Foot In The Door
Two days later AJ was home in her office sorting thru her books. She was putting them all on the shelves that Punk had built for her.
"Sure you don't want any help?" Punk asked leaning in the doorway
"No these need to be put up in particular order" AJ said to him
"I think I know the alphabet" Punk snorted
"It doesn't go alphabetically" AJ laughed "It goes by genre" she said proudly as she placed two more books on her shelf.
"Oh excuse me" he mocked
"You don't mind running the club by yourself tonight, right?" she asked him. She had told him last night she wanted the night to sort thru things and get organized without any distractions.
"No not at all" he said with a shrug "I do mind being considered a 'distraction'"
"You are a distraction" she said to him seriously and he narrowed his eyes at her
"Insulting" Punk spat
"But true" She smirked
"Yea I think I can manage a night all by myself" Punk teased "Unless you want me here to help"
"I'd get three books up before you'd have me on my back" She said to him
"That's not true" he said almost disgusted "I'd let you be on top if you want"
"Enough" she laughed "Go to work, bring home the bacon" she teased
"I'd love it if you stayed home with your feet up while I worked" Punk said to her seriously
"And what would I be doing all day?" AJ asked and he knew he had to answer carefully
"You'd be relaxing because being with me is taxing enough" He said hoping that answer would work
"I do agree with that" AJ said to him "But I like to work"
"Yea I mean you can work until we children" Punk agreed
"And after children? I just stay home and watch them by myself?" AJ asked him
"Well they can't be left alone" Punk reasoned
"So I don't get to work after we have children?" AJ asked
"You can write" Punk pointed out
"It's not my paying profession" AJ said to him
"You do realize if we both decided never to work again we'd be set for life, right?" Punk asked
"I want to bring something to the household" AJ said to him "I don't want to be one of those wives to her rich husband whose just arm candy at fancy events. I want to work and be respected"
"If somebody doesn't respect you-" Punk started
"You'll beat them up?" she finished for him
"Pretty much" Punk nodded
"I can take care of myself thank you very much" she said placing more books on the shelf "And I plan on working after we have children so you're going to have to deal with that too. If you wanted to marry a woman who would be satisfied living off of your money and keeping the house kept while you were at work then you made a huge mistake marrying me" she said to him and he smirked
"Do you have any bad how bad I want you right now?" Punk asked amused and she rolled her eyes.
"Go to work" she laughed walking over to him and giving him a kiss.
"Fine but be warned I'll be miserable" Punk said to her
"You'll manage" she said to him and pushed him out of her office
Punk walked out of the house and into his car. He didn't notice the man parked across the street, he hadn't noticed him the last few days at all. But that didn't surprise Daniel because had never noticed Daniel in his entire life. The only time he acknowledged Daniel was when he was talking to his wife. A man like Punk who was very complicated and private sure knew how to expose his weaknesses easily.
Once Punk drove past Daniel he stepped out of his own car instead of following Punk like he would normally do. Daniel wanted nothing more but to see how his brother lived, getting a peek into his home is something Daniel had dreamt about for years.
Daniel stepped out of his car and walked across the street and hoped Punk hadn't tainted AJ against him yet. He never had any issues with AJ but honestly he hadn't thought about her in years before seeing her in a picture with his blood brother. He had hoped he'd remembered enough about to her to let him in at least for a cup of coffee. He rang the doorbell and bounced on the heels of his feet and waited for her.
"Daniel" AJ said with a polite smile
"Hey AJ" Daniel smiled "I know this is a little random but I'm in town on business and thought we could catch up" AJ eyed him oddly
"Why?" AJ asked folding her arms "You and I never kept in touch and it's a little weird to be honest"
"I don't mean to weird you out AJ" Daniel laughed "
"How did you know where I lived?" she asked
"That I admit I looked up" Daniel said to her "I tried stopping by your club but they said you weren't there"
"I don't think my husband would like it" AJ told him honestly
"He's that jealous?" Daniel smirked
"No he just really doesn't like you for some reason" AJ told him bluntly
"Did you talk poorly about me?" Daniel teased
"No but you said something to him that rubbed him the wrong way in Jersey" AJ told him
"I can't imagine what I could have said" Daniel said to her "But I understand completely. Maybe we can sit up a dinner, the three of us if it makes him feel better"
"Yea I'll run that by him" AJ said to humor him but she already knew that Punk would laugh in her face at that idea. "How long will you be in town for?"
"A couple of more days" Daniel said to her "I hate to ask this but I'm a little far away from my hotel could I just use your bathroom?"
"Yea of course" AJ said unsurely moving aside to let him "It's right down that hall, third door on the right"
"Wow" Daniel said looking around the huge home "Your place is amazing"
"Thanks" AJ said quietly and watched as he headed down the hall. AJ liked to think she knew Daniel pretty well even though she hadn't seen him in so long and he was definitely up to something.
After being in the bathroom for close to ten minutes, snooping thru the medicine cabinet and opening up drawers and just getting a feel for the place he heard AJ knock on the door.
"Is everything ok?" she asked from the other side of the door
"Yea, yea I'll be right out" Daniel said flushing the toilet even though he never used it and then ran the water.
AJ walked back into the living room and jumped slightly when Punk walked inside.
"I forgot my wallet" Punk grumbled annoyed "Do you remember if I left it-" he stopped talking when he looked over and saw Daniel step behind his wife. "What's this?" he asked AJ trying not to blow up.
"I dropped by and asked to catch up with AJ but your wife said no" Daniel laughed
"So you came inside anyway?" Punk asked slowly
"No he just needed to use the bathroom" AJ said to him "He was just leaving"
"Yet he's still here" Punk said not taking his eyes off of Daniel
"I suggested to AJ that maybe the three of us could go out to eat sometime" Daniel told him
"That's not happening" Punk said to him. AJ was watching Daniel carefully as he looked and spoke to her husband.
"I think it's a wonderful idea honey" AJ said overly sweet to Punk
"I don't" Punk said to him "And if he's not out of my house in twenty seconds I'm throwing him out of it"
"Here's my card and the hotel I'm staying at" he said leaving the card on the table "If you change your mind give me a call" he then walked out of the house.
"You just let him in here?" Punk asked stunned "Thank god I forgot my wallet"
"Oh please" AJ said waving it off "But he is up to something"
"Duh" He said slowly "Which is why we don't let him in the house especially if there are no witnesses"
"He seems more interested in you then me" AJ informed him
"I'm his biggest threat" Punk said to her "He wants me out of the way"
"Why would he want you out of the way?" AJ asked with a laugh
"So he could get back with you" Punk said to her "Come on!"
"Look I know when a man is attracted to me" AJ informed him "He didn't look at my breasts once, he didn't check me out, he didn't playfully touch me and he didn't insist on walking behind me so he could look at my ass."
"Wait what?" Punk asked confused
"The point is he's not interested in me" AJ said to him "He's interested in something else and I think it's you"
"Are you saying he was looking at my ass?" Punk asked slowly and she smirked
"No" she said trying not to laugh "I think we should go to dinner with him. He's clearly looking for something let's try to figure out what it is"
"Or we can not" Punk reasoned "And just ignore him"
"Aren't you curious?" AJ asked him
"Yes but I'm going to give you a heads up and let you know that if you insist on a dinner with him I'm not going to be very nice" Punk told her honestly
"Fine" AJ said to him
"He's probably here to find out if we know he killed Celeste" Punk said to her
"Oh jeez this again?" AJ asked "Go to work" she ordered as she passed him his wallet that was on the table
"Are you going to let more strange in here?" Punk asked her
"Just the really strange ones" She replied coolly
"Wonderful" He mumbled "Lock the door after I leave" he said walking to the door.
"Yea, yea" she mocked following him to the door and before he fully stepped outside he gave her one more kiss.
"Lock it" he said pointing to the door.
Daniel arrived at whatever was left of Tonic a half hour after Punk threw him out of his house and was in search for the owner who he assumed would be there overseeing work on his club and sure enough he was there outside talking to contractors.
"Seth Rollins?" Daniel asked approaching the man
"Who wants to know?" Seth asked defensively
"Me" Daniel smirked "Daniel Bryan" he said extending his hand
"And what do you want?" Seth asked him
"Five minutes of your time" Daniel said to him
"Why?" Seth asked
"I understand you know Phil Brooks" Daniel said to him and Seth looked confused
"Oh you mean Punk?" Seth asked and Daniel asked "Yea I guess you can say I know him. Are you a cop?" he asked him
"No" Daniel laughed
"So who are you?" Seth asked annoyed
"I'm a friend of his wife's" Daniel told him with a smile
"I don't know what you want and I also don't care" Seth informed him "If Punk sent you here as some sort of a spy-"
"I'm not" Daniel said to him "I want to know about your history with him though"
"That's not going to happen either" Seth laughed "Get out of here"
"Is everyone in Chicago rude?" Daniel asked with a grin
"Pretty much" Seth said to him
"Your club is running low funds" Daniel told him and Seth looked over to him "When Punk's new club opens there's a very good chance you'll be out of business"
"How do you know that?" Seth asked him
"I've done my homework" Daniel said to him "I am looking to invest in a club" he passed Seth his business card. "I know Punk is paying for your damages but I'd like to add some more cash into the place, give him a run for his money"
"Why?" Seth asked him "You don't know me and just by looking at you, you don't know the first thing about owning a club. As a matter of fact I'd be willing to bet you've never even been in a club before"
"You're not wrong" Daniel laughed "I just want to bury him" he said in an almost cold voice and Seth smirked
"Anyone ever tell you that you're a weird dude?" Seth asked him
"You'd actually be surprised how often I hear that" Daniel smiled
"So let me ask you" Seth started feeling very intrigued "Why Punk? You say you know his wife are you looking to swoop her away or something?"
"No not at all" Daniel laughed honestly "This is personal"
"Why is it personal?" Seth asked
"Its' not your business" Daniel told him bluntly "Or maybe you all are friends now and you don't want to even give his a club a run for it's money" he shrugged
"What makes you think that?" Seth laughed
"I read in the paper you pulled him and his wife from the fire here" Daniel told him
"I pulled his wife out because I'm not a complete bastard" Seth said to him "And she begged me to pull Punk out. It wasn't because we're old friends now"
"Can't say no to those doe eyes huh?" Daniel asked with a laugh
"She's not ugly" Seth agreed
"Been there, done that" Daniel winked
"And this isn't about her?" Seth asked
"No" Daniel said to him "This is about Punk"
"I don't know you, you kind of freak me out actually" Seth noted "But I'll pass your card to my attorney and he'll set up a meeting with you"
"I've heard a lot about Paul Heyman" Daniel said fondly and now Seth was even more freaked out "I look forward to it"
Punk was in his office on the phone with Steve Austin.
"No I want him arrested" Punk argued
"I can't arrest a guy for using your bathroom" Steven chuckled "You said your wife invited him in"
"She wasn't thinking clearly" Punk said to him "He was in my home and I did not approve it"
"Your wife lives with you, half is hers if she invited him in she invited him in" Steve said to him simply
"I want a restraining order for my wife against him" Punk informed him
"We've discussed this" Steve said to him "You can't just take out restraining orders against people because you simply don't like them"
"He's a creepy fucking guy!" Punk shouted
"You can't get a restraining order because someone is creepy" Steve said to him "I suggest you speak to your wife and let her know how you feel about this"
"What can you do?" Punk asked him
"If he ever breaks into your home for real, then call me" Steve told him "Until than my hands are tied"
"Great thanks" Punk mumbled then hung up on him
"Hey man" Dean said walking into his office "Someone is here to see you"
"Is it my wife?" Punk asked him
"Nope" Dean said shaking his head
"Is it that goat face prick?" Punk questioned again
"Afraid not" Dean told him
"Not interested then" Punk said simply
"It's Amy" Dean said almost fearfully
"Is she straight or higher than the empire state building?" Punk asked
"She seems ok" Dean shrugged "What do you want me to do?"
"Send her in" Punk said to him
"Mia told me AJ and Amy got into it at the hospital" Dean reminded him
"Yea I remember AJ mentioning that" Punk said to him "I can handle her"
"That's what I'm afraid of" Dean smirked
"Just send her in" Punk shot at him. Dean walked out and a moment later Amy stepped inside.
"Hey" Amy said with a shy smile
"Hello" Punk replied coolly "What can I do for you?"
"Don't be so formal" Amy said taking a seat across from his desk "I wanted to see how you were doing but every time I came here she was here"
"She is my wife" Punk pointed out
"Yea and she viciously assaulted me in the hospital" Amy informed him "How about a thank you for not pressing charges?"
"I think you already know how I'm going to respond that" Punk smirked "What do you need Amy?"
"You think I only come to you when I need something?" Amy laughed
"History indicates it" Punk said to her
"I really wanted to check in on you" Amy said to him "I didn't want you think I didn't care when I heard what happened to you"
"I wouldn't have given it any thought" Punk shrugged
"I wanted you to also know I've been sober for three weeks" Amy told him proudly
"Well I am glad to hear that" Punk said to her
"And it didn't cost you a cent" Amy teased
"Why are you here Amy?" Punk asked leaning back in his chair
"I miss you" she said to him "Is that a crime? We can't be friends because you're married now"
"We were never friends" Punk reminded her
"So what were we?" Amy asked
"We were fuck buddies" Punk told her bluntly
"We were a little more than that" Amy smiled
"No Amy" Punk said to her "I don't understand why out of the blue you're coming around?"
"I've cleaned my life up" Amy told him "Do you remember what you said to me when you ended our relationship? I asked if there was any hope and you said if I cleaned myself up. So here I am"
"And here I am" Punk said to her then held up his left hand "Married" he added
"I don't mind" Amy smiled
"I do" Punk shot at her "But I would love to introduce you to a man named John"
"I know AJ, I know women like her" Amy said to him "You'll get bored"
"I don't agree. She keeps me on my toes" Punk said happily "I am happy you cleaned up your life but there's no going back Amy. I'm very happy"
"Sure you are" Amy said with an added wink and stood up "You know where to find me" she then walked out of his office
AJ was in her home still unpacking when her cell phone went off.
"Hey Shawn" she said happily to her PI
"Hey kid. How are you holding up?" he questioned
"Good" AJ told him
"I read about the fire" Shawn said to her "I tried reaching out"
"I know I got your message it was very kind" AJ said to him
"So what can I do for you AJ?" Shawn asked
"I need to hire you again" AJ said to him
"I hope we're not looking into more of your family" Shawn warned
"No" AJ said to him "Never again"
"Good, so what can I do for you?" Shawn asked
"Daniel Bryan" AJ told him
"Why is that name familiar?" Shawn asked more himself
"He was my boyfriend in Jersey when I was fifteen" AJ reminded him
"Oh that's right" Shawn said to her "So you want to look him up or something?"
"No I want to know why he's looking into my husband" AJ told him
"He's giving Punk a hard time?" Shawn asked surprised "That's pretty ballsy"
"Not yet he isn't" AJ said to him "But he's sniffing around him and I'm just curious to see if they had ever crossed each others paths in past without remembering it"
"Yea I'll do some digging and call you" Shawn told her
"Thank you Shawn" she said happily
"Who are we investigating now?" Punk asked causing AJ to scream out
"You scared me" AJ said placing her hand over her beating heart "You're home early"
"It was quiet tonight" Punk shrugged "So again, who are you investigating?"
"Daniel" AJ said to him
"No" Punk said shaking his head "Call him back and tell him to forget it"
"Why?" AJ asked "I want to know what he wants with you"
"He wants you" Punk laughed "Why waste money to tell you that?"
"I already told you it's not that" AJ said to him "Besides he's already had me" she shrugged and Punk cringed
"Don't remind him" Punk warned her
"Why?" AJ asked "I married you"
"I don't want to think about that creepy fucker touching you" he said disgusted then walked over to her and picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder
"Phil" she laughed "What are you doing?" she asked as he carried her into their bedroom
"Getting that filthy image out of my head" Punk said dropping her on the bed and then removed his shirt while AJ eyed him with lust and want….
Daniel Bryan opened his hotel room door when he heard a knock and revealed Paul Heyman standing there.
"Well" Paul smiled walking inside "You are the last person I ever thought I'd see"
"Do I know you?" Daniel asked amused
"Not personally" Paul said to him "But when my client Mr. Rollins told me that a weird looking man he was sure came fresh from a cave was looking to do business with him I said 'wow he's finally come back'"
"You know who I am?" Daniel asked him
"I know you're Punk's brother" Paul said to him "I've known that for a very long time actually"
"And you never clued Punk in?" Daniel asked
"Punk was never interested in learning about his true parents history" Paul said to him
"Does he know I exist?" Daniel asked
"He was three when you were born" Paul reminded him "They kept you for what? A year then sent you away because they couldn't afford to take care of you and your brother. He doesn't remember you"
"And you never thought to mention to him that he had a brother?" Daniel asked
"He would never consider you his brother" Paul laughed "He's a Klein thru and thru. I don't understand why you're so bitter though" he admitted
"You want to know why I was literally given away so my brother could have a better life bothers me?" Daniel questioned
"He didn't have a great life with your parents" Paul pointed out "They were drunks, losers"
"And then he hit the jackpot" Daniel said to him
"You didn't end up so bad" Paul said to him "You were raised well"
"Any two people willing to pay for a child rather than legally adopt are shady" Daniel said to him "I've been struggling my entire life"
"I've checked up on you" Paul said to him "You have a few screws loose but nothing so horrible. I mean locking your girlfriend up in a closet is a little freaky"
"My parents used to do it to me" Daniel smiled happily which mildly freaked out Paul. "If they kept me I would have been with Klein's too. I would have the booming business, the wife, the family- everything"
"His wife isn't that great" Paul said seriously
"I know all about her" Daniel said to him "She was my foster sister"
"Really?" Paul asked surprised "That's interesting"
"I didn't sleep with her because she was interesting or because I couldn't resist her" Daniel scoffed "I only did it because she was a sweet kid and if I didn't my father would have- he was a real prince" he said to Paul "This isn't about her this is about Punk"
"And you want to attack his business as payback? Pretty cliché" Paul noted
"Who said anything about attacking him? I want to get to know him" Daniel said to him "He won't let me in. He thinks I'm trying to get into AJ's pants."
"Why haven't you just told him the truth?" Paul asked him
"He doesn't acknowledge his true parents or where he came from" Daniel mocked "Or he would have known about me"
"So you want to be an outsider looking in?" Paul asked "That's kind of pathetic"
"I need time" Daniel said to him "I want what he has. The big mansion, the adoring family- everything. The club is just a step in the right direction"
"Well I'll need to think this over" Paul said to him
"I'm assuming you won't tell Punk" Daniel said to him
"Punk doesn't really speak to me" Paul grinned
"You used to know him pretty well, right?" Daniel asked
"Very well" Paul agreed "Loved him like a son"
"So he had three fathers?" Daniel asked with a laugh
"Something like that" Paul chuckled
"If you're looking to hurt Punk I'm going to give you a friendly tip before you pour whatever savings you have into Tonic- he doesn't give a rats ass about his clubs" Paul told him "He cares about his family. Don't let the tough exterior fool you. His parents, sister and yes even his brother is his life"
"I know" Daniel said to him "They saved him from having the kind of life I had"
"Just a thought" Paul said to him "I'll be in touch" he told him then walked out the door.