Chapter Twenty-One

Uh-Oh

The first thing Cassie was greeted with when she woke up on Wednesday morning was a throbbing headache and nausea. Not a throbbing headache; a pounding headache. The clock glared at her defiantly, glowing the time of nine-thirty-four in her face. Pale sunlight illuminated the room. Cassie groaned, placing a hand over her face. She felt like death had warmed over.

Cassie didn't remember the night before. She had been obliterated, drunk - something she didn't normally do. Last night was supposed to be special. She felt stupid for letting herself get so out of control. Stretching out, she cried out in pain when she gave herself a Charley horse. She sat up and let out another exclamation of shock when she saw the big man lying beside her. He was already awake and biting back his laughter.

"Oh my God..." She clapped a hand to her forehead. Her headache suddenly seemed a thousand times worse. "Oh my God...I don't believe this..."

Her reaction was priceless. Dave sat up, chuckling. She stared at him, laughing from shock. She didn't really see anything funny about this. "Oh my God, Dave. Did we...?"

He pulled back the sheet and looked down. "I think so," he admitted. "To be honest, I don't remember much. I think I was just as smashed as you were last night." Cassie groaned.

"You don't remember either?"

"I remember we came back here. I don't remember anything else after that."

"Oh God. Oh God..." Cassie repeated the words over and over. She was naked under the sheets. She didn't need to pull them back and take a look.

"What's the big deal. I mean, we have been seeing each other..."

"We haven't been together that long, have we?"

"I've been counting since January."

Cassie put her head in her hands. Her gaze fell on her clothing on the floor. They were stained with drinks. There was a half-empty red wine bottle on her nightstand. "Oh, Jesus. We had more when we got back here?"

"Yeah. My head is telling me that much," he said with a groan.

"Wow. We must have been super loaded last night," Cassie mused. She reached for her robe on the floor and slid it on, slowly getting out of bed. Her bones and joints ached like nothing she had ever experienced before. The leg that had Charley horsed almost made her buckle. She couldn't stop laughing sporadically; after all, it wasn't every morning she woke up after a night of heavy drinking beside Dave Batista. She went to her suitcase and pulled out her clothing for the day. "I am going to get dressed. When I come out, we are going to try and regroup and remember just what happened last night."

"We aren't going to remember, Cassie. We got smashed, we're here and we're naked. I'm pretty sure Ray Charles could see what happened here."

"Dave, I want to know what we did exactly." She walked into the bathroom and got changed. When she emerged, she had changed into a pair of blue jeans and a baby pink tank top. "God, I never get like this."

"Like what?"

"So drunk that I don't remember who I sleep with!" she exclaimed. Dave put a finger to his lips.

"Shh!" he shushed her. "You might want to watch how loudly you say that."

Cassie sank down onto the mattress, sitting at the edge of the bed. "God. This is weird."

"It's not that weird. Come on. Let's go for breakfast."

Cassie spotted Jillian eating breakfast with Michael Cole and JBL. Jillian spotted Dave and Cassie and waved them over. She could tell right away that Cassie and Dave were hungover in the worst kind of way. Michael and JBL's gazes followed Jillian and waved her over. "Wow, don't I feel like the center of attention?" Dave joked softly into her ear.

"Let's go join them. If we don't, we both know Bradshaw is going to make a scene," Cassie said to him softly. He nodded. They made their way through the tables and sat down at the table with Michael, Jillian and Bradshaw.

"Good morning, Cassie. Batista. How was your night last night?" JBL inquired, a wide smile spreading across his face. He stole a look at his image consultant, Jillian, who stared into her scrambled eggs with a wide smirk tugging at her glossy pink lips.

"Good...I think," Cassie murmured softly. She ordered a cup of coffee and some bacon and eggs. Dave ordered the same, hoping the greasy food and coffee would help sop up the alcohol.

"Don't remember?" JBL teased.

"Actually, no."

"That's too bad," JBL announced, "Because you two were so very entertaining last night."

Cassie and Dave shot each other a look. "What? You were there?" Cassie whispered. She felt the color drain from her face.

"Jillian and I go to that bar all the time," JBL informed them. "We were there, and so was Rey with Gregory and Matt. We all saw you. Cassie, I think it was after your sixth Long Island Iced Tea that you and Dave hit the dance floor." JBL laughed at the memory. Cassie wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. "It was great." JBL left it at that. Cassie held her head in her hands, her face going as red as the dress she wore the night before. The waitress returned with their coffee.

"I caught a few photos of it on my phone and sent it to Ashley. She sent it to Hunter, who probably sent it to Vince," Jillian told her. "So be prepared. I think Vince knows about how you two were acting." Cassie's embarrassment was beyond words. Jillian was relishing it in a way that only friends could. Everyone else was having far too much fun at their expense, Cassie thought.

"Wonderful," was all Cassie could murmur. She grimaced at the coffee. It tasted burnt.

"That's okay. Don't be embarrassed, Cassie. What happened at the club was nothing compared to what happened when you made it back here to the hotel. Booker, Sharmell and Paul London saw the two of you making out in the hallway."

"Oh God!" Cassie was mortified. "Do I have to hear this, you guys? I'm going to be getting razzed enough on Tuesday night." She shot a helpless glance at Dave, who wasn't half as bothered by the revelations as Cassie.

"Hey, you spent all last night telling us that you were going to give the big guy here a night to remember," JBL teased. Cassie didn't think she could turn any redder. Dave shot a glance at her, eyebrow cocked. He was smirking.

"Oh, the irony," Jillian laughed. "She wanted to give him a night to remember and now none of them remember a thing." Michael Cole and JBL started laughing. Bradshaw laughed the loudest. He was a firm believer in the "Everything is bigger in Texas" saying. People turned to look at them and Cassie prayed she would just vaporize.

"I caught you guys in the elevator. You two put Edge and Lita to shame with the live sex thing," Michael said. Cassie and Dave shot each other a look that said it all: things were bad when Michael Cole was getting a few good shots in at their expense. The table was in hysterics. Cassie and Dave took it, realizing that a lot had happened the night before. Cassie wasn't sure if she was ever going to be able to live it down.