"So then I was telling him that he could date whomever he wanted, pretty much, and you know, that was it."
"Sounds brutal," Dave nodded, reaching across the table to grab Stephanie's hand. Stephanie looked down at it and smiled. His hand completely covered hers. He was so strong, and so well-dressed. She had seen a few of the jealous stares of other women in the restaurant, and she delighted in it.
"It was, but I guess Chris and I just weren't meant to be, you know, it happens," Stephanie said, trying to sound nonchalant about the entire thing, but it was kind of difficult to do.
Earlier that evening she had seen Chris and Lita leaving the arena together, and she had been angry. She had no right to be angry of course, but she was angry nonetheless. Maybe she was just possessive, but to go from her to Lita, it was like a step down for Chris. Of course that brought up the entire thing of her using him for her own personal gains and just what that entailed.
"Yeah, I know, it's rough, this whole dating thing," Dave told her.
"I don't believe for a second that you've had any trouble getting any girl that you wanted," Stephanie said with a giggle.
"With my schedule, it actually is hard," Dave told her. "I guess I should find someone in the company because it would be a lot easier to be around them."
Stephanie was glad to hear that. If Dave was interested in seeing someone in the company she hoped that she could be that particular girl. She had been having fun with Dave so far. They seemed to have a lot of things to talk about and the conversation never lagged. It was nice to see that after all the fantasizing she had done about the two of them, it seemed things were going just as planned.
"Yeah, I feel the same way, I guess that's why I was seeing Hunter and Chris," Stephanie said.
"And what did you think of it? Did you spend too much time together when you were with them? Or was it just right?" Dave asked, trying to get her opinion on inter-company dating. Stephanie looked down a moment.
"It was different with the both of them," she answered. "With Hunter it was…we hardly ever spent time together outside of being at work. I guess we just didn't have as much in common as we had hoped."
"And with Chris?" Dave asked. Stephanie didn't want to think about Chris. She thought about it and they spent so much time together that they seemed inseparable, and for a time they were. But that was all a farce perpetrated by herself and she didn't want to think about Chris right now…or ever again.
"With Chris it was better," she said simply, leaving it at that. Dave just thought she was still a little broken up over the break-up and didn't ask her any follow-up questions. He didn't want to bring her to any bad places.
"So how did you get in the business?" Dave asked, then realized that sounded stupid. "I mean, I know that you grew up in it, but what made you decide to join it instead of doing something else?"
"I just knew that this was something I wanted to pursue. It's just like wrestling is in my blood you know, and I can't escape it no matter how hard I try, and why fight it when I love it so much."
"Yeah, I can understand that. I've become so used to it, it's like I can't live without it."
"Yeah, that's exactly it," Stephanie agreed. "You're really good too."
"Thanks," Dave told her. "I'm still learning."
"But you are just great and the crowd loves you in some weird way. I think it may have to do with how you dress," Stephanie said with a laugh, taking a sip of her drink. "You always look amazing. I think even Hunter is jealous of that."
"Well, we can't all be so smooth," Dave said, pretending to flip up his collar. "So did you want to order dessert?"
"No, I don't think that I could eat anymore if I tried," Stephanie answered, patting her stomach lightly. "I guess its good you've already seen me pig out so that if we go out you're not afraid of my eating habits."
"You weren't a pig," Dave assured her.
"Well thanks, that's a nice compliment," she joked.
The bill came and Dave paid it amidst her protests to at least let her help, but since this was a date, Dave felt the need to pay it. He even pulled out her chair for her and she was surprised by the gesture, taking his arm as he offered it. The night was chilly, but nothing that she couldn't handle and they waited for the valet to get their car.
"You're a fun date," Dave told her quietly.
Stephanie smiled carefully, not showing how happy he was that he had said that, but still showing that she appreciated the sentiment. She responded flirtily, "You are just being so complimentary tonight."
"I'm trying to make a good impression," he told her.
"You aren't having a difficult time doing that," Stephanie responded kindly. "You're doing a great job in fact."
"Score one for me," Dave said, chuckling. The valet pulled up and Dave once again held the door open for Stephanie and she gracefully climbed into the car. She watched the scenery go by as he drove back to their hotel. When there, he walked her up to her hotel room and stood out in front of it, holding both her hands. "Let's do this again next week."
"Is that an order?" she asked coyly.
"It is," he answered. "I figured I should be the one to take the initiative this time."
"Fine by me," Stephanie answered. "You know what else would be fine by me?"
"What?"
Stephanie leaned up and kissed him. It wasn't passionate or anything, but it was nice, and it was something that Stephanie had waited all too long for. She snuck her hands around his neck, letting him hold her up as he wrapped his strong arms around her slim waist. She let herself fall into the fantasy that was kissing Dave Batista and it was as good as she had thought it would be.
"I guarantee there will be one of those next time too," Stephanie told him as they pulled away. "Just a little incentive to get you back here."
"It worked too," Dave replied. "See you later?"
"I think we already confirmed that, but you will definitely be seeing me later, goodnight Dave."
"Night Stephanie."
She watched him walk off, trying to hold in her squeal. When he was out of sight, she opened the door to her hotel room and closed the door behind her with a gentle push. She turned towards her room and squealed in happiness, jumping up and down on her heels a little bit. She set her purse down on the table and ran her hands through her hair. She squealed again for good measure and collapsed onto the couch, stretching her feet out.
"Well, I'd say that went very well," Stephanie to herself, very satisfied. She was going to take it slower with Dave than she had with Chris, but that was only natural. She had slept with Chris before even dating him. Why was she even comparing them though? There was nothing in common between the two.
She got up again and went into the bathroom. She grabbed her robe off the back of the door and after taking off her clothes, slipped into the comfortable garment, pulling the cotton closer to her. She was glad to be in something comfy, and went to wash her face. She soaped up her face and then washed away all the makeup, glad to be rid of it and back to her natural face.
She looked up and was startled by what she saw. She wasn't aware that her bags were as worse as they were. She had done such a good job of hiding them that she hadn't really seen the full extent of them. But she looked like she hadn't slept, though that was the case. She ran her hands over her face, trying in vain to get rid of the bags, the sallow look of her face, but when she looked again nothing had changed. She knew it wouldn't.
But maybe now would better; now that she had gone out with Dave and there seemed to be a future with him, however short. Now she would be able to sleep because she had something with the man that she had wanted to be with from the start. That had to amass to a great night's sleep, something she had been sorely lacking since her "break-up" with Chris, if you could call what happened a break-up.
She walked back to her bed and sat down on it for a moment, trying to sort out her thoughts. She was definitely happy that she had had fun, but there was also something gnawing away at her stomach, something she couldn't quite identify. Maybe it was the starkness of her face and her expressions. Hopefully Dave couldn't see through her façade, couldn't see behind the make-up that she put on to cover up whatever it was that was bothering her about her time with Chris.
She got up again to put on some pajamas before climbing into the lonely bed. She looked off to the side to see the empty space and gently traced her hand over the pillow, as if touching it would make someone suddenly appear. But if she wanted someone to appear, who would she want to appear, whose face would she want across from hers? She was so confused and she didn't know what to make of it.
She wondered what Chris was doing at the moment, if he was out with Lita, or if he was doing something else with her. Maybe Lita had taken him to bed or something. Maybe they were in some post-coital cuddling or something and the thought disgusted her. But Chris wouldn't do that would he? Except for the fact that he had done it with her, but the circumstances had been different, so different.
She closed her eyes, trying to force sleep to come to her, but it wasn't complying with her. She sighed and opened them again, fearing that she would go one more night without sleep. She would sit up in her bed, turn on the television and drown herself in the sounds of people she didn't know, hoping they would bring her solace, maybe a little comfort through the night.
Maybe a drink would help, she thought to herself and got out of bed, putting her robe back on. She opened the mini-bar and took out a couple of those little bottles which contained the alcohol. She looked around for the ice bucket and seeing it sitting on top of the dresser, she snatched it angrily. She had become suddenly angry in the past few minutes, cursing Chris for making her have to drink to get to sleep.
With her luck she would run into him in the hallway, fresh from his date with Lita. He would probably be in a polo shirt and casual pants, still wearing his damn sunglasses because he thought they were so cool even though they would look stupid at this time of night, but he was Chris and you couldn't tell him what to do. He'd have a smirk on his face, a triumphant one, knowing that once again, he could have any girl that he wanted, and they would just fall at his feet.
Then he'd take one good look at her and laugh, laugh at how horrible she looked. Anyone could see it a mile away, could see that she looked horrible. Shane had called her on it earlier, before she had tried to make herself up for Dave. Shane wasn't dense, he could sense things, but the way she looked, the desolation on her face could be read by anyone, and she wouldn't be surprised if anyone she came across would pity her.
Or maybe she'd run into the two of them, and then she'd explode from the anger. Stephanie was a smart girl, but she couldn't explain the anger. Maybe she expected Chris to be more hurt by what she had done. She wanted him to pine for her. He had said once that he loved her, and although she had subsequently broken his heart, shouldn't he still love her? She didn't realize that she wanted his love, not because she loved him back but because she wanted that power again. She wanted the power over him.
"Stephanie."
She turned around and winced, "Hunter."
"What are you doing out so late?" he asked her.
"Nightcap," she told him, holding up her ice bucket. "Just needed a little something to help me sleep."
"You never needed one when we were together." Stephanie was going to make a crass remark about how they hardly even spent nights together, but bit her tongue. Her and Hunter had broken up and it had been such a long time ago she didn't really harbor any ill-will towards him. Or at least that's what she was telling herself at this very moment. She was just suddenly overcome with the need to forget her problems, and she wasn't even drunk.
"Yeah, well things change," Stephanie told him. "You want to join me for a drink?"
"Sure, I've got nothing better to do," Hunter said, following her to the ice machine. Stephanie got the ice and he followed her back to her room. She let him in and they sat together on the couch after Stephanie had gathered all of the alcohol that she could. They filled up their glasses and drank down the contents.
"Mmm," Stephanie groaned as the cool liquid slid down her throat. "That's just what I needed."
"You look like hell," Hunter told her after a few drinks.
"Well you'd look like hell too if your life was in shambles," she laughed. "I'm screwed up. I screwed up."
"Aww come on," Hunter slurred. "You're not that bad."
"Oh, but I am," Stephanie said. "Did you know that I didn't love Chris?"
"You didn't love me either."
"Because you were too busy sticking your you-know-what into other girl's goodies," Stephanie said, laughing loudly at her jokes, if they were jokes, your call. "I couldn't fall in love with you when you were doing other chicks."
"Too bad, I'm really great," Hunter told her.
"So is Chris," Stephanie replied then covered her mouth with her hand. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that!"
"Why not?"
"Because he hates me!" Stephanie said. "Everyone hates me but they're…I don't know."
"I don't hate you," Hunter told her. "I don't like you either, but I don't hate you."
"Oh thank you Hunter," Stephanie gushed, leaning closer to him, but falling down into him. "Oops, I'm so clumsy."
Hunter helped her up and Stephanie gazed at him lustily. She was drunk and Hunter was the only one around. She leaned forward a little and kissed him. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling since she had been here before many times. She leaned in even more, letting herself fall into Hunter, clinging to his shirt as he returned the kiss. She had no idea what she was doing, none at all.
And that suited her just fine.