Chapter 25:
A Talk With Glen
Mark found himself stifling laughter as he made his way to the Gorilla. He had managed to get video of Celina slapping Michelle in front of all the Divas. He shook his head in disbelief; sometimes Michelle didn't know when to quit.
He spotted Celina standing with Glen, the two of them laughing at their conversation. She fell silent when Mark approached. It felt like it had been forever since she had spoken a word to him, and it was killing him. He couldn't believe he managed to get himself caught up in such a crazy situation. She stared at him and Mark felt chills. It felt like she was staring right through him. Her glare alone told him that he had messed up royally. "Are you guys ready to go?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she turned on her heels and walked away. Mark shot a look at Glen, who shrugged and followed after her. With an exasperated sigh, Mark followed.
Out in the arena, the lights went out. Lightning clapped and the pyrotechnics ignited. Celina stepped out first, stopping in the middle of the stage as Mark and Glen sauntered out, their faces grim.
Mark could barely focus on what was happening within the context of work. Sure, he was considered a veteran and a consummate professional, but his best friend was five feet away from him, giving him the cold shoulder. He was pretty sure she hated him more than life itself at the moment. He watched the back of her head. She didn't even turn back to him to give him a look of reassurance, even though she could feel his eyes on her. Things had become so strained. He needed to think of a way to get through this debacle, and to keep both Celina and Michelle pacified. But he knew it wasn't going to be easy, especially with Michelle being pregnant. Everything about her announcement still seemed suspicious to him.
He couldn't believe that Michelle had been so classless as to go to Celina and attempt to rub it in her face. He could hear Lisa's voice in the background, and he assumed that the video on his phone had come from her. He didn't recognize the number.
Mark and Glen sat on the ropes and let Celina into the ring. She raised her arms in the middle of the canvas as Glen and Mark took their places beside her. Mark went to grab for her hand, but she subtly moved it away from him. It was so subtle that he was the only one who noticed. He took a deep breath. She was livid; there was no two ways about it. And she had every right to be. He had come to her rescue and tried to be her hero, but he was failing her now. He had subjected her to so much abuse, all at the hands of Michelle and her jealous, spiteful banter and personal attacks. And when Michelle had gotten out of hand and announced she was pregnant, he had turned his back on Celina and gone to Michelle. He hadn't called her. He had fought every instinct to call her and make the situation better with her first. He couldn't fault her for being angry. If he were in her shoes, he knew that he would be kicking his own ass. She deserved better.
Glen whispered something to Celina and she nodded before leaving the ring. Mark took his place beside Glen. "What did you tell her?" he asked.
"I told her I wish there were a cure for foot in mouth disease, because I hate watching you suffer." Mark fought the urge to break character and smile. He shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek. Fucking Glen, he thought as he slid off his trench-coat and slowly took off his hat. Glen's sense of humor was not helping the situation in the slightest.
Their match was against the team of Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. Edge and Vickie Guerrero were watching the match unfold from the top of the ramp. The plan at the end of the match was for the Familia to come out to the ring and attack the brothers, and for Celina to take a spear from Edge by order of Vickie Guerrero.
The match went fine, with Vickie eyeing Celina, who was cheering them on from ringside. Celina scoured the ring area to see Bam Neely and Chavo Guerrero slide into the ring. The two of them jumped on Mark and Glen. The referee rang the bell, signaling a disqualification finish. Edge bolted down to the ring as Hawkins and Ryder slid out of the ring, sandwiching Celina between them. Hawkins grabbed her by the hair and threw her into the ring. She stood to her feet. Mark was tangled in the ropes. Glen was being double-teamed by Chavo, Neely and Ryder. Edge was against the corner, motioning for Celina to turn around. When she did, Adam ran at her full-force, hitting Celina with a spear. She wasn't far enough away from the other corner and she smacked her head on the turnbuckle on the way down. Adam tried to hide the shocked expression on his face, though he was sure he didn't do a very good job. He didn't want to really hurt her. Mark had to hide the concern on his face with a murderous scowl. She wasn't ready to take spots like that yet. He didn't understand what the creative team's motivation was in throwing her into the snake pit.
Running a hand through his long blonde hair, Adam looked up at the top of the stage and gave a sadistic smile to Vickie, who was beaming and applauding the carnage in the ring. The hard camera stayed focused on her until SmackDown ended. He paraded around the ring with the Familia before they all went and joined Vickie up at the top. Glen slowly sat up and helped Mark out of the ropes. Celina knew better than to stand, so she kept her eyes closed and stayed down on the canvas. She felt two arms lift her up. Peering through her lashes, she was relieved to see Glen carrying her up the ramp. Mark was right beside him, staring down at her, but she kept her eyes closed. Once they got backstage, he'd run back to Michelle again.
She thought about what Kara had told her, about Michelle stealing her pregnancy test. What woman would want to steal somebody else's pregnancy test? A desperate bitch, Celina thought bitterly as Glen put her down backstage. Shelton rushed over to them.
"I saw you hit your head," he told her, running his fingers through her hair. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm kind of sore." Mark opened his mouth to say something, but they heard Michelle calling out to him. She scoffed, shooting Mark a look of disgust. Mark opened his mouth to say something in his own defense, but Glen shook his head, advising against it. With a cock of his head, Glen motioned for Mark to just go to Michelle. Mark knew Glen was right; they needed to avoid another potentially explosive situation at work. Celina shook her head, keeping her back to Mark. Shelton watched his retreating figure with a look of disgust on his face. He shot a murderous glare at Michelle, who was smiling.
"What are you doing tonight?" Shelton asked.
"Lisa invited me to go clubbing with her, Layla and Lena, so I thought I might go and do that."
"You should. Have fun with that," he told her. "I'll see you when you get back to the hotel." She nodded. They slapped hands and hugged before he took off down the hallway to track down Kofi Kingston and Elijah Burke. Knowing the two of them, it meant that Shelton's night involved an obscene amount of video games. She turned to Glen.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked her. He felt the back of her head for any sign of a bump. "The good news is I don't feel a lump or any cuts."
"I'm all right, Glen. It was just a bump." She sighed, shaking her head. "I can't believe all this bullshit."
"Eventually it will straighten itself out, Celina. I can't imagine Vince is all that impressed. We all know she's running something."
"I can't imagine Vince is all that impressed with me, either," Celina answered. Glen put a reassuring arm around her shoulder and began to walk her towards the Divas locker room.
"Oh, Vince is very impressed with you. He says for a beginner, you're picking up really quick, which a lot more than what could be said for some of the people back here. Trust me, Vince is happy, and he knows you've been standing up for yourself. Outside of that, you haven't been a problem. Vince was just telling me the other night that he sees a lot of potential in you for a long-term run."
"Really? He said that?"
"Vince and Shane are both saying that." There was silence between them. "Is there any way that Mark is going to be able to make this up to you, Celina? I know the two of you have known each other a long time, and I'd hate to see it blown apart over something like Michelle McCool. I've never seen Mark so eaten up about something, and I've known him a long time."
"I don't see why he's so distraught," Celina retorted coldly. "He's the one who's chosen to buy into her bullshit."
"Celina, he's pretty sure she isn't, but she did show him her pregnancy test..."
"No, that stupid bitch showed him Kara's pregnancy test," Celina told him with a snort. Glen's eyes widened. "That's between you and I, by the way. Kara hasn't told anyone, but she has a very strong suspicion that Michelle stole her test. Glen...how the hell am I going to prove she's lying through those veneers?"
"I'll help you figure something out," he assured her. "But in the meantime, we're just going to have to watch her like a hawk. Just understand that Mark is afraid of the possibility that she is pregnant. She told him that if he sees you outside of work, he's never going to see this kid. He feels like he's stuck right now, and I don't envy either of you a bit. So take it easy on him, Celina. He feels bad enough." Celina exhaled, but nodded. She knew Glen was right. He hugged her. "Go have fun tonight, Celina, and if I hear anything, I'll keep you posted."
"Thank you, Glen. For everything. I really appreciate what you've been doing for me."
"Don't mention it. Just go out and have your fun tonight." She flashed him a sad smile before disappearing into the Divas locker room. She knew Glen was right, that she needed to go out and get her mind off of what was going on. There was a nagging feeling inside her that Michelle wasn't going to be able to keep this secret for very long. She was going to mess up, and when she did, Celina was going to be waiting for her.