Anise woke up in a warm bed. She looked over at the other bed in the hotel room, seeing the occupant quickly tapping at his phone. He looked over at her when she sat up in the bed, pushing the comforter off her body.

"Why hello there," the Irish accent came. "Had a nice nap?"

"Very nice," she nodded. "What time is it?"

"Almost time for dinner. Order in or go out?"

She groaned, pressing on her stomach before heading to a plain white door that she figured was the bathroom. She emerged a few moments later, wiping a cool, wet wash cloth over her face.

"Sorry," she said as she perched upon the edge of his bed. "Order in?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart."

She stood, going over to where her bag was placed on the desk. "You're too nice, Stephen," she told him, rummaging through her items, finally finding what she was looking for. "Why couldn't it have been you?"

"Because then you wouldn't know how nice I am," he answered lightly. "Your phone's been going off as well."

"Yeah," she said, her hand closed around that very item. No doubt it was Randy. Perhaps a few calls from Shawn or her mother. "Wow, only ten calls." Her voice was sarcastic as she made her way back to Stephen's bed. "He must have found a girl to mess with after we left."

Stephen raised his eyebrows at her comment. "You think so?"

"What? That he has other women? Of course. There's a reason why I didn't want to take it seriously, and it's not because I'm too young."

"Have you voiced your concern about this?"

She looked at him blandly. "And what good what that do? We all know that Randy Orton does whatever the fuck he wants."

"The choice has always been yours," he said tossing his phone to the side of him.

"Is it anymore?" she questioned, plucking her lips with her fingertips. "I mean, it may have been before, but now... I was beyond stupid, wasn't I?" She looked over to him,

"Well, I'd never call a lovely, young lady any such name, Anise."

"It's okay. You can say it. I don't have power in the company," she joked, leaning her chin on her hand. "I'd have to be a dumb one to fall for him."

Stephen looked at the blank expression on her face. He really liked when she was laughing and smiling way more than the lifeless look she had now. There was something else in her eye though. Something that made him believe there was more to the story than she let on.

"Do you love him?"

She only looked at him with a soft smile. "Does it matter?"

"It should," he answered with a nod of his head. "You're important, Anise. No matter if Orton treats you well or not. Never start to believe that his words and actions towards you define who you are. You deserve the same love and respect that you give."

She smiled at him again, a subtle laugh escaping her lips as she tried to make the mood less serious.

"Why are you single again?"

"Ah," he said, finally reaching for the room phone. "First time you've inquired about that, Miss Anise."

She raised her eyebrows at him, scooting up to sit against the headboard. "Really now? Tell me about her."

He began talking about his special lady, a girl he had known since his childhood. She listened, very relieved to talk about something or someone other than Randy. And she genuinely enjoyed hearing about his life. He was truly fascinating. If she never thought that she was lucky to have him as a friend before, she was really glad about it now.

"""""

Stephanie looked over at the man. A scolding hot tea kettle blew off less steam than he was in this moment. She crossed her arms and leaned back into the plush leather chair.

"I see nothing wrong with it."

"Nothing wrong with it?" he repeated. "There's everything wrong with it. Steph, he's a grown man – "

"And she's a grown woman," she completed. "Honestly, Randy, she's safe with him."

"And she's not with me?"

"Look," Stephanie began, standing up and walking to the head of the large wooden table to where her folder was placed. "I can't make her travel with anyone. She's not really part of the company. She's not employed by us – "

He cut her off, not caring about the venomous look he caught from her.

"She just travels with the company, doing whatever the fuck she wants, right?"

"Well," she said, looking up from the folder. "Sounds like someone else around here, now doesn't it?" She placed her hands on her hips, clearly making her point that she was no longer going to put her travel schedule with Randy's. Not after her niece so clearly stated that she wanted nothing to do with him.

"This is a mistake, Stephanie," Randy said as calmly as he could, but she could see the anger building even more. "She needs to be with me. She's having my child. She should be with me."

"She's well taken care of in his hands," she commented. Certainly not the smartest thing to say to Orton right now, but at the moment, it seemed like the perfect thing. "And believe me when I tell you, he'll get nothing but the best while my niece is with him. Rest assure, she'll want for nothing."

Randy stood from the chair, slamming his fists down to the table before disappearing out of the door in the blink of an eye. Highly relieved that he was no longer in her presence, she exhaled, sitting back down to her paperwork.

"""""

Vivian stepped back as the door to the meeting room swung open, an irate Randy Orton storming through. He didn't even notice she was there behind the door as he left down the corridor. Vivian's shocked face fell as she made her way into the room, seeing Stephanie at the head of the table, writing.

"What was that about?" she asked, slowly shutting the door behind her.

Stephanie looked up at the sound of her voice, waving a hand. "Randy's mad that Anise won't travel with him."

"He's still on that boat, huh?" She joined Stephanie at the table, placing down the bag of food platters she was holding in her hands.

"Yeah," she hummed out, placing her head in the palm of her hand. "Might have said some things that crossed the line, but I think that Randy has already crossed over many lines he shouldn't have."

"Indeed," Vivian agreed, pulling out their platters and plastic eating utensils. "Why does he want her to travel with him anyway?"

Stephanie tapped her pen to the paper. "Said something about she should be with him because she's carrying his child. But I just told him that she's perfectly fine with Stephen."

Vivian nearly scoffed. "Yeah, what's the worst that could happen between the two of them? He can't get her pregnant right now."

Stephanie laughed out, opening up her container.

"""""

Anise was thrilled to have been on this trip with Stephen. Although she knew their time would end the next day, as he began the overseas tour, she was already thinking about the next time they would be able to tour together.

"You could get your own bus, you know," she told him. He just smiled at her, shaking his head.

"They'd only offer me one to make sure you're comfortable. Besides, I think I much prefer these fancy hotel rooms we've had."

"Mr. Penthouse much?"

"Hey, that was fun. I could eat all the candy bars out of the fridge and just say you ate them all."

She laughed at his silliness. "Perfect escape goat, I am."

He sat up straight in the bed, clearing his throat. "So, you feeling better? I've noticed you've not gotten sick the past day or so."

"Yeah, I think I feel a lot better," she said, pushing away the pizza box that lay before them. "I can definitely eat like I used to."

"Almost an entire large pizza," he stated, shaking his head. "I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it for myself."

"Told you, I'm a beast when it comes to pizza." She laid back into the fluffy pillows, watching him take out his phone. "So, when are you guys going overseas?"

"Starting the end of this week," he replied, still tapping away on his phone. "I'll be on Monday's show."

"Oh, how exciting," she said. She looked over at her own phone, which was currently off and laid on the nightstand. He noticed her staring at it.

"Maybe you should turn it on?" he questioned.

"Hmm?" she said, looking back over to him. "Oh no, I don't think so. It actually should be put away in my bag."

"So," he said, wanting to move away from the conversation of why the phone was turned off in the first place, he finished tapping on his phone and tossed it down on the comforter. "Where will you be when I'm gone?"

"Probably back at Shawn's. He knows every other spot I could go to, and I just don't want to risk it."

"You have a house there?"

She shook her head. "No, but it seems like a great idea. I've always loved it there. So nice and tucked away from the rest of the world. You just feel like no one can find you there."

He listened to her, hearing the words she wasn't speaking. Even at such a young age, she was screaming to be let go. By everyone. From the little amount of time he had spent with her, he could tell that she could use some time alone. He couldn't imagine the life she had growing up. Surely it seemed phenomenal to outsiders, and certainly she knew she was lucky and privileged to have all that she had in life... But there comes a point in people's lives where they just want things to calm down.

He was hoping for this young lady that she would find that place in life, and soon because he honestly didn't know how much longer she could do this. She was holding on for dear life, licking her wounds as she went. And he knew better. She was keeping her tongue tight about what Randy was doing to her. He'd been around long enough to know that females didn't exactly run away from him. Some of them even seemed glad that he openly used them just so they could get a name-worthy notch on their post.

But Anise... She was no average female to Randy. To him, she was a prize. Stephen glanced at her, wondering what it was that he wanted of her. Surely she was a beautiful girl, nice and when she became a friend to you, she never thought anything less of you. So what did Randy want from her? It couldn't have been security. He must know that none of her family would ever allow him to take anything from her.

He waited for her to stop talking, the glow as she spoke of where her brother laid down his home still in her eyes. He nodded, making sure she knew he listened.

"So, you want to get away?"

Anise looked at him, the smile on her lips thinning out. "Yeah." She looked down at her legs, playing with her toes as she thought of words to say. "I just don't want to be burnt out by age thirty-five. I want to live for something meaningful. And I refuse to keep running. Shit eventually catches up with you anyway."