Chapter 19: The Stupid Bet

Randy didn't have much luck in his search Chris and Christian, but he eventually caught up with Matt after heading back to the main locker room for the men. He desperately wanted to resolve the situation with the bet, which continued to compromise his relationship with Molly.

"Matt! I've been looking for you everywhere man!" he shouted, as Matt packed away his gear.

"Sorry man... I had to have a massage. Hurt my back out there tonight." Matt apologized. He was curious to note that Randy seemed to have perked up a bit.

"Oh right... you OK now?"

"Yeah, it's cool."

"Great. Listen... have you seen Jericho and Christian anywhere? I think we all need to talk."

Matt stopped what he was doing and looked over towards Randy, who was not as perked up as he had first surmised. He had a worried expression on his face, almost frantic, and Matt quickly figured out why Randy was keen for them all to talk.

"They left earlier... I think they are going out on the town tonight. You're not worrying about the bet still?"

"Worrying? I guess you could say that. Neither of them are looking to claim are they?"

"Not as far as I'm..." Matt started, before he changed his line of inquiry, "You're not worried about paying up, are you?"

Randy shot back a mellow look to assure Matt that he had no worries about paying up if needs be. That was the least of his concerns. "Not at all man. If anything, I'll pay you guys off if we can forget that the bet ever happened."

"Well... that's fine by me... but I doubt that the other guys will go for that. I think they're having fun with this. They did hint that they were going out with their girls again this evening. I think they are determined to win this thing."

That was the last thing Randy wanted to hear. He stalled for a moment, before fumbling around in his coat pocket for his cellphone. Once he had found it, he hurriedly dialed Chris' number and awaited an answer. None was forthcoming, so he tried again.

"Who you ringing?" Matt asked, but no response was given.

Randy cursed as Chris failed to pick up again. Undeterred, he tried to call Christian. Once, twice, three times, there was no answer. Angered that he couldn't get in touch with either of them, he threw his phone into his kit bag and slammed his fist against the door of his locker.

"Hey Randy! Calm down man!"

Randy was in no mood to be calm. "This stupid bet has become the bane of my life. Can't you see that?"

"Yeah... I understand... but getting upset about it isn't going to help, is it?"

"Right... but I just wish we hadn't made it in the first place. All for a few lousy bucks."

"Look on the bright side... you and Molly wouldn't have gotten together if we hadn't made it."

There was no bright side to Randy. Matt had a good point; he probably wouldn't have found love with Molly without the bet, but it was little consolation. The bet made him miserable, and threatened to undermine everything he had achieved since the idea was spawned.

"I need to find them. I want this sorted tonight." he said sternly, with a look of determination on his face.

"Leave it 'til the morning Rand, it can wait. We need to chill out this evening." Matt said with an air of coolness.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Randy answered gruffly.

"I bumped into Molls in the treatment room funnily enough. As I am sure you're aware, she is rooming with Trish tonight and she asked if we wanted to join them later."

The idea didn't thrill Randy too much, as he had been looking forward to spending some quality time with his girlfriend once he had sorted his business out. However, he did remember that Molly had backed out of spending time with Trish at the weekend to spend time with him instead. The thing that worried him was that Matt and Trish were implicated in the bet and he didn't want any complications to jeopardize matters further.

"So what do you say?" Matt continued, as Randy stalled with his answer.

"I dunno... you and Trish... kind of complicated." he said, citing his concerns.

"Oh, come on! Forget about the bet for one night. It'll be fun."

'Yeah. Great fun.' Randy thought, but he could see that Matt was not about to take no for an answer. "Fine. As long as you promise that you won't tell Trish anything about the bet. Not a single thing."

"No worries... you have my word."

Randy hoped that Matt could keep his promise. He knew that if Trish ever found out about the bet, she would make his life hell. As he began to pack his belongings away, that thought sent an icy chill down his spine. 'Tomorrow, this gets resolved. End of.'

Molly gingerly made her way down the corridors back towards the women's locker room after the trainer had finished her back massage. On the way, she couldn't help but mull over how strange Trish's reaction had been earlier when she had suggested that Randy and Matt join them later in the evening. Things had felt tense between them ever since she had become close with Randy and she began to wonder if it was such a good idea after all.

The main reason for her thinking that was Trish's insistence that she had to leave in a hurry, shortly after Molly made the suggestion. Trish told her that she would meet her back at the hotel room later, which was almost unheard of; they regularly rode to and from the arena together. She was convinced that Trish was fed up with essentially being neglected and wanted to make a point. With that in mind, Molly was keen to give her a call and make sure that she was cool with her idea and wasn't just going along with it to keep her happy.

"Hello?"

"Hey T!"

"Hey Moll."

The flat tone of Trish's reply on the other end of the line suggested that she was unhappy in some way and that hurt Molly. She'd often found it difficult to make lasting friendships in the locker room for one reason or another and she hated the thought of losing Trish through neglect on her part.

"Are you back at the hotel yet?" she asked in a bright and breezy way.

"Yeah."

"Cool. Listen, I'm really sorry for even suggesting that Randy and Matt come over tonight... I'm going to call them now and cancel, OK?" She said, convinced that she was doing the right thing.

It seemed that Trish had other ideas, "What? Nah, it's fine honestly. I don't mind."

Molly was very surprised at how swiftly Trish had given her approval to stick to the original plan. So much so that she was actually lost for words and couldn't think of anything meaningful to say.

"You still there?" Trish asked, after Molly neglected to say anything in response.

"Yeah, sorry. I suppose I feel bad for abandoning you these past few days... we need to catch up and spend some time together. It's only fair."

"Don't sweat it..." Trish started, before a knock could be heard in the background. "Hang on, I think they are here already."

'Keen!' Molly thought to herself, as she awaited confirmation about the identity of the person or persons at the door to their hotel room.

"Yes it's them." Trish said, "I better let them in then, OK?"

"As long as you are sure?" Molly replied, desperate to get one final thumbs up from Trish.

"I'm sure. Now you better hurry up and get back here... otherwise, who knows what these pair might do to me."

"Trish!" Molly squealed in reply; but ultimately she was pleased to hear some dry wit from the Canadian diva. She sure did miss being around to see that side of her personality.

"See you soon then."

"Bye!" Molly answered and then hung up. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Trish was rarely one to mince her words and she was convinced that she would have been told about it if there was a problem with the guys coming over to their room. She couldn't wait to get back to the hotel and join them.