The sweat poured from her forehead, as she continued to press through the last few reps of her workout, before moving onto the next station. She could see her uncle's mouth moving, clearly speaking to her, but she had the volume turned up on her earbuds so anything he was saying was in vain. This was his idea of making her suffer in her mind, all because she had chosen to follow and career path and was actually hired, by his best friend, nonetheless. She felt he should be punishing him, not her.
It wasn't like she had went to her family and said she wanted to wrestle. That would have been suicide, especially have the Shawn Michaels as your uncle. Writing had been her passion, and granted she hadn't been given an immediate spot as a writer or any position in creative. She had to adhere to schedules, passing out fliers, accommodating with the productions of the NXT brand – the grunt working. But the work of learning and she saw this as a huge opportunity. And one she wasn't going to blow, either.
"Are you finished with her?" came a voice from the door way before a pair of small hands wrapped around Shawn's legs, a squeal of delight following.
"I bet I know who that is!" Shawn said, grabbing the child and throwing her into the air.
Janie and Randy merely rolled their eyes before pointing to Auroralyn on the treadmill.
"How much longer does she have, coach?" Janie asked.
"She's done for the evening, I suppose. I've gotta head out and call Rebecca and the kids, anyway."
He tapped his niece on the shoulder, and snatched the earbud from her ear, smiling sweetly.
"You're finished, kiddo. You're call sheets and info are on the chair. You have Gargano and Ciampa this week." he informed, as she hopped off the treadmill and grabbed a towel and her water.
"No, that info just changed." came a booming voice from the door.
They all turned at the voice, Janie smirking in her brother's direction. Her daughter Cameron, wiggled from Shawn's grasp and went running to her uncle. He accepted the 6-year-old proudly, situating her on his hip as he joined the group.
"Hey sis." he smiled, kissing her cheek.
"He still working you to the bone?" he asked, turning his attention to Auroralyn.
"What do you think?" she asked, drinking feverishly from her bottle.
"What do you mean that info changed? Who does she have now?" Shawn asked, focusing intently at Hunter.
"And don't you dare tell me..."
"She has Cole until further notice." Hunter replied with a huge smile, knowing full well the new changes would do nothing but get under his best friends skin.
"You have got to be kidding me." Shawn said, throwing his arms behind his head and turning to face his niece.
"What? I didn't do anything." she replied innocently. "You told me to shut my mouth, keep my eyes open and listen to direction."
"Don't... don't do that." Shawn said in a warning tone as he pointed his finger at his niece.
"I have to go shower, Unc. I'm listening to your orders..." as she pointed to Hunter. "...and his."
"You know I hate when you two gang up on me." Shawn replied in a defeated tone.
"Love you, too." she hollered behind her, making her way out the door.
She made her way from the gym to the shower area, almost relieved that for once she wasn't dreading the change in orders. Not that she didn't like any of the talent at NXT, but by far her favorite was Adam Cole.
They had developed a quick friendship since she had become part of the team, even if she was more of a backstage employee. He had taken to her and vice versa. She couldn't help the growing feelings that had developed, and it was something she kept strictly to herself. She enjoyed his company and when they did get time off or were riding from town to town when they did travel, their times together were bliss for her.
She wasn't sure of his feelings, and in her mind, she was sure it was nothing more than friendship for him. For the almost 2 years she had been a part of NXT, not only was she learning, but the friendship she had developed were priceless to her, especially his.
Her uncle on the other hand wasn't especially happy when she spent time with Adam, or Austin as she called him in, his real name. She wasn't sure why, but he was always trying to keep them apart as much as possible.
She shrugged at the thought, making her way around the corner and almost bumping into Austin.
"Where you going, hot stuff?" he mused, leaning against the wall.
"Shower. Just finished one of Uncle Shawn's amazing workouts." she replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Ahh. Good old Uncle Shawn. God bless that man." he smirked.
"I beg to differ."
"Yeah, well it's doing wonders for you." Austin replied, looking her up and down.
The mere gesture of his eyes looking over her body made her cheeks instantly flush and she found her eyes falling to her feet and tracing the lines on the floor. Usually she was quick with comebacks and was witty, but he always managed to make her feel like a giddy schoolgirl with nothing to say, any logical thought escaping her brain all together.
"Don't do that." he whispered, his hand cupping her chin, forcing her to look up right into the pair of beautiful blue eyes she become to find familiar, yet the same eyes she found herself getting lost in on many occasions.
"Don't do what?" she asked, her own voice barely above a whisper.
"Don't look down. I like seeing those eyes." he replied, bringing her in for a tight embrace.
She breathed in his scent, her eyes closing for a moment taking in the moment. She sucked in a breath of air, as she found it hard to breath, to think or even be. She felt lightheaded and dizzy all at once before he pulled back looking at her once more.
"I'll see you after you shower. Looks like were paired up for a bit." he said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, I need to shower. And Janie and Randy are in with Cam right now. Maybe we can get dinner with them afterwards?" she asked, a hint of hope in her voice.
"You don't have to beg, my dear. Of course, I will grace you all with my presence." he smirked, running his hands through his freshly-showered hair.
"And see this is why I don't ask you to go out in public with my often." she replied.
"Maybe that's it. But maybe it's because you know all the ladies would be screaming my name and you would get jealous. It's a vicious cycle." he said, folding his arms across his chest.
"I'll never tell, Bay Bay." she replied, winking at him.
"The things you do to me." he teased, smirking at her once more.
"Rorie!"
Auroralyn turned to see Janie making her way down the hallway towards her, Cameron following close behind.
"Hey, I was wondering if you could keep an eye on Cam for me for a few hours this evening. Randy wants to take me to dinner and Hunter has to leave for Connecticut in an hour.." she trailed off.
"Yeah, I don't mind. Do you Austin?" she asked, turning to the man beside her.
"No, that's fine. We were gonna grab something to eat anyway. We would love to have Princess Cam to come along." he said, leaning down to tickle Cameron.
"Oh my God, thank you guys. We still meeting up this weekend before the grind on Monday?" Janie asked.
"Yeah, we hadn't made the full plans yet, but this weekend is gonna be..."
"Undisputed." Austin chimed in.
"Not what I was gonna say, but fine. Undisputed." Auroralyn agreed.
"Awesome. I'll get Cam tonight and in the morning Randy's parents are getting Cam for the week. Thank you again, my friend. I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes." Janie said, hugging Auroralyn.
"That's what I'm here for." she smiled.
"And I'm pretty awesome too, right?" Austin asked, chiming in again.
"God yes! How could we forget about the amazing Austin Jenkins?" Janie asked, laughing as she turned and made her way back down the hallway.
"She's joking, right? That wasn't sarcasm, was it?" he asked, looking at Auroralyn.
"No! Of course not!" Auroralyn said, laughing. "I have to get a shower though. Will you be okay for a few with her until I'm finished?"
"Yeah, we'll be fine! I'll grab her bag and stuff from Randy before they leave and I'll meet you in the PC." he replied, picking a tired Cameron up, her head instantly resting on his shoulder, a yawn escaping her lips.
"Now that is a sight!" Auroralyn said, her heart instantly melting.
"I told you I'm awesome." he said, his voice falling into a whisper.
"And I didn't disagree." she said, grabbing her own bag and heading into the showers.
Austin watched her turn and make her exit, his head shaking from side to side. She simply didn't know what she actually did to him sometimes.