Backstage, things were going great. Jeff had seen almost all of his old friends, and every one had welcomed him with open arms (and a few playful headlocks). There was just one person left: Trish.
FLASHBACK
Jeff knocked on Trish's door. No answer. He slumped outside.
"Trish I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it… please, just open the door so we can talk…" The door creaked open. Trish was stood there with tears streaming down her face.
"Trish sweetie, come here." Jeff reached for her, but she just moved further away.
"Why are you here Jeff? Shouldn't you be on your way home?" She asked, crying into her dressing gown.
"I couldn't leave knowing that things were like this."
Trish sat down on her pink sofa, hugging her cushions. Jeff could see the pain etched across her face. Suddenly, she lifted her head, and shot her gaze to Jeff. If looks could kill, he'd be dead.
"When exactly were you planning to tell me that you were leaving? I had to hear it from Matt. I told you that you could tell me anything… don't you trust me or something?" Jeff was feeling so guilty. He'd known for quite a while that he was going to leave the WWE. He'd lost his passion for it. It seemed that storylines and scandal came before the actual wrestling. That made him angry. WWE had been his dream ever since he saw Hulk Hogan v Andre The Giant. It had been shattered. Even when he fought a good match, all that the fans were focusing on was the storyline between Trish and him. On the screen, they were meant to be falling in love. What the fans didn't know is that off screen it was really happening. For Trish, anyway. She didn't think that Jeff ever noticed, and she was fine when things were that way. It was just, when he touched her… it just felt right. She didn't care that he had green and purple hair, or that he painted his fingernails black… he was still the guy that she loved.
"Trish… I just didn't know how you'd take it… to tell you the truth…" Trish interrupted him. She'd had enough of his shit.
"Look Jeff. It's ok- I'm ok. To tell you the truth, I knew this was going to happen eventually. Don't worry; I know why you're leaving too." Jeff laughed to himself, unaware that Trish had also heard.
"Is something funny?" She asked.
"Trish, I seriously doubt that you know why I'm leaving. So I'll tell you. I've been struggling with a drug problem for well over a year now, and it's getting too much. Everybody thought that when I fell off the rope when I was trying to do that swanton on Kane the other day, it was an accident."
Trish knew where this was heading, and despite making more tears well up in her eyes, it also made her angry. She threw a cushion at Jeff and stood up, screaming at him,
"You were high, weren't you? That's yet another thing that you felt you couldn't trust me with! I asked you Jeff, and you just told me that you were feeling a little dizzy. I ran down from the back to comfort you when the EMT's came to take you to hospital. I stayed by your side when you were in hospital healing! And for what? A DRUG PROBLEM?" Jeff knew that there was no point in interrupting her, so he just let her carry on.
" Just to think… I was in love with somebody that didn't really exist!" And with that, she grabbed her sports bag and slammed the locker room door shut behind her. Jeff heard her car pull out of the back.
END OF FLASHBACK
Jeff knocked on her door just as he had all those years ago. This time somebody answered. Trish was on her phone talking to somebody, not really paying attention to who was there.
"Come in." She said absent-mindedly. She looked at the couch, laughing at something that the person on the other end of the line had said. When she realised who was sat there, the smile vanished from her face.
"Yeah, girl, I'll call you later, something just came up." She put the phone down and stared at Jeff with a blank look on her face. He couldn't even take a guess at what she was thinking, something that scared him.
"Hey Trish, you look great!" Jeff decided that a compliment was the only thing that was going to break the ice between him and Trish. He hugged her. She didn't know whether to hug him or slap him. She decided on the latter. Jeff held the side of his face.
"Well, I guess I deserved that." He joked.
"Your damn right," Trish replied, trying to suppress a smile. She squeezed him tight.
"I'm sorry Jeff. I just had to get that out of my system. I've been waiting to do that ever since you left." She swept a straggle of his red and blue hair out of his eyes.
"Fair play." He laughed. This was how he imagined things to be (minus the slap of course). He had been afraid that Trish was just going to run out crying, or get her boyfriend to see him out. But that didn't happen. They stared at each other for a while.
"I love you too Trish." Jeff whispered in her ear.
"Where did that come from?" she questioned. Jeff didn't know it, but her heart was leaping with joy. She had waited over three years for those words to come from his lips, and they had. Not when he was under the influence or high. When he meant it. When he was himself again. They just stayed in each other's arms, not saying a word, moving only to allow their lips to connect.
"Eww, Jeff…"
"What?" He asked, panicking in case he did something wrong.
"Your paint is all over me. Go and take a shower!"
He chuckled and walked towards the shower, and said in his sexy southern accent,
"Care to join me?"
"Of course…" came Trish's reply.