A/N: Lizzie has decided to remain somewhat quiet so I get to write this again... um... hi. This chapter is a little longer than the last one with lots of action and emotions running high. Let us know what you think by leaving a review. Thanks. Phoenix
Lily placed the cup of coffee at Jarrett's right side and stood up straight – he barely acknowledged her presence as he continued to fill out various forms that required all his attention. The only thing she got was a brief wave and she took the hint, stepping away to give him his space.
"Anything else you need?" she asked, as politely as possible, still reeling from the encounter she and Kady had with Chris… of all people, the one person she wanted her daughter to not come in contact with… it was frustrating.
Anger was mixed with guilt of seeing Chris' reaction to realizing who that kid was, and also confusion and not knowing what to do next. The question was what she was going to tell Kadence now, there was no way she'd be able to keep this from her for long, and it would be ten times worse if she found out from anyone else. But now they were in a position where Lily's past would undoubtedly cause a lot of trouble that they didn't need.
Jarrett looked up only briefly, sensing the tension in her voice that suggested she was distracted. Years in this business taught him to see through the facades; the pretenses. He wasn't a heartless bastard, except for in the ring, and considered asking her what was wrong. Probably first-day nerves.
"Is there anything wrong, Ms. Myers?"
No first name basis yet. Lily came around to stand in front of his desk, and shook her head and plastered what she knew to be a fake smile. "No, sir."
"Good. But you better get out of those first day nerves; I'm gonna have you running all over the place with business. I assume you can handle that responsibility?" he drawled with an underlying condescending tone. Lily wisely ignored it.
"Yes, sir."
"Here," he pulled something out of his pocket and reached out to her from behind the desk. It was a pager. "You'll be needing this, now only Dixie and myself have the number so you keep that with you at all business times, clear?"
"I understand," she responded and immediately took it; inspecting it carefully. Brand new. "Thanks."
"Your welcome," Jarrett replied and was again back to busily filling out forms. "Now I need you to do somethin' for me, sweetheart."
Lily tensed. Sweetheart? Her first assumption of Jeff Jarrett had just been confirmed – chauvinistic, condescending bastard. But, in good nature, she nodded her head and waited for the instructions and while Jarrett finished his documents, her mind wandered to where her daughter was and hoped she was proving to be too much to handle for Scott Levy.
Though he seemed stern enough and like he had seen enough bullshit so that he could handle a fourteen year old child, Lily knew Kady better than anyone. Her daughter could be sneaky, manipulative, deceptive more trouble than any of those wrestlers would be prepared for. And Chris… he wasn't gonna make things easy. The look in his eyes when he saw her and Kadence again, she knew he wasn't done with her just yet. After all, she did take his child away from him and refused to give him access to her, so yeah he was pissed. Shocked at first, but the anger would be brewing, Lily knew Chris all too well. Finally, when Jarrett was finished what he was doing, he looked up at her with a stern expression.
"James Storm. I need you to find the son-of-a-bitch and drag his sorry ass back here."
Lily didn't say anything, and her confusion rang through clear as day. Jarrett sighed.
"He screwed up the promo he filmed last week – idiot was trashed out of his mind. I need you to bring him here so I can give him a piece of my mind. Usually he hangs by the ring. I trust you will have no trouble?"
Lily quickly nodded and wrote down on a small pad that had written down all her obligations that she had already, and at the bottom of the list added the name 'James Storm'. Naturally, she didn't know who he was or who he was affiliated with, so she saw no problem with it and promptly excused herself from Jarrett's presence. After closing the door behind her, Lily checked both ways and saw a sign on the opposite wall that indicated the direction of the main arena and followed where it told her to go.
Five minutes later, she walked out onto the main stage where the wrestlers made their entrances and stopped dead in her tracks. The place was huge when it was put into perspective, and Lily was in awe of it. But quickly she was pulled back to reality when the talking and noise coming from the ring reached her ears and staring over there, she recognized Scott and Chris but not the other two guys – one was struggling to get up and looking more than a bit disoriented, like he had been knocked out, while the other just stood next to him and seemed a bit distracted while at the same time, enjoying the other dude's struggles. And then there was Chris. Damn. Why did he have to turn up in the same places she did? Was this fate playing fucked up mind games with her?
"Come on, Lil," she tried to pump herself up with confidence. "It's no big deal – you're both adults now, not nineteen anymore. We can handle this maturely. He means nothing…" her voice wavered when she said that last part aloud, knowing full well the affect Harris had on her and that once upon a time she had loved him like no other. And then he betrayed her and their child. So to say he means nothing would be an obvious lie, but this was Lily's way to get herself in a position of confidence. "You can do this, girl."
With one last final deep breath, Lily started walking down the ring but after only taking no more than five or six steps, she stopped. There was Scott – but where was Kadence? Oh no, that tiny voice in the back of Lily's head groaned. Not again… what trouble has she thrown herself into this time?
Scott finished helping Andy to his feet and held onto him to keep the dazed guy from toppling over again, and was the first one to spot Lily approaching them. Andy also noticed her and also took note of Scott's reaction. It wasn't long before it dawned on him. James was the next to see her, and as you could guess, Chris remained oblivious as she came up behind him. But upon seeing his colleague's changed expressions, he frowned and looked over his shoulder to see what was up, and every muscle in his body tensed up at seeing the woman who broke his heart and stole his daughter away from him. But Lily paid no attention to him and was determined to remain professional, and focused on the two individuals she didn't know – one she did recognize as being with Chris earlier that day when she found Kadence.
"Which one of you is James Storm?" she flatly asked. Andy pointed at James just as he stepped forward to her.
"Me. You're Lily, right?"
Lily cast a sideways glance at her ex who was glaring coldly at her. Yep. He was pissed. "I am." She then looked at Andy who was still recovering. "And you are?"
"Andy," he stuck his hand out, and was surprised that she was the mother of that vicious, vindictive little girl. Lily was pleasant, though. "Andy Douglas. You're Kadence's mom?"
Lily shot another deathly look at Chris, while still addressing Andy. All desires to avoid confrontation went out the window when it was revealed that she had apparently been the topic of conversation between these men. "Oh, so I guess you guys have been busy talking?"
Chris turned away and Scott stepped in to ease the tension. "It kinda… came up, Lily. Andy and I were down at the ring doing a workout, Chris and James came out and we kinda got into it…"
"Kinda?"
He shrugged. "Okay, so we had a bit of a confrontation. Anyway, Kadence was caught in the middle when Chris and Andy started going back and forth, and Chris accidentally shoved Andy into her, and she ran off--"
"What?" Lily interrupted again, caught by surprise.
"It was no big deal," Scott continued. "She wasn't hurt, it was an accident—"
But Lily wasn't listening anymore and her anger was set to boil over – there was no way she wanted to get into a confrontation with her ex on the first day that could result in her getting her ass kicked out the door already… this was going too far, though.
"Where's Kadence?" she demanded and didn't care who answered.
"She ran off," Andy spoke up. "Not long ago."
"Fuck," Lily muttered. When Kadence didn't want to be found, you better believe she wasn't going to be found. "Great, just great! Is that what you want, Chris? Is that how bad you didn't want her?"
"That isn't fair!" he exploded. All the emotion and anger that had been building up for almost thirteen years was coming up now, it could not be stopped and this woman had the nerve to call him a negligent father? "Don't you fucking dare start that shit again, Lily, you're the one who took her away from me!"
Scott, James, and Andy stood back a bit and none of them had any idea how to cool this down, and silently and unanimously agreed to stay out of it. Some things, apparently, needed to be said. Lily was dangerously close to slapping the taste out of his mouth and doing something that would guarantee he wouldn't be having anymore children.
"You son of a bitch! You chose your career over your own family!"
"It's not like you gave me a choice!"
"I gave you a choice!"
"You gave me a God damn ultimatum! What were you expecting me to do, Lily?" he yelled, stepping behind her and circling her. "Drop everything and marry you? Give up everything I worked for to I could keep you and Kadence happy?"
"You didn't do this for us, you bastard, you did this for yourself!" Lily screamed. They both knew it was bound to come to this, but both hoped it wouldn't be so soon and there was no controlling the emotions now. "You left us for your career!"
"I supported you and our child, didn't I? I kept you fed and clothed; I took care of you and you know it!" he retorted and came even closer to her. Scott started to move forward but Andy grabbed his arm and pulled him back, shaking his head and whispered something to the affect of 'stay out of it'. "I would've done anything for you and Kadence, Lily. Anything."
"Except give up this wrestling crap."
"What else did you expect me to do? Be a brain surgeon? You didn't want me to do this because you thought I was gonna die!"
"That's the fucking business, Chris! People die here. I wanted our daughter to grow up with her mother and father together! Not you running off every week and risking your neck – your LIFE!" tears streamed down Lily's face and desperation. "I didn't want to risk that Kadence could've grown up without her father. So having you out of our lives seemed like the next best thing to you being dead." No longer was her words being yelled and but had softened to whispers of disappointment.
They fell into a staring match and the battle of wits had begun and Lily shook herself out of the state she had been worked up into and somehow managed to drag her gaze away from Chris' saddened eyes.
"James Storm?"
Chris' tag partner and friend of many years moved over to them and folded his arms over his chest. "Yeah?"
"Mr. Jarrett wants to see you."
Andy snorted at that comment. "Mr. Jarrett?" he whispered, very amused.
"I just got the job today, I'm not actually in a position to be as cynical about him as you boys seem to be," she explained. "James, he says you fucked up a promo or whatever and he wants to chew you out over it." All pretenses were lost with her and she was beginning to regret accepting this job that she desperately needed.
"Aw…"James groaned and walked off. "This better not be about that beer bottle again…"
"Uh, Scott, man," Andy also felt compelled to make him self scarce from this awkward situation. "Medical attention needed here."
Not really. But it was a good excuse, right? Scott reluctantly helped Andy towards the backstage area, but something told him it was a bad idea to leave these two alone. They stopped about halfway up there and turned back at the same time. Lily and Chris were just… staring at each other.
"And you wonder why I don't want you near her!" she viciously hissed with nothing less than hatred. That was it, Chris snapped and reached out, instinctively grabbing her arm when she turned to walk away.
"Wait!"
"Chris," his ex struggled against his strong grip. "Let go…"
"We need to talk."
"We've said everything that needs to be said, Chris."
He scoffed. "Thirteen years and you think we've said everything in two minutes?"
"Yep."
"Real fucking mature, Lily."
"You're one to talk, asshole! Walking out on us was real mature—"
"Lily—"
"No! I am here only because I need the job to support our child, and—"
"Then why don't you tell her?" Chris challenged, leaning against the guard barrier. "Tell her that I am her father. Or better yet, let me tell her."
"And freak her out like that?"
"From the way she looks and acts, I'd say you fucked her up enough!"
SLAP
With her free arm, she brought across her hand to meet his face which resulted in a very loud, very painful slap. Chris reeled back, letting go of her arm and his hand flew to his cheek, staring at her in disbelief. Scott let go of Andy who almost fell down but managed to steady himself, and took a couple of steps forward.
Lily breathed deeply and straightened up. "Stay away from me, Chris. Stay away from Kadence. We don't need you, we've got by without you. You were never a father to her."
"She needs her father!"
"She needs to be loved, damn it! And you never gave her..."
Chris stormed towards her and his imposing build made her stop talking, backing off a couple of steps.
"If you say it… then don't hold me responsible for what happens, Lily, you know I loved that child and you snatched her from me. I loved you and Kadence more than my life and you never gave me a chance. Don't pretend you're the innocent one here. You screwed up just as much as I did. And you know what? Fuck you. I know I screwed up, but if you can't admit that you did too… you're no better to her now then I was then." Chris glared at the mother of his child.
"I don't need to take this." Lily decided, turning and walking away from Chris. She walked straight past Raven and Andy without acknowledging them.
Chris was left to stare after her, his breathing erratic due to the anger he was feeling. Rather than have to deal with Raven or Andy accusing him of anything, Chris turned and walked the opposite way to the way Lily had gone.
"Family resemblance, much?" Andy joked. Raven nodded, not bothering to disagree with him.
After Kadence had left the ring area, she'd gone straight to her mother's office, determined to make the woman see how unhappy this job, this place, was making her. She'd slammed open the door only to find the office empty.
"Damn it!" She muttered, slumping into her mother's desk chair.
That's when she spotted her mother's handbag, sitting under the desk. Figuring she'd had enough of the bullshit inside the walls of the building she was in, she grabbed the bag and searched through it, finding her mother's wallet. She pulled a few bills from it and then dumped the bag and contents back onto the floor. After grabbing her own bag from the corner of the office, Kadence left, closing the door behind her.
She walked out of Universal Studios and made her way down the sidewalk, looking for either a taxi stand or a bus stop. Coming upon a bus stop, she read the timetable quickly and figured she had a little while to wait for the next bus to get there. She sat on the bench and pulled her bag onto her lap. Searching through it, she found her pencils and sketchbook and pulled them out before zipping the bag up and putting it between her feet.
She turned to a blank page in the sketchbook and let her pencil flow over it, putting her emotions down on paper. After awhile, the bus arrived. Kadence gathered her belongings and got onto the bus, handing over one of the stolen bills from her mother's bag and telling the driver her destination. The elderly man smiled at her as he handed her the change and her ticket and she scowled back. She couldn't understand why perfect strangers thought she'd smile just because they did.
She found a seat towards the back of the bus and put her bag on the seat beside her so she'd be left alone. Once she'd settled in, she refocused on her sketchbook and continued the drawing she'd started. Slowly, it became a rather gothic scene. A male vampire draining the last drop of mortal life from a, supposedly innocent, female. She felt as though everything related to her mother's new job – the move from Kentucky to Florida, the people she'd run into from TNA, all of it – had taken the form of the vampire and she was the female, being devoured by it all.
By the time the bus had reached her stop, Kadence had completed her artwork. There were Victorian style buildings in the background, trees on one side and the vampire and his prey were now situated in a cemetery. One of the tombstones had Kadence's name and birth date on it, followed by today's date as the date of her death. In her heart, she knew things would never go back to being what they were. She was going to be stuck in Florida until her mother screwed up and lost the job with TNA. She'd always be the outsider, the loner. She dreaded the start of the school year.
Kadence left the confines of the bus after scowling at the happy bus driver again. She figured out where she was in relation to the new house she and her mother were living in and made her way towards it. She tucked her sketchbook back into her bag and bowed her head, looking down at the cement so that she didn't draw any attention to herself. The last thing she wanted was to be harassed or laughed at. She'd had enough torture for one day.
She finally reached the house and pulled her keys from her bag before letting herself inside. After locking the door behind herself, she made her way upstairs to her room. Kadence dumped her bag on her bed and sorted through the boxes she still had left to unpack, looking for her paints or colored pencils. She really wanted to see what her sketch would look like in color. Not finding them, she tried to work out where they might be.
"The attic." She figured, knowing her mother had put a lot of the boxes up there so that the house didn't seem so cluttered.
A few seconds later, on the second level of the house she arrived at the end of the hallway and squeezed past several boxes that were shoved up against the door. Muttering curse words under her breath from having to make the effort of getting past them and to the door, Kady's sourness was expressed through kicking and shoving several boxes off others until she finally had a clear path and was standing inches from the door. It was narrower than the other doors but it didn't bother her and she yanked it open. The air was musty and it was dark – Kady let the light from the hallway illuminate just inside the stairway just enough for her to look around for the light switch, which was on the inside wall next to her.
The air was musky and damp; Kady coughed and wheezed as she entered the stairway which apparently had not been subjected to human contact for years. The walls were moldy and it wasn't exactly a picture of brightness – just the kind of place Kadence knew she could really warm up to! With a small smirk, she stepped up the stairs, closing the door behind her.
"No doubt mom would've stored my stuff up here. Always making my life hell..." she mused and stepped up into the main attic and looked around. Apart from the light streaming in through the two windows, one each on the opposite sides of the attic, it was dark. Flipping on another light switch, Kady stared around at the empty boxes that now cluttered the room. So her mother had been here. Spotting four or five boxes marked 'KADENCE', the Goth gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to scream bloody murder and tear the place apart because her mother decided to make her life even worse! As if it wasn't bad enough that she'd uprooted them and moved to Hicksville USA, where they knew no one and it was a total change from where she grew up. Kady then spotted one of the boxes on top of a pile that was labeled 'KADY – SUPPLIES'. She practically ripped it apart, tearing off the duct tape and pulling the box open. Sure enough, she didn't have to look far for her art equipment and smiled with satisfaction.
"Nice try, mother," she taunted aloud. "You got some nerve..."
After removing the items she needed, Kadence as usual, carelessly moved not thinking about what she was doing or what was around her, and ended up tripping.
"SHIT!" she screamed, dropping her paints and grabbed her leg, as pain shot through her body and dropped the floor. She rolled up the leg of her pants and groaned when she saw the blood dripping from her knee. "Great. Nice one, idiot!" Kady scolded herself and let out an exasperated sigh, and looked around. As she fell, she had knocked over several boxes and the contents of some of them had spilled out over the floor around her. Like hell I'm picking this up...
Her hand brushed over old books and magazines; photos of when she was a little girl in her pink ballerina or princess outfits that time slowly transformed her from into the proud freak she was now. Old photo frames; soft plush toys and Barbie's that Lily must have kept for sentimental value, maybe holding onto hope that someday she could once again hold her little girl in her arms. And then... Kady frowned when she came across an old book of some sorts – it was covered in dust and looked like it hadn't been open in years. She picked it up and lightly brushed away the time from its surface to read the title.
FORT WRIGHT NORTH HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF '92
"Wow..." she scoffed. "Mom you're the total definition of tacky... keeping your yearbook?"
Just for fun, Kady turned the cover which began with the introductions, and how great the school was, it's history, how it's all so unique and how the graduating class is their best yet, blah blah blah... same old bullshit. Flipping through the next few pages was completely boring – the principle's messages, teachers pictures, contents page. Your typical yearbook. Too much school spirit in her opinion – Kady would rather choke than appear in a yearbook, and would much like it if they put a blank space where her picture was supposed to be.
More school events stuff, what happened during the year and all the 'cool' events and sports stars – the Valedictorian and the Sportsman of the Year. Jocks and nerds finally pushed into the same place, but only between the covers of a book could they peacefully coincide. It didn't matter to Kadence either way and she flipped through to the school photo pages and scanned the loads of pictures until she stopped on a very familiar face and her face spread into a very rare expression – a huge smile. Though it was of a mocking nature and she burst into hysterical laughter. Lily Myers' beautifully gleaming face stared back at her from the pages; so full of life and hopes and dreams.
"Must've been before she knew about me. Great."
It was no secret that Kadence fully believed that her mother wished she had never been born and was seeking to make her life as hellacious as possible, so the kid did the only thing she could to get out from her mothers grip. She turned her own life into hell and embraced the lifestyle before she was forced into it; the ultimate act of rebellion. Finally having enough of staring at her mother's image, Kady scanned through the rest of the photos for no reason at all – maybe because she was so bored. But then... out of the corner of her eye, something snared her attention and she pulled the book to her face for closer inspection.
Is that? That dude... he looks familiar... Now provoked with curiosity and interest, for once (it was hard to get a Goth interested in anything beyond the craziness of their own internal world), Kadence sat back and forgot all about the minor injury she had sustained (though felt the urge to suck the blood out of the wound, for some reason. Gross) and studied the picture. The guy looked eerily familiar to her, but not in a good way, there was something about his face. Getting no where close to identifying him by the picture and not settling her curiosity any further, Kadence turned her attention to the name underneath it and upon registering it into her brain, wanted to hurl. Chris Harris
"Holy shit!" she gasped and dropped the book on the floor. As the book hit the floor, something else fell out of it. Now, Kadence suffered the first shock of seeing Chris Harris' photo near her mother's – so they went to the same school... the same graduating year... and her mother didn't want her to be near him during that day.
"No. Oh hell NO!"
Did they date or something? Is that what all this shit her mother was telling her was all about? Kadence was going to have some harsh words to say to her mother when she got home, to say the least. She spotted the item that fell from the book and reached to pick it up. It was face down, with some writing scrawled messily on the back of it. It was hard to read, but it was definitely her mother's handwriting. Kadence squinted and held it closer to her face and raised an eyebrow when she made out the message...
Mommy & Daddy and me at 6 months old! November 1992
Kadence groaned. You know when a mother writes something that is supposed to be from the perspective of the child? Like on the back of cards or photographs? All that embarrassing shit. But then it hit her.
"Wait... 'Mommy and daddy'?"
The wild child had never seen any picture of her father before; Lily strictly forbade any mention of the 'father' topic, which had become taboo in their household. Kady often brought it up to piss her off, and it usually worked. A weak spot that she knew how to manipulate all too well. Kadence's demeanor changed from being one of indifference to one of nervousness, something she hadn't felt for ages and the prospect of seeing her father – or at least, a fourteen year old picture of her father – was so terrifying even she couldn't resist the power of it. Shaking, Kady turned the picture over and her eyes widened at the image. No... God damn... way... Now she definitely thought she was gonna hurl. Right there in the picture, was her as a baby being held between her mother and her 'father'. Lily was smiling and appeared more happy than Kadence had ever seen her. On the other side of her, Chris Harris was smiling at the camera, too. Chris' smile in the picture wasn't as wide or goofy as Lily's or Kady's, but he was apart of them alright... he appeared happy enough, at least. Maybe a bit uncomfortable, but relaxed. Lily held Kady with both arms, balancing the infant on her hip while Chris had his muscular arms around Lily's waist and his other free hand rested on Kadence's stomach. The image was of a happy nature and the now teenage version of that child was staring at it with total shock; her hands shaking so violently that it was hard to keep focused on it.
"No... him?"
If there was ever something that could've made her hate Lily even more than she already did, this was it. Lily had her convinced that her father was probably dead and all the while he was that asshole she had called a retard earlier that day? Why hadn't her mother told her the truth?Even if she hadn't wanted to say anything while Kady was growing up, she should have said something today. Why had she even agreed to take the stupid job with TNA if she knew Kady's father was going to be there? Did she think Kady would never find out?
Kady pondered the thoughts for a moment before abandoning her art supplies. She clutched the family photo in her hand as she got to her feet and ran from the attic. Tears blurred her vision and she let out a loud sob, one that she had contained for so long. Emotions were for fools, right? Then why was crying? She hadn't cried in years... never saw the point in it. She'd forced herself to get angry rather than upset but she couldn't do it now... couldn't control the pain, both physical and emotional.
Making her way back to her room, Kady pulled a gym bag out from under her bed and hurriedly filled it with clothes before laying the photo on top of them all and zipping the bag up. She took a quick look around this room, painted it's airy yellow color and she cringed. She didn't belong here. Never would. She had to get away. She shoved her sketchbook and pencil back into her backpack, zipped it up and put it on before slinging the handles of the gym bag over her shoulder. Digging her keys from her pocket, she made her way downstairs and barged out the front door, only just bothering to lock it after her.
She made her way back to the bus stop and pulled out the remainder of the money she'd taken earlier. Figuring she'd probably end up hitching at least part of the way to her destination, she settled herself on the bench to wait for the next bus. When it pulled up at the curb, she handed over half of the money she had with her and asked how far it would take her. Satisfied with the answer, she took her ticket and made her way to the back of the bus. She dumped her gym bag at her feet and put her backpack on the seat next to her as she sat down. Pulling her sketchbook from the backpack, she flipped to a clean page and drifted off into her own world as the bus rumbled along on it's way.
Lily frantically paced around the building that housed TNA. She was looking for all possible hiding places that Kadence could have found. So far, her search had proved fruitless. Rounding a corner, she spotted Scott and made her way over to him. He saw her coming and met her halfway.
"How's Kadence?" He asked quickly, hoping that the girl was alright.
"I don't know, I can't find her. I've tried my office, empty locker rooms, I even phoned home but got no answer. She would've picked up if she was there, just to let me know how much she hated everything. God, where is she?" Lily asked desperately.
"Well, I'm not God but, I'll help you look, if you want?" Scott offered. Lily nodded and the pair set off. Scott, knowing some of the better hiding places in the building, led the way.
After around ten minutes of still not finding any sign of Kadence, Lily was almost hysterical. As much trouble as her daughter was, there was no doubt that Lily loved her. Now, she was fearing that something terrible had happened and that maybe Kadence was physically hurt, even if she hadn't been when Andy knocked into her. By this point, Scott was getting worried too. It was hard not to with Lily being so upset. Further along the hallway they were in, Chris was heading straight for them.
"Oh, great. Just what I don't need right now." Lily muttered loud enough for Scott to hear. Chris stopped and stood just in front of them, fixing his gaze on Lily. Scott once again resolved to stay out of whatever was going to happen, although he knew he'd have to step in before it got violent.
"I want to see Kady. She has a right to know who her father is, Lil." Chris stated, amazingly calm considering the altercation that had happened between them earlier.
"Absolutely not. She's fine not knowing." Lily refused. Chris looked like he was going to get worked up again but took a deep breath and let it out before speaking again.
"I'd hardly say she's fine. How could you let her out of the house looking the way she does? People probably think she's a freak or something. That's not what I wanted for her, ever." He told her seriously.
"She's not a freak! If people want to talk about her, let them. She's strong witted enough to put them in their place. She has her own personality, what's so wrong with that? Oh., wait, it's because she's not a preppy little cheerleader like I was, isn't it?" Lily challenged.
"No, it's not, at all. She can have her own personality without looking like a total reject of society. I, personally, think it's bad parenting on your part to let her get away with dressing and acting the way she does." Chris accused. Lily laughed dryly.
"Are you trying to say that I'm a bad mother?" She asked, an eyebrow raised in question.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. If you'd put some rules and restrictions in place when she was younger - and then enforced them - she wouldn't be like this." Chris stated surely.
"How dare you! You have no idea what Kady and I have been through! What gives you the right to stand there and judge me for doing the best I could without you?" Lily yelled.
"I'm her father. That's what gives me the right. Now, I don't care if you want to keep acting like a bitch, I want to see Kady." Chris demanded again.
"You'll have to find her first. Thanks to you, she's taken off." Lily replied smugly.
"What do you mean, she's taken off? You truly are an incompetent mother, aren't you? You can't even keep track of her!" Chris accused again.
Lily had obviously had enough as she lunged forward and tried to hit Chris. Chris grabbed her arm and started twisting, turning her away from himself and pushing her arm up her back. He took a few steps forward, forcing Lily to do the same until she was pressed, face first, into the wall. He pushed her arm up a few times, which caused a large amount of pain to emanate from Lily's elbow and shoulder. Scott had seen enough.
"Cut it out, both of you. You're acting like you're still in high school, for heaven's sake. Let her go, Chris." He warned.
Chris released the hold on Lily and stepped back, only just avoiding Lily's fist as she swung it at him. Scott caught Lily and pulled her away from Chris so that he was standing between them. He felt somewhat like a teacher, separating squabbling teenagers
"There's a bigger issue here than your obviously mutual hate for each other. Kadence is still missing." Scott reminded them. Chris took a step back, holding his hands up to show he was done with the physical side of the argument.
Lily wanted to scream but reluctantly allowed herself to calm down and let rationality back into her system again. It was official. No other man on this entire planet was as infuriating as Chris Harris was, and her desire to kill him was exactly the same as before, when he had first walked out on her and their daughter. Their daughter. Something – someone – that would forever keep them connected and in each others lives; a memory of what they shared that would never die and it was so frustrating! Kadence was as every bit her father as she was her mother – and it frustrated them both that as long as they'd have to look at each other. Scott continued to look back and forth between them, a stern warning clear in his darkened eyes, showing the only bit of sanity and control out of all three of them.
"Now both of you get a damn grip!" he scolded. "You two can yell, scream, and tear each other apart as much as you want, but not while you have your kid missing out there. I don't got the whole 'parenting' thing down, but I think you should be worrying where the hell Kadence is rather than focusing on killing each other!"
Scott stopped talking long enough to let the words sink into them, and hoped their egos wouldn't get in the way of their child's welfare... no matter how screwed up Kady is, her mom loved her. And Chris, her father, loved her. Even though he wasn't in her life, he had always thought about her and rarely had the image of when he left her, as a baby, left his mind and often enough he'd think about how she had turned out. Now he knew. And now he regretted nothing more than when he left her – not Lily – but his daughter. Right now he didn't know what he felt about Lily, other than her parenting skills were far from what he remembered her to be. Scott sighed and relaxed, seeing that there was a chance he was getting through their enraged mental states.
"Your fourteen-year-old daughter needs you. BOTH of you. Deal with it!" he added and turned to Lily. "Should I take you to separate corners?"
"No," she replied. "Forget it. I'm going to find her. Scott, you coming?" Scott nodded and Chris started to protest.
"Excuse me? Am I included in this little plan of yours?"
Lily crossed her arms. "No."
"What?"
"You haven't been in her—"
"Don't start that shit again," Chris cut her off in a tone with obvious warning connotations but quickly changed to a softened expression. Any energy he had to fight with her was now disappearing.
"I'm her father, and I need to be there. I want to be there. Lily... for once in these God damn fourteen years stop blaming me and think of Kadence. Are you honestly going to go on forever denying my existence to her forever? Even when she's about to get married or has kids or whatever?"
Lily smirked at that suggestion and bit her lip to prevent the smile from widening and shook her head. "Are you serious? Does she look like she's gonna be the marrying kind?"
"That's not the point and you know it."
"No, I know what you're saying, Chris," she replied in a tone that now matched his, and stepped closer to him.
"But what good would it do now? Fourteen years. Think about it. Fourteen. You've missed her childhood. You missed everything. When she needed you, you weren't there, and I know a lot of that is my fault. Okay? Blame me all the hell you want. But what good would it do her now? We got this far without you... I know what's best for my daughter. And what's best for her doesn't include you." With a flash of uncertainty in her eyes, Lily blinked it away and had to turn away from him before she collapsed in tears.
Chris had no response to that and for once, with her, he was speechless... those soft words cut deeper than her screamed rambling ever could. Scott gave Lily a reassuring pat on her shoulder and stepped aside to allowed her to get by him.
"Where you going?"
"Jarrett's office. Maybe he'll take pity on me and let me off for half a day to find her," Lily replied with a hopeless shrug.
"Good luck." he chuckled.
Lily walked away and the two men watched after her, and Scott glanced at Chris and straight away felt a bit sorry for him. The man went for so long without knowing where his daughter was, and wasn't allowed to see her. If you haven't experienced it for yourself then its hard to imagine what it would be like to be denied access to someone who was very much apart of you, and through his tough exterior, Chris was feeling that hurt.
"Chris? You okay, man?"
The hurt turned into a scowl and Chris nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. I'll see you in a bit, Scott. Got something to take care of."
"Don't do anything stupid. I know you when you get like this, you've had a rough day—"
"I know what you said, Scott. Drop it. I'm fine." Chris didn't wait for Scott to reply and turned away, briskly walking off in the opposite direction to which Lily had walked, with a clear goal in mind. Scott heard the underlying tone in his voice, but still let him walk away, simply satisfied that the potentially explosive situation had diffused, and started back to his locker room.
Ten minutes later, Lily was again standing in front of Jarrett's desk, and he threw down his pen.
"It's your first day on the job, Ms. Myers. You sure you should be asking for time off?"
Lily clasped her hands in front of her and shifted nervously; she knew he'd be pissed off and want an explanation why this new employee of his was requesting time off. "I know, sir. I'm very sorry. It's my daughter, Kadence—"
"Ah,the one who's been causing trouble amongst my talent?"
Lily's breath caught in her chest and she wondered how the hell he could've found out so quickly; but before she could voice that very thought, Jarrett shook his head.
"Storm told me all about it, Ms. Myers. And I'm warning you. Her kind of behavior; you letting your daughter roam around the place disturbing the employees and wrestlers here, I'm telling you that I will have none of it, you understand?"
With barely a squeak of noise, she nodded and he continued.
"Good. Now I'm gonna cut you some slack, lil' lady because it's your first day. But I want to know why."
Lily brushed stray strands of hair from her face and nodded. "My daughter, she's... disappeared. Probably run off like she usually does. But, the thing is, we haven't been here long and I'm worried, and..."
"Why did she run off?"
"I... don't know," she lied. "But that's how she is when she doesn't get her way and I promise I'll only be an hour; two at tops. I'm so sorry about this, sir."
Jarrett sighed and leaned back in his chair, thinking deeply about the possibilities. He could decide to be a complete jackass and refuse to let her go without fulfilling her duties and proving to them that she was capable of this demanding, yet promising, job. Or, alternatively, he could let her leave on the assumption and promise that she'd return just as soon as she makes sure that her kid is okay. But there was still a lot of work he needed to get done.
"Here's what I'll do for ya, Ms. Myers," he said upon reaching a decision. "I'll let you go, but I need you to do one last errand for me before you do."
"Yes, sir."
Jarrett searched under a small mounted pile of papers on the desk, searching for the document he wanted and a few seconds later, he pulled it from the middle of the pile and flicked through it to make sure it was the right one. Satisfied that he got the right papers, he looked up and reached them out to Lily who took them without hesitation.
"What's this?"
"That's a plan for the show. I need you to take it to Scott D'Amore, manager for Team Canada. Storm is outside, you may have seen him, I told him to hang back and take you to D'Amore."
Lily's reluctance was so transparent it wasn't funny, and she stared between Jarrett and the script. "Why not just get Storm to do it?"
"Number one, you are my assistant. Number two, it's your job. Number three, I trust James Storm about as far as I can throw the son-of-a-drunken-bitch hick. Is there some issue you have about this? Besides," Jarrett shrugged. "It's Harris who's the trustworthy one of AMW."
Lily bit her lip, withholding a sharp quip that threatened to burst out of her when hearing that remark. Chris? Trustworthy? Yeah, about as trustworthy as a shark in bloody water. She opened her mouth to start back at Jarrett, to refute what he just said, but he held up his hand in the gesture to silence her before she could utter a syllable.
"Don't say it," he warned. "I've been hearing how you two act with each other. Now, I need you to do this for me. Storm is waiting outside, now go. Afterwards you can find your daughter. If there's anything you need, be sure to let me know," he added with a touch of kindness.
Defeated, Lily nodded and muttered a quick apology for her conduct and attitude, and hurried to the door. After opening it, sure enough James Storm was there in front of her, leaning against the wall looking none too pleased about being called on for babysitting duty for the woman who was out to kill his tag partner and friend. Lily closed the door behind her and tried to keep their eyes disconnected.
"Hi," she softly greeted, not caring for formalities right now.
"Hey, lady. What you got?"
"Script for D'Amore."
James snorted and laughed at that. "He's never read a script in his life, dumb bastard."
Lily rolled her eyes, "Do you know where he is or not? I gotta get out of here."
"Yeah, yeah, chill... you'll find her, don't worry."
"I'm her mother, of course I worry," she snapped and they walked down the hall at safe distances from each other.
"Can I ask you somethin'?" James wondered, cutting into the uncomfortable silence that had descended upon them.
"Sure." Lily replied shortly, not sure if she really wanted him to or not.
"How is it that I've known Chris for years and never knew he had a kid? I mean... what happened between the two of you that meant she couldn't be part of his life?" James asked tentatively. He didn't really want her to get upset or angry with him but he'd been wondering about it since he found out.
"He chose wrestling over Kady and I. I honestly thought that he'd take a while to think about it but he just up and left the day after I told him to make the choice. He was gone for months before he even tried calling me to ask how Kady was. His first love has always been and will always be wrestling and I didn't think that was fair on Kady. After he left, I kept waiting for him to prove that he wanted to be a father to her but... he never did." Lily replied sadly before taking a deep breath to regain a little strength.
"What does it matter now? That was just over thirteen years ago. I've dealt with being a single parent since he left so there is no way I'm going to let him swan into Kady's life and pretend he's the greatest father ever now. Especially since I know that, as soon as he's bored of playing daddy, he'll just leave again. I can't let him do that to her." Lily figured.
"Quit babbling about crap you don't know about. Chris ain't the asshole you make him out to be. Hearing the way he spoke about her earlier, I can tell that he'd never give her up if you gave him a chance to prove himself now." James defended his friend.
"Too little, too late." Lily stated firmly, not wishing to continue the discussion.
"Because you say so? That's bullshit! You need to get over yourself and let him get to know his kid. Doesn't she deserve the truth? Doesn't she deserve the best? Chris is one of the greatest guys I know but you're standing here telling me he's not good enough to be a father to his own kid when you've never given him the chance to be? No wonder she's so messed up, look at the example she has." James vented.
Lily was stunned by his outburst. Not only that but, he was the second person that day to imply that she wasn't a good mother. She was about to reply to James and tell him exactly where to go but he'd stopped in front of a door.
"Team Canada's locker room. I'm done." He told her, motioning to the door before walking off down the hall.
"Asshole." Lily muttered before taking a breath to calm herself. She reached up a hesitant hand and knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door was pulled open and a guy with dark hair pulled back into a short ponytail stood in front of her.
"What do you want?" He asked gruffly, not particularly caring who the person was.
"I have a script here for Scott D'Amore from Jeff Jarrett." Lily replied, holding the script up slightly. The guy reached to grab for it but she held it out of his grasp.
"Are you Scott D'Amore? It's my first day so I'd kind of like to be able to put names to faces and all that." She told him.
"Nah. I'm Petey Williams, captain of Team Canada." Petey answered self importantly. Lily nodded, making a mental note of his slight arrogance.
"Right. Is Mr D'Amore here, then? I really should make sure he gets this." Lily reasoned.
"Come on in." Petey decided, pulling the door open for her. Lily entered the room to see four guys other than Petey sitting or standing around. Guessing the portly looking guy in the corner looked most like a manager type, Lily made her way towards him.
"Mr D'Amore?" She asked, just to be sure. He nodded, a little curious as to who she was and what she was doing in his locker room.
"I'm Lily Myers, Jeff Jarrett's new personal assistant. He asked me to bring you this." She told him, holding out the script. D'Amore looked at it as if it were a foreign object and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Eric." He said, motioning to a guy with short blond hair. The man stood slightly, took the script from Lily quickly and then settled back into his seat.
"You can go." D'Amore dismissed Lily. She turned to leave, thinking that she'd finally get to go look for Kady now, when Petey stepped over and laughed.
"Cut her some slack, man. It's her first day. Lily, that's Eric Young that took the script from ya. Over there's Alastair Ralphs, or A1 as he likes to be known - he's our muscle. And, that lout over there is Bobby Roode, our enforcer." Petey introduced. Lily nodded to each of them and they offered a wave as Petey said their names.
"No time for niceties, Petey, we have a plan to make. Get her out of here." D'Amore ordered. Petey quickly complied, leading Lily back to the door.
"Sorry about him. He likes being in charge a little too much, sometimes." He whispered as he opened the door and let her out. Lily silently changed her opinion of Petey as she smiled and nodded politely before leaving the room. Now she could go find Kady!
A/N2: So... Kady knows the truth and has disappeared. Chris and Lily now have to face the unknown in order to get her back. Guess we'll have to update again soon so you know how it goes, huh? We'll get to that soon unless Lizzie decides to be mean to you all and withold the next chapter. Phoenix
