Looking at the full length mirror in the hotel after yet another Raw, Jessica was beginning to like what she was seeing.
It had been over two months since she'd donned any sort of wrestling attire, busy playing valet to John while working a lot harder behind the scenes.
But two Raw's had gone by and she had wrestled on both.
"Something about the aggression is freeing, I don't know," the blonde explained into the phone, examining her attire in the mirror.
The woman on the other end agreed, "It's your way of dealing with the pain. I know that freeing feeling. It's… it's because it's no longer just sitting around in your head, simmering, driving you crazy."
You're probably wondering what made me finally decide to discuss my problems with Amy. It's quite simple, really.
All I had to do was clarify and fill in a few mystery names. I mean, my entire situation was in every tabloid across America, sometimes in other countries too.
So on certain days, when Randy and Dave wouldn't do, I picked Amy's brain instead.
Jessica sighed, "Sometimes I feel like I should have told you in the first place. You would have given me the right advice, I know it."
"Maybe," Amy replied with a slight hint of uncertainty to her voice. "But honestly, skipping over a really emotional storytelling session punctuated by pouring your heart out to me would have made me walk on eggshells around you. Being able to tell it like it is, without those memories, really helps."
"You're a strange child, you know that?" Jessica chuckled over the phone, holding up a hanger with a new pair of pants over the ones she was currently wearing.
Just as she'd finished her sentence, however, a dull click was audible and the hotel room door opened.
"Playing dress up, Jess?" Randy arched an eyebrow at her.
"Speaking of strange children…" she muttered. "At least I can pass a mirror without having to look in it and check my reflection."
He rolled his emerald green eyes at her.
"Ames, I've got to go…" Jessica told her friend on the phone. "Randy's acting like a two year old and I don't think I have the mental capacity to talk to both him and you at the same time."
Amy laughed on the other end of the phone, "Desle infierno, chica."
"Oh si, yo hago," she replied, her eyes narrowing at Randy as Amy hung up the phone.
"Oooh, Spanish! Listen to you, all feisty!" Randy chuckled as he hugged her, pulling her much smaller body into his warm chest. "You're getting better, you know that?"
"Thanks," she smiled appreciatively and pulled away from him. "You help me more than you know."
"Yeah," he laughed and flopped back on her bed. "I'm glad I'm not Victoria or Melina. They've been your human punching bags."
"Um, my bed!" she protested, walking to the edge of the mattress and staring at him.
"So?"
With a smirk and little warning, Jessica launched herself onto Randy. "You could be my human punching bag too, if you want."
"Nope," he shook his head and shoved her off to his right side. "I'm good."
"Hey, Randy?" Jessica asked, turning her head to look at him beside her on top of the bed.
He swiveled his head to meet her gaze. "Yeah?"
"Do you ever think?"
"On occasion…"
She chuckled slightly and shook her head. "No, I meant do you ever think about us? I mean, what could have been if there was no John Cena in my life?"
He smiled and nodded slowly. "I have, yes. But each time, I come to realize it wouldn't be the same."
"Why?"
"You wouldn't be the same… you wouldn't have been with Diana all those years," he explained. "If your dad had gone to West Newbury, but didn't see you hit it off with John, you wouldn't have stayed there."
"You're right…"
"Always am," he smirked at the blonde. "And I am very thankful for Cena."
Jessica was perplexed. "Why is that?"
"That would have meant another Stephanie running around here."
"Oh," Jessica grinned. "Yeah. It's just weird to think about becoming like my sister. But you and I… would have been interesting to say the least."
"Maybe," he shrugged and then stared up at the ceiling. "But I think that you would have found John eventually or he would have found you."
Inquisitively, Jessica propped herself up on her elbow. "You really think so, Randy?"
For a few moments, he continued to look above him at the white plaster. Then he nodded and turned to face her. "Yes, I do."
It was going to be like this every night for the rest of his life, he was sure of it.
He had possessed everything he could have asked for in a woman: a lover, a best friend… he'd even left another woman because he'd known she'd never be the love of his life.
So what had he done after finding her? Not believed her when it mattered most.
And so John Cena sat, alone in the dark, dwelling on the shattered pieces of his future.
Well, one piece in particular.
"I didn't kiss him, John!" she assured him, roughly running her hands through her hair. "He kissed me. I don't want him, John. I want you."
"I just need to think, Jess…"
"About what?"
"About us!" John sniped back in an outburst. "I need to clear my mind, Jess. It's not all about you, you know. Maybe I don't want to be your fiancé anymore."
How could he even ask her to take him back after what he'd done?
And while it pained him to admit it, John knew that if she had decided to move on, whether it was with Dwayne or not, he wouldn't even blame her one bit.
A knock on the door early the following morning knocked John from his slumber, which had only begun four hours prior.
Throwing on a pair of shorts and a tank top, he crossed the room to answer the door, sleepiness evident in his crystalline blue eyes.
On the other side of the door stood a young man, about five years younger than himself, in uniform.
"Good morning, Mr. Cena. I was given specific instructions to give you this as soon as possible," he stated simply and politely, extending a plain linen envelope to him. "Apparently, it's quite urgent."
John took the letter from his hand, but before he could look up, the young man was gone.
"Weird," he mumbled and began to tear open the envelope, kicking the door shut with his foot.
Dear John,
I know it has been a while since I last spoke to you, but I had to write. I couldn't let things escalate any further without offering my two cents.
While you and I never really spent a lot of time together outside of company events and a few celebratory occasions, Jessica is still one of my best friends and I feel that as her friend, it is my duty to help her in any way I can. That being said, what I am about to tell you must stay between you and I. If she, or someone else, were to read this letter, I would surely incur some sort of wrath.
I've known Dwayne just as long as I've known Jessica. Perhaps, I've known her a smidgeon longer, but not much. As a result, I understand her in ways that only another girl could… especially when it comes to her emotional state.
Before you jump to any conclusions, I have not spoken to Jess regarding the current situation. However, that doesn't mean that I don't know how her mind works.
I'm not going to necessarily throw my support to either you or Dwayne. Instead, I'm going to tell you something that you should really take seriously.
I know that you love her. A lot. And while choosing Dwayne might not be what you want her to do, we both know that you just want her to be happy. Right now, John… she's not happy. And it's because she has to choose between the two of you.
I'm not telling you to give up on her, but I'm asking you, from the bottom of my heart, to make things easier for her.
Don't force her to make a choice until she's ready. In the meantime, stay in her good graces because I know that being away from her is killing you. Be the man you always were, John… be her best friend.
After all, that's the man you always have been… and always will be, even if her decision isn't the one you want.
Love always,
Trish
"Who the hell is texting you at seven thirty in the morning, McMahon?" Randy groaned, burying his head under one of his pillows.
"I don't know!" Jessica whined, ripping her cell off of the end table between the two beds and glancing at it. "John."
Randy shot up from the bed. "What did he say?"
"Jess, I need to talk to you. Meet me downstairs for breakfast? I promise, I'll be on my best behavior. John," she read aloud to him and then looked over at her friend. "What do I do?"
A small smile eased across his chiseled face. "You go."
It had taken her about forty minutes to get ready. After deciding on a pair of faded blue jeans and a black sweater, Jessica found herself in an elevator descending to the lobby of the hotel.
However, when the elevator doors opened, she stepped out, only to be pushed back inside.
Jessica's hazel eyes were fixated on the man who had forced her back inside. "What was that for?"
He sighed and pressed a button on the panel, sending them upward. "The paparazzi is swarming the restaurant and the hotel. The staff is struggling to keep them out of the lobby. I didn't want you to have to face them too."
"Thank you," she nodded appreciatively and then noticed the cut on his arm that was already surrounded by yellowing skin. "Are you alright?" she asked, lightly grazing his arm with her fingers.
"What?" he turned around to face her and then looked down at his arm. "Just a scratch, nothing serious. Who knew photographers could be so violent?"
"Yeah…" Jessica trailed off as the elevator slowed to a halt. "Where are we going, John?"
He let her step out first and then followed. "Since I'm sure Sleeping Beauty is still comatose in your room, I figured that I'd move breakfast to mine. It's the only really safe place to eat," John began, but then stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. It's just hard to get used to."
"No, no…" the blonde waved him off. "It's fine. Really, lead the way. I trust you."
A bright grin flashed across John's face as he and Jessica began walking to his room.
Her words had given him something he hadn't felt in weeks: hope.
And the truth was that I did trust John with my life because I knew that he would never let anything bad happen to me under his watch. Twenty-plus years of friendship and a little over a year of dating had proven that to me over and over again.
But I also trusted Dwayne. On many occasions, I had literally put my life in his hands in the ring during tag matches and while engaging in stunts for storylines that he would never consent to now that he's a little bit older.
However, trust was never the issue. The issue at hand was who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
And while I never gave any indication otherwise, something dawned on me as I sat and ate breakfast with John that morning.
Either Dwayne or John was going to be my husband… and the other was going to be relegated to just being my best friend again.
And whoever that man was, I was dooming him to a lifetime of pain and what-if's.
"I've consulted numerous members of my team," Vince began, attempting to control his temper once more. "Personally, I think that I'm letting you BOTH off easy, but for the sake of my daughter, and my sanity, I will not be as severe as I would have liked."
Both men silently nodded, bracing myself for the worst.
"Mr. Orton," the older man with graying temples addressed his employee. "For the next three months, you will have lost your travel entitlements. You will lose your rental upgrade, your first class status, and your private hotel room. I suggest you start looking for a roommate before we head out tonight, as this punishment is in effect immediately."
"Yes, sir," Randy agreed respectfully, reminding him of his days in the Marines.
"As for you, Mr. Cena," Vince began, pausing for a moment to calm himself. "It's a very good thing that I have people I consult with because if it was up to the father in me, superstar or not, I'd have suspended you for a year. Nevertheless, I still have to punish you for what company rules you have violated tonight. Starting next week, you'll be working a new program."
"Sir, I thought I was supposed to be feuding with Eddie?" John asked, referencing the wrestler better known as Umaga.
His boss smirked. "Oh, you still are. You're pulling double duty."
"So who am I feuding with?"
"Surely, Mr. Cena, you've heard of Britney Spears…"
"Dad is making you feud with Kevin Federline?!?" Jessica asked incredulously, attempting to stifle her laughter.
"I do believe he prefers to go by the name K-Fed," John corrected her in mock-seriousness.
"Does my sister not realize that we've spent over two years trying to wipe away your Vanilla Ice gimmick?" she chuckled with a shake of her head. "We don't need another gangster-wanna be."
John flashed her a crooked smile. "I met him already. Well, for a few minutes. He's actually a pretty chill guy. I met his son, Sean, too. Really cute kid."
"What about Britney?"
He laughed, "Obviously, I didn't meet her. Those would have been the first words out of my mouth."
Jessica laughed too. "Right. Obviously."
"It's worth it, though. Pulling double duty," John explained himself. "I mean, I got to deck Orton for once. Do you know how many times I've wanted to do that in my life?"
"I bet you it's not nearly as often as I have," she challenged him. "But you got to… and I'm jealous."
"I'll tell you what, if I can arrange for you to take on Britney as a punishment… will you punch Orton?"
"Wait a second," Jessica scrunched her nose in confusion. "How does punching my current roommate help me at all? You just want to see me roll around in a ring with Britney Spears."
His boyish grin returned. "I'm a warm-blooded male. What else did you expect?"
The young woman shook her head. "Idiot."
"Well, this idiot read an email from Merrimac Kennels before he left this morning," John countered, taking a bite of eggs from his plate. "And they finally have more than one female in a chocolate litter… six females, five males. Who would have guessed that two litters would be born with only one female?"
"I see," she nodded quietly.
The wrestler placed his fork down lightly on his plate. "Whatever you and I are right now… it doesn't matter. She's still yours. I bought her as a companion for you while you were recovering and I wasn't around. I know it's kind of empty in West Newbury these days. Maybe she can make it a little less lonely."
The corner of her mouth twitched upward. "Thank you. When do they want us to go?"
John did a double take. "Us?"
She nodded slowly. "I mean, if you don't want to go, it's okay. I understand."
"No," he answered quickly, a little too overzealous in his opinion. "I'll go. I'd like to... it's this weekend. You can even bring her home that day. It'll be fun. I mean, lots of little Labrador puppies running around… who doesn't like that?"
"Apparently, not even big meatheads."
"Not too much," he shook his head with a playful smile, his azure eyes sparkling. "They soften us, you know."
"Yeah," Jessica tucked a few strands of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled in amusement as she reached for her glass of orange juice. "I wouldn't want that to happen."
A/N: So I ended with some McCena cuteness for the first time in a while. I figured you guys might like to see it. And look! I gave a timely update! TWO in a two week span! Oh my God! And the week of Finals! (Shhh… don't tell my mother)
Speaking of updates and stories.. I am rather shamelessly plugging myself to all of you Heroes fans out there. I started my own fic about Heroes and it's a Peter/OC story. PLEASE check it out… it's called "Fix You." I mean, yeah… the OC is named Danielle and shares a lot of my traits, but her power is pretty damn remarkable, if I dare say so myself. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! Read and review!
Okay, back to SAR III. You can thank the lovely boys of NSync for this chapter and my re-inspiration because I was running dry on this one. I'm reinvigorated now. My goal is to have this story done before Valentines' Day. I hope to crank out about 6 more chapters by the end of January, while I'm on intersession. That'll leave me with three or four more chapters to go… and the big-reveal chapter is written.
I do need your opinion though. Should it be the last chapter? I am going to write a wedding scene, but I want to know... should the last chapter be the wedding or should I make it into a one-shot called She's a Rebel III.5: The Wedding? Or something like that. Let me know.
By the way, there will be a new poll up in a few weeks. I'm not sure what it's going to be regarding yet, though.
Onto the shout outs:
Hayley – I will totally admit that I haven't seen any pay-per-views in forever… BUT I managed to find someone on my floor who purchased the webcast. It was fantastic. And I totally get the Twilight reference in that name! You know what else needs to die? Finals. Kill me please.
ThatGirl54 – Jessica is going to get her title shot at New Year's Revolution indeed. But something infinitely more important than that is going to happen before hand, as well. You just inadvertently inspired me as to how she's going to choose. YAY! Thank you!
Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – Interesting point. Thank you!!!
StarSixtyNine – I bet this was a little fuzzier this time. Fluffier, dare I say. I will totally full-nelson slam him if you like. I would pull off a moonsault or a hurricarana, but I'm not really sure how much space there is in the room and this might be a little dangerous as a result.
Cena-holic8 – I'm trying to leave you guys hanging for a little less time. Even I must admit that it totally sucks when you have to wait a full month for an update. Trust me, it sucks when I'm trying to absorb all of this information that my professors throw at me while I've got all of these ideas swirling around in my head. And please, Cena is ALWAYS looking fine!!!!
Sambolina – There was definitely some Randy/Jessica fluff in this one too. I love Randy… and I love to use him for fluffy purposes. Well, he's pretty much my go-to-guy. I mean, John needs some sense knocked into him… Randy. Jessica needs to be talked down… Randy. I swear, if Jess needs a dog walker… Randy!
Dreamin'BIG – Ahhh! I'm glad that my goal has been accomplished. I don't want to make Dwayne out to be a bad guy… because he isn't. You can't help who you fall for… and I think he really struggles with it. That's why he really didn't tell her. He didn't want her to be pained in having to choose and hurt the person she's with, but it was a greater pain for him to suffer in silence. When Jess is hurting, it greatly affects him.
OneAndOnlyHardyGirl – I missed John a lot. I'm so excited for the show on the 27th! It's going to be a blastie blast! I haven't seen him in FOREVER.
Hotpocketbandit – Thanks so much. Number one, I love your penname. It's adorable. Number two, I'm glad that you enjoy my writing. There are a lot of great stories out there and I'm honored that mine is worthy of such high praise.
Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – Such an animal that she's likely to deck him… okay, maybe not. But can you imagine if she did? Randy would never let him hear the end of it, let alone his brothers. Haha. And he totally brought out the reserve oil.
Westfan – Like I told Sambolina, I adore Randy and therefore, use him as much as possible. You know Dave will be around, of course. Her Superbee is still at his house! Plus, I think he's going to be the one that says something to Jess, which, in turn, makes her choose. Or makes her realize exactly what to do so that she makes the right choice. You'll see. As for the punishment, I thought of it the other day while listening to "Womanizer." It made me laugh. Speaking of living, I'm going to take my own dog during intersession up to NYC for two weeks. Dakota and Homer under the same roof… *rolls eyes*. And in the same car on Christmas Eve to Virginia. No Range Rover is big enough for the four of us.
Nic-002001 – She will, I promise. Once SAR III ends, it will be the end of romantic turmoil for her.
Chain Gang Princess – You know I don't mind late reviews! Randy is definitely hot when he's angry. I hope this quicker update helped!!!
So, that's pretty much it for now. For those of you out there completing finals, good luck! I feel your pain… and your thirst for energy drinks!!!
And my musical recommendation of the day is Lily Allen's cover of "Womanizer." It's quirky… and I like it.
Make sure to check out Jess's blog!
Danielle