"You're lying," Ronda said after a stunned silence had filled the room.
"Why would I lie about this?" Dany asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Because you're just mad that he married me and you came to try and upset us, well, it's not gonna work so you can just go back to Florida."
"I wouldn't say something like this if I didn't have proof to back it up."
"Prove it then! Where's your little hot-shot lawyer? Where are your little legal documents?"
"I don't have any-"
"Right, just like I thought because you're lying. That's really fuckin' pathetic of you Dany, to come here and try to mess with our heads like that. So why don't you just walk down to your room, pack up your shit, go home to Florida and then you can go back to being the bitter bitch we all know and wish were never born." Ronda snapped angrily.
"Ronda!" Dwayne said, shocked by her outburst.
"Somewhere in the back of your mind you know that I'm telling the truth, that's why you're getting so angry."
"Oh, bullshit! If your husband's evil ex-wife came and said that you weren't married after all, you'd get just as pissed!" Dany just surveyed Ronda, smirking.
'She's like the complete opposite of me. What in the world drew Dwayne to her?' Dany thought.
"Awfully quiet over there, Dwayne. Any particular reason why?" he looked from his spot on the wall to Dany and pursed his lips instead of speaking. "Right, because you know that I'm telling the truth. You two got married in Mexico the night after you got the divorce, but it wasn't final until it got to me, meaning that this…this marriage is null and void. Invalid. Nonexistent. Do you two understand what I'm saying?"
"Yeah, I understand you just fine, Dany," Dwayne said, "Maybe our marriage isn't valid, but you couldn't wait to come here and gloat about it."
"Dwayne-"
"You know, I thought you were above this. I thought you had dignity and I thought you had class, but I guess you lost that somewhere along the way."
"Well, I'm sorry if finding out that your husband has had an affair made me a little less classy, or a little insecure! And yeah, when I found out I couldn't wait to throw it back in your face, make you feel embarrassed and ashamed!"
Ronda folded her arms and turned to the side.
"I think you should leave," she said.
"Now wait a minute, Ronda, I wanna know what else Dany has to say before we just kick her out-" Dwayne began.
"I was talking…" Ronda said slowly, turning around, "to you."
"You want me to leave the two of you alone with no supervision? No way."
"We need to settle this, DJ. Leave, please." She said in a dangerously calm voice.
"Fine. 20 minutes. I'm gonna go to the lobby and order something but I'll be back soon." He said, putting on his hat and leaving.
"So now that we're alone what are you gonna do, beat me up?" Dany remarked.
"You're so ridiculously clueless, Dany, you know nothing about me."
"And why would I want to lose brain cells trying to?"
"Oh my, was that supposed to be sarcasm?" Ronda said, cocking her head to the side.
"Call it whatever you want."
"I really hope that wasn't supposed to be because, well, you suck at it."
"Suck, huh? I guess that's how you got Dwayne…"
"That's cute. Quit while you're behind, ok?"
"Is this supposed to be a game to you or something?!"
"Yeah, you know what? It is because I can't believe how pathetic you are! You came all the way out here to California, and if you expect me to believe that it's just on business then you've got another thing coming."
"What do you want to do, call my firm?"
"I wouldn't waste the energy. Lets get something straight, Dany. I still don't believe you when you say that my husband and I aren't married."
"Be delusional! See if I care," Dany replied, tossing up her hands.
"Because if we weren't married, why would you wait so long to bust us?"
"I wanted both of you to get comfortable in your 'marriage'. I wanted you to feel secure so that when I came around making my announcement your little jaw could fall right to the floor."
"You keep referring to me, have you forgotten that a marriage takes two people? And god you are the most jealous woman I've ever laid eyes on."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Dany, you're jealous. You're jealous and you're sad and you're pathetic but most of all you're lonely and it is eating you up inside to know that your husband left you for me. That I was the one he dreamt about at night, I was the one he couldn't wait to see every week. I was the one he wanted to make love to, not you, and that I was the one who had his love and his heart and his soul and I still have it and he has mines and you want it back so bad you can't even think straight. He slept in your bed wishing that he was with me. How do you feel about that, hotshot?" Dany pursed her lips and looked the other way as Ronda continued. "So you get your little lawyer to find a bullshit technicality so you can hop on the first flight out here to L.A. and try to burst our bubble, well ya know what? It's not gonna happen because DJ and I are in love, and we're committed and, well…" she trailed off, resting her hands on her stomach and for the first time Dany looked down and noticed the round outline in Ronda's shirt.
"Pregnant," Dany muttered to herself, "Unbelievable."
"Well, you know that old nursery rhyme; first comes love, then comes marriage-"
"So you get pregnant so you can trap him!" Dany exclaimed, laughing.
"If that's what you think then-"
"Oh, save it Ronda, I've dealt with women like you before and you're all the same. This is nothing new."
"'Women like you'? You've never met anyone like me, sweetie."
"Oh, you think you're different because you're pregnant? Right. I don't think you know Dwayne's and my history together. You're just a pit stop, ok? A mere roadblock for Dwayne and me."
"If I weren't pregnant, I'd be kicking the shit out of you right about now…"
"This situation between the two of you is just temporary. He'll realize that sex, as easy as it may be to get, doesn't make a relationship. And then he'll come back home to his real family while you sit at home crying thinking that it was all gonna work out! I still cannot believe that he married you and divorced me! You have nothing to offer him, no life, and no stability-"
"Oh and you do?!"
"Shut up!" Dany roared, her tan skin taking on a red hue. "You unbelievable slut, you little termagant! You had an affair with a married man just because he's The Rock and you couldn't keep your damn hands off of him! You slept with the father of my child who is now going to become second place to your little spawn! You inserted yourself into his life and convinced him to leave me so he could marry you! Do you have any idea how that feels? To think that you have the perfect life and a picturesque marriage and family while your husband is off fucking some whore who works with him! You didn't just steal my husband, Ronda, you stole my life! You stole the only comfort and happiness with a man that I've ever known!"
"Will you listen to yourself?! Really, do you even think before you speak? I didn't start that affair on my own, hell I didn't start it period! I couldn't have made DJ leave you if I had tried if he was really happy and in love with you. You can blame me for your marriage failing all you want to but the fact of the matter is, as harsh as it may sound, he just doesn't want you anymore. No man who was as happy and in love as you say the two of you were would even think of sleeping with anyone else much less leave his wife for another woman. And all the lawyers and catty comments in the world are not gonna change the fact that DJ and I are married. It may not be legal but it's in our hearts where it counts the most."
"Aw, you're married in your hearts that's so sweet! Well, I'm glad you are aware of your marriage not being valid. And actually I could sue Dwayne for bigamy if I wanted." Ronda cocked her head to the side giving Dany a quizzical look. "Oh, did I forget to mention that he's still married to me? Since the marriage is void the divorce is too, so I am still Mrs. Dwayne Johnson. Silly me, always forgetting the details," Dany said, grinning.
"I'm glad you think that's funny because as soon as DJ finds that out he's gonna get his lawyer started on the divorce proceedings."
"Divorce proceedings," Dany repeated, rolling her eyes. "All Dwayne and I will have to do is have a nice long talk and you'll be out of the picture so fast it'll be like you were never there at all…a bad memory."
"Or you could get it through your head that there is no more you and Dwayne and accept that he chose me. We're getting ready to start a family and we really don't need this stress, isn't that right, babies?" Ronda said, talking to her stomach.
"Babies?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention that we're having twins? Silly me, always forgetting the details," Ronda replied, giving Dany the same grin that she'd given her just a few moments earlier. Dany's eyes narrowed to slits and the women had a small stare down before Dany grabbed her purse and left.
-*-
Dany was making her way down the hall to the elevators as fast as she could, thankful that no one was in her way.
'I can't believe I let her get to me!' she thought as she boarded the empty elevator. 'I know Dwayne. I know how he thinks and I know what our relationship means to him. He won't stay with her, he can't! I'll just have to get him alone, sit him down and discuss all this with him and he'll see that he belongs with me. I'll show her…I don't know what she was thinking, trying to seduce my husband…but she was right. He fell for it, and it wouldn't have happened if he didn't really want her.' Tears started to pour down her cheeks as she reached the 4th floor and the elevator stopped.
'Oh god, I really do not need this right now. Great, Dany, you burst into tears right as the elevator stops. Now you get to face some stranger who's gonna be asking all types of questions and…' she turned her back to the doors before they opened, wiping her tears away furiously so she wouldn't have to explain herself. She took her compact out of her purse and checked her eyes and was relieved when they weren't red or puffy. Satisfied with what she saw, she closed the compact and placed it back in her purse.
"Dany?" she recognizes the voice and slowly turns around.
"Dwayne." She says, averting her eyes so that she won't have to look into his.
"I was just coming upstairs…I'm glad I didn't have to separate you two," he says as he presses his room floor and the elevator resumes its movement. Dany began to fidget as she watched the elevator slowly go down from floor to floor, the pressure building up inside of her as she just watching Dwayne stand there in silence, and as the elevator was almost down to the lobby she sprinted over and pressed stop.
"We need to talk."
"Dany, what are you doing?"
"I can't just stand by and…look, your marriage to Ronda is invalid so that means that we're still married." Dwayne sighed at the news.
"I figured as much. So, what, you want to talk about alimony or child support or-"
"No! That's not it at all! I don't need your money, Dwayne, I just want you."
"Look, Dany-"
"No, you look, and really listen to me. I don't know what you were thinking when you married Ronda but I doubt you know her at all, you don't know what kind of woman she is! She's vindictive and spiteful and just plain nasty and she is going to hurt you, Dwayne. It may not be today or this month or even this year but when the chips are down you're going to see what kind of woman you tried to marry. Now I know you, and I know that you're going to have to figure this out all on your own, but when you do see the real Ronda, when that mask of hers comes off I'm still gonna be there. And I promise not to say I told you so, either," she then pressed the start button and the elevator resumed its course heading down to the lobby. As the door opened she scribbled something on the back of a business card and handed it to him. "That's where I'll be staying for the next two days. We really need to talk, Dwayne." She said, walking away and the elevator doors closed soon after.
-*-
Dwayne finally made his way back up to the room, and heard the TV faintly outside of the door. Walking into the bedroom, he saw Ronda sitting Indian style on the bed with a box of tissues and some scattered tissue papers around her, crying quietly.
"Ronda?"
"Oh, DJ, there you are," she responded, quickly trying to wipe her tears away so he wouldn't see her cry.
"Baby, what's wrong? You're crying," he said, sitting next to her on the bed.
"I'm ok, I was just watching Animal Planet, you know how I get watching those shows, it's just hormones, I'm fine."
"Why are you lying to me?" he asked softly, gently turning her face towards his so he could look at her. Ronda looked embarrassed as tears began to wet her eyes.
"Because she got to me. I tried not to let her but she did."
"What'd she tell you?" Rocky asked, wiping away a tear that had slid down her face.
"She said that I wouldn't last. That I was just a roadblock in your relationship with each other and that you'll realize that a long lasting relationship can't be built on just sex. And that I don't have anything to offer you and that you'll leave me once the two of you talk things through."
"And you believed that?"
"Well, it was hard not too! I read your book, I know how long the two of you have been together and everything you've been through with her, you two have got history-"
"Exactly. History, past tense. I'm not with Dany anymore and she's not my wife, no matter what some legal document says. I love you and I married you, and I sure as hell didn't do it to prove a point to anyone, ok? We're in this together the two-well-four of us," he said, smiling. "Ok?" Ronda nodded in response. "Good. Now come here, I want my wife." He hugged her and then followed up with a few soft kisses that lingered for a few moments until they both laid back on the bed, Ronda resting her head on Dwayne's chest.
"…I'm still a little scared," she replied after a moment, and he responded by holding her a little tighter, until they eventually fell asleep.
A/N-*sigh* about damn time, right? God, is anyone even still reading this anymore? Wait, don't answer that, lol.
Alright, with my evil writers block it took me a while to write this all through. I wanted to convey the emotions of the women mostly, both of them going back and forth with the catty comments then one getting the best of the other but they're both just victims of love, however cheesy that may be, lol. I hope this didn't suck too badly! I'll try to have the new chap up sooner.
Laterz folks.
