Chapter 34
The altercation with Seth had Macaria on edge the entire ride back to the hotel. Even after she was in her room, she still didn't feel safe and longed for Dean's presence. He always made her feel safe and secure, especially sleeping in his arms. She hated the fact the roster was sometimes split in two for house shows; why couldn't Dean be on the same one as Roman? Even though they couldn't be together intimately, she still felt better with him around.
It was almost as if Dean could FEEL when something was wrong with her.
Macaria's phone went off and she looked at the caller ID, seeing it was Dean calling. "Hi, Dean…" They had been texting a lot more than talking on the phone lately.
"What's wrong?" Dean demanded, hearing the slight fear in her voice and sat on the bed in his hotel room, staring out the window. "Macaria, talk to me…"
Tears stung her eyes as Macaria looked around the empty room, feeling alone and isolated, wishing someone else was here with her. "I miss you…" She wiped her tears away angrily, having nobody to blame except herself. "I don't know…I don't know if I can do this, Dean…if I can go 5 ½ months without being with you. This is…harder than I thought it would be…"
Whatever brought this on, Dean hated how distressed she was and slammed his own eyes shut, her confession warming him from the inside out. "Yeah, it is, but we'll get through it…" Somehow, someway, he could only hope anyway. "What happened tonight, darlin'?"
Just being called those terms of endearment – darlin' and babe – felt like little knives plunging repeatedly into her heart. "Seth met me outside of the arena…and told me I was gonna be working closely with him. I told him that was fine, it's my job and it's professionally only. He didn't like that. He started calling me a bitch and…your whore. I told him I'd rather be your whore than his."
"HE WHAT?!" Dean roared over the line, gritting his teeth to the point of gnashing and clenched his fists tightly, to the point where his nails dug into his palms. "That mother fucker! I'll rip him apart for talking to you that way, Maca! You're NOT my whore, you're my woman. There's a fucking difference and I'm gonna make him EAT his words!"
Roman would tell him about almost being struck by Seth, so Macaria had to come clean about it. "He almost hit me too." That made her shudder, even though she had kept calm at the time.
"WHAT?!" NOW Dean was irate, up off the bed and packing his bags, refusing to stay anywhere Macaria wasn't. He had to protect her from that slimy scumbag at any and all costs! "Fuck this, I'm on my way."
"Wait, what?!" Macaria blinked, not sure she heard him correctly and had to hold the phone away from her ear when he repeated what he said in a bellow. "Dean, no! You can't! Even if you come here, we can't stay in the same room together!"
"I don't care! Friends visit friends all the time and I have to make sure you're okay!" Dean argued, glancing at the clock and knew he wouldn't be able to drive over 7 hours to Sioux Falls. He would have to fly; there was no choice in the matter if he wanted to get to her as quickly as he could.
"Dean, please calm down…" Macaria begged, already planning on calling Roman to try to talk sense into this stubborn man if he didn't listen to her. "Please, Roman is here and…"
He cut her off immediately. "He won't be for long. He's going to Pensacola for the day with Nyla." Dean informed her, scrubbing a hand down his face and didn't feel like getting into the whole explanation with Macaria. "I won't leave you unprotected by those assholes, Maca. You hear me? So you either fly to Minneapolis today or I'm coming there and we can go to Raw's location together."
Macaria tried wrapping her mind around the fact Nyla was going to Florida with Roman, her brain feeling like it might implode. There was no house show tomorrow and it sounded like Nyla had finally stopped her stubbornness and allowed Roman Reigns to help her. She had no idea what his plan was to get her away from the Authority, but whatever it was, she was onboard. Nyla would call and tell her about it eventually, but if they had a lot of traveling to do within a day, Macaria would have to hear all about it in Minneapolis.
"You're really not giving me a choice in this, are you?" Her voice was full of resignation as she clutched the phone to her ear, chewing her thumbnail nervously. "What if the Authority finds out about this? Dean…"
"Friends hang out with each other all the time in hotel rooms, especially with the job we have. Trust me, we'll be fine." Dean cajoled, doing it better than most and zipped his bag up, thankful he'd already showered.
"I-I don't know if I can…"
"You don't know if you can what?"
"Be just friends with you. Dean, I…I miss you and seeing you in person, let alone being in a hotel room alone with you…I'm gonna blow this whole thing, I know it." Macaria was in a catch 22 situation – damned if she did, damned if she didn't. Stuck between a rock and a hard place because all she wanted to do was feel Dean's body against hers, his lips and tongue tangling with hers.
Dean stopped what he was doing, his stomach tightening at the sound of her voice. "Macaria, I told you not to give up on us, remember? It's only been about 2 weeks. I won't let you fail or blow this. I will pull away if something starts to happen between us. But don't…push me away." He wasn't above begging, needing to reassure her one way or another they would make it through this.
More tears slid down her cheeks as Macaria pressed a hand over her aching heart and had to take a few deep breaths, more sniffles echoing through the phone. "Okay. Let me call the airport and see when the next available flight to Minneapolis is. I'll let you know if I can make it or if…you need to come here."
Dean wanted to talk to her about the upcoming holiday, but that could wait until they were face to face and he saw she was perfectly fine. If Seth TOUCHED one hair on her head, he would kill the scumbag without thinking twice about it. Dean had a dark past and had to get his hands dirty every now and then for survival. He wasn't a saint by any stretch of the imagination and had so much blood on his hands…the honey blonde really was too good for him. She was an angel compared to him – if she found out half the things he did in his lifetime, Macaria would've probably run in the opposite direction.
"I'll let you know too."
Her flight to Minneapolis was bumped to early afternoon, which was the soonest they could give her. Dean got one right away, a redeye, so he would be in Minneapolis before her. He promised to meet her at the airport, not wanting her to be alone any more than she had to be. Macaria didn't feel comfortable in this hotel since she knew Seth was under the same roof as her. Dean kept in contact with her as much as he could, but once he was in the air, the line went dead. She stopped at a local gas station to grab a bunch of snacks and drinks to hold her over until she was in Minneapolis. Once she was in the airport parking lot, Macaria made sure all the doors of her vehicle were locked and settled in to wait for her 2 PM flight.
Where the hell was Macaria going?
Seth had watched her make a beeline for her car, acting as if her backside was on fire. He was outside of the hotel in the parking lot, just enjoying the snow falling. It reminded him of home. Did he rattle her more than he thought? Probably. If it wasn't for that Samoan ape getting in his way, he would've knocked her into the next century. Scowling at the memory, Seth tightened the scarf around his neck and contemplated what to do about this, if he should inform Stephanie their newest photographer left the hotel. He thought better of it, knowing the Authority had their hands full with Nyla Miller's defiance.
Stephanie was NOT happy with her or Hunter or Seth right now. She was pissed off at Hunter demanding the woman to stay with Seth in the same room. It was one thing to toy with her and send Seth to her at the arenas, but Hunter had crossed a line. They'd been having a lot of communication issues lately when it came to Nyla. Stephanie either pushed her too hard and Hunter defended her or vice versa! Now Nyla was in the arms of Roman Reigns! Seth had pushed her right into the Samoan's arms and Stephanie didn't know how to handle this situation.
She had only one card left to play, but it was a tricky situation now that Randy Orton wasn't part of the Authority anymore.
There was no doubt in her mind Nyla would use Roman to protect her daughter and parents, so that threat would go out the window. This was all she had left over Nyla – to break the dark secret to Randy. Maybe it would even sway Randy back in their corner, though the man was volatile and unpredictable. Hunter kept his mouth shut and stayed quiet while she ranted and raved about how stupid he was for going along with Seth's ridiculous idea. It was one of the reasons Seth needed fresh air and stayed out of the hotel, not wanting to hear Stephanie's shrieking voice. His room was right across from theirs and nobody could sleep with that woman blowing a gasket.
With the writer no longer on their side, it was only a matter of time before both Roman and Dean would get their hands on him again. Seth had big plans for 2015 and he would not let his plans be thwarted because of his ex-business partners. The Money in the Bank contract was only viable for one year and Seth already knew where and when he wanted to cash it in. With Nyla on their side, nothing would stop him from cashing in, but now that she was with Roman and ended their 'relationship', Seth had a long road ahead of him. He really hoped Stephanie and Hunter had some other tricks up their sleeves or else this would've all been for nothing.
It did not help Macaria had Stephanie spellbound because of her work and raw talent behind a camera. It was Seth's idea to hire her in the first place, all so he could screw with her and develop a relationship to stick it to Ambrose. That hadn't worked out in his favor at all and it was thanks to Nyla running her mouth. The more Seth thought about all the times Nyla intervened in his plans, the angrier he became. Macaria's mind had been poisoned against him, thanks to by Nyla and Ambrose. Granted, most of what they said was the truth – Seth had to do a lot of despicable things lately in order to rise to the top the company. No friends, only enemies – Hunter had told him it would have to be that way if he wanted to be the top man.
He did, more than anything.
"Seth…"
His eyes closed at the sound of Stephanie's voice behind him and slowly turned around to face her, ready for the tongue lashing of a lifetime. "Look, Stephanie, I'm sorry…"
"I know you are." Stephanie had calmed down, wrapped in a coat that went to her ankles and her hands were in her pockets. "And you're going to make things right with this. Randy Orton is not in our pocket right now, because of you. I can't use this blackmail against Nyla effectively with him being on the outs with the Authority. Do you understand?"
Seth swallowed hard, already knowing what she was asking of him and nodded slowly. "You want me to apologize for what I did to him, I take it?" It was a quiet, resigned statement, his dark eyes lifting from the snow-covered asphalt to meet her eyes.
"Yes. And that's not all." Stephanie stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Nyla is a VITAL asset to the Authority, Seth. She is a veteran writer and has been here since before you even THOUGHT about working for the WWE. We NEED her on our side. We NEED her to keep writing storylines for guys like Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, and Dolph Ziggler…so they don't target YOU, the future of this company. We're protecting YOU by keeping her underfoot. She is with Roman Reigns now…and that's very tricky because his family is…very well-known. My father is good friends with HIS father, you see. And if Roman has enlisted his family's help, it's going to get back to my father and my mother. And we don't want that. Because if we go down, if the Authority goes down, YOU. GO. WITH. IT." Each word was punctuated with a stabbing fingernail to his coat covered chest.
"How do you expect me to make things right with Nyla? Stephanie, there is no possible way to do that…" Seth did not want to kiss not only Randy Orton's backside, but also Nyla Miller's. This woman was out of her mind!
"You better find a way then. Or you WILL be replaced." Stephanie threatened, reaching up to cup Seth's bearded cheek and patted it gently. "You'll find a way. And as far as Macaria goes, don't break my new toy or I'll break YOU." Her blue eyes were hard and full of dark promise if he didn't live up to her expectations. "One other thing."
Seth didn't know how much more she could stack against him.
"You are to report to ME, not Hunter, from now on. He told me what he forced you to do to Nyla, so I don't fault you for it. I blame HIM and he will atone for his actions. I suggest you run everything by me going forward." Stephanie made it sound like advise, but it was actually a command. "Goodnight, Seth."
Seth could only watch her turn and walk back inside the hotel, clenching his fists tightly in the pockets of his coat. Goodnight, Seth? That's all she had to say to him after that verbal lashing?! How the HELL was he supposed to get Nyla back on their side?! She'd been threatened, along with her family, to keep her in line and now, thanks to Roman Reigns, that had all been flushed down the tubes! Randy Orton would be a cakewalk, but Seth had to think long and hard about how to approach the Nyla problem. He also wanted to still keep pursuing Macaria, not forgetting what that honey blonde bitch said to him.
His ego really couldn't take another bruising tonight, not after Macaria, Nyla and now Stephanie.
