As Mark was putting his riding gear to leave the arena, Glen suddenly barged into the locker room, still with the Kane costume on, minus the mask. His makeup had ran and his hair was still wet from his pre-match shower.
"Glen, you look like a drowned rat," Mark said as he looked up at his friend, who was coming to a standstill. He stood up. "What's bugging you."
"You told her, didn't you?" Glen suddenly shouted.
Mark's face became serious. "Hey! Calm down! You're making a scene"
"CALM DOWN?" Glen blustered. "You told Amy I liked her, didn't you?"
"Yeah," Mark said flatly, seeing no reason to beat around the bush. "Yeah, I did"
"Why!" Glen demanded.
"Because you would have lost your chance to someone else by the time you had the balls to admit it to her," Mark retorted.
"When did you tell her? Who gave you the idea?" Glen bellowed.
"Nobody ga-" Mark's cellphone bleeped. He fished it out of his pocket. Text message. He read through it. "Hey Mark, have you told Amy about Glen yet, think you should, those two would look really good together, all the best, Rose," Mark read out in an undertone. He had a spasm of worry as he realised Glen was standing right in front of him as he had said that. Mark quickly stuffed his phone back into his pocket, and stared at Glen's blank face again.
"Where were we?" He asked.
"Rose said...you told ROSE TOO!" Glen thundered. Mark sighed.
"YES," he said, matching Glen's volume, knowing it was the best way to shut him up.
It did shut him up. Glen fell onto the sofa, holding his towel in his hands, looking completely confused.
"I told her - Amy - after you left me to get ready for tonight's match," Mark explained. "I did not, however, tell her to kiss you"
Glen looked at him. "Funny..." he managed. "I thought that bit WAS your idea"
Mark scoffed, grinned, then looked at the gradually - calming Glen.
"She told me she had an idea, but she never told me that was it," Mark added.
"You swear?" Glen asked, standing up again.
"Yeah, I swear," Mark replied.
"Ok," Glen conceded. He looked at Mark, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I believe you"
"Good," Mark answered. "Now get out of here, she's waiting for you to take her to dinner."
Glen stopped, a foot from the door. "What"
"I arranged it, paid for it. You're going to dinner. Both of you."
Glen momentarily looked flustered again, but then realised..dinner...not a bad idea.
"Thanks Mark," he added.
"Have a good night," Mark replied as Glen left. "I'll send you the bill later on"
Fortunately Glen was gone before Mark said that.
"There you go, Mark, funniest thing you'll ever say and no one was around to hear it."
After Glen left the locker room, Mark made sure he hadn't left anything behind and left to go back to the hotel. The night was quiet and the road was empty. Mark felt an almost childish urge. He put on the cheesiest grin he could manage and opened up the throttle of the bike to full power. With a blistering roar, the Titan tore through the open air down the highway like a raging demon. The speed gave Mark an incredible thrill.
He reached the hotel in 10 minutes. His face felt cold and pale as he dismounted and checked the time. Midnight. He should have taken 20 minutes longer to arrive. He got off his bike and wandered towards the door with an amused smile on his face. A few seconds later, that smile was wiped off his face as he collided with the door.
BANG.
He let out a frustrated moan as he remembered he had to PULL the door open. Now he had a headache to worry about. He rubbed his sore head as he headed to his room. As soon as he got there, he locked the door, dumped his bag unceremoniously nearby and sat on the bed. He'd only been out of the game for a few weeks but he still needed to get used to the feeling of being on the road again.
Mark lay back, his hand draping lazily off the side of the bed as he did. He breathed comically, trying to ignore the wierd throbbing sensation in his forehead.
The phone suddenly started to ring. Mark picked it up and grunted a "hello?"
"Mark?" Came a small voice. "It's Rose."
Mark instantly knew something was wrong. His eyes flew open. "What's wrong? What's bugging you?" Mark asked sympathetically.
"I've had a rough day at school," Rose replied. There was a rustling - Mark guessed she was wiping her eyes. "Some girls started picking on me," she explained. "They said I look like I've got balloons stuck to my chest."
"Oh yeah?" Mark said. "Well I think those girls wouldn't know a pair of tits if they were smothercated by them," he said.
"MARK!" Rose gasped in shock. "That's rude"
"Sorry," Mark explained apologetically. "I can't think straight, I've got a huge lump on my forehead"
Rose gave a tentative giggle. "What?" she asked. "What did you do?"
"I picked a fight with a door," Mark explained. Rose burst into laughter. "The door won"
"You big clumsy oaf," she replied. Mark smiled. "You're welcome," he responded.
"For what?" Rose replied.
"For cheering you up," Mark said. Rose laughed. "Thankyou."
"No problem squirt," Mark added. "You gonna be ok?"
"I'll be fine now, it's you I'm worried about"
"I'll be fine," Mark said. "It's just a bump to the head"
"No, I'm talking about the door. They'll probably bill you for a replacement."
Mark laughed. "I'll just take it out of Glen's dinner bill. He thinks I paid for a meal for him and Amy tonight"
"They're on a date!" Rose asked, suddenly alive with curiosity.
"Yup," Mark answered.
"Awesome!" She replied. "...Wish someone would do something like that for me"
"Hey," Mark said comfortingly. "The right guy hasn't came along yet, that's all"
"Yeah right, I'm always going to be alone," Rose said sadly.
"Cheer up," Mark said. "Could be worse," he added.
"How?" She said, interested.
"You could be dating me."
Rose burst out laughing.
"What's funny?" Mark said. "Amy's dating a seven-foot swamp rat"
"Hey! That's not nice," Rose replied. "Glen and Amy look cute together"
Mark guessed Rose had seen the show and replied, "And I'm not cute"
"Of course," Rose replied. "I think you'd look adorable in a gingham dress"
This time Mark burst out laughing.
"Anyway, I'd better go, you need your sleep, or you'll look like a Yeti tomorrow morning," Rose said.
"Those girls were just jealous of you, squirt, take care of yourself okay?" Mark said. "And if they still keep bugging you, tell them I'll come have words with them."
"Cool, the Undertaker as a bodyguard," Rose added.
"Only if the money's good," Mark joked.
"Goodnight, Mark," Rose said. "And thankyou"
"No problems. And hey," Mark said as he sat up. "Next time I'm in town, I'll come pick you up from school, okay?"
"Really? WHEN?" Rose said, alive with excitement.
"Next week, we're in the Reliant Astrodome," Mark answered.
Rose squeeked with anticipation.
"See you then, squirt"
"Bye, bigfoot."
Mark hung up the phone. He sniffed his armpit and recoiled from the stench. "Damn, I stink," he said. And he headed for the shower.