Chapter Twenty

The Return

July seventh.

Cassie had been waiting for this date for months. Now she stood in front of the mirror in the shower area, dressed in nothing but a baby blue lace underwear set, holding dress after dress against her body. It felt like she had nothing good enough to wear.

He was coming back, and she had every intention of making it a night he'd never forget. The company's official website had been addressing the rumors that Dave would be confronting Mark Henry, the man who had put him on the shelf. Everyone was watching and waiting for Dave's arrival, but he hadn't reached the arena yet. Josh Mathews was out back, microphone in hand, hoping to get a comment from the former champion. Josh promised he'd call Cassie the second he caught a glimpse of Dave.

She exhaled. The baby pink dress was nice, but she didn't care all that much for the bow under the breasts. The black dress was nice, but the neckline plunged a little more than she was used to. The red was gorgeous, but she wasn't sure how much leg she was willing to show off for him. She was getting confused and irritated with each passing second. Her mind was doing the pros and cons of wearing each dress, and she was beginning to think that seeing him on this night was just a bad idea.

"Cassie?"

It was Jillian Hall. She took a deep sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was Dave walking into the Divas locker room while she was in her underwear, knee-high in dresses. She turned to her friend.

"Jillian - help me!" Cassie cried out, her voice desperate. There was an edge of laughter. Jillian walked in, staring at the pile of dresses and sighed.

"You are hopeless, you know," Jillian told her. She was dressed in a white mini skirt and a black T-shirt that fought to conceal her giant breasts.

"That's great. Could you help me?"

Jillian laughed. She looked through the dresses. "I'd say go with the red. It looks good on you. Red lips, too - the red lips are a must-have with a dress like this."

"Thanks, Jill. You're a life saver," Cassie told her, sliding the spaghetti strapped dress over her head. It had a sweetheart neckline and a black rose that was perched on top of the slit. It was a knee-length dress. She loved the way the scarlet material sparkled. She admired her reflection in the mirror. "Do I look okay?"

"Wow. Look at you," Jillian teased. "And just to think, a good seven months ago, you were just hating his guts."

"Past that," she replied airily, putting on her mascara. She quickly brushed out her hair and styled it around her face, then set about applying the dark red lipstick to her lips. She clasped on her diamond bracelet, put on the matching necklace and earrings and she examined herself in the mirror. "Do I look all right?"

"Yeah," Jillian replied. "I doubt he'll care, Cass. He'll just be happy to see you."

"I know," she admitted. "The last time we saw each other was when he punched out the King." They laughed. King Booker was now their champion, and with nobody as a real front-runner in the competition, Batista's impending return was nothing more than a breath of fresh air to the WWE roster.

"You spoken to Cena lately?" Jillian inquired. Cassie nodded.

"Yeah. I talk to him at least once a week. It's starting to get sparse, though. His schedule is straight up crammed. Marine appearances, magazine covers, TV shows, sometimes I wonder how the hell that man can do it."

"It has to be the fans new attitudes towards him," Jillian told her. "They say that jealousy can fuel somebody to greater heights."

"I wouldn't doubt that with John," Cassie replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She could hear the ringtone of "Bodies" filling the locker room. "That has to be Josh." She bolted past a laughing Jillian and answered the phone. "Hello?" she listened for a few minutes as Jillian watched intently. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know." She hung up.

"Batista's here?" Jillian asked.

"No," Cassie pouted. "It was my mom. She took my dog to the vet." Her dog, Chintzy, was having an operation to remove a tumor. The dog usually stayed with her mother when she was on the road. Jillian laughed.

"You're going to die of a heart attack by the time he gets here," Jillian commented. "Would you just sit down and relax?"

"I can't," Cassie admitted. "I'm just...I feel so nervous."

"Don't be," Jillian told her, exasperated. "You carded tonight?"

"No. But I have a match next week against Ms. McCool," Cassie told her with a roll of her eyes. Since her return, Michelle had been making life difficult on a lot of other Divas. Ashley Massaro, especially. It didn't help that Jillian, Ashley and Cassie were all good friends. Jillian and Cassie especially. Ashley was still relatively new to SmackDown. Her contract had expired with Raw, and, being sick of being beaten down by Mickie James, she opted to come to SmackDown. But with Michelle McCool coming in, she's been doing nothing but tormenting Ashley. To top it off, she joined forces with fellow Diva Search reject Kristal and they were trying to wreak havoc on SmackDown's meager women's division. Cassie was just staying off to the sidelines on this one, letting the two blonde Divas deal with the rejects. It seemed to be paying off as well; Jillian and Ashley had been handing the Divas their asses.

Her cell phone rang again. She looked at the caller ID. Didn't register. "Hello? Hey. He is? Thanks, Josh." She hung up the phone.

"Don't say a word."

"He's here! He's here!"

Dave was riding high with adrenaline. It felt great to be back. Only minutes before, he had left Mark Henry beaten and bloodied in the ring, injuring the former Olympian so badly that he had to be taken to the trainer's office. He walked with purpose through the hallway, changed into a white suit with a white T-shirt underneath, greeting everybody he came across. He was on his way to the Divas locker room. There was a woman he was aching to see.

He knocked on the door. Jillian swung it open. "Oh, thank God you're finally here," Jillian greeted. "She has been driving me crazy since Josh called her."

Dave smirked and he chuckled as he walked past Jillian and into the locker room. Cassie came out of the shower area, squealing in delight and rushing over to him, hugging him tightly. She kissed him quickly on his lips, which caught him by surprise. "I've been waiting for you all night," she told him. "What took you so long."

"Business beckoned. Besides, I thought you were going to dress up for this occasion and I didn't want to wreck your dress."

"What are you doing tonight?" she asked. He was very aware of her fingers dancing along the back of his neck.

"Not a thing."

"Then let's go out. You and me. Paint the town red," she whispered. She looked down at her dress and laughed. "Literally, I guess."

With smiles and laughs, they linked arms and left the locker room, leaving Jillian to shake her head in amazement. Cassie was so lovesick it wasn't funny.