PART TWO
THE NEXT DAY
Lita entered the arena where the Smackdown taping was being held that night. She sighed as she looked around the building… it just didn't feel right being on Smackdown, and she had only been there for a few minutes. Her heart was on Raw, in the Women's Division, fighting for the championship, but all her aspirations for winning that title had been squashed when that damn Eric Bischoff shipped her over here. All because of him, she was now stranded on a show where there was literally no competition. Sure, there was Shaniqua, but Lita wasn't sure she wanted to square off with such a bruiser so soon after her long recovery. Other than her, there was nobody. Dawn Marie and Nidia were at least trying to improve, but Lita considered the two of them friends and she didn't want to fight them, which was more than she could say for the two blonde divas, Sable and Torrie.
"Lita!" a voice called, suddenly cutting through the silence. Lita turned and saw Stephanie McMahon heading towards her, a huge grin plastered on her face.
"Hey Steph," Lita replied, putting on a smile for her new boss.
"I'm so glad you're here… you don't know how happy I am to have you here on Smackdown," she gushed, touching her arm gently.
"Thanks," was all the redhead could reply. As much as she wanted to be as excited as Stephanie… she would love to feel as thrilled as the youngest McMahon looked… she just couldn't be. Noticing the lack of enthusiasm in the young woman's tone, the brunette sighed, her expression growing serious.
"Look Lita," she said. "I realize that there's a lot more for you over on Raw, but I promish I'll do my best to make your career on this show as successful as possible. And you have my solemn vow that I will *not* misuse you or disrespect you the way that Eric Bischoff did." Lita couldn't help but smile at that promise… that would be one of the perks of working for Stephanie. At least she had the decency to treat her employees with the respect they deserved.
"Thanks Steph," she replied, still smiling. "And thanks for understanding how I feel." Stephanie nodded as her cell phone suddenly began ringing. She looked down at the screen before bringing her eyes back up to Lita's hazel ones.
"No problem Lita. I have to take this call now, so I'll talk to you later on." She waved goodbye and headed off, answering her phone as she did so.
Once Stephanie disappeared, Lita turned and headed for the women's locker room. Once she got inside, she noticed that Dawn Marie was the only one there.
"Hey Dawn!" Lita called, excitement finding her tone again for the first time that day. Her voice drew the woman's attention away from the magazine she was reading, and she looked up, grinning widely when she saw her standing there. She jumped up from her seat, running over and hugging Lita tightly.
"Hey!" she cried. It felt great to see Lita, who was one of Dawn's best friends in ECW. "I was so happy when they told me you'd be coming here!" When they separated, Lita took a few more steps into the locker room.
"Well, here I am," she responded, tossing her bag to the floor. "It's so empty in here," she noted. "The Raw women's locker room is jam packed compared to this one." Dawn shrugged at her comment.
"It's always been like that," she said. "For the most part, Nidia and I are the only ones who are usually in here. Shaniqua comes in, but she just drops off her bags before she goes back to the Basham's. Torrie is always off primping, and Sable is always off with Vince, doing whatever it is they do together."
Both Lita and Dawn shuddered at the thought of Vince and his newest toy, Sable. The redheaded diva thought that Sable had to be the world's biggest hypocrite. When she left WWE four years ago, she had sued them for sexual harassment. Now that she made her big return, she practically threw herself at Mr. McMahon and *willingly* did what she'd filed a suit against him for. Then there was Torrie, another diva that Lita didn't hold high on her list. As Dawn said, she was always off primping herself, putting makeup on and fixing her hair… she never had time for anyone, seemingly, but herself.
"Oh well… you and Nidia and I will have plenty of fun withOUT Sable or Torrie. I wouldn't want them ruining our fun anyway," Lita shrugged. Dawn laughed, nodding in agreement.
"You're very positive about all this… I expected you to be upset about coming here," she said, and it was Lita's turn to shrug.
"Oh, I am Dawnie. But I've decided that I can do one of two things… I can sit here week in and week out and mope about how my career is going to go down the toilet, or I can prevent that from happening." Dawn nodded, admiring her friend's attitude. As the two women continued to converse, they didn't notice that there actually was another diva in the locker room with them. As she twisted her blonde hair between her index and middle fingers, she glared at the two angrily.
So, Lita doesn't want me hanging around? She thought, narrowing her eyes at the redhead. We'll see whose career is in the toilet when I'm done with her.
LATER THAT NIGHT
Edge walked down the hallway, random thoughts floating in and out of his mind while he passed time before his match. He stopped walking when he bumped into Rey Mysterio. Grinning down at his tiny friend, Edge greeted him.
"Hey Rey-Rey, what's up?" he asked, shaking his head. Rey shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing really. I'm just a little surprised you're here," he said. Edge raised an eyebrow… why would him being there be a surprise?
"Why wouldn't I be here?" he asked curiously, and Rey laughed.
"I think I worded that wrong," he said. "I meant, I'm surprised to see you out here, in the hallway." That didn't help any, as Edge was still pretty confused.
"I still don't get it," he said, feeling as though he was missing something.
"Dumb blonde," Rey said jokingly, dodging the playful swing the Canadian took at him. "What I *really* mean is, I'm surprised to see you out in the hallway and not in the catering room, which is where Lita is right now." Now Edge got what Rey was saying, but he was confused as to why he was saying it… especially since Lita was on Raw.
"What is Lita doing here?" he asked, and Rey laughed again.
"Now I understand why I confused you so much. I thought you already heard… Lita's a member of the Smackdown roster now, effective as of today," Rey replied. Edge's eyes widened slightly, a small grin forming on his face.
"Really? That's… that's…"
"Totally awesome?" Mysterio offered. Edge laughed, nodding his head in agreement. "I knew you'd be excited."
"Yeah, of course I'm excited. Lita's one of my best friends, and I'm…"
"Completely in love with her?" Rey finished. Edge nodded for a minute, but then shook his head fiercely after his former partner's words sunk in.
"What? No, I'm not completely in love with her," he defended himself, still shaking his head. Laughing yet again, Rey patted Edge on the shoulder.
"Don't deny it man. Listen, I gotta go now, but I just thought I'd pop up and let you know about her being here," he said, turning to walk away.
"Gee thanks," Edge said, shaking his head as his masked friend walked away.
"Oh, Edge?" Rey called, turning back to face him for a moment.
"Yeah?" the blonde man called back.
"Good luck," he said, grinning at him tauntingly.
Edge laughed, shaking his head. Once Rey was gone, however, his expression grew serious. As much as he hated to admit it, Rey was sort of right. While Edge wasn't *completely* in love with Lita, he most definitely had a serious crush on her. In fact, he'd had one ever since she'd made her debut in WWE, then the WWF, with Essa Rios. Once she got together with Matt Hardy, he did his best to push his feelings to the back burner… Matt was a good friend, and he didn't want to screw up his friendship with both of them by coming between them. But now, everything was different. Matt and Lita were no longer together, and it was safe to say that he and Matt were no longer friends. Now, there was nothing to hold him back from admitting his feelings to her. Well, there was *one* thing…
The only thing that was holding Edge back from admitting his feelings to Lita was himself.
Hey everyone!! I'm glad you liked the first chapter of this story. Here's the next… hope you enjoy it! Don't hesitate to review!!!!!!