NOTE: I don't own any of the WWE superstars. I only own Kayla and myself.
Shawn was waiting for us in the parking garage when we arrived, as he had promised. Shawn's bags were already put up in the limo.
"I'll give our bags to the chauffeur," Taker said to me. "I'll give him yours, too. You can just get in the limo if you want."
"Ok," I said. The chauffeur and Taker stowed the luggage in the back while Shawn held the door for me and helped me into the limo.
I sat down as he climbed in and shut the door. He slid over next to me and looked at me.
"Um, about that kiss earlier..." His voice trailed off.
"It wasn't supposed to happen," I said. "Right?"
"Correct. I just don't want to make you uncomfortable," he said. "You just have to understand that I'm always pulling tricks around here. So don't be mad."
"Shawn... Can I call you Shawn?" I asked.
"Call me what you want to," he said. "I'll answer."
"Shawn," I continued. "It was an innocent kiss. You have nothing to be worried about."
"How about another one then?" he asked, smiling.
I touched his shoulder. "No can do. Taker would get mad, and plus, I think I would start getting attached to you if we start making out all the time."
"Taker wouldn't get mad. He's happily married," he said.
"And you're married, too," I pointed out.
"It's all for the kids," he said, leaning back. "If I didn't have kids, I wouldn't be married right now."
Just then, the door opened and Taker climbed into the limo. I looked over at him and smile.
"What took so long?" I asked.
"Got a phone call from Vince," Taker answered. "He was calling to tell us that we should hurry up and get to the hotel before they friggin rent our rooms out."
"What did you say to him?" I asked.
"I told him we only needed two rooms because you and I would share one," Taker said.
Shawn raised his eyebrows. "You two are going to share a room tonight?"
"Yeah," Taker said. "She's never slept in a hotel room alone before, and her friend kinda bailed on her with Randy Orton."
"Oh," Shawn said. He was silent.
"So, what were you two talking about?" Taker asked.
I didn't quite know what to say.
"Marriage," Shawn said. He sounded tired. "Stupid marriages."
"Marriage isn't stupid," Taker said. He leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. "But it can be difficult when you're on the road all the time and your spouse is back home."
"Yeah, both husband and wife have needs, and when they're not together, they go to someone else to fulfill those needs," Shawn said. "And that's the sucky thing about marriage."
"It's supposed to be sacred. I never expected it to be easy. I mean, I know you have to work on it," Taker said. "But when it's one-sided and the other person isn't working as hard as you are to preserve the love then what the hell kind of marriage is it?"
"No, get this. When your wife cheats on you and expects you not to give in to temptation while you're on the road, now that's the shit," Shawn said.
"Oh, I know," Taker said. "Shit, sometimes I think I'm with her for the sake of the kids. I want my kids to grow up with both of their parents."
"Wow," was all I could say. These two macho wrestlers were practically spilling their hearts in front of me. It was touching, and I felt really sorry for them.
"Shawn and I both have crazy marital problems," Taker explained to me. "Practically everyone in this business who's married to someone outside of the business has marital problems."
"Because the wrestling spouse can't understand the spouse who stays at home, and vice versa," Shawn said. "They live completely different lives and they barely know each other. It's like they're in two separate worlds, and neither one can understand the world of the other one."
"I'm guessing Torrie Wilson and Billy Kidman don't have this problem," I said, "seeing as they're both in the business together."
"They're a lucky couple," Shawn said.
"So are Charlie Haas and Jackie Gayda. I wish they were still here," Taker said. "Gave me a reason to smile some of these days."
"I never knew you guys were so sad. You're both really good at hiding emotions," I said.
"In this business... No, scratch that. In life period, you have to be good at that," Shawn said. "Or else, you'll just end up hurt in the end... And the emotional pain isn't like the physical pain. It's not temporary. You can't take a painkiller and hope that it goes away."
"It hurts forever," Taker finished.
Then everyone was quiet as we rode to the hotel.
When we arrived at the hotel, we took our bags inside and went over to check in.
"I'm sorry," the receptionist said, "but we only have one room left."
Shawn, Taker, and I looked at each other.
"Looks like the three of us will be sharing a room tonight," I said.
"One more thing," the receptionist said.
"Is it bad?" Taker asked.
"Maybe... See, there's only one bed there. No couch or anything like that," she said. Seeing the looks on our faces, she quickly continued, "But it's a king-sized bed so maybe that's a comforting thought."
"Not really. You're saying the three of us are gonna have to share a bed?" Shawn asked unbelievingly. "We had our rooms reserved and everything."
"Reserved? Well, why didn't you say so?" she asked brightly. "Names, please?"
We gave her our names. "Funny, you three have connecting rooms and bathrooms. You," she said, pointing to Shawn, "have a room. Your room," she said, pointing at me, "is in the middle. And your room," she said, pointing at Taker, "is on the other side. And the bathrooms are all together. Isn't that funny?"
"Very amusing. Look, we're hungry and tired. Can we just get our cards so we can drop this stuff off and go get dinner?" Shawn asked.
"You don't have to be so rude and uptight," the receptionist said.
"You'd be 'rude and uptight' too if you hadn't had sex for a month!" Shawn snapped. She held out his card and he snatched it.
She handed Taker and me our cards as well, and the three of us headed over to the elevator together.
We stepped inside the elevator and the doors closed.
"I didn't mean to be so rude to her," Shawn said. "But I'm so frustrated!"
"Me, too," Taker said. "You've gone a whole month and so have I."
"I hate being married," Shawn sighed.
"Seeing as you're all frustrated," I said to Taker, "I'm gonna go ahead and sleep in my own room. I mean, I already have the card and our rooms connect together so I feel much more secure."
"I understand," Taker said. He didn't bother arguing with me, he just respected my opinion.
"But we're still on for dinner," I said. "And Shawn, you can come, too."
"Really? Cause I wasn't looking forward to calling room service and eating alone again," Shawn said.
"We can go out to a club or something," Taker said. "Or my favorite, a biker joint."
"I don't care where we go," I said, "as long as you two aren't all depressed and stuff. You guys make me sad when you're sad."
"Sorry," Shawn said. We reached our floor and got out.
We headed to our rooms. "We can all meet up in my room in like 15 or 20 minutes," I said. "If that's ok with you guys."
"It's perfectly fine with me," Taker said, and Shawn agreed. Then we each slid our cards on the doors and disappeared into our respective rooms.