Waterfall

        Chapter 4

        Jade grinned widely as she walked around in the backstage of the Los Angeles arena.  Her wide eyes took in her surroundings with awe.  Standing next to her, Christian smiled, hefting his duffel bag higher on his shoulder.  Over the sparse space of five days, Jade had made an almost complete turnaround.  He could see the almost childlike sparkle returning to her eyes.  Still, there would be no getting rid of Ellen and Jacob's handiwork anytime soon.  The blonde still nearly had heart-attacks over startling noises, and flinched at every shout.  She was shyer than what Christian remembered her as.  He reached over, ruffling her hair.  "Welcome to RAW, Jade," he said with a lopsided grin.

          "It's so…busy back here," she observed as she was jostled by a hurrying stagehand.

          Christian laughed.  "You get used to it after a while."

          "I'd sure hope so."

          The Canadian stopped in front of his locker room.  "I've got to change and get ready for my match tonight…  You can just wait out here, wander around, or do what you like…" he trailed off, obviously eager to please her.

          Jade responded with a grin that seemed to light up the entire room.  "It all right if I go off exploring, Uncle Jay?"

          "No," he replied, his voice oozing with sarcasm.  "It isn't."  Shaking his head, he continued, sarcasm gone, "I'll meet you in the cafeteria at 9 o'clock, okay?"

          "Okay!  See you then!" Jade waved, and headed down the hallway.  She yawned, pulling her hair out of the ponytail as she went.  On Wednesday, she and Christian had arrived in L.A., and Christian had introduced her to Lita and Trish.  His prediction had been right: they got along phenomenally.  Together, with the added help of one of Christian's credit cards, they had bought Jade a whole new wardrobe and whatnot.  The outfit she was wearing was one of her favorites—and she willingly admitted that her own style wasn't exactly widely-known when she confessed this to Trish and Lita.  The top was a simple white tied top, with long sleeves.  The tie was knotted just below her breasts, showing off a flat stomach.  The shirt was a little more revealing than she usually wore, but Jade didn't really mind.  It was a welcome change, along with the tightness of her pants.  The pants consisted of a pattern of inch-thick, vertical stripes of pale yellow, rosy peach, and bright teal.  A thin white belt was draped around her small waist. 

          Humming a random song stuck in her head, Jade continued on her way.  After the shopping spree, she had slept the first fitful sleep she'd had in a while.  The night before she had spent tossing and turning, worrying.  Now, however, she was determined to live her new life, as she referred to it, worry-free.  On Thursday and Friday Christian had showed her around Los Angeles.  It was an amazing thing that she was sure not to forget for a long time.  They had spent the rest of the week before Monday simply relaxing.  Overall, it was an awesome week.  'Made even better by the fact that I haven't heard anything from Ellen and Jacob,' a small voice said inside of her head.  She purposefully ignored it.

          Focused on her thoughts, she didn't notice where she was walking, and abruptly ran into something solid.  Her fall was anything but graceful, and ended with her landing straight on her butt.  In an instinct beaten into her, she snapped her lips together to cut the cry from sounding.  The pain stung at her, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.  Looking up, she saw what—or rather who—she had run into. 

          Her first thought was: 'He's beautiful.'  And, taking the time to scan him over, she could tell he was a heartthrob for many.  Between his muscular form, his tall but not oppressive height, and his gorgeous blue eyes, Jade knew he was definitely a ladies' man, whether he liked it or not.

           "Jeez, watch where you're going, clumsy," he scoffed, narrowing his eyes down at her.  Feeling ridiculed, she stood up quickly, brushing herself off.  He chuckled, hoisting the gold Tag Team Championship belt up on his shoulder. 

          "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, mentally preparing herself for another blow.

          "You'd better be sorry.  You know who I am?  I'm Randy Orton, the Legend Killer!  I'm one half of the Tag Team Champions!  I'm part of Evolution, baby!"

          'I can do whatever I want here.  There are no rules…' she reminded herself, and slowly smiled.  She raised a single eyebrow at the handsome man—Randy Orton.  "So…  I take it this means it's my pleasure to run into the egotistical, jerk-off, swollen-faced, pompous freak that is Randy Orton?"

          His face contorted, and he turned around to a white-haired, elderly man that Jade hadn't noticed before.  "Yo, Flair, tell Bischoff that his whores are getting mouthy," he moved to continue.

          "Ex-cuse me?" Jade interrupted.  "'Whore'?"

          Randy smirked, and turned back to her.  "What else did you want me to refer to you as?  Oh, wait, now I remember.  You all prefer the term prostitute, don't you?  Well, I'll tell you something.  You are a good-for-nothing, idiotic, imbecilic moron who—"

          As he continued, Jade could feel her anger building.  She knew that he had mistaken her for someone else, but the words spewing out of his mouth were unnecessary—and words that she had been listening for a long time.  Maybe it was because this was the first time she could do something about it, or that she hated his arrogant attitude, she never did recall with, she reacted with force.  Her fist lashed out, striking him on the corner of the eye.  She then jerked her knee upward into his groin, sending him withering on the ground in pain, cursing at her. 

          Jade froze as she met the old man's eyes.  "I got to fly…Bye!" she said quickly, shouldering past the older man and disappearing into the bustling crowd.  When she finally got to a relatively quiet place, and she was sure that Randy wasn't following her, she breathed a sigh of relief.

          "I'm making friends fast," she murmured softly, running a hand through her hair.  "Mama would be ashamed…"

          A low, manly voice interrupted her.  "Do you make it a habit to talk to yourself like this?"

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Author's Note:  I hope you like!  Oh, by the way, does anyone know why the s won't come up on this website?  In case you can't see it, which you probably can't, it's the symbol that pops up when you hit shift and 8.  I know what it's called, just forgot it lol.  Anyway, just a question.  Thank you to all the people that have reviewed this story so far!  Please continue to review!