Author's Notes: We'd like to thank Jewelgirl04 andTakersgurl35 for your awesome reviews for chapter thirteen. We greatly appreciate you support and comments.

Chapter Fourteen: How Many More Chances?

John Cena wanted to pout. Thirty year old men—or men in general—did not pout. But that is exactly how he felt. Women did not break up with him—he broke up with women. He was absolutely baffled by Marissa breaking off their relationship. They were just getting started. Plus, she had completely misread him. She must have been talking to past girlfriends.

Not long ago, he would have admitted that there was no way he'd date a woman with a kid—too much baggage. He had enough nieces and nephews now that children didn't scare him. Yeah, he had been concerned somewhat about dating Marissa because of her daughter but he hadn't said that to Dave when he had told him about Maddie. He had to get the wrestler out with Kate and he wouldn't have said anything to keep that from happening. But he liked Marissa enough to give it a try despite Maddie. Actually, the more he thought about it, the sexier she got. He could see her playing with the little Irish spud or cuddling up with her and that made her more of a person, a woman, to him than any of the divas or women who threw themselves at him, those women who were more concerned about the color of their nail polish, how much time they spent in the tanning bed, and hair extensions.

What bothered him the most was that she wasn't giving him a chance with her daughter. They were barely dating, so it wasn't like they had to be concerned about whether he would be a good stepfather for Maddie. But if he was going to date Marissa, he didn't want Maddie to hate him. That was the fastest way to end a relationship. They had already made plans for him to be there for Maddie's Halloween party so that the little girl could get to know him instead of Marissa just bringing him in and introducing him as her boyfriend. But something happened in between, something that made the redhead balk at their relationship and run the other way. She had the wrong idea about him and how he felt about her as a mother. Hell, he wanted kids one day.

Funny thing was that he had been sailing along in life with a steady girlfriend here and there but nothing serious. He had been fine before he met Marissa, so he should have been fine after her. But he wasn't. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours and he was missing her. He didn't want to admit it but he might have been falling in love with Marissa and this broken relationship meant that possible, actual love had walked out his door.

Dropping his gym bag in the floor in front of him, John settled on the wooden bench beside Dave Batista. He hadn't talked to Dave since the last night at the club and he had only just whined to the wrestler about Marissa when Maryse had approached him. "Have you talked to Marissa today by any chance?" John asked of Dave.

"No. Was I supposed to?" Batista honestly asked.

"No, just wondering. So what happened after you dragged Kate out of the club?"

"Nothing. We talked," Dave replied with a shrug.

"Are y'all back together? Still together or whatever the hell is going on with the two of you?" John asked and the other wrestler nodded, remaining tight lipped about the previous night. "So, has Kate said anything about talking to Marissa?"

"Sorry but she hasn't."

"Did Kate say why she got in a fight with Maryse?" Cena asked, beginning to get on Dave's nerves. If he wanted to know all this, he should just ask the women in question.

"Not a word. You don't know?"

"She just whined about how she didn't know why and that Kate's hated her from the day she came over to RAW."

"Doesn't sound like Kate to me," Dave replied, shrugging out of his dress shirt.

"So you're okay with her and Austin?" John asked, unzipping his bag and pulling out his gear piece by piece.

Batista related what the brunette had told him but not about the text message he shouldn't have read.

"And in all that time," John began, "Kate didn't say one thing about Marissa breaking it off or about Maryse?"

Pulling a t-shirt over his head, Dave stared his friend down. "For the final time, no. Go ask her yourself."

"Fine, I guess I just will then," John huffed in reply, stalking out the door.

Kate Alistair could only be in one place—the sound booth. Cena popped up the metal stairs but found her station empty. The laptop was up and her file with everyone's entrance music was open on the desktop. The card was laying on the left sound board. Deciding on whether to wait for her or go back to the lockerroom, he heard steps on the metal stairs.

Needless to say, she fared much better in the fight with Maryse. The scratches on her cheeks stood out with her hair pulled back, but there seemed to be no other evidence of the tussle. However, he didn't have to look at her face twice to know that she was pissed off.

For having such a wonderful night and waking up in the arms of Dave Batista, Kate's day sucked like a Hoover vacuum. Other than getting her hands on his hot body, she was exactly where she wanted to be in their relationship. Even though she was up shortly after dawn, she floated down the hall and up the elevator to her room. She hadn't walked on clouds since meeting Austin.

Arriving at the room she shared with her best friend, Kate remembered why exactly she had been locked out. She opened the door but Marissa didn't stir. She slipped out of the clothes and climbed into bed into her underwear. She hadn't been able to fall back into a deep sleep and, as soon as Marissa was up, the brunette immediately rose.

"Oh, Kate, what have you done?" she asked, reaching for her friend's bandaged knuckles.

"I taught Maryse a little lesson," the sound engineer replied, withdrawing her hand.

A smile spread out over the redhead's face, wishing she had stuck around to witness the fight. She couldn't wait to see what the diva looked like. It was the least she could take pleasure in given the circumstances. Since Kate wasn't in jail, maybe she wouldn't get fired for the fight. "Look, I'm really sorry I locked you out last night. I just couldn't take talking and—"

"It's okay, chica," the brunette interrupted and then she grinned. "I spent the night with Dave."

"You didn't?" Marissa gasped, smiling as well.

"No, we didn't do that—didn't mean I didn't want to," Kate answered, her eyes dropping as she thought about his hard body pressed up against hers.

"So, what did the two of you do?"

"Cissa, we need to talk," Kate began, ignoring her question. "You need to tell John the truth."

"He's made his choice. What good is talking?"

"Oh, okay," the brunette sarcastically replied, "You'll just gonna let him go out with that lying bitch? You've not stopped caring about him, so don't you think that it would only be right that you tell him what kind of woman she is?"

"And then that'll lead to why I broke up with him."

"And what is so wrong with that?" Kate asked, hands on her hips.

"Last night was kind of obvious that I'm not right for him," Marissa sighed, sinking to the bed. "I was right about everything. I'm not good enough for him."

"Don't start that again," Kate angrily replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Nothing changes the truth and that is that he would prefer someone like Maryse over me."

"I'll talk to him," the brunette offered but Marissa's eyes sharply turned towards her.

"You have to swear on your life that you won't say a word to him," the redhead ordered, rising from the bed and settling beside Kate.

"But—"

"It's over. Let it just be. If you love me, if you're my best friend, you will promise me that you'll just let it go," Marissa pleaded, taking the brunette's hands in hers.

Kate hesitated, opening her mouth and then clamping it shut. She searched the other woman's grey-green eyes and realized that no matter what could come of her meddling, she had to do as her friend asked. "I promise I won't say a word about any of this to John. It'll be like it never happened," she replied.

The sound engineer knew good and well that Marissa could never think in the terms of acting like anything had happened between her and John. Still, she made a promise and vowed to herself to keep it despite how depressed her friend seemed to be. It was a long and quiet day and the houseshow couldn't have come fast enough. Rather than seeing her friend so obviously hurt and not be able to do anything about it, she hurried to her station to immerse herself in what she loved.

Kate had barely gotten her equipment set up when Brad told her their boss needed to see her. Finding his makeshift office, an assistant told her to have a seat in the fold-up chair outside the door. She settled in it, feeling as she had been called to the high school principal's office. When she heard Stephen end his phonecall, she felt her heart drop. This had to be about Maryse or else he would have passed it on in a memo or come to see her himself.

"Kate, come in," he called and she rounded the corner to see him seated at a fold-out table with the day's work spread across it. "Why don't you sit down?"

The brunette nodded and wiped her sweaty hands on her black jeans. "What can I do for you?" she asked, managing a weak smile.

Stephen had noticed the scratches on her cheek when she walked in and he glanced down at the band-aids on her hands. "Those hurt?" She nodded and tucked her left hand under her right. "Have you seen Miss Ouellet today?"

"No, sir."

"You did a number on her. She can't perform tonight and make-up ishopingthey can cover-up up the bruises for Monday night," Stephen continued, twirling his pen between his first two fingers.

"She can't exactly file a complaint against me, can she?" Kate asked, wondering what exactly they could do since this happened outside of work. It probably wouldn't take long for them to find some past indiscretion and fire her.

"No, not exactly. But you know that all employees of the WWE must conduct themselves in a proper manner while traveling," he explained, scribbling a note on one of the papers in front of him. "Care to explain what happened?"

"I think she took our first meeting the wrong way and there's been a lot tension between us ever since. I asked her what her problem with me was last night and she slapped me. I only acted in self-defense," Kate lied, already having formed her explanation in the car on their way to Orlando.

Stephen couldn't stop the snort but held back the smile. He knew Kate all too well. It probably was in 'self-defense;' in other words, the brunette probably provoked the diva and, when she drew the first hit, that was her license to get what she wanted. "Because of your conduct and because this involved a diva, I am required to discipline you. This was not my choice but handed down to me." Kate held her breath, waiting to hear how bad her punishment would be. She knew she deserved it and wouldn't contest it, especially since this was coming from Stephen's superiors. "You'll be staying home from the overseas trip."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry, Kate. You already know that only one of the sound engineers from both shows can attend and I know that it's supposed to be your turn but that's what has been decided," he apologetically explained, dropping his pen and his eyes softening.

"This isn't fair!" she exclaimed, doing her best not to stand and start pacing. "What did Maryse get?"

"She won't be going either."

The brunette's eyes narrowed as she stared past Stephen. That was good enough for now. The woman deserved more than the few bruises she got for keeping her from traveling to Greece, Italy, and Spain. She had been researching the music scenes and nightclubs to be able to hit some new places this time around. The sound engineer rose without a word and turned on her heel.

"Kate," her boss called, "you might very well be fired if anything else happens between the two of you."

She paused, unconsciously acknowledging his words, and then continued on. She was furious. No, furious didn't even begin to describe it. Angry, pissed, livid, nothing could really touch on how bad she wanted to kill someone right now. Stomping up the steps, she came face to face with John Cena. "You better have a damn good reason to be here right now," she bit out.

John would have acted wounded but something serious was going on. "What happened?"

"Just got suspended from the overseas tour," she stated, pushing around him to open a crate of miscellaneous items that needed to be set up.

"Maryse?"

"Yeah, your girlfriend. How'd you guess?" Kate sarcastically asked, looking up at him and narrowing her eyes.

"My girlfriend? What—"

"I don't know why you acted all upset over Marissa when you went straight for that bitch," the brunette stated, her back to John as she banged around in the crate.

"Wait a minute," Cena stated, about to defend himself but then changing his mind. "Why did get in a fight with Maryse anyhow?"

"That upset about your girlfriend?" she angrily asked, slamming down her box of wireless microphones. When he only cocked his head sideways, indicating he was waiting on her reply, she answered, "Maryse and I never got along from day one and she didn't exactly like Marissa because Marissa was seeing you. She hit me first and that's end of story. Nobody puts a hand on me and gets away with it." She glared at John as if she was accusing him of doing so.

The WWE Champion hadn't seen Maryse today but he already knew how bad her face would look. When he left her last night, it was already swelling and a brilliant red. She probably had one black eye and both one cheek and one side of her jaw bruised. "There's more to it than that," he replied, fixing her with those piercing blue eyes.

She wasn't fazed and crossed her arms on her chest; she could play the staring game as long as he could. "I'm done talking about that bitch. Now, if you have something else to say that doesn't involve her, tell me or get out of my booth."

"I do have something to say about her, Kate, something you might find interesting," Cena evenly stated. "I didn't go to the club with Maryse last night. I was already there and she came on to me."

It would really have been cheaper to find a liquor store and buy a case of beer but he thought if he was with people, he wouldn't dwell so much on Marissa breaking it off with him. Dragging a melancholy Dave with him, knowing something was not right between him and Kate, John headed straight for the bar and tipped back the cold beer. He wrapped his hands around the three other bottles and carried them back to the table where the others waited for them. He turned around, right into Maryse. "What?" he asked, not meaning for it to sound so harsh.

"Can we talk?" she asked, wrapping a lock of her hair around her finger.

"What about?"

"Well," she said but paused to look around, trying to indicate that she didn't want to say it here. He raised his eyebrows and waited for her response. "Us," she answered with a smile that belied any pretense of innocence.

"There is no us," he replied, taking another swig of his beer.

"I heard you and Marissa broke up. Want to go somewhere and talk about it?" she suggestively asked.

"If you haven't gotten the hint, Maryse, I'm not interested in you," John explained, the bottle hovering on his lips.

"But you haven't given me a chance," she whined, putting a hand on his chest.

Cena twisted around far enough to place his beer on the table and then faced her. He took her shoulders in his hands and stared down at her as coldly as he could. "I have never been interested in you and I will never be interested in you. In no uncertain terms, I don't want to see you."

"But—but—" she stuttered.

"Make it easy on yourself and just go on," he said, dropping his arms and turning his back on her. She placed on hand on his shoulder and he shrugged her off.

"What was that all about?" Dave asked, setting two cups on the table and then taking a sip from one of them, Carlito reaching for the other.

"I told her to get lost," he said, jerking his head over his shoulder.

"Because of Marissa?"

"Because I don't like women like her," John replied and they both glanced over to where a crowd was beginning to gather.

The older wrestler slid into the booth as the women hit the floor. "Is that—" John began and Dave shot out of the booth.

After Batista had peeled Kate off of Maryse, John had held the diva back, even though it wasn't necessary. The woman knew when she was beat. "What happened?" John asked, holding her at arm's length to inspect her face.

"She hates me. She's hated me ever since I came over," the blonde sobbed. "I didn't do anything. I don't know why she attacked me."

John highly doubted that was truth. He led her to the bar and asked for some ice. The bartender could obviously see why the wrestler was asking and bagged it up, wrapping one of his extra towels around it. He'd try to hit on the blonde if she wasn't already hanging on Cena's arm.

"Do you think she broke something?" Maryse whined.

John pulled the ice back and prodded the woman's cheek and jaw. She sucked in her breath when his fingers pushed into her flesh but didn't flinch or make any noise. She was trying to hold it in, to act like it didn't hurt as bad as it really did.

"You'll be fine," he stated. Cena may not have liked the woman but he just couldn't walk off and leave her after Kate did a number on her. "C'mon," he said, steering her towards the table where he knew a couple of the other divas were. Mickie James was probably the most compassionate of them all. "Mickie, could you take Maryse back to the hotel? Here," he stopped to fishing around in his pocket and produce a couple of bills, "in case you have trouble getting back in."

The brunette slowly nodded but pushed his hand away as she slid out of the booth. "C'mon, girl," she said and steered Maryse towards the door. The blonde watched the WWE Champion over her shoulder as he went back to the bar and ordered another beer.

Now standing in front of a defensive Kate Alistair, John Cena held his hands out. "I couldn't care less about that woman," he said.

Kate nodded and dropped her arms to her side. She had to talk to Marissa. They had both misread what they had seen last night. "Is there anything else you need?" she queried.

"You believe me?" he asked in way that made Kate feel that he needed her to do so.

"Of course, I do," she replied.

"I just came to ask if you found out anything more from Marissa."

"Sorry," the brunette answered, "I wish I had more. She'll come around. I have to run, if you'll excuse me."

Cena watched the sound engineer rush down the steps and out of sight before he headed back to the lockerroom. He couldn't wait to get into the ring tonight; he really needed it.

Kate made a beeline for the backstage, asking everybody she came across if they had seen Marissa. The redhead was just coming out of the staff lounge with a cup of coffee in her hands when she saw her and Kate pulled her back in. "You need to hear this," she began, breathless, and then gushed, "John was telling Maryse he wasn't interested in her last night. They weren't together."

"I—I—" Marissa stuttered, not believing what she had heard. How many chances was she going to get? Or how many times was she was going to be tempted to go to a man that could only mean heartbreak for her? She had to remain strong, stick by her beliefs or suffer the consequences of her choices in the long run. "No, it's not worth it."

"But Cissa, this is John Cena we're talking about. You—"

"It's over and you promised not to say a word," the redhead sighed. Kate narrowed her eyes and turned to stomp off. "You swore," she called to the woman's retreating form.

The sound engineer did her best to greet all the wrestlers and divas as if she wasn't in the pissiest mood of her life. She waved off a few comments by those who congratulated her on the fight. No one challenged or questioned her about it.

She moved the queue up in her list for entrance themes and then felt a presence behind her. She turned her head to see Dave Batista on the platform. "You're early," she said, referencing the next match of Cena and Batista vs. Randy Orton and JBL.

"Just wanted to see you for a moment without John," he said, running his arms around her waist, and then softly added, "Hi."

"Hi back," Kate replied, twisting in his arms to kiss him. She could barely contain the shiver but nothing could be done for the butterflies in her stomach.

"You wanna stay in tonight or head out with everybody else?"

As much as she wanted to have him to herself, she couldn't help but think about how depressed her best friend was feeling. "Would you mind hanging out with me and Marissa tonight? Maybe grab a bite to eat, some coffee?"

"Yeah, no problem. I better head on," he stated, nodding towards the lower platform. His lips brushed hers and then he stepped down. The blush rose up in her cheeks as John Cena appeared at the top of metal steps. He had nothing to say to Kate, afraid it would lead them right back to talking about Marissa and Maryse.

Kate in turn was glad the WWE Champion said nothing to her, because if he had mentioned Marissa again, the sound engineer would have been hard pressed to keep her promise to her best friend.

Kate thought Cena had a right to know why the redhead had called an end to their fledgling relationship, and that he deserved the chance to make a decision regarding his feelings towards both Marissa and her daughter, without the video tech doing that for him with her own choices.

However, Kate also knew she couldn't say anything to Cena without breaking her promise to Marissa, and losing her best friend's trust wasn't something she wanted to do; even if it was for the redhead's own good.