"Pick your poison" Denise says as we get to the table. "Coffee, or juice?" "Vodka" I say, slumping into a seat. "Double. No ice. No coke. Just vodka." She laughs and I look at her quickly. "I'm not joking Denise" I warn. "Copious amounts of alcohol is all that is gonna get me through today." She nods and holds my hand. "Heard about your slanging match with Joe last night" she says. I groan. "Wasn't exactly a slanging match" I say finally. "He never argued back." "Because he couldn't" Dolph says, sitting next to Denise and looking at me. "He was in the wrong, and he knows it. We all made sure he knew it last night. He had no right to do what he did." "You know that" I say, standing up. "And I know that. But if he didn't know it, without being told, then there's something seriously wrong with him. I'm not hungry, I'll see you guys at the arena." I walk away before they can argue, pushing past Jon on my way out of the restaurant. "Lora!" he yells. I ignore him and take the stairs for the first few floors, finally getting the elevator on the floor below mine.
I turn my phone on when I get into my room. It beeps with a message straight away. Lex. "Call me" I read. "Jon's been blowing my phone up, what's happened?" I groan, sitting on the sofa as I dial her number. "Talk to me" she says straight away. "I don't know where to start Lex" I say quietly. "Joe got it in his head that I'm sleeping with Colby, and decided it would be a good idea to tell Jon. Lex, I, I just wanna come home." "Not a good idea Lora" she says. "Home is there, now, with Jon." "Jon isn't here" I say. "At least, not the Jon I married. The Jon I married wouldn't have believed what Joe said." "Ok" she says. "I'll give you that one. But you still can't come back, ok? You need to get this sorted out." "Not gonna happen" I say. "I gotta go throw up, I'll talk to you later." I hang up and just manage to make it to the bathroom before the alcohol from last night works it's way out of my system.
Banging at the door wakes me a few hours later. Once again I managed to cry myself to sleep. It's not right sleeping without Jon. I throw the covers back and make my way to the door just as whoever it is is about to bang again. "Hunter" I groan, opening the door wider and letting him in. "You look like shit Lora" he says, closing the door softly behind him. "Gee thanks" I say, flopping on the sofa. "Don't pull any punches Hunter, tell me how you really feel." "This ain't right, Lora" he says, sitting on the table. "You think I don't know that?" I ask, looking up at him. "Ambrose is in bits" he says softly. I shrug. "That's for Joe to sort out" I say. "Not me. Joe did this. Jon chose to believe it. Leave them to it." Hunter nods. "Ok" he says finally. "Travel with Dolph and Randy to the show. We're working an angle tonight, I wanted your opinion on it, but I can see..." "Whatever it is" I say. "I'm in. I'll do it." He smiles, rubbing my head. "Knew you would" he says. "Don't worry, it's nothing Shield related. I'll see you at the arena." I nod and watch as he makes his way out, before jumping back into bed and pulling the covers over my head.
My alarm goes off an hour before we're due to travel to the arena. I shower quickly and put my hair in a messy bun. I don't bother with makeup either, I'll get it done at the arena. I pack the stuff I'll need for the taping and head down to the lobby. Great. First person I see is Jon. He's stood talking to Denise. "Hey Lora" Randy says, coming up from behind me. "I hear you're travelling with us tonight." "Yeah" I say looking at him. "Hunters idea. Course, I can go with someone else if you're not ok with it." "No need" he says. "It's cool." I nod and look to the elevators as Nikki and Brie step out. "Who are you?" Nikki asks. "And what have you done with our glamorous divas champ? Damn Lora, what's going on?" I don't have chance to answer. "Lora?" Jon asks softly, walking over to us. I look at him quickly. He's a mess too. I shake my head and look at Randy. "Are you guys ready?" I ask. "I just need to get out of here." Randy nods and takes my bag from me. "This way" he says, putting his hand at the bottom of my back and steering me through the lobby. Dolph and Denise are waiting in the car. "Hey" Denise says, smiling as I get in the back next to her. I give her a weak smile and she grabs my hand. "He's hurting, Lora" she whispers. "He knows he was in the wrong. He just doesn't know what to do to make it right." "Trouble is Denise" I says. "I don't think he can make this right." "Are you joking?" she asks. "Because this isn't funny, Lora." "You think I don't know that?" I ask. "This is my marriage, Denise. It's not a joke. Well, I thought it wasn't, anyway." "It's not" she assures me. "Lor, he loves you, so much, that when Joe sprung that on him he didn't know what to do. He ran because he didn't know who to hit first. Joe for making the accusation, or Colby for doing the deed." "Colby did nothing!" I say. "We know!" she says. "Jon knows this now. He's in pieces Lora. He keeps begging me to help him, but I really don't want to get involved. I mean, you're both my friends. I don't want to be stuck in the middle." "You won't be" I promise. "I'm gonna fly home after the taping tonight. I haven't got house shows on the weekend, I'm off until the Raw taping. Some time alone will do us both good." She shakes her head. "It's not the answer..." she starts. I hold my hand up. "I've made my decision" I say. "And I'm sticking to it."