After a luxurious and satisfying lunch, Marianne and Adam remained true to their promise to Vince and diligently partook in the meetings and planned events of the conference. Adam participated in a sports entertainment Q&A segment alongside British footballer Joe Hart and cricket player Matthew Haggard.
The taping crew was extremely mesmerized at Adam's professionalism and expertise with answering questions both eloquently and with certainty. The three men worked well together and the media swooned with excitement. Marianne understood why Vince wanted this partnership to work; she too was impressed at how the network operated. Plus on top of being a well-oiled machine, they were family-friendly which was a must have for the WWE.
Afterwards she accompanied Adam to a little Hors d'œuvre party with attendants from the Media and CEO's of television production companies. They mingled amidst the crowd and often separated in different conversations. Adam was approached by the young soccer player Joe Hart, a fan of wrestling and the two got into a relaxing conversation about the industry. Marianne was waved over by Carla and the British woman caught up with her. They chatted about the great success of the entire day and Mari congratulated Carla on a fantastic job on the event planning. The woman was incredible at her job and she didn't think the network fully appreciated her. The menus alone were worth her full salary. At lunch they had a wonderful pea soup with freshly baked bread and red-onion marmalade. The main entrée: a steak, Guinness and Mushroom pie too heavenly to describe. Her favorite part (as she even had Adam's portion) had been the dessert. The sherry trifle. It was made with vanilla custard, cherries and a layer of spongy cake - soaked in sherry. Carla afterwards told her the trifle was her favorite of the traditional British desserts and she wholeheartedly agreed.
She met Adam's gaze across the room and she smiled at him. He was still talking to Joe Hart but his eyes were focused on her. Something about his expression sent shivers down her spine and Marianne looked away, breaking contact.
She refocused on Carla and it wasn't until they were getting ready to wrap up that she joined Adam again. He walked towards her lazily and she smiled.
"All talked out?" She asked him.
"Not yet. How are you doing?"
"I'm great! This has been really fun." Mari put a glass of champagne down. "But I am dying for a shower and a change of clothes."
He looked her up and down. "You look great to me."
"You don't look so bad yourself, Mr. Copeland." Adam had switched back to his grey suit pants and adorned a nice navy and beige argyle sweater.
"What can I say, I have a great personal dresser. A bit of a tyrant but she knows what she's doing."
She lightly swatted his arm. "Well she's obviously very good if she got you to wear a cashmere sweater."
"Absolutely, I really wouldn't be able to stand her if she didn't have impeccable taste in men's clothing.
"She must be really annoying." Mari said.
He nodded sadly. "Worse. She's got a quick tongue. I can never win an argument."
"I'm sure you do your best."
"Yeah, I guess I do. She's been nice to be the whole day."
She raised her eyebrows. "With your personality? She's a keeper."
"She is." He said softly.
"Mr. Copeland, hello love, how are you enjoying yourself?" Carla asked as she approached them.
"Carla! My mother would go crazy for that British accent of yours. Or for anyone here in New Zealand actually."
"Well if your mother is as dear as you then I would be more than happy to chat with her!" She replied.
Mari frowned slightly as she watched the two banter wittily with one another. Were they flirting? Or even worse, was Adam already over Marianne? The English miss was lovely with her naturally blond hair and beautiful sky-blue eyes. As Mari recalled, they did seem to flirt during breakfast as well. Maybe Adam really did like her, she thought. He hadn't attempted anything with Mari during the horseback riding and neither at lunch or the Q&A. Strange thoughts circled her mind and Mari swallowed when she realized the was jealous of Carla.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said to the two. "Dinner is in an hour and I'd love to have a shower before. I'll catch up with you guys soon."
Before they could respond Mari walked away, leaving the elegant room to find her own quarters. She walked into the room she was sharing with Adam and sat down on the bed with new exhaustion. She removed the pins from her hair and let the auburn locks fall loosely around her shoulders. Sighing heavily, she walked over to her suitcase and pulled out a chic silky dress. It was a lovely dark hue of blue and it flowed around her body to her knees, complimenting her skin and hair. If not for the knotted straps closing around her neck, her dress would look virtually strapless from the back. She set it aside for dinner and placed her Christian Louboutin navy heels beside them. There was a soft knock on the door and then Adam was inside the room.
"Hey." He said.
She nodded her head, acknowledging him. "Hi."
"What's going on?"
"Just getting ready for dinner. There will be a lovely manor-side bonfire after dinner with a New Zealand band, so I am hoping there will be some dancing. Carla was telling me about a carriage-ride of the grounds at midnight. She's arranged for Mr. Tarvey to lead the guests in an enchanted ride alongside the woods down to the water and back." Marianne was babbling but she couldn't seem to stop herself.
"That sounds amazing." Adam said. "Carla has the craziest imagination. I don't know how she does it; I'm just excited to see what she planned for tomorrow's big gala."
"Hmm. Yeah, she's fantastic." Mari mumbled.
"Speaking of the gala, Vince will be here with Linda tomorrow afternoon."
"That's right." Mari said nonchalant.
"Alright, what's the matter?" He asked.
"Hmm?"
"You were happy all day and now you're acting the way you do when you're mad at me. Did something happen? Someone say something to you? Tell me, I will take care of it!" He said with a frown.
"Nothing's wrong, Adam." She replied. "I'm sorry, I am just a little bit tired."
"Well, go take a hot shower, relax. We've still got dancing to do and a midnight carriage ride."
She smiled. "You're going to dance with me? I love to dance."
"Yes I remember." He said. "I'm also going to take pictures and send them to Jericho to make him jealous."
"Oh my little dancing bird. I miss him."
Adam scowled at Marianne. "Alright, enough with the lovey-dovey business. He'll be back eventually."
"Going to shower!" she said happily and closed the bathroom door.
When Mari walked out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later, she wore a comfortable bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her hair. Adam was sitting by the bay window on his laptop quickly typing what she would presume to be an e-mail.
"Twittering to your loyal fans?" She asked.
"No…they wish! I don't have twitter. I barely have time as it is and I can't afford to get sucked into another thing. Everyone does say how amazing it is though, so maybe one day." He said, still typing.
"Facebook is enough for me." She said. "By the way, the bathroom is all yours."
"Great. It will only take me 5 minutes to shower. Mari darling, loveliest woman in the entire universe…" He started.
"What do you want?"
"Pick out an outfit for me? We're running late and I would pick jeans."
"Jeans? Have I taught you nothing?" She shook her head. "Fine, but I get your dessert tonight."
"Fine, but I call shotgun in the carriage ride."
She narrowed her eyes. "No."
"Fine, but I…"
She laughed, "Adam, go shower."
When Adam finished Mari was wearing her ocean-dark dress and just finishing the final touches of her makeup. She had chosen not to do anything fancy with her hair, instead just letting it dry naturally and flow over her shoulders. He gave a low whistle and Mari turned to face him with a blush on her cheeks. He had a towel around his waist and was applying lotion to his tattooed arms.
"You look beautiful." He said.
"Thanks. I left you clothes on the bed." She had chosen for him his black suit pants with the gray stripes and a button-up white dress shirt. "It's pretty simple, so you can choose whatever tie you want. Except the…"
"Can I use the Smackdown tie?"
"Except the Smackdown tie." She laughed at his disappointed expression. "For a man with awful taste you sure do have a lot of nice clothes. With the exception of that God-awful tie. I'm getting rid of it."
"Never." He said.
"Too late, I've thrown it out." She said.
"You shut your mouth, woman." He grabbed the clothes and quickly put them on in the bathroom. He was struggling to button up his shirt when he came out and Mari smiled.
"Come here, I'll do it."
"They're small buttons, dammit."
She quickly finished closing his shirt when she realized how close she was standing to Adam. She looked up at his face and blushed when she saw his gaze was fixated on her lips. She fought the urge to lick her lips but instinct was rapidly winning the battle as they remained in the embrace. His mouth lowered and Mari closed her eyes, waiting for his lips to gently land on hers. He kissed her softly and Mari melted. She had been waiting for this all day.
"I want to take you to our bed tonight." He whispered. "After we eat, drink and dance. I want to make love to you."
There was a soft knock on the door.
"Adam, Mari?" Carla asked from behind the door. "You there?"
Mari stepped out of his arms and cleared her throat. "Um. You're all done. Put on a tie, and I'll answer the door. Not the Smackdown tie."
He stared at her hungrily and didn't reply. She walked away from him and answered Carla. "Hi dear, everything ok?"
"Yes, everything is fine, just wanted to let you know you'll be in the south wing for dinner tonight. But most importantly, I had three media members leave so I'm preparing a room for you! You can have it tonight and won't have to share it anymore!"
Mari glanced back at Adam who was tying his cravat and she met his gaze.
"Yes, that's wonderful news Carla. Thanks. We'll uh, meet you downstairs in a few minutes."
"You got it lovelies!" Carla walked away happily.
"Carla found us a second room."