"You wanna hear something funny?" Terri held her iphone up and played Melissa's latest message on speaker phone. Hey Terri. It's Melissa again. It's been almost a week since I first left you a message. I hope everything is okay. Can you call me back, please? This is a little ridiculous.Terri turned off speaker phone, deleted the voice mail, and laughed. "It's been almost a week and the angriest that she gets is 'this is a little ridiculous.'"
Ryan folded his arms. "It's not funny. She's going to find out Friday when she watches Smackdown and sees AJ's costume," Ryan said.
Terri shrugged. "Well, you need to keep her busy then," Terri added.
"I can't prevent her from watching Smackdown. It's all over youtube. Besides, you forced me to end my friendship with her anyway," Ryan said.
"I only told you to keep your mouth shut. I didn't force you to do anything," Terri added.
Ryan threw his hands up in protest. "Whatever. I need to get out of here. Give me my shorts back," Ryan demanded.
"So hostile," Terri said with a sly smile as she handed over the shorts.
Ryan ripped them from her grasp and exited out the door where he almost ran directly in to Tim.
"I heard everything," Tim said sympathetically.
"Let it go. Please," Ryan said.
"You can't let her do this. Think of Mel. This could ruin her career!" Tim said.
"I am thinking of her," Ryan shot back. "If I say something, Terri will...just forget you heard anything," Ryan said rubbing his hand over his face.
Tim thought for a moment. "What do you think is more important to her?" He patted Ryan on the back. "Let me know if I can help," he said before walking away.
Melissa and Stu were hosting their first party in Stu's new home. The majority of WWE and FCW Superstars that lived in Tampa had stopped by throughout the day. PJ and Barbie had raved about Melissa's home made salad dressing while Kofi's wife asked for her recipe for chickpea fritters. Stephen, Nattie, TJ, and Harry spent most of their time in the pool while Gail and Heath chose to sit pool side and watch the splash fights from afar.
"Everything is really wonderful, Mel," Gail said.
"Yeah, thank you for having us all over," Nattie called out from the pool as she climbed on TJ's back.
"I'm so glad you guys could make it," Melissa added, her smile genuine. She was so pleased to be sharing the responsibilities of the party with Stu. Well, he stood by the grill while Windham manned it. Whether it was cooking or grilling, Stu was hopelessly bad at it. He waved at her as she walked in to the kitchen to refill the pitchers of water. Melissa was startled to see Ryan standing in the kitchen as she entered.
"I rang the doorbell a few times, so I just ended up letting myself in," he said.
"That's fine," Melissa said through a nervous laugh. "How are you?" He ignored her question and headed out to the deck as AJ and Gail walked through.
"Can I use your computer for a second? I want to show Gail my new ring wear," AJ asked her.
"Of course. It's over on the dining room table. Speaking of which, did you ever get the drawings I sent Terri that you asked for?"
"No..." Aj looked confused. "Terri made me a new costume though this week."
Melissa followed the girls over to her laptop and pulled up AJ's segment from Smackdown. "Oh my god..." Melissa trailed off. "That's the design I made you! Well, the drawing was pink, but it's the same thing!" Melissa shut her lap top and stood up. "I can't believe this!"
Gail's eyes widened as AJ shook her head. "I asked Terri to change the color because it would be too much pink if I tagged with Nattie..."
Melissa ran outside to the back deck and grabbed Stu, who was standing at the grill with Windham and Ryan. "I need to talk to you right now," she said softly as she grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him inside.
Stu smiled politely at her antics. "Whoa, hang on a second, love. What's going on?"
She looked over at Ryan, realizing that he saw her designs before she sent them off to Terri. "You saw them! You can say for sure!"
Stu looked over at Ryan. "What is she going on about?"
Ryan shrugged and they both followed her inside. When they reached the dining room, Melissa, Gail, and AJ were watching the footage on Smackdown.
"Terri stole my design of AJ's costume," Melissa said staring at the lap top screen.
"That's a pretty big accusation to make, don't you think?" Stu asked.
Melissa turned to Ryan. "You saw the package before I sent it off. That's what I showed you! That's the design!"
"That doesn't look anything like what you showed me," Ryan said stone faced.
"Seriously?" Melissa shouted at Ryan.
"Relax, Mel, you're making a scene" Stu said quietly as he grabbed her arm.
Melissa brushed past Stu and got in Ryan's face. "You mean to tell me that that looks nothing like the costume I showed you? The one that you said looked so amazing!"
Ryan looked her dead in the eye. "That's exactly what I'm saying," he said.
"How do you explain the package that I sent to Terri going missing! You know what I think?" No one responded to her, instead, everyone just watched her have a meltdown. "I think she got the package and stole my idea! No, you know what? That is what happened!"
Stu grabbed her arm again and spoke through gritted teeth. "Upstairs! Now!" He grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the staircase. She pulled away from him and stormed up the stairs herself. Stu shut the door to the bedroom before angrily marching over towards her. "What the hell was that about?" Stu yelled. "Have you officially gone mad?"
"When have I ever 'gone mad?' Melissa shouted, using air quotes to emphasize Stu's accusation.
"You need to be careful with what you say about other people, Mel. You know that," Stu advised. Melissa could tell he was angry with her over her behavior in front of everyone downstairs. "Now, I have to go downstairs and explain to everyone why you were shouting in my dining room!"
Melissa took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but her hands were shaking with rage. "Just hear me out," she said. "Have you ever seen me this upset before?"
Stu shook his head. "Only when I'd done something to upset you."
"I sent Terri a package over a week ago now with Layla's new costume and some drawings for AJ. She never called me to say she received the package and she's been ignoring my texts and my emails and phone calls," she said.
"She didn't mention anything to me about it when I saw her tuesday," Stu said.
"And why would she?" Melissa shot back.
"I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this," Stu began. "What if the package was lost in the mail?"
"It was delivered. I called FedEx and everything," she said.
"Did she have to sign for it?" he asked.
"No," Melissa said.
"So then you really don't know, do you?" he asked.
"Why are you questioning me? You know Terri is shady, Stu." she pleaded.
Stu walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's best not to jump to conclusions now, sweetheart. I'm sure it's just a big misunderstanding" Stu placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face up to look him in the eye. "Now, let's go back downstairs and try to have a good time. I'd like you to apologize to our guests."
"I'm not apologizing to anyone," she scoffed.
"Fine. Just apologize to Ryan and AJ, then. Okay?" His attempt at a compromise stung her more
She backed away defensively. "Fine."
"Take a few moments to get yourself together and come downstairs," Stu kissed her forehead and left her to her own thoughts. She needed to calm down before attempting to go downstairs, but she could not stop seething. After a few moments of deep breathing, her heart rate lowered and she went downstairs. Ryan was opening the front door to leave.
"Hey Ryan," she said. He turned around to face her. "I just wanted to apologize for what happened. I never should've yelled at you. Especially in front of everyone like that." She took a deep breath. "I embarrassed myself, but I also embarrassed you. I'm sorry." Ryan had to work hard to prevent his jaw from hitting the floor. He couldn't believe that Stu made her apologize to him when she was right, but how was he to know that? Ryan assumed that Stu convinced her that her actions ruined the party and she should walk around and make peace with the offended. Terri picked an easy target to manipulate.
"Thanks, Mel." Ryan opened the door to leave. "I'm gonna take off though."
"You shouldn't leave because of something I did," she pleaded. It was absolutely killing Ryan to hear her speak those words. "Stu and I would love it if you stayed."
"Thanks, but I should go anyway. Great party." His words stung her horrifically. She bit her bottom lip to help hold back her tears.
Melissa was doing the dishes in the kitchen as Stu was bundling the trash from outside. They hadn't spoken one word to each other since his talk to her in the bedroom. Sensing her vulnerability, Stu snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Thank you for all your help today," he kissed her neck. She shrugged him away. "Whats the problem now? This isn't about that costume thing, is it?" Melissa shut the water off to the sink and walked towards the stairs. "Mel? Come back here. We need to talk."
She walked back towards the kitchen. "You're right. We do need to talk. And you need to listen instead of just talking at me. So, listen, Terri stole my costume ideas and Layla's outfit is floating around somewhere. I know that it is. How would you feel if someone tried to pass off your finisher as their own? This is my job, Stu. This is my livelihood and my passion. You said we're in this together and we support each other but based on today that's so obviously not true!"
He leaned against the kitchen counter. "Look, Mel, you don't know that to be true," he said.
"Why don't you believe me?" she yelled. "There is no reason why you shouldn't believe me!"
Defeated, Stu sighed. "Do you want me to talk to Terri on Tuesday?"
"No, I'm going to confront her myself," she said as she walked back towards the stairs.
"That's a terrible idea. Let me do it for you," he argued.
"Fine." she yelled back.
"Where are you going?" he yelled after her. "Mel?"
Melissa came back downstairs with her purse. "I'm going home," she said, slamming his front door.