Chapter Nineteen

The Biggest Party of the Summer

"Holy shit," Torrie Wilson sighed in admiration as she, Cassie, Trish Stratus and Maria Kanellis made their way to the house that WWE had rented out for the big SummerSlam commercial shoot and WWE Magazine summer issue. They were standing in the backyard, all dressed in silk robes of different colors. Torrie wore a pink silk robe, hiding an aqua colored bikini. Cassie wore a black silk robe to disguise the emerald green bikini she was wearing. Trish wore red and red, while Maria wore an orange silk robe, concealing her violet string bikini. They were ready for a day of fun, complete with barbecuing, swimming and suntanning. JBL was already lying on the grass, surrounded by coolers and beer cans. He was snoozing in the May heat.

"Geronimo!"

They looked to the pool to see John Cena doing a flying belly flop into the pool. One of the WWE cameramen got the perfect picture of it. He landed with a huge splash, drenching all five members of the Spirit Squad, who had inhabited the shallow end of the pool, all dressed in matching green shorts. The girls separated, with Trish going to the makeup area to get herself touched up before her photo shoot. Kane watched. Shelton Benjamin and Carlito were talking to each other, hanging out around one of the barbecues.

"Yo, Maria! Up here! Come up here!"

Maria and Cassie looked up to see Candice Michelle waving to her from the balcony on the top floor of the house, dressed in a tiny orange bikini that struggled to cover her breasts. Maria quickly whipped off her robe, revealing her bikini, and she disappeared into the house, rushing up the stairs to join Candice, who she had become friends with during their time as Diva Search contestants. Torrie looked over at Cassie, who had taken off her robe and had it folded neatly over her forearm.

"Do you think Dave is here yet?" Torrie asked. Cassie looked at her in surprise.

"Dave is supposed to be here?" she asked.

"Yeah. We're all supposed to be doing this. Then we have to get ready for Kane's movie premiere. You're going to that, right?"

"Yeah. I have to be out of here by four to start getting ready," Cassie answered. Torrie took off her robe, and the two of them handed their robes to a prop guy. "I can't wait to see this movie. I seriously love a good horror movie. I'm actually really excited for Kane."

"Me, too," Torrie admitted. With Randy Orton on a sixty day suspension for his bad behavior, the two of them knew it was safe to walk around in the open in their bikinis. Carlito was more than making up for it though, acting as a troublemaker and an instigator.

The day progressed, and there was still not a sign of Dave. Big Show had taken over the grill and was making hamburgers and hot dogs for everybody. D-Generation X, dressed like ridiculous suburban golf players, were playing a game of polo with each other while Trish Stratus, Shelton Benjamin and Victoria watched. The day was turning out to be a lot of fun. Cassie was sipping a glass of lemonade and eating the burger Big Show had made her.

"How on Earth do you cook a burger this good, Show?" Cassie asked him. "You seriously have to tell me."

"Well, I could tell you," he deadpanned, "But then I'd have to kill you." The two of them laughed. The sounds of a scuffle and shouting interrupted their moment of joviality. They shot bewildered glances at each other and turned their gazes across the yard.

"What on Earth is going on?"

"I don't know, Cass. Let's go take a look, shall we?" She followed the world's largest athlete across the backyard to find four huge men pulling Dave apart from King Booker. Show gave Cassie a nudge. Dave's nose was bleeding. "You should probably take him upstairs and get him cleaned up." With a sigh, Cassie nodded and stepped in, grabbing Dave by the wrist.

"Come on, Big Guy," she told him dryly, pulling him away from the ruckus. King Booker's eye was already swelling shut, and he was livid.

Cassie dragged Dave wordlessly into the house and upstairs to the bathroom. She had Dave sit down on the toilet lid as she searched around for any sign of the first aid kit. She found it, along with cotton balls and a bottle of peroxide. "So what happened there?" she asked.

"Personal." His tone was short and curt. She knew better than to ask questions. If it was personal, it was personal.

"Are you going to Kane's premiere tonight?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know. You think I should?"

"I think so. I mean, you worked a good deal with him back when you were on Raw. I think he would appreciate it if you came out for his big night." She dabbed the cotton ball in the peroxide and gently applied the cotton ball to the scratch on his forehead. It had broken the skin and left a red blotch around the area. He winced. "Don't be such a baby."

"Baby?" he asked her incredulously. She flashed him a tight smile. He leaned up and kissed her lips softly. He pulled back and she looked at him. "One for the road. I am out on injured reserve, you know."

"You'll be back before you know it. From the looks of it, you're going to be coming back to open up shop on Booker's ass," she commented. He smirked. She continued to clean the wounds across his chin. "I guess it's better you two get this out of your system now. Before all of this, how has your afternoon been?"

"It's been all right. I've been looking for you since I got here."

"I'm amazed Randy isn't here," she replied, eager to change the subject. "Even if he is on suspension, I figured he would be back in time for this magazine to hit newsstands."

"He's been left out of campaigns before," Dave told her. "This is no different than the Mania thing." Randy hadn't been asked to take part in the WrestleMania 21 commercials, parodies of popular movie trailers. Dave, along with many others, had parodied a famous scene from the movie Taxi Driver.

"Come on. Let's get you downstairs and back to the party." She looked down at him. He was dressed like Rambo, complete with the bullet belt. He was just missing the machine guns. She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist. She stopped, turning to him. The look on her face registered surprise. "Don't make me drag you, Dave." With a laugh, he stood, letting her lead him down the stairs.

Dressed in a black and red glittering strapless dress, Cassie stepped onto the red carpet for the premiere of Kane's horror movie See No Evil. Her caramel hair was in tight ringlets, with dark and dramatic makeup. She looked like a Gothic version of the girl-next-door. She waved to fans, took a few photographs and signed some autographs. She joined Candice Michelle, who was standing with Torrie Wilson. Candice had dressed in white, Torrie in blue.

"How was the rest of the party?" Cassie asked.

"Good. Carlito managed to get Trish topless. She was pissed," Candice said with a laugh.

"Wow. How long did that take him?" Cassie asked.

"Four hours."

"Who is all here?" Cassie asked.

"Booker, Sharmell, Cena, Shawn, Kurt, Viscera, Maria, MNM, Kristal, all the McMahons, Triple H. They're all here," Torrie confessed. "I know Batista is scheduled to be here, but nobody has seen him yet. Come on. Let's go inside and get our seats." Cassie nodded and followed the two women into the theater. They instantly ran into John Cena, who was dressed like he was going to wrestle instead of watch a movie.

"Wow, Cassie, you are looking hot tonight," John observed. Cassie felt herself blush.

"Thanks, John. You look like you're ready to wrestle." They laughed.

"Suits don't suit me. You know that." Candice and Torrie told Cassie they'd meet her inside. They disappeared through the open black doors. "I'm sitting with Shawn tonight. Did you want to join us?"

"Do I want to sit beside two of the greatest Superstars in the history of this industry and watch a movie? Hell yeah, I want to!" Linking arms with John and Shawn, who had approached the two of them with a bucket of popcorn in his hands, they went inside the theater. The three of them passed MNM. Cassie and Melina glared daggers at each other as Cassie and her boys walked into the quickly filling theater.

Dave was running late. Management and the company website both wanted to talk to him about the knock-down, drag-out brawl he had with Booker T several hours before at the photo-shoot/summer party. It wasn't a big deal; management had already dismissed it as an ego clash, boys being boys. But Dave had just caught the tail end of the red carpet and now he had to hunt through a darkened theater for any sign of Cassie.

He saw her caramel hair gleaming in the light the movie had cast from the screen. She was in the middle row, sitting with John Cena and Shawn Michaels. The right side beside her was empty. She had saved a spot for him. Moving swiftly and as quietly as he could, he sat down beside Cassie.

"Yeah. A whole bunch of people wanted to talk to me about you-know-what," he informed her. She nodded and they settled down to watch the movie that was "See No Evil".