Chapter XVIII: Tough Love

Shawn really sweet-talked the guys, or so it seemed to Samia, since none of them said anything or treated her any different. Nash, on the other hand, claimed he was fine with everything around everyone else but she could tell otherwise. She knew he was pissed when he walked in the dressing room first thing at RAW and announced that he pulled off a match for her with Trish Stratus.

"I thought we were gonna wait just a bit longer. My finishing move is barely ready," she argued, her stomach beginning to churn with nerves. "What brought this on?"

"Let's say the opportunity was too good to pass up," he responded nonchalantly.

"Thanks for including me in your foray to get me a match," she sarcastically smiled.

"Thanks for including us in your foray last week," he spouted back off at her.

"Listen—"

"No, you listen. Tough love. Everyone has to earn their spot in the nWo. Tough love, girl. Tough love." He laughed to himself and walked out the door.

Samia thought about tackling him from behind but knew it was absolutely futile and would only make things worse. The minute Shawn entered the room, she started on a tirade. "Do you know what Kevin just did to me? He just…he just…" She was so angry she couldn't talk.

"What are you talking about?" Shawn asked, putting his hands on her shoulders to hold her still.

"He just put me in a match with Trish that I didn't ask for nor did I want!" she yelled in the direction Nash had disappeared as if he could hear her.

"You didn't know about it?" Shawn asked, wrinkling his forehead.

"Hell, no, I didn't know about it!" she yelled but then stopped, folding her arms across her chest. "I take it you did."

"Oh…I think something went wrong somewhere."

"You dang skippy somethin' went wrong," she spouted off.

"Here, maybe this will make it better," he said, handing her a shopping bag.

She smiled and took it from him. "How sweet." Her attitude quickly changed again when she pulled out a silver lycra halter top and a pair of black lycra pants with a silver nWo logo on one butt cheek. "Pardon me?"

"I couldn't let you go back out there in that T-shirt and baggy pants," he answered, appraising her body in the skimpy dress.

"And somehow this is better?" she queried, waving the outfit at him.

"Well, yeah. I picked it out. It's not like I don't know your size—very well—so I wanted it to be a surprise," he innocently explained. "You'll look great in it."

"I don't have the body of the other divas. I can't wear this."

"You have a better body than Molly. Come on," he pleaded.

"You'll pay for this," she said through gritted teeth.

"I hope I do," he smiled. Her reply was a cock-eyed glare.

Samia disappeared to change and begin focusing for her match. Despite the ominous feelings, Nash, Triple H, and Shawn brought her out to her regular entrance with them. She decided if she was going to feel like a 'ho', she may as well act the part. She pulled the long-sleeve T-shirt over her head and Shawn masterfully tugged at her zip-away pants. She pulled Shawn in for a kiss that only Nidia and Jamie Noble would share in public. If only she felt as good as her entrance looked. The guys disappeared on her and the blond Canadian made her way to the ring. Samia had gotten quite a rise from the crowd but Trish definitely beat her out by a long shot when she made her entrance.

Out of nervousness, Samia attacked first. She got in a few clotheslines and then set Trish up in the corner to deliver a chest slap but Trish retaliated with a punch to her gut and then brought her down with a DDT. Trish pulled her up by her braid. Samia put an elbow to her stomach and Trish stumbled. She tripped her up and grabbed her foot to apply an ankle lock. Trish pushed out of it with her other leg and knocked Samia into the turnbuckle. Samia came out of the corner and jerked her into an armbreaker. Trish got in a kick causing Samia to let go of her. Trish whipped her into the turnbuckle and executed a back-spring elbow to her body. She pulled her out of the corner and put her in a headlock. Trish finally let go and threw her into a hip toss. She could only lie there but not for long when Trish dragged her up by her hair again. Trish's suplex was textbook. She bounced off the ropes but Samia got in a drop toe hold. Trish ate canvas but was quickly back up again and applied a back breaker. Samia was stunned and knew not to stay down on the mat long. She quickly stood but only to be flattened again by the Stratusfaction. The three count was over before she realized what had happened.

There was no greeting by the faction or even half of them. Only Shawn met her at the top of the ramp to help her back to their room. "I didn't stand a chance. She humiliated me," Samia whined, almost to the point of crying. It was the physical pain as much as the humiliation and what felt like betrayal by Kevin for simply helping out a fellow human being.

"No, no, no. That was your first real match and you were outstandin' for goin' up against a women's champion like her. You're broke in now and can only go up from here," he said, trying to comfort her.

Nash came up behind her and whispered in her ear, "Tough love." Samia gritted her teeth and kept on walking. She had worked too hard for her status with the faction and she didn't want to rock the boat, especially since she considered this match her penance for the Undertaker. Shawn and Kevin deposited her in the dressing room and left with Triple H for his singles match. She immediately headed for a long, hot shower and stayed there until the guys returned, caring little if there was any warm water left. She slipped out as Hunter brushed past her in nothing but a towel. Geez, he is nothing but an Adonis! she thought and then deftly jerked his towel from his waist and rolled it up to flick him with it. The towel left a little red spot on his gorgeous bare bottom. He laughed at her with twinkling eyes and slipped into the shower, rubbing his butt. She quickly took his other towel, hid it, and settled on the couch to wait for everybody to get ready to leave. That would teach him not to pick on her about her drinking again.

"Mia!" Hunter shouted from the shower.

"Yes, honey?" she called to him.

"Bring me my towel!" he yelled back.

"What towel, sugah?"

"Fine," he replied and walked out of the shower completely nude. "I can live with it if you can. Not like everybody else here ain't seen it." He strode across the room in all of his glory, sopping wet, in search of a towel. She tried to avert her eyes but that sculpted body couldn't be avoided. Before he could catch her looking, she grabbed her bag and headed out the door to take it to the car and to cool off.

Nash's title match with the Undertaker finally arrived. Because of Kevin's confidence and cockiness, the nWo planned for only Triple H, Shawn, and Samia to accompany him to the ring—X-Pac and the Big Show having wrestled earlier in the night. Shawn paid someone off on the pyro crew to give Nash an exceptional ring entrance. Samia was sure her hair had been singed somewhere in the process of coming down the ramp. As usual, Shawn ran his mouth but was interrupted by the words "dead man walking." The four of them slipped out of the ring as the Undertaker took his sweet time in getting down there. Samia could tell he wasn't a hundred percent and hoped this match wouldn't make his injuries worse.

The match was slow for the two big men. They chose skill instead of speed. Neither had the upper hand as they exchanged blow for blow and move for move. She had her task that was to ensure Nash's victory and nervously awaited her cue. Anybody but Undertaker, she thought but wouldn't risk her position again in the nWo by refusing to do her part. Maybe he would understand her precarious situation. Undertaker finally got in over Nash and started to set him up for a suplex. "Mia! Go now!" She hesitated, putting only one foot on the steel stairs. "Now!" Hunter yelled again and pushed her up the steps. Shawn was already heading to the other side of the ring with Hunter right on his tail.

Samia stepped in through the ropes and Nick Patrick was immediately after her. Because she had hesitated, the Undertaker did the unbelievable and suplexed Nash onto the mat. They crowd was in amazement. She continued to argue with Patrick and shove his hands away as he tried to get her out of the ring. Per her orders, she wouldn't budge until Shawn leveled the Undertaker with his Sweet Chin Music and Triple H executed the Pedigree. As they scrambled out of the ring, she backed off and was by their side—out of the way of any more danger.

Nash recovered, picked the massive man up, and drove him in the ground with a Jackknife powerbomb. Samia stood there in awe of Kevin's maneuver, especially since she didn't think he could pull it off. Shawn tugged her back into the ring and the three guys celebrated while she faked it, wishing she could help the Undertaker out of the ring along with the trainers and feeling like she should offer something as conciliation.

"Hey, chick," Nash called, coming into the dressing room the next night on RAW. Samia wanted to run and hide—they were still not on good terms. "I bring a peace-offering. Suit up. You've got Jackie Gayda tonight."

"Really?" she asked, jumping up from the couch. Finally, it was a chance to redeem herself. Kevin smiled and nodded. "You are precious!" She tiptoed to pull him down for a kiss on his cheek and then disappeared to get ready, completely forgetting how pissed she was at him. After Jackie's singles match with Trish, Samia knew she could make mincemeat out of her.

Samia came to the ring with her usual fanfare and then was left alone after a nice warning to Jackie by Samia's fellow nWo members. She waited for Jackie to make the first move. Samia threw the other woman with a hip toss and then jerked her back up by her loose blond hair. She then grabbed her by the waist to bring her down for a facebreaker. Thank you, Hunter, she thought, giving him props for the move. The woman dropped for the three count but Jackie kicked out. Samia wrapped her legs around Jackie's and slingshot catapulted her into the turnbuckle. She mistakenly started working the crowd, feeling the fans' dislike of the Tough Enough winner, and Jackie was able to clothesline her. She hit the canvas and Jackie tried a half nelson but Samia slipped out of her grasp before she could put the hold on her. With Jackie still on the mat, Samia fell on her with an elbow drop and was immediately back up to execute a leg drop. She flipped Jackie over on her stomach and quickly tucked Jackie's ankle behind her other knee. She applied pressure to Jackie's other leg and placed her own leg in between Jackie's entangled legs. Samia reached down to grab Jackie's arms and pull her up on her knees.

"Oh my God! J. R., is that an Indian Deathlock? She just put Jackie in an inverted surfboard while she's got her in that deathlock!" Lawler screamed, deafening the poor sound guy who had to jerk off his earphones backstage.

"I would say so, King. I would love to know where she learned to do that!"

"That's just plain evil! Jackie can't even tap out." Lawler angrily slapped the table.

"I think that's the point," Ross pointedly stated, glancing over at Jerry. "It's not like she's cheating."

"Robinson's ringing the bell. Jackie must have given in," King dejectedly said.

"Mia's done quite well since her match with Trish," the other announcer began, ignoring Lawler's comment. "It's a good thing for Trish that Mia didn't put her in that last week."

"J. R., she didn't stand a chance against Trish. Look at her gloating."

"Trish is by far a more seasoned wrestler but don't put it past the nWo to seek revenge. If Mia keeps wrestling like that, King, she may be able to compete on equal footing with Trish sooner than we think."

"Here come the nWo now. They disgust me, especially after they ganged up on Undertaker last night."

"Give them credit tonight. None of them cheated this time," Ross replied, surprised that Lawler was railing on the faction, but then he noticed that Samia's breasts were not as large as Jackie's nor Trish's. If Jerry was going to be on Jackie's side, he couldn't be on the nWo's at the same time.

"Give'em time, J. R. Give'em time," he cackled, relishing in the thought of what they could do.

"Guys, that felt so good," Samia announced in the lockerroom as she accepted congratulations.

"Awesome, chick. You creamed her. Told you I had a present for you. You ripped into her like it was Christmas." Nash laughed, giving her a bear hug.

"She was too easy," she replied demurely.

"No, you were that good," Shawn countered, hugging her again.

"Next time," Hunter cut in, "set up the surfboard deathlock with the facebreaker. You used it too soon."

"I just wanted to let her know what kind of trouble she was in from the start," Samia replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Now that you've had a taste, you want the women's belt now, don't you?" Kevin asked amidst the celebration to catch her on a high.

"It would be nice but I don't think I'm ready for Molly," she replied, waving him off as she gathered her toiletries up for a shower.

"The nWo has the Intercontinental and heavyweight belts and we're not far from the tag-team belts. Who cares about the hardcore and cruiserweight belts? So why not bring in the women's belt?"

"I can't take Molly," she protested, throwing a towel over her shoulder.

"Not on your own. Whip us out something before next week and Shawn'll get you a title shot," Kevin demanded and then left her before she could protest again. I guess I'll get on that tomorrow, she sighed to herself, not really that upset that she could be holding the women's belt in a couple of weeks even though she knew she should feel bad about allowing them to cheat to get her the belt.

TBC…