Chapter IV: An Unexpected Finish

"Rob, you've been pacin'. Is somethin' wrong?" Samia asked when she entered his room to find him wearing a track into the carpet.

"I haven't been pacing. Well, a little. My match is against Guerrero tonight. Just focusing," he answered, not missing a step.

"It's not like you can't handle him," she replied and made a mental note not to interrupt him again when he was 'pacing.'

"Yeah, but did you see the last time we went up against each other? That ladder match was brutal." He dropped to the floor to stretch some more.

"Same gimmick?" she asked, taking a seat across the room to stay out of the way.

"No, just straight up, one fall. But with Guerrero, nothing's straight up," he answered, twisting himself into a pretzel.

"You're just acting a little different."

"I ain't had my pot for the day."

"Excuse me?" she blurted out, staring at him wide-eyed. She knew she hadn't heard him right.

"Think you could roll me a joint? You know how to do that right? You were in college," he said, twisting himself into another odd position and then pointing across the room. "It's over there in my bag."

"I, uh, I don't…" she stuttered in shock. Of course, there were the rumors he was always high on something but she really didn't believe them to be true before she met him and definitely didn't believe them after over a month on the road with him.

"Just kidding. It's alright." He laughed, thinking it hilarious that she actually believed what he had just said. "I'm just kidding. It's all just a rumor, I promise."

"Okay," she responded tentatively, not sure what to say. "I'm sorry. You just threw me off there…"

"You're too gullible," he sighed. "Always have a healthy level of distrust."

Samia wondered if he was saying those words because of Shawn Michaels' recent actions. She hadn't said anything about the incidents and neither had he. Maybe this was his way of avoiding any confrontation with her about it but still get his point across. Pondering these thoughts, she had no response and quietly waited for his match to start.

"It's time to go!" RVD announced, startling her out of those thoughts. He rose from where he was stretching on the floor and glanced over her outfit—a pair of navy blue pants and a matching waist jacket. "Can you run in those heels?"

"Yeah…why?" she tentatively asked.

"Be careful. Watch Guerrero close. I don't think Benoit will be a concern. Don't think twice about hauling ass if they threaten you."

"Suuuure," she drew the word out, thinking maybe it wasn't such a good idea that she go out there with him.

"Don't worry. Let's go! That's Eddie's music," he said as they headed down the hall. She hesitated but he grabbed her hand and tugged her along. She gulped at the sound of "Latino Heat."

When the music changed, the crowd roared as RVD stepped out from under the Titantron. The anxiety she had about Guerrero melted as awe filled her body. Each time she made an entrance with him was like the first—without the initial anxiety. While they weren't cheering for her, she was still amazed at the sheer volume the fans could emit for one wrestler. The steel ramp under them vibrated.

As they made their way down, she caught sight of a sign that read "Samia, be my valet!" It was all she could do not to grab RVD and tell him. Seeing a sign for her made her feel as if she was accepted by the fans and on her way. She thought she was going to bust with excitement as she climbed into the ring with him and held his belt high as he worked the crowd. She stepped through the ropes to the ring apron but stopped there when she saw Guerrero pulling various items out from under the ring.

"Rob, he can't do that!" she shouted, pointing at Eddie. Not giving Van Dam time to respond, she started yelling at Hebner. "Hey, ref! This isn't a hard core match!"

RVD turned to her and cut her off. "If that's what he wants, that's what I'll give him. Doesn't matter to me," he said the last, looking from Samia to the referee. He then shouted at Guerrero, "Whatever, man! Everything's cool when you're RVD."

Guerrero shrugged his shoulders and slapped his red and gold clad behind. "Bring it on," he drawled in his thick accent.

Samia slipped down off the apron to take her usual position on Rob's side of the ring. The match was under way with a head shot to RVD by Guerrero with a stop sign. The metal sign landed within her reach and she quickly pulled it out and shoved it back under the ring. Any item that fell within her reach disappeared. At one point, she ducked from a flying trash can that barely missed her. If RVD thought the ladder match was rough, this was worse. When she could tell he was about spent, she yelled even louder to encourage him. It was all she could do to hold herself back from helping him by tripping Guerrero up because it had been Rob's request. She held her breath as RVD headed for the top rope and executed a perfect frog splash. She prayed that this was much better than his earlier one from which Eddie had managed to roll away. He gracefully flew through the air and Guerrero was history.

RVD rolled off Eddie to rest for a moment. She was in the ring in a heartbeat to stand beside him and hand him back his belt but he was in a daze and was beginning to stand. She started to offer him her hand but caught sight of Guerrero out of the corner of her eye coming at RVD with a chair. She tried to warn him but wasn't quick enough. RVD went back down from the blow across his back and Guerrero raised the chair again. Without a second thought, she put herself between the chair and RVD using her body to protect his. She cowered before Guerrero and tried to steel herself for the blow but Eddie stopped in mid-swing. He looked at her surprisingly, dropped the chair, and walked off.

When the blow never came, Samia opened one eye and then the other when she didn't see Guerrero. Looking around to verify that he was indeed gone, she helped RVD out of the ring and slung his arm over her shoulder to lend him some support as they headed up the ramp.

Michaels looked over at Nash. "Did you see what I just saw? Is this chick for real? There's no way I'd have done that for anyone," Shawn exclaimed with a disbelieving laugh and Nash returned the comment with a glare. "Well, except for you. I would for you, Kev. Ya know, she's got a lot of loyalty to him. No matter what I say to her, she won't budge, even after that whole rose and waltz deal the other week."

"Yeah, and you can charm the pants right off anybody," Nash replied to get a rise out of him but Shawn missed the taunt. Kevin then leaned back in his chair and stroked his goatee in thought.

"She was willin' to take a chair shot for RVD. She's just a valet," Shawn said, gesturing at the monitor as if to point at what Samia had done. "Those girls don't care that much. They're more worried about saving their own butts. We could really use someone like that in the nWo. In a way, I mean that sarcastically and, in a way, I don't."

Kevin didn't respond at first but then he began, "Loyalty and respect like that is hard to come by in this business. Everybody's turning on everybody to save their own skin."

Shawn waved a hand, dismissing his next comment. "Nah, what good would she be to us?"

"She's got a law degree, you know," Kevin replied, shaking his finger as the epiphany hit. "Think of the things we could get by Vince with her and the things he can't get over on us!" Nash abruptly laughed. "With a little bit of work, we can make her into a wrestler. It'll take a while to make her as good as Trish and Lita, but overnight, she can take Torrie or Stacy."

"And we can piss off RVD in the process!" Shawn interjected.

"My point exactly. It'll be so much easier to mold her instead of trying to turn someone else who's been in the business awhile. This is gonna be so good," Nash explained, rubbing his hands together with an evil grin.

"We've got to think this through. We can't just kidnap her and force her onto our side," Michaels said, already attempting to formulate plans.

"Just sleep with her. That'll work."

"That's what I'm telling ya! I couldn't drag her out of here if I wanted. Besides, I really don't think that's gonna work," Shawn replied to Nash's suggestion in frustration.

"Yeah, you're right. Just keep talking to her. You never know. Get her drunk enough and you could do anything."

"Yeah, right," HBK sarcastically replied. "That is if she remembers anything. I bet she's had a total three drinks her whole entire life."

"Alright, forget getting her drunk. Let's get the other guys on board and see what they say. Right now, we'll make RVD paranoid and try to woo her in. I don't know exactly how yet but we'll take everything a step at a time. So much fun!" They both laughed as they give each other the nWo "handshake."

Samia gingerly tended to the cuts on RVD's head from the chairshot as he lounged across the dressing room couch. The trainers had been busy with a severe injury Christian had sustained, so she decided she could handle something this small instead of Rob having to wait. At the sound of a knock at the door, she rose to answer it but RVD put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Who is it?" he called.

"Spike," came the response from the other side of the door.

"Come on in," Rob wearily replied and then hissed as Samia cleaned another cut with antiseptic.

The fuzzy blonde head appeared around the edge of the door. "Just wanted to stop in and say that was an awesome match." RVD nodded and Spike continued. "Hang on to this girl. After that match, she's a keeper. Well, gotta go," Spike said and quickly disappeared before Rob had a chance to respond.

After Samia helped the tired wrestler get ready to leave, she pulled the car around for him and quickly placed their bags in the trunk. As each was climbing into their respective seats, Booker T stopped them.

"Rob, great match!" Booker remarked and then turned to Samia. "Did anybody tell you what kind of damage chairs can do?" She sheepishly grinned back at him over the car. Booker T waved and headed off to his own rental, leaving RVD staring at him in bafflement. When Samia slid into car, he did the same.

Once inside, Rob couldn't resist asking her. "That's twice tonight since the match that something's been said. You wanna explain, or should I start asking around?"

"Explain what?" she replied, hoping he would just let it go or maybe it wasn't what he thought.

"What everybody's talking about with you and that match."

"Well, you see, I was gonna take a chair shot for you but Guerrero just walked off," she explained without embellishment or excuse, glancing at him apologetically. She was grateful she was driving since she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes when he reprimanded her.

"What? When…"

"When he hit you after the match, he was coming back for another. I don't know what got into me, but I couldn't let him hit you again."

"Samia, I think you are insane," he replied with a laugh and she visibly relaxed, realizing that she wasn't in trouble. "Promise me you won't do that again."

"Nope," she answered because she knew she would do it again if she had to.

"Nope, what?"

"I'm not promisin' anything," the woman answered, her eyes straight ahead on the road.

"Samia, you could have been seriously hurt."

"And so could you."

"Yeah, but this is my job. I go through this kind of stuff all the time," Rob explained and then paused as he realized a possible reason as to why she had acted that way in the ring. "You didn't do that to prove to me that you don't have anything going with the nWo?"

"Are you insane? No way. I wasn't thinkin' at the time, but even if I had been, I probably still would have done it. Or at least come after him with a chair instead," she added the last with a giggle.

Rob grew quiet and she glanced over at him, wondering what had happened. Something in his eyes was different when he said, "Just remember, next time, he might not choose to walk off. Just be careful."

She sensed the seriousness in his comment, just nodded, and continued to drive.

Samia stood in the hotel's guest laundry room, sorting through her and Rob's laundry. She had been thoroughly embarrassed the first time she had picked up his pair of red silk bikini briefs. Now it was all routine. The machine started its familiar buzz and she settled in a chair with a book to wait for the cycle to end. The book was only there for a cover-up. This was where she did her best thinking and she thought it would look odd if someone found her staring off into space.

A sigh escaped her lips at the thought of how handsome Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash were, not to mention how much sex appeal Triple H had. After severing ties with Stephanie McMahon and joining the nWo, he oozed sex from every pore. She hadn't had any encounters with him yet since he was still out of commission from elbow surgery. They had passed in the hall on occasion with the rest of the nWo but no words had personally been exchanged between the two. She tried to remind herself that sex appeal was not everything. She had watched each of the members of the Kliq, DeGeneration-X, and the nWo destroy other people's lives. But that did nothing to cover-up just how gorgeous or sexy those three particular members were. She had joked once with a friend that, when God made the perfect man, he made Kevin Nash.

Samia actually flipped to the last place in the book she was reading but drifted off again. The blonde began to wonder if Shawn Michaels had been making passes at her when nothing had seem to come out of it yet against her and Rob besides a little distrust, which had already been put to rest. Thinking of Shawn's words made her consider her own romantic relationships, which were not exactly her forte. Marriage by thirty had been a goal but the deadline was rapidly approaching. She wanted to be young enough to enjoy her children and still have a life once they were grown and married with their own children. She wouldn't mind having a guy as good-looking as Triple H but from his and his "friends'" actions, she knew she would be nothing but a stain on the carpet when they were done with her.

She wanted a man who shared her same interests—namely wrestling, which was easy enough in this business, but also things like baseball and, oddly enough, theatre. She scoffed at the thought of anyone in the nWo ever setting foot in a theatre. She didn't want to have to climb a tree just to kiss him but she still wanted to be able to lay her head on his chest. He had to be someone she could trust and others could trust him as well. Long hair was not a must but she did prefer to be able to run her fingers through it. Dark blonde would be nice too but, once again, it wasn't a requirement. She tried to conjure up an image of this man in her mind and gasped when she realized who she had just described—RVD! She had to ask herself if that was why she was willing to protect him from Guerrero and if he was what she had been waiting for—with the slight exception of his disinterested neutrality on the subject of theatre, quite possibly. She and Lita had wanted to see Phantom of the Opera and talked the guys into going when they described it as a rock opera. On another occasion, she had managed getting him to go with her to see Rent after a description of the plot. She shook her head to bring her back on track. Rob certainly didn't seem to reciprocate the same feelings, if indeed that was what she was feeling. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be, she thought, que sera, sera.

When the wash cycle ended, Samia moved the clothes over into the dryer and decided she would check on Rob since he wasn't up when she had left to do laundry. She tentatively knocked on their adjoining doors and barely heard a mumbled, "Come in."

"Rob? Are you up yet?"

"No," he mumbled from under his pillow.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone. Do you want me to wake you up later?" she asked, backtracking to her door.

"No," he replied with an exasperated sigh and pulled the pillow off his head. "I need to get up. I just don't want to."

"How're you feelin' this mornin'?" she asked, sitting down in the chair beside the bed.

"Like absolute crap," he groaned as he padded the pillows up behind his back and sat up to lean against them. His chest was completely bare and she couldn't help but admire. Even though she had seen him like this before, her cheeks went warm and she prayed that she wasn't blushing.

"You didn't get hurt too bad last night, did you?"

"Nah, nothing major," he answered with a stretch and felt his muscles burn. He usually wasn't this sore the morning after a match. He took great pains warming up to make sure of that but, then again, he usually was hardly in those types of matches anymore. "I need a real good massage." Samia almost offered but just wasn't that comfortable with him yet, especially after the thoughts she had had that morning. "You wouldn't mind, would ya?"

"Um, well…" She didn't think she had much of a choice as he rolled over on his stomach and threw off the covers to reveal his black BVDs. She sat beside him on the bed and started at his feet and moved up. When she couldn't quite get his shoulders the way she wanted, she found herself straddling his back without thinking. He moaned as she worked through the knots in his shoulders and her mind took off in a direction it never should have. Baseball, baseball, John Smoltz, curveball, slider, doubleplay… She ran the terms over and over in her mind as her hands kneaded flesh. When her arms grew tired, she slid off him and settled back in the chair. Her cheeks burned when she realized she had just been straddling Rob Van Dam on a hotel bed!

"God, chica! Where did you learn to do that?" He rolled back over to look at her. When he saw her flushed cheeks, he tried to casually pull the sheets back up over him. "Feeling much better now. Thank you very much. Um…when's our flight leave today?" Rob asked, trying to make small talk to cut the tension in the room.

"We're close enough to drive. It'll take longer to fly out. We can head out today or tomorrow. It's up to you."

"Giants playing tonight?"

"Yeah," she answered, a little surprised that he initiated a question about her second love. "Against the Braves, no less."

"Well, why don't we leave tomorrow and you can get us some lower level tickets to the game tonight." Then he tagged on, "If you don't mind."

"I would love to," she almost shouted but was able to contain herself. "How many you want me to get? Ask Spike if he wants to come? Anybody else?"

"Just two…if that's alright?"

Samia nodded and headed out of the room, smiling once on the other side of the door. Maybe, just maybe… she hopefully thought.

TBC…