Disclaimer: I lay claim to nothing that is recognizable. Period.
Spoilers: Yeah, sure..from me?
Summary: Dawn and Lita get a little bit more than they bargained for when they agree to let a friend play matchmaker.
Pairings: You'll see.
Notes: No set timeline really, just the rosters are joined. Come to think of it, this story uses none of the present storylines (obviously). But, hm. How about before the whole Chris/Trish storyline and tossing the public break-up with Matt in earlier. So just work with me, and we'll be okay. Also, the writing style is a tad different from my usual, but I wanted to try something different.
Sorry for taking this long with an update, I serve fickle muses! Split chapter, covering the first half of both dates.
True to his word, Eddie was observing the date between John and Dawn.
Just his location didn't exactly match with the location he had given Trish. He was at the same restaurant, but he wasn't out of eavesdropping range. If Eddie had to give an exact location, it would be at the same table as Dawn and John. And the main reasoning behind that was because it wasn't exactly a blind date. Technically, it wasn't even a first date for the pair.. And it wasn't even a second date. Trish, like Eddie, knew that John and Dawn had started dating three weeks ago. But, for purposes of getting Lita out that night, Dawn had lied.
"You know, mamacita," Eddie raised an eyebrow at the brunette, "Li-Li is probably gonna be pissed off when she finds out."
The New Jersey native shrugged, "And that'll be any different because? I know she'll be mad."
Eddie set down his fork, eyeing the brunette curiously. "So why do it in the first place?"
"Because," Dawn dabbed at the corners of her mouth, the napkin set to the side of her plate. "Every other night or so, Trish and I do the usual- grab Lita and drag her out with us.. And each time it ends the same."
"Which would be...?"
The brunette rolled her eyes, "Lita trying to make a run for it and when she can't.. She parks herself at the bar or at the pool table."
Eddie nodded slowly, "An' since that obviously doesn't work.. Why resort to a blind date?"
Dawn shrugged, "Why not? I mean, yeah, Trish and I know how stubborn she can be.. And we know how pissed off she'll get when she realizes she's been completely set up."
Latino Heat shook his head, "That still doesn't explain why--"
"All Trish and I really want, is for Li to live a little." Dawn raised an eyebrow, "Ever since the break-up with Matt, she's been walking around with this stick up her ass."
"Uh huh," Eddie turned questioning eyes to John. "So how did you get--"
John shrugged, "Simple really.. As I explained to the girls earlier, he was lookin' for someone with similar interests."
Eddie nearly spit out his iced tea. repeating dubiously: "Similar interests?" He snorted, "Randy and Lita? Having similar interests? They're opposites, essa. I mean the only thing they probably have in common is that they're both employed by Vinnie Mac."
Dawn shook her head, "You don't know that Eddie.." A thoughtful frown, "But out of curiosity .. John? What similar interests do they supposedly have?"
"Well uh.." John rubbed his forearm, shifting uneasily in his seat. "They both like sushi?"
Dawn let out a low sigh, "If you're going to tell me that's all they have in common.."
John held up his hands in defense, "I didn' say that, did I?"
"Then what else, pray tell, do they have in common?"
The West Newbury native shrugged, "They listen to the same type of music--"
"Li likes punk rock, alternative rock.."
"Rock is rock," John interrupted with a grin. "Uh.. They both like dogs."
Dawn groaned, "That describes plenty of people.."
John made a face, "Well I wasn't the one who decided they would be okay for each other did I? Shit, I don' even understand all this mess."
The brunette pinched the bridge of her nose, "I know that honey.. Trish has equal blame since she's the one who set them up. But you saw how they were earlier. That doesn't look like two people who have similar interests."
"Look woman, I'm a wrestler.. I ain't no matchmaker." He waited a beat before adding: "That an' Trish was badgerin' me, tellin' me I had to find a date for Lita."
"Whatever," Dawn smoothed out the skirt of her dress. "Let's just be prepared to put a lot of distance between us and Li after dinner is over."
Eddie and John blinked in unison, Latino Heat making the verbal inquiry: "Why?"
"Well duh.." Dawn took a sip from her iced water, "Chances are high that Li's gonna be pissed off.. She'll need a target.. Need I go on?"
Her dinner companions shook their heads, the three falling silent then to finish their meal.
While Trish, Dawn, John and Eddie worried about how the other date was going; Jeff was watching in shock. Truth be told, the Cameron native had been prepared for the worst. And especially after the long conversation he had with Trish about the possibly volatile situation he would be supervising. His suspicions had been raised before they arrived to the restaurant, neither Lita or Randy saying a word.. Or at least not to each other. Needless to say, the green eyed Southerner had been expecting for it to all go downhill from there. But, that was not the case. And at first, Jeff thought it was the atmosphere that was keeping the peace, since they were situated at one of the city's Japanese restaurants. That part, of course, had been careful planning on the part of one blonde, Canadian Diva. But, unlike Eddie, Jeff was not sitting with the unlikely pair. Jeff wasn't even in hearing range of them for that matter.. But he could see them from his table. And the sight his eyes beheld, surprised him.
"I'm sorry if I offended you or something," Lita toyed idly with the cloth napkin in her hands. "You just didn't strike me as the type to listen to Pantera or Metallica."
Randy shook his head, "Let me guess, you pegged me as a Hip Hop fan or something, right?"
Lita nodded, "More or less, yeah.. Again, sorry if I offended you."
He shrugged, "I guess I can see where you'd get the impression.."
"Oh?"
The St. Louis resident grimaced, "When I'm not hanging around H and Flair, I'm hanging around John.. John listens to that.."
"Crap?" Lita supplied with a wry smile. "Trish listens to it all the freakin' time."
Randy nodded, "John likes to claim it's real music but, I don't think so."
"Well, when half of the lyrics are censored.." Lita shrugged, "Not to say that it doesn't cross music genres but--"
"Yeah," he glanced around a moment, before blue eyes settled back on her. "So.. What do you do in your free time?"
The redhead shrugged, "Aside from getting set up on blind dates and being dragged out by well meaning friends? I have my charity.. But, I don't really have that much free time." A pause, while she sipped her iced water, "What about you?"
"The same more or less," Randy straightened his shirt sleeves. "Except the charity and this is the first blind date my friends have set me up on."
Lita chuckled, "Consider yourself lucky.. But then, I wouldn't exactly expect for guys to pull the same kind of crap that Trish or Dawn pull."
With a smirk, he nodded. "They don't.. Unless one of those friends in question is dating someone named Dawn."
Hazel eyes glinted curiously, "Really now.." She shook her head, "Trish is dating Chris.. I know Vikki just started seeing Dave, which leaves one more suspect." With a muffled groan she added: "I should've known.."
An eyebrow raised, "I take it this happens often."
She shook her head, "No actually.. This is the first time they've taken the blind date route, which given the group of friends in question.. I'm actually shocked."
His head inclined, chopsticks in hand. "That you're still sitting here or that I'm sitting across from you?"
"Both actually," She pushed back a few strands of loose hair, "Blind dates really aren't my cup of tea.. Trish and Dawn both know that."
Randy nodded, "I can't really say I'm a big fan of blind dates either. Not that this particular line of work leaves much time for dates to begin with, but--"
"Yeah.." she trailed off, the tablecloth falling victim to the same fate as her napkin. "I mean, my friends say blind dates are prefect for someone like me since they're risky and you never know what'll happen."
Randy rolled his eyes, "Before we got to the hotel room, John was saying something about how, 'you only live once'." He rolled his shoulders, "The way he was talking, I almost thought we were walking into a war zone."
"Not far from the truth," she quipped dryly. "No offense, but you were the last person I expected to see."
He leaned forwards a touch, "No offense taken, because I can say the same.. But, this could've turned out worse."
"The night isn't over yet," she reminded bluntly. "But, for arguments sake, how could this have turned out worse?"
He gestured absently with the chopsticks, "We could've gotten into a car accident on the way here, the food could suck.. We could get food poisoning--"
Lita cut him off with a dry smile. "I get the point, so could you please stop before I lose my appetite?"
"Just trying to make conversation.."
The redhead rolled her eyes, using the chopsticks in her hand as a gesturing tool. "Well here's a tip.. The prospect of food poisoning while you're trying to eat? That's not a good subject."
Jeff watched as Randy rolled his eyes in lieu of a verbal response, the Cameron native supressing a chuckle when the two reached for the same piece of sushi. And to both Jeff and Lita's surprise, the self proclaimed Legend Killer selected another piece. Granted yes, neither of them really knew much about Randy Orton, but what they did know.. Well, suffice it to say, it wasn't very flattering. Still Jeff reasoned that since they weren't trying to kill each other or cause bodily harm, things were going well. Whether it stayed that way, remained to be seen, but for now.. Jeff relaxed and relayed the latest developments back to a still stunned Trish. The blonde Diva, much like Dawn, knew full well that Lita wouldn't be very happy when they met up at the club later. Also like Dawn, Trish had her doubts about the blind date.. Especially given the two people on that date. Truth be told, Trish would've expected for either Randy or Lita to have made a run for it by now. But, to her utmost surprise, they were apparently enjoying dinner. And although she knew the night still wasn't over, so far, the date between Randy and Lita was going better than she had hoped.
Now they just had to get through the rest of dinner and the trip to the club unscathed.
Additional Note: Anyway, I'm trying to tie up the short series stuff I had started.. I have new stories that I want to publish, but didn't want to publish those until I had more stuff finished. So, my intent is to wrap this piece up by the second week of September. We'll see how it goes. Thank you in advance for leaving a review!