Chapter 5
A few weeks had passed and nothing much had changed. Batista was sneaking around with James a lot more, while treating Mandy like a queen to relieve the guilt and keep her from finding out. Chris and Mandy had become closer friends, which made it easier to hide his feelings from her. Randy had taken Mandy's advice, avoiding her as much as possible, despite how much it killed him.
Mandy sat in one of the bathroom stalls. She had just been at ringside, watching and supporting Randy and Dave in their tag team match. It felt awful, cheering Randy, hugging him after the win, pretending like everything was normal. Someone knocked on the stall, Mandy opened the door. Randy motioned for her to follow him, leading her to his own locker room.
"Randy, you can't just come looking for me in the female locker room." Mandy said, too frustrated to look at him.
"Please listen-" Randy started, but couldn't continue because Mandy interupted.
"No you listen. I feel bad that I don't feel the way you do, even worse because I have to explain that to Danielle. You may want to justify yourself, but it's not going to change my mind. So I'm going to walk out that door and you will not stop me." Mandy prepared to walk out the door, but Randy stepped in front of it.
"I know you don't want to hear it, but there's something you have to know. I wanted to tell you that night, but you looked so beautiful I couldn't stop myself before I screwed everything up." Randy looked her right in the eyes. "Yes, I'm in love with you. Infact so in love with you that for every day I can't believe the bad luck that Dave talked to you first. That's not the issue here. I have something to show you."
"Love me Randy? Making me feel so confused and guilty is your way of showing it. Well thank you for telling me that. Personally, I don't care what you have to say, or show. You're a good guy, but your being selfish and I can't talk to you right now." Mandy shoved past Randy and walked out the door. ---
Chris was walking down the hallway and saw Mandy leaving the Evolution locker room. He noticed the angry look on her face before she walked away. Chris ran after her, calling out for her to wait up."What's your hurry? Is everything okay?" Chris lead her back to his locker room.
Mandy shut the door behind them. "No everything's not okay. I've just been fooling myself thinking that it is." She looked at herself in the mirror, like she often did when she was stressed. "Look at me! I'm a mess."
"Calm down. Just tell me what's wrong. Did you talk to Randy again? Did he do something to you?" Chris walked up behind her, looking at the reflection of them standing together.
"No he didn't, he just wanted to talk. I guess I should have listened, but I just can't look at him right now." Mandy turned and faced Chris. "Why can't it go back to the way it was? Why did he have to tell me this now?"
"Nobody knows how the mind of Randy Orton works. The thing is, you could stand here and ask yourself what if, but you'll have to deal with it eventually." Chris took her hand and sat down with her. "Though it's Christmas, so you should put it off for this week."
"I guess you're right. I still have heaps of shopping to do as well. Which reminds me, I don't have a present for you. I meant to get one but I forgot. I'm so sorry." Mandy looked down at the ground.
Chris squeezed her hand. "Don't worry about it. You just have a good Christmas with Dave and don't think about anything else. I don't need anything from you."
Mandy smiled at him and leaned on his shoulder. "Thanks Chris. Merry Christmas to you too."
The door of the locker room opened. Dave walked in, looking furiously at them. "I thought I'd find you here. What the hell are you doing with my wife?"
"Dave, we're just friends. Don't be like that." Mandy went up to him, touching his bare chest.
Dave looked down at her. "I'm not angry with you." He focused his attention back to Chris. "It's him I don't trust. You may think he's nice to you but I don't trust him as far as I can throw him."
Chris stood up and moved closed, raising an eyebrow. "Is that a fact? Well I think Mandy can make her own choices, even if you are threatened by me."
Dave passed Mandy and walked closer to Chris. "Threatened by you? I'm threatened by no-one." Before a fight could errupt, Mandy stepped between them. "Come on Dave lets go. It's not worth it."
"Are you protecting him or something Mandy? Are you screwing around with him?" Dave looked at Chris. "You bastard!"
Mandy threw her hands down in frustration. "You want to fight, fine go right at it. I'll be waiting in the limo with the others. Unless you're threatened by them too." She walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
Dave and Chris didn't take their eyes off each other. Both preparing for the other to make a move. Finally Dave decided to follow after Mandy. "You stay away from her if you know what's good for you."---
Dave sat on the end of the bed. He looked at Mandy, glancing out the window. He walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Come on. You can't blame me for feeling the way I do."
"Why don't you trust me. I love you. I made a commitment to prove that. So why do you have to belittle my friends." Mandy stood up and walked to the bed to sit down.
Dave sat down beside her, grabbing both her hands. "It's not you I don't trust. It's him. I don't want him getting too close to you when I'm not there to protect you."
"He's not like that." Mandy replied.
"Nancy Sullivan probably thought the exact same thing and look what happened to her." Dave said.
"Well I'm not her. I'm me. I can't believe you're comparing the two situations. I can't believe you don't trust me. Why the hell did you marry me then?" Mandy stood up and looked at him in discust.
"I'm sorry." Dave stood up and took her in his arms. "I know I haven't been around much lately. I know you probably feel like sometimes you didn't just marry me, but Evolution aswell. I just worry that maybe you might just run and find someone else who can take better care of you." Mandy looked into his eyes and kissed him. "You don't have to worry about me finding someone else okay? I'll try to limit my time with Chris if you feel that way."
"You don't have to do that. Just tell me if he does anything to hurt you okay. I love you." Dave held her close. Feeling like such a hypocrite for questioning Mandy's loyalty, since he had been running around with James behind her back. The least he could do is let Mandy see male friends. He shut his eyes and tried to forget about it.---
Mandy was sitting by the pool at Danielle's house, talking with her best friend. She decided to spend the day there and give Danielle her Christmas present before going off to the next show. It had been a great week and a fantastic Christmas. It was the happiest Mandy had been in weeks.
"I still can't believe you flew over here to see me, especially when there's a show here next week. I have my front row tickets you know." Danielle said, bringing out a glass of ice tea.
"It was nothing. I wanted to see you. Besides, Dave surprised me with the plane ticket. He decided since I had been talking about it, I may as well go. I think he was sick of me wanting some female company. Or maybe he wanted me out of the house to bring another woman over." Mandy laughed.
"Not with those earrings he's given you. They're worth more than my house, my car, an arm and a leg." She took a closer look at the diamond earrings.
"Sometimes it feels like he's still trying to prove himself." Mandy sipped from her bottle of water. "All I got for Christmas was dumped." Danielle confessed. Mandy felt he heart skip a beat and her enjoyment was put on pause.
"What are you talking about?" She sat up, taking off her sunglasses. "What happened with Randy?"
"I saw him on Christmas Eve. He seemed so distracted. Then he told me that the distance and constant travel were going to be a problem and that we should end it." Danielle explained.
Mandy felt sick all of a sudden, but figured it would be best not to tell Danielle the truth. She tried to push it aside, but felt like she was lying. "I didn't hear about that. Are you okay?"
"The way I see it, many girls would kill to just meet the guy. So I consider myself lucky." Danielle told her. "Though, I can't help but wonder what might have been."
"I wish I had your attitude. I need you to help me decide what I'm wearing tonight. I have three choices, but no idea." Mandy and Danielle walked back inside, both of them glad at the change of subject.
Danielle rolled her eyes at Mandy's need to look perfect. "Does it really matter what you're wearing? It will just end up on the floor with an empty bottle of champange."
