It was a beautiful Sunday morning, the day before the fourth of July. Many people were enjoying the beautiful weather, simply walking their dogs or taking in the gorgeous sight of the Washington Monument at the end of The Mall in Washington D.C. In addition, many people were taking advantage of the weather to do a little bit of running; that's what Lilian and Dave Batista were doing.
"I bet you I can beat you to the end of this path," Lilian called to Dave, gracefully lengthening her strides as she pulled ahead of her husband, leaving him several paces behind as she jogged through the pebbled pathways.
"Ugh," Dave managed to groan, trying to ignore the stitch in his side. "I bet you can too!"
"Mr. Batista… are you going weak on me?"
"Hey! That's not fair. You're a lot younger than me and we've already ran four miles today!"
"Oh, what's the matter, old man? Can't keep up with me?" Lilian teased, reaching down to adjust the waistband of her black nylon shorts as she ran.
"Old man?" Dave asked indignantly, quickly and desperately lengthening his strides to pull ahead of her. He nearly tripped in his haste to get ahead of her but managed to stay upright and in front of her. "How's that for an old man?" he bragged.
"Oh, man," Lilian called carelessly, smirking at the sweat covered back of his t-shirt. "That's pretty impressive. I guess you got me-" She waited until he was a little further ahead of her, then put on a burst of speed, surpassing him easily to reach the end of the path first. "-Old man," she finished with an airless giggle.
Lilian slowed down, gasping in surprise when Dave gently crashed into her, falling down to the ground and pulling her with him.
Lilian landed on his chest, laughing as he encircled his arms around her waist, pinning her to him. "You okay there?" she asked, feeling his rapidly beating heart against her chest.
Dave merely groaned in response, his breath tickling Lilian's throat as she relaxed against his chest. She allowed her brace covered left knee to rest against the soft blades Dave was laying in, bending the limb slightly. She was relieved that there was no pain at this action.
Unfortunately, due to an old volleyball injury, she now had to wear a protective brace, much like what Stone Cold Steve Austin used to wear in the ring, on her knee when she worked out to protect her leg from injury. While Lilian never let this slow her down, she did have to admit that it sometimes interfered with her tanning while she went jogging…
But still, it was a relief that it wasn't hurting her because the recovery sometimes sucked.
Several moments passed before Dave muttered, "Lilian. Remind me the next time that you suggest we work out together, we stick to the weightlifting part of it."
Lilian giggled, kissing his forehead before replying, "But Dave… you know I can't lift that much!"
"Ah… but you know you like it when I lift heavy amounts of weights," Dave answered, closing his eyes briefly. "You find me incredibly sexy."
"Actually, it scares the shit out of me," Lilian confessed. "I'm always afraid you're going to overdo it."
"Well, what about our kickboxing matches?"
"Last time we kickboxed I was limping for a week because someone," Lilian emphasized the word someone to remind him that it was actually him, "Kicked me in my bad knee."
"Lily," he drew out her name, but Lilian quickly identified the noise as a whine. "That was an accident and you know it still makes me feel really bad."
"I know… but it's still fun to tease you about it. Besides, I got my revenge."
"Don't remind me," Dave muttered, his hand going down to instinctively cover a very sensitive part of his anatomy that Lilian's foot had purposely made contact with after he accidentally landed a roundhouse kick to the side of her knee.
"Yeah," Lilian replied, an evil smirk coming across her face as she remembered the two of them writhing in pain on the mat in the gym. "Now would you mind letting me go?" she asked softly.
"Sure," Dave answered, nevertheless keeping his hands wrapped around her tiny frame.
Lilian shook her head, wiggling out from underneath his grip and sitting on the grass next to him, pulling the straps of the brace off and sliding the metal piece down past her muscular calf and off. Lilian left the brace on the grass as she bent her knee upwards and ran her fingers across his forehead, shaking her head when she noticed that he was attempting to hide a smile.
"You okay?" Lilian asked softly.
"Mmm," he merely grunted, enjoying the feel of her fingers and the warm Sunday afternoon sunshine. He allowed his arms to flop down, his left hand finding its way over to rest on her hip.
"I didn't mean to push you so hard," Lilian murmured.
He cracked open an eye, staring at Lilian for a moment. "You weren't pushing me too hard, Sugar. In fact, I appreciate everything you do to help me train and keep in shape."
"Really?" Lilian asked shyly.
"Really. I feel much younger when I'm exercising."
"While you're exercising?" she repeated. "What about afterwards?"
"Then my body begins protesting and I feel eighty years older."
Lilian giggled, opening her mouth to reply when her cell phone rang. Pulling it out of the zip in pocket of her shorts, she flipped her phone open.
Frowning, she looked at the number, not recognizing it. It was a 212 area code, New York City. She had a couple doctor's there, so she chose to answer it.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Yes, Lilian?"
She glanced at the phone again, trying to remember if she ever spoke to someone from that number before. "Yes, speaking."
"This is Michael Matthews from Universal Records."
"Oh," Lilian said, her breath catching for a moment. "Mr. Matthews. It's a pleasure to speak to you again."
"Likewise, Lilian. And please. Call me Mike."
"Yes sir, uh, Mike. How can I help you?" Lilian hoped her voice didn't sound too eager.
"Well, Lilian, I have good news."
"Really?" her voice came out in a squeak this time.
"We played your samples that you recorded in 2002 for a group of executives and they really like it," Mike told her.
"They did?"
"Yeah," Mike replied with a laugh. "Try not to sound so shocked. You know you have an amazing voice."
Lilian blushed deeply, relieved the music producer couldn't see her right now. "Thanks," she finally answered. "I appreciate that."
"Well, it's the truth," Mike said. "The executives liked your samples and want you to begin work on your album as soon as possible."
"What?" Lilian all but screeched into the phone, ignoring the curious look Dave was giving her as he sat up. "Are you kidding me?!"
"No, Lilian, I promise. I know better than to mess with a fiery Latina!"
"Oh, my God. I can't believe this!" Lilian gushed, covering her mouth with her hand. "When?"
"Well, they want to meet with you first."
"Okay. When will we do that?"
"Our next available appointment is Monday, July 11."
"Monday?" Lilian asked disappointedly. While that was only a week away, her thoughts immediately went to her WWE job. "What after that?"
"Not until Tuesday, August 30th. And it's best not to keep the execs waiting," he gently told Lilian.
"I know, I know," she replied. "I'll take the July 11th appointment. I'm sure Mr. McMahon will allow me the time off. I'm sure I can do something to write me out of the script for a week or two."
"Fabulous," Mike answered. "I'll see you then?"
"See you then. Thanks, Mike!"
"You're welcome, Lilian. And congratulations. I know that you've been waiting for this for a long time!"
"Yeah. Take care. I'll see you Monday."
Flipping her phone shut, she let out an excited squeal as she hugged Dave fiercely, knocking the big man back a few inches. "Whoa, baby!" he chuckled. "Either that was your favorite Raw referee or your album producer. And I'm thinking it was the latter because your favorite zebra never elicits this much excitement from you."
"Oh, Dave, that was Mike Matthews, from Universal! They're ready to work on my album!" Lilian told him.
"Oh, honey, that's wonderful!" Dave exclaimed, hugging her back. "It's about time they got some sense and decided to work on the soon-to-be number one selling album of all time."
"Oh, you're too kind," Lilian giggled. "I am so ready for this album to be done and out!"
"Don't rush it, Lil," Dave warned. "Make sure you take your time with each track and put your best into the songs."
"Okay, Mom," she agreed, kissing him again. "I appreciate that advice."
"Speaking of Mom, we need to get the little one from her so she can go bowling," Dave said, easily standing and extending his hand down to Lilian to help her as well.
She accepted the gesture and was easily pulled up. "Why thank you," Lilian said, bending down to grab her discarded brace as well. "Want to race back to the car?" she asked mischievously.
"Oh, God," Dave moaned. "No. Please, don't do that to me. I've had enough of your races today. Let's take a nice, leisurely walk back to the car."
"Okay, okay. But can I float?"
"Float?" he repeated.
"Yeah, cause right now I'm on Cloud Nine!"
With that, she wrapped her arm around Dave's waist, her husband matching her actions, and they began their trek back to the car
End Part 6.1