Chapter 8

The following day, Stephanie had urged Tomoko to join her for a workout at the local gym. Although Tomoko was in good shape and had the body to prove it, she needed to be in excellent shape if she was going to perform in the ring day in and day out.

Once they arrived, the gym was packed full of wrestlers, which is typical the day after a show on the road. Just about everyone you could think of was there: Randy Orton, Tripe H, Lita, Torrie, Matt Hardy, Christian, JBL, and the list goes on and on. As Tomoko looked around she couldn't believe all the hard bodies in her midst. There was something here for everyone. For those women who liked big, huge muscle head guys there was Dave Batista. For ladies who liked shorter stocky guys, there was Kurt Angle. For those who liked lean and mean, there was Adam Copeland (Edge). It was true, a lot of women would die to be in Tomoko's position right now, except Tomoko.

For Tomoko the idea of big, tough, sweaty guys was just not appealing. Or so she thought. Off in the corner, with headphones on and running on a treadmill, was John Cena. Big, tough, and beautifully sweaty. Tomoko noticed him almost right away. The sweat on his body glistening, making every muscle so much more defined than usual. When Stephanie left to go do her workout, Tomoko fought the urge to pull her back. She wanted so bad to make casual conversation with John, but knew she was too shy to do it alone. So instead, she propped herself up on a stationary bike across the room and set the timer for 20 minutes. Twenty minutes of staring at a man she knew she was falling in love with. Once again, alone time with John would have to wait.

With her head down, Tomoko peddled away. Meanwhile, John finally noticed her, Tomoko, the exotic brunette across the room. He studied her every movement. The way her long legs went round and round. The way her ponytail bounced on top of her head as her hips swayed side to side with every rotation of the pedals. John couldn't keep his eyes of her, until his trance was broken by the beeping sound of the treadmill. Time had expired.

As John stepped off of the treadmill and wiped the sweat from his body, his girlfriend Victoria sauntered over to him. She wasted no time issuing orders like a drill sergeant.

"There's Stephanie McMahon over there." She said pointing in Stephanie's direction. "I want you to talk to her about your new little side kick today."

John rolled his eyes. He knew that if he didn't at least make it appear that he had made an attempt to talk to Stephanie about Tomoko, Victoria would never let it drop. BUT, there was no way, no way in hell I will ask her to be removed from the show or from the current direction of my character, he thought to himself.

John placed his hands on Victoria's shoulder and looked her directly in the eye.

"I don't understand you at all Victoria, but I'll talk to Stephanie. I still think it's a big mistake if we lose Tomoko."

"You'll get over it." Victoria hissed.

As Victoria walked away, John looked once again at Tomoko. He knew that the wrestling business had turned Victoria from a determined spitfire, to a diva in every sense of the word. Insecurities and all. It was the nature of the beast. There were very few women in this business, and success came few and far between. If you let people walk all over you, especially the guys, then there's no chance you'd ever make it, at least not for more than a couple of months. As John looked at Tomoko, he saw purity and innocence. There's no way he'd let this business damage her the way it so obviously had done to Victoria. He would help her to succeed whether Victoria liked it or not.

As John made his way over to Stephanie McMahon, he could feel Victoria's eyes all over him. It was as if she were sending intense heat waves through his back.

As Stephanie stood by the water fountain taking a break form her workout, John approached her.

"Hi Steph, how's it going? You have a second?" John said and then looked back at Victoria. Yep, still staring.

"Sure John, what's up?" Stephanie replied.

"What's your honest opinion about how Tomoko did last night?"

"Oh, I thought she was awesome. We got the reaction from the crowd I was hoping for. We are definitely going to continue building a story around the two of you. People on the internet and in chat rooms are already talking about her."

John listened to Stephanie with excitement. It was exactly the news he wanted to hear. He knew in his heart that even if he were to beg Stephanie to release Tomoko, as Victoria wished, that Stephanie would never agree to it. So why bother asking, he thought to himself. If Victoria was going to be pissed about it and threaten to leave him, then maybe that was for the best. But then again, he knew Victoria, and the single most damaging thing she could do to him would be to run into the arms of another man, as if their relationship had meant nothing.

"Cool." John replied to Stephanie after she finished speaking. "Guess I should let you get back to your workout."

Before John left, he turned to ask Stephanie one last question.

"Does Tomoko know all this?"

"No. I just found out from the internet team what fans are saying."

John smiled and replied. "Mind if I tell her?"

Stephanie smiled back knowing that John had something up his sleeve.

"No, go right ahead."

When John turned back around he hid his smile and went straight over to Victoria. He braced himself for the worst.

Victoria stood where John had previously left her with her hands on her hips.

"Well?"

John looked to the ground and played the innocent one as best he could.

"She wouldn't budge. I tried to tell her that Tomoko didn't have what it takes to make it in this business, but Stephanie held her ground. Said the fans want more of her."

Victoria at this point was totally irate. She hated when things didn't go her way.

"Damn that bitch." She spat. "How could she do this to me, to us?"

John shrugged his shoulders. He had done his part and hoped that now Victoria would just somehow get over the fact that Tomoko was here to stay, and move on. John tried breaking the tension by changing the subject.

"So where do you want to have lunch?"

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Damn John, you are so insensitive. I'm in no mood to eat right now. As a matter of fact I'm leaving. I can't stand to be around the sight of Stephanie or Tomoko."

With that, Victoria turned on her heels and marched out the door.

As John watched her leave he simply shook his head, then quickly realized now was the perfect time to talk to Tomoko. Hell, maybe she'd have lunch with him.