Her Father's Daughter
December 15th, 2010
"Matt, listen to me… Just calm down for two seconds and I'll explain," Lita tried to reason with him.
"You better have a good fucking reason!" Matt hissed in response. "I can't believe you cheated on me…" he muttered beneath his breath.
"I didn't," the urge to protect her reputation flared up. "I didn't cheat on you."
Matt grabbed the collar of her shirt. "You're a liar. First you lie to me about Tara, and now you're lying again."
Lita tore his hand away from her. "Don't touch me like that again, Matthew," she said, her voice warning. The redhead stood, making it so they were both on equal ground. "You want an explanation? Fine," she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "It was late at night. I was supposed to be at Trish's hotel room having a movie marathon with her and a couple others, but I forgot something in our hotel room."
"Lita, that's old news now," Matt interrupted.
She continued on with the storytelling, completely ignoring him. "So I used our keycard in the door and tried to sneak in…" her words began to meld into memory.
Lita sighed to herself as she turned the door knob of her hotel room. She was giddy. Tonight was going to be so fun! Finally she and the girls were going to be able to just have fun without worrying about anything. Jessica was at her grandparents' house, the flight for California didn't leave for two more days… The redhead pushed the door open quietly, for fear that she would wake up Matt. She stepped into the hotel room. The bathroom was to her left as she walked in, the beds ahead of that. Light spilled beneath the door, and she heard the shower running. Shrugging, Lita grabbed her duffel bag that was sitting near the door. Her eyes caught something near the bed. Rolling her eyes at her own curiosity, the woman walked forward. It was a pile of Matt's clothes next to an unmade bed. A small smile placed itself on her face. Matt was never the cleanest guy around. She turned to go when something else caught her eye near the nightstand. She froze, taking a tentative step forward. Women's clothing. While her mind immediately jumped to conclusions, she tried to reason. Maybe the laundry got mixed up… Maybe keycards got mixed up…
All the maybes stopped when the water from the shower did. Her eyes snapped to the door to the bathroom. Then, the sound of giggling reached her ears—female giggling. The hairs on her neck stood up. The door to the bathroom opened. She was greeted with a close-up image of Matt, her boyfriend, with his lips locked around Dawn Marie's. Lita took a step backward, her heart pounding in her chest. 'NO!' her heart recoiled. This wasn't real…it couldn't be…
Dawn was the first one to see her as they broke away from their kiss. She stared at Lita as if the woman didn't belong. Then, a small smirk traveled across her face. Matt followed her gaze and froze. He glanced to Dawn, only clad in a towel, and back at Lita. "Li…This isn't what you think!" he cried.
Her mouth opened but no words came out. She closed her eyes, and then opened them again. It wasn't just a dream. The redhead barreled through the two, knocking Dawn in the stomach harshly with her duffel bag. Lita exited the room and ran down the hallway. She was barely aware of the tears running down her face. Her mouth was dry as sandpaper.
"LI! LITA!" Matt's voice carried down the hallway. The redhead turned and looked at him. The look on her face silence him for a second. She turned to the elevator, slamming a button down. She silently prayed for a quick one. "Li… Please believe me… I was drunk…I…"
"You were drunk," Lita repeated, pressing the button again.
Matt slumped. "I made a mistake Lita…"
The elevator down a ways hit the floor. Lita turned to Matt. "No shit, Sherlock." Then she ran. He, however, was close on her heels. He spoke to her during the ride down a floor, but she stubbornly ignored him, biting her trembling lip. As soon as the doors opened, she sprinted out and turned. He was still in the elevator. Her eyes were piercing. "I swear to God, Matt, if you follow me…"
The elevator doors slid shut.
Lita turned and ran blindly, no longer aiming to get into Trish's room. She ran until her legs gave out. The redhead sunk to the ground, sobbing for all she was worth.
"So what? You fucked Chris Jericho as retribution or something?" Matt snapped back, and Lita looked at him, her upper lip curling.
"Sorry Matt, I'm not the type of person to go around sleeping with random people while I have a partner. Even if that partner is a pompous asshole." For a moment, he tensed, his fists curling.
"I want an explanation."
"It took you five weeks to come back to me."
"Like you expected it and I was late, that's how you're saying it. Let me tell you this, Lita, you are a –"
"No!" she cut him off, her anger bursting. "Let me tell you something, Matthew Moore Hardy! During those five weeks, Chris Jericho helped me through everything. He was my shoulder to cry on. He was the guy that was constantly making me smile and laugh," her face twisted. "Near the end we started having a relationship of sorts. Yes, I slept with him. But right now, I don't think I regret it. Right after we did, you came along with your dumb-ass apology, and for some ungodly reason, I took you back."
"I want my daughter back," Matt hissed suddenly.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I want custody of my daughter," his look was full of malice. "And as of this moment, we are over."
Terror told a hold of Lita. He wanted to take Jessica away. "I suggest you think this over…You're pissed off. You're not in your right mind…" her voice wavered.
"Maybe I am…" Matt replied. He walked to the door and opened it. "Get out of here." Anger and fear taking a hold of her, the redhead walked out of his locker room with her head held high. "Oh, Lita?" Matt called, a sing-song tone to his voice. "See you in court."
The door slammed.