A/N: I'm so sorry for all the mistakes in the first chapter! I noticed after I had already posted it and stuff. I promise I'll try to revise 10x instead of 5x from now on lol. Thank you for the reviews and the follows and favs (:
The ride back from the arena to the hotel had felt like the longest ride of her life. From all the red lights, to everybody jay walking. But 45 minutes later and she was walking into a beautifully sized hotel room.
After Nicole had unpacked all of her belongings, she stood on the balcony, carefully analyzing the pros and cons of going out tonight. The warm California air washed over her tanned skin, making her inhale a deep breath. The cigarette that was in her hand was slowly burning ash as she let it lay between her fingers.
As if on cue, her phone started to vibrate on the table beside the chair she was currently sitting on, indicating a text message.
'Layla' came across the screen.
"Hey girl, it's Layla. Just wanted to see if you still wanted to come out with all of us!"
Sighing, she had to make a decision. After taking another drag of her cigarette, she put it out in the ashtray.
"Can I take a rain check? I'm really tired tonight." She hit send and walked back into her room.
It wasn't a lie. The girl was as tired as anything.
About a minute later, Nicole received another text from Layla stating that she would definitely be cashing in that rain check here soon. Nicole giggled to herself and set her phone down. She walked over to her mini fridge and opened it.
"I don't want water." She muttered. She then proceeded to slip on a pair of UGGS.
Turning, she reached for her keycard and wallet on the dresser and walked out of the door.
"Vending machine, or café in the lobby?" She thought to herself as she walked aimlessly toward the elevator.
She made it to the elevator and decided she would walk to the café. She pressed the down button and waited patiently for the 'ping' that signaled it was her turn. She fiddled with the card in her hand, thinking maybe it was a better idea to go to the vending machine. As soon as she was about to turn around, she finally heard the annoying ping of the elevator. She stayed in her spot as the doors opened. To her surprised there were about 5 people crammed into the tiny space.
She instantly recognized her co-workers and stepped aside to allow them to step off.
Ryan Reeves, Heath Miller, Joe Anoa'I, Cody Runnels, and Josh Fatu all unloaded off of the elevator. Nicole looked down at her attire, suddenly feeling self-conscious. She had on a pair of grey cotton shorts, a pink tank top with a grey Victoria's Secret zip-up over it, and her UGGS.
"What's up? Where are you going?" Cody asked once he noticed her. She had known him before signing with WWE. His father had helped train her back way when.
"I'm starving. I'm about to grab something from the café." She pointed towards a window, getting her point across.
"You can come by my room if you want. We're gonna have a few beers and order room service." He asked as he raised a hopeful eyebrow.
She looked around to see the other men had already walked off.
"Uh, sure. I don't wanna intrude, though." She responded, almost immediately regretting her answer.
"Don't worry about it. They're the friendly ones." The older man smiled as she laughed at him.
"You like it here so far?" He asked as we walked toward to his hotel room.
"I love it. It's an amazing opportunity. I'm only 23 and I'm living my dream. It's indescribable." The young brunette responded. She looked over at him as he was shaking his head.
"That's for sure." He agreed with her.
"I'm gonna put this back in my room." She stated as they were passing her room, and waving her wallet in the air to indicate what she was talking about. She then opened it and pulled out 50 dollars and handed it to him.
"Is this enough?" Nicole asked. Cody waved his hand as if to brush her off.
"Don't worry about it." He walked away before she could protest. She shook her head and entered her room.
"That's such bullshit!" Nicole exclaimed as Joe laughed. They were currently in a match in Call of Duty: MW3 on PS3 against a random clan.
"One more match, then." He stated as he backed out of the lobby they were currently in.
"Don't be a sore loser." She laughed when Cody appeared beside her. Everybody was drinking and talking, having a good time.
"Did you see that? Every time I went to shoot him, it lagged!" Nicole grabbed the controller again and started the match.
"Don't be mad because you suck." Joe deep voice boomed. He then laughed when he glanced over at her expression.
"I rage quit." Nicole said before handing the controller over to Ryan after she had died again. Ryan just shook his head and laughed, taking a swig of his beer.
"I heard Layla telling Stu you were going out with them tonight. What happened to that?" Ryan asked curiously as he passed her to take the spot on the floor in front of the TV, that she was previously occupying. She walked over and sat on the bed.
"I was tired. And I would much rather be doing this then going and getting hammered with a bunch of people I don't know." She quickly backtracked. "I didn't mean that in any disrespectful way, I mean I'm here with you guys. But I mean I know cody. That came-" She tried explaining, but Cody shushed her.
"We know what you mean, don't worry about it." He said, as the other guys agreed.
Embarrassed, she quickly changed the subject, "Where's our room service at? That's the only reason I accepted your offer to come here in the first place." Nicole nudged Cody as he gave her a poorly faked hurt expression.
A few minutes later, Joe handed off the controller to Heath, and walked over to where his wallet was sitting on the dresser.
"I'll be right back." He asked, to nobody in particular.
"Where are you going?" Josh asked his cousin.
"The young lady is hungry. I don't know who told her we were getting room service." He laughed as Nicole's mouth dropped open when she looked at Cody. She smacked him with a pillow and got off the bed.
"You're an asshole." She threw a random pillow in Cody's direction. She then shifted her focus to Joe.
"Don't worry about it. I'm gonna just go down to the café. Thank you though. The thought means a lot." She sincerely stated, walking toward the door. She soon stopped when she heard Joe's voice again.
"I'm hungry too. Let me join you?" He asked in a hopeful way. Nicole smiled and nodded in response. He returned the smile with one of his own, and followed her out the door.
"So tell me about yourself. I wanna get to know you. I mean I am gonna be seeing you almost everyday." Joe looked at her fully, taking in all of her features for the first time since he met her. Her brown hair fell in thick waves down to her waist; she had the straightest nose, and thick brown eyebrows, which complimented her chocolate brown eyes. Nicole shrugged and took a sip of her water.
"There's not much to tell. I'm from Brooklyn, I'm Italian and Puerto Rican, I'm an only child, and I'm 23. I don't know. I'm a pretty boring person." She let out a tiny laugh.
"When's your birthday?" He asked, honestly interested in the girl that was sitting across from him.
"January 16. But enough about me, tell me about you. I gotta get to know the people I'm gonna be working with from now on." She looked at him and smiled, which he returned.
"I'm wrestling royalty." Joe leaned back in his seat to exaggerate his statement, and plastered a shit-eating smirk on his face.
Nicole nearly spit the water she was currently drinking, all over the table. She doubled over in laughter when she saw that amused expression on his face. She quickly regained her composure, setting an elbow on the table and covering her mouth with her hand.
"I'm sorry, please continue." She said, as she bit back another laugh as he started laughing as well.
"There's not much to tell. Google probably knows more about me then I do." He smiled when he received a positive response out of her again.
"But, uh, I do have a daughter and I'm not an only child. My father trained me to wrestle, so there was no fucking up. Although I'll be the first to admit I'm not as experienced as the other wrestlers, I'm still striving to make a name for myself and get out of the shadows of my family." She watched with intent. She could see the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his daughter and the business he's grown to love.
"What's your daughters name?" She asked curiously.
"Valeria (A/N: I have no idea what her real name is. I've looked, but can't find It.). She was born in 2008. I love her like no tomorrow. I wish I could spend all my time with her." Joe shook his head, as if he were trying to not think about missing her.
"That's so sweet. I can't wait to have kids of my own. Do you have a picture of her?" Nicole asked as she took a bite of the coffee cake that was in front of her.
She watched as the large man pulled out his wallet, looking for the picture he obviously had in it. Once out, he handed it to her.
"She's absolutely gorgeous." The petite brunette studied the picture. The little girl was a spitting image of him. She was beautiful. She then carefully handed the photo back to him.
"I know. I don't know how she came from me." Joe let out a little laugh and Nicole rolled her eyes.
"You're not THAT ugly." She said as she laughed, indicating she was only kidding. Joe smiled and shook his head.
"Let's head back to the hotel, we both need our rest." They headed out of the coffee shop, Joe lighting cigarettes for the duo.
And with that, they headed back to the hotel and into their respective rooms.
A/N: Ah, I know this is off to a slow start, and rather uninteresting one. But I promise promise promise it'll get better! Reviews are always welcome (;