Disclaimer: I own no person, place or thing mentioned. Title inspired by the song of the same name by Pat Benatar.
Spoilers: Nothing that isn't mentioned in the calender at WWE.com
Brief Chapter Summary: Lita's Birthday: before and during dinner.
Notes: Diva trade to happen eventually, and yes one of these updates will cover SmackDown. Just bear with me and as always, thank you to the reviewers :)
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Wednesday, April 14. Chicago, Illinois. 11:00 a.m.
Dawn Marie and John walked through the lobby of the specified hotel. Hunter had requested that she and the other key people involved in the party planning meet at 10:30. In the brief phone convesation from the night before, he had mentioned that everything was taken care of, and the invite list had been expanded..from both rosters. She tsk'd softly to herself as she entered the elevator as Hunter had decided it would be best to divide the event between a smaller and therefore more formal dinner party and an informal birthday bash in a club V.I.P. room. Her heels sunk softly into the carpet as she walked through the hallway, finally on the designated floor. Dawn began to wonder..just how involved was one simple birthday celebration? At any rate, she finally reached the double doors of the specified room and with some guard, she knocked.
"Please," Hunter opened the door after the fifth knock, stepping aside
"We're waiting on one more person."
John gestured for Dawn to go first, and so the two made their way inside the living room area of the suite. "Nice pad ya got" He let out a low whistle, shutting the door behind him.
Hunter smirked, "We've had better..but anyway, as I said" He sat down at the desk,
looking over a few brochures and a few sheets of paper. "We're waiting on one more person. Shane mentioned that someone else would be arriving around 11:15."
Dawn nodded, sitting down on the loveseat. "And do you have a full list of the party goers?"
Hunter nodded, standing with two of the sheets of paper in hand. "Here's the list for the dinner party..and" He looked over the other sheet. "Here's the list for the actual birthday bash."
Dawn held the first list between her finger tips and the other rested on her lap. "So, I take it the closer friends are invited to the dinner party." She scrutinized the names carefully, pursing her lips ever so slightly. "Which would explain why you left Rey, Eddie and John off?"
"Oh did I?" Hunter feigned perfect surprise. "Just add them to the list, the reservation is for 20."
Dawn handed the list back. "You can add them..I want to see who's coming to the other part." She picked up the other list, her lips coming together in a thin line as she read down the names. "Eugene?" She looked at the blonde man with a bit of scrutiny. "Care to explain this one?"
"Well.." Hunter sat back down, adding two names to the dinner party list. "You see..when I was discussing things with Chris, Eric happened to over hear us. And where Uncle Eric is, Eugene is usually not far behind."
John muttered "Ass kisser"
Dawn raised a brow. "As long as there are no other surprises in store, I guess this list is okay." She set it down on the arm of the loveseat. "Which brings me to the next question..why have two seperate events?"
Hunter sighed impatiently. "Why not? It's a big event..we're celebrating in style." He leaned back in the chair. "Evolution style"
"Enlighten me on Evolution style then" Dawn mirrored his actions, leaning into her boyfriend. "Please, I am quite interested to know."
"Well for one, we do things bigger and better" Hunter gestured to the hotel suite for slight emphasis. "And two, we just know how to throw a good party..and believe me, this is one damn good party."
"So where is this grand party taking place?" Dawn tapped her cheek with a perfectly manicured nail. "Considering that since Lita didn't want a big deal made in the first place..and now two seperate parties for one person?" She rested her arm across the back of the loveseat. "A person, that I might add..that you really don't know that well."
"The dinner will be taking place at one of the finest Japanese resturants." Hunter smirked proudly, holding up a brochure. "The cake is being special made from one of the finest bakeries..as for the other part of the party..I've taken the liberty of booking a V.I.P. room at a very, upscale club." He held up another brochure. "We'll have our own private bar, and still have access to the many dance floors."
Before Dawn could ask any further questions, there was another knock at the door. Hunter held up a hand to Dawn and John, making his over to the door. "Why are you here?"
"Because" Shane Helms entered the hotel suite. "I have someone else meeting Lita's mom at the airport..and I'm doing a favor to Chris."
"How is your being here doing a favor to Chris?" Hunter raised a brow. "And who is meeting Lita's mother?"
"Jeff is meeting Lita's mom, he's on his way to our hotel right now." Shane sat down in one of the other chairs. "And Torrie wanted to help..so Chris and Torrie are keeping Lita busy until the party."
"Lovely" Dawn rolled her eyes. "So that brings me to another question Hunter" She let out a low breath, smoothing out a wrinkle in her dress pants. "What's left for us to do? Since this was supposed to be a joint operation."
"Well" Hunter picked up a legal pad. "Flowers need to be picked up and delivered to the resturant, balloons need to be picked up and delivered to the V.I.P. room." He flipped the top sheet over. "And pretty much just the small details need to be covered..like decorating the V.I.P room."
"You sure know how to impress someone" John smirked, crossing his arms. "Just what do you want with Lita?"
Hunter set the legal pad down, briding his hands on his knee. "And just what makes you think I want something with Lita? I'm merely a party planner."
"Oh I don't know" John waved a hand. "The party, the dinner party..the shit from San Antonio."
Hunter shrugged it off, draping his arm over the back of the desk chair. "Amending for past differences."
"You must've done some bad stuff" Dawn raised a brow. "To go out of your way like this for one person."
"It's my business, and the more we continue to discuss it." Hunter stood, slipping his shades on. "The less time we have to get down to more important business..we have a party room to decorate, and three more stops." He crossed the room to the french doors seperating the living room from one of the bedrooms, "So can one of you please, give me a hand with this?" He gestured to the boxes sitting inside the room.
"Plastic coconuts and palm fronds?" Shane raised a brow as he joined Hunter. "We aren't in the tropics..what's up with that?"
"Theme party dimwit" Hunter rolled his eyes, handing a box over. He passed another box to John, taking the final box himself. "Dave, Randy and Stacy will be meeting us at the V.I.P. room." He stepped back into the living room addressing Dawn. "Which means, that while some of us work on decorating, three others can go get flowers, balloons and the cake."
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Dawn nodded and so the group left the hotel suite, making their way down to the lobby. So far, this one event was turning out to be the party of the century. And though, Dawn didn't entirely doubt Hunter's claims at making amends..she did wonder what else he was after. As planned, they met up with Dave, Randy and Stacy at the posh club. And Dawn had to admit, the theme was quite..tropical, but would it be to Lita's liking. She shook her head as the decorations were unpacked, observing quietly from the corner as bags of crepe paper and plastic coconuts littered the floor. The removal of a limbo bar really made Dawn wonder, but so far Hunter had done a pretty decent job with the party planning. When the rest of the decorations were unpacked, Dawn made her way back to her car heading for the florist. Stacy was on her way to pick up the cake and Randy was off to pick up the balloons. With the dinner party scheduled for 6:00 p.m. the group remaining had plenty of time to decorate, goof off and hope that nothing would go wrong.
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Dragon Room, 4:00 p.m.
With a little under two hours before they needed to arrive for the dinner party, Hunter, John, Randy, Stacy, Dawn, Dave and Shane put the finishing touches on the post-dinner party decor. So far, it was shaping out to look like a Tiki room and quite out of place in the mostly East-Asian infused club. At one point, Shane had remarked that all they needed was a huge tiki head and the atmosphere would be set. With Shane and Dawn tying bunches of helium filled balloons, and Randy, Stacy and Dave hanging banners and crepe paper..Hunter and John finished off the ground work.
"So" John addressed Hunter as he set up a small display of palm fronds and a beach chair. "Is all this your present to Li?"
Hunter smirked, glancing sideways as he arranged a framed photo on the wall. "Far from it..merely a hint to the actual gift."
He raised a brow, shaking his head at the blonde. "You must have it bad for her then..goin' through all this, when you put Steph through such shit."
Hunter frowned, stepping back to look at the alignment of the photo. "I don't know what that bitch told you, but she put me through just as much shit." He moved to another area of the lounge, setting pineapples on the table. "And as for Lita? That really is none of your concern."
"That so, dog?" John followed him, standing right behind him. "Lita's got a lot of peeps lookin' out for her. You hurt her..and I will knock you out."
Hunter rolled his shoulders before he turned meeting the steel blue gaze of John. "Listen kid..you better watch what you say, and who you say it to." His lips curled into a grim smile. "I will end your career if you even think of touching a hair on my head. I have no intentions of hurting Lita. That's all you need to know"
John waved a hand in his face. "You can't see me, you can't touch me" He smirked, not backing down. "And you better not hurt her, or you are in for a world of hurt..thug style."
"I'm in for a world of hurt?" Hunter smirked, turning his back. "You are out of your league, kid."
John flipped him off before heading back to his palm fronds. And with this lovely air of tension, the group worked on. The only noise that would follow was the ringing of Hunter's cellphone. However, when he was finished, Dawn brought something to everyone's attention.
"Ahem" Dawn crossed her arms, standing on a chair to address them all. "We have a little over an hour before we need to be there. So, unless you all feel like explaining why you have confetti on your clothes..we should probably get back to the hotel and get dressed."
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Woodfield Mall, Chicago, Illinois. 4:30 p.m.
Lita huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face as she followed Torrie and Chris up the esclator. Already in the red heads possesion, a few bags from the music stores, a huge bag from the Guess store, one garment bag with a leather jacket, one garment bag with a rather formal two piece outfit..and a bag loaded with shoes. Torrie was now dragging them to another shop to find a less formal, secondary outfit. She sighed patiently as the stepped off the escalator, smiling politely to the children and teens gathering around them. After a few picture poses and autographs, the three made their way to H&M. Lita followed patiently as Torrie made her way to the skirts and pants, inspecting them with the red head next to her.
"Now" Torrie bit her lip in thought. "Since we've already got a skirt and formal top..we want pants and informal top from here." She grinned. "And we want them to be contrasting, so let's go with something like this." She picked out a pair of low cut, form fitting, flared pants, two mini skirts and a pair of capris. "We'll go look for tops now..then try the color combinations."
Lita nodded, handing her bags over to Chris as she followed the blonde. "Do you always spend this much time shopping?"
"Of course" Torrie linked arms with the red head as they looked over the tops. "I know you do too..I mean look at some of your ring wear."
"Yeah I guess" Lita shrugged as they filtered through the racks. "I just wish I had legs like Stacy"
"Pshh" Torrie waved a hand. "Li, you have a great body.." She assesed the red head, then looked back to the tops. "Let's go with some of these" She pulled a few cropped, halter tops off the rack and one backless faux corset style top. "It'll show of your mid section perfectly."
Lita nodded, draping the items over her arm. "Well..guess I'd better get into the dressing rooms."
Torrie followed as the red head made her way into the dressing rooms and with the girls busy, Chris got on his cell phone. "Hunter..we're at the mall."
"Yes still" Chris smirked. "Torrie's getting Lita's outfits for tonight..and if they looked good on the mannequin" He let out a low whistle.
He tucked the phone between his ear and his shoulder, re-arranging the bags looped on his arms. "Yeah, we're heading back to the hotel after this..Torrie's gonna do Lita's hair."
He nodded, switching the phone to his other ear, watching the dressing room enterance. "She will? Good..we'll be at the hotel around 5:00." He grinned triumphantly. "Nope, she doesn't suspect a thing."
At the sound of approaching footsteps, Chris hissed into the phone. "I've gotta go, they're done." He shut the phone, depositing it in his pocket.
"Well we're all set" Torrie chirped happily. "Wait until you see this outfit..girl" She grinned to Lita "With those boots? You are gonna knock em dead."
"Then let's go pay for this stuff" Chris checked his watch. "Dinner reservations are at 6:00."
"Is Shane still meeting us?" Lita looked to the Canadian as she and Torrie made their way to the register.
Chris nodded. "Of course he is, he'll meet us at the resturant."
As Lita took out her wallet to pay, Torrie held up a hand. "Please..consider this last outfit a gift" She grinned. "Then we just need to go to one more place to get hair accessories and some other stuff."
Lita blinked, quirking a tiny smile in thanks as the items were paid for. And with the final outfit safely in Lita's possesion, they made their way to another store for the rest of their items.
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Pick a hotel, 5:45 p.m.
Torrie bit her lip as she looked over the red head. So far so good..the ankle length skirt and sleevless top were looking good. With the chunky heeled sandals, the outfit was complete. Stacy had joined them..and was currently working on Lita's make up, while Torrie was mulling over the hair accessories and jewelry. With one last sweep of the blush brush, Stacy stepped back to admire her handiwork. She and Torrie exchanged a smile, before Torrie stepped forward. With most of the red heads locks in a double french twist, the remaining strands needed to be curled. A few decorative bobby pins, earrings, bracelet and necklace and she was set. With the red head finally ready to go, they packed up the secondary outfit for the evening.
"Well" Lita stood, wobbling slightly as she tugged her jacket on. "I must say..you two have done an excellent job." She grinned to the two, admiring her reflection in the full length closet mirror.
"Thanks" Torrie tucked a few more items into her purse. "Well if we're ready..we should probably go meet the boys."
The girls made their way down to the lobby, meeting with Chris and Shane as planned. What they hadn't planned was a limo meeting them. Lita's brow lifted in question as they left the hotel, but not a word escaped the red head's questioning lips. With a guarded gaze, she slipped inside the limo, with Shane following her. No conversation was made as the limo made it's way down the streets of Chicago. When they finally arrived at the resturant, Shane exited before Lita offering his arm to the diva. Opting to leave her jacket on, the red head checked her bag while Chris addressed the maitre de. He gestured for Lita, Shane and Stacy to follow him to the back. On the way, he informed Lita that they had reserved a tatami room just for the occasion. With a grin, the red head followed through the tastefully decorated hall, her heeled sandals clicking gently on the staircase.
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