Authors Notes: We just want to take this chance to thank, VeraRoberts, Animal-Luvr-89, Jewelgirl04, Takersgurl35, IMissPadfoot and cassymae for your reviews. We greatly appreciate the support and comments, and we're glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Chapter Four: Running Away

Marissa's day had started out very badly after finding out that she had washed and dried an entire roll of toilet paper in her laundry. When confronted, a little innocent strawberry blonde looked up at her mother with her tearful eyes and a pout that said, 'really, momma, I didn't know that would happen.' The toilet paper had been filched from the bathroom late Thursday night to wipe the dog's nose and Maddie had left it sitting on top of the washing machine. Somewhere in the process of laundry being done, the roll had fallen in and gotten tangled in a pair of black pants, which distributed all those pieces of lint everywhere. Marissa hadn't noticed the destroyed tissue as she hurriedly shoved the clothing into the dryer minutes before she fell into bed, exhausted from battling a headache while getting her fussy daughter into bed.

Kate had waited until that morning to pack as she always did. The woman had this weird trait of waiting until the last minute to do everything. One would think she was late to everything but she somehow managed to be mostly on time. Despite their plane leaving at ten that morning, the brunette offered to fix the laundry snafu while Marissa took Maddie to school. She returned home to find Kate scraping her black pants with a lint brush and cursing under her breath. After declaring the pants a lost cause, Marissa tossed the ruined clothing into her room and shut the door, not wanting to think out it. Kate tossed clothes into her suitcase left and right and met the redhead at the door, scaring the life out of her just as she turned around to yell for her friend.

Everything was smooth sailing from there until that afternoon when they were getting ready to leave the hotel. Marissa fussed over her clothes and hair, washing her make-up off once and starting over again. Kate, who never got worried over arriving on time, picked up the redhead's perfume bottle and proceeded to spritz her until she agreed to leave.

"You look fine," Kate muttered through closed lips to keep from inhaling all the perfume in the air.

"Thanks to you, I smell horrible," Marissa whined, fanning herself.

"I'm offended, I picked out that scent."

"I know I'll see John tonight and I just want to make sure I don't look stupid."

"Trust me, you don't," Kate chided, begging god to give the woman someself-confidence. "You don't see me worrying about what Batista thinks."

"Which you probably should," Marissa warned, picking at the other woman's wavy curls pulled back into a messy pony-tail.

"If this comes down, I look like Medusa. Can we just go? Brad's waiting for us downstairs." Brad Morrison was the head of the pyrotechnic crew and had come into the company at the same time as Kate and they met going through orientation together that night. Since then, they had carpooled with a couple of other people until it seemed that the two of them, along with Marissa and Josh Mason, Kate's assistant, always drove together.

The redhead was a bundle of nerves and she fidgeted the entire way there. She was bound to run into John Cena tonight and, knowing they were going on a date together, she was terrified she'd screw everything up and he'd change his mind. Upon arrival, Marissa hid herself in the bathroom until she could get a grip on herself. Remembering how well their phone conversation had gone, the video tech emerged from the restroom, bound and determined to not turn into a blubbering mess if they happened to run across each other.

It was absolutely useless though. She hurried around to get all the monitors set up and working properly. The woman was thankful that it was a late houseshow, so she'd have time to get everything in place. At least she wasn't having to cue up videos or edit footage from vignettes that would air later in the night; she had it fairly easy with regards to preparation tonight. Once everything was set up and working properly, she beat a hasty retreat to the make-shift staff lounge, which was really just a small room that had a couch, a water cooler, a coffee-maker, and a table holding several plates of sub sandwiches for the crew's dinner. This was her refuge for the night as much as she could make it and had not seen the WWE champion once. She would find out quickly enough after the show that she couldn't hide from him until Sunday evening.

Kate was fairly excellent at not letting things bother her. Her philosophy was just to not think about what it was upsetting her. However, she wasn't a completely impervious being. During the down time before the next match, she opened up a game of solitaire on the laptop, an ultimate no-no for the game to even be on the computer that stored the entrance music.

"Caught ya," the voice behind her called out and she quickly clicked away before whipping around to find John Cena grinning at her.

"What now?" she asked, turning her back on him and closing out the game, unconcerned that he had seen her.

"So, you talked to Dave during the week?"

"Uh, yeah, you were there," she replied, glancing over her shoulder.

For a brief second, surprise flashed through his blue eyes but then he recovered with a sheepish grin. "You caught me. So I guess there's no point in mentioning that I talked to Marissa, huh?"

"Nope," she replied, not bothering to turn around as she flipped on her mini-flashlight to read the next match on the card. Batista versus Cena. Where the hell had she been to not realize that they were up next? The music was already cued, all she had to do was adjust the levels from the previous entrance and hit play.

"I can't find her anywhere backstage. Is she around tonight?"

Kate stopped acting like she was busy and turned around, now very interested in what he had to say. "Yeah but you know how busy the crew can get. Wha'cha need?"

"Nothing really," John answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "Do you think she'd want to go out with us to a club tomorrow night?"

"Sure," the brunette answered, knowing that it wasn't all that true. Marissa usually stayed in instead of hanging out in the bar or the nightclubs. Kate had recently given up begging her to come out with her. The redhead was coming with her tomorrow night whether she liked it or not. "We room together, so I'll tell her."

"Great," John replied, threading his way around the equipment to stand within feet of the black curtain where he was moments away from making his entrance.

Kate was seconds away from asking Cena what he thought of her friend when Batista climbed the stairs to clap his hand in John's. "Couldn't find you. Thought I was going to have to wrestle myself."

"There are ladies present," John said, completely aghast.

Kate blushed, ducked her head, and began resetting the soundboard when the two men looked up at her. "Oh, hi, Dave," she meekly stated, acting as if she had just noticed him.

"Hey, Kate," he greeted and smiled at her.

The brunette found herself staring at him at loss for words. The Champion didn't interrupt, hoping that the silence was simply awkwardness between two people who were beginning to like each other. Finally, her assistant interrupted to remind her to start Batista's entrance and she found her tongue. "Alright, it's all you," she said, nodding at the larger wrestler.

"Thanks," he yelled at her over the first bars of his music and swept the curtain aside.

Cena took a couple of steps backward to lean over the sound tech's boards and tug her headphones off when she intentionally ignored him. "Dave's coming tomorrow night. You come with Marissa," he shouted.

She was about to mutter 'whatever' but then remembered her resolve to tolerate Dave long enough to get Marissa and John together. "Yeah, I'll be there," she yelled back and indicated she was about to start his music. He stepped away, grinning broadly.

Since most of her equipment was sitting on the larger part of the set that had to be dismantled, Kate and Josh were some of the first of the crew to be finished and on their way. When everything was loaded on the truck, the brunette immediately grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her to their rental car. "Where were you all night?" she hissed.

Marissa's eyes widened, wondering what Kate was about to say. "I chickened out and hid in the lounge."

"John was looking for you all night."

"Really?" The redhead's grey-green eyes lit up.

"Yes," Kate exasperatedly replied. "We're all going out to a nightclub tomorrow night."

"Oh, no, we're not."

"Yes, you are," the brunette countered. "Batista is going to be there and I want to go."

"Then the two of you go," the video engineer responded, waving her friend off.

"Look at it as practice for Sunday night. I won't go if you don't."

Marissa was about to decline again but she was determined to get Kate and Dave together. She just hated going out to clubs. It wasn't that she was a prude but she always ended up by herself. Kate was so outgoing that she always hooked up with some guy and that was the end of that. She wasn't very comfortable just hanging out with the guys.

"Okay," the redhead replied with a sigh. Sighting Brad and Josh across the parking lot, the two women climbed into the car and then the video tech asked, "He was really looking for me all night?" Kate just nodded with a grin that split her face.

Marissa had been a basket case all day, worrying about what she was going to wear. She wanted to spice up her outfit for the show but there wasn't anything she could think of that would make her black jeans and RAW t-shirt any sexier. In a way, she hated that she was required to wear black pants or khakis with an approved wrestling shirt because the outfit had no style but it was such an easy wardrobe to not have to worry about. Choosing her diamond stud earrings, she decided that was the best that was going to happen. Now, she was cursing the dust that had gotten on her jeans and wouldn't come off. Hoping Cena wouldn't run across her tonight looking so dirty, she returned to repositioning a monitor but then sighted the wrestler coming across the corridor towards her. Immediately, her heart began to beat faster and her palms grew sweaty.

"Hey, girl," he greeted and she nodded in response. "I haven't talked to Kate tonight to ask her but are you going tonight?" Again, she mutely responded. "I assume she's coming too."

"Y-yeah, we're coming."

"We're just going to the club beside the hotel. Since it's an early show, we can meet about two and half hours after. Give me a call when the two of you are ready and we'll meet you in the lobby. That work? Give the two of you enough time to pack up and get there?" Cena asked, waiting for her reply.

The redhead nodded and realized she needed to say something instead of dumbly nod her head. "Yeah, no problem. I'll see you later tonight."

"Catch you, then" he replied, clicking his tongue and pointing at her before heading off in another direction.

Marissa closed her eyes and put a hand out to the wall to steady herself. She wanted to tackle him from behind and just rip his clothes off. It wasn't necessarily all about sex but just about touching that incredibly sexy body, just to make sure that it was all real. Why couldn't she just be like Kate and not even care that she was about to go on a date with one of the hottest men in wrestling?

The redhead was still thinking that while they were back in their hotel room after the show. She had changed her outfit again while Kate lounged across the bed, flipping through a sound equipment magazine, completely oblivious to her frustration. The brunette had returned, popped in and out of the shower, changed into a long loose chocolate skirt and a white tunic blouse with a matching scarf tied around her waist. She had left her hair down at the insistence of Marissa and worn her large hoop earrings. That was always normal for Kate -- she often looked like a classy hippie or a gypsy.

Before the video engineer could change out of her second outfit, Kate nonchalantly picked up her cellphone and dialed Cena's number. "Hey, John! We're on our way down…yeah, we'll give you a few more minutes…see you then."

Startled, Marissa jerked her shirt back on. "What are you doing? I'm not ready."

"You're never going to be. Wear that. You've got ten minutes to finish," the brunette replied, picking the catalogue back up and circling the set of speakers with a pen that she had every intention of talking her boss into buying for the show.

As best friends, it was easy to get on each other's nerves and Marissa wanted to scream at Kate for pulling that stunt but she knew that she was taking too much time getting ready. Resigning herself to the black dress pants she had bought earlier in the day to replace the ones the lint monster ate and a gray blouse with a black bolero jacket. She had done her hair and make-up while Kate was in the shower, so she touched the perfume to her wrists and neck and announced herself ready to go.

The two women arrived in the lobby before John and Dave but there were several other wrestlers and staff mingling about, apparently waiting on them as well. Brad and Josh were there, which was a surprise since two of them always went out with Kate and about two or three other staff members. But there were also Carlito, Victoria, Mickie James, Lilian, Randy Orton, Lance Cade, and Jeff Hardy. Jeff was probably the only other one that Kate talked to on a semi-regular basis as he was a music buff. Marissa was too shy to have ventured beyond a casual nod here and there at any of them. She was already nervous to be meeting John but now she had to be around these wrestlers as well.

At that moment, John Cena stepped out of the elevators followed by Dave Batista. Marissa clutched Kate's arm but the brunette could hardly see what her problem was. Jeez, the man was wearing a t-shirt and pair of jean shorts with black running shoes. Of course, her cheeks warmed a little when she noticed Dave dressed in black slacks and blue pullover but she wasn't falling all over herself.

"Hey, Marissa, Kate," the Champion said to each of them in turn and then loudly announced, "Let's go get ourselves kicked out a club." The group laughed in return and filed out.

Kate looked at Marissa sideways with a grin and said, "Now that's my kind of crowd."

"Does he really mean that?" her friend whispered, her eyes watching his every move until he turned in her direction.

"No, he's just joking," the brunette whispered in return and smiled broadly. "He just means that we are about to have a reallygood time." Marissa gulped and nodded.

"Kate," the beautifully deep voice greeted. "I didn't know you were coming."

"I didn't know I was either until late last night," she coolly replied and then joked. "Why? Would you have decided not to come?"

His rich laughed vibrated in her ears and she had to wonder where that giddy feeling in the pit of her stomach came from. "I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

"Did you actually think my vocabulary was limited to 'you're up next'?" she asked with a cock-eyed look.

He laughed again and shook his head. "You didn't tell me she was funny," he commented to Marissa, who was still in la-la land as John was approaching her again.

"Yeah," the redhead snorted. "Try living with her."

"You ready to go, ladies?" Cena asked and put a hand on Marissa's back to propel her towards the doors behind the group that was filing out. Suddenly she couldn't breathe--this was the first time he had ever touched her.

The two men flanked them as they walked down the one block to the nightclub. This wasn't exactly an upscale establishment, so there was no line in which to wait. However, the atmosphere completely changed as the place realized who all had just walked in the door. With the exception of Marissa and Kate, the ladies in the group filed out onto the floor, along with Randy and Jeff. The rest of them commandeered enough of the high, round tables for everyone to have a seat. Apparently, this was something done often as Dave and John headed to the bar to start putting in orders after asking what the two women wanted.

Kate felt very much out of place as it was obvious they all had their ways. She was glad that Dave was now getting drinks but she didn't want to just abandon him and hit the floor. Actually, that would be very nice as she didn't have to act as if she was interested in him. She'd do that tomorrow night. "I'm going to dance," she announced but Marissa grabbed her arm tightly.

"Don't leave me," the other woman pleaded.

"You've got John to keep you company," the brunette replied and nodded in the direction of the bar where the guys were coming back with a drink in each hand.

"But…" she began and then stopped as John handed her the glass of white wine. "Thanks," she commented and settled on one of the stools at the nearest table.

"You're welcome," he replied and slid the other drink across the table to Carlito.

Marissa glanced over at Kate who had accepted her rum and coke and was trying to decide on her next move as Batista made his way back to the bar. The brunette sipped the cold drink and relished the warmth of the alcohol as it spread through her stomach. She reminded herself that tonight was not a good night to get plastered to turn Dave off. If he was interested in her like John led her to believe, then she couldn't do anything stupid. However, she wasn't going to be a wallflower either.

Batista returned with more drinks and set them on the table, mentioning to Cade to whom the glasses belonged. He stuffed one hand in his pocket and lifted his beer bottle to his lips. Kate found herself watching him and then jerked her eyes away and recrossed her legs on the stool. Dave mistook the action as being restless and he asked, "You dance?"

"Yeah," she replied with a nod and swallowed more of her drink. "You?"

"Not really," he yelled back above the music.

"Too bad," Kate mouthed to herself before taking another sip and setting her glass down on the table. She then slipped off the stool and announced, "I'm going out there."

"Wait," Marissa hissed and grabbed her friend by the arm.

"You've got Dave and John," she replied and the redhead dropped her arm with a gasp. Marissa was really pissed at her at the moment and clamped down on her tongue to keep from an ugly retort. Kate gracefully slid out onto the floor and the video tech wondered if yoga would give her that kind of poise.

"Kate abandon you?" John yelled over the music.

"Seems so," Marissa replied as Cena settled on a stool beside her.

"You don't dance?"

"Not really," she replied. He only nodded in reply and took another sip from his bottle. They settled into an uncomfortable silence and then Marissa found her tongue. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Dance."

"Yeah, I do. Thought I'd have a drink first. You really should come out there with us," he invited and then added, "instead of sitting around with a sourpuss like Dave."

"Do you want your seats when you get back? If so, leave me alone," Batista said with a glare but John knew he was joking. If no one knew their relationship, they would think they were bitter enemies who lived only to verbally cut each other down. The Champion lifted his eyebrows in acknowledgement, downed the last of his beer, and then headed out onto the dance floor.

"You really aren't going out there?" Dave asked.

"I don't know," she doubtfully replied.

"You really should. Looks like Kate's having a great time," he responded, looking back to where he had been watching the brunette, trying to get a handle on the woman. She and Jeff Hardy looked like they were trying to resurrect some terrible 80s dance moves. Marissa shrugged her shoulders. Kate always looked like she was having a good time but the redhead was always stuck at the hotel, worrying about her life and her daughter.

The video tech and the wrestler sat at the tables, keeping guard over purses, drinks, and chairs, and chatting about how their week had gone. Dave got a kick out the toilet paper incident and Marissa had to admit that it was funny in hindsight.

Kate and John came and went independently, taking a breather and having more to drink. Marissa and Cena made small talk when he was back at the table and she tried to get Kate and Dave to engage in some sort of conversation. That seemed to be fruitless. "Dave, you really should go out there. I think I can man the fort. Loosen up and enjoy yourself."

"No, really, I'm fine," he replied, starting on another beer. He was having issues about this date tomorrow night. Kate really was a sweet girl and Cena sung her praises. But then again, that bastard would hide anything to get him to go out. He knew that she came right up to his chin in height and he guessed that she was a slender size ten. Had he dated anybody recently that was larger than a four? God, that sounded so arrogant, he thought. He had learned several things about her in just a short time. She laughed very loudly and wasn't afraid to be embarrassed, which was very obvious as Brad had joined her and Jeff in simultaneously managing some dance moves that should have definitely been buried a long time ago. When did the Roger Rabbit become a line dance, he wondered. What scared him the most was that he knew the name of that move. The three had burst out laughing and were almost doubled over and he couldn't help but chuckle. "You go. Maybe talk some sense into that friend of yours," he stated, still grinning at the trio's antics.

Marissa followed the direction of Dave's eyes and noticed the dancers. She had been watching Cena all night but he had managed to elude her a few moments ago but now he was in the middle of the group. A more provocative song came on and Kate and John began to dance together. It was a little more suggestive than she would have liked since her friend knew how much she liked the wrestler. "I'll go if you go," the redhead piped up.

"Okay," Dave replied with a sigh, setting the bottle down and following Marissa out onto the floor.

"I didn't think you danced," John said with a grin and grabbed the petite woman by her hands, swinging her around.

"I changed my mind," she replied, reminding herself to breathe. At first, the couple's movements were a little bit stilted but they seemed to fall into a groove together. She was glad that they were dancing without touching; the woman probably couldn't have handled it otherwise. By the end of the song, however, Marissa was close to straddling his thigh and his hands were on her waist. When something more upbeat sounded, she quickly backed off.

"You are one hot momma," he replied and danced off into another group. Marissa was left standing there, trying to get a handle on herself and what had just happened. She didn't realize she was staring like a zombie until Kate slipped an arm around her waist and asked if she was alright. The redhead shook her head. "I think I'm ready to go back. We've been here awhile and I think I'm getting over heated."

"I'll take you back," she replied and gently walked her to the table before getting her a glass of water.

Dave was immediately beside them and Kate explained that Marissa wasn't feeling well and that she was going to walk her back. "I'll go with you," he said.

"I can handle her. Stay and have fun," she replied with a smile and then turned back to her friend, linking arms with her and guiding her out of the bar.

The brunette was worried about Marissa but was glad to be out of the situation that she was in. When Dave had followed his friend out onto the dance floor, everyone had assumed that he was there to dance with Kate. She glanced around and found herself with only the wrestler looking like he was out of his element. The woman took right back up with what she was doing a couple of feet away from him, hardly caring less that she had switched partners. That's the lie she fed to herself. Some moron had bumped into her--actually, the moron had a name and it was John Cena -- and forced her closer to Dave. He instinctively put his hands on her hips to stop her from falling and he never moved them. Kate swayed with the music and Dave followed her lead. Finding his dark eyes watching her intimidating, she turned around in his grasp and found herself rolling her hips against his--and he was doing the same! She convinced herself that he was just some guy that she had randomly picked up to dance with and concentrated on the music. Leaning back against his chest, she felt his cheek on the top of her head and lost all meaning of the concept of time and place. It was only when the song ended that she realized where she was and whom she was with. Seeing Marissa staring off into space like she had forgotten her own name, Kate hurried over to her, thankful that she didn't have to turn around and face Dave after that blatant display of sexuality.

Back at the hotel, Marissa disappeared into the bathroom while Kate went to retrieve ice for her. "Are you really okay?" the brunette asked, handing her the glass of ice water.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she replied.

"You can't run from him all the time," Kate nonchalantly replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder and sorting through her suitcase for her pajamas.

"I wasn't running," Marissa adamantly replied, settling on the bed.

"Whatever," the sound engineer replied. "You look like you're not interested."

"It sure looked like youwere interested."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I saw the way you were dancing with John," the redhead accused.

"Then you should be aware that I was dancing like that with Carlito and Brad and don't forget that Brad is gay," the brunette shot back.

"Maybe you should try that with Dave."

Kate suddenly stopped, about to reply, "I did just that." She closed her eyes and put a hand to head.

"Let's just stop this," Marissa quietly said. "We've never fought over guys before and we're not going to start."

"I'm sorry," the engineer replied, sitting down on the bed beside her friend and putting an arm around her. "I promise to not do something that stupid again."

"It's okay. I know you better than that. I just let jealousy take over," Marissa replied, leaning in until their temples touched.

"So, tell me, is he a great dancer?" Kate asked with a silly grin.

Batista and Cena had finally had enough of the nightclub about the same time as everyone else and they all filed out together. The two wrestlers stopped in the hallway of the floor their rooms were on. As high profile wrestlers, their agents could demand private rooms in their contracts.

"Why don't you call Marissa tomorrow and check on her?" Dave suggested.

"Yeah, I'll do that. We didn't exactly get much of a chance to talk," the Champion replied, scratching the back of his head.

"You didn't spend much time with her."

"And neither did you with Kate," John replied.

"I'm going on a date with her tomorrow, isn't that enough?" Batista asked, frustrated with Cena and with Kate. He was chiding himself for giving the brunette the idea that he was interested in her by the way he was dancing with her. Yet, when she was swaying against him, he couldn't resist, leaning in to smell her hair and then he just didn't move away -- why, he didn't know.

John shook his head and rolled his eyes. He was going to have to do a lot more to get those two together. However, he was going to enjoy doing so if he was going to be hanging out with Kate's best friend. She was so cute but she was just a bit too uptight and he really didn't know what to do about her daughter. It wasn't that she had a kid but that he had never dated a woman with one. For all he knew, she wouldn't go out with him again and he needed that if he was going to get Kate and Dave together. But there was something that made him want to pull her closer as they danced and feel her against him. He didn't know why but he really didn't care at this moment.

"Don't forget, tomorrow, eight-thirty, the lobby," Batista reminded before Cena could come up with some sarcastic rejoinder.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!! Have a great time, and stay safe!

Disco Inferno and wandaXmaximoff