he said sadly.
"I guess we'll wait an see." I said hopefully. At this point, I'd rather work with Zack. He was silent for a moment.
"Are you and Ziggler fighting? He asked bluntly.
"Well…why do you ask?"
"Well I could tell, by the way you've been acting that something is off. Once I saw you and Dolph interact with one another, I knew it must have been him."
"Why do you say that?"
"You two have a chemistry but today…it wasn't there. Plus the obvious avoidance of each other."
"Well, you hit the nail on the head."
"What are you fighting about?"
"I'd rather not talk about it right now…" I trailed.
"That's perfectly fine with me, Kels."
The rest of dinner was a lot of fun. We reminisced about our adolescence and college. We had so much fun back then. The two of us had been so close. There were so many memories. So much history. We stayed clear of the touchy topics, like us and our marriage. We had a good time regardless. He insisted on walking me back to my room, on the way we passed Dolph. He was noticeably intoxicated. Dolph and I made eye contact for a few seconds before, I turned my attention else where. Zack and I kept walking to the elevator. We finally reached my door.
"Thanks for coming out with me tonight. I had a lot of fun," Zack said softly.
"I had fun too, I'm glad we did this."
"Goodnight, Kelsey."
"Goodnight Zack." I gave him a big hug and entered my room alone.
I closed the door and walked into my bathroom to take a shower. As usual, I had thrown all my towels on the floor, wet so there they all were still, wet. I grabbed my room key and headed down to the service desk. As I rounded the corner, I noticed Dolph in the lobby, sitting on the couch. I asked the desk attendant for some towels. She brought me a few and I turned to leave. Dolph was right behind me.
"Done with your date so soon," Dolph said spitefully.
"I didn't have a date, I went out for dinner."
"Pfft, you went out to dinner with your husband…I'd call that a fucking date," he said to me, his breath reeking of tequila.
"Go fuck yourself Dolph," I spat.
"You are such a coward Kelsey…you ran back to Zack cuz shit got tough."
"I feel bad for you Dolph. You are so insecure that you have to lash out at the person, you walked away from. Plus you are stumbling around drunk in a hotel lobby, alone."
I turned and walked away from him. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. Once I was safely behind my hotel room door, the tears flowed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I missed Dolph…I missed my best friend.
Ahhh! I can't believe this was already chapter 25! I want to thank you all for reading and for any reviews. I really and truely appreciate it. =] It means a lot to me that spend time out of your lives to read.