For Monday's live Raw, Vince and the rest of creative had decided to allow Jessica to take the evening off and allow John to participate in a very short match. In fact, his bout with Matt Striker ended in close to one minute after he slapped on the STFU, forcing him to almost immediately tap.
But that was yesterday.
Today was the big meeting with Preston Bailey in the city and Jessica was nervous as hell.
John, on the other hand, seemed to be handling it a lot better.
"Baby…" the twenty-nine year old placed a hand on his fiancée's thigh, covered by her white, flowing skirt, which was bouncing up and down at a rapid pace in the backseat of the New York City taxi.
Her head turned away from the window, "Hmm?"
"Jess," he pressed his hand down slightly on her leg. "Relax."
"Sorry," Jessica apologized with a nod and sighed as she fiddled with the hem of her green camisole. "I'm just a little bit nervous."
He laughed slightly, "Can you at least save it for the wedding?"
The young woman finally managed to crack a smile, "Okay."
A few minutes later, the cab pulled to a halt in front of a building on West 25th Street and John handed him money through the window after he and Jessica had exited the taxi.
The ascent of the elevator to the eleventh floor was rather quick and upon walking onto the floor, they quickly found Preston's office at the end of the hall.
Meanwhile, back in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a pair of wrestlers were seated in the Sheraton Hotel's restaurant eating lunch.
Aside from Jessica and John, they were the only two WWE employees left in the state, as everyone else had alright begun their drive to the next house show or Raw broadcast.
"Are you sure?" the man with his hair pulled into a ponytail asked his friend across the table as he scooped his mashed potatoes with his spoon.
His friend sighed, "Of course I'm sure."
"Like… how sure?"
"Shawn!" the man hissed at him, slightly miffed by his skepticism.
"Sorry, sorry," Shawn apologized, holding up his hands. "I was just checking."
The dark blonde across from his ran a hand through his hair, "It's hard for me to understand too."
His friend nodded and swallowed the water in his mouth, "How did this happen?"
"I don't know, Shawn. I didn't ask for this burden, you know."
"And I'm not saying you did, man…"
"This sucks, Shawn."
"I know, buddy," the devout Christian agreed with a sigh. "So… are you going to tell her?"
His eyes widened to saucers, "Are you out of your mind?"
"It was only a thought…" he trailed off guiltily and allowed his gaze to drift everywhere but his friend's face.
"Jesus Christ," the darker blonde mumbled, shaking his head, and took a long swig of his beer.
"Hey…" Shawn arched an eyebrow at him. "Just because your life is screwed up right now, does not mean you are allowed to take my savior's name in vain."
He rolled his eyes and nodded, "Alright, alright. You're right. I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted…" a mischievous grin crept up his face. "On behalf of myself… and Jesus."
"You're nuts, man."
"Nut… Jesus freak," Shawn shrugged, wiping at his mouth with a napkin. "I'll just add it to my list of apparent names."
The slightly younger man laughed, "You always manage to cheer me up when I'm down, Shawn."
"Hey… it's what friends are for," he reminded him with a weak smile. "And as your friend, I think it's only fair that you let me know what your next move is."
"As soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know."
Shawn's voice dropped to a whisper, "I'm serious, Paul."
"So am I, Shawn," Paul retorted, placing his napkin beside his plate with a sigh. "Right now, all I can do is sit back and see how things play out… and hope they don't explode."
Entering the door, John and Jessica were greeted by the light scent of roses and a bubbly secretary.
"Good afternoon," the petite blonde with glasses welcomed them warmly. "You must be Mr. Cena and Ms. McMahon."
"Yes," Jessica smiled at the woman as John laced his fingers with hers. "That would be us."
"Excellent," the secretary returned the potential client's smile. "Mr. Bailey is expecting you. Please, follow me."
"Thank you," she replied with a nod and followed the young woman to the door.
Preston's secretary opened the maple door before them and gave them a clear view of his office.
The large room had crisp white walls and a cherry oak desk, neatly organized with papers in small stacks along the side. Lining the walls were a multitude of bookcases filled with different books and albums, most likely a continuous portfolio of his work.
In front of the desk was a plush, burgundy leather couch meant for two people.
Behind the desk were frames displaying all of the covers that his work was featured on, some of which featured him. Most importantly, behind the desk sat the man himself.
"Ms. McMahon, Mr. Cena," the man in his late forties with deep cocoa skin rose to his feet and walked around the desk, extending a hand first to Jessica. "It is an absolute pleasure to meet you."
Jessica grinned at him, finally feeling her nerves wash away, and shook his hand, "Please, call me Jessica. It is very nice to finally meet you as well, Mr. Bailey."
"Preston," he winked at her and shook John's hand. "Mr. Cena."
"John," the Massachusetts native in a pair of jeans a while button down shirt shook him off. "Mr. Cena would be my father."
"Very true, John," Preston laughed and motioned to the chairs. "Please, take a seat."
The couple nodded and sat side by side on the couch, John's hand instinctively covering Jessica's.
"First off," he began, sitting down in his swivel chair and clasping his hands together on the desk, "I just want to say that I am honored that you'd consider me to plan your wedding."
"Believe me," Jessica chuckled. "We feel the same way. We're glad you'd be willing to plan it."
John nodded with a laugh of his own, "There is no consideration, in all honesty. You are our first and only choice to plan the wedding."
"Excellent," the famed planner smiled. "I guess we can get right down to business then. Did you have a date in mind?"
"Actually," Jessica looked to John and then back at Preston. "The best date for us, in terms of scheduling, is June 22, 2007. I know it's a Tuesday, but it'd work best for everyone."
"Okay," Preston opened his binder and began scribbling on a piece of paper. "And any idea of venue? Church or reception?"
"Neither of us are exceptionally religious," the blue-eyed man informed him. "We were contemplating the idea of having the ceremony and reception in the same place."
The man opposite them nodded, "It happens to be increasingly common, especially in larger-scale venues. Do you have one in mind?"
"None whatsoever," Jessica laughed. "But my sister had her wedding in this area and I'd like to do the same. I was thinking somewhere here, in New York. The majority of my family lives in Connecticut and his lives in Massachusetts."
"It really wouldn't be fair to either of them if we had the wedding in one place or the other," John concurred.
Preston agreed whole-heartedly, "You're absolutely right. You don't want to alienate either family. Do you want more of a metropolitan feel… like a city wedding? Or would you prefer something with more greenery and estate to it?"
The blonde turned to look at her fiancé, "What do you think?"
"Well, I'm not exactly a big city kid. I'd rather an estate wedding. How about you?"
"Neither Connecticut or Massachusetts made me feel like a city girl. I think I'd like an estate wedding too," she agreed with a nod. "Like I said, we really like the idea of a New York wedding."
"Well," Preston began, rising to his feet in his khaki slacks and white button down shirt and traveling to one of his bookcases. "There is a place I just planned a wedding for last month, in June," he added, pulling a slim booklet from the shelf and handing it to the couple. "It's called Oheka Castle."
"A castle?" John's eyebrows raised as Jessica opened the brochure.
"Yes, a castle," Bailey's face reflected amusement at the man's awe of the venue. "It was built in the early 1920's by a philanthropist. Now, it did change hands quite a few times before 1984, when the restoration began under Gary Melius. Thirty million dollars later, with the beautiful restoration over seventy percent complete, it functions as a reception hall and a hotel."
The bride-to-be flipped through the pages, "Preston, this place is gorgeous!"
A satisfied grin spread across his face and he pressed a button on his phone, "I knew that you'd like it."
"Yes, Mr. Bailey?" the receptionist's voice crackled over the speaker phone.
"Allison, call Gary Melius. Set up an appointment for Mr. Cena and Ms. McMahon to tour Oheka this week," he informed her. "Make sure to tell him that he might have a star-studded wedding on his hands."
"Yes, Mr. Bailey," Allison answered simply. "Right away."
"Thank you," Preston finished his conversation with the secretary and turned back towards the couple. "Well, that was step one. I want to discuss with you my favorite part of the entire process… the décor. Do you want to go with the traditional white motif? Or would you prefer a theme? Maybe a color scheme?"
Jessica chewed on her lip for a moment, then spoke up, "I want to go a little against the grain for this one. I don't want to do everything in white. I think that I want to do a romantic color scheme. Deep reds, crimson, scarlet. Colors like that."
"Oooh…" the planner smiled like a schoolboy and pulled another few books from the shelf. "Very rock and roll chic."
John couldn't help but laugh, "Anything but rap and we're okay."
Preston returned to his desk chair, "I'll make a note of that. Now, let me ask you a question before we proceed any further. I want to discuss with you something that is central to wedding planning. The budget."
"Yes," the young blonde concurred. "I want to discuss that, as well. By force, on his end, my father is paying for the headcount of the reception, as well as the hotel and brunch the next morning."
"Alright…" the dark-skinned man trailed off, writing in his binder yet again. "It will be convenient for him because it's all going to go to the same place if you decide on Oheka," he finished up his pen work and looked up at the pair. "And everything else is at your expense, correct?"
"Correct," John answered this time.
Preston placed his pen down on the desk and folded his hands together over his desk, "Did you have a maximum number in mind?"
Jessica opened her mouth to speak, but her fiancé spoke first, "There isn't one."
"John…" she turned to face him, her hazel eyes glinting gold.
"Jessica," he lowered his head to hers slightly, fixating his blue eyes on her. "There isn't one. This is your dream wedding, okay? I want it to be perfect for you. So whatever you want, you're going to get. No questions asked."
"Baby, it's too much…"
"No," John shook her off. "It'll never be enough."
Could I have had it any better? I mean, really… isn't this the type of fairytale that all girls hope for and dream of their entire lives?
It's okay. You can say it… John Cena was my Prince Charming, my white knight in shining armor… all of it.
I should have known that things were about to change when my brother-in-law, the person who had been the one I ran to for years in John's absence, and later Randy's, started acting strange.
God, if I had only known then what I know now… all of this pain and heartbreak could have been avoided.
Yeah, leave it to me to screw up the best thing I ever had…
A/N: Alright, so this is a short chapter, but now, I am officially done with the large majority of my graduation requirements and therefore, have a lot more free time on my hands. Yay!!
In case you're a little confused, the bold AND italicized portion of the chapter is directly from Jessica's autobiography. So it's like her commentary on the events going on in her life.
You guys have been amazing with the voting. A lot of you have changed your votes in the last chapter or so. If you intend to do so again this chapter, PLEASE tell me who you previously voted for, as well to make my life easier. Here's where we stand right now.
Poll results:
Randy – 20
The Rock – 6
Triple H - 4
Edge – 3
Jeff – 1
Chris Jericho – 1
Once again, you guys have been awesome with reviewing, even though there were around ten less reviews for chapter three than chapter two. That's okay too… BUT my goal is to get to 100 reviews this chapter, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review. Even if you haven't before. It would mean soooo much to me.
Shout-outs:
Lauren – I am entirely happy, thank you very much. And after this chapter, I think it's sufficient to say that it's not weird to be considering Paul at the moment.
Snap DDT – Someone's going to be making an appearance next chapter… I won't tell you who, but I think, telepathically, you know!
Chain Gang Princess – I can't believe I didn't get shocked for saying Cena was hotter than Beckham. And yeah, I'd love a McMahon-Cena era too.
Fozzy-Floozy – I'm glad you're not confused anymore.
Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – I'm glad to see you've calmed down since your last review, girl. You had me scared there for a little while. John is definitely just as excited as Jessica is about the wedding… for now.
Asher02 – Thank you. And you're right. Something is up with Paul. The question is… what?
The.Black.Psycho.Barbie – I'm glad your CST's are done. Did I say that? Cause honestly… things have a tendency to slip my mind.
Sideways anger – Ahhh… I love to keep people guessing. It lets me know I'm doing a good job.
Goddessofthenight – Way to fuel the fire, Julz. And by the way, in case you didn't notice, added scene from when you read it last night! So there!
StartingLine722 – I'm glad you liked this chapter. The clues are dropping on the mystery guy right and left, so pay attention. It should be resolved by Chapter 10. I just haven't decided which chapter it'll be in.
Alexaaa2 – I'm glad that you are enjoying this story. That is the greatest complaint I've ever gotten, lol. But now that as a senior, my graduation requirements are pretty much fulfilled, the updates will be much more frequent.
Cena-holic8 – I love McCena fluffiness too. This was some more fluffy-fluff stuff too.
Sailormama – Ah! I am doing my job if I'm getting you to question yourself! Excellent! Thank you for all of your amazing compliments and the adds. I greatly appreciate that!
Lady Luv – Anytime. I'm glad it's clear now.
Wrestlenascargirl – Yay! A new reader! I'm so happy! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Miniature-hero – What, indeed.
CandaceMcMahon – Girl, I bowled with no ACL for three months. Suck it up! Just kidding, Candace. Your finger might have stayed in the ball a little longer than it should have, forcing it to curl around the weight of the ball and bruising the joint. You should be alright in a little while. If it's still really bad, splint it. In case you can't tell, I'm a bowling fanatic. I bowl like… four days a week competitively. In fact, I will be bowling in college. Rutgers, actually. Oh wait… I think there's a story going on here. Right… anyway. I love writing those magazine and internet articles. They're so much fun, in all honesty. It comes easy to me. Probably because I'm on People Online and Perez Hilton's site all week long. Eh… I like gossip. What girl doesn't?
So readers, that's all for now. Please review… like I said… ONE HUNDRED awaits!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend. Be safe. Be smart. Don't drink and drive. Use protection.
And most importantly, as Jessica would say… and does say in her recently updated journal on my profile page, which you should totally check out… rock on, rebels!
Danielle