Hey, wow, I'm back again, and before Monday…YIPEEE! I finally found my motivation! Now, as for reviews, ya'll better start dishing them out!!! LOL. I feed off of reviews!! I NEED THEM TO WRITE!!! Seriously…please?? Review?? Just for me?? Please??

Chapter four: Man Overboard!

Saturday, 10 Jan. 2004

On a flight headed to New York…

"C'mon…you saw them Monday night! How can you say still say no?" Annie whined as another flight attendant passed. She and Randy had once again observed the interaction between Rene and Rose.

"Annie, I just don't think it's any of our business. They're young kids…hormones…that kind of thing," Randy smiled.

"Well, I just don't see why we couldn't just give them a little push in the right direction," Annie pushed on.

"Annie, we-"

"What are you two going on about back there?" Stephanie asked as she, Ric, and Paul turned their heads to see Randy with an 'Oh shit' look and Annie with a pouting face. They could tell Annie was about to get her way with something which caused all of them to smirk a little bit.

Annie gave a slight smile, "We were just talking about Rose…and Rene."

"Oh," Ric and Paul said nonchalantly in unison.

Stephanie looked from Ric to her husband and then back to Randy and Annie. She had been left out of the loop, "What do you mean 'Oh'? What about Rose and Rene?" She paused, "Well? I want to know too!"

Annie smiled, "Well…it's nothing…I just wanted to get them together is all."

"I thought that Rose hated Rene…and vise versa. Why would you want to do that? It'd be like watching domestic violence on Cops."

"See? That's what I've been trying to tell you-" Randy tried to interject, but Stephanie cut him off.

"However, opposites do attract. It might just be possible!"

"Oh no," Randy sighed as he threw his head back into defeat.

Paul smiled, "You might as well give up, Randy. It's over now. She has someone's approval."

Stephanie smacked her husband playfully on the arm, "Shush!" She turned her attention back to Randy, "Trade me seats really quick!"

"Wait, wait…I want Randy to condone it first. We're gonna need his help sooner or later," Annie said turning her face toward her fiancé, flashing him a very well rehearsed puppy-dog face.

That was it, Randy couldn't say no to that. With a sigh, he gave in, "Alright, alright. You win. I'll play along, but if it ends in bloodshed, it's on your hands."

"Deal," Annie smiled, "Now move. Me and Stephanie have some planning to do." A matter of minutes later, Annie was explaining everything that had happened between the two subjects. Then, they began to hatch the plan.

~Sunday~

Rene looked down at his watch. It was three o' clock in the afternoon and they still hadn't shown up, "They told me two-thirty," he said aloud to no one at all. With a sigh, he leaned his back against the railing.

He was on a small tourist boat that was to take him to the Statue of Liberty in only a few short minutes. The boat left at three-fifteen. He glanced at his watch: 3:10. Letting out another sigh, he glanced around the small deck once more to see if they had come without his noticing.

His eyes skimmed through the passengers trying to see if any of them resembled any of the members of Evolution, 'Nope…no…uh-uh…nah…no way…no-' his breath caught in his throat, 'Shit.' It was her. What was she doing here? He thought for a moment about whether or not he should approach her.

Keeping his distance and trying to stay out of sight seemed like the wise decision. Making wise decisions the last few days, however, had obviously proved not to be his forte. Straightening his shoulders and standing up tall, Rene approached a very unaware Rosalyn Bryant.

~~~

Rose leaned against the railing, listening as the 'skipper' started up the tourist boat she was on. Stephanie and Annie had called her and suggested that she check out the Statue of Liberty while she was in New York. They had told her when and where a good time would be to go. Stephanie had told her that Sunday would be her only off day, so she better take advantage of it, and she planned on following that advice.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and let the chilly, mid-day wind blow through her hair. She reveled in the feel of it against her face. She didn't mind cold weather, she thought to herself. It always gave her a reason to use her blankets, and in her opinion, sleep wasn't comfortable if there wasn't a blanket.

For some reason, the moment she thought of blankets and being warm, she remembered Monday night. She remembered how good it had felt to be in Rene's arms. To feel his breath against her lips, his tongue in her mouth. She still remembered the taste of him. It was something along the lines of cinnamon and apples. He tasted sweet…and he felt even sweeter, she thought with a slight smile.

Rose licked her lips as she remembered how strong his arms had been around her. She had to wrap her body tightly in her blankets that night as a substitute. A body that still felt every caress. Here it was…six days later, and she could still feel his lips on hers. She wondered briefly to herself for a moment, 'Is that what it is? Kissing. Is it supposed to leave you wishing for more. Am I still supposed to feel it like this?'

Feeling the heat rise to her face, Rose snapped her eyes open. She looked down at the water. Letting out a sigh, Rose came to her senses. She shouldn't be thinking like this. Not about…not about him. 'He's your enemy, remember?' she questioned herself inside her head. 'He's rude, arrogant, cocky, proud, stupid, muscular, strong, sexy-NO! He's a jerk. Plain and simple. He'd just as soon spit in your face than look at you.'

"Jerk," she said out loud as she remembered the first time she had met him. She remembered all the times they had encountered each other. None of them had been pleasant. 'If he were here I'd ring his stupid neck-'

"It's nice to see you too," Rene's voice sounded behind her.

Rose spun around, her eyes wide in a mix of shock and horror all rolled into one, "You!" she snapped, "What the Hell are you doing here?!"

Rene flashed her a sideways grin, "What? I can't go sight-seeing?"

"Not where I am!" she shot back as she tried to push her way past him to the other side of the boat. Anywhere was better than close to him.

Rene let out a frustrated sigh. He stepped in her way, "Look, I'm sorry about Monday night. I don't know what came over me. The kiss…it was a mistake. I'm sorry. Can't we just start over?" he asked hurriedly, not wanting to get smacked.

Rose looked up at him. He was sorry? He hadn't meant to kiss her? She should be relieved, right? After all, she had made it clear to herself that he was the enemy! It was merely a whim! She had gotten caught up in the moment of her first kiss! She sighed mentally. If all of that were true, then why did it hurt to hear him say it was a mistake? To hear him say that he hadn't meant it?

Rose swallowed hard, "I don't know," she said honestly, "Ever since I met you, you have been nothing but rude. You ignore me on my first night, and then insult me in the same instant. Then, last Monday, you insult me again! And on top of all that, you have the audacity to KISS ME!"

Rene kicked into defense, "Look, you haven't exactly been pleasant toward me either. In fact, you've been a bitch toward me ever since you walked into the WWE."

Rose's eyes flickered hatred, "Oh, you have NO idea how big of a bitch I can be!"

"Is that so?" he challenged.

Rose let out a laugh, "Is that all you can manage? An 'Is that so?'" she mimicked him.

"I could manage a lot worse, but I'd rather not, seeing as to how we're already attracting an audience," Rene said in a hushed tone as he motioned to all the onlookers who were trying to act casual.

Taking a breath, Rose straightened her back, "Let them look!"

"Thanks, but I prefer keeping my face off of the tabloids," he said in a matter of fact tone.

"Hmm…what about Sports Illustrated?"

Rene's face displayed his confusion, "What? Sports Illustrated? Why would I care about that-" Before he could finish or figure out what was happening, Rene found himself falling over the edge of the boat and into cold water.

"Because if you can swim back to shore from there, I'm sure they'll want you on the cover," She yelled as she waved to him from the boat. She was smiling sadistically when she noticed that he wasn't swimming. 'Why isn't he swimming?…he's just…wait…no…he's sinking.'

Rose had no idea that Rene couldn't swim…Hell, they were only a little way out from the shore. Nope, he definitely wasn't swimming. "Oh shit…oh God…" those were her final thoughts before jumping into the icy, cold water and swimming to Rene's struggling form.

She could see him fighting to stay afloat, but he was sinking. Hell, it couldn't have been more that twenty feet deep at this point. She pressed on. She knew that even ten feet was enough to drown a person if they didn't know how to swim. Rose called out to him, "Rene! Don't struggle, you'll sink faster if you do!"

Just as his head was about to go under, Rose reached him and pulled him up from behind. She heard him gasp for air, and thanked the Lord that he was breathing. She pulled his body from behind as she swam them both ashore. All the while, neither of them spoke.

When they finally made it, they were assisted to shore by some lifeguards. Rose felt her stomach tie up in knots as they started questioning, "We saw her push you over si-" one of the lifeguards began to ask, but was cut off by Rene.

"No, it was an accident. She and I were joking around, and I slipped," he lied.

"But sir-"

"I told you it was an accident. Do you think she would have jumped in after me if it weren't?" Rene asked with an expression that said one thing: Duh.

Reluctantly, they left the two alone, but not before warning them that if they weren't more careful next time they went on the boat, that they would be banned.

Rose stood, shocked to the core. She couldn't believe that he had lied to save her ass. She found her voice, "Why did you do that? Why did you lie to them? I pushed you…on purpose."

"I know that," he said, frustration obvious in his voice, "I figured I owed you. You did jump in after me when you realized I couldn't swim. So I owed you. Thanks. Goodbye," he said as he spun on his heal and walked away. He was livid at her for pushing him over, but even more livid with himself because he didn't know how to swim. He had to have a girl save him. Hell, a girl that hated his guts.

~~~

Rose lay in her bed that night and she cried. She didn't exactly know why she was crying. There were so many confused thoughts in her head at the moment that she wasn't sure which one to cry about. All of them were good reasons, though.

There was the guilt she felt for nearly killing Rene. There could also be the fact that even though she had pushed him overboard, and nearly caused him to drown, he had lied for her. Sure, she had jumped in afterward, but it didn't rectify what she had done. Then, there was the shame she felt at the thought that the kiss they'd shared might actually have meant something to her, yet to him…it was just a mistake.

He had been willing to start over, but she wouldn't have it. Rose scolded herself for being so damn stubborn and reckless. She sobbed uncontrollably into her pillow. Another reason for her crying was that familiar feeling of being unwanted. She suddenly knew why it had hurt her to hear Rene admit the kiss was a mistake.

It had hurt her because when he kissed her, it was the first time in her life that she had felt wanted. That's the real reason she refused to accept his proposal to start over. She was angry at him because by admitting that it was a mistake, he was saying that he didn't want her either. That's the reason she pushed him over. Because he didn't want her, and in a way…because she knew that if they did start over, they would become friends. Then, she'd be forced to let someone get close. She couldn't do that…she just couldn't.

As her tears ceased, Rose's eye's began to flutter shut, and her breathing began to slow. She slipped into herself and retreated into sleep. She didn't know how she was going to face him tomorrow. All she knew, was that if she could, she would avoid seeing him altogether.

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Okay, see, that was longer. I'm really sorry you guys, is this story sucking?? I'm thinking it is…*sighs* Should I delete the whole thing? I mean seriously, what do you think?

Pammi