City of Angels
A/N: Thanks for the reviews and faves! You guys are awesome. Anyway, sorry for taking ~forever to upload. I had exams the last two weeks, so I hope you can forgive me. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. READ & REVIEW :)
The iron gates were cold against her fingertips but she couldn't feel anything at that moment. The sun was setting and casting beautiful light on the villas of her apartment complex. She walked to the pavilion and stood at the edge of the pool. She wanted nothing more than to drown his voice, playing over and over in her head.
"But she didn't kill herself because of you."
"But she didn't kill herself because of you."
"But she didn't kill herself because of you."
She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. The scent was familiar, like a blend of amber and teak wood. She turned to look at her neighbour's face. Lucas was a club promoter who lived in the apartment across the pool. Having grown up in Los Angeles all his life, he eagerly welcomed Stacy into the complex and toured her around the city. His connections allowed her to land a contract with a qualified agent and publicist. Lucas was a good friend.
"Hey Luc," she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey, sweetheart," replied Lucas, returning the hug, "what's with the sombre face?"
"Oh, nothing. I just have a lot on my mind."
"Want to talk about it," he cocked his head to his apartment. He could sense Stacy's hesitation. She had finally agreed to go on a date with him the week before, and the night quickly ended when her old friend punched him square in the nose.
"I don't know, Luc. It's pretty personal."
"Well, wouldn't that be better. I can offer a non-judgmental ear."
Stacy smiled. Luc was a good guy and he was patient. He had waited months until she accepted his date offer, but he was respectful enough not to force it and allowed himself to be her friend first. Provided he surprised her with flowers from time to time, he always assured her they were sweet but friendly gestures. After living in the same complex for about four months, she finally agreed to a date. He took her out to dinner and one of his friend's clubs the week before. It was all going well until Randy had shown up. She felt terrible about the incident and she was so worried tending to his crushed nose that she forgot to explain the situation. Stacy figured she owed it to him. She was also beginning to warm up to him so she nodded her head and followed him into his apartment.
The two settled on his couch; each had a beer in hand. She sat comfortably in an Indian position; she smoothed out the creases on her sundress as she spoke.
"Remember that guy last Friday,"
"Oh, the one responsible for this," he said while pointing to the bandage on his nose. Lucas grinned. He didn't really care for Stacy's wrestler friends, and he was glad he was dealt with by security.
"Yeah, I'm sorry he did that. I shouldn't have approached him in the first place."
"No," he reassured, "he's an old friend of yours. You probably weren't expecting him to have such a temper."
Stacy shook her head. She expected it. She had heard about all the stories from her friends in the WWE, about how Randy had changed, and they even asked her to come back because they felt like she knew how to get into his brain. They were wrong. She was just as confused as they were. "I should have been careful. He's at a really rough place right now –"
"I don't know, Stace. I don't think you can say anything to defend that guy's actions. I heard he got suspended. What does that tell you about him?"
"Randy..." she trailed off, "he's not like that."
"How do you know? You didn't date him, did you?"
"No."
He looked intently at her as he opened another bottle of Corona. Stacy could feel her eyes cloud over as she heard Randy's voice from earlier that day. It was constantly playing in her head. She had never heard it from him before, and she certainly didn't expect it.
"My younger sister dated him. Well, more than dated him. They were in a relationship for god-knows-how-long."
"You have a sister? You didn't tell me that."
"She's my step-sister. My mom remarried after my parents' divorce. I was barely three."
He nodded his head and asked her to continue.
"My sister and Randy met at summer camp. He was a senior counsellor and it was her first year as a junior counsellor. They hit it off, I guess, and continued a long distance relationship for almost a year. It ended because they were young and foolish. But, I guess, they never really got over it because when I met him, he kept telling me that I reminded him of someone. One day, we were doing a show in Baltimore and my sister came to support me and that's when they were reunited."
"Then they got together?"
Stacy took a swig of her beer, "Pretty much. They tried to do the friends-thing first but they were like soulmates. They were so different – such opposites – but somehow they worked. They were perfect for each other."
"What happened?"
"I don't know if I can say this," said Stacy, "I've already revealed so much."
He scooted over to sit closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She sank into his body and buried her face in his chest. She didn't know Lucas well enough to tell him Sofia's story, but she felt like she was going to burst if she kept it inside her any longer.
"Sofia dealt with depression. She had a lot of psychological problems growing up and she hid it well. No one knew until Randy came into the picture. He spent so much time with her that he figured it out himself and brought her to the doctor. They found out that she was bipolar. They gave her some mood stabilizers and anti-depressants and it helped for the most part. She told us weeks after she found out. I guess, that was the time Randy and I became really good friends. We just cared for her so much."
"She's not here anymore, is she?" asked Lucas. When she broke into sobs, he knew and he pulled her in closer to let her cry in his arms.
He rubbed his hands over his face as the California sun set before him. He was sitting on the edge of a sea wall; waves crashing against the rocks beneath him. He always brought himself to the ocean whenever he hated himself, whenever his conscience screamed guilt. The sound of the water crashing against the rocks always brought pain. It was more wounding than anyone's spiteful words or looks of discontent. The sound of the water brought him back to a dark place where he lost his will to live.
"Sofia"
Her name escaped his lips in a whisper, but it continued to pound inside of him. His heart felt like it weighed a ton and his lungs refused to open up and let him breathe the salty air.
It was the summer of 2002 and Randy Orton was scrambling around backstage looking for Hardcore Holly. He was supposed to meet with Bob earlier to go over the match, but his carpool decided it was more important to stop by a Denny's for an afternoon snack before driving to the arena. He only debuted in the company three months ago, and now he was blowing off plans with veterans. So much for making a good impression, he thought.
"Have you seen Hardcore Holly?" he asked a crew member. The smaller man only shrugged his shoulders before Randy continued his quest for the mid-carder.
"Do you know where I can find Bob's locker room?"
No one knew the answers. He caught his breath at the end of the hallway and gave up. He was just going to have to worry about it when he faced him in the ring. He turned around to see a recognizable pair of legs belonging to his favourite diva. Stacy had been friendly from the get-go. She was gorgeous, and had she not been dating Andrew "Test" Martin, he would have asked her out on a date.
As he walked towards her, he noticed she was talking to someone who looked really familiar. The biggest grin formed on Randy's face. He couldn't believe it. She averted her gaze from Stacy and looked at the towering figure just a few feet behind her sister. Her jaw dropped; she was speechless.
Stacy turned around and looked back at Sofia, "You two know each other?"
They both couldn't answer. Sofia ran towards him and leaped into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her slender waist. He thought he was dreaming. It had been close to five years since summer camp.
"Oh my god! Randy!"
"Sofia, what are you doing here?"
"No way! What happened to the Marines? I thought you said you weren't wrestling –"
"My stint in the Marine Corps didn't go over too well, but we'll talk about that another time. Oh god, you look great."
"Not too bad yourself," winked Sofia.
Sofia Foster looked absolutely stunning. Golden brown waves framed her perfect face, that bright smile, and those mesmerizing grey eyes. She was dressed in a small purple sundress that showed off her long legs. He took her in. She had changed so much since camp and as if it wasn't already impossible, she became more beautiful.
Stacy interrupted his thoughts when she got in between them. The two were so caught up in their reunion that no one bothered to answer her question. Randy was her friend, but she wasn't particularly thrilled that her baby sister had just jumped into his arms. She knew he had a bit of a reputation for being a ladies' man.
"Stacy! This is Randy... Randy from camp!"
Stacy's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. She had heard so many stories from her then sixteen-year-old sister about this boy she met at camp, this boy who tried to make a long distance relationship work, this boy who became the standard for every boy who wished to date her. This boy was Randy Orton.
"You wrote those letters?"
Randy's face turned a bright red. "Oops," said Sofia, "I might have shared your letters with my sister."
"Sofia!" he protested but then he paused and gave them both confused looks, "sisters?"
The leggy girls turned to each other and smiled before they faced the baffled Randy Orton. They nodded their heads in unison.
"We're sisters."
He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. Punishment was over for the day, now he was treating himself to a therapeutic hour at the gym and then maybe some dope and Wes Anderson films in his hotel room. The hotel had a nice facility in the ground floor so he was lucky he didn't have to go outside to get his gym fix. He pushed the button on the elevator and waited. It stopped at the fifth floor and two girls in bathrobes walked into the tight space. He smirked when he noticed the pair look at him with hungry eyes.
"Heading up to the pool?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Maybe," said one of the girls before they both giggled. She had an Australian accent.
"We could always organize a little swimming party in my Jacuzzi,"
The two girls giggled even more. Randy observed them and noticed their lidded eyes and the faint smell of marijuana in their hair. He could use a distraction.
The elevator doors opened.
"Coming with me?"
Stacy woke up the next morning in a strange bed. She looked around her and the layout was similar to her bedroom, but all the furniture was different. Last night's events ran through her mind as she recalled crying in Lucas' arms. She swore she never slept with him, nor even kissed him. She looked down to find she was still fully-dressed and the space beside her looked untouched. She walked out of the bedroom and found Lucas asleep on the couch. He looked like an angel with his sandy blonde hair and the perpetual smile curled in his lips.
She leaned over him and kissed him on the forehead. He stirred.
"Good morning, sunshine," said Stacy.
Lucas smiled, his eyes still closed to shield from the sudden burst of morning light.
"I just want to thank you for listening to me last night. I appreciate you letting me stay the night."
"No problem, Stace. Anything for you."
She kissed him on the cheek. He was so sweet. "Anyway, Luc, I have to go. I promised I'd meet with Stella at ten."
Stella was Stacy's agent and a good friend of Lucas' mom. Lucas knew how Stella was with appointments and punctuality so he let her go, but not before he planted a quick peck on her lips. He could tell that it surprised the leggy woman, but her smile when he pulled away confirmed that she wasn't against it.
"I'll see you later, Stacy."
She waved before she closed the door behind her.
Although the phone was on silent, the vibrating noise forced him to wake up and end the call without checking. He would bother with that later. He looked to his left and found Naomi, the blonde, sleeping soundly beside him. He could have sworn there were two of them last night. But with all the joints smoked and the pills popped, he wasn't certain. Suddenly he saw a form shift under the blanket.
Unless his dick had transformed into a ninety-pound model from Australia, he was certain this was the other girl Mia. He pulled the blanket over his head to check and found Mia in fetal position, her head resting on his right thigh. He couldn't help but smile. He had his share of threesomes but never had he woken up to a girl with her head so close to his crotch. His morning wood only stood more like a Sequoia.
He shifted carefully out of bed and staggered to the bathroom. After a nice, cold shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and found both girls still sound asleep. Mia had pulled herself up on the bed and enveloped her friend in a steamy embrace. Cold shower or not, it was definitely a sight to see. Randy had to get away before temptation would strike again. He pulled a pair of running shorts from his suitcase and slipped on a pair of Nike running shoes.
The hotel was strategically located in one of the busier parts of Hollywood. It was blocks away from theatres and studios, and the sidewalks were lined with magazine and map vendors. He tugged on his shirt to get a waft of cool air into his body. It was a dry and hot day, and he couldn't wait until he passed the five-mile mark and make his way back to the hotel for a swim. He passed by a few magazine stands and stopped when he saw something that instantly caught his eye
He picked it up and looked at the picture in the corner.
It was his face, and in bold letters across the bottom:
Randy Orton causing trouble in Hollywood.