Chapter 26

"Are you serious, Rick? Tell me you're screwing with me right now, please."

Rick shook his head, frowning. "Afraid not, Anisa." He planted a huge stack of new scripts in her arms along with the sign-in sheet on a clipboard. "Double duty tonight, I'm afraid."

"Where is Bradley? Shouldn't he be handing these out?" He was the man responsible for making sure all the Superstars and Divas received their scripts.

"Usually yes, but he had to take time off due to his mother's death."

Rick didn't sound sympathetic at all and all Anisa could do was frown, knowing how close Bradley was to his mother. He brought her to a few of the shows and she met the sweet lady. It was a shame she was gone. The callousness and lack of heart made Anisa want to switch up her job position in the WWE that much more. Just a few more weeks and she'd be able to do that, already having her meeting planned with Stephanie the following week after WrestleMania.

"Mother fucker left us at the worst time because Vinnie Mac decided to take a vacation too."

There was a huge difference between taking a vacation and planning a beloved family member's funeral. What an asshole, Anisa thought, turning and walking away before she belted Rick across the face. He wasn't worth losing her job over. Anisa wondered if the bosses knew how Rick talked about them behind their backs or any of the Superstars for that matter. Hell, he probably talked smack about her too, though Anisa didn't care. She had more important things to worry about in her life than worrying about what others thought of her.

Turning the corner, Anisa's night went from bad to worse. There they were walking hand in hand down the hallway, not bothering to hide their affection the way he used to do with Anisa. Mark and Michelle Calaway. Anisa could remember when they got married how Mark hated showing affection to their coworkers and treated her as if she was a dirty little secret. Maybe she was. Only a handful of people knew about their marriage until after the news broke about Mark cheating with Michelle. Never once did Mark hold Anisa's hand while walking the hallways of an arena. The sight split Anisa's heart down the middle and she had a hard time breathing, fighting the urge to turn in the opposite direction.

Michelle laughed softly at her husband talking about the latest UFC news he heard. She wore a tight light blue dress that barely covered her backside and showed off half her breasts. Her dark brunette hair was piled on top of her head, the bleach blonde long gone and heavy makeup caked her face. How could Mark enjoy being with fake Barbie dolls was beyond Anisa, but she wouldn't let the Calaway's chase her off. If only Michelle knew the hell her husband put his ex-wife through every chance presented to him, maybe she'd see the light and get out of the marriage before he too hurt her. Anisa highly doubted it though since Michelle hung on every word Mark said like a sick lovesick puppy. It was nauseating to watch.

Spotting his ex-wife, Mark removed his hand from Michelle's to wrap around her waist, pulling her boney body against him possessively. "Hello Nissy." He greeted with a smirk, stroking Michelle's side with his long fingers.

"It's Anisa." She corrected him, holding the scripts tightly against her chest and tried to ignore Michelle staring holes through her.

"He knows your name, Annie." Michelle purposefully called her the wrong name, a smile just as devious as Mark's crossing her face. "Marky, I'm hungry baby."

Mark LOATHED whenever she called him that and the fact Michelle did it in front of Anisa pissed him off. He would definitely punish her later once they were back at the hotel for the evening. "We'll go in a second, darlin'." He drawled, feeling her swoon against him and rolled his eyes, never taking them off of his delicious looking ex-wife.

"My name is Anisa, not Nissy or Annie." Anisa gritted her teeth, already feeling her temper rising with each passing second and wanted to choke Michelle with her hair. "Excuse me, I have work to do…"

Mark's large hand snapped out, stopping Anisa from passing by them. "Not so fast, what's the hurry? I think you can give the top star in this company a few minutes of your time." He blatantly gave Michelle a slow scan with his acidic eyes in front of Anisa, chuckling wickedly. "I mean, Shelly should give you a few pointers on what it takes to pleasin' a man in the bedroom."

"Mmm licking his pickle and fondling the oranges is a good start."

Anisa would never look at pickles and oranges the same way again, watching as Michelle's hand reached down to stroke Mark through his tight black jeans. "I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work, Calaway." She informed him coolly, raising a challenging brow and pulled out his script from the stack, thrusting it against his chest. "You can try to bait me all you want with your whore wife, but at the end of the night when you're lying in bed after having mediocre sex with her, you'll be thinking about me and how much I used to make you cum." Midnight blue eyes slid over to an appalled looking Michelle, a smirk curving her lips this time. "And it takes A LOT more than giving him oral sex to satisfy him, but you SHOULD know that since you're his wife now, right? Or are you just the flavor of the year?"

"You fucking bitch!" Michelle shrieked like a banshee, stepping up to Anisa and shoved her none too gently, but somehow she managed to keep hold of the paperwork in her arms. "How DARE you speak to us that way?!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who brought up his lower region. You did. So step off before you get hurt." Anisa could hold her own, thanks to Phil and Mark teaching her how to fight in case she ever had to defend herself in the back.

Michelle scoffed, squaring her boney shoulders and planted her hands on her hips. "And what are you gonna do if I don't? You can't hurt me. Marky will make sure of it."

"Then I suggest Marky takes you down to catering so you can pack some meat on those bones before he breaks you in bed."

Even Mark had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing at that remark from his fiery ex-wife. Just as Michelle raised her hand to slap Anisa across the face, big brother came sauntering up draping an arm over his sister's shoulder. Michelle instantly backed off and stood beside Mark again, all 4 individuals facing off in the middle of the hallway. Unbeknownst to Anisa, there had been a small crowd forming around them and several coworkers overheard what she said to Michelle.

"Is there a problem here?" Phil demanded, ready to protect his sister from the likes of Mark's whore wife if need be.

"Not at all, just the women havin' a friendly conversation." Mark lied, draping an arm around Michelle's trembling body and knew what Anisa said to her stung. "Though I do think Nissy owes my wife an apology."

THE HELL I DO, Anisa's mind screamed, pursing her lips tightly together to make sure those words didn't come out of her mouth. It would be a cold frosty day in hell when Anisa ever uttered the words 'I'm sorry' to either of these lowlifes. Mark had destroyed her mentally and emotionally, thinking baiting her would reopen the fresh wound of what he did to her. If anything, it fired Anisa up and made her realize just how lucky she was not to be married to Mark anymore. Michelle deserved him just as much as he did her and Anisa finally felt like she could finally move on with her life.

"Her name is Anisa, asshole. Get it straight." Phil stated in the kindest, friendliest tone he could muster up, pushing Anisa to stand behind him while Mark did the same thing with Michelle.

"And what if I don't, boy?" Mark taunted, spitting a hock of tobacco spit right on Phil's wrestling boots and dared the punk ass to make a move.

"I'll put your ass to sleep, Deadman."

"Try me and I'll make your ass famous, kid."

"Enough both of you." Anisa couldn't let Phil jeopardize the match against Mark at WrestleMania, wedging herself between both of them. "Phil, now isn't the time." She didn't bother touching Mark, both of her hands against her brother's chest. "Please, don't fuck your career up because of him. He's not worth it."

As much as Michelle hated Mark's ex-wife, she couldn't disagree with the logic. There was too much at stake with WrestleMania right around the corner. "Come on Marky, let's go get something to eat and leave these idiots alone." She crooned, trying to calm him down and glared at Anisa, both women sharing a secret understanding. "Come on, you can tear his ass up at Mania."

"Damn right I will. I'll make sure I put you 6 feet under, BOY." Mark growled, agitated he couldn't finish heckling his ex-wife all because of her meddlesome brother. "That's why we never worked out, NISSY, because of your brother always gettin' in the way!"

"To protect her from YOU!" Phil snarled, trying to push past Anisa to get his hands on his ex-brother-in-law, but she was steadfast. "Your ass is mine at Mania, prick!"

Anisa ignored what Mark said, too focused on Phil and kept pushing him back down the hallway. She smiled thankfully at Trinity who gathered her paperwork off the floor she dropped when Phil and Mark tried tearing each other apart. Taking it, Anisa kept a firm hold on Phil's arm and guided him back to his locker room, tossing the door open startling Coralie. She'd been waiting for him so they could go to catering for some food during her hour break, but he was MIA until now.

"Lord, what happened?" Coralie was almost afraid to ask, her voice resigned and could see the anger flashing through Phil's hazel eyes.

"Run-in with Mark and his whore wife."

"They tried baiting my sister into their web of mind games and I put a fucking stop to it." Phil spat, kicking a steel metal folding chair across the locker room and punched the wall, leaving a small dent in it. "I wanna kill him!"

Coralie couldn't remember the last time she saw Phil this enraged and frowned at Anisa, both of them not really knowing what to do or say. "If you keep doing that, you won't make it to Mania because your hand will be broken. Paul and Stephanie will be livid at you if you injure yourself like an idiot before the event."

"Listen to her, bro, please. I know what they said pisses you off and it angers me too, but you can't come unhinged right now, especially with the likes of him." Mark had a ton of stroke in the company and could easily get anyone fired if he truly wanted to. "Just calm down, take a few deep breaths and go stand under a cold shower. Do something besides hit walls and scare your girlfriend."

Aside from Chez and a few other people back in Chicago, Phil had the most important women in his life beside him and he couldn't have been more grateful. "I'm sorry." He muttered after a few minutes and pulled Anisa into his arms, hugging her tightly. "I swear I'll make him pay for what he did to you at Mania, sissy. I swear it."

"I know you will, bro." Anisa murmured soothingly, stroking his back trying to calm him down more while sharing a worried look with Coralie. She was concerned about his mental state just as much as Anisa was, that much was obvious. "You have to be stable in all ways before you step in the ring with him, Phil." She pulled back, staring up into his eyes, seeing the regret and guilt swirling through them over what happened with her and Mark. "And stop blaming yourself for my marriage failing with Mark. It was a blessing in disguise as far as I'm concerned."

Try as she might, Anisa couldn't stop the tears flowing down her face and hated how Mark could still screw with her emotions. The things he and Michelle said to her did hurt, but what he did with Michelle instead of her hurt more. Mark's actions instead of his words. Pulling away from Phil, Anisa tried leaving the dressing room, but Phil stopped her pulling her back into his arms for another hug. She cried on his chest, clutching the back of his t-shirt in two fistfuls and her whole body shook from head to toe. Anisa was ready to move on with her life and be happy with Jon, but at the same time she wondered what Michelle had to keep Mark satisfied that she didn't. It had to be more than just not wanting to have babies and give up her career with the WWE.

"I just…" Anisa's voice broke as Phil lifted her up princess style in his arms, carrying her over to the bench in the locker room sitting down while Coralie looked at them both. She kept quiet because Anisa was getting ready to open up more about what Mark did to her, which was something Phil had been waiting for since her divorce. "I try not to let them bother me, ya know? I try to be happy with my life and I am for the most part. But when I saw him walking down the aisle hand in hand with her tonight…" Her head lowered and Anisa buried her face in her hands, crying harder. "H-He never did that with me. H-He never showed me an ounce of affection whenever we were working. He treated me like a secret or something and it hurts to see him treat her the way he should've treated me. Like a wife instead of a doormat."

Coralie's heart broke for Anisa and decided a change of subject was definitely in order, not bothering to comment on her feelings regarding Mark. It would only open the wound in her heart further. "I know this isn't the best time, but…they found out who was screwing with the Shield's shit in their locker room."

That grabbed Phil's attention. "Who was it?"

"You're not gonna believe this." Coralie shook her head, still not believing what Mia told her when they ran into each other earlier on her way to see Phil. "Mia caught 3MB pouring a whole gallon of bleach on their luggage and inside of it. They destroyed everything and she recorded it happening and went to the bosses immediately. Now it's going to be those assholes against the Shield at Friday's house show."

"At least they caught who did it." Anisa mumbled, not able to get excited from the news and stood up from the bench, handing Phil his script. "I have to get going and finish my job. Thanks for listening to me." She kissed his forehead and walked out, heading straight for the exit to get some air.

Once outside, Anisa let fresh tears fall from her eyes while smoking a much needed cigarette alone, hoping she'd be rid of Mark for good one of these days.