Dangerous Business
Chapter XXIII
Smackdown!
8:20 P.M.
Liz blew the hair out of her face as she slowly slid into the splits, keeping a watchful eye on the monitor, just in case something happened. Not that she would notice-she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to pay attention to the wrestlers on the screen.
What the heck was Heyman doing?
'For all I know, Rob and Heyman are planning something,' she thought to herself, not believing a word of it. Possibilities roamed through her mind. As her muscles burned lightly, she pulled out of the splits and continued the rest of her stretches.
'Maybe…' she pondered, 'Maybe it was Heyman behind…everything.' Part of her rejected it immediately, but she took time to consider it. Pieces fell together, fitting perfectly. She recalled his words, and she froze.
'It was for your own good… Our relationship was the most important thing to me…' Could she be right…? Heyman… She wouldn't put it past him, and the feud between Rob and the Big Show…
'Stop it,' she scolded herself suddenly, 'It's all just wishful thinking.' And as soon as she realized what she said, she groaned aloud. 'Wishful thinking'? Wishful for what, exactly? Wishful for her and Rob to-
No.
Liz licked her chapped lips long before she realized her hands were shaking. She snapped them back and forth, trying to get the trembling out of them.
Damn it, what was wrong with her? Rob broke up with her, and all of a sudden she starts jumping to conclusions about Paul Heyman visiting Rob… Just because Heyman could be blackmailing Rob didn't mean it was about her.
She wanted something concrete to believe in, and she couldn't find much. The blackmailing-if Heyman was even doing that-wasn't about her. Rob broke up with her, and not because of Heyman. She was over-analyzing this.
"Liz?" a gentle knocking came from the door, and she closed her eyes, silently thanking for the aversion. Quietly, she walked up to the door and opened it, giving a small half smile when she saw Brock Lesner on the other side. "Hey," he said, smiling gently. "Can I come in?" She stepped away from the door, nodding her head. They sat down, talking about things that didn't really matter. Liz's mind was elsewhere as she spoke, but Brock didn't seem to notice.
"It's time for your match, Liz!" cried a voice from behind the door after a few minutes. Liz passed an apologetic look to Brock, and stood up, making her way to the door, grabbing her title. He grabbed her hand lightly, and she turned to face him.
"Hey… I was wondering if you wanted to valet for me on Monday?" she shifted her weight to her other foot as she stared at him with a blank look on her face. "You know, my cage match against Vince?"
Actually, she didn't know, but she played along well enough. "Sure," she responded, forcing a smile. He smiled, and leaned down. She met him halfway.
For the first moment, as her eyelids slicked open, she felt Rob's tangled hair in her fingers, his beautiful eyes blinking back at her, his arms around her…
And in the next blink, it was gone.
Covering up with a smile, she steadily pulled her arms away from him and darted around the corner into the hallway, not responding to his good luck. She drew a small breath, wrapping her arms around the back of her head and stretching them. Liz forced all thoughts away and concentrated on the match.
Unbidden, thoughts of Rob came to her. Sighing, she closed her eyes. Why couldn't things EVER be simple?
"—so I went and saw Rob—"
Liz stopped, cocking her head. She recognized the disembodied voice of Stacy Keibler, but couldn't tell who she was talking to.
"What happened?" squealed her companion.
"He," Stacy replied breathlessly, "kissed me." In a too-loud whisper, she added, "Tongue and all." Liz shook her head and kept walking, focused on the emotions inside of her. She rejected it completely. Rob wouldn't do something like that.
But another part of her wanted to cry, and she wasn't quite sure why. She didn't love him…did she?
Consumed with shock as she continued with her jerky steps to the curtains, she missed the cocky, triumphant look Stacy passed at her, or the way Evolution slipped out behind her, steel chair in hand.
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