John was feeling paranoid; and in this newly state of paranoia that has taken over him since he left the comforts of his house, he could feel at least a dozen pair of eyes watching his every move as he walked into the restaurant Eve insisted on going.
The palm of his hands were sweating, his heart felt constricted inside his chest and he could feel his stomach starting to ache real bad.
Yes, that was how bad he was having it.
Sure, it was stupid to feel that way and he knew it; but it was just that his fake wife had picked a restaurant where he has been many times before and well, he was almost a hundred percent sure that someone was going to come to him and ruin the farce he has created for her.
A waitress, a fan… a neighbor; who could tell for sure? He just knew that something was going to go down in that restaurant and that he wasn't going to end up looking good.
Now, as a rule, the blue eyed man didn't mind being recognized, quite the contrary; he has always embraced meeting with wrestling enthusiast all over the country and he has lost count of the times he has been spotted and approached on his days off.
It happened at gyms, out in the street, at airports, in gas stations and yes, in restaurants.
That was why he asked the hostess at the entrance for the most secluded table they had in the locale, because he didn't want to take any chances.
That night he wanted to remain in the shadows.
But just to make sure, once they were seated he leered around, hoping that there was no one taking special interest on the fact that WWE superstar John Cena just walked into the place with a Diva.
"What's with you?" Eve asked and flashing her a meek smile, John tried to act relaxed.
"With me? Nothing… I'm great… just, tired."
Pursing her lips, the brunette Colorado native arched a perfect eyebrow and without saying another word, she grabbed the menu and started to inspect it.
She didn't even show the slightest bit of sympathy over the fact that he said to be tired and instead she decided to ignore him, like always.
Now, even if that right there proved the egoistical nature of the woman, John was glad of her indifference; after all he was sure that the more they talked, the more he screwed up.
Back at the house he got confused with the dates he has told her about their anniversary and what was worse, she realized it. Luckily, his mind was quick to react and the lie he made about that other lie seemed to satisfy her.
"I want a bottle of red wine; but I want a really good wine."
Looking at her through half closed eyes, Cena blew out a breath. He didn't have to check the wine card to know that he was going to spend a few hundred bucks in whatever bottle of wine she wanted, he just knew it. Because if there was something he has come to realize, it was that Eve had a taste for the expensive.
"Sure, whatever you want, honey."
Humming and biting on her colored full lips, Eve looked up to him and smiled. It was probably the first real smile he has seen from her up close and personal since she became the Eve he came to dislike so much and he was a bit taken aback.
He didn't even know she could still smile without her face cracking and falling off.
"Good, I also want the pan-roasted salmon with soy ginger glaze."
"A what?" Guffawing at how bad that dish sounded, John shook his head; but ignoring his question, Eve just told him that she was going to the ladies room and he was left alone to order both their plates and of course, the best wine on the card.
"John Cena, what a lovely surprise. I see that you are moving on very quickly."
"Holy shit-" John mumbled under his breath and unable to hold it, he cringed. He didn't have to look up to see who just spoke those words so he didn't, he didn't want to look.
And why would he? It was his soon to be ex-wife, the same one who packed her things and left him without saying a word and the last person he wanted to see in that precise moment.
So yeah, this was his situation going from bad to worse. It was as if God was punishing him for all his sins. Yeah… he was definitely being punished for lying through his teeth so much as of late.
But he was not going to show how out of place he was feeling so snorting and running his fingers along his lips, the multiple time WWE champion decided to look up while mimicking Eve's indifference. "I'm just eating, you know how it is. I haven't lost the habit of eating every day."
Pursing her lips, Liz crossed her arms to her chest and looked behind her shoulder. John followed her eyes and he saw that there was a man sitting a few tables away looking at them somberly.
"New boyfriend, uh?" He asked bitterly, his jaw clenching. "Did you inform him about the little inconvenience of you being married to me?"
Lifting her chin, Liz shrugged. "He knows that we are going through a divorce and that it will be over soon."
"Right; well it was good seeing you, now why don't you go back to your table and have a nice life?" With that said, he smiled a fake smile and taking the hint, his wife chuckled.
"Is that the woman you kissed on national TV? The one you called a slut and humiliated in front of everyone?" Snorting, Liz flipped at her hair. "You are definitely losing your charm, Johnny. Anyway, are you dating her now?"
Holding the urge of snorting and defend himself over his past with Eve, John looked up at Liz. Now he could deny what she said, but they both knew it was true. He has kissed Eve a few months back and like his wife so accurately put it, he basically humiliated her on national TV.
Not that the woman didn't deserve it, but his way of dealing with her wasn't one of his most proudest moments and he was kind of embarrassed about it. Yes, Eve was a bitch, but she was still a woman and Mrs. Cena didn't raise his boy so he could act like that with the fairest sex.
"I don't think that's any of your business so why don't you go back to your new boy toy and finish your dinner? He looks kinf of uncomfortable that you are here." He said, watching the woman he once promised to love forever and realizing that seeing her hadn't affected him as he thought it would.
Yeah, he couldn't deny that he was feeling a bit bitter that she was already flaunting her new boyfriend around but that had more to do with pride than with jealousy… it was weird… actually…
"Am I a interrupting something here?" Eve asked out of the blue, her voice drilling into John's brain and making him feel like all the blood in his body drained down to his feet.
So this was it; Liz was going to expose him as a fraud, Eve was going to murder him on the spot and he was going to be in the local newspapers and in the dirtsheets as soon as the following morning.
He could already visualize his obituary…
Turning around on her heels, Liz smiled as she faced Eve, looking at her head to toe with critical eyes. "No, I was just leaving."
Then, just like that, his current wife walked away and went back to her table.
Feeling as if he could breathe again, Cena blew out the little air he had in his lungs. That was close… he has been so sure that things were going to end badly and yet they didn't.
"Who was that?" Eve asked as she sat down, her tone cold but firm.
Trying to act normal, John swallowed down and shrugged. "No one important; just an ex."
"Oh." The Diva said, placing her elbows on the table and looking at him dead in the eye. "And am I supposed to know about her?"
Narrowing his eyes at the snarky tone she just used, John pushed the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Watching Eve getting territorial about him was something he never expected to see.
"About Liz? Well yeah; actually when you and I first meet I was still with her."
Tilting her head to the side, Eve licked her lips and blinked a few times. "So did you cheat on her with me?"
"No, not at all!" He hurried to say when he noticed the look on the woman's face. She definitely didn't look pleased at that possibility of being 'the other woman' and he didn't want her to think something was odd with his stories. "We just got together after Liz and I ended things."
Nodding, Eve breathed in, but when the waitress came to serve their wine, she didn't even look at it. All her attention seemed to be focused only on him.
"So let me see if I get it; you two broke up, then you hooked up with me and in less than two months we got married. Hmm, I don't know," She said, wrinkling her nose and flipping at her hair. "That makes it sound like I'm your rebound."
Snorting at the way she never seemed satisfied with the things he said, John reached forward and out of instinct, he grabbed her hand in his.
When she didn't pull away from his touch, he laced his fingers with hers and gave her a light squeeze.
"That's not the way it happened and you are definitely not my rebound. When I meet you, Liz and I were broken up for a long time already but I just tried to hold onto what we had; I mean I'm a bit old fashioned when it comes to relationships and I kind of hoped that we could work things out. But things didn't seem to get better and one good day she just left. It was just after that happened that we hooked up."
And that was partly true; minus the hooking up with Eve part of course. He and his wife had been struggling to keep their marriage afloat for the good part of last year, but apparently she got tired of him and decided to end things once and for all.
That was it, nothing more and nothing less.
Rolling her eyes but keeping her hand in his, Eve drew in a breath. "I don't like the way she looked at me; and quite honestly, she is not that pretty. No wonder you ended up with me."
With that said, Eve grabbed the glass of wine with her free hand and drank from it.
Shaking his head in amazement to her words and pursing his lips, John watched her intently. That woman was just impossible.
"So how was it that we meet?"
Shifting in his chair, John focused his attention on the woman sitting in front of him. He had already thought about this and he was actually surprised that she waited for so long to ask him.
"I meet you through a friend's girlfriend. You were visiting them from your country, which happens to be Nicaragua like I told you, and I just happened to be there as well."
"And then you totally fell head over heels for me." She said in confidence.
Smiling, John shook his head no. "Actually no; I mean I have to admit that the first time I saw you I thought you were beyond beautiful; but to be honest, you kind of had an attitude problem and well, I don't want you to be mad at me but I thought you were kind of bitchy."
Laughing out loud, Eve threw her head back and then looked back at him. "Really? What did I do for you to think like that?"
"Well I just saw you as this stuck up, spoiled woman that thought too much of herself. You looked at everybody as if they were way down below you and you were just not really friendly."
"I acted like that with you too?"
"Yes, with me more than anyone."
Shrugging and winking at him, Eve smiled unapologetically. "What can I say? You'll never see me playing it easy with a guy just because I think he looks good."
Holding the urge of telling her that she would actually play it more than easy with a man if she thought she could get something out of him, John took his hand away from hers and grabbed his own glass of wine to drink it.
Yeah, he could talk about how she was nothing but a man-eater; or maybe he could just talk about how she used Zack, the way she tried to use him and on the way she was probably using Laurinaitis or some other of the higher up to get to the place she wanted to be. He could talk hours about that… but he wasn't.
"But you ended up marrying me so I guess that I was more than a good looking guy to you." He lied, watching through sparkling eyes as Eve's green orbs were glued to his stare.
"I guess so cheers to that." She said, lifting her wine up and then drinking.
The rest of the night went down smoothly. Liz left without him taking notice, no fan came to ask for photos or autographs and what even was more amazing, Eve proved to be nice company.
Yes she asked a lot of questions about their 'wedding' and other trivial things, but as the wine kept flowing, she just started to talk to him in a more laid back manner and she even laughed at most of his lame attempts to humor her.
In a way she was acting as a different Eve from the one she has been as of late… almost as if she was back at being the Eve she was when he first meet her.
But more than anything, John was pretty much sure that she was acting like that because she was drunk and feeling amused and maybe a bit tipsy himself, he decided that they should call it a night.
The ride back home was full of chatter though, she told him that she hated doing his laundry, that she was tired of spending so much time on her own and she even confessed how was it that she ended up losing Phantom.
On his part he just listened, promising her that he was taking her out to the lake the next day with him and that for a change he was going to do a cookout for her.
Overall, it was a good night; even after he had to endure an encounter with his actual wife.
"Why do we need to keep the dog here?" Eve asked once they stepped inside the house and the first thing that happened was that Phantom jumped to greet them.
"Because… he's still a puppy and I don't want him out. Come here boy." Her husband said, bending down and petting the one year old dog.
Humming, Eve walked pass them and headed upstairs. She spent too much time with that dog as it was so she didn't feel like staying down with him. "He doesn't looks like a puppy; he's almost as big as me."
Once up and in the bedroom, the brunette kicked her shoes off and breathed out. Truth be told, she kind of had too much wine at the restaurant and she was feeling a bit light headed. Not drunk; mind you, just a bit tipsy.
Now as a result she just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep until noon.
"I'm damn tired, I think I could sleep for two days straight." John said, walking into the bedroom and unbuttoning the top buttons off his shirt.
Eve saw him, her eyes narrowing. "If you sleep for two days you'll miss your flight on Friday. Do you mind helping me with this?" She asked, lifting her left arm a little so he could take a look at the zipper that held her dress together.
As if thinking about it for a second, John looked up to the ceiling and then he shrugged. "Sure."
Walking to her, he did as he was asked and once the zipper reached her hip, he smiled and looked at her eyes. "There it is."
Arching an eyebrow, Eve turned to him and catching him off guard, she kissed him on the lips. It was a chaste kiss, brief and soft as a butterfly touch.
Pulling his face an inch away, John licked his lips and blinked slowly. He wanted to ask her what she was doing, but much like it happened on the night they first kissed, the words got caught in his throat and instead he leaned forward and pecked her lips as well.
Much like initial contact, this kiss didn't last long and when he pulled away, his eyes meet hers in an instant.
Eve was looking back at him, the intensity of her green eyes fixed on his. "Why don't we ever kiss?" She asked, straight to the point.
Clearing his throat, Cena scratched his jaw. That was definitely a question he hadn't been expecting. "I don't know… I mean you basically don't remember me and I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing myself on you. I don't want to pressure you into anything." He said in a whisper.
Closing the distance that separated them, Eve lips found his again, her head tilting to the right and this time adding a bit of pressure into the kiss.
Now, this was a situation John didn't really want to be in, but for some reason he caught her bottom lip with his and as a response, Eve parted her lips for him.
It happened slowly, they shared a few open mouthed kisses and before he knew it, his tongue was brushing against hers.
It felt nice, probably much nicer than it felt when he rescued her from Kane because that kiss has been so fast; but nice as it was, he couldn't help but to think on how wrong the whole thing was so he broke away, looking down at her with a frown on his face.
"Eve, I don't think we should-"
Before he could finish that sentence, her hands moved to his chest so that she could start unbuttoning the rest of his shirt and he just let her do it.
Now, feeling her hands sliding against his naked torso, John grabbed her face and leaning down, he kissed her.
He sneaked into her mouth, his tongue dancing against her own while his hands moved down to her waist so he could pull her closer to him.
Her response was a very satisfactory one, she started kissing him back and she even rose to her tip toes to circle his neck with her arm.
That was the moment where he heard Phantom and without stopping the kiss, he opened his eyes to find the dog looking at him. His head was tilted to the side and in John's mind, his canine eyes were full of reproach.
Lifting a hand and motioning his pet to go, John swirled Eve around, lifted her up a little and placed her on top of his dresser. That way, settled between her legs and closing his eyes again, he kept kissing her.
But Phantom wasn't giving up and startling him, he started to bark.
"Close the door." Eve whispered against his lips, but instead of kissing him back, she slid her hand down between his legs and touched his hardness through his pants.
That right there was what made him react and almost jumping a feet away from her, he snorted.
What the fuck was he doing? This was Eve, Eve for fucks sake!
"I'll take him out, I'll be up in a minute." He said in a raspy whisper.
After saying that, John almost ran out of the bedroom and biting hard on her lips, Eve blinked in confusion.
What the hell just happened there?
Was she really making out with John? Because yeah, the man could be her husband or whatever, but without memory, he was just a stranger to her. But even though she knew that, she has been basically ready to jump on his bones as if it was nothing.
Running a shaky hand through her hair, Eve slid down from the dresser and made it to the door. Once there she closed it and locked it, hoping that once he came back, John wouldn't be able to get in.
True, he was not going to like that, not after she got him all hot and bothered like she did; but if what he said about not wanting to pressure her was true, he was going to leave her alone.
Luckily for her, John never made it back to the room and when she woke up the next morning, she found him sleeping on the living room, wearing the same clothes he has been wearing the previous night and with Phantom resting against him.
Not wanting to wake him up, Eve went outside with a huge mug of coffee and sat on the porch, thinking.
An hour after she sat there, John walked out and said that he was going to go out with the dog.
That way and ignoring the promise he made about taking her to the lake, he left. Not that Eve minded, she wanted to use that time alone to see if she could remember something and who knew, John told her that he worked in the sports industry so maybe she could do a little research about that.
After all a man that made the kind of money he was making and who traveled so much like he did had to be known in some circles and in the internet, she could find anything.