They entered the back entrance of the arena. Sheamus led Lisa down a hall towards the dressing room area. A tall, striking blonde woman was walking towards them. She broke out in a beaming smile and picked up her pace. She ran right up to Lisa and enclosed her in a bear hug. "You must be Lisa! I'm Nattie! We've heard so much about you, I'm so glad to meet you!"
"You too!" said Lisa brightly, untangling herself. Nattie gave her a kiss on the cheek and patted Sheamus on the shoulder.
"Hey Shea! Excited for tonight? I love the Orlando crowds, feels like home!" Nattie chattered away happily.
"Yeah! Should be a good one. Good seein' yeh Nat, see yeh again shortly, hey?" Nattie waved and carried on. "Sorry love, she ken be a bit, erm, over-bearin', as yeh can tell."
"She seems really nice," said Lisa. They carried on further down the hall. There were roadies and people running around with clipboards and cellphones everywhere. There were photographers taking backstage shots, and creeping around with big-lensed cameras. Lisa saw many men and women in various stages of undress, and more colours of spandex than she ever thought possible. Sheamus nodded at most of them, as they made their way down the hall. They came to an area with couches and a tv monitor, showing an mostly-empty arena with a WWE wrestling ring in the middle. She could see security wandering around in the arena.
"Ok love, I hafta leave yeh here fer now. I'll go get changed and ready teh go, and I'll come back and hang out with yeh in a few minutes." He kissed Lisa on the cheek and left her there. He went through a door marked "Superstars," wearing jeans, a black t-shirt, and a flat cap. Lisa sat down and tucked her legs underneath her. She watched the monitor for a while, and then took out her phone to play a game to pass the time. She heard footsteps approaching.
"Lisa, right? We've met before, good to see you!" Lisa glanced up to see Randy Orton, wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of wrestling trunks and boots. He had legs like tree trunks.
"Oh hey!" she said, "Nice to meet you again!" with a smile.
"So did Big Red tell you how crazy our match is gonna be tonight?"
"Nope! He wanted to leave it all as a surprise," Lisa replied. "Why, is it gonna be nuts?"
"Oh yeah," Randy answered, in his deep baritone voice. "It's a tables, ladders and chairs match. Should be pretty crazy. It's been a while since we've had one!"
"Sounds nuts!" said Lisa.
"It should be," said Randy with a smirk. "Gotta run for now, enjoy the show!" He got up and went into the dressing room with a wave at her. Lisa continued to play on her phone. Random superstars came and went, and then Sheamus returned. He had an armful of stuff. He was wearing a pair of black and green trunks, black and green knee and elbow pads, black wrestling boots, a black t-shirt matching Lisa's own, and green wristbands with Celtic crossed printed on them.
"Okay love, are yeh all right? Sorry I was gone so long, had teh get some things." He draped a VIP pass on a lanyard around her neck. "This'll keep security off yer arse, and yer seat is on the front there. I got yeh the best one I could find, yeh'll love it!" Lisa looked at her pass; it was a laminated RAW logo with a section and seat number written on the bottom.
"So a TLC match, eh?" Lisa smiled.
Sheamus' face fell a little bit. "B'awww, it was s'posed teh be a surprise! Lemme guess, Rand-O came and tol' yeh?"
"Yeah, he did. I'm still excited though!"
"I was gonna surprise yeh with it!"
"I can't wait to see it!" Lisa maintained.
A handsome, dark-skinned man strolled by in a t-shirt and trunks. "Hallo," he said to Lisa.
"Lisa," Sheamus said, "Meet Alberto Del Rio – I just call him Al."
"Pleased to meet you," Lisa said, extending her hand to him. Instead of shaking it, Alberto picked it up and kissed it. Lisa raised her eyebrow at Sheamus, who rolled his eyes.
"Alrighty Al, enough. Go git yer own!" Alberto flashed a winning smile and bowed deeply at Lisa before releasing her hand.
"I look forward to seeing you later," Alberto said, as he took his leave.
"No worries lass, he's harmless. Just a little bit ridiculous."
Lisa smiled. Sheamus sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. His hair was gelled up in its usual tv style. A few other superstars and divas wandered through, introducing themselves to Lisa, all of them seemed really nice, polite, and genuinely happy to meet her. She was definitely breathing easier. "Does anyone know what happened?" she asked, gesturing to her belly.
"Nah, not yet. Me bringing a lady friend here is enough of a bombshell, love, hehe, I figured I'd wait a bit for that one. Yer the first lass I've brought here."
"Really? In all these years?"
"Yeh. I'm kind of a private bloke, believe it or not. It's been a long while since I've had a lady I cared about like you."
Lisa smiled happily and leaned into him. He nuzzled her head with his chin, and they stayed like that for a short time. A beautiful, petite brunette in a cropped t-shirt, tall Converse shoes, and jean shorts came up to them. "Oh my gosh! Sheamus! This must be Lisa! She's SO pretty!"
"Lisa, AJ Lee. AJ, Lisa," said Sheamus.
Lisa stood to shake hands, and AJ gave her a great big hug. "I'm SO glad to meet you! Are you watching the show tonight?!"
"Good to meet you too, and yes, I am! Will I see you out there?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah! My husband's going to be watching as well, make sure to say hi if you see him."
"I certainly will," Lisa said. AJ waved and walked off happily. "She seems really nice! Not the same impression as tv at all, haha!"
"She really is," Sheamus said. "Very sweet girl, I have her and her bloke over for dinner once in a while when we're all in town. Ok lass, I hafta run. I'll show you how teh get teh yer seat, and then I'll come get yeh after the show." Lisa glanced up at the monitor, and sure enough the arena was full of fans settling into their seats. She saw a lot of Sheamus t-shirts, a few Alberto Del Rio ones, and a whole bunch of Orton ones. Lots of people had signs with them as well. Sheamus led Lisa to a side door into the arena. He kissed her on the lips, softly, gently. "See yeh soon, love."
"Good luck, I'll see you later," she replied. A security guard met her as soon as she entered the arena. He looked at her pass smiled, and brought her to the very front row ringside. She was impressed at the seating. She sat beside a pretty dark-haired woman, and an empty seat on the other side.
"Hey," the woman said. "I'm Brandi, Cody's wife. Who are you here with?"
"I'm here visiting Sheamus," she replied. "My name's Lisa, pleased to meet you."
"You too! Is this your first show?" Brandi asked.
"Second, actually. I went to my first one a few months ago. That's where I met Sheamus."
"Lucky girl," Brandi said. "He's incredibly sweet. We all love him a lot."
Lisa smiled, and was happy to hear that he wasn't that way with just her. The lights dropped and the show was ready to begin. The ring announcer, Justin, hopped up the steps into the ring. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" he bellowed. Lisa settled in for the show.