Author's notes: I'm not using wrestlers' real personal lives in this, as I find it really disrespectful (I hate the current Eddie/Ray feud for the same reason) so I'm not including the fact that Batista is married with 2 kids and I'm just making up my own back story for him.
Thanks for the reviews guys.
Dia: Yeah Wanda does have a lot more self-control than Emily does; I guess it's a maturity thing. And no doubt, she'll need it!
Disco Inferno1: I couldn't agree with you more, Batista kissing is good (I assume!). Glad you liked the part about Marie's husband. I guess you must have missed it, but I did include a little of Dave mocking Hunter, I had him pretending to flick long hair. Couldn't think of much else though, I guess it's because he's been off T.V. for so long that I've forgot how much I love to take the piss out of him!
Chapter Nine: Embarrassing assumptions.
Wanda woke early Saturday morning, full of excitement over what the day would hold. She ordered a large breakfast from room service, as she didn't know when they would stop for lunch. As she waited for her breakfast, Wanda took a shower and washed her newly cut hair. Breakfast arrived, but Wanda was too excited to eat much of it. She felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. After breakfast, Wanda dressed in some army green cargo pants and a new t-shirt she'd brought. The t-shirt was red, with a cartoon picture of a cat on and a logo saying 'Purrrfect!'. She styled her hair down and decided not to straighten it, leaving in the natural wave. Wanda's make-up caused her a few problems. She was so use to doing it in a gothic with heavy eye-liner and dark lipstick, but finally decided it looked a lot better more natural looking, with only a bit of eye-liner and a light pink lip-gloss. By 10 am, Wanda was completely ready and had to find something to occupy herself for half an hour, or she'd go insane with excitement and nerves. She flicked through the morning paper that had come with her breakfast, noticing an advert for a sale in a baby-storeat the local mall today. At 9:55, there was a loud knock on her hotel room door and Wanda leapt up enthusiastically, but she was despondent to find it was only the maid come to clean her room. Just as she was shutting the door, Dave's arm reached out and held it open.
"Morning, are you ready to head off or did you wanna grab some breakfast first?" he smiled.
"Nah, I'm good thanks, I've already eaten," Wanda replied, which was somewhat true.
"Ah, alright then, let's go find a cab. There should be a few outside. There's always some hanging about," Dave remarked, still holding the door open.
"Ok, give me two secs, I've just gotta grab my bag," she beamed.
They headed down the stairs to the hotel lobby and, as they did, Dave took hold of Wanda's hand and her heart fluttered. Once again, she noticed the softness of his hands and let out a small laugh.
"What's so funny?" Dave enquired.
"Ah, it's nothing really, I've just noticed you have really soft hands for a guy," she giggled.
Dave let out a loud booming laugh.
"I use moisturiser, otherwise my hands get really dry from the ropes," he replied, smiling.
They found a cab quickly and directed it to the mall. Wanda informed Dave about the advert for the sale at thebaby-store, she'd seen.
"That'll be a fantastic place to get everything Marie needs, I bet I can get it done all in one go. So is there anywhere in particular you wanted to go?"
"I'm not really sure. I'm kinda bored of wearing black all the time, so I wanted to look somewhere new."
"Really? I think it suits you and, besides it doesn't really matter what a person looks like. It's what's inside that counts," he replied, looking deeply into her eyes.
The cab soon reached the mall; they decided to do their clothes shopping first and get all of Marie's baby things at the end of their trip. Wanda stood looking somewhat perplexed at the map of the mall. She had no idea what kind of new clothes she wanted or where to get them.
"Jeez, this is confusing. I don't want to look so dark and depressed anymore, but have no idea where to start," the black-haired woman sighed.
"Well I think you've made a great start already. The new haircut looks really good on you and that t-shirt is so perky. The slogan has got it spot on," he teased, with a wink.
"Ha, yeah. It's so true I had to buy it," laughed Wanda, matter-of-factly.
"Well, how about starting on some new work clothes?" suggested Dave.
They headed to a general clothes store and went to the formal/ business wear section. Wanda scanned the suits but the majority of them were dark colours.
"Ahh, this is no good, everything is too dark." she sighed, in disappointment.
"Well at work I have to wear dark suits all the time, so what I usually do is wear a bright coloured shirt or tie. Surely women can do the same sort of thing," he suggested.
"Yeah, that's a great idea. Thanks, hon," she smiled affectionately.
Wanda picked out five suits in her size, varying between trousers and skirt suits; one was a deep plum colour, one was black with white pin stripes, one was navy blue, one was a chocolate brown and the last was just plain black. She then chose shirts to match them: a bright pink one for the plum suit, a lilac one for the pin stripe suit, an orange one for the chocolate suit, a sky blue one for the navy and a red one for the plain black suit. Wanda next picked out accessories in various colours to match the suits and shirts.
"Well, I'm done for work clothes. Is there anything you need?"
"Yeah, I want a few more casual things if I'm going to be here for a few weeks and something smart in case I go somewhere posh. I was thinking about this one for general day-to-day wear," he smiled, holding up a hideous Hawaiian shirt.
Wanda burst out laughing. "Are you being serious? That thing is disgusting."
"Yeah I was, I though it looked good." Dave replied, with a forlorn look.
"I'm sorry. It's just that it really wouldn't suit you and those shirts look better on beach-bums."
"Oh, alright then, well what do you think? I mean, if I pick something this bad for day-to-day wear, I really could do with some help."
Wanda browsed through the men's section, returning with some tight-fitting light blue jeans, a red sweatshirt, a pair of casual black pants, a short-sleeved light blue casual shirt and an informal dark chestnut suit.
"Here, try these. I think you'll look gorgeous in all of them," Wanda smiled, handing over the clothes.
Dave came out of the changing room and showed Wanda the various outfits she'd picked out. They all looked incredible on him, especially the tight-fitting blue jeans and red sweatshirt.
They next headed to the woman's casual section; this is where Wanda had a lot of difficulty deciding what she wanted. Everything she spotted was black, purple, lace or leather and not at all what she wanted. Dave pointed out a pink floral dress to which Wanda gave a look of detestation.
"Oh this is useless, I'm just going to have to look like I'm dressed for a funeral for the rest of my life," she whined.
Dave scooped her up in his arms, lifting her from her feet and kissed her forehead. "You always look fantastic, but more importantly you're a beautiful person and that's what I like about you," he said as he leant forwards and kissed her.
Landing back on her feet Wanda realized how childish she was being, here was a fantastic man, who obviously cared about her and wasn't shallow enough to care about looks alone.
"I'm sorry, it's just last night that busty waitress really wound me up and I got thinking about how I centre my life too much on work and wanted to change that and thought changing my image would help," she divulged.
"Don't be so silly. No one with a brain would look twice at that waitress. I spoke to her this morning and she's so shallow. You're a million times more beautiful than she is just because you're a real person. As for your work, you're fantastic at it and it means a lot to you, so why shouldn't it be a big part of your life. When you meet someone who truly loves you, they'll understand and respect that. That's one reason my ex-fiancé and me broke up. She just couldn't understand how important wrestling was to me," he revealed.
Wanda smiled, both at the knowledge that Dave didn't like the waitress and that he thought she was more beautiful, but also that he'd opened up to her and that they'd had similar experiences in their past relationships.
She continued to look for new clothes, but Dave's words had taken away the importance of a new image. She now just picked out anything she liked and thought suited her knowing that she'd be beautiful regardless of her clothes.
After they were all done with the clothes shopping, they stopped for a quick sandwich before heading for the baby-store holding the sale. The store was packed with blissful looking expectant parents. The sight brought back harsh memories that Wanda wished she could forget. Dave too looked a little bleak, despite the fact he was here shopping for things for a new niece or nephew. He took out a long list of items Marie needed and began to browse the store. Wanda stayed near the cash desk, uneasy at been surrounded by so many pregnant women. Soon he called out for her advice, unsure of which washbasin to buy. Wanda suggested the one with a joining shelf to hold all items needed for bathing a baby; like soap, washcloths and a diaper.
Helping Dave pick out things for Marie's new baby soon got the better of Wanda, and, before long, she was cooing over a pair of incredibly tiny boots. With in an hour, they'd managed to find everything on Marie's list, so they headed for the cash desk. Dave paid for all the items and gave the shop assistant the delivery address.
The assistant smiled and turned to Wanda, "You and your husband sure have brought a lot of things, so when's your baby due?"
Wanda blushed and stuttering replied, "Errrm he's not my…we're not…"
Dave smiled at the shop assistant and explained how all the things were for his sister.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," replied the assistant, looking very embarrassed with herself.
"It's no problem, it was an easy mistake to make," Dave and Wanda answered in unison.
The couple left the mall and headed back to the hotel.
"So, do you still want to join me for dinner later?" Wanda asked.
"You bet I do. How about we go back to our rooms, get changed and what ever, then meet back in the lobby about 7 ?" suggested Dave.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Is there any type of food you don't really like? So I know what type of restaurant to book a table for us at," Wanda asked.
"Not really, I like most styles of food to be honest," he replied with a smile.
"Ok then, I'll surprise you. So I'll meet you downstairs at 7 ?" asked the black-haired woman, kissing Dave's cheek.
"Yeah, I'll see you in a little while," he replied, returning the kiss to her lips slowly.
Wanda parted from Dave with a sigh of joy and they both headed for their respective rooms. Back in her hotel room, Wanda went over the day shopping, thinking about Dave's comments about the waitress and it not being important what a person looks like but what's in her heart. Wanda's mind focused on his comment about his failed past relationship, remembering what it was like to have someone you cared about using your work as a weapon against you. Wanda also remembered the incident in the baby-store, where the assistant had assumed they were a married couple expecting a child. The baby-store, all the happy looking parents and the assistant's assumption affected Wanda deeply as she remembered what could have been.
In his own room, Dave was also going over the day's events. He was surprised by Wanda's reaction to the waitress and her idea that she needed a new image. He thought she looked fantastic regardless and wished he could somehow tell her how he felt about her. The baby-store also stuck out in his mind, as he remembered having those same feelings all the expectant parents were going through and hated the fact someone he had loved used wrestling as a tool to blame him for what had happened.
In their corresponding rooms, both Wanda and Dave were going through the same feelings. Both had had serious relationships, which almost resulted in a baby and ended with work being blamed for the downfall of the relationship. Now they were both faced with someone they cared for, who understood the importance of their jobs and seemed to want the same thing from life. Both Wanda and Dave knew where this relationship was heading and that they were falling in love with the other. It was just whether they were willing to risk getting hurt in order to admit these feelings.