"You know what I just realized?"
John's head remained buried under the pillow as fiancée pushed open the curtains, allowing the bright, morning sun to pour into the room, "That it's too early to burn my eyes out?"
Jessica laughed, "Oh, John, it's never too early for that. I was actually about to mention the fact that I haven't decided on bridesmaids yet."
"Bitch," he muttered quietly thinking she couldn't hear his insult.
She scowled and ripped the pillows off of his head, "Am I living up to my nickname?"
"You don't play fair!" he groaned into the sheet.
"You don't even know how to play!"
"Baby," his picked his head up and looked at her near the door opposite the curtains. "I got game."
"Right…" she rolled her eyes at him. "Now let me as you a question. Before we got together, how drunk did you have to be to get laid?"
"Don't you mean…"
"Now," she shot him a hardened stare. "I meant what I said. I wanted to know how much it took to give you beer goggles."
"Bitch."
"And we're back where we started."
"Why?"
"You called me a bitch."
"But you never answered your own question."
"You were supposed to answer."
"I thought it was rhetorical," he replied, his brow slightly furrowed at the current banter.
"I don't know if you're aware," Jessica arched her eyebrow at him, "But you tend to be wrong most of the time."
"Touché," he let out a deep chuckle, "Now, come 'ere."
"No," she crossed her arms in defiance over her chest. "You call me the b-word."
"How old are you? Five?" he rolled his eyes at her and rolled out of bed, walking towards her. "Don't make me carry you kicking and screaming."
Her eyes narrowed into slits as he approached her, "I'm serious, John."
John's blue eyes glinted mischievously as he scooped her up onto his shoulder, "So am I."
"Jessica, John," the familiar voice of Randy Orton greeted the pair as they walked into the hotel's restaurant. "I'm glad it took you an hour to figure out how to be on time the next occasion we meet for lunch."
John smirked as they took their seats at the table opposite their friend, "It was worth it."
"Ew," the green-eyed wrestler scoffed, pushing away his plate of food. "That's disgusting."
"Oh, what?" the youngest McMahon sibling shot him a look as her cheeks reddened. "Like you've never done it before?"
"No," Randy replied defensively. "I just don't talk about it."
Both West Newbury natives turned to face each other… and promptly burst out laughing.
Hey, girl. I need to talk to you. Meet me in the trainer's room at four. XOXO Trish.
The text message from the Canadian had come a little over two hours ago and Jessica was now cooling her heels in the small room.
She wondered if something was wrong… with her or her fiancé, Ron. Was everything going okay? Was she having second thoughts?
Perhaps it wasn't any of those possible scenarios.
Maybe it was something much worse.
And just as her mind began to run dark, the door suddenly opened.
"Hey," an airy voice greeted her as a buxom blonde entered the room. "Sorry I'm late, Ron called."
"It's okay," the caramel blonde nodded with a slight smile. "How is he?"
"Good," Trish beamed. "He can't wait for the wedding in September. For that matter, I can't either."
"Speaking of which," Jessica interjected, hopping out of her chair, "I need to ask you something. I wanted to know if you'd be one of my bridesmaids."
The smile slowly grew wider, "Jess… of course I will. Thank you," she embraced her friend and then pulled back, "It makes me wish that I had happier news."
Jessica froze in her place, "What are you talking about?"
"I, uh…" Trish began to pick at her fingernails. "I'm taking some time off, Jess."
"Oh," her younger friend breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, after the wedding, of course. You deserve time to be newlyweds."
"No, Jess…" Trish bit her lip and looked up at Jessica. "In September, I'm retiring. It's over."
"Over?" the younger woman echoed in disbelief. "Why?"
The Canadian rose to her feet and smoothed down her jeans, "It's just time, Jess."
Tears began to well up in Jessica's eyes, "To leave? I thought you were happy here."
"I am!" she exclaimed to assure her friend. "And it's been great here, but it's time for me to move on, spend some time with my husband, start my marriage off on the right foot. I've been on the road for so long, Jessica. I've neglected him for too long."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," Trish shrugged, leaning against the exam table. "Some health and fitness work, maybe a book. I've seen plenty in my seven years here. Six titles, countless memorable moments. My life would make a good book… yours would too, you know."
Two years later, when I first sat down to start this book, Trish was my first thought. After all, she was the first one to suggest I write, even if it wasn't a serious notion.
For the longest time, Trish was number one, as was Amy. And they both left. I began to wonder whether I wanted to be number one anymore. Did I really want to get to the point where I wanted to leave and do something else? Would it even happen?
But I suppose, looking back on it all, it was the price I had to pay, my relationship, part of my heart, friendships. Although, I can't say my "love triangle" made it any easier.
I can't tell you that I ever thought I'd lose both of my best friends in the company within a three month span. Hell, losing Trish was hard enough… but Amy was the first person to really reach out to me and not view me as the spoiled daughter of Vince McMahon.
I can tell you, however, that I wasn't ready to step up and be number one. I felt like I was filling a position that wasn't meant to be filled. I felt like being the premier woman in the company wasn't right. And maybe, standing in that ring with the belt, I did feel like the champ for a little while, but in my heart, I knew I was in their shadow.
Sure, I've made plenty of money as a wrestler, as an Executive Vice President, but nothing compares to hearing my name out there, in arenas from the east coast and Madison Square Garden to the west coast and the Staples Center.
Deep down, I still feel like the little girl from West Newbury, Massachusetts. That town is a part of me that's never gone away and I pride myself on that. I'm not a big shot, I'm just me.
I've sacrificed a lot to get here, but you already know that. I've missed birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, little things that I shouldn't have. But I did. And there's no going back when you've done things like that.
But you have to put a hundred percent of what you've got… and then another fifty percent on top of that. You get what you give in, my friends, and people get what they deserve, whether you know it or not. They really do.
I know that there will come a point in time in which I've got to hang up the wrestling boots, and I have nothing against Trish and Amy, I love them both, but I'll never go out that way. I'll never walk away from this business. It's in my blood, it's in my heart, it's in my soul.
All you need to know is that when everything is said and done, I want to be the greatest anyone ever saw… and the greatest that anyone ever will see.
Jessica sunk down onto Amy's hotel room bed, tears once again stinging her eyes, "Not you too, Ames. Not you too."
The redhead nodded sadly, "November."
She flopped backwards, staring up at the ceiling, "Why do you have to go, Amy? What is so great out there that you're willing to leave us behind, leave me behind."
"Girl," Amy put a hand on her friend's leg, "You know that I'm not leaving you behind. You're three years behind me in age and much more ahead of me in talent and skill. Jess… I'll always be there for you. You're one of my best friends. But I can't live in this world anymore… a world where my personal life was exploited for entertainment and I live every single day with the consequences."
"I'll try again. I'll try to change the storylines, I swear," she sat upright, looking her friend dead in the eye as she tried to fight a losing battle.
"You did try, Jess. I know you did, but you can't force anything on your sister and in the end, she and your dad have the final say," her friend sighed heavily. "And I don't want you to think that my decision has been made because you didn't try hard enough. I found myself a new guy… and I want to be a regular woman, with a regular relationship for a change."
Jessica managed a small smile, "Yeah, just your run-of-the-mill Rock Goddess who is dating the lead guitarist."
"Well," Amy let out a slight laugh, "You and I both know I always liked long-haired guys."
You'd figure that life couldn't throw me for anymore loops at this point, right?
Well, we'd both be wrong. In fact, I WAS wrong. And I had to live with the fallout.
If only I'd been looking where I was going…
After leaving Amy's hotel room, Jessica's head was in a completely different zip code, one she couldn't even be sure of.
Rounding the corner, she wasn't even paying attention as to where she was going, causing her to slam into a much taller, harder body and fall to the floor.
Rubbing her arm where it slammed against the ground, Jessica's hazel eyes darted upwards at her colliding point.
"Paul?" the words barely escaped her lips.
Taking notice of her, he quickly shuffled off towards the elevators, but Jessica got to her feet and chased after him.
Just as the doors were closing, she squeezed in and the gold-tinted metal shut behind her.
Her hand reached out for the floor panel and her index finger pressed down on the stop button, sending the rocketing box to a complete halt, "Care to explain why the hell you've been avoiding me, Paul?"
Her brother-in-law refused to budge, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Let's see…" she trailed off, tilting her head as if she was looking into a thought bubble. "You've barely even acknowledged my existence since John and I got engaged. You won't talk to me at meetings, you don't laugh at my Stephanie jokes that used to send you into hysterics, and today, you bowl me over in a hallway and run off like you saw a ghost!"
Paul sighed and ran a hand over his blonde ponytail, "It's been a rough week with the…"
"I know! I know!" Jessica threw her hands up in the air. "Aurora, this. The baby, that. Being a parent is rough… but I know for a fact that she is now sleeping through the night, Paul. And quite frankly, this bullshit needs to stop. I want to know what's going on. And I want to know NOW."
"Now is not the time, nor the place, Jessica…" he shook his head and reached for the button to restart motion, but she covered it with her own hand first.
"Well, unless you've got a better idea, Paul," the blonde folded her toned arms over her chest, "We're not going anywhere."
The Connecticut-native studied his sister-in-law intently and finally relented, "Fine. I can't discuss this with you tonight, I have a bunch of things I have to do. However, tomorrow, two pm… come to my room. Stephanie won't be on the road with me, so we can talk in private."
Jessica smirked, finally getting what she wanted, and pushed the button to restart the elevator, "Deal."
Silently, they reached the bottom floor of the hotel and parted in the lobby.
Paul watched as Jessica turned around the corner, her blonde hair trailing behind her, and then reached for his cellular phone. Instinctively, his fingers dialed the familiar numbers.
And after three rings, the line was picked up, "Hey, it's me. Listen, I can't hide this from her any longer. She knows something is up… I have to tell her. I know. I know. Just… find the first flight you can get to here. Something tells me that she's going to want to speak to you face to face."
A/N: Well, the mystery continues. But now it's official, by the end of Chapter 6, one of your guesses will be knocked out of the running and by the end of Chapter 7, the mystery superstar will be revealed.
It's official: What's up with Paul WILL BE REVEALED NEXT CHAPTER!
Excited? Me too.
Current Poll Results:
Randy – 18
Triple H – 7
The Rock - 6
Edge – 3
Jeff – 1
Chris Jericho – 1
Hmm... looks like HHH has taken a bit of a jump in the polls. Well, we shall see everyone.
And while we didn't get to one-hundred reviews, I hope this chapter was enough to get to the milestone so I can average at least twenty reviews per chapter. I'll be the fastest I've ever reached that number before!
Shout-outs:
Purplefeather21 – It might sound bad for Jess, but in the prologue of her autobiography and in her commentary in this chapter, you get the impression that she's going to be alright. And she will be… in time.
Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – No, it never is stress-free. Planning my own Sweet Sixteen was incredibly stressful on its own! And yeah, something IS up with Paul. You'll find out just what it is next chapter. And I have a fear of tornadoes. Like… I have at least four nightmares about them each month. I swear.
StarSixtyNine – Some people do get laid on Memorial Day. As evidenced by the fact that babies ARE born every day of the year, so obviously, a multitude of people get wasted. Moving on… it's not sad that you're plotting to steal a grown man from a fictional character. If you act on it, then I might have to call the looney bin. I'm just saying…
StartingLine722 – You can say it's Paul. I promise, you're not the only one. And sometimes, I put in little, simple details that get overanalyzed. It's all part of my game.
Sailormama – Hell yeah, long time no read! I'd NEVER abandon this story. It's my baby. This whole series is my baby. Although, I don't know what I'm going to do at the end. Probably cry. Who knows? But that's not for a while anyway.
Beckyy – Thank you, girl. I am always impressed when people read all three of these stories. It shows true dedication. And THANK YOU for such an amazing compliment. I hope this update has somewhat satisfied your curiosity. I know the next one definitely will.
Simply Priceless – Alright, so Cody wasn't in this one, as I told you he would be. HOWEVER, I believe he will be in the next chapter. I had major song inspiration in the middle of English class the other day when I had a substitute who let me listen to my iPod. Speaking of inspiration, I DO think that tomorrow will give me quite a bit. So look for Only One either tomorrow night or Wednesday. Tuesday, I'm going out to Shea Stadium to chill with David. Lol.
Chain Gang Princess – Do you, now? Hmm… and yeah. Cena is the cutest.
CandaceMcMahon – It was very painful, but I have a high pain threshold. I too like Star Magazine because many times, they happen to be right. The others, I'm not big on. As far as the story goes, you certainly are NOT the first to change a vote to Paul. In fact… it seems to be more and more common lately. Hmm.
Cena-holic8 – I'm glad you liked the update. And that you're confused. That's the best part. Just kidding. Maybe.
Dj-ssdd – It's okay that you missed the last one. I had prom last week… and the yearbook, which I'm editor of, came out this week… so yeah. Thanks for the compliments on the story. Another changed vote to Paul.
2 Die is 2 Live – Finally! I get to address you in a review! I happen to love McCena too. But sometimes, good things must come to an end. At least, that's what SOMEONE thinks. Another two chapters, and you'll find out who.
Westfan – You didn't get a shout-out? David will have to give me a stern talking to for that one. Speaking of which, when Raw rolls into MSG in August, come to NYC. We'll all go out to lunch. Or dinner. Or whatever is most convenient. Possibly breakfast. Who knows? As for Paul, you'll find out in a chapter or two.
So that's it for now. Read… and review. And hell, if you're bored… review again!
Haha. Rock on, everyone!
Danielle