Chapter 9

Chris opened his door, ushering Mandy into his house. He had been waiting since she called. She sat down on his couch, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry, I had no where else to go. I hope you don't mind."

"No, but I have been worried about you. Randy went around looking for you last night. He told me what happened." Chris grabbed a jacket, slipping it around her shoulders and sitting beside her. "Then you called me from the airport."

"I don't understand it." Mandy kicked off her shoes. "How could he do that."

"It's okay. Want anything to drink?" Chris looked at her, full of concern. He wanted to comfort her, talk to her about everything and make her feel better.

Mandy shook her head, hiding her face from him. She pulled his jacket tighter around her. She wiped some tears, wishing they would stop. "Everything just turned bad and it's like my whole life has changed. I'm alone. I don't have my husband, I don't have my best friend, I don't have anything."

"You have me." Chris told her, putting a compassionate hand on her shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere. I've been worrying about you all night. I tried your cell phone a couple of times but you didn't answer."

Throwing her arms around Chris, she sobbed into his shoulder. "Thank you for everything. Sorry I didn't answer, I turned my phone off in case Dave tried to contact me. I would have come to you but I had to get out of the hotel. You know, you're probably the only friend I have."

"That's not true. As much as I hate to admit it, Randy cares about you." Chris stroked her hair, pulling her closer to him.

Mandy didn't want to admit that Chris was right. She was just too mad at Randy to forgive him. "I suppose, but he has some screwed up ways of telling me he loves me. I don't want to think about it though. Sorry I'm not better company."

"I always enjoy your company." Chris let go of her, looking into her eyes. "I can't imagine this is easy, but Just promise me you won't let him make you feel bad about yourself."

Mandy nodded in reply, resting her head on his shoulder, thankful she had someone looking out for her. "I thought everything was going well, falling back into place. Then this happens. It was so weird, seeing him standing there with someone else. After all this time, I never knew him at all." A fresh lot of tears fell from her eyes.

Chris squeezed her hand before pulling her into a tight hug . "I'll help you get through this. I promise."

Mandy calmed down a little, listening to Chris tell her that everything was going to be okay. After a few minutes, she fell asleep. Chris watched her, stroking her hair, realising that she probably hadn't slept much at all. The truth was, he hadn't had much sleep worrying about her. Looking at her, sleeping in his arms he gave her a quick kiss on the lips. He thought about leaving her alone so she could get some rest, but couldn't bare it. Instead he rested his own sleepy eyes and eventually fell asleep.
-
Mandy stood outside the house in D.C. She couldn't help thinking about running back to the airport, back to Atlanta to take Chris up on his offer and stay a few more days. She walked up to the door and let herself in. Dave was in the lounge room, holding an empty bottle of vodka when Mandy walked in.

"You came back." He said, walking over to her arms outstretched.

"Of course I came back, all my stuff is here. They've given us a two weeks off work to sort this out, but I want to get this done as soon as possible." Mandy turned away as Dave tried to touch her.

"Please give me another chance. Look at me, I've had no idea where you've been for the past few days and I'm a mess." Dave confessed. "I know it's hard, but James gave me something I didn't realise I wanted. He made me feel something."

Mandy walked over to her keyboard, sitting down. "I don't need to hear this." Dave grabbed her arm, Mandy didn't turn around. "Get your hand off me."

Dave wished that she would look at him. "I know you don't want to hear it but I'm glad it happened. Our marriage will not be a sham, lie or anything like that."

Mandy scoffed, turning to him. "You can't just learn to deal with it. It's not going to go away with time, or marriage."

"So you're leaving me then." Dave said. "Can you atleast sit down and hear what I have to say."

Mandy shook her head. "I'm sick of talking, no amount of talking is going to change my mind. I can't be with someone I don't trust."
-
The divorce was filed quickly as Mandy wanted to be out of the house in D.C. Too many memories that now made her want to be sick. In the divorce settlement, she recieved the summer house her and Dave had bought in Florida, along with a large amount of money. While movers packed her stuff up into a truck, Dave helped Mandy lift a huge box into her car. He looked at her, she turned away. He went over to her and touched her arm.

"I'm really sorry about this. I know you don't believe me, but it's true. I can't explain why, because I don't know how it happened." Dave ran a finger up and down her arm.

"The worst part of it was, you were accusing me of cheating on you with Chris, when you were the one cheating with another guy." Mandy replied, still focusing on the movers to avoid looking at Dave.

"I know and I hate myself for it. You must believe me when I say that I love you, I wouldn't have been with you otherwise." Dave explained, attempting to hug Mandy.

Mandy stepped back. "You can't expect me to forgive you so easily. Maybe one day I will, but you really hurt me. Do you have any idea what it's like?" She brought up the courage to look him in the eye. "I don't even care anymore. You pretend to be someone you're not. Mucho but sensitive, in love with me but probably not even in love with females. You're a poser."

"Can't you just stay a little while longer. I don't want you leaving thinking it was your fault." Dave looked at her with concern.

Mandy smirked. "I know it's not my fault. So there's no point in trying to convince me of that."

Dave sighed, looking at the ground. "I know I don't deserve to ask you for anything right now, but please don't jump to Benoit right away. I couldn't handle that."

"Why? Are you attracted to him?" Mandy said, then decided to drop the defences and be serious. "You let me go, so it's none of your business what I do now." Seeing the movers pack up the last of her stuff, she hopped in her car and drove off without looking back.
-
Mandy sat down in her new living room. It was a night she should have been at Monday Night Raw, but she was in no shape to do anything. Plus they wouldn't have had her schedualed for any matches in case she was away. Instead, she kept filling a wine glass and watched the live broadcast. After an advertisement for the Royal Rumble finished, Randy came on the screen. Mandy watched as he walked down to the ring for his match, looking so serious. She watched him lose the match, knowing that it wasn't one of his best. It was obvious his mind was somewhere else.

Mandy refilled her glass, sighing. She knew it wasn't Randy's fault and he couldn't help the way he felt, no matter how much he probably wished he didn't love her. Mandy wondered if maybe she hadn't met Dave something may have happened between her and Randy. Part of her wished that she could turn back time and meet him instead. Marry him instead.

She turned her gaze back to the screen. No-one could deny he was good looking and he obviously cared about her, she didn't know if it was the wine or if she was really seeing him in a different light but she couldn't help but wonder why they shouldn't be together now that there was nothing standing in their way. Mandy drank her glass of wine. "It's silly. Nothing could ever happen between us. Don't be ridiculous. Though I should forgive him and give him a chance to explain. I owe him that much." Realising how pointless the words sounded in the empty room, she laughed.

It was a mystery how everything was so screwed up between them, considering they were so close at one stage. Mandy raised her glass in the air, vowing that next week she would talk to Randy.