Chapter 27
"You shoulda given him a chance, honey." Steve said gently, the harshness out of his voice now. "You don't know if you woulda driven him off or not." He walked over to take her into his arms. "You can't keep runnin', Nicoya. Else wise, you'll spend the rest of yer life lookin' over yer shoulder. If I could find you, what makes you think John couldn't?"
Nicoya started sobbing harshly, knowing her brother was right, and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Her chest was heaving up and down raggedly as she coughed, swallowing hard, and felt all of her emotions from the past two years drain out of her. "I'm sorry. I was wrong in running away." She apologized in a whisper, hiccupping from crying so much, and wished she knew what to do about this. "I want to make John pay for what he did to me, but I'm terrified of him trying something like he did before. I mean, he didn't kill me this time, but what about the next time?"
"Next time? That boy has to get near ya first, Coya." Steve said softly, though there was something dark in his tone, not aimed at her of course. "Yer not alone in this sis, not if ya don't want to be."
"What do you want me to do, Steve? Tell me what to do and I'll do it." She said, looking down at the floor, and closed her eyes as the tears spilled out of her eyes, splashing on the floor below. "I want to end this for good with John so I can live the rest of my life in peace with Aly."
"First off, ya need to stop duckin' yer head in the sand, yer no ostrich, gal." Steve gently guided her to the bed, sitting down beside her. "Second, take up yer job again for the WWE, I'll make sure yer never alone. He won't get to you. First time though he tries, you reopen that case and get it started, document what's goin' on." Steve cleared his throat. "Then what'll happen next if it comes to that will look like self-defense."
"You want me to work for the WWE again?" Nicoya asked and sighed when her brother nodded.
She knew she'd have to go back and Vince even said whenever she was ready, she was more than welcomed back with open arms. She knew Alyssa would be stoked, but in truth, Nicoya was fearful for her life. She knew her brother would protect her though, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to face Mark yet. She'd have too. She had no choice. She wanted this shit to stop so she could finally live her life the way she wanted with her dream job, which was the lead script writer in the WWE.
"Nicoya, if you don't want too, that's fine. But like I said, yer always gonna be lookin' over yer shoulder for the rest of yer life, wonderin' when he's gonna strike." Steve said softly, his tone grim. "As fer Mark, if ya don't want to see him, I'm sure he'd…understand." He hesitated on that last word, knowing damn well Mark would be anything, but understanding.
"No, I'm going back. I want this to end and the only way it's going to happen is if I go back to my life and job. Vince already said he wasn't getting rid of my contract because I was more than welcome to come back whenever I was ready." She explained, raking her hands through her hair, and gripped it in her fingers. "My main focus right now is getting John out of my life for good and I will deal with Mark in my own way." She sighed as she closed her eyes and hoped she didn't regret this decision.
Steve nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her against him, kissing the side of her head. "That's my girl." He murmured before standing up. "I'm gonna go back to the hotel I'm stayin' at. Got a pen? I'll jot down my new cell number fer ya, you can ring me when yer ready to come back."
Nicoya looked up at him with a frown and stood up as she shook her head. "No, you're going to stay here. There's no point in you staying in a hotel when I have more than enough room for you here, bro." She crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly, daring him to challenge her, and raised an eyebrow. "And I want to go back as soon as possible. I'll give Vince a call right now."
"Who am I to argue?" Steve grinned, raising his hands in defense to her and bowed his head teasingly. "Call him. I'm sure he'll love a…" He glanced at the clock, the grin never leaving his face. "Wake up call."
"Go get your stuff and bring it back here. I'll have your room all set up when you get back." She informed him and then sat on the bed, staring at the phone. She took a deep, shaky breath before picking up the receiver and dialed Vince's number. Hoping he wasn't upset with her for calling him at such a late hour.
Vince picked up on the first ring, sounding wide awake and alert. "Vince McMahon speaking." He said briskly, wondering who in the world was calling him at this hour.
"Hello Mr. McMahon, this is Nicoya Harris calling." She politely greeted, sitting on her bed, and nervously twirled the phone cord around her finger, biting her bottom lip, and sucked in a deep breath. "How are you this evening, sir?"
"Nicoya Harris?" Vince echoed, sounding genuinely shocked. "I'm fine, Nicoya, how are you? I'm going to venture out on a limb here and assume this isn't a social call."
"Actually, I'm calling to ask you if the position for the lead script writer is still open. I know it's been two years, but I've finally taken care of what I need too and would love to come work for the WWE again, sir. If it's not open, I understand." She softly explained, raking a hand through her black hair, and felt herself shaking. Vince always made her nervous and she didn't know why. It was probably because of how powerful he was, even though he was a great boss to her.
"I'll be honest with you, Nicoya. I've got a full staff of writers right now. Though none of them can hold a candle to you. If you want to come back, you're more then welcome in the WWE. You know this. You can have your old job back of course, though you'll have underlings. I think your workload was too high last time." Vince stated, meaning every word that came out of his mouth, not faltering once. Nicoya had been a gift to the WWE and he was really saddened when she'd left. Though with her back in the picture, maybe his ratings could finally take off like they had when she was working for them two years ago.
"That is not a problem with me, Mr. McMahon. My workload was overwhelming last time, but I took it with a grain of salt and would do it again if I had too." She replied professionally with a smile in her voice. Though on the inside, she was quaking with fear on what this was going to involve. Mark and John were the reasoning of the fear. Both for entirely different reasons.
Vince sounded like he was writing down something, the obvious sounds of a pen scratching against paper being heard. "When can I expect your return, Nicoya?" He asked finally, his tone warm and friendly, welcoming.
"Would three days be too much to ask for, just so I can tie up some loose strings around here?" She asked hopefully, raking a hand through her black hair, and bit her bottom lip, hoping she was doing the right thing by going back. 'I have to do this. I can't fear it anymore.' She thought and swallowed silently hard, waiting for Vince's response as she heard him writing something down on paper.
"Three days is perfect." Vince said, clearing his throat. "That'll give me time to inform the other writers of your arrival as well as adjust to the idea of having an actual lead writer again." He chuckled good-naturedly. "Now…where do I send your plane ticket too? I'm assuming you'll be bringing Alyssa as well?"
"That's correct, sir." Nicoya gave him the information for him to send her plane tickets at smiling softly when he finished writing it down, and cleared her throat. "Could we keep this just between us and the writers until I arrive, Mr. McMahon?" She asked hopefully, biting her bottom lip again, and stood from her bed, staring out at the beautiful ocean scenery before her.
"Of course we can." Vince said instantly. "I'll have these expressed to you right away. Glad to have you back, Nicoya. Good night." Vince hung up after she wished him the same and immediately called the airlines to book their flights before expressing them overnight to her location. He was literally jumping for joy, like a kid in a candy store, not believing Nicoya was actually coming back to work for him.
Nicoya sighed as she hung up the phone, dropping it at her side, and couldn't believe she was doing this. She couldn't believe she was actually going back to her old job with the WWE, but in all honesty, she was looking forward to it. She missed the chaos and anarchy. She needed some in her life, since it'd been mostly boring for the past two years. She already knew Alyssa would be thrilled to go back and decided to tell her first thing in the morning when she awoke. After staring out of the window for a few more minutes, convincing herself she was doing the right thing, Nicoya went to make up Steve's bedroom he'd be staying in for the next three days.
Steve didn't know whether or not to knock on the door or what so instead he let himself in the same way he'd gone out. Through the patio doors, locking them behind him. He followed the sounds of light movement noises until he found Nicoya in a guest room. "Did you call him?" He asked from behind, smirking when she jumped a little.
"Yes, we leave in three days." Nicoya answered, an uneasy smile on her lips, and finally finished making up his bed before turning around to face him. "God I really hope I'm doing the right thing." She whispered, raking a hand through her hair and began to tremble again as she stared at her brother. "Tomorrow morning, we'll sit down with Alyssa and tell her."
Steve nodded, setting down his bag before pulling her into a warm, loving embrace, trying to soothe her fears away. "You'll see Coya, I ain't gonna let nothin' happen to you, honey." He whispered in a promise, not about to let John anywhere near her again.
"I know you won't." She whispered softly, hugging her brother back, and sighed shakily as she closed her eyes. She couldn't help, but think the worst, especially when it came to Mark, and pushed that out of her mind. She had one goal in mind and that was to put John behind bars. She'd deal with Mark on her own terms. Though, she had a feeling it was going to be VERY awkward.
~Three Days Later~
Alyssa stared out of the truck windshield eagerly, hardly daring to believe they were back. Hardly believing she was going to see Mark again. Speaking of, she shot her mother a sly look, wondering just how SHE was doing with that thought. "Hey…I don't see a motorcycle." She commented, a small frown marring her face.
"He stopped ridin' them." Steve said, pulling into an empty parking lot space, looking over at his sister, who looked like she was going to either throw up or pass out. "You alright honey?"
"No, I feel like I'm gonna hurl." Nicoya honestly answered, her face pale, and took a few deep, shaky breaths to calm her racing heart. Those past three days had flown and now they were here. She smiled down at Alyssa, knowing she was stoked to see everyone, including Mark. That made her feel even sicker as she slid out of the truck, wearing just a simple pair of black dress pants with a baby blue dress shirt that was sleeveless.
Alyssa wore a pair of denim Capri's that only made her look taller, sandals and a plain white t-shirt, carrying a duffel bag over her shoulder with her books and Game boy, not really into toys anymore. "Hey Mom, question-" She paused, her curiosity was still going strong however, never faltering. "Do you even know what the current storylines are?"
"No, but I'm sure Vince will inform me on them in the email he said he was sending me." Nicoya answered promptly, smiling down at her daughter, and couldn't believe how big she'd gotten. This certainly wasn't her little girl anymore and she felt a twinge of sadness in her heart, but pushed it aside immediately as her brother joined them. "Come on, let's go inside before I change my mind and run back to North Carolina." That's where they were currently resided.
"Yer not runnin' anywhere, honey." Steve chuckled, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. Well, draped across Alyssa's. She wasn't THAT tall yet. "Come on, let's go get ya set up."
Alyssa's eyes were side as they walked into the arena, staring around her in awe. "Wow…I'd forgotten how packed it gets!" She exclaimed, the excitement back in her voice and shining in her blue eyes.
"Yeah…me too." Nicoya whispered, raking a hand through her hair, and lifted her daughter up in her arms, grunting when she had to set her down. "I forgot you're not that little girl anymore." She smiled sadly down at her daughter before they headed down the hallway. "I need to go see Vince. Alyssa, if you want, you can stay with your Uncle." She said, staring at both of them, her black bag over her shoulder.
"Hello! I'm almost twelve." Alyssa replied, grinning good-naturedly, knowing she still had a whole year before she turned that age since she just turned eleven. "Ack!" She giggled when Steve picked her up. "Not fair, you're like…strong and stuff!"
"I eat my wheaties, honey bear." Steve said, shaking his head as he chuckled at his vibrant niece. "We'll walk ya to Vince's office and wait fer ya, honey." He said in a firm tone, no room left for arguments as he stared at his sister hardening.
"Alright, if you insist." She replied softly, not about to argue with her brother, and smirked at the cute nickname Steve gave her daughter. Together, all three of them headed down to Vince's office, Nicoya looking paler and paler the more she walked, seeing familiar and new faces. She took a deep breath before finally knocking on the boss's door and swallowed hard, hoping she was doing the right thing.
"Hold on!" Vince's voice boomed, talking to someone obviously. A moment later, the door swung open and Mark stepped out, halting when he spotted the three, his green eyes locking with Nicoya before moving onto Alyssa. His angel.
"MARK!"