Author's Notes: We'd like to thank Jewelgirl04, Laffy.x.Taffy, Takersgurl35 and IMissPadfoot for your awesome reviews for chapter eleven. We greatly appreciate you support and comments.
Chapter Twelve: The Biggest Mistake.
Marissa spent the following few days barely getting by. The redhead was exhausted, trying to work through the aftermath of the pay per view, as well as dealing with Maddie. The five-year-old had come down with the chicken pox, so Marissa flew home to look after her daughter as soon as she had the chance. Thankfully, the strawberry blonde took the illness well and, by the time the spots had scabbed over, she was running around causing mayhem again. The added advantage to spending so much time at home and then devoting all her free time on the road to calling her daughter was that the video tech had the perfect excuse to avoid Cena.
A week ago, the redhead would have given anything to spend her time with him. However, since they'd last spoken, her feelings had become very confused. Cena still seemed to be interested in her and forming a relationship, the only problem was Maryse. The curvaceous blonde diva had made it blatantly clear that if Marissa so much as looked at the WWE Champion again, she could kiss her job in the wrestling business good-bye. Apparently staff dating wrestlers was a big no-no, and Maryse – for her own selfish reasons – wouldn't waste a second blowing the whistle.
The video tech had spent her few days off at home, going over the pros and cons of finishing things with Cena. She knew there was no way they could carry on their relationship whilst they both still worked for the WWE, but she also felt they couldn't make a long distance relationship work either, especially when the wrestler would constantly be surrounded by so many beautiful women.
On the night before her return to work, Marissa downheartedly concluded the only thing that could be done was to break up with the most wonderful man she'd ever dated. However, she was still hesitant to let Cena slip through her fingers. He made her feel things she hadn't experienced since she was a teenager and Marissa wondered if losing her job would actually be worth it, to keep the man she could see herself falling in love with. Then, through a series of events out of her control, the redhead realized she'd been kidding herself all along and that having a real relationship with John Cena, the best looking, most sought after man in the wrestling business, was impossible.
That night, after putting Maddie to bed and packing for her return to work, Marissa went to join her parents for dinner. Kate had gone out, although she hadn't revealed where, and Marissa secretly hoped it was with Dave Batista. Therefore, with Kate absent, the redhead prepared for an evening of questioning from her father.
Joseph Carlson's favourite past time now seemed to be belittling his eldest daughter. He hadn't even eased off whilst Maddie was sick. No one else in the house noticed, and Marissa didn't want to go running to her mother like a little child. However, that didn't stop the financial consultant from voicing his displeasure whenever the two were alone.
As Marissa stepped into the dining room, she could tell by the look on her father's face that he'd found something new to be disappointed about. The dinner passed slowly, tension thick in the air, until Glenna Carlson headed to the kitchen to clean away the dishes. The redhead rose, planning to escape her father under the pretence of helping her mother wash-up. However, Joseph called her back to her seat.
"Have you seen the newspaper today?" he asked. From any normal father it would have been a simple question, but Marissa knew there was something more to it.
"No, I can't say that I have," replied Marissa honestly, hoping in vain that this would be the end of the conversation.
"I thought you might find this interesting," said her father, slipping the newspaper to his daughter, where a page near the end was folded down. The page was in the announcements section, and Joseph had been kind enough to highlight the one that he was particularly interested in.
The video tech read on, not at all surprised at what it said.
Greg and Abigail Hamilton are pleased to announce the birth of their second child, JoshuaHamilton
The baby boy, weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces, was born on October 10th, just one week before the couples' fourth wedding anniversary. Greg and Abigail are delighted by the new arrival and the christening will be held on the 17th of October at St. Mary's Church.
"Well, what did you expect, Father?" questioned Marissa. "They already have one child. Is it really a shock that they had another?"
"No, Marissa, it's no surprise," he replied. "However, doesn't it make you question your life? Greg walked out on you and Madison, not caring about the disgrace it brought to our family. Now, here he is, happily married, with two children. Then look at you. You're twenty-seven-years old, with an illegitimate child and a job in an industry where women parade around like porn stars."
The redhead screwed up her face in anger, knowing exactly where this conversation was heading, as she'd had the same one with her father when Greg got married and then again when he'd had his first child. "What do you want me to say, Father? Do you wish I was more like Shannon? Do you wish I'd never had Maddie?" Marissa bit back.
Joseph slammed his fists down on the table. "No, Marissa, but I wish you'd act more like a mother than an over-grown teenager. What do you hope to achieve working in the WWE? You should be here, raising your daughter and praying to the Lord that someone will eventually marry you. You can't accomplish either of those things when you're surrounded by glorified prostitutes and men who take drugs."
"Men who take drugs? What on earth are you on about? No one in the WWE takes drugs," the redhead shouted.
"That's not the point, Marissa. Whilst you're out there, working with those people, your daughter is growing up...without a father may I add," continued the financial consultant, the volume of his voice now matching his daughter's.
"What do you want me to do? Quit work, have you and Mama support me, and be the good little Catholic girl you wished I'd grown into?" Marissa snapped. "Because it's never going to happen. I love my job, I like having friends and going out dancing."
"You like flaunting yourself over men, like the whore you are," accused her father. "Don't think I haven't heard you and Kate taking about this John Cena you've been seeing. Do you think he wants you for anything apart from sex, Marissa? He's not going to settle down and play happy families with you and Madison; he'll run out on you eventually, just like Greg did."
"I am not taking any more of this shit from you," Marissa spat, cursing for the first time in her life, before running to her room in tears. When the redhead reached the silent sanctuary of her bedroom, she locked the door and began sobbing into her pillow.
Nothing made sense to her any more. Was her father right? Was she nothing more than a whore that men used for sex? Was that how Cena saw her? Easy because she had a child?
All through her life, Marissa had dreamt of growing up, getting married and starting a family. She honestly thought she'd found that when she started dating Greg. The two of them were inseparable and she had high hopes that they'd be together forever. Then one simple accident had ruined everything. Her birth control pill had failed to work because she'd been sick the morning she'd taken it. The result was that a month later Marissa found herself pregnant. For a twenty-two-year-old Catholic girl, that was a bad situation to be in. However, the redhead had hoped that Greg would stand by her and the two would marry before the baby was born. Sadly, she'd been wrong. Greg left as soon as he found out Marissa was pregnant, claiming he was too young to get married and start a family and wanting nothing more to do with her or his unborn child. Due to her religious beliefs, the redhead had kept the child and, eight months later, Maddie was born. It was a decision Marissa had never regretted, because she loved her daughter with all her heart. However, it didn't stop her from feeling as though she'd let down her family.
Was she letting them down again now? By keeping her job in the WWE and dating Cena, was she bringing more shame on her parents?
Finally, Marissa sobbed herself to sleep and ended up having a very disturbing nightmare. In the dream, Maryse was taunting the redhead, claiming Cena would never want to be with a single mother. Maryse's voice then changed to her father's and Joseph reminded his daughter what a disappointment she was.
Unknown to Marissa, that night, Kate was having an equally bad evening. The brunette had hesitantly agreed on Sunday night to have dinner was Austin, hoping the two of them could resolve the situation about the 'stolen' song.
Ever since his appearance at 'No Mercy', Kate had been livid with her former flame. It wasn't that he'd dropped her on the way to the top, or that he was flaunting himself in her face that really bothered the sound engineer though. Her main gripe was that the song that had propelled Chrome Bumper to fame and fortune was a song she had written. The brunette knew every chord, line and riff of the piece, as she'd spent months lovingly creating it. She also knew that there was no way on God's green earth that she'd have just handed it over to Austin, especially not after she'd called an end to their relationship.
All Kate wanted was what was rightfully hers, royalties for the song, and for Austin to get the hell out of her life. It wasn't even the money that annoyed Kate so much; it was the principle. Music was her life, her passion, her love and she wanted credit for the song she'd created. However, at the back of her mind, there was still a nagging little voice. Austin's appearance had knocked the sound engineer for six and a lot of her old feeling came rushing back to the forefront. She was quite sure she wasn't in love with Austin anymore, but that didn't stop her remembering the good times or being attracted to him – especially when he looked so good.
The brunette's mind was thrown into turmoil when Austin offered to take her out for dinner and sort out the matter of the song. She wanted what was rightfully hers; however, she wasn't sure she'd be able to resist his charms if they went out for dinner. Finally, Kate agreed. After all, it had been years since they'd gone out and she was pretty sure neither of them had any ulterior motives for the date.
For reasons she didn't quite know, the sound engineer dressed up for the meal and arrived ten minutes early at the French restaurant Austin had offered to take her to. To Kate's surprise, the maitre d' informed the brunette that Mr. Mitchell was already waiting at the table. The sound engineer walked over to the table, and her jaw dropped to the floor when she saw Austin. He looked gorgeous in a smart black dress shirt and his highlighted brown hair swept back.
The singer rose from his seat as Kate approached, pulling her chair out for her, before presenting his ex-girlfriend with a huge bouquet of roses.
"Thank you," said Kate, with an uncharacteristic blush, before sitting down.
"Order whatever you want tonight, babe, it's on me," Austin informed.
The brunette smiled and began to browse the menu, finally deciding on a bottle of white wine between them, and Lotte à la Crème d'Algues - Monkfish with Creamy Seaweed Mayonnaise – for herself. That sounded very expensive.
"So, did you have a good time in the bar the other night?" Austin inquired, as the wine was brought over and he poured them both a glass – Kate's considerably larger than his own.
"Yeah, I did, thanks," she lied, the truth being that she had been too hung over to remember much of the night.
"You know, it was great hanging out with you again," said the singer, laying on the charm despite the lie as he knew she was pissed and drunk that night—not her usual self.
Pity I can't say the same about you, thought Kate, but she said nothing.
"You look really great. Working with the WWE has done wonders for you, baby," continued Austin, not realizing his intended compliment was actually offensive.
"Thanks, you look good too," the sound engineer replied despite herself. Even though Kate hated Austin's guts, there was no denying he looked good.
"How did you land such a cushy job anyway?" inquired the singer. "The last I heard you were working at the Verizon Center."
"Yeah, I left there just after you kicked me out me," replied the brunette bitterly, but then continued to explain how she landed the job in the WWE. "A vacancy came up for an assistant sound engineer within the WWE, and I was the most qualified person who applied. After two years, the main sound engineer was fired, so they asked me to fill the role temporally until they found someone else. As luck would have it, nobody better qualified applied. So because of all the hard work I'd done for the company they kept me on permanently."
Austin raised an eyebrow and let out a low whistle. "Wow, lucky you. I always knew you'd make it to the big time, you have a lot of talent," he said, his voice thick with charm and flattery.
"Like hell you did. If you had, you wouldn't have dropped me as Chrome Bumper's sound engineer the second y'all signed a contract," snapped Kate.
"I told you, babe, it was nothing personal. The record company insisted we hire someone with them," explained Austin.
Kate rolled her eyes, not believing the crap he was feeding her, but said nothing more on the subject. Their relationship and the reasons it ended were in the past now. All the brunette cared about was getting what was rightfully hers from the royalties of the song she'd written. Really, all she wanted was the credit but the royalties would eat at Austin.
The couple fell silent as their meal arrived, and Kate failed to notice Austin topping up her drink again.
When they'd finished eating and the plates had been cleared away, the singer ordered another bottle of wine and sat back in his chair.
"You know, I am really sorry for how things turned out, Katie. I never meant to hurt you, the time just wasn't right for us," he said, refilling the woman's drink for a third time.
"Cut the crap, Austin. I don't care about the past now. All I care about is that the song that's getting Chrome Bumper's name everywhere is one you stole from me," Kate stated, matter-of-factly. She hated it when he called her 'Katie;' he usually used the pet the name to get her into bed.
"Honey, honey, I could say the same about Xerxes. But let's not be childish now, I'm sure we can sort this out," schmoozed Austin.
"Oh, please. If you'd wanted the dog, you would have come and got him. Don't tell me you didn't know where I was staying? Look, I just want what's mine, and then I'll go," the brunette informed.
"And you'll get it, baby, I promise. But how about first, we have a little drink and catch up, for old time's sake," insisted the singer, filling the sound engineer's glass again.
Not realizing that she'd now drank at least four glasses of wine, Kate felt more relaxed and decided to hear Austin out.
"Don't you remember all the fun we had together, baby?" the singer went on, charm oozing from him. "It'd be a shame to waste that because of a silly misunderstanding."
"There's no misunderstanding, Austin. You broke my heart and then stole from me," said the brunette. However, with Austin's big brown doe eyes staring at her, she wasn't sure he had done anything wrong.
"Baby, I didn't steal it. You gave it to me, remember? When I got back from the restaurant, the night I told you about the contract, there it was under my pillow. All wrapped in a bow it was, you gave it to me as a present," insisted the singer.
Kate vaguely remembered leaving the song under Austin's pillow. However, the alcohol was making everything hazy.
"How about we head back to mine? We can finish this wine and talk things over some more?" suggested the singer, rising from his chair and wrapping his arm around the woman's back.
Kate nodded, grabbed her purse and shakily rose to her feet. She stumbled outside, with Austin holding her up and they jumped into a cab back to his place.
What neither of them saw as they were leaving, however, was that Dave Batista had just arrived with his sister. The wrestler saw Kate and Austin leaving arm in arm and his body filled with rage. They weren't officially dating, but Batista had hoped Kate would have the decency to tell him she planned on getting back with her ex.
The following morning, both women woke up feeling worse than they had in a long time. Marissa had realized that she could no longer go on dating Cena and that she would have to break up with him the next time she saw him.
Kate woke up on the couch at the Carlsons', having no memory of how she got there. The last thing the brunette could recall was getting into a cab with Austin. The sound engineer groggily walked to the kitchen, propelled by the smell of fresh coffee. "What time is it?" she asked, plonking down on a stool at the breakfast bar.
"Half past eleven," replied Marissa, looking up from over the top of the newspaper, her eyes tinged with red.
"You okay? You look as though you've been crying," inquired Kate, pouring herself a large mug of black coffee and searching for some painkillers for her headache.
"Yeah, I'm fine," the redhead lied – she knew if she admitted she planned on breaking up with Cena, Kate would try to talk her out of it – and handed her friend the jar of pills. "You know, we should be getting ready soon, our flight leaves in three hours."
"Gimme an hour to pack and shower and I'll be ready to go," replied the sound engineer, swallowing the painkillers.
"What happened to you last night?" questioned Marissa, fishing for gossip about Kate and Batista's relationship.
"You're not gonna like this, but hear me out first, okay, Cissa? I was out with Austin," said Kate, hanging her head in shame and waiting for her friend to berate her.
"Oh," replied the redhead, her voice tinged with reproach and disappointment.
"It's nothing like that, Cissa," insisted the sound engineer, sounding offended. "Austin offered to take me out for dinner so we could resolve the situation with the song and well...I ended up having a bit too much to drink. Austin brought me home and I ended up crashing on the couch."
"Oh, okay, I'm sorry. Where did you go after you left the restaurant though? I didn't hear you get in until two. Surely the cab ride couldn't have taken you that long?" questioned the redhead, beginning to worry.
"Honestly...I don't know. Last night's all a little hazy actually," sighed the brunette, resting her aching head on the counter.
"Katherine Megan Alistair!" chastised Marissa, sounding more like her father than she'd like to admit. "Anything could have happened then. If you were drunk, Austin could have easily taken advantage of you. Moreover, this isn't the first time you've drank too much because of him. I remember what you were like when you broke up and I'm worried it'll happen again."
"Will you just drop it, okay, Marissa? I'm a grown woman, I don't need you telling me what I can and can't do," snapped Kate and instantly felt guilty. However, she was too tired and hung-over to deal with Marissa's 'holier than thou' attitude at the moment.
"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," mumbled the redhead.
"Well, for someone who is trying to help you sounded a damn lot like your father," bit Kate, before stalking from the room.
Marissa hung her head in shame and began to cry. She hated the way her father belittled her, and yet she'd just done the exact thing to Kate. The redhead felt guilty as she had only spoken out of concern for her friend. The thought of breaking up with Cena had affected her a lot more than she'd like to let on and, because of that, she was taking things out on the people closest to her.
Just that morning Marissa had bitten Maddie's head off on the way to school. The strawberry blonde had only asked if her mother would be picking her up from school too.
"You know I'm going back to work this afternoon and that Grams is collecting you," the video tech had snapped.
Kate headed up to her bedroom feeling both confused about what had happened with Austin and feeling bad for the way she'd argued with Marissa. The brunette knew her friend was just looking out for her. However, not knowing what had happened the previous night had really unsettled her and she'd lost her temper. Plus, now that she thought about it, she was really concerned that Marissa's father had noticed that she was asleep on the couch, still in her clothes from the date. The redhead did not need to get flack because of her. She kept her nose clean for her friend's sake and, even though it backfired in the sense that Joseph often badgered his daughter about being more like Kate, Marissa didn't have to worry about the brunette causing her trouble.
As if offering the solution to at least one of her problems, the sound engineer's phone rang with a text message.
I'm glad we got everything sorted out last night and that you actually remember giving me the song. It really was great seeing you and if you want, I'd like to hang out again? Austin xx
Reading the message, memories flooded Kate's mind. She recalled riding in the cab back to Austin's and then them finishing off the bottle of wine. The brunette also clearly remembered telling Austin that the song hadbeen a gift and that he could continue to use it. In addition, and much to the sound engineer's relief, she also remembered how she'd gotten home. After they'd finished the wine, Kate felt sick and so Austin had ordered a cab for her and made sure she got safely back to the Carlsons'. The brunette took comfort knowing she hadn't ended up in bed with her ex.
An hour later, Kate and Marissa were on their way to the airport. Both women had apologized to each other, without giving too much of a reason as to why they had acted like they did. Neither one wanted to admit the issues that were really on their minds and instead had just blamed stress and tiredness for their out bursts. The flight passed quickly and uneventfully and soon Kate and Marissa were in the state of that night's house show. They had a few hours at the hotel – to unpack, shower and eat – before they headed to the arena for work.
Marissa spent the beginning of the evening trying to juggle the task of setting up her share of the equipment and avoiding Cena. Just because she'd decided to break up with him didn't mean she wanted to do it so soon. However, the issue was taken out of her hands as the WWE Champion approached her. The redhead had just finished setting all the monitors up for that night and had popped into the staff lounge to grab a cup of coffee, when the wrestler strolled over, a huge grin on his face.
"Hey, Cissa, did you have a good few days off? Is Maddie over her chicken pox now?" he asked, lightly sitting on the couch next to her, causing their knees to touch.
"Erm yeah, Maddie's all better, thanks," replied Marissa, she was touched John had remembered to ask about the five-year-old. However that just made what she had to do all the more difficult.
"So, do you fancy going for a bite to eat after the show?" suggested the brown-haired man. His eyes were so full of hope that it almost broke the video tech's heart.
"Listen, John," she said, placing her hand lightly on his knee. "There's something I need to talk to you about."
"I think I know what you're going to say and I understand. If things are moving too fast for you, we can slow everything down and just take it at your pace," the WWE Champion said reassuringly.
Marissa's heart sank. Even though Cena was expecting bad news, he was still willing to compromise to make the relationship work.
"It's a little more than that," sighed the redhead. "I don't think we can keep seeing each other...at all. I'm really sorry, John; I just don't think it'll work."
"I don't understand. I thought we were having fun...I thought you were happy," stuttered the wrestler.
"I am… I mean I was... I don't know. I just know you and I seeing each other isn't going to work. I have Maddie to think about and I can't expect someone in your position to take responsibility for that," reasoned Marissa.
"Someone like me?" questioned Cena. "I don't understand what you mean. Okay, so at first finding out you had a daughter was a bit of a shock, but it doesn't bother me now. I like you for who you are and the fact that you're a mother just makes you more attractive to me."
"I know it doesn't bother you now, but trust me it will. There will come a day when you want to do things, but you can't because I have Maddie, then you'll just end up resenting me and our relationship," insisted the video tech, her eyes filling with tears.
"And you've got to trust me, I'll never resent you because you have a daughter, I'm not like that," he protested. "Yes, there are things I want to do, but I want to do them with you and Maddie...if you'll let me. You haven't even let me meet her."
"John, please, respect my decision. I still want to be your friend and I don't want you to end up hating me. Honestly, you'll change your mind one day and realize you can do so much better. I'm just saving you the hassle of going through that by ending things now," sighed the redhead, tears now slipping down her face.
"But I won't change my mind. I know what I want. I want you," said Cena, trying to pull Marissa into a hug.
"Please... don't," she sobbed, standing up from the couch and leaving the room. She had wanted to hear those words from him so badly and, now that he had said them, they hurt her, something she could never have imagined. It made things a hundred times worse that Cena had been so understanding. However, Marissa knew she'd done the right thing. She knew they could never have a real relationship and it was best to end things now, before they got even more hurt.
As the redhead walked slowly to the restroom, Maryse appeared at her side. "I heard what you said to John," the blonde gloated.
"Well, are you happy now?" bit Marissa.
"Yes, very," the diva grinned wickedly. "You did the right thing and now he'll see I'm the one he's meant to be with."
"Whatever," said the video tech. She didn't care what Maryse thought; the main reason she'd broken up with Cena was because she knew he could never love someone like her. It had taken the blonde diva to make her realize that.
Kate was thankful she'd made it through the whole night without any problems. Everyone's entrance music had cued perfectly and she hadn't run into Maryse. The brunette was looking forwards to heading off to a club after the show when Cena and Batista approached, both looking forlorn. Their match was the last of the evening's and the sound engineer hoped the suggestion of a night out might lift their bad moods.
"Hey, y'all wanna hit a club later?" she called over her sound desk. "I'm sure Marissa would be up for it."
"I doubt that," stated Cena glumly and, when Kate gave him a questioning look, he went on. "She's just broken up with me."
"What? When? Why?" stuttered the brunette, not believing her ears.
"Just now in the staff lounge. She said things wouldn't work between us because of Maddie. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen," explained the wrestler sadly.
"I'm sure she's just being silly," reassured Kate. "Let me talk to her and I'll sort everything out."
"I honestly don't think it'll do any good," sighed the wrestler. "But you can try if you want."
"I'll see what I can do," said Kate, and then turned to Batista. She could really use a night out and she smiled up at him, thinking about the last time they were out in the karaoke bar. "How about you Dave? Fancy taking me dancing?"
The sound engineer had realized just how much she'd missed seeing Batista when she was home for a few days. However, her heart sank when he didn't grin and nod his head.
"Can I have a quick word?" he asked and then added, "Alone?"
"Sure," replied Kate, motioning for Brad to keep an eye on the sound desk and then following Dave around the corner to a quiet area of the arena. "What's wrong?" she asked, propping herself up on an empty crate. The look on the wrestler's face worried her a little and she began to wonder if she'd said or done something wrong.
"Why didn't you tell me you were getting back with Austin?" Batista blurted out, without thinking.
"I...what? I'm not back with Austin. What are you talking about?" stammered the brunette, feeling as though she'd totally missed something.
"I saw you leaving a restaurant back home together last night, you looked pretty close, especially with those roses," sighed the wrestler. "I understand if you want to get back with him, you guys have a lot of history. I just wish you'd told me first."
"I'm not back with him," insisted Kate. "We just went out for dinner, that's all."
"Oh, alright," said Dave, feeling somewhat foolish over blurting out the accusation. He just couldn't reconcile the image of her leaning heavily on the singer as they climbed into the cab. However, the couple didn't get have the chance to resolve the situation as Brad called Kate back to work and Batista had to go to his match.
As Kate finished off her duties for that night and began to pack her equipment away, she wondered if her relationship with Batista was really worth the hassle. She'd only started seeing him originally to get Cena and Marissa together and now that seemed to have ended too. If her friend was no longer seeing the WWE Champion, was there really much point in pursuing things with Dave?
At first, she didn't consider him the type of guy she'd date. Then his reaction to her having dinner with Austin clarified that in her mind. What was she doing getting drunk over a man, twice at that, and, even worse, a man she wasn't dating? Her single life had suited her fine for over three years—she just wasn't right for the wrestler.
Plus, Dave didn't seem to argue the issue regarding Austin and that just made Kate think he wasn't really interested. However, that didn't really bother the sound engineer, as the last thing she wanted right now was to get involved with another guy who had an over sized ego, like her ex-boyfriend.
Batista also felt ending his relationship with Kate might be a good thing. He'd always worried she was only dating him because of his status within the WWE. He'd had previous girlfriends who had used him because of his job and he didn't want to be someone's 'show' boyfriend again. In his mind, Kate had gone back to Austin because he was a famous rock star now and he just didn't need someone that shallow in his life. If Kate was interested in dating rich celebrities, then he obviously wasn't the man for her.
The problem with Dave and Kate's resolutions were that they were unsatisfying. Neither really wanted to believe what they were thinking and they both felt like there was a little hollowness in their chest at no longer seeing each other.
The night ended with Cena, Marissa, Batista and Kate all felling pretty miserable. Their respective relationships had ended, partly due to factors out of their control. However, none of the four people wanted to dwell on that or let it bring them down. Marissa's main concern now was to keep as far away from Cena as possible so that she wouldn't change her mind and go back on her decision. The WWE Champion vowed he was done with women and agreed with Batista that he'd had the right idea all along.
All Kate wanted to do was find out from Marissa the real reason she'd ended things with Cena.
The brunette got her opportunity as Brad and Josh were giving the women a ride back to the hotel.
"John mentioned you'd called things off with him," said the sound engineer. "You can't honestly think he wouldn't want to be with you because of Maddie?"
"Why not? Guys are all the same, when things get tough they leave," sighed the redhead.
"Marissa, that's stupid. Not everyone is like Greg and I'm sure John isn't," protested Kate.
"How do you know? No one in their right mind would want to be with a woman who has a child out of wedlock...I'm just a tart," mumbled Marissa.
"Stop this now!" warned the brunette. "You're just saying that because your dad had brain washed you. You're a wonderful woman and Cena seems to really like you. He doesn't care you have a daughter, he still wants to be with you."
"Even so, it isn't worth losing my job over," insisted the video tech.
"What on earth are you talking about, Cissa?" questioned the brunette, feeling for the second time tonight that she was missing something important.
"Maryse, that's what I'm talking about. She wants Cena for herself and she threatened that if I didn't end things with him, she'd report our relationship," confessed the redhead. "Your predecessor got fired from his job for having a relationship with a diva and the same would happen to me if anyone found out about Cena and I dating."
"Maryse was lying," informed Kate. "Darren wasn't fired for dating a diva; he was fired for having sex on the job!"
Marissa's jaw fell to the ground in shock. "Oh my goodness, I think I've just made the biggest mistake of my life."
To be continued...