Chapter 2: A Midnight Drive

Chapter 2: A Midnight Drive

"Hi, are you two waiting for Jeff?" We turned to see Vince MacMahon standing before us.

"Mr. MacMahon?" I jumped up from my chair.

"Hi, girls. Jeff said you were waiting for him and asked if I would show you backstage, so if you'll follow me, I'll show you to their dressing room." He put out his hands to help us over the barrier. Kelly and I accepted and hopped over the waist-high wall.

"Thank you, Mr. MacMahon."

"Yes, thank you, Mr. MacMahon" Kelly added.

"Please, call me Vince and you're most welcome." He released our hands. "Follow me and I'll take you right to him." Mr. MacMahon turned towards the Titon Tron and began walking.

Kelly and I looked at each other in disbelief and started to follow Mr. MacMahon. He led us backstage, through hallways and loading docks, until he stopped in front of a big blue door.

"Here we are," he exclaimed. He pounded on the door with his fist.

The door slowly began to open and I had this nervous feeling building up in my stomach. I looked up and Matt was standing in the open doorway.

"Hi, Matt. Jeff sent me to retrieve these two." Mr. MacMahon informed Matt.

Matt looked us over, smiled and said "Hi there. I remember you two, come on in." He opened the door a bit more and stepped back to allow us to pass into the dressing room.

"Well, I've got to get back. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget the staff meeting was moved to four o'clock." Mr. MacMahon turned and started walking down the hallway.

"Okay, thanks. And thanks for escorting these two," Matt yelled after him. He closed the door, turned, and addressed us. "So, I'm Matt and you're . . . Samantha, right?" He motioned towards me. I nodded my head in agreement. "Now, who are you?" he looked over at Kelly.

"I'm Kelly," she smiled flirtatiously.

"Well, hello Kelly." Matt returned her smile. "Jeff is still in the shower, but he should be out shortly."

Jeff walked into the room from around the corner, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. God he is so hot, I thought. I almost passed out. My heart was racing and suddenly I couldn't catch my breath.

"How y'all doing? I see Vince found you." He said toweling his wet hair. His sweet southern accent melted my heart.

"Nice to see you dressed for company, bro." Matt said jokingly to his brother.

"Sorry, guys. I forgot to bring my bag in with me." Jeff said as he walked over to where Kelly and I were standing. "Matt and I were talking and we were so excited that you asked to cook us dinner. It's a bit late, so we thought, if you two were up to it, we'd all go out, but maybe later in the week we could do dinner. Is that okay with you?" Jeff was now standing directly in front of me and rubbed my arm. He had a cute, puppy dog look on his face. How can I say no to him?

"Yeah, that's fine, sounds fun." I managed to say. I looked at Kelly who was staring and Jeff and I. "What do you say, are you up for a night out?" I questioned her.

"Heck yeah, you know me, I'm always up for a night out." Kelly replied.

"Great, let me just finish getting ready," He bent over and grabbed the bag on the floor next to me, stood up and looked me in the eyes and said, "I'll be right out." He then turned and walked back into the bathroom with the bag.

"Well," Matt directed his attention to us. "He's going to be a few minutes, why don't you two have a seat?" He motioned to the leather couch behind us. Kelly and I turned to see the couch behind us. We took a step back and sat on the couch. Matt stepped forward and sat in the leather chair next to me.

"So, how long have you two been into wrestling?" Matt asked looking at me and then at Kelly.

"Samantha's the real fan." Kelly answered.

"Oh, really," he questioned looking directly at me.

"Yeah, she's been into the WWF for a while now. She just recently got me hooked. It's so much fun."

Matt had directed his attention at me again. He wore a puzzled look.

"My brother used to watch when we were younger. I just got into the habit of watching with him. I hadn't been interested in years, but one day I was just flipping through channels and Smackdown was on. It was great! You and Jeff were going against Edge and Christian for the titles again. I've been interested in wrestling ever since." I added.

"You mean to tell me that we are the reason you like wrestling," Jeff added as he came around the corner, fully dressed and ready to go. He almost startled me, but just the sound of his voice put me at ease.

"Well, I guess so. I never really thought about it, but yeah, I guess you are." How middle school is that? Now he's going to think that I'm desperate and trying to impress him, I thought.

"That's so great to hear. We love our fans, and I love hearing stories like that. We do this because we love it and if we can get someone else stoked about it, that's even better." Matt explained. He was so excited about it. It was adorable.

"Well, are we ready to go?" Jeff was now jumping up and down. He has so much energy.

"Yeah, we're going. So much for patience." Matt answered.

"Jeff is right, It's getting late, we'd better go or we'll miss last call." Kelly added.

"So, what did you guys have in mind?" I questioned Matt and Jeff. My eyes stayed on Jeff.

"Well, usually a bunch of us all go out to a bar together. Farooq and Bradshaw are gathering everyone to go to Sully's." Matt said, looking at each of us trying to judge our reactions.

"But, if you'd like to do something else, that's cool." Jeff added. It sounded more like a question.

"That sounds like fun. Let's go." Kelly was up off the couch before the words left her mouth.

I got up off the couch and Matt stood up from the chair.

"Are you okay with that plan?" Jeff asked me.

"Yeah, that sounds kewl. I mean, hello, we're hanging out with the Hardy Boyz, the APA, and other WWF Superstars, talk about a Bonus. We could be wrestling crocodiles and I'd still be like 'heck yeah!'"

"Alright then, let's go." Jeff walked over to Kelly and I, stood between us and put his arms around our shoulders.

We all left the building together and headed to the parking lot.

"Maybe we should take separate cars in case you guys want to leave early. We stay out pretty late." Jeff said.

"That's probably a good idea. Kelly and I do have to work tomorrow morning." I added.

By this time, Kelly had caught up to Matt and they were walking ahead of us. Jeff still had his arm around my shoulder and Matt and Kelly had reached Matt's car. We caught up to them.

"We decided to take two cars. These two have to work tomorrow morning." Jeff began to explain.

"Alright, well, why don't Matt and I go together and you and Samantha can go together." Kelly jumped in.

I swear I'm gonna kill her. I shot her an angry look. And hello, now who's desperate.

"You guys know how to get there, right? Well, we don't. So, we each should go with one of you." Kelly explained further.

"Alright then. Kelly you're with me. Which car are you two taking?" Matt asked.

"Samantha, why don't we take your car? That way if you guys have to leave, you don't have to come all the way back to the arena." Jeff said.

"That's kewl." I replied.

"Get in, I'll give you a ride to your car." Matt offered.

Matt is so sweet, I thought. "It's okay, my car is like two blocks away. You don't mind a brief stroll, do you Jeff?"

No, that's cool with me, let's go." Jeff replied.

"Alright, we'll see you there." Matt said. "You ready?" He asked Kelly.

"Yeah."

"Don't have too much fun, y'all." I smiled cleverly at Kelly. Jeff and I turned and began walking to my car. Kelly and Matt got into Matt's blue Mustang convertible and drove away.

There was a bit of an awkward silence as Jeff and I walked down the street. Finally, his sweet voice broke the silence.

"Do you live in the city? He asked.

"No, I live about an hour west."

"Are you sure you want to go out? I mean, it's midnight already. And you have a drive ahead of you." Jeff asked.

He is so considerate! "I see, you're just trying to get rid of me." I took a bit of a chance trying to kid with him.

"You caught me." His face was expressionless. Suddenly he broke out into laughter. He must have seen the worried look on my face. "I'm just kidding with you." He confessed.

"Well, here we are." We had reached my car. Jeff removed his arm from my shoulder. I took out my keys and unlocked my door. Jeff opened my door. I got into the driver's seat and Jeff closed my door.

Jeff began walking around the car to the passenger's door. He was almost to the door when I leaned across the passenger's seat and unlocked the door. He opened the door, slid into the seat, and closed the door. "Hey, thanks." He turned and smiled at me.

"Well, how else were you going to get into my car? Thank you for opening my door for me. That was really sweet."

"I am a gentleman, you know." He replied.

"You do know how to get there, don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's really easy to get to."

"I hate driving in the city, it makes me really nervous, especially with all the construction."

"If you're uncomfortable, I wouldn't mind driving. Hold on just a minute." He opened the door, got out and walked around the car to open my door. He held out his hand to help me out of the car and escorted me to the passenger side. He didn't release my hand until I was settled into the passenger's seat. He then closed my door and ran back to the driver's side, got in and closed the door. He started the car and my CD player began playing one of my Pearl Jam CDs.

"Oh, I love Pearl Jam!" He practically screamed.

"So, do I."

Jeff backed the car out of the parking spot and continued driving us to Sully's. After a moment, we were both singing along with the CD. Jeff reached over and lightly placed his hand on my leg. He seemed almost unsure about it. I placed my hand over his to reassure him. I looked over to see a relieved smile on his face. I spent the rest of the drive staring at him, studying him and smiling.