Lilly was a little nervous about tooling around backstage with Samantha. She was really close to not going, but she was bound and determined not to let anything spoil her fun. She was so not ready to run into Mark tonight. It would be a distinct possibility obviously. Lilly was still mad at Mark for what had happened at the radio station, but if she was honest with herself, she could also admit she was really attracted to him also. They might scream at each other but the whole time Lilly would be fighting the urge to leap into his arms and wrap herself around him like a shirt.
Lilly and Samantha rode to the arena with Dave and Randy. Neither one of the women had met Randy yet. He was really different than his on screen character. Off screen he was really quiet, respectful, and sweet. He was also a total hottie. 'Too bad he's not a little older' Lilly thought to herself. If he was a little older Lilly could see herself going out with him, but since he was so much younger it would be a little awkward. It was acceptable for men to date women significantly younger, but if a woman did it she would be looked at as a cradle robber. 'Oh well' Lilly sighed to herself.
Arriving at the arena, Dave and Randy escorted the ladies backstage taking them to the Evolution locker room. Lilly and Samantha were still overwhelmed being in the 'inner sanctum' so to speak, but everyone that they met was fantastic at making them feel welcome. Lilly was a little weary of meeting Ric Flair because of all of the unflattering things that she had heard about him. She was pleasantly surprised to find that he was a very nice man. He won both women over by telling them stories about all of his travels and matches during his many years of wrestling.
Dave, Randy, Ric, and the two women were enjoying a quick bite to eat in the catering area when Stephanie and Paul arrived. As they walked up, everyone could see that Stephanie seemed to be laughing and giving Paul a hard time while he was denying the whole thing. When Stephanie and Paul reached the table they paused their conversation, "Hey guys. Will you please tell Stephanie that I DO NOT spend more time in front of the mirror than any woman." Paul pleads looking at his wife.
"Yes you do and you know it. Now just be a man and admit it. If I hadn't pulled you away from the bathroom mirror we would have been late to the arena." Stephanie reminds him laughing.
Everyone at the table is trying not to bust out laughing. Finally Ric is the one to speak up. "Sorry to break it to you Champ, but your wife is right. You DO spend more time in front of the mirror than either of my wives ever thought about."
"Gee thanks Ric. You are just soo much help." Paul retorts.
"Sorry. Just calling them like I see 'em." Ric says with a shrug.
"Ok, so I admit it. I do look at myself in the mirror, but I'm just trying to look good for my adoring fans." Paul agrees smugly.
"Yeah whatever." Stephanie says rolling her eyes and taking a seat. It was then that Stephanie noticed the two new faces at the table. She recognized one of the women as the one she had heard that Mark had been seen with earlier. She was curious to find out more. Stephanie extended her hand introducing herself. "Hi. I'm Stephanie. I don't believe that we've met."
"Steph, this is Samantha and Lilly." Dave jumped in introducing the women. "They will be visiting with us tonight."
"Oh. It's nice to meet both of you. I hope that you enjoy yourselves tonight." Stephanie says nodding her head. "Lilly I hear that you and Mark have hit it off quite well. I'm surprised that you are not spending time with him." As Stephanie finishes she realizes that everyone else at the table save her and Paul are holding their breath.
"Not likely! I hope never to be around that man again. As a matter of fact I would like nothing better than for him to fall off the face of the earth!" Lilly states contemptuously. Little does she know that Mark is standing behind her within earshot of the conversation. He quietly stalks up be hind Lilly and bends down beside her ear.
"Well, dear I assure you that the feelings are quite mutual. I wish that I had never laid eyes on you!" Mark hisses. "But as you pointed out earlier I was only after one thing, and you were too frigid to give it to me so I'm moving on."
Everyone sitting at the table and a couple of the surrounding tables heard what Mark said and all activity stopped. Everyone waited anxiously to see what Lilly would do in response. Many of them had seen Mark with the woman earlier that morning and word of what had happened during he interview had already made the rounds. For their part Paul and Stephanie were stunned and confused at the turn of events.
Lilly was momentarily stunned and mortified when she realized that so many people had heard what Mark had said. Then she remembered the promise that she had made with herself not to let anyone get the better of her anymore. She jumped up from her seat whirling to face Mark and threw her drink in his face. "Well I just don't have it in me to fall down and spread my legs for a man that has no idea how to treat women. Maybe you should think about the way that you treat women—I mean it's no wonder that your wife left you. The way you treat women leaves many things to be desired. Maybe you should reconsider before it's too late and you end up all alone with your shitty attitude." With that Lilly stormed out of the cafeteria.
Everyone was stunned at the way that Mark had treated Lilly and the way that Lilly had yelled at Mark in return. They had never seen Mark treat a woman that way. Even when Sarah had obviously been cheating on Mark and treating him so badly, Mark had not as much as looked at Sarah cross-eyed. God knows with what that woman had put him through he had every right to treat her horribly.
What Lilly had said had really gotten to Mark. She hit on his deepest fear-- that he would end up a broken down old wrestler with no family to surround himself with. For the life of him, Mark could not figure out what about this woman got under his skin. Mark had never treated a woman this badly in his life, and he did not like himself for doing so now. It just seemed that some unseen force was controlling his brain. Even now when he had been yelling at her, Mark had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her uncontrollably. The fire in Lilly's eyes when she was angry made her even more beautiful. Lilly was right about one thing; he really had some thinking to do in order to figure out all of the conflicting emotions swirling around in his brain.
Lilly had run out of the cafeteria in anger and in shame. She had never said such things to anyone in her life, and now she was spewing them in front of a crowd of people. When Lilly had said what she had to Mark, she had been angry and hurt at the things that he had said to her. Lilly realized now that she did not mean a word of it deep down in her heart. She had also seen the way that she had hurt Mark with her comments. It had not been glaringly honest but if you looked closely at Mark's eyes for the briefest moment they told how deeply she had hurt him.
Lilly looked up from her thoughts and realized that she did not have a clue where she was. All of the hallways in the arena looked alike. Truth be told, Lilly was glad that she was lost. She was not in any mood to be around anyone right now. Lilly knew she still had about an hour before show time, she decided that she would hide out a little while longer and try to get her head together. Lilly did not like the way that she had been acting or feeling over the last six hours.
Mark had been thinking about the things that had happened with Lilly today and realized that he really wanted to sit down with her and try to talk everything out. He didn't want to start building a relationship with her, but he did want to get to know her better in what time that they had left. He hoped that he could find Lilly and convince her to go somewhere after the show and talk.
Lilly had been wondering around the back hallways for some time and was about ready to find Samantha and the others. Just as Samantha was rounding the corner she ran into the brick wall that was Randy Orton.
"Whoa there. Hey pretty lady I was wondering if we would see you again tonight." Randy said smiling down at Lilly.
"Yeah I had to get away from everyone for a while and get my head together after the little performance in the cafeteria earlier." Lilly said shrugging and looking away.
"Is everything ok now" Randy asked.
"I don't know." Lilly said. "Hopefully it will be. I think that I need to talk to Mark."
"I'm sure everything will be ok. Hey, if you need a shoulder you could always borrow mine." Randy offered giving Lilly a hug.
"Thanks Randy. That's really sweet." Lilly said hugging him back.
Mark had been wondering around the halls trying to run into Lilly and ask her about after the show. Just as he rounded the corner, he saw Randy Orton and a blond in an embrace. When the two of them parted, Mark realized that Randy had been hugging Lilly. 'I guess I'm too late' Mark thought and turned around heading back to his locker room.
AN: I still own nothing.
