wonderwall
(n.) Someone you find yourself thinking about all the time; the person you are completely infatuated with.
"Oh my god, I hardly recognize you. Vince told me you were filling in as an interviewer tonight, but I thought he was just kidding."
"I too thought it was just a big joke at the start." I chuckled before wrapping my arms around the large man, "How's it going, Kurt?"
Kurt Angle and I were uber-close when I was little and I spent all my time on the road with my parents. Then he left the company and I started school, then we just lost touch. When he came back as general manager a couple of years ago, he became kind of an uncle to me and gave me so much advice as I was finishing school. Then I took off, and we had lost touch again up until now…
"I'm good, I'm good. Things have been going great since I got wrote back in as general manager again. It's a good way to be here with everyone and not have to wrestle anymore. But that's most certainly enough about me, you spent a year on the other side of the world? Tell me about all the things you did, tell me about all the things you saw. I don't think I've ever been to Vietnam."
"Well, to be honest, it was like a whole other world over there. I basically worked at this cute little resort the entire time, oh, it was beautiful. Phu Quoc, you really do have to go someday." I gushed.
"Have you… talked to anybody since you came back?" Kurt asked awkwardly.'
"Apart from my grandpa, no, I haven't." I answered quietly, looking down. "I'm not sure if I'm going to either, I mean, what's there to say?"
"Well, if you're going to talk to anyone, you should really reach out to Paul. He's still really upset about what happened, and I think that he just wants to see and be in touch with you again, regardless of the truth."
"Well- Okay, maybe."
"Alright. Vince sent me two copies of the script." Kurt said, handing one to me, "You've got about an hour before we need to shoot the segment. I'll go get your interviewee."
Not two minutes later, Kurt returned with a woman who looked taken aback the moment she saw me.
"Hey, it's Ari." The woman said, a soft smile appearing on her face.
"Hey." I replied, smiling. "I heard about you and Travis while I was away, I'm really sorry."
"Don't be, I'm much happier now that it's all over. And I'm- well-" The woman paused. I could tell that she was about to utter that phrase.
"I'm sorry about what happened to you, it must've hurt, you know? I understand why you packed up and went to the other side of the world. But it's good you're back."
"Thank you." I said politely, even though I was so sick of hearing sorry from people like someone had died or something. I then realised that the woman standing in front of me was probably also tired of people saying sorry to her, so I decided to just let it go and accept that we were both just trying our best.
"So, do you want to start rehearsing?"
"I think we should start with a full run-through reading off the script."
"Alright, after you…"
"… Hi, everyone, joining me tonight is-"
"I just don't understand what the hell you were doing wondering the streets of Stamford at seven-thirty at night? How did you even get there?!" Stephanie questioned, gripping the steering wheel.
"Courtney's friend took us there." Aurora mumbled.
"You mean he's the one that drove you to Stamford? That creep?! First off, it's not normal for twenty-one-year-old boys to be friends with thirteen-year-old girls. Second, I don't care how old he was, what were you doing getting into a car with him?"
"I don't know, maybe I wanted a positive male figure in my life." Aurora muttered, looking down.
"Do not even start with me!" Stephanie yelled, "You know what? If you're going to start with the guilt-tripping, then I'm going to start to: Your sisters were terrified, they thought you'd been kidnapped and murdered or something."
"I don't care."
"Yeah, big shock there… Just- Tell me what it is that you're trying to achieve, Rory? Shoplifting? Hitting that girl from school? And now deciding to go missing for an entire afternoon? If it's attention that you want, then you've got it, because it feels like I'm spending every second of every day cleaning up the messes you've made!"
"I just want things to go back to the way they were! But they are never going back and it's all your fault!" Aurora shouting, pointing at Stephanie. She only sighed in response.
"I apologized for an entire year to you girls about what, and if you don't understand how bad I feel and how much I wish I could change it by now, Aurora, then that's on you!"
"No! I do understand! You're the one who doesn't understand! You can't just be sorry and make it better! Feeling bad about it doesn't fix anything!" Aurora argued as Stephanie pulled into the driveway.
"Well, what else do you want me to do?!" Stephanie asked angrily.
"I don't want anything from you! I wanna go and live with Dad!"
"WELL, YOUR DAD DOESN'T WANT YOU RIGHT NOW!" Stephanie snapped loudly. The tone in her voice made Aurora instantly fall silent, Stephanie covered her mouth when she realised she had maybe taken it too far.
"I HATE YOU!" Aurora screamed. "YOU'RE THE REASON THAT ARI AND DAD ARE GONE! YOU ARE THE REASON WHY DAD CAN'T HAVE US RIGHT NOW! I WISH YOU WOULD JUST DROP DEAD!"
The young girl proceeded to run out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and towards the house. Stephanie took a moment to compose herself, wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath, before following Aurora inside.
"Aurora?! Aurora?" Stephanie called after her as she walked up the stairs. Aurora didn't stop, and Stephanie's calls were only greeted by the sudden slamming of Aurora's bedroom door.
Stephanie sighed and walked to family room to find Murphy and Vaughn watching TV. She rolled her eyes when she saw that her youngest daughters were watching Raw.
"Please, please can we have it on for just another ten minutes?" Vaughn begged; she knew that her mother absolutely hated having Raw or Smackdown on nowadays.
"Alright, but not a minute longer, okay?" Stephanie sighed before walking into the kitchen. It wasn't two minutes before she heard a voice that she swore she knew:
"Hi, everyone, joining me tonight is WWE Raw Women's Champion, Ronda Rousey…"
"OH MY GOD! MOM! MOM! MOM!" Stephanie heard, and before she knew it, Murphy and Vaughn were in front of her, their faces as white as ghost. Both of them were yelling loudly, each trying to give their mom the news before the other. Eventually, Murphy clamped a hand over Vaughn's mouth and before Stephanie could even get a word in…
"Ari's on the TV!" Murphy squealed.
"Honey, Ari's still in Vietnam." Stephanie said calmly. Surely, she'd call me if she was back, I know she's still mad at me, but she'd call, I'm her mother, she thought.
Vaughn grabbed Stephanie's hand and pulled her into the family room. Stephanie didn't want to believe it, but standing right there, holding a microphone up to Ronda Rousey's face, was Ari. Stephanie leaned down in front of the television, a hand over her open mouth. She knew that she had messed up, but Stephanie had thought that, with time and a little distance, Ari would come to miss her as much as Stephanie missed Ari.
She hates me, she fucking hates me, Stephanie thought.
"Mom?"
She didn't realise the tears leaking out of her eyes until Murphy spoke up. Stephanie quickly wiped her eyes and stood before turning to her youngest girls.
"Is Ari going to come and visit?" Vaughn asked excitedly.
Murphy gasped, "Is Ari going to come and live with us again?" She questioned.
"I don't think so, baby, but we're okay with just each other, aren't we?" Stephanie said, forcing a smile onto her face.
"Whatever. V, let's go and watch Raw in my room." Murphy muttered before turning around with Vaughn and walking up the stairs. Stephanie sighed and turned around, watching the interview wrap.
"So, any last words for your opponent tonight?"
"Ember, over these past few weeks, you've been the hunter, trying to take everything I hold dear, but you better listen close to the words that are coming out of my mouth: Tonight, you become the hunted."
Ronda walked away as the camera stayed on Ari. She looked different to Stephanie; her hair was a different colour and she was wearing more makeup than Stephanie had ever seen her have on. Ari had the gleam in her eyes too, like she was perfectly happy with where she was at that moment. The shot of Ari soon faded to black and a commercial soon appeared in its place. Stephanie took a moment to wipe her eyes once more before switching off the television.
You're okay, Stephanie thought, and walked back into the kitchen.
You're okay.
"How was I? Oh my god, I wasn't horrible, was I? Please, please tell me if I was bad…" I fretted, pacing around the couch in Grandpa's office.
"Honey." Grandpa sighed, grabbing both of my shoulders, "You were fine, great, in fact." He assured me before wrapping an arm around my shoulders and turning me towards Kurt.
"And if you don't believe your grandpa, let me be the one to tell you that you did really great, and if it was up to me, you'd be the permanent interviewer on Raw." Kurt beamed. "I mean, you're no Mean Gene yet, but I like how you looked on camera."
"Well, I'll take that as a compliment and not some creepy comment." I responded, smiling softly.
"You should. Now go and say hi to everyone; go mingle. You basically shot that interview and then your Gramps holed you up in here." Kurt said, leading me towards the door.
"She's eighteen. God knows what would happen to her if-"
"She'll be fine, Vin Mac. Go to the girls in the locker room and ask them some stupid questions, go to the production truck and see how the show works. See you at the end of the show, kid."
"Wait, wh-"
Kurt slammed the door behind me right after he got me out of the room. I rolled my eyes slightly and headed down the hallway towards catering. not getting very far before I heard a voice.
"Yeah, she seems okay. She still seems a bit iffy about everything, just like you."
I furrowed my eyebrows and poked my head around the corner to see Ronda standing right there, holding up a phone to her ear. Her voice was lowered and she was looking around cautiously to see who was watching, but a smile was plastered on her face.
"Okay, yeah, I understand. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I love you too. Bye…"
I stepped back behind the corner as Ronda hung up the phone and walked right past me. Wait, was she talking about me? Who was she talking to? Did she just say I love you? But she just split up with Travis. Oh my god, I sound like my mother. Shut the fuck up, Ari, she was probably just talking to her mom or something, I thought.
I turned back around to continue my walk towards catering, just walk straight into someone and smack my face on a metal kind of thing hanging off their back. As I held my nose, muttering a few curse words, that someone turned around.
"Hey, are you okay- Wait, it's…" The man paused.
Oh my god, is this really happening? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. This is your soulmate and the first thing you do is slam your face on his title belt. Wait, why is he not saying anything? Should I say sorry? What was he even- Oh. He's silent because he can't remember my name.
"Ari, right?" He asked
"Yeah, the one and only." I replied, crossing my arms
You idiot, who even says that?
"… And you're Colby, unless you prefer Seth now? You know, when I mentioned who I was over in Vietnam, all they'd ever talk about was 'the Seth Rollins.'"
That was true. I wasn't quite sure why, but any WWE fans over there really were mad about Seth Rollins.
"Huh, really? Well, I still go by Colby." He said, smiling.
Fuck, that smile was adorable. Okay, breathe, Ari, breathe. Don't scare him away.
"So, Vietnam, huh? I saw your pictures on Instagram, you looked like you were having such a great time. What ended up bringing you back to the States?" Colby asked.
"Well, it was good-"
He wasn't asking how it was, idiot. He's original like that.
"I'm sorry. Well, it was a whole bunch of reasons. The resort I was working at kind of… blew down in a storm, and my visa was expiring, and I didn't want to extend when I didn't have a job because that would have been a complete nightmare, so I just decided to come back." I replied, shrugging.
"Oh, well, I hope you settle in here again soon." Colby responded.
Great, that was waaaaay too much information, Ari.
"So, have you got a place to stay? Are you okay? Do you have a plan? I just saw you on the TV, but your grandpa told me that it wasn't going to permanent."
Oh my god, he's so sweet. He almost makes me wish I didn't have a place to stay.
"Oh yeah, everything's fine, I'm staying with my grandpa and he's probably giving me a job at HQ or something-"
"Hey, Ari?!"
Who the fuck is that ruining the story I was going to tell our kids in ten years?
I turned around to see Kurt standing there.
"Change of plans. Your grandpa is saying that he's genuinely going to fire me if I don't bring you back to his office."
"Oh, come on!" I groaned, stomping my foot.
"His words not mine."
I turned back to Colby, sighing and rolling my eyes a little bit.
"I am so sorry." I said.
"No, don't be. I can't say I would do the same, but I understand where he's coming from. Lots of weird guys getting around these parts…"
He's smiling that smile again. God, I feel like I'm gonna pass out.
"I'll see you later." I uttered, smiling softly and turning around.
"Hey, I don't mean to be creepy, but do you wanna possibly meet up somewhere and talk? Somewhere in the city after the show maybe? I mean, you're probably sick of talking about your problems with old dudes and strangers, so I figured why not? There's a cute little all-night coffee shop that I always go to."
Is this… like… real?
"KURT, I SWEAR TO GOD IF I DON'T SEE HER WITH MY OWN EYES IN FIFTEEN SECONDS, YOU CAN GO BACK TO TNA FOR ALL I CARE!" I heard Grandpa yell.
"Okay, I really have to go, but can I meet you back here after the show?" I called to Colby, as I had already started jogging away.
He only responded with a thumbs up and a smile.
"Grandpa, I have to stay in the city tonight, something magical has happened." I uttered the moment I had stepped back into Grandpa's office and shut the door.
"Okay, that's exactly what your mother said to me when she told me she was pregnant with you, so that phrase already has negative connotations for me." Grandpa replied.
"I think I just got asked out."
"No."
"No what?"
"No, as in you're not going on a date with anyone in this building."
"What if it's a guy from 205 Live? What if he was only a year or two older than me?"
It wasn't, but he didn't need to know that.
"Nope."
"Oh, pretty please, Grandpa?"
Maturity levels were 100% at the moment.
"Absolutely n-"
"- And everyone's telling me "talk to your dad", "you have to talk to Paul", and honestly, I just wish they'd ask me what I want to do first. I'm so sorry, I'm ranting." I sighed and shook my head lightly.
"No, it's okay. So, what do you want to do?" Colby asked before taking a sip out of his coffee cup.
"Well, I don't have a solid plan, but I just want to figure this out by myself. I want to talk to people on my terms, not anyone else's. I'm not a kid anymore."
"That's partially true."
"Partially?"
"Partially as in you're eighteen. I didn't think of myself as a fully grown adult when I was eighteen, and all this advice that everyone's giving you, believe me when I say that they're just trying to help. They just assume that you have no idea."
"Yeah, alright." I muttered.
God, he's talking like he's my dad.
Somehow, I'd convinced Grandpa to let me go out with Colby after Raw was over. But not before he had armed me with pepper spray, a whistle, a taser (which I'm not completely sure how Grandpa got his hands on), and the key to an executive suite at the Four Seasons New York. Colby had taken me across the bridge (not against my will or anything; I feel like this is important to add while we're on the topic of the security) to Manhattan, where a 24-hour café was his 'official coffee spot' in New York.
"Are you gonna talk to- you know… the 'other' guy?" Colby asked quietly.
"Maybe… Someday… But for now, let's just say if I saw him walking down the street, I'd either walk the other way or go up to him and punch him out, depending on my mood." I sighed.
"Oh, well, at least you're honest." Colby reasoned, shrugging slightly.
I opened my mouth to speak, probably to try and change the subject from my broken home to… well… something a little lighter, when the bell on the door of the café rung loudly, indicating that someone had come in. I turned to the door and let my jaw drop; standing there was Camille with the biggest smile on her face.
"Hiiiii." She beamed, walking over and throwing her arms around Colby. I was confused until the two locked lips.
Of course, Colby and Camille are a thing. Of course, a girl whom I could never compete with was currently with the man of my dreams.
"Oh my god, I saw you on TV, you did so good! And you looked so good too! I knew Lauren and I did a great job on you." Camille said excitedly, walking to my side of the booth and throwing her arms around me.
"Wait- You two- Um, know each other?" Colby asked curiously, pointing at the both of us.
"Yeah, totally, Lauren and I gave her a makeover before the show, oh my god, you still look good. I knew that hair would work for you." Camille gushed, taking a seat beside Colby.
"So… um…" I shifted in my seat. "Is this some big coincidence or-"
"Oh no, Colby texted me and invited me, he knows I love this place so much so now he never goes here without me." Camille answered, grabbing Colby's face with both her hands.
Of course he does, why would you expect anything else, Ari?
"Wow, cute…" I said, forcing a smile onto my face, "Listen, I am honestly-" I made myself yawn briefly, "- So tired, and honestly, I'd hate to third-wheel, so I might head out." I added before standing up and grabbing my back.
"Oh, come on, don't feel like you have to go just because Camille got here. But if you really are going because you're tired, let me walk you back to Four Seasons." Colby said, leaning over the table.
"No, that's okay. I'd hate for you to leave Camille alone, and I've got my taser, whistle and pepper spray, I'll be fine. I really hope you two have a goodnight. Camille, thank you so much for everything, and thanks for bringing me here, Colby; it was nice to finally talk to someone who just wanted to listen."
"Oh, yeah, no problem at all." Colby said quickly before standing up, "So, will I see you at Raw next week?"
I softly smiled, "I wish, but I think they're going to bring in someone who's actually qualified to interview people next Monday."
"Hey, regardless of whether you were qualified or not, you did a really great job. I really hope you pop up at a show sometime soon." Colby uttered, smiling
That goddamn smile.
"Yeah," I muttered, looking down, "Well, I'll see you guys…" I turned around and walked straight out of the café. Colby was still looking at me as I walked off. I tried not to look at him, but as I shut the glass door behind me, I stole one last glance.
You're okay, I thought as I walked down the street.
You're okay.
I awoke to the sound of my phone vibrating on the bedside table. While rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I rolled over and picked it up to see that it was Grandpa.
"Grandpa? What are you doing? It's seven 'o'clock in the morning." I groaned.
"Honey, whatever you do, stay off of Twitter for a couple of days. Just don't even open any social media." He ordered, speaking quickly and loudly.
"Um, okay? Grandpa, I know you're running a billion-dollar company, but I think it would be best if you got sleep." I responded softly.
"No! Honey! You're not taking me seriously! Honey!"
"I'm going to hang up the phone now, Grandpa."
"Don't you even-"
I did just that.
Unsurprisingly, I disregarded everything that my grandpa had said in that phone conversation and immediately opened Instagram.
"Wait- What the…" There was something different about my profile, and then suddenly, it clicked.
I'd been verified.
Overnight, I'd been verified on Instagram. I also had 90 thousand new followers, but nothing stood out more than the little blue check next to _ariette_levesque_.
Am I, like, a celebrity now? I thought.
Next, I went to Twitter. The feeling that I got while looking at that platform was (significantly) less positive. The AriMcMahon hashtag popped up the moment I hit the wrestling topic on trending, tweets included but weren't limited to:
- Wow, that's what Ari looks like now. What a little hottie.
- Just found out that Ari Levesque is only 18. Not my proudest fap.
"EWWWWWWW!" I shrieked, but kept on reading because I was naturally drawn to hearing about myself, regardless of how fucked up it was…
- God, I would honestly watch Raw if it was three hours of Ari McMahon interviewing people
- Wow. Give me that hot piece of ass so I can-
"Oh my god. Oh my god…" I gasped, tossing my phone away. That one was maybe a little too fucked up.
I continued squealing in complete horror as I ran to the bathroom. Maybe they have a wire brush I can scrub myself clean with after reading that, I thought as I turned on the shower.
"How was your stay last night?" The receptionist asked me politely as I handed her the room key back.
"Great." I replied, hair still wet and face and neck still red from the shower.
"Well, that's good to hear. You're welcome to fill out one of our customer feedback forms." The receptionist gestured to a large A4 size of paper filled with questions sitting on the desk.
"Why not?" I muttered, stepping aside and taking a pen before beginning to write an answer to: "Please rate your stay on a scale from 1 to 10…"
In the corner of my eye, I saw a man approach the counter with a gym bag on one of his shoulders.
"Hey, I'd like to check out?" He asked.
I knew that voice.
After the woman took his key, I looked over just out of curiosity, only to completely lock eyes with the man. My jaw dropped even harder than it did when I saw Camille at the cafe when I saw who it was, as did his. We both stood in silence, neither of us knowing what to say, but both of us knowing that it would be rude to just look away.
What was there to say? Were we supposed to say nothing and hug like the long-lost family we technically were?
No, he's not your family, not really, I reminded myself.
He was the first one to speak, taking off the sunglasses that were already covering his eyes and uttering:
"Hi."
I put down the pen I was nervously gripping and immediately put a confident smile on my face.
"Hey, Cameron."
A/N: Who is Cameron? Who was Ronda talking to on the phone? Why can't Hunter have the girls? What is Ari going to do with her life until next fall? And most importantly… What's the big secret? And when do you think it will finally come out? So many questions, so little answers, *insert evil laugh here*