CHAPTER 3 - FEELING THE CONNECTION
"So, I left the Marines and got back into wrestling," Randy finished as he took another sip of his wine before placing the glass back on the table "Probably the best decision I ever made."
Mim laughed with him.
It had been now 2 months since she arrived to work for the WWE and she was loving ever minute of it. Sure, she'd had a heap of work to do with Wrestlemania XX quickly approaching, but she loved what she was doing and she got to work with and meet a lot of great people. She was currently working in the new talent area of Art and Design and so far she'd designed the trademark logos for WWE superstars from Simon Dean (who was going to be a new face on RAW and also a sponsor) to Gene Snitsky (a new rival for Kane in the Kane/Lita story line soon to be coming onto RAW). She'd also been working closely with a selected few of RAW's not so recent talent, such as Evolution, Stacey Keibler, and Chris Jericho. She'd met all these high profile WWE superstars and couldn't be happier. Eric also had plans for her to move up into the division of PPV designs (everything from T-shirts to television logos) and maybe even a new story line with Evolution, where she would be making appearances on RAW. It was all she ever dreamed of. Who would have ever though that 3 months ago she would be sitting in the most expensive restaurant in LA with the most dominating force in Sports Entertainment today, Evolution.
Mim smiled as she took another look at Randy Orton infront of her. So, she and Randy hadn't got off to the greatest start, but she was glad for that. Randy now knew that Miriam Jane Batista was no girl to mess around with, even if she was only turning 17 next weekend. She and Randy had got to know each other really well in her 2 months here, and being 24, it was nice to have someone younger to talk to for a change. I mean she and Randy obviously had a better connection that she and Ric (Flair) did! She and Randy realised they had a lot in common and it was nice to have someone (apart from your brother) close to you when you're on the road 11 out of the 12 months in a year. That person for Mim was Randy, and she was glad she had him.
"So," Randy said breaking Mim's chain of thought "Tell me about the spectacular life of Miriam Jane Batitsa."
Randy sat back in his chair as he watched the 16 year old girl infront of him. He was all ears.
"Well," Mim said as she took a sip of her lemonade through her straw "Where do I start?"
"Right at the beginning," Randy said as he smiled at her.
"Ok," Mim replied as she smiled "Well, my life story doesn't begin in Louisville, KENTUCKY, but it still ends up with the WWE."
Randy half laughed before continuing to listen. Mim flicked her long brown locks out of her face before starting.
"I was born in Washington D.C, 25th February 17 years ago. Dave was a good 14 years older than me and my older brother, Scott, was 5 years older. I was the baby of the family. The little princess. The only girl, so obviously I got whatever I wanted. Whenever I wanted it. Dave hated me for that."
Mim laughed and so did Randy.
"My life was pretty much normal up until I was about 10. Dave got into wrestling and I started taking acting classes just because all my friends were doing it. It was the 'cool' thing to do, and when you're 10, whatever seems cool, you do it! Anyway, I got into professional acting into my teens and by 13 I was signed with an acting agent and was doing TV commercials in D.C. It was fun while it lasted, but by the end of the year I realised that I really didn't enjoy it. I just did it cause I was good at it. It didn't make me happy and I knew that I definitely needed more in my life than TV commercials. So, my agent suggested I turn to modelling."
"Seems like you had a pretty smart agent," Randy said as he looked Mim straight in the eye.
Mim could feel herself slightly blushing, so she had to think quick.
"You wanna hear the rest of the story, or not Orton!" Mim quickly said as she eyed Randy.
"My apologies," Randy said raising his hand's in defence "Continue."
"OK. So I try my hand at modelling and before I know I'm getting calls from every modelling agency in D.C. Asking if they could sign me. I was getting job line ups every day and before I knew it, I was a professional model. A 15 year old high school student with a career blossoming right before my eyes. However, then I realise that I want something more than modelling. So, I keep modelling on the side and turn towards my real passion: art and design. I get all the qualifications, skills and before you know it Dave's got me a job interview with the Art and Design Department with the WWE. I go for the interview, wait months before I get an answer and now here I am, sitting with Evolution in the most expensive restaurant in LA. Life doesn't get much better than that."
Randy smiled as Mim completed her story. They then sat in silence for a couple of moments. Mim looked at the other occupants of her table. There was Ric chatting away to Hunter about tomorrow night's RAW and how the scripts would work. Then there was Dave and Mellina, his new girlfriend. She was absolutely gorgeous! Tall, blonde, green-eyed and obviously smitten by Dave. The two had been dating for almost 6 months now. Mellina worked in the Art and Design Department with Mim, except she specialised in Computer Aided Design.
"So, how's the boyfriend going?" Randy said breaking the silence.
Mim's head spun around to face Randy.
"Jack?" Mim asked. Randy simply nodded. "Not so good."
Mim rested her head in her hand as she half smiled at Randy. Randy watched her intently, obviously waiting for an elaboration on her last comments.
"He's not coping so well with me travelling and the distance. We never get to see each other anymore. He's busy with college and I'm busy with work here. It's just not working."
Mim could tell Randy understood. Randy had a girlfriend too, Livi, back in his hometown St Louis, and they weren't coping so well with the distance either as of late. However, they had lasted for 10 months already. Mim and Jack had only been together for 4 months and already it was getting difficult. Randy saw the look of concern on Mim's face and he reached out and touched her hand that was rested on the table infront of her. Mim looked up at him.
"Don't worry," Randy said reassuring her "It'll all work out. Trust me."
Mim smiled. She believed him. She did trust Randy. Mim turned her hand over and took Randy's hand in hers. She looked down at their entangled hands. Randy then squeezed her hand ever so slightly which caused Mim to look up into his eyes again.
He sweetly smiled at her and she smiled back. There was something about his touch. Something about Randy Orton that Mim couldn't quite put her finger on. All she knew was she could feel the connection.
"This is nice," Randy said as he outstretched his hand to take a hold of Mim's necklace.
It was a simple silver chain with a small silver locket hung from it. The locket had the letter's MB engraved on the front. Mim had been given it by Dave for her 16the birthday. She treasured it with her heart.
"Dave gave it to me for my 16th," Mim said as Randy gently fingered the locket.
"It suits you," Randy said still holding the locket in his hand.
Then suddenly Randy's hand covered the locket and touched the soft skin of Mim's skin.
Mim felt it and she looked up at Randy who was already looking at her. Mim's hand, almost by instinct, then went to neck too. She placed her small hand over Randy's hand and Randy looked her straight in the eye. Mim's hand then grabbed Randy's and moved it down her skin until it came to rest just inbetween Mim's breasts. Mim's breathing became harder and she could hear so was Randy's. Randy then moved along the couch towards Mim. Mim's head advanced forward and soon her and Randy were only centimetres from touching heads. Randy slightly tilted his head and so did Mim. Mim slowly closed her eyes as the two inched closer and closer. She could feel it coming. She could feel Randy's breath against her skin. They were millimetres now from touching at the lips, when...
