Lilian walked into the arena Monday afternoon feeling refreshed and eager. She saw a couple of crew members and smiled at them.
She reached the locker room the other divas were using and pushed open the door. Her grin quickly disappeared though when she saw that it was empty. Frowning slightly, she put her bags down and went in search of a familiar face.
She saw JR talking to one of the indy wrestlers that would be putting on a dark match before the show went live. After he was done, she walked up to him.
"Hey JR!"
"Hi Lilian," he said, giving her a friendly hug. "How's the throat?'
"Great! I feel so much better now. I'm really glad I went and had it done."
JR smiled. "That's good. I knew you would."
"Yeah… and to think I put up such a fight with everyone."
"Well, Lil, you're only human. We don't like to think of ourselves hurting, and when we do, we often need someone to give us a kick in the butt," he said, winking at the diva.
"Yeah, I guess so," Lilian said with a shrug. "Look, JR, have you seen any of the divas? The locker room is empty and I just wanted to make sure that they aren't planning on ambushing me or something."
JR frowned slightly, glancing at his watch. "I know there was a meeting scheduled for three o'clock. You should go to that too. Didn't the stagehands tell you?"
"No," Lilian replied with a roll of her eyes. "I better get going then. Thanks, JR."
"Welcome. See you later, Lil," the older man replied, watching as she walked off, her intent on getting to the meeting in time.
Lilian walked through the halls of the arena, lost in her own thoughts. It wasn't until a cold voice called her name that she looked up, meeting the sarcastic look of Jonathon 'The Coach' Coachman.
She grimaced and sighed. "Excuse me, Coach."
He smirked. "Well, hello there little Miss. Homewrecker."
She scoffed. "What?"
"Oh, you're going to play dumb? Maybe the doctor knocked a few screws loose while he was in your mouth. Ha!" He laughed to himself. "I guess putting things in your mouth is what got you in this position in the first place, isn't it?"
Her eyes narrowed and she tried to keep her cool. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Jonathon. But if you'll please excuse me, I need to get to a meeting."
"Don't bother, it just ended."
"You're full of shit, Coach. JR just told me that the meeting started at three."
"Well, Blondie, he's wrong. It was from two to three. Not like you should be there. You're not a true diva," The Coach said, raising his hand to brush a strand of hair out of her face.
Before he knew what was happening, Lilian grabbed his hand, bending the Executive Assistant's fingers backwards. "Ow," Coach said, his voice coming out strangled. "You bitch-"
Lilian applied more pressure, Coach dropping to his knees involuntarily. "First of all," Lilian said sweetly, keeping a grip on is hand. "Never call me Blondie. Second of all, do not ever touch me again. Thirdly, you know nothing about me and my role in this company. So don't you EVER insult my integrity again. Got it?" He didn't respond, and Lilian bent his fingers back a little further. "GOT IT?"
"Yeah, yeah, okay," Coach replied, scrambling to his feet and shaking his hand when Lilian let go of her grip. "I don't know how the Rock handles you," he muttered.
"What'd you just say?" she asked, her voice quieter this time.
He rubbed his hand. "Damn, that hurt!" He glared at her once more and then stormed off, but not before he could shove a New York newspaper at her.
Lilian shook her head and had half the mind to chunk the paper. But instead, she looked at the headline and suddenly began to shake.
The bold letters read: DIVA CAUSES SMACKDOWN DIVORCE
Her jaw dropped and she backed against a wall to lean on. She threw the paper down and ran back to the locker room to get her phone.
With shaking hands, it took her several moments to find his name in her phone book. By the time her shaking hands found the number and pressed the send button, she was near tears.
'Fuck,' she thought as his voicemail kicked in. "D. It's me. Call me when you get this," Lilian said shortly, hoping her voice didn't sound too panicked. With a sigh, she set her phone down, turning, her palm on her forehead as she began pacing.
"Uh, hey Lil," Trish said softly, breaking her friend out of her thoughts a few moments later. "Mr. McMahon is looking for you."
"Fabulous. That's just fucking great," Lilian snapped. She stormed out of the locker room, her face a storm cloud as she made her way to Vince's office.
Trish and Maria watched their friend leave, Maria smiling wanly at the older diva. "I think she saw the newspaper," Maria said unnecessarily.
Trish nodded in agreement. "Oh man. As soon as she's done with Vince, we've got to do something."
Lilian took a deep breath before knocking on Vince's door. His deep voice told her to come in, and she did.
"Hello Mr. McMahon," she said, trying to smile. But she saw what he was holding.
"Have a seat, Lilian." He spread the paper on his desk.
On the cover, under the headline was a picture of Lilian and Dwayne in Central Park, holding hands and walking awfully close together. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks.
"I'm not jumping to any conclusions," the Chairman said softly. "I just was surprised to see this."
She looked up, biting her lip and trying not to cry. "He stayed with me after the surgery and took care of me. We went to Central Park one day after a check up appointment I had. We..." She stopped talking, nervous about discussing personal subjects like this with her boss.
Vince held up a hand, silencing the blonde ring announcer completely. "I'm not here to judge you, Lilian. Nor am I going to judge your relationship with Dwayne. But I just need to know that you two are going to be professional about this."
Lilian flushed a deeper red, ducking her hair in embarrassment. "Sir, our relationship just began! I was-"
"Again, Lilian. I'm not here to judge. But I do expect you to be professional about your relationship. That's all."
Lilian closed her mouth, slumping back against the chair slightly, feeling more embarrassed then she had ever felt in her life. That included being knocked off the ring by Charlie, her voice problems during the Anthem, everything.
"You sound a lot better than you did a few weeks ago," Vince said, changing the subject effectively.
"Yes, sir. I feel a lot better," Lilian replied miserably. "And look, no brace," she added, holding her healed left hand up.
"That's great," Vince said enthusiastically. "Did you have Dr. Andrews fax the bill to my office?"
She shook her head. "No, I didn't think you should have to pay for my costs. I will be more than happy to pay for the invoice myself."
"Nonsense!" He smiled to show it was good natured. "I really would like to pay for it, Lilian. It was something that happened because of your job here, it's my responsibility."
"Okay," she said slowly. "Is that all?"
He nodded. "Yes, there's nothing you're doing tonight on the show either. Do you feel like singing the anthem? You don't have to if you don't want to."
"Nope, I am ready to get back out there and sing." She smiled and stood up. "Thanks, Mr. McMahon."
The chairman rose from his seat. "You're welcome."
Lilian walked out of the office, tilting her head to the ceiling as she walked.
Damn it. If she ever found the person who wrote that article, she would kill them herself.
Stalking back to the women's locker room, she noticed Randy Orton smirking at her; Lilian nearly said something, but chose not to, instead continuing her steady pace to her destination.
Lilian pushed the door to the locker room open harder than she intended, Trish and Maria jumping when the door slammed into the wall. She stalked over to her bag, checking her phone.
Nothing.
With almost a growl, she stalked over to her bag, grabbing her binder and clothes for the evening.
"Uh, hey, Lil," Trish said cautiously.
"Hi," she said, quick and dry.
"How are you?" Maria asked.
Lilian spun around. "Don't. Just...please don't."
The other two girls frowned. Trish went to say something, but Lilian's phone began ringing.
The ring announcer practically flew to her bag, grabbing her phone.
"D?" she said, flipping it open.
"Hey Lil," Dwayne's voice said from the other end of the connection. "How are you holding up?"
She sat down. "Not so good. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, actually, it doesn't bother me. And before you ask, Dany isn't upset either. She's more pissed of how it's going to effect my movies."
Lilian breathed a sigh of relief, stepping out of the locker room and walking down an empty corridor. "Well, I guess that's good," she replied, leaning against a wall, lifting one leg so it was resting against the wall.
Dwayne paused, concern evident in his voice. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah… I just kinda got hell from Vince."
"What did he say? Do you want me to talk to him?"
"No, D. He's not mad. He just warned me to quote 'keep this professional,' unquote."
"Oh, okay."
Lilian sighed, crossing her arms in front of her protectively as she cradled the phone between her shoulder and cheek. "Look, babe, I need to get going. I want to warm up my voice before I get out there and have to get dressed."
"Okay… just tell me one thing. What are you wearing tonight?"
She breathed out a laugh. "Why?"
"Oh, I don't know," he said, his voice suddenly becoming thicker.
She smirked. "Well, I could tell you, but then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"
"If you can," he started, "Wear something pink."
She laughed. "Okay, for you I will wear something pink."
"I'll talk to you later, Mama."
"Okay, enjoy the show tonight. Bye."
"Bye," he said before the phone clicked off.
Sighing, she leaned her head against the wall, relieved that he wasn't upset or distraught. She was still worried about what it would do to his career though.
She couldn't think of that now, though. She had things to do.
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Lilian waved to the crowd, blushing at the whistles she was getting from the crowd. Thankfully, they didn't seem to be judging her. Either that or news of her and Dwayne's relationship hadn't made it to the Internet yet…
"Well, good evening!" she said to the roaring crowd, pleased at how her voice sounded. "Are you all ready for Monday Night Raw?"
The answer was deafening, and Lilian grinned, going through her usual pre Raw announcements. And then came the big test.
Singing.
With a deep breath, she opened her mouth, singing the first notes of the Anthem, her smile widening as she moved through the song.
Her voice was completely back.
"Way to go, girll!" Marc Yeaton said to her as she made her way back to the chair.
She let out a sigh of relief, one that seemed to remove the weight of the world off her shoulders. "Thanks."
She sat down, grateful that Vince was starting the show off with a promo. She pulled out her book and opened it to see the line up for the evening.
"What the hell is this!" she shouted. Marc, JR and some of the fans that heard her turned to look.
Inside her black notebook where she kept her papers for RAW was another gossip paper from New York, boasting that she was the cause of Dwayne's pending divorce. Her face turned red, slightly from anger, slightly from embarrassment by calling so much attention to herself.
"What is it?" Marc asked.
"Who put this in here?" Lilian thrust the paper at him, the timekeeper taking it from her. Frowning, he read the headline on the paper.
"WWE Blonde Bombshell Breaks Heart of The Rock's Wife," Marc read aloud. "That's nice, Lil."
"Marc, would you keep your voice down," Lilian hissed, gritting her teeth. "And it's not nice. It's bullshit that someone had the nerve to put it in my book!"
"Speaking of keeping your voice down," Marc said, gesturing to the fact that JR was looking at her worriedly. "Calm down, Lil. I have no clue who put that in your book."
"It was probably Coach. I'll kill him," Lilian muttered, snatching the paper back from Marc. Hiding it in her book, she flipped through the magazine until she found the page with the article.
"Oh great. There's pictures too," Lilian grumbled, looking at the picture of her and Rock holding hands miserably.
By the time the show ended, Lilian was more than ready to get back to the hotel. The fact that a few of the fans around her had started a 'You Screwed Rock' chant didn't help matters.
Once she got to the women's locker room, she checked her phone, surprised to see Dwayne had sent her a text. She opened it and frowned. "We need to talk," it said.
Lilian sunk down to one of the benches, trying to keep from crying. Trish and Maria walked in, giggling about something, but immediately stopped when they saw how distressed the ring announcer was.
"Lil," Trish said cautiously, settling down next to her friend. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. Just the fact that what should be the best days of my life has turned into a fucking media circus, nothing's wrong," Lilian said, wiping her nose. "Guys, I gotta call D. Give me a few minutes."
"Okay, babe. We'll be here when you're done," Maria said, settling down next to Trish.
Lilian nodded, managing a small smile for her friends. "Thanks. I appreciate it."
With a sigh, she walked out of the locker room, leaning against a wall and sliding down so she was sitting on the ground. With a frown, Lilian pressed the number for Dwayne's cell, waiting nervously for him to pick up.
"Hey, Lil." His voice was tired, the Brahma Bull obviously just haven woken up.
"Hey D," she said softly. "I guess you found the other paper?"
"Oh yeah, I've seen several actually."
Lilian groaned. "There's more?" She took a minute before going on. "I am so sorry. This is all my fault."
"No, it really isn't," he argued. "But..."
Lilian closed her eyes, thinking to herself, There's always a but.
"I don't know, Lil. I don't want this to effect your career. Those fans can be rabid."
"My career? D, what about yours? You're the one knocking down 7 million dollar movies!"
"And you're the one with a future singing career," Dwayne retorted gently. "I don't want the critics saying you only got into the business because you're sleeping with me."
"Okay," Lilian breathed, trying to keep her Spanish temper in check. "First of all, it's no one else's business. I've worked long and hard to get this album off the ground. So that's bullshit, D."
"I never said-"
Lilian sighed, speaking over his soft plea. "Look, Dwayne. I like you. A lot. But honestly… I think this might not have been the smartest thing we could have done."
"Lily… what are you saying?"
The blonde closed her eyes, trying to will the tears away. "I think that we let our emotions get the better of us," she murmured.
"Lil...I think you're right."
She felt herself go rigid but stayed aware of what she was saying. "Maybe when it all blows over, your
divorce and these journalists, we can try again."
"Maybe." His voice sounded distant and far away.
"Look, I need to go, I'm going out with the girls tonight," she said, trying to make it seem as though he wasn't breaking her heart.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later."
She hung the phone up and stood up before she could even give her eyes the chance to cry.
Suddenly, she was mad. Mad at Dwayne, mad at the reporters, mad at Vince, mad at herself. She was pissed at the world, pretty much.
She stalked into the women's locker room, the door slamming against the wall for the second time that night. None of the divas who converged were stupid enough to say something to the blonde, who was currently shoving things into her bag.
"Lil… you okay?" Maria dared to ask, flinching back when Lilian's jeans nearly hit her in the face. Trish stood next to her younger friend, crossing her arms over her chest.
Lilian looked up, ready to bite off a nasty reply. However, she couldn't be mad at Maria or Trish…
"Honestly, Ria, I'm not," Lilian said softly. "And I plan on getting plastered tonight. So if you two want to come with me, I suggest you be ready in five minutes."
With that, the little blonde grabbed her jeans and a shirt, stalking off to the bathroom area to change. Maria and Trish could only exchange a worried glance.
Lord only knew what the night would bring.
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End Part 7
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