**Okay so, after thinking about this story, I changed it to be all Dean Ambrose instead of using his birth name. Just works better since the rest of the stories, all wrestler names are used. *shrug* Anyway, I changed the chapters to match up with the rest of the story.**
Chapter 11
"Hey, where are you, Mac?"
The dragon had finally come out of her sex-induced coma, apparently. "At a signing with Mr. Ambrose." Doing my job, she added mentally, managing to keep the cool tone out of her voice.
"Oh, right." Aya did not seem interested in the slightest, studying her nails after getting another manicure done. "You've been spending a lot of time with Ambrose lately…" She pointed out, wondering if her employee would lie to her. "Anything you'd like to share?"
"WE are supposed to be following him around for this project and he knows that, so I'm only doing my job." It wasn't a lie; Aya had made it clear during their first flight together what would happen and what she expected.
"Yes, I'm aware of that." Annoyance laced Aya's voice now. "However, there was nothing said about sharing a motel room with him…repeatedly." Seth had told her everything during their rumbles in the sack. "I don't appreciate being defied, Macaria."
Blackmail was the only way out of this. "Aya, I'm gonna be frank with you. You suck at this job. You really do. Here I am, busting my ass for you and taking pictures left and right, doing MY JOB I was hired to do and you've been sexing it up with Seth Rollins."
"EXCUSE ME?!"
Macaria didn't want to do this, but she had no other choice and held her camera up. "I caught you with Seth Rollins a few weeks ago." Weeks Aya hadn't bothered spending with Dean and getting to know him for the article she would be printing shortly before WrestleMania next year. "And I have the proof."
Snorting, Aya stood up from the chair and walked outside to have this conversation privately. "Oh really? And just what PROOF is that, you little bitch? You're fired, you're so fired!" There were a million photographers like her and Aya would have no problem finding another one that wouldn't get into her personal business.
"Pictures. I snapped quite a few pictures of the two of you outside of your hotel room. You seemed to have forgotten I was only a couple doors down from you." Macaria had to play ball if she wanted to survive in this world. Dean had taught her that in all the time they had spent together recently. It was now one week until the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view and the official match had been made the week prior when Dean won a match against Cena to solidify it.
"Y-You're lying!" Aya squawked, purple-tinted eyes wide and felt her nerves begin to set in.
"Oh am I? Check your phone in 30 seconds."
Sure enough, 30 seconds later, Aya received a photo through text message from Macaria and felt her stomach twist violently. It was her and Seth with their tongues down each other's throats just outside her hotel room. Then there was another with her on her knees in front of him, sucking him off. Aya could not believe this! She covered her mouth with her hand and knew this rookie had her in the palm of her hand. If she fired Macaria, those pictures would be revealed to the world and her credibility as a journalist would go down the drain!
"Okay – okay…" Aya had to regain control of the situation. "Do whatever you want with Ambrose. I'm not interested in him anyway." She was only half-lying since Dean was a hot piece of ass, just not as a scrumptious as Seth Rollins.
"You need to get your head on straight, Aya, before you completely blow this piece. Mr. Ambrose keeps asking where you're at and I've been covering for you." That lie tasted wonderful coming out of her mouth. "I suggest you stop sexing Seth Rollins up and get your head in the game or else we're both going to lose out on this opportunity. If I were you, I'd head over to the signing immediately."
"I want those pictures, Macaria. All of them. I don't know you and I don't trust you won't reveal them and destroy me." Aya was good at negotiating and, as soon as those pictures were destroyed, she would be able to get rid of Macaria.
Macaria laughed, wondering if Aya had lost more brain cells being with Seth Rollins and shook her head. "Absolutely not. I will get rid of them AFTER this project is finished and I'm paid in full from you. You will not fire me because all I've done is cover for your ass this entire time and do my job. I really don't like blackmailing people, but I also won't be controlled either or disrespected. Treat me as an equal, do your job and, on your spare time, I don't give a damn who you're with, what you're doing or WHO you're doing. Mr. Ambrose and the WWE, in general, deserve your full attention with this project."
"So my rules don't matter, then?"
"Your rules do matter because you are still my boss and I agreed to them. I'm not interested in fucking Mr. Ambrose or any other wrestler in the WWE." Another lie, only this time it didn't taste so good. Bitter, if anything. "I'm here to do a job and get paid and keep a roof over my head. I want this project to succeed because, contrary to what you've done, you are one of the top journalists in this country. I don't know how, but you are. So start ACTING like it. The signing just started, so you have time to get over here and you can start questioning Mr. Ambrose on his 20-minute break in between the signing."
Aya had to admit, and it was a very hard pill to swallow, but Macaria sounded completely professional and hadn't lost her temper once. She was cool, calm, collected and stated the truth, nothing more – nothing less. In a way, Macaria reminded Aya of a younger her; the fire and passion in her voice was something she'd been missing for years.
"There is one more thing I should tell you, Aya." Macaria figured she owed the woman something for hiring her. "Seth Rollins is only using you. He's currently in a relationship with one of the writers in the company. The only reason he's been screwing you is to try to get information about Mr. Ambrose. If I were you, I'd tell him to stick it up his ass, go fuck his girlfriend and focus on doing your job. I'm just a rookie, I know that, but…you getting involved with a wrestler in a company you're freelancing for doesn't look very good on your part."
Not knowing what to say to that bit of information, Aya normally would've snapped on Macaria, but…she made a lot of sense and she had blackmail with those pictures. Macaria was an excellent photographer and Aya had no doubt in her mind the pictures would be completely clear, showing her and Seth together. Snapping on the rookie photographer wasn't an option. Aya wasn't exclusive with Seth and knew there was a chance he was already taken when going to bed with him. That part didn't bother her, but what DID bother her was this rookie photographer telling her what to do with her life and to do her job correctly.
"Fine…fine, I'll be there in an hour."
"Good, see you then." Macaria hung up and blew out a shaky breath, hating confrontation and using blackmail against her boss, but there was no other choice.
Maybe now Dean would get the respect he deserved from Aya.
Sure enough, 20 minutes later, Dean had looked up just in time to see Aya sauntering into the building, designer clothes and Jimmy Choo shoes to boot. What the hell made her decide to show up after 3 weeks of nothing? If she thought Dean would simply start answering her measly questions, she had another thing coming and would have to EARN his time. Aya would have to sweet-talk her way with Dean if she wanted to get anywhere with him. Macaria had been doing her job the entire time, her camera FULL of various pictures of him throughout the past 3 weeks. When she waved at him, he just shot a look in her direction and continued on with greeting fans, snapping pictures with them and signing his John Hancock.
"Dean, I'm so sorry I've been MIA on you lately…" Aya had tried talking to him during his 20-minute break and was shunned, frowning. That did NOT happen with men, usually. "Look, I know what you must think of me, and you have every reason to, but…"
"But what? You decided it was a good idea to hop into bed with my main enemy and be used like a stupid fool? He only wanted information on me and that's why he pursued you." Dean did not sugarcoat anything or hide the fact he was ticked off at her audacity. "And you took the bait. So tell me, Virago, what exactly did you tell Rollins about me, huh?" Nothing. She had nothing to tell Seth that the sellout didn't already know about him.
They had rolled together for almost 2 years as the Shield and spent every waking moment together. Sharing hotels in order to save money when they first debuted, traveling by driving and flying…they were constantly together. Besides their days off, they did their own things – well, Seth did while Roman always invited Dean back to his home, welcoming him into his Familia. His mother, Lisa, was the sweetest woman on planet earth and treated him like a son, never closing the door in his face or bringing him down like his own mother.
"I know I made a mistake, but…"
"You made SEVERAL mistakes, Miss Landsbury, not just one. If it wasn't for Macaria, I would've had the company get rid of you when you stopped showing up to do your fucking job." Dean was blunt, folding his arms in front of his chest and towered over her, making her feel extremely small. "She convinced me to give you another chance when you decided to get your head out of your ass and actually DO your job for this article or whatever the fuck it is. Unlike you, she's been doing her job and, in my eyes, she deserves a better boss than a whore, who can't keep her legs closed."
Aya blanched, not believing the way he was speaking to her and had to get a handle on this situation quickly. "I apologize, Dean." Her voice had grown softer, her eyes not leaving him. "It won't happen again. I am done with Seth Rollins and I'm here for you and you only. Please give me another chance to write this article about you. I promise, I am the best at what I do, even though I've been unprofessional lately with my actions." Pleading with him was the only way to salvage what little dignity she had left.
Eyeballing her astutely for a few minutes, silence stretched between them and Dean contemplated on what to do. He wanted to get rid of Aya, truthfully, but if Aya went, so did Macaria. He liked Macaria and wanted her around. Unfortunately, that meant keeping Aya around and he found himself slowly nodding, not taking her hand when she extended it.
"If you want my respect, you have to EARN it, Miss Landsbury. I don't give it away for free unlike SOME people." Dean blatantly referred to her, twirling his finger to jab at her just in case she didn't get the message. "I'll give you another chance because I'm feeling generous today. And I'm assuming Macaria told you about the pictures she has on you too. It was MY idea for her to keep them. She was going to delete them and I stopped her because I knew you'd try to pull some bullshit on her about hanging out with me. Try to fire her for sharing rooms with me and whatnot." The guilt-ridden look on her face spoke volumes and Dean merely rolled his eyes. "It makes me wonder why you care what she does in her personal time though? I mean, as long as she's getting the job done, who gives a fuck what she does or WHO she does? Kinda makes you a hypocrite since you told her she wasn't allowed to fuck any of the wrestlers and then you turn around and do it."
It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out Dean had feelings for the rookie photographer. Aya didn't like that. She wanted Dean's attention on her and knew she'd have to work for it going forward. Macaria had been holding out on her with information and now she couldn't pump her employee for it because the bitch had blackmail on her. Aya would have to actually work for this article and rubbed her hands together in front of her, feeling lower than dirt at the verbal lashing Dean was giving her. All the control she possessed and had on Macaria was gone – now Macaria held all the power, temporarily.
"So let me spell this out for you, so you can understand, Miss Landsbury." Dean lowered his voice, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they were still alone.
Macaria was doing her job, looking beautiful and happier than ever. She really did have a passion for photography, but he'd never asked her why she did. It was time to rectify that when they were back at the hotel later tonight.
"What is it, Dean?"
"If you even ATTEMPT to fire Macaria from this project, and don't give her the props she deserves, I will personally make sure you NEVER freelance ever again. And that is going to stay between me," He paused, pointing to himself and then at her, his blues nothing more than ice. "And you. You got me?"
Aya swallowed hard, knowing he meant business and had come too far in her career, building the empire she had, to let some rookie destroy it all. She would play ball and do what Dean said, do the article and then fire Macaria once the pictures were destroyed. All evidence of her and Seth's affair had to be obliterated and then she could do whatever the hell she wanted to Macaria. They were freelance for a reason, they didn't work strictly for WWE, but had to follow their rules while on the road. There was no rule stating they couldn't fornicate with the wrestlers; Aya had tried to do that for Macaria's benefit, but it was obvious Dean had a thing for her photographer.
"Yes Dean, I understand perfectly. If you wouldn't mind, I'm going to leave you to your business here and maybe tomorrow we can pick up where we left off with the questions?" Aya suggested calmly, pure professionalism in her voice and eyes. "And I promise I won't ask you the boring questions you've been answering all along." No, she wanted to dive deeper into this man and find out what really made him tick.
If only she'd been around because Dean had told Macaria quite a bit already.
"If I feel up to it, I'll let you know, Miss Landsbury." He refused to call her by her first name as before, seeing that grated on her nerves and smiled coldly. "Remember our deal, don't fuck this up. If you want me to talk to you about the article, you're gonna wait until I'M ready to do it this time." Maybe he'd make HER wait 3 weeks like she had with him; an eye for an eye as far as Dean was concerned.
"Ambrose, you're back up."
Aya could only watch him walk through the curtain to resume the signing and stormed out of the building, barely able to keep the tears in her eyes. She had royally messed this up and now she had no idea how to fix it. Macaria had noticed her boss run out of there like her backside caught fire and smirked, continuing with doing her job.
