Backstage, 15 Minutes after the revelation of who had been his mysterious saviour, Mark sat alone in his locker room. There was a knock at the door. As he got up to answer it, he already knew who it was. He opened the door to a quiet and nervous Rose Lewis. Time passed between the two as they stared at each other, neither one sure of what to say or do.
"You coming in?" Mark said eventually, toughguy image firmly directed at her, like this was just another segment on the show. Rose's face dropped a little more. She felt like she was being told off. Nervously, she stepped inside the room, sitting down uneasily on the couch.
"So it was you who sent me the note," he guessed, knowing it was true. She nervously nodded. "And stop looking so scared, I'm not gonna hurt you." Rose relaxed a little bit. She looked at him. She looked at him for a long, uninterrupted moment.
"How did you get here? Why did you do that at Wrestlemania?" Mark rambled on.
Rose looked at him fearfully for a few seconds, staying quiet until he had finished.
"I've got a contract," she said in a small voice. "I'm a Wrestler."
"You mean you're a Diva," Mark said with a gravity in his voice. Lily and Ross would kill him for letting this happen.
"No, I mean I'm a wrestler," Rose said defiantly. "I'm not going to be some idiot bimbo who screws around trying to keep her tits from popping out."
Mark snorted. He smiled.
"What?" Rose asked, perplexed.
"That was so funny it almost made me...throw up.."He said, sounding deflated by the end of the sentence. Rose visibly brightened up.
"So you got it when...just before Wrestlemania?" Mark asked. Rose looked away for a moment, before she said, "I've had the contract for a month...Wrestlemania was my first scheduled live appearance. I wanted to do the whole masked stranger thing because i don't have much experience with crowds, and Teddy..."
"Teddy?" Mark interrupted, voice rising. "So Theodore Long gave you the contract and didn't even tell me?" He asked, pacing the room.
"Teddy didn't tell you because he was afraid you'd get angry or something similar."
For a few seconds, Mark wanted to say Teddy had a point. Something - he didn't know what - stopped him from saying anything. "What?" He said, quietly but firmly.
Mark wasn't happy. He looked upset, not angry.
"You ignored me," he said, slowly, almost painfully. "I told you, I didn't want you being a part of this. I said it was dangerous. You didn't listen to me."
Rose's tentatively confident face cracked. She hadn't expected him to be so disappointed in her. Mark half expected her to look upset. But he didn't see what happened coming.
"So I'm supposed to obey everything you say to me? I'm supposed to let you govern my life? I have a sense of independence Mark, and I'm not stupid. I know that it's dangerous. But am I supposed to let risk or fear hold me back? You never have. Why should I? I'm doing this because it's my dream. I've talked a lot to Amy about it...I know what I'm getting into! I'd have thought you'd be happy for me or at least stop to think that I hadn't gone in head-first."
Mark was stunned into silence. Rose had never raised her voice against him before. There was a long, intimiading, tense silence between the two before Mark finally found his voice.
"No," he said, feeling a little deflated and sounding almost anxious. "I was just trying to steer you in the right direction," he said. "And I've never steered you wrong before."
Rose looked at him, confused and upset. Mark walked up to her and took her hand.
"You've got to understand that even if I am happy - and proud - of you, you're still family to me and if Lily or Ross ever found out i'd let this happen..."
"My mom and dad thought I was doing drugs in my room all day and going out getting drunk all night. They were wrong. I was training. Training so I would be ready. Finding out I'm in the WWE would come as a relief," Rose interrupted. There was a delicate smile on her face.
Mark looked surprised for a couple of moments,then burst out laughing.
"Well in that case, welcome to the WWE."