Okay my peeps, as always, I apologize for the delay but I get busy sometimes, i cant really help it. I hope there are some people out there that still care about this story. These are the final three chapters so I hope you enjoy them. Please, please, please let me know what you think! Big hugs as always.
Chapter 36...
Brianna smoothed her shirt down and slapped John's hand away from her ass as they walked toward the door.
"Stop it!" she squeaked when he put his arms around her, pulling her back against him.
"I cant help it," he kissed the back of her head. "I'm not gonna get to touch you again until after the show. Do you know how long that is?"
"I know very well how long that is," she turned around, kissing him softly. "Now control yourself. Raquel already thinks she knows something."
"Alright, alright, hands to myself," he said as they walked to the door. He leaned close, whispering in her ear, "Until later tonight."
She smiled, unlocking the door. Her mouth dropped into an 'O' when she saw Raquel standing in front of her, arms crossed over her chest, one eyebrow arched to the ceiling. Jeff was standing behind her looking confused. John still had his face in her hair and she elbowed him sharply in the side.
"Ow, baby what the…" he trailed off when he saw them. "Shit."
"That's all you have to say?" Raquel asked.
"This is not what you think it is," Brianna shook her head.
John moved away, "She's right..don't read too much into this."
"Guys," Jeff ran a hand over his hair. "We kinda saw you. Don't bother."
"Wonderful," Brianna rolled her eyes.
"How did you see anything?" Jeff asked. "The blinds were closed."
Jeff looked over at Raquel who glared, "I'll be asking the questions here."
"Well if you're gonna ask questions, I suggest we go back in there," Brianna said. "This really isn't a hallway conversation."
Trish looked up when she saw Matt walking into the lockerroom with a basket full of red roses.
"What the hell is that?" she frowned.
"A present," Matt shrugged. "Is Raquel here yet?"
Trish shook her head, "She hasn't been in here. I know she was coming with Brianna. They should be here soon."
Trish was staring at the roses and Matt frowned, "You think these are a bad idea?"
She shook her head, "No, no, I just…It's a surprise. I mean, red roses are..romantic."
"I don't really mean it in that way," Matt shook his head. 'I just wanted to do something nice for her."
"You've been doing a lot of nice things for her," Trish pointed out. She'd been trying to find an opportunity to approach this subject with Matt. This seemed like as good a time as any.
"Well, she's been going through a rough time," Matt shrugged. "I don't know, I feel like we've gotten pretty close lately."
"I noticed," Trish nodded. "You seem care about her a lot."
Matt shrugged, "I guess I do."
"Are you sure about this?" Raquel asked, sitting next to Brianna in the conference room. John and Brianna had admitted what was going on to she and Jeff and then John and Jeff had to leave to talk to their opponents for the night. Raquel had been hoping that something would happen between John and Brianna for quite some time but now that something was going on, she wasn't entirely sure it was the best idea.
"Sure about what?" Brianna asked. "About John? You're the last person I would expect to ask me that."
"I know you're sure about John," Raquel explained. "I just want to know if you're sure you want to do this in this way."
Raquel knew her sister better than anyone and she knew there was no way she cold be totally comfortable cheating, even on someone like Nick.
Brianna rested her chin on her hand, looking away.
"Bri, you-"
"I love John," Brianna looked back at her. "And I don't love Nick. I don't know if I ever did. But I love Maya. I just don't..I don't know how to keep one and get rid of the other yet…Do you think I'm a horrible person?"
"Of course not," Raquel put her arm around her sister's shoulders. "I know this is hard for you. And I'll do whatever I can to help. But I care about John a lot too. I just want everyone to end up happy…you know, everyone except Nick."
Brianna gave her a surprised look and Raquel shrugged, "What? You know I never liked him."
1 Hour Later…
"Ouch," Randy winced as Jeff's back slammed against the ladder.
Raquel covered her mouth, looking away for a second. The ladder match between Adam and Jeff was getting harder and harder to watch. Adam had just whipped Jeff across the ring and face first into the ladder and was now waiting in the corner while Jeff writhed in pain on the canvas. She knew that both men were prepared for everything that was to happen in the ring but that didn't make it any easier to watch. Jeff slowly struggled to his feet and dodged Adam's attempt at a spear but fell again before he could mount any offense. The crowd booed loudly as Adam picked up another ladder, hoisting it up onto his shoulder as Jeff got to his feet again. Jeff turned around and Adam ran at him, slamming the top of the ladder into Jeff's face.
"Shit," Randy shook his head.
"What?" Raquel looked over at him, confused.
"He didn't get his hands up," Randy explained. "Watch, when he gets up, it's not gonna be pretty."
Randy was right. The camera closed in on Jeff as he was pushing himself up and his forehead was covered in blood.
"Oh my God," Raquel turned away from the monitor.
"Adam tends to work pretty stiff in these types of matches," Randy said. "Jeff knows that. It was his own fault."
"Did anyone ask you whose fault it was?" Raquel frowned at him.
"Sorry," Randy shrugged, laughing. "I was just commenting on what I saw."
"Well stop," she glared at him and Randy put his hands up, walking away.
Raquel thought about apologizing to her friend but she didn't. Randy was always offering his unsolicited opinion. He should expect to get snapped at sometimes.
Jeff walked through the GP, white towel pressed against his forehead. He could feel the towel getting more and more soaked by the second and he had a terrible stinging pain above his left eye. When he got to the back, Adam was waiting just inside the curtain, "You okay man?"
"I'm good," Jeff assured him. "These things happen."
Jeff patted Adam on the shoulder before walking past. There were quite a few people milling around the backstage area but the first person in front of him was Raquel.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her green eyes wide with concern.
"I'm alright," he shrugged. "Are you okay? You look freaked out."
"Yeah I'm freaked out, you're bleeding all over the place," she explained. "What happened?"
"I just caught the wrong part of the ladder," he shrugged. "Hurt like hell but I'll be okay."
"It doesn't look okay," she gazed up at his forehead.
Jeff had to admit, though he didn't like seeing her upset, her concern was touching. She was sincerely worried about him. He could remember a time when she probably would have laughed at him getting hurt.
"Well, you wanna walk me to the trainer while I get it looked at?" he asked.
"Why don't we just have him come to you?" she suggested.
"It's not that bad," he laughed, shaking his head. "Come on, you can hold my hand if I need stitches."
She frowned at his bloody hands, "As long as you wash them first."
"Okay everybody's lined up and ready to go," Brianna told Brooke. "You've got about 15 minutes."
Brooke barely responded. The normally bubbly blonde had been quiet, wringing her hands for the last half hour.
"Brooke," Brianna said her name loudly and she looked up, offering an apologetic smile.
"Sorry Brianna," she ran a hand through her hair. "I'm just nervous."
"Nervous about what?" Brianna asked. "You've done this exact routine a thousand times now."
"Yeah but not in front of this many people," Brooke wrung her hands again.
"Okay stop," Brianna pulled her hands apart. "Brooke, if you want to be successful in the music industry then you're gonna have to get used to being in front of this many people. Sometimes even more than this. It's gotta become just a part of what you do."
Brianna wasn't used to the performer's she worked with being nervous. Normally she had to deal with them being a little too confident.
"It's easy for you to say that, you've been in front of huge crowds," Brooke reminded her.
"Yeah, I have," Brianna nodded. "And you're making it a bigger deal than it is. Treat this just like you would treat any of your club shows. You're performing for your fans. That's all."
"You're right," Brooke took a deep breath. "I can do this."
"Yes you can," Brianna nodded.
"Brooke."
Both women turned to see who was calling her name. Randy Orton walked toward them in a t-shirt and his wrestling trunks. The plan for the show was for him to come out at the end of Brooke's performance and attempt to assault her before her father came out for their match. Brooke had shared with Brianna that Randy wasn't exactly thrilled with the storyline that saw him hitting on Brooke and trying to use her as a pawn in the feud with Hulk and he wasn't exactly trying to keep it a secret.
"I need to talk to you," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Hi Randy," Brooke said, obviously annoyed.
"Hi Brooke," he said. "I need to talk to you."
Randy shot a look over at Brianna that said You can go now
Brooke put a hand on Brianna's arm, clearly not wanting her to leave.
Brianna fought the urge to roll her eyes. This was a lovely spot to be in. Standing between a whiny wannabe pop star and a guy who seemed to hate her for no good reason.
Randy rolled his eyes, "I was asking one of the techs when in your song I'm supposed to come out and they told me to ask you."
Brooke looked panicked. She looked over at Brianna.
Brianna ran a hand through her hair, "You're supposed to come in after the second verse, midway through the chorus. Brooke gets out of the ring and starts playing to the people at ringside, then you come out to interrupt."
"Thanks," Brooke breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm so nervous I just keep blanking."
Randy nodded, then walked away without thanking Brianna for her help.
"So he hates you too, huh?" Brooke watched him walk away.
Brianna shrugged, "I guess so."
Vince stood back as Brooke Hogan and her dancers made their way out to the ring. He was standing at the Gorilla Position, hoping she didn't fall flat on her face as she walked out to the ring. He'd known her since she was a little girl and he loved her dearly but she wasn't the brightest bulb. He looked around for a monitor and found one a few feet away. Brianna Kavner was standing in front of it and by the look on her face, Vince would say she was thinking the same thing he was about Brooke. Brianna and Raquel's father must truly have amazing genes. He had produced three of the most attractive women Vince could ever remember seeing. He'd gotten extremely lucky getting Raquel to sign with the company. He still didn't understand why she'd agreed. He wondered if lightning could strike twice.
He walked over, smiling, "You did a great job with her, you know?"
"I did my best with what I had," Brooke shrugged. "Brooke's a sweet girl but.."
"Enough said," Vince put up a hand. "You're a good person, doing all of this for free."
"It's been fun," she shrugged.
"I know your sister's thoroughly enjoyed you being here," Vince said. "I'm glad you've been able to help her through this tough time."
"She's stronger than anyone I know," Brianna smiled. "She'll be fine."
"It seems like you've made a lot of friends around here," Vince observed.
"Yeah, everyone's great," she nodded.
"Seems like this business is in your blood between your sister and your grandfather," he smiled.
"I suppose," she raised a brow. "Mr. McMahon, I get the feeling that this isn't just a friendly conversation."
"I must admit, I did want to talk to you about a business matter," Vince didn't see a point in beating around the bush anymore.
"I want to offer you a job," he explained.
She laughed, "A job doing what?"
"As a diva," he answered. "I think you'd be an incredible addition."
"Mr. McMahon, that is a flattering offer, really," she smiled. "But I'm under contract with Fox. I got in huge trouble the time I appeared on camera on Raw. I couldn't possibly accept your offer."
"When is your contract up?" he asked, not willing to give up yet.
"This time next year," she answered.
"Would you consider my offer then?" he asked.
She smiled, "Who knows what the future will hold?"