Hey, you guys, thanks for the feedback. Don't worry, I'm not going to change what happened, lol. I'm just going to put more detail in the earlier chapters. I've already uploaded them, and you can check 'em out if you feel like it. I also fixed some of the grammar problems I found.

Anyway, college starts back tomorrow! *blah* I hope this semester isn't as shitty as the last one, lol. Oh well, I'm done blabbing at the moment, here's the new chapter!

Chapter Six: Down At the Pool

Rose smiled as she left her room. Her hotel had an inside swimming pool, and she planned to take full advantage of it before leaving for Wisconsin on Saturday. She wrapped her towel around her waist and walked out the door. It was nine o'clock at night, and Rose was hoping the pool would be sort of deserted by now. She liked having the pool to herself. A lot of people would mean less room to swim freely and more chances of being seen in a bathing suit.

Five minutes later, Rose was standing at the ledge of the swimming pool. Much to her favor, she was alone, save for an older couple, probably in their fifties, lounging in the 3ft. level. Rose gave them a polite nod before walking toward the deeper end. She cast off her towel and climbed the small diving board they had. Stretching her arms high in the air, Rose leaned forward and dove in.

She reveled in the feel of being back in the water. She loved to swim, loved the way her body felt as it plunged through the water. Underwater was her favorite, not that swimming on her back wasn't fun. Underwater swimming always made her feel like she was flying.

Hell, ever since her first day in a public pool, swimming had become almost a second nature to her. 'If only I could master driving the way I've mastered swimming, I'd be set,' she thought to herself as she pushed off the floor of the pool and emerged to take a breath. She was unaware of the crystal blue eyes that watched her from the entrance.

Rose turned over on her back gracefully. She closed her eyes as she seemingly effortlessly backstroked toward the 5ft level. She breathed deeply, "Now, this is what I call relaxation," she whispered to herself. It was now nine-thirty, and the older couple had left. The observer, however, had not.

He had moved closer, actually, but still kept his distance from the water. He sat down on a nearby bench, "You make it look so easy."

Rose's eyes snapped open, but she remained steady in the water. She turned her head, still laying on her back, to see Rene sitting on one of the nearby benches. He was wearing a t-shirt , a pair of black exercise shorts, and a pair of Nike's. She let out a sigh. He didn't look like he came there to torment her and she decided that she wouldn't be the one to start the fight today. Rose closed her eyes and began to move again, "I've been swimming for a long time. Since I was ten."

"Oh," Rene replied as he observed how well she handled herself in the water. She looked like a mermaid or something. He let out a small laugh as the sudden image of Rose with a fin popped into his head.

"What?" Rose asked immediately thinking he was laughing at her.

"What?" he paused, choosing his dialog carefully, "I was just thinking about something funny, that's all."

"Oh. So…what are you doing here?" she said as she finally decided to turn over and breast stroke to the side of pool his bench was located on. He was silent as she swam toward him. It was an awkward silence that seemed to last minutes longer than it really did.

"I was on my way to my room. I just got done at the gym. I didn't know you were staying here," he added as she continued to swim toward him.

"I didn't know you were staying here either. I don't leave much unless there's a meeting or something," she admitted as she finally reached the edge of the pool.

"So, is this what you do in your spare time," Rene asked trying to make conversation, for once, without starting a fight.

"Well, not lately, but I wish I had more time to do it," she observed him for a minute. She decided to ask a question of her own, "Your not much of a swimmer are you?" She hoped he wouldn't take her question the wrong way. She hadn't meant it as an insult.

Rene looked around before he answered. He actually looked venerable for a second, "No, not really. I was always too busy wrestling to worry about swimming. The first time I got into a pool was the last. My best friend pushed me in and I almost drowned."

Rose's eyes widened a little bit, then she gave a small smile, "That's understandable, but you shouldn't let something like that keep you from learning. It's really fun, besides, it really helps to get you relaxed. Or it helps me, at least."

Rene nodded as she began to climb the ladder and get out of the pool. He fought to keep his mouth from dropping. He swallowed hard, she looked stunning. She wore a two piece, pink bikini. Her hair was matted down with water, and her body was dripping wet. Her emerald eyes seemed to stand out more without any make up on her face.

He could see the slight abs and muscular arms and legs…good lord, the legs; Long and muscular, Hell, her feet were even sexy. They were small with a medium arch, and painted toenails to match her suit and fingernails. She walked toward where he was sitting as she wrapped her white towel around her body. She then surprised him by sitting beside him on the bench.

"Rene," she took a breath and paused as he turned his head to face her. She was clearly thinking of the right words. She wanted to apologize, and although she had been wanting to avoid him, she felt it was now or never. "Rene," she repeated, "I want you know I'm really sorry for pushing you off the boat. I mean, I'm usually not psycho, but I don't know what happened."

"It's probably my fault. I seem to bring out the worst in you," he replied with a hint of teasing in his voice, but for the most part, he was serious.

Rose smiled slightly, "Well…you're not right now," she added placing a small hand on is shoulder, a gesture that she didn't even notice she had done. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for almost drowning you, and that if you still want to start over, I'd be more than happy to give it a shot."

Rene nodded, "Well, you made up for almost drowning me by jumping in and saving my sorry ass, so don't worry about it," he paused, "And yeah, I'd love to start over," he smiled sincerely.

Rose smiled and took the hand she had on his shoulder and extended to him, "Well, okay then. I'm Rose Bryant."

"I'm Rene Goguen (for those of you who don't already know, that's his real last name). It's nice to meet you, Rose," he said with a smile as they shook hands.

It was silent for a moment before Rene broke it, "So, are you ever going to tell me why you always take a cab home from the arenas?"

Rose bit her bottom lip, trying to keep from over reacting and getting defensive. She looked down so that he couldn't see her face. Quickly and quietly she answered, "Ican'tdrive." It came out as an inaudible mumble.

"What?" Rene ducked his head lower, thinking he must have heard her wrong.

Rose took a breath before speaking up, "I said I can't drive."

"Oh. Why not? No one to teach you?" he asked simply, like it was no big deal.

Much to Rose's surprise and relief, he didn't ridicule her or laugh. She suddenly didn't feel ashamed anymore and she looked up, "Yah, something like that. I have a permit though. Annie said she'd teach me, but she's so busy, I don't know when."

Rene looked down at her. At first he'd thought she might be in her early twenties, but with finding out that she didn't know how to drive, he thought she might be younger. "How old are you, Rose?"

Rose bit her lip again, but remembered that he had just turned twenty, "I'm eighteen," she confessed.

Rene's eyebrows shot up before he smiled widely, "And they hired you as a writer? How did you manage that? You must be pretty talented," he said in astonishment.

Rose blushed slightly at his compliment. She wasn't used to people saying anything to her or even talking to her for that matter, much less complimenting her, "I sent in a résumé that stated I was twenty-one and a sample of my writing. When they read my sample, they gave me a call. I told Vince and Stephanie how old I really was during my interview."

"Wow, you must be talented, otherwise, Vince probably would have tossed you out on your ass when he found out you lied to him," Rene said with small snicker.

"Yah, that's what I thought he was going to do, but he told me he didn't want me to waste my talent somewhere else," she smiled.

"That's awesome," he said honestly.

"Yah, I'm still in shock," Rose confessed.

There was another strange silence. Neither of them knew what else to say to the other. Rose looked around before standing up and heading toward the diving board. She wanted to swim a little more before she went back to her room. She was on the diving board, stretching her arms upward, when she heard Rene speak again.

"You're going to do that when there's no life guard?" he asked with a bit of a worried expression.

"Well, yah. There's no one here to mess me up but me, and I don't plan on letting that happen," she said before skillfully diving in.

Rene watched her descend into the water and then dart forward underneath. Then an idea popped into his head. When Rose came up for air, he spoke again, "Rose?"

"Yah?" she took a breath as she reached the surface.

Rene paused for another minute, thinking of a way to ask, then continued, "Would you mind teaching me to swim?……I could teach you to drive," he finally managed.

Rose furrowed her brow, considering it for a few minutes. She didn't see why not. It might help them establish some kind of friendship and ease the tension between them. Coming to a decision Rose answered him, "Sure," she said with a smile, "When do you want to start?"

Rene thought for a minute. He had stayed in New York to do some signings, but all of that was finished up now. He was going to leave tomorrow and fly out, but he could postpone that for a day, he reasoned, "I'm not busy tomorrow…are you?"

"Let's see, today is Thursday, all the meetings are done……nope," she concluded.

"Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Well sure, but now that I think of it, tomorrow the pool will be crowded, it being the weekend and all, especially during the day," she thought aloud.

"What's your point?" he asked confused as he stood up from where he sat. He thought he was going to be going back up to his room…he thought wrong.

"Well, I'm just saying, the pool's clear now. You want to start your first lesson?"

Rene's voice sounded a bit uneven, "I guess…"

Rose smiled, "Then come on. Take off you shirt and your shoes, and get in here. I'll teach you the basics. It'll only take a few minutes."

Rene shrugged his shoulders and did as he was told. Meanwhile, Rose swam over toward the ladder that led into the 5ft water. Rene was six foot something, she was sure, so he could probably start off somewhere between 5 and 6 feet deep water.

"Okay…now what?" Rene asked as he was done taking off his shirt and shoes and setting them aside.

"Now, you get in," she smiled easily. She noticed him hesitate, "You're taller than the depth, Rene, c'mon," she splashed him with some of the cool water, "get in."

Rene smiled and let out an amused breath as he climbed into the pool. It did feel good, he had to admit. Once in, Rose came up beside him. He was suddenly very aware of both of their bodies and the lack of clothes present, but he fought to keep his composure.

"Okay, I want you lean back into my arms," Rose instructed as she moved herself into a standing position next to his side.

"You're going to hold me up?" Rene almost laughed.

"We're in water, silly. It's almost like being in space, gravity doesn't really hold a lot relevance here," she calmed his doubt.

"Okay…" he trailed off as he leaned back slowly, cautiously, tensely. As soon as his he felt his feet leave the floor, he shot up again, hesitant to let go of his foothold.

Rose laughed, "It's okay, that's supposed to happen."

"I know…I'm just not comfortable with it," he admitted.

Rose let out a slow calm breath, "You're too tense. Close your eyes okay?"

"Close my eyes, how do I know you're not going to try and drown me again," he teased, trying to stall.

"Shut up! Forgive and forget, remember?" she laughed, "Now close your eyes, damn it!"

"Okay, okay," he conceded as he closed his eyes and awaited her next instruction.

"Alright, good. I want you to relax every muscle in your body, except your lungs. I want you to take slow, deep breaths."

Rene did what she said and felt himself becoming more comfortable with his surroundings, "Okay, this isn't so bad, I guess."

"Good, now I want you to lean back like you did a minute ago, but this time don't get nervous when your feet leave the floor. I'm here, and I'm holding you up, so it's all good, okay?"

"Gotchya," he said slowly as leaned back and allowed his body to float above the floor. He could feel her arms lightly underneath his back. The surge it sent through him almost caused him to panic again, but he quickly shut off that part of his thought process.

"Good, that's much better. Now, I want you to hold your next breath, okay?" Rose instructed. When he did as she told him, she continued, "Now, exhale slowly. This is how you stay afloat before you start to backstroke, by inhaling slowly, holding it for a while, then exhaling."

"Before I start to backstroke?" he questioned as he exhaled. He thought this was the lesson.

Rose smiled as she kept her arms lightly in place underneath him, "Yah, well the key to backstroking, is well…stroking," she laughed, then removed her arms skillfully, without him noticing and continued to explain, "All you need to do is move your legs methodically and then move your arms backward. You saw me earlier didn't you?"

"Yah, I saw you. Is that all I do?" he asked, skeptical.

"Yup. Do you want to try it?" she asked.

"Well yah, but you're still holding me up," he exhaled again.

Rose raised her hands out of the water and above her head, "No, I'm not," she smiled causing Rene's eyes to shoot open and for him to lose his balance.

She laughed out loud, "You were doing so good!" she whined.

"When did you let go?" he asked a bit flustered.

"Well, I let go while I was telling you how to backstroke," she informed him. "So, for about five minutes you were totally on your own. Good job."

Rene shook his head, "You could have warned me, you know?"

"Why? You were doing such a great job keeping yourself up," she complimented.

Rene smiled sideways, almost boyishly at her praise. Rose suddenly felt very warm, which brought to her attention how close they were. Their eyes locked and their breaths became quiet, but deep. His head was bent down toward her, and the water dripped off of his spiked hair. The look in each of their eyes was intense.

Rose was only 6 in. from his face…from his lips. Memories of the kiss they had shared flooded into her mind and she longed to experience it again. She felt their bodies getting closer and she knew he must have sensed it too, because they both forced themselves to look away quickly.

Rene cleared his throat, "It's getting late, we better call it a night."

Rose nodded her head in reply as he turned and climbed up the ladder and collected his things. She followed behind him and grabbed her towel, feeling the need to cover up. "I'll see you tomorrow?" she questioned.

"Yeah. What time do you want to start your first driving lesson?" he asked as he pulled his shirt over his head and they started walking out of the pool area.

"How does one sound?" she said as they made their way inside the elevator.

"Sounds good to me. Where do you want to meet?" he asked as they both leaned in to push their floors' buttons. They both became very still as their bodies brushed gently, leaving just enough space to breath. It became silent, and once again, they both suddenly backed away from the other.

"We could meet in the lobby," she suggested, breaking the ice.

"The lobby it is," he said quickly, "See you then," he bid as the elevator opened to his floor and he exited and turned to go to his room.

"See you then," she said in almost a whisper as the doors slid shut. She closed her eyes and sighed as she leaned against the wall of the elevator. She could hear her heart pounding quickly and loudly in her ears. They had almost kissed, not once, but twice. She couldn't deny that she was and always had been somewhat attracted to him.

She didn't know why…or well…yes she did. Something about men with brown hair and blue eyes always got her heartbeat to quicken. She found herself attracted to taller, somewhat muscular guys. However, she had always been too chicken to confront them. She just stayed in the shadows and watched, assuring herself that it was better that way because she wouldn't be around long anyway. Rose always moved, and she knew men would just cause her more grief. They would only get in the way, no matter how cute they were.

With Rene, however, she couldn't use the same excuses, because she knew that she would be staying with the WWE, and so would he. Rose shook her head as the doors slid open and she exited to her floor. She continued thinking as she walked down the hall and to her room. She had a feeling, now that fighting with Rene wasn't a problem, her growing attraction to him might become one.

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Okay, I ended the feud for two reasons. 1) One of you already saw into the future and knew that the whole swimming/driving deal was coming, lol. And 2) Because, if you've read 'The Intern and the Orton', you know I like to cut to the chase, because I can't even stand that much angsty torment, lol. And I guess there's a third reason so…3) Because I think this will help me get things rolling in the story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll update ASAP. I hope to have it out sometime tomorrow after class or Saturday before I go to work. Now, REVIEW DAGUMMIT! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YA'LL THINK SO TELL ME GOSH DARN IT!

Pammi