Disclaimer: Chapters 1-3
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Chapter Nine
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"Okay," Tess said, quirking a brow at him. "What about it?"
"What the hell were you doing with him? I thought you two hated each other." Rob growled, leaning back against the wall. "And I come looking for you to congradulate you for getting signed, and I see you hugging him."
"Do you realize how stupid you sound right now?" Tess asked, rolling her eyes. "I hugged him. Big deal. No, I don't hate him. We had a nice long talk about some things, things that should really stay between me and him. You never get mad when I hug Matt or Jeff or Shane. Why did you get mad that I hugged Chris?" her voice was beginning to rise.
"Because all he wants to do is get in your fucking pants, Tess!" Rob yelled. Her eyes widened at his tone. "I'm sure he apologized and shit, am I right? Hell yes. He does this to the rats all the time. He's trying to seduce you."
"The hell? Rob, you've gone crazy. Calm down. You are being WAY too protective of me right now. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. And as for right now, I'm going to believe Chris and his apology." her voice was steady as she spoke, but she was nearly shaking with her anger.
"Fine, you want to be like that and get raped or some shit? You go right ahead, Tess, but don't even come crying to me." Rob said in a cold voice. Tess looked at him like he had just slapped her.
"Thanks Rob, thanks a lot." Tess muttered before pushing past him. She heard him call her name but ignored him, walking at a steady past towards catering. She was relieved to see that no one was there when she walked in. She grabbed a bottle of water and moved to the back corner of the room, sinking down against the wall. She opened the bottle, took a small sip, then dumped the rest of its contents over her head. She shook her head, her now wet brown locks clinging to her cheeks, neck, and shoulders, before resting it back against the wall. She closed her eyes and drowned everything else out.
"Tess...Tess!" she felt someone shaking her shoulders. "Tess, get your ass up. Are you okay?" Tess blinked her eyes open and looked up into the concerned face of her father. Her nose crinkled up and she felt tears stinging her eyes.
"No, Daddy, I'm not okay." she cried out before jumping up into his arms, holding onto him desperately. He wrapped his arms around her waist and sat down as she buried her face in his chest, sobbing. He rubbed her back soothingly with one hand.
"It's okay, baby girl, tell me what's wrong." Mark said, trying to calm his daughter down. He hated seeing her upset and swore to himself that if anyone in this company had done this to her, he would shove his foot so far up their ass that they would be able to lick his toes.
"I...I...I didn't do anything wrong! I just...I talked with Chris and everything was okay, even though I lost my match but then Rob said that I was going to get raped and now I'm all wet!" Tess sobbed even harder. Mark was a bit confused but continued to rub her back.
"Okay...you and Chris talked about your situation, right?" he asked, trying to clairify everything. Tess nodded. "And you lost your match, but you're okay with that." she nodded again. "But Rob said you were going to get raped?" Mark finished, confusion evident in his voice.
"Yeah...he said that the only reason Chris apologized to me was because he was trying to get me in bed with him, and if I didn't do it willingly that he would rape me." Tess sniffled, wiping her eyes.
"I don't know Chris that well, but he did have a bad reputation with the ring rats a few years back," Mark said. "But from what I hear, he's changed somewhat for the better, so I don't really think he would rape you."
"Neither do I...I mean, I know that Chris and I just now made up, but you know that I've always been good at reading people." Tess replied. Her voice was finally steadying, and no more tears leaked from her eyes.
"Yes, you have." Mark told her, patting her back. She sighed and rested her head on his coller bone.
"It hurt, having Rob accuse me like that. I thought he really cared for me, you know?" Tess said softly.
"I know, sweetie, I know. But...maybe...maybe Rob isn't right for you." Mark said. "He's too old for you."
"Daddy...I know that there is a big age gap, but look at you and Mom," Tess replied. Mark was a little suprised; this was the first time she'd brought up her mother since she'd came on the road with him. "She was ten years younger than you are."
"I know...so I am being a little hypocritical there...but I'm just trying to look out for you, honestly. Look at the relationship your mother and I had. She was fifteen when she had you. She was still a kid herself, and then all the responsibility of a baby to take care of, too. And I was so much older than your mom...I could have gotten into serious, serious trouble for getting her pregnant when she was fifteen. I could've gotten arrested just for sleeping with her. I was twenty five when she had you." Mark said, sighing and running a hand through Tess's long, brown hair. "But I'm not saying that I didn't love your mom. I loved her with everything, and I do think you're right in saying that love has no age. Your mom and me got married when she was sixteen, after her parents threw her out. She wouldn't tell them for the longest time who got her pregnant. They didn't even know about me. But one night, about a month or so after you were born, her parents were seriously thinking about filing for full custody of you. See, her parents were extremely embarresed that their fifteen year old daughter had a baby. They were so ashamed of her. She called me that night and I came over, got you and her, and you both stayed at my place that night. Her parents raised hell. They didn't call the police, thank God, but they forbid her from ever seeing me again. When she refused to let them have custody of you, they threw her out. Told her they never wanted to see her, or you, again. She had just turned sixteen, then. You both moved in with me, and your mom and I got married. I was still wrestling in the indies then, but I was well on my way to the pros." Mark finished the story. Tess was looking up at him with big eyes.
"Wow..." she muttered. "I didn't know all of that. I wonder how my other grandparents could have done that, espically to their own child..."
"I know. They must've been heartless people. That night was the first and only time I had met them. They never even knew my name. When you were first born, your mom had her last name, Monroe, put on the birth certificate so that her parents wouldn't know my last name. We had it changed right after Sara and I got married."
"Daddy...I want to go home. Not forever, just for a few days. Back to your house. Our house. I need to get away." Tess said to him, still curled up in his arms.
"I have a house show tomorrow that I can't get out of, but I'll talk to Vince and see if he'll give me a couple of days off. We both need it." Mark said. Tess nodded and got up off of him.
"You go talk to him now. I'm going to take a shower." Tess replied before walking out of the catering room back towards the women's locker room.
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Two days later, Mark and Tess were back home in Houston. He managed to get a week off, with Vince pitching to the fans that 'Taker had pulled a muscle while training. Tess sighed as they entered their home, a place she hadn't been to in a long while. Mark wrapped an arm around her shoulder and closed the front door to their large ranch home behind them.
"It's good to be home." he said. Tess nodded, and he leaned down, placing a soft kiss on top of her head. "Go take your bag up to your room. I'll be in the kitchen." Mark said. Tess nodded again and grabbed her black duffle bag, which was stuffed with a weeks worth of clothes and toilitries. She carried it into her familiar room and dropped it onto her bag, before turning and walking back downstairs to the kitchen. Her father was sitting at the kitchen table, an open coke in front of him and a closed one sitting in front of the chair beside him. Tess slid into the chair and cracked open her coke, taking a sip of it. She tried to ignore the uncomfortable silence.
"Tess, I just want you to know that I'm always here for you. If you ever need me, or if you're ever in trouble or anything, anything at all...just tell me." Mark said. Tess looked at him with a sort of confused look on her face. She knew all of this. "I love you, baby girl." he finished. Tess smiled softly at him and leaned over, hugging him.
"I love you too, Daddy." she said. They talked for a while longer before Mark decided to go take a bit of a nap; they had had a long flight to Houston. Tess decided to do the same and went up to her room. She changed into a pair of silk pajama pants that were red with black Japanese writing on them, and a simple white tank top. She curled up in her bed, tossing and turning for nearly an hour before realizing that she couldn't sleep. She got up and slid her house shoes on, before walking out of her room. She had been thinking about what her father had told her about her mom's parents. She wanted to find out more about them. She walked up another flight of stairs quietly, opening the door at the top to reveal an attic. It was full of boxes and old, dusty chests, and Tess knew for a fact that some of her mother's things from her childhood were in there. Her mother had never allowed her to look at anything in the attic, and now Tess knew why. She rummaged through a few trunks, finding nothing to help her in her search. Finally, she opened a trunk that had another box inside of it. She took the box off and blew dust off of the top. After the top of the box was cleared off, she saw a piece of masking tape with the word 'Letters' written on it. She opened the box, revealing to her at least twenty-five old letters. She pulled the first one out and read it.
Dear Sara,
This is the first, and probably the last you will hear from us. It's been five years since you moved out. Little Contessa must be getting big and so beautiful. I was wrting to let you know that our offer still stands. We will take full custody of Contessa, and you could move back in, get your life back together. Only write us back if you plan on giving Contessa to us. If you decide to keep her, then goodbye, Sara.
Sincerely,
Debbie and Robert Monroe
Tess hardly breathed as she read this letter. It was sickening how cruel her grandparents were. She took the box of letters down to her room. She sat on her bed and read all of the rest of them. Some were old letters from her grandparents, from before her mother had gotten pregnant with her. Some were letters from her father. It took her about an hour to read them all. She looked at her bedside clock. It was nearly six p.m., and her father was still sleeping. It was then that an idea came to Tess. She grabbed her cell phone and walked downstairs. She got the phone book from the living room and looked up the number she was searching for. She wrote the number in the palm of her hand before walking outside, to her old tire swing. There was a large lake behind their house, and the tire swing overlooked it perfectly. The sun was already beginning to set, casting a dim pinkish gold glow over the calm waters. Tess sighed nervously as she flipped open her phone. She dialed the number in her hand what must have been six or seven times before actually getting the nerve to punch it in and hit 'send'. The phone rang once, twice, three times, and Tess was about to hang up, until she heard a woman's voice answer.
"Hello?" the voice said.
"Um...hello...is this Debbie Monroe? This is Contessa, your granddaughter..." Tess said nervously into the phone.
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Chapter Nine
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"Okay," Tess said, quirking a brow at him. "What about it?"
"What the hell were you doing with him? I thought you two hated each other." Rob growled, leaning back against the wall. "And I come looking for you to congradulate you for getting signed, and I see you hugging him."
"Do you realize how stupid you sound right now?" Tess asked, rolling her eyes. "I hugged him. Big deal. No, I don't hate him. We had a nice long talk about some things, things that should really stay between me and him. You never get mad when I hug Matt or Jeff or Shane. Why did you get mad that I hugged Chris?" her voice was beginning to rise.
"Because all he wants to do is get in your fucking pants, Tess!" Rob yelled. Her eyes widened at his tone. "I'm sure he apologized and shit, am I right? Hell yes. He does this to the rats all the time. He's trying to seduce you."
"The hell? Rob, you've gone crazy. Calm down. You are being WAY too protective of me right now. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. And as for right now, I'm going to believe Chris and his apology." her voice was steady as she spoke, but she was nearly shaking with her anger.
"Fine, you want to be like that and get raped or some shit? You go right ahead, Tess, but don't even come crying to me." Rob said in a cold voice. Tess looked at him like he had just slapped her.
"Thanks Rob, thanks a lot." Tess muttered before pushing past him. She heard him call her name but ignored him, walking at a steady past towards catering. She was relieved to see that no one was there when she walked in. She grabbed a bottle of water and moved to the back corner of the room, sinking down against the wall. She opened the bottle, took a small sip, then dumped the rest of its contents over her head. She shook her head, her now wet brown locks clinging to her cheeks, neck, and shoulders, before resting it back against the wall. She closed her eyes and drowned everything else out.
"Tess...Tess!" she felt someone shaking her shoulders. "Tess, get your ass up. Are you okay?" Tess blinked her eyes open and looked up into the concerned face of her father. Her nose crinkled up and she felt tears stinging her eyes.
"No, Daddy, I'm not okay." she cried out before jumping up into his arms, holding onto him desperately. He wrapped his arms around her waist and sat down as she buried her face in his chest, sobbing. He rubbed her back soothingly with one hand.
"It's okay, baby girl, tell me what's wrong." Mark said, trying to calm his daughter down. He hated seeing her upset and swore to himself that if anyone in this company had done this to her, he would shove his foot so far up their ass that they would be able to lick his toes.
"I...I...I didn't do anything wrong! I just...I talked with Chris and everything was okay, even though I lost my match but then Rob said that I was going to get raped and now I'm all wet!" Tess sobbed even harder. Mark was a bit confused but continued to rub her back.
"Okay...you and Chris talked about your situation, right?" he asked, trying to clairify everything. Tess nodded. "And you lost your match, but you're okay with that." she nodded again. "But Rob said you were going to get raped?" Mark finished, confusion evident in his voice.
"Yeah...he said that the only reason Chris apologized to me was because he was trying to get me in bed with him, and if I didn't do it willingly that he would rape me." Tess sniffled, wiping her eyes.
"I don't know Chris that well, but he did have a bad reputation with the ring rats a few years back," Mark said. "But from what I hear, he's changed somewhat for the better, so I don't really think he would rape you."
"Neither do I...I mean, I know that Chris and I just now made up, but you know that I've always been good at reading people." Tess replied. Her voice was finally steadying, and no more tears leaked from her eyes.
"Yes, you have." Mark told her, patting her back. She sighed and rested her head on his coller bone.
"It hurt, having Rob accuse me like that. I thought he really cared for me, you know?" Tess said softly.
"I know, sweetie, I know. But...maybe...maybe Rob isn't right for you." Mark said. "He's too old for you."
"Daddy...I know that there is a big age gap, but look at you and Mom," Tess replied. Mark was a little suprised; this was the first time she'd brought up her mother since she'd came on the road with him. "She was ten years younger than you are."
"I know...so I am being a little hypocritical there...but I'm just trying to look out for you, honestly. Look at the relationship your mother and I had. She was fifteen when she had you. She was still a kid herself, and then all the responsibility of a baby to take care of, too. And I was so much older than your mom...I could have gotten into serious, serious trouble for getting her pregnant when she was fifteen. I could've gotten arrested just for sleeping with her. I was twenty five when she had you." Mark said, sighing and running a hand through Tess's long, brown hair. "But I'm not saying that I didn't love your mom. I loved her with everything, and I do think you're right in saying that love has no age. Your mom and me got married when she was sixteen, after her parents threw her out. She wouldn't tell them for the longest time who got her pregnant. They didn't even know about me. But one night, about a month or so after you were born, her parents were seriously thinking about filing for full custody of you. See, her parents were extremely embarresed that their fifteen year old daughter had a baby. They were so ashamed of her. She called me that night and I came over, got you and her, and you both stayed at my place that night. Her parents raised hell. They didn't call the police, thank God, but they forbid her from ever seeing me again. When she refused to let them have custody of you, they threw her out. Told her they never wanted to see her, or you, again. She had just turned sixteen, then. You both moved in with me, and your mom and I got married. I was still wrestling in the indies then, but I was well on my way to the pros." Mark finished the story. Tess was looking up at him with big eyes.
"Wow..." she muttered. "I didn't know all of that. I wonder how my other grandparents could have done that, espically to their own child..."
"I know. They must've been heartless people. That night was the first and only time I had met them. They never even knew my name. When you were first born, your mom had her last name, Monroe, put on the birth certificate so that her parents wouldn't know my last name. We had it changed right after Sara and I got married."
"Daddy...I want to go home. Not forever, just for a few days. Back to your house. Our house. I need to get away." Tess said to him, still curled up in his arms.
"I have a house show tomorrow that I can't get out of, but I'll talk to Vince and see if he'll give me a couple of days off. We both need it." Mark said. Tess nodded and got up off of him.
"You go talk to him now. I'm going to take a shower." Tess replied before walking out of the catering room back towards the women's locker room.
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Two days later, Mark and Tess were back home in Houston. He managed to get a week off, with Vince pitching to the fans that 'Taker had pulled a muscle while training. Tess sighed as they entered their home, a place she hadn't been to in a long while. Mark wrapped an arm around her shoulder and closed the front door to their large ranch home behind them.
"It's good to be home." he said. Tess nodded, and he leaned down, placing a soft kiss on top of her head. "Go take your bag up to your room. I'll be in the kitchen." Mark said. Tess nodded again and grabbed her black duffle bag, which was stuffed with a weeks worth of clothes and toilitries. She carried it into her familiar room and dropped it onto her bag, before turning and walking back downstairs to the kitchen. Her father was sitting at the kitchen table, an open coke in front of him and a closed one sitting in front of the chair beside him. Tess slid into the chair and cracked open her coke, taking a sip of it. She tried to ignore the uncomfortable silence.
"Tess, I just want you to know that I'm always here for you. If you ever need me, or if you're ever in trouble or anything, anything at all...just tell me." Mark said. Tess looked at him with a sort of confused look on her face. She knew all of this. "I love you, baby girl." he finished. Tess smiled softly at him and leaned over, hugging him.
"I love you too, Daddy." she said. They talked for a while longer before Mark decided to go take a bit of a nap; they had had a long flight to Houston. Tess decided to do the same and went up to her room. She changed into a pair of silk pajama pants that were red with black Japanese writing on them, and a simple white tank top. She curled up in her bed, tossing and turning for nearly an hour before realizing that she couldn't sleep. She got up and slid her house shoes on, before walking out of her room. She had been thinking about what her father had told her about her mom's parents. She wanted to find out more about them. She walked up another flight of stairs quietly, opening the door at the top to reveal an attic. It was full of boxes and old, dusty chests, and Tess knew for a fact that some of her mother's things from her childhood were in there. Her mother had never allowed her to look at anything in the attic, and now Tess knew why. She rummaged through a few trunks, finding nothing to help her in her search. Finally, she opened a trunk that had another box inside of it. She took the box off and blew dust off of the top. After the top of the box was cleared off, she saw a piece of masking tape with the word 'Letters' written on it. She opened the box, revealing to her at least twenty-five old letters. She pulled the first one out and read it.
Dear Sara,
This is the first, and probably the last you will hear from us. It's been five years since you moved out. Little Contessa must be getting big and so beautiful. I was wrting to let you know that our offer still stands. We will take full custody of Contessa, and you could move back in, get your life back together. Only write us back if you plan on giving Contessa to us. If you decide to keep her, then goodbye, Sara.
Sincerely,
Debbie and Robert Monroe
Tess hardly breathed as she read this letter. It was sickening how cruel her grandparents were. She took the box of letters down to her room. She sat on her bed and read all of the rest of them. Some were old letters from her grandparents, from before her mother had gotten pregnant with her. Some were letters from her father. It took her about an hour to read them all. She looked at her bedside clock. It was nearly six p.m., and her father was still sleeping. It was then that an idea came to Tess. She grabbed her cell phone and walked downstairs. She got the phone book from the living room and looked up the number she was searching for. She wrote the number in the palm of her hand before walking outside, to her old tire swing. There was a large lake behind their house, and the tire swing overlooked it perfectly. The sun was already beginning to set, casting a dim pinkish gold glow over the calm waters. Tess sighed nervously as she flipped open her phone. She dialed the number in her hand what must have been six or seven times before actually getting the nerve to punch it in and hit 'send'. The phone rang once, twice, three times, and Tess was about to hang up, until she heard a woman's voice answer.
"Hello?" the voice said.
"Um...hello...is this Debbie Monroe? This is Contessa, your granddaughter..." Tess said nervously into the phone.
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