The Deville You Know Ch5
Paige was thinking about all the good reasons she had to have decided to move back to Florida shortly before her return to WWE. Of course she had lots of reasons to get out of where she was, her relationship coming to an unpleasant end, but she chose not to focus on that part, instead looking at all the good things that now were possible due her return to the Sunshine State. It was a far more familiar area to her, she knew loads of spots to eat, drink, and have a good time, plus it had places that attracted people from all over the world. She certainly wasn't against the occasional trip to Disney when there was time.
But more than that was the people. All of her friends were in Florida, and had welcomed her back with open arms. Her apologies had been accepted and put behind them quickly, like nothing had happened. They had picked her back up and shown why they were real friends.
But as she parked her car, she was thinking less about those friends, more about the friends she'd had made more recently. With her injuries, and other reasons, she'd been away from WWE for a long time, but again, had been welcomed back with opened arms, everyone from the McMahons, to those she'd worked with before, had been kind, friendly and supportive of her return, with no ill feelings shown at all. On top of that, she'd made new friends who she had gotten close with. Mandy and Sonya had become her travel buddies, not least because the company liked teams to travel together, and there had been suggestions that they wanted the three of them to record an episode of Ride Along in the near future.
They had also been very keen to learn, being newcomers to the main roster, they had been humble and eager to improve their performances for the fans and the cameras. This is why she was out today, as she looked up the the big building in front of her, bearing the logo of the Performance Centre.
The receptionist greeted her politely as she walked in, and she went into the main hall, equipped with multiple rings and any piece of fitness equipment they could want. Seeing that her teammates were not there yet, Paige found a treadmill and warmed herself up at a slow jog.
When she was done, she got off the treadmill, and found Ruby Riot coming to her at pace. Friends from their Indy days, they two shared a friendly hug.
"Great to see you Paige, how are you?" Ruby asked.
"I'm feeling really good, like I'm years younger. How about you, congrats on the debut by the way." Paige remembered Ruby had debuted on Smackdown only the night after her return.
"Thanks, it's been amazing. Sarah and Liv are just fantastic people too. How have your new girls been?"
"I'm actually here to meet them, put some work in on some double team moves."
"I wrestled Sonya in NXT a few times, she's got a striking game to rival nearly anyone, and she's the nicest girl too."
"Oh I know she is, we've become really close recently, we have a lot in common. Mandy I haven't seen quite as much, she's a bit wrapped up with her new beau, but she puts the work in still." Paige said, feeling the need to try and avoid looking like she was playing favourites. She had spent a lot more time with Sonya and enjoyed every minute of it, but didn't feel comfortable admitting that.
"No doubt, for two who came to the business late, they're doing great, and speak of the devils."
"Or Devilles." Paige responded before she realised what she said. "Oh god, please don't tell anyone I said that, how lame." She couldn't help going red while Ruby laughed.
"What's so funny?" Mandy asked as the two newcomers reached them.
"Nothing you want to know about, trust me. I'll see you later." Ruby couldn't help one last laugh as she walked away towards Renee, who gestured a greeting towards the three left behind.
"So are you both ok?" Paige asked her teammates.
"I think so, I was just getting all the gossip from this one, making me very jealous." Sonya answered, sounding as jealous as she stated.
"Yeah, I was talking to Becky last week, she said Finn is quite enamoured with his blonde bombshell." Paige said, making it Mandy's turn to go red.
"Bombshell is sort of his pet name for me. Because I'm blonde, and because I cause a..."
"Ok!" Sonya interrupted, desperate to change the subject. "Before we hear something that means I can't look at you again, can we get to it, we are all warmed up, how about you?"
"Not quite, why don't you two get in the ring and show me what ideas you'd had, then I can act as the opponent and you can try them on me. Just make sure you can execute them right, I don't want another injury."
"Paige, I would never want to hurt you." Sonya said. Her tone was lost on Paige, but not Mandy, who nudged her.
"Or anyone, right Son?" Mandy added quickly.
"What? Oh yes of course." Sonya realised what she said and quickly rolled into the nearest empty ring. Coach Amato had also joined them, interested in their plans. Mandy and Sonya ran through their ideas, and they went with a striking combo move first. Coach Amato, who had known Paige from days before WWE, offered to help them with their timing instead, to make sure her neck wasn't put at risk, keeping her fresh for tv and live event competition. Paige retracted to the outside, offering her opinion on how the move looked. Sonya was performing a running leg sweep with Mandy's jumping knee, and the first thing Paige noticed was she was getting in a bit too late. She called Sonya to the apron
"Sonya, you need to get a step faster in your run up, Coach is going too far over your strike, she can't wait to sell it or Mandy could break her nose."
Sonya hung her head. "Is it that obvious? Sorry Paige, I'll try that."
Paige put an arm around her, a natural instinct for her. "Don't be sorry, that's why we are here, so when we do it for real, it looks evil. Keep trying."
Sonya squeezed Paige's hand and went back for another attempt. This one was far better, Coach Amato took it perfectly and it looked nasty, but in the way they wanted.
"Yeah!" Paige cheered from the outside. "You did great Sonya, now reset and keep trying it. You could have this ready for this weekend."
Mandy and Sonya kept repeating the move, some of the other NXT girls coming in to make sure any woman would be able to take and sell the move as well as their coach.
Having finished her recording with Ruby Riott, Renee Young was crossing the Performance Centre floor to get a water. She hear Paige encourage Sonya yet again and she stayed watching her. She couldn't miss the smile on her face and the fact that all her attention was on only one of her new protégés far more than the other, or indeed, anything else going on. She was happy seeing her friend smiling again, and couldn't help but think there was an opportunity for her to be even more happy than she had been in recent weeks, and certainly more than the last year and a half.
She went around and stood next to Paige, the dark haired woman lost in the in-ring action until Renee did an intentional throat clear to get her attention.
"Re-nay-nay! What's up sis?" Paige said with a half hug.
"Just got done recording Network stuff. How's all this going?"
Paige pointed out what they were doing. "Sonya has really improved her leg sweep, Coach Amato has really helped. It's looking vicious, fits her style well."
"Great, what about Mandy?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, right. Her knee is her best move right now. If it's booked and sold right in the ring, it could be her signature. With Sonya doing her bit too, it's a tag finisher that will hold up."
Renee laughed. "You brought Sonya back into the conversation right away, did you realise."
Paige got very defensive right away. "I'm not showing her any favouritism here. I want the team to succeed. Sonya just needed a bit more coaching on that move. She's going to be a star in time." Renee raised her eyebrow. "They both are." Paige quickly added.
"Paige, can I ask you a question, and promise not to freak out when I do?" Renee asked, sincerity in her voice that Paige couldn't miss.
"Of course Nay-Nay. Although I can only promise to try." Paige said.
"You've not has a great time in relationships recently, have you?"
"You know I haven't. Guys suck. All of them."
Renee resisted the urge to smile at that response took a breath before talking. "Paige, why don't you ask Sonya out on a date?"
Paige was stunned into silence. The first thing she did when she regrouped was make sure that nobody else heard, especially Sonya, but she was helping Mandy with corner strikes.
"What?" Was the only thing Paige could say. "Are you joking, because that's not funny."
"I'm serious. I know you can't see it, but the way you've been looking at her, the way you've been talking about her. It's not how you look at a coworker."
"Renee, have you been drinking?"
"No I haven't, but remember what happened when we went out and had drinks after your return, at that restaurant?"
"You can't be serious. That was to help her out when those guys wouldn't believe she's gay, not because I want to be with her."
Renee wasn't buying that. "Maybe at first. You don't kiss someone like that for show. Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't enjoy it."
Paige stared Renee in the eye, ready to speak, but she ended up looking away. "Ok, it was good. She's a hell of a kisser. But that doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to start dating a girl."
"Paige, we both know you aren't that closed minded. I'm not saying that you are going to become that militant lesbian stereotype, but if you're attracted to her, admit it and take your shot. If it helps, I don't think there's a snowballs chance in hell that she would say no."
"She wouldn't? Wait, what?"
"Ha!" Renee laughed. "I saw that look in your eye. You are interested in her. She's not like those guys you've dated Paige. I'm not saying she's 'the one' or anything, but you will never know if you don't at least try. Could be the best thing either of you ever did."
Paige found she just didn't have the words to respond, so Renee smiled, squeezed her arm and walked away. Paige turned back to the ring just in time to see Sonya and Mandy hit their double team manoeuvre perfectly on Tegan Nox.
"That's it, I think you've got it. Great job ladies." Coach Amato said before climbing out of the ring. "I'm glad you're back. They're great girls, I think you make a good team." She said to Paige as she went past. Her words did not register properly in the Englishwoman's head, Paige taking it the wrong way with Renee's words still bouncing around in her head. Before she had any more time to try and process, her two teammates were standing in front of her.
"What did you think?" Mandy asked, again getting no answer, Paige was looking at Sonya, a confused expression on her face.
"Paige, you ok?" Sonya asked.
The two newcomers looked at each other as it took several seconds before they finally saw Paige snap back into reality. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess so. You feeling good about the move?"
"I think we are now. It was a great idea to come here and ask the coaches for help. I wasn't sure about it so soon after being called up, but you were right." Mandy said.
"It's fine, I came here to get ready to go back into the ring, there's no better place, you'll be here for all sorts of things."
"You're right, but you didn't have to come down. Thanks for having our back." Sonya said as she went to give Paige a hug.
Paige embraced Sonya, but as the two of them held each other, Paige realised that she was enjoying being in Sonya's arms, that the hug felt really comfortable. She let go immediately and jumped back.
"You ok? Sonya asked.
Paige nodded, but faster than she should have. "Yeah, yeah yeah, I'm fine. I, Er, I just need to go." Without another word, Paige turned and left the Performance Center at speed, going straight to her car and practically wheel-spinning out of the parking lot. She drove a mile down the road, pulling in at a drive thru and ordering a diet soda. She then parked and sat there, staring into space as she tried to make sense of all the thoughts going through her head.
"What the hell is going on with me?" She asked out loud, even though nobody could hear her, and even if they could, Paige wasn't sure she wanted the answer at that moment.
A/N: I just had to send out my thanks once more. Not just to you for reading this, but to all who left a review. The last chapter was the most reviewed chapter of anything I've put out in quite some time. It really is the fuel that drives me to keep going, knowing people are enjoying it.
Do you think Paige will be able to figure out what is going on in her head. Did Renee make things better or worse? How will Paige react when she is around Sonya next? I'd love to hear your thoughts.