This story contains a spoiler for the draft lottery pick on this week's episode of Smackdown. If you don't want to know how's been drafted do not read any further.
SPOILER SPACE
"So this is goodbye."
"Trish stop."
"No. You're going to be a part of SmackDown now. You won't have time to be with me."
"Trish.."
"I don't mean that to sound bitchy. But it's the truth. We'll have different schedules and we'll grow apart."
Trish could tell by the look in his eye that this conversation was getting on his nerves, and honestly, she could have cared less than a damn. She was the one getting stuck with less and less these days, and before long, there'd be nothing left. Her competition in wrestling had pretty much dwindled down into nothing. For all she knew, Vince would decide to just do away with the Women's title altogether and then she'd be back to where she started.
Of course, to have competition, she'd have to actually work. Sitting at home wasn't doing her any good, in any avenue. She had to sit and watch while that little tramp waltzed back and forth, sucking face with the demon spawn that had let her be the whore that Lita always claimed that she wasn't, but so many other people were. It was such a laugh that she had once beaten up little Stacy Keibler for talking to Matt, when she was the one who had fucked another woman's husband. Plus, as if watching all of that weren't enough, Trish had eaten more ice cream and greasy hamburgers than anyone unable to work out should have in their diet.
And now… Now, Randy was leaving. It hadn't been too bad when they were both on the injured list. Randy wasn't confined to one place by lack of travel as she had been, and he had no trouble coming up to Toronto for a visit. But he was getting ready to go back on the road, and they didn't even have the benefit of being on the same show. If nothing else, she could have looked forward to the following month, when she would be back on the road and they would be together.
But, Randy was going to Smackdown. As she stared at him that very moment, he was packing the few things that he'd brought with him, heading out for his flight. Their travel days would be miles apart, and there was no way that anything could sustain that. Besides, there were enough women on Smackdown to turn his eye. Why should he think about her over on Raw when he had the pick of the litter?
"Don't act like you're not thinking the same thing I am, Randy." Trish sighed and shook her head. "Ya know, we should've known this was coming. The rumors, and you've been talking about it… You'd heard something, so we should've known. And ya know what? We probably did."
"I didn't know anything." Randy groaned and turned to her. He stopped packing and sat down hard on the bed. "So, I guessed after that mess at Wrestlemania, but on that last Raw… I actually thought I was staying and I'd end up feuding with Dave. I didn't know for sure until Vince called me half an hour ago and told me to get on a plane."
"Well… maybe they're gonna switch Dave over, huh? Maybe you'll get a few weeks with the Undertaker, and then you can have your Orton-Batista feud. Not like Smackdown has a champion now, anyway." Trish shrugged. "Such is life, ya know? I guess Stacy and I can bemoan the fact that Hunter shattered our lives together."
"Oh, what the fuck, Trish? You're just being paranoid now, you know that? What the hell does Hunter have to do with any of this?"
"Oh, come on, Randy. You know things with him and Steph aren't on the up and up. If he can't be happy, then nobody's gonna be happy, which means that Stacy and I will get screwed all to hell. He can talk that garbage about being just one of the talent all he wants, but we all know that he's running things right up there with Vince."
Randy groaned and leaned forward. He ran his hands over his head, feeling the prickles of growing hair against his palms. He slid his hands down his face and sighed. He looked up at Trish. "The hell with Hunter and anybody else, alright? This is between you and me. Yeah, I'm going to Smackdown, but that doesn't mean…"
"Stop right there," she interrupted him. His hand was reaching out towards her and she jumped up, a bit too quickly. She winced at a small ache in the small of her back, then shook it off. "Don't start acting like the issue here is that I'm hurt or anything. I was just trying to make you feel bad for packing all your shit up and running out. Don't go thinking that I'm gonna cry when you walk out that door, because I'm not."
"Uh huh."
"Seriously, I'm not. In fact, I'll probably call Stacy and tell her how glad I am that you're finally somewhere else." Her attitude on the subject had changed so quickly that it left her confused. It was her own defense mechanism. Randy leaving for Smackdown hurt more than she wanted it to, and she'd let out more pain over it for him to see than she would have liked. The only thing to do was take it all back. "I'm cool with it, Randy. I was just having a moment, ya know? It's not like we were this whole united thing. Not like we were like… Charlie and Jackie or anything. Because, believe me, we're not."
"Trish…" Randy stood up and sighed. His arms dangled at his sides. "This is something we gotta talk about, but I can't do it now. I've gotta get on a plane."
"It's fine. Go. By the time you're out there, the taxi will be here." She smiled brightly, stretching her lips tight. She wondered if it looked as fake to him as it felt to herself. "Call me tomorrow."
"I'll call you after the show."
"No, call me tomorrow," she said firmly. Trish moved around him and put the last of his things that were resting on the bed inside the suitcase. "It's cool. Go on and have a blast. Give 'em hell, and we'll talk tomorrow."
She waited for him to say something, to maybe say the words that neither had dared say in the year they'd been seeing one another. Maybe, she thought, he would say them, knowing that it would make her feel better. Of course, that didn't mean that he meant it. And neither did it mean that she would say them back. In fact, she couldn't even admit it to herself unless he were gone.
In the end, Randy said nothing. He picked his suitcase up off the bed and leaned in, kissing her on the cheek. Trish walked him to the front door and they kissed once more. Their lips touched and Randy lingered for a moment, before going out to the waiting taxi.
And Trish watched from the doorway, leaning to the side, her head rested against the doorjam. The taxi drove off and she sighed. "Maybe I'll love him tomorrow," she muttered. Not like that was anything new. She always loved him tomorrow, with tomorrow being the day after they separated. There would just be a lot more tomorrows this time than ever before. An entire lifetime of them.