A/N: Cheers for the reviews!
Chapter Two: The Issue
Matilda bopped in her own world as her headphones blocked the world out. She stepped onto the treadmill and pressed start and began jogging at a steady pace. Her mind was free during times like this, which was why she loved a good workout.
As she ran she steadily increased her pace and incline until she had broken into a good sweat. It had always been her best escape, to run and she doubted that would change any time soon.
After roughly half an hour and a cool down pace, Matilda stepped off the treadmill and moved over to the weights and worked through her routine. She was just about finished when Amber appeared.
Matilda smiled and pulled her headphone from her ears.
"Hey. Sorry, I was asked to pass these on to you. They got you out here so quickly you never had a chance to organise a home base," said Amber.
"Oh, thanks," said Matilda taking the stack of papers.
Amber smiled and left. Matilda sighed and grabbed her gym bag and headed for the elevator, bumping into Renee and Brie Danielson.
"Gosh, you worked up a sweat," commented Renee.
Matilda cringed, "Sorry if I stink."
"No! No, I never meant it that way! You just clearly worked your ass off."
"You do have a perky butt," added Brie with a smile, "Sorry I haven't introduced myself to you. Welcome to the WWE anyway. You were amazing at Smackdown."
"Thanks," replied Matilda before looking at the stack of papers in her hands, "Argh. I need a home base and I literally don't know where the nest location would be."
"Well, I live in New York. Brie lives in Phoenix. I guess it really depends on what you want locally to you… and the climate," said Renee, "You're from Australia… whereabouts in Australia?"
"A tiny country town," said Matilda as the elevator reached Renee and Brie's floor, "I'll find somewhere. Thanks."
Renee and Brie smiled and Matilda continued to her floor.
After a shower and changing into fresh clothes, Matilda headed to the nearby café and looked over the rental listings in various cities Amber had given her. Matilda liked her warm weather best. A quick google search led her to Long Beach, California. She went through the listings there before coming across a new building with modern apartments.
Matilda dialled the number on her phone and organised a visit after checking her schedule and seeing she had a couple of days spare to organise her base location.
"Awesome… yes I look forward to it," beamed Matilda as she stood up, "Thank you… bye."
She turned around and internally groaned as she spotted Jon at table by himself. With a slight sigh, she walked out of the café, ignoring the fact he was there and texting Amber that she was heading to Long Beach to organise a home for herself.
After securing a unit and ordering furniture the Sunday found Matilda in Houston for Night of Champions.
"Ooh, very nice," said Saraya as Matilda showed her photos of her home, "House warming party at Mattie's!"
Matilda laughed, "No, no! Ignore that!"
"You have to have a house warming party! It's only tradition! Foxy and Tenille will come! And I know Windham will along with Jon and Adam! Oh and Brie is always fun – so is Renee!"
"I'll think about it."
"Well you think on it and I will talk you into it," winked Saraya as she slowly stood up, "I better go get ready to support my PCB team! Laters!"
Matilda waved goodbye and decided she should get herself ready for supporting Windham, Jon and Adam against Joe and Renee's Jon.
Matilda leaned against the wall, her head in a book as she waited for her match time. She had her poncho down beside her and a WWE jacket on instead to protect her against the cool air. Her hair was messily curled and face all dolled up.
"Whatcha reading?"
Matilda looked up and smiled at Renee, "Go Set A Watchman."
"Ooh! I loved that!"
"Really? You didn't find Jean Louise a bit annoying?"
Renee pulled a thoughtful expression, "Yes and no. But I guess each reader to their own, huh?"
Matilda nodded, "I have so many books to read. Any chance I have, I take my book and read. Clears my mind before big events."
"I highly recommend The Taming of the Queen… if you're into that historical stuff."
"No, I am. I actually have that book at home."
"Let me know what you think. I'd love to talk more but I have a segment to do."
Matilda nodded and Renee hurried away, pausing to kiss Jon on the lips as she passed him. Matilda looked back at her book and focused on reading it and not the man standing on the other side of the corridor.
The signal for their match sounded and Matilda placed her book to the side and pulled her jacket off and poncho on.
"Ready?" grinned Windham.
Matilda smiled, "Nervous as anything but let's do this!"
Jon shot her an annoyed look, "Don't let your nerves make you choke."
"Don't let your arrogance cloud your move set."
Windham choked on a bit of laughter and Jon strode out as his music hit.
The Wyatt family was greeted with a mix of boos and cheers. It seemed they didn't know what to really make of the group anymore. The addition of Sister Abigail added an extra dimension to the group and the WWE Universe enjoyed her mix with the divas and also how she wasn't afraid to take on the male wrestlers.
At the end of the ramp, Abigail took Bray's hat once they blew their light and candle out. Roman and Dean were in the ring, bouncing around at the ready. Both Abigail and Luke were staying out of this match and Luke stood beside Abigail, keeping a solid eye on Dean.
The match kicked off with Dean and Bray going back and forth with slugs, Irish whips, clotheslines and rebound movements. It was quick and fast.
Abigail managed to move to the side as Bray came toppling out of the ring, with Dean suicide diving afterwards.
Dean stood up, coming face to face with Abigail who looked back at him curiously. Dean scowled at her but moved back to the ring as Braun jumped down and stood behind the sacred one. Dean tagged Roman in as Abigail urged Bray to get back into the ring.
Bray rolled in and managed to tag Braun in before Roman could pull him away. Bray exited the ring and Abigail assured him he was doing the right thing.
Braun and Roman both slugged it out, using all their power in their movements to knock the other one down. Abigail moved her way around the ring, taunting Roman and Dean throughout the match. The distraction of Abigail was working in the Wyatt's favour with Roman and Dean becoming increasingly frustrated.
When Abigail neared Dean he jumped down yelling at her to move back to her side. Luke came around from behind and Dean turned around in irritation.
"Go on!" yelled Dean as the bell rang with Roman passing out from Braun's hold.
Abigail slid into the ring and Dean followed suit pulling her away. Instantly, Bray, Luke and Braun surrounded Dean with Bray shaking his head, looking furious.
Dean could see he was outnumbered only realising, when it was too late that Abigail had climbed to the top rope and jumped off to hit him with a tornado DDT.
A microphone was thrust into Abigail's hand as she stood over Dean and spoke, "This… is the beginning of your… redemption, Dean Ambrose."
Matilda grabbed her book and jacket and headed for the change room, coming to a halt as she came across Vince McMahon.
"Matilda, right?" he asked with a smile.
"Err, yes sir. Thank you for this… this position," stammered Matilda nervously.
Vince chuckled, "Hey, I've been watching you since you started with us and you were the right choice. Keep up the great work."
Vince gave Matilda a pat on the shoulder and walked off, leaving her feeling stunned at the praise. A few moments later and she continued on her way, positive she was going to wake up and find everything was a dream.
The next day found Matilda in Laredo. She wasn't due to go to the stadium for a few hours and had ducked down to the hotel's pool to do a few laps. It was relatively quiet, with most people in the gym next door to the pool or lying about in the lounge chairs.
Matilda pulled her top off, revealing the fitted swimmer tank top she had teamed up with her short, black board shorts. She stretched out her muscles, tied her hair back and dove into the pool. Easily finding her rhythm in her freestyle stroke and alternating with breast stroke every second lap.
Forty minutes later, Matilda stepped out of the pool and towel dried herself before grabbing her gear and heading for the elevator.
"Oh yay."
Matilda looked behind her and instantly turned away as Jon walked over with his gym bag.
The pair stood in silence, determined to ignore the other's presence.
"So," spoke Jon, "I read you actually have a match against Saraya tonight. You'll actually get to show what skills you say you have in a proper match."
Matilda ignored the jibe and glared furiously at the red number above the elevator as it made its way to the pool floor level.
"I'm just trying to make conversation here. Trying to figure out why Renee thinks you're so sweet."
"That makes two of us," muttered Matilda irritably letting out a sigh of relief as the elevator doors opened.
Naturally, Jon followed her in as Matilda punched in her floor number.
"Same floor as me."
Matilda said nothing and instead reached into her bag and extracted her book and focused on trying to read it.
Trying being the key word.
Jon seemed hell bent on pissing Matilda off. He leaned on the wall beside her, whistling a tune loudly and tapping his feet.
Matilda was sure this was the world's slowest elevator ride. She turned the page of her book, stepping to the side away from Jon.
As soon as the elevator stopped and the doors opened on their floor, Matilda walked out quickly and straight into her room, ignoring the sounds of Jon's chuckling.
"Can I ask you something?"
Saraya looked at Matilda curiously and nodded.
"Jon Good… what's your opinion of him?"
Saraya frowned a little, "He's alright. Usually keeps to himself. Why?"
Matilda sighed, "No reason."
"Liar. Come on, tell me the truth."
"The guy hates me. I mean the hostility he is shooting off at me is something I'd expect from the Divas, but they have all been great so far. Jon… it's like I killed his cat or something."
"That's weird," murmured Saraya, "Although I don't recall him owning a cat.
Matilda gave Saraya an irritated look before continuing to talk, "Windham thinks I should speak to the bosses but I don't want to start drama."
"Have you confronted him?" asked Saraya as they rounded a corner and came to a stop near a table where Saraya grabbed one of her shirts.
"No," replied Matilda with a slight sigh.
"Then maybe you should."
Matilda gave an uncertain shrug.
"Besides," said Saraya as they headed back towards the locker rooms, "My mother always said when a guy teased a girl it meant he liked her."
Matilda frowned, "It's not like he is pulling my hair. He's... you know, I just don't know. Maybe if I ignore him he will leave me alone. Plus – he is with Renee and she is gorgeous."
"Doesn't mean he can't find you attractive. He could be reacting to you rudely for that reason, to try and make you less physically appealing to him."
Matilda looked at Saraya before laughing, "Yeah, right. Let's just move onto another topic."
The remixed version of Bray Wyatts theme hit as the stadium went dark. Out walked Sister Abigail, alone and holding her candle. She made her way down the ramp a smirk playing on her lips as the audience waved their torches back and forth. At the end of the ramp, Sister Abigail blew out her candle and the lights flickered back on. Abigail looked around and walked over to the ring stairs and stepped up them slowly, removing her poncho to reveal the black, fringed tank top instead of the tan brown one.
The WWE Universe cheered as Paige came out with her two other PCB members, Charlotte and Becky. Paige walked down the ramp, nodding to what Becky was saying.
Abigail laughed and grinned at Becky who glared back up at her.
Paige stepped into the ring and looked at Abigail curiously.
"Are you a liar, Paige?" cried Abigail as the bell rang for the start of the match.
Abigail dodged a tackle from Paige and spun around in time to hit Paige with a high kick to the side of the head. Paige fell back but quickly stood back up and this time managed to tackle and take down Abigail. Abigail threw Paige off of her and jumped up. Paige and Abigail circled around each other. They both moved forward and locked up into a grapple before it was a case of punching back and forth with both stepping back and running forward to hit with a double clothesline.
Both females laid on the mat, breathless as the chants around the arena of 'this is awesome' broke out.
Abigail slowly sat up first onto her knees and looked over at a motionless Paige. Abigail stood and ran back to the ropes and bounced off them, landing a frog splash on Paige. Abigail jumped up quickly, bounced off the bottom rope and followed with an asai moonsault. Again, Abigail stood up and yanked Paige up, only to have Paige shove her away and hit her with a high kick. Paige grabbed Abigail by the arm and hit her with her signature move of continuous clotheslines. When she downed Abigail with the forth one, Abigail quickly retaliated with hooking her foot around Paige's sweeping it out from under her and making both women hit the mat on their backs.
"These two women are giving it their all," spoke Michael Cole, "Paige is determined to silence Sister Abigail in calling the diva's liars and wannabes. Sister Abigail is out to prove she is what will save the division and that only she can determine the liars from the real divas."
Abigail stood and pulled Paige up, whipping her into the turnbuckle. Paige landed back first and slid down. Abigail ran forward and jumped, slamming both boots into her chest, rolled backwards and stood up.
"ARE YOU A LIAR, PAIGE?" yelled Abigail as Becky jumped up to the side of the ring.
Abigail looked at her, ran towards the opposite ropes and bounced off them, running full pelt at Becky and jumped through the middle ropes, knocking Becky down and taking out Charlotte at the same time.
The move took it out of Abigail as well, who rolled away, wincing and giving her left wrist a bit of a shake.
Abigail forced herself to stand and rolled back into the ring as Paige was getting to her feet. Paige staggered over to Abigail and covered her for the pin but Abigail kicked out at two and managed to get to her feet. She dodged a kick from Paige and retaliated by tackling Paige to the mat and hitting her with a flurry of punches.
The referee pulled Abigail away and Abigail looked at Paige and shook her head.
"Redemption," she said grabbing Paige and setting her up on the ropes.
With a laugh she fell back, hitting Paige head first to the mat and covering her.
1!
2!
3!
Abigail stood up with her crazed smile as she was announced the winner of the match as Charlotte and Becky slowly stood up.
Matilda bent forward to catch her breath before standing up and stretching her body out. She had gone for a long jog that morning before heading to Corpus for Smackdown.
She was feeling pretty good that morning. Her match against Saraya was highly praised and Jon had left her alone the entire night.
She pulled her headphones out and walked into the hotel with the doorman greeting her with a bright smile. Matilda smiled back wishing she had tied her jacket around her waist instead of heading out in her purple sports bra and black tights.
"Do you ever sleep?"
Matilda stuck her tongue out in reply to Tenille who laughed as she left with her suitcase, "See you at Corpus!"
Tenille waved and Matilda continued on to the elevator. The doors opened as she reached it with Renee and Jon stepping out with their gear. Renee smiled warmly at Matilda, which she returned whereas Jon just looked at her with an unreadable expression.
Matilda entered the elevator and pressed the button for her floor and turned to look out the door, her eyes locking with a pair of blue eyes.
"I like it," grinned Matilda as she checked her reflection in the second outfit Christine had made for her.
It consisted of three-quarter jeans with rips in the material, a midriff black tank top with a fringe at the bottom, covering her bare skin. Her shoes were brown ankle boots with the fringe style around the back of the shoe. She had a black cape like shawl, also with the fringed design and a leather wrap bracelet.
"It keeps with the fringe theme your style has and the ratty Wyatt family look," said Christine.
Matilda grinned and hugged Christine, "Thank you!"
Matilda grabbed her bag with her personal clothes in it and headed to get her hair done and make up on.
Once she was set she went in search of her friends, knowing they would be in catering. Feeling a chill in the air she moved to the side of the corridor and knelt down and pulled her jacket from her bag. A she put it on she felt eyes on her and turned around instantly spotting Jon looking at her from where he stood next to Joe.
"I don't think we've met."
Matilda turned around and stepped back as a man with long dark hair with a blonde patch growing out stood before her, "Um, no?"
"Colby Lopez – otherwise called Seth Rollins."
Matilda shook his offered hand with a small smile, "Matilda Harrison – otherwise called Sister Abigail."
"Yeah, I've seen you in action. You're pretty wild."
Matilda smiled, "Thanks. You're awesome as well. You make taking a fall look so easy."
"Crossfit."
"Old school gym girl here," shrugged Matilda as Saraya skipped over.
"Whoo hoo! Look at the new outfit!" grinned Saraya before punching Colby lightly in the arm, "Hey Lopez!"
"Hey Bevis," replied Colby with the same punch in the arm back to her, "I'll see you around Matilda."
"Mattie… please, just call me Mattie."
"Mattie it is then," he said with a wink before walking off.
Saraya grinned at Matilda, "He so wants you!"
Matilda looked at Saraya in disbelief, catching Jon in the background frowning at her. She turned away and picked up her bag, "Whatever. Hey, what do you say to that house warming party this Saturday? I have a live event on the Friday but I reckon we would wing it for the Saturday."
The pair started walking down the hallway and Saraya nodded, "I'm in!"
The live event had gone off without a hitch, however the flight home had been delayed due to a storm. Matilda sat sideways in her seat looking out the window at the wild, dark grey clouds and watched the lightening flicker across the sky.
She had a book perched in her lap and a finger set on the page to mark where she was up to.
Matilda paid no attention as a person sat down beside her until they spoke.
"Weather like this reminds me of home."
Matilda looked up at Colby with a smile, "Same. I once got caught in the middle of a paddock after checking the fence when a storm struck. Naturally it was the paddock without a shed or any form of protection."
"How old were you?"
"Thirteen."
"So you're country girl, huh?" asked Colby with a smile.
Matilda nodded, "Guilty as charged."
The pair continued to chat and laugh until their flight was finally called for boarding.
Matilda sat in her seat, sighing when it was a window seat. She hated window seats, not feeling comfortable with seeing how high of the ground she was. She slid shut the window blind and strapped her belt up and pulled her book out to continue reading.
"What are the odds?"
Matilda instantly closed her eyes and begged for strength as she looked up to see Jon sitting beside her, "Really?"
"Really."
"Looks like I'm going to need that vodka after all."
"Oh come on, I'm not that bad!" replied Jon.
Matilda looked at him in disbelief, "Are you kidding me?"
"I'm not!"
"Right, so telling me not to choke… saying I'm here for the fame… hmm, what else was it you've said, oh I only know a set of a few fancy moves… that's not you being a complete asshole to me, when you don't even know who the hell I really am?"
Jon remained silent and Matilda have a shake of her head.
"Yeah, your silence says it all," she muttered as she looked back at her book.
"There are women in developmental who have been there for years! You just rock up and you're given a top spot!"
"Oh, so that's the issue," said Matilda looking at him, "Do I look like I make the decisions around here? I got asked to come to America to meet with WWE officials. They offered me the Sister Abigail spot and after thirteen years of working my arse off I thought why not take it? I would be a fucking moron to ignore this opportunity, so yeah I took it and yeah I knew I would cop heat for skipping the supposed rules of moving up the ladder. But you know, I thought I would cop it from the divas, not a guy like you. My career and the way it goes really doesn't interfere with yours so I don't get why it such a huge arse issue for you."
Despite Matilda and Jon speaking in low, harsh voices to each other they had earned a few curious looks their way, namely from Colby and Windham.
Matilda turned back to her book determined to finish it before arriving in California.
"You're really irritating," snapped Jon.
"Most people say that when they know I'm right," retorted Matilda.
"You're not right."
Matilda looked at Jon and smiled sweetly at him, though the coldness didn't leave her eyes, "You keep telling yourself that sweetheart. I'm sure one day somebody will believe you."
A/N: So… thoughts?