Chapter 17
Jon
As we were in Pensacola for a few days, I decided to go to one of my favourite strip clubs after work. It's been a month since I've seen Catalina, and I missed her. I was hoping to see her while I was here, but Joe wouldn't tell me where she lived. Since she left, the tension has been unbearable and Joe doesn't even feel like a friend anymore because he blames me for Catalina leaving. I know it's stupid to fight over women, but it's Catalina and she is different which is why I like her. The only thing to get my mind off of her was sleeping with other women and going to strip clubs, I've had no one to talk to about my personal feelings and I didn't realise that it would affect me so much.
I recognised one of the dancers, Candy, who I've fucked before, but there was another girl who looked like her. I was drawn to this new girl, because I couldn't see her face as she was looking down but her body looked familiar.
I watched in amazement as she climbed the pole, and did tricks that I've never seen before. I bit my lip and watched as she gripped the pole and started swirling her hips. I checked my pockets and I had enough money to hopefully bring her home with me tonight. Candy and the mystery girl walked over to the men in the crowd, and the mystery girl watched Candy as she straddled a man. My pulse increased as the mystery girl rose to a squat in front of me, and she rested her hands on her legs as she bounced her ass in front of me. I reached into my pocket and put some notes in her panties, as she moved her hips in a sensual manner. When I was least expecting it, she sat on my lap and started grinding on my growing erection. Her skin smelt like vanilla and strawberries at the same time, it was intoxicating. I wanted her.
"Show me your face." I whispered in her ear, and my heartbeat increased as she shifted in my lap and looked in my direction. My heartbeat increased as I skimmed over her features and recognised her straight away. I saw the birthmark on her waist, I knew that scent was familiar but I chose to ignore it. Luckily, she couldn't see my face but I could see hers clearly. I thought I was lost, and confused but she is too. I don't understand her, but she understands me. I need to know why she was in a place like this.
"Princess." I said as the music cut off, I saw the fear glaze her eyes and she turned around and walked away as quickly as she could. I wanted to go backstage, but there were security at every corner.
I sighed as the lights turned on, and my least favourite stripper, Sunny, straddled my lap. I didn't want her, I want Catalina.
Catalina
I dashed backstage as soon as I heard his husky voice, I stupidly showed him my face and he recognised me even with my disguise. I sat in front of the mirror and took off my wig, all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel and sleep. I was about to wipe off my makeup, when Candy grabbed the packet of wipes.
"Not yet! I saw.. Sunny was giving him a private dance, and who knows what else." Candy said seeing the look on my face. Sunny was known as the company hoe, she sleeps with anyone that looks at her. I rolled my eyes in disgust and stood up, I grabbed a makeup brush and added some powder to reduce the shine. I brushed out my natural hair, and fluffed out the curls that were still visible. Candy grabbed my hand and led me out to the main room, much to my dismay.
"She has no shame." Candy whipped her hair over her shoulders and looked at Sunny coming out of the private rooms with Jon, I sighed and looked around. I had nowhere to hide. I looked up, and my eyes locked with his, his smile disappeared and his gaze on me deepened.
"I need to talk to you." He said grabbing my hand, making me stand up. I don't know why he was being rough with me, I didn't like it.
"So you left WWE to become a fucking stripper, what the fuck Catalina? This is not you." He said, and I saw pure anger in his eyes.
"You don't know me, so leave me alone." I said backing away from him, I didn't like when people got angry because it always ended in painful consequences.
"I know you, and this is not you. I see these men looking at you like you're a piece of meat, and it makes me so angry." He said as he tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear.
"Why do you fucking care? Your girlfriend publicly humiliated me in front of the whole roster. How do you think that makes me feel? I feel like a stupid slut, and no one wants to know me anymore. How will I ever show my face there? Now, I'm at home and I don't want anything bad to happen to me. Just leave me alone." I said, trying to move but he put his hand on the wall, blocking my way.
"First, I know sluts and you aren't one. Second, a lot of people miss you and want you to come back, including me. I don't want you to live this life." He cupped my face and leaned towards me. "Look, I know you're confused but you won't find true love here. Please come back." I blinked back tears as I took in what he said.
"I like it here," I said, honestly. I've met some people that I already consider friends, and they're nice to me.
"Yeah, I guess strippers make great friends. But-" he said and I raised my hands to interrupt him.
"I fucked up,and I want to stay here for a little longer. Don't contact me." I said, moving his arm and walking towards Candy.
"We should change up your look," Candy said as I stuffed my face with popcorn, I watched as she threw bundles of weave at me, all colours of the rainbow.
"I like the long curly one." I said holding it up, and she got started. First she braided my hair, but left out some on the front, then she started installing the weave. By time she was done, I looked like a different person when I looked in the mirror. She cut a few bangs at the front and the look was completed.
"Thank you for everything, Candy. You've been a good friend." I said, standing up to hug her.
"You're welcome girl, that's what friends are for." She said kissing my cheek and deciding what colour wig to wear tommorow.
When I got home I reflected back on the events that happened today, and I turned on my phone. I had messages from Colby, Joe and Jon and they kept asking the same thing. I don't want them to know, I just want them to move on with their lives without me. I quickly turned off my phone as I had an incoming call from Joe, he would be so disappointed with me. After i freshened up, I went to sleep with a million thoughts on my mind.
My mind wouldn't let me rest, so I decided to switch on the TV and watch WWE, ironically, I saw Joe in a match and he looked so sexy when he was in his Roman Reigns mode. I reached for my phone to see if any gossip websites had anything to say about him, as soon as I searched his name, pictures of him and Layla together covered my screen.
'WWE superstar, Roman Reigns confirms relationship with WWE diva, Layla El. Sources claim that they have been dating for the last month, after the suspicious departure of WWE diva, Catalina.'
I felt tears of anger roll down my face, and I turned the TV off. I really wanted to break something, but i was in a hotel and I would have to pay for the damage.
I wanted to take my frustrations out at the gym, so I put on some dubstep and got to work, when I was running on the treadmill, I was thinking of running after that bitch with her annoying accent and perfect body. As well as cardio, I worked on weights to improve my strength, and the pain in my muscles felt distant as I thought about the pain I felt reading that article this morning.
I arrived at the club earlier than usual because Candy said she wanted to speak to me and it was apparently urgent.
"What happened?" I said out of breath, I had to run from a creepy man in a cosplay costume that scared the fuck out of me.
"Don't be mad, but.." She held up two tickets, and I grabbed them. They were front row tickets for RAW. She gave me a hopeless smile, and I handed her the tickets.
"Please come with me. I wanted to cheer you up after yesterday. We can get ready at my place, and I'll do your hair and makeup. Pretty please with a cherry on top!" She said clasping her hands together, jumping up and down.
"Ok, thank you. I appreciate it." I reached out to hug her, and she pulled me into a tight hug. I had to pat her back for her to let me go, I felt like I was in a submission hold.
It was safe to say that me and Candy were definitely over dressed for a wrestling event and we stood out the most on the front row. We were both wearing cut out body con dresses in different colours, and black Prada heels. To add to our excessiveness, we were both rocking John Cena t shirts and headbands, but we obviously looked good.
We were so damn loud, but it was fun. We were cheering, dancing and overall being silly which was a good stress reliever. I was about to sit down as Roman Reigns entered the ring, but Candy had a firm grip on my arm. He had a match with Randy, and things started going crazy as they exited the ring and were only a few metres away from us. Joe pushed Randy into the barricade right in front of us, and Candy started screaming and she touched his arm. He looked up, and his eyes locked with mine. I saw a glint of lust and pain, but I looked away before I let him affect me in that way.
Woah, I saw that look." Candy said as Roman dragged Randy back into the ring, I shrugged and looked at anywhere but the ring.
"Whatever, let's not worry about that. Let's just enjoy the rest of the show!" I said, putting on my best fake smile.
"Girl, you need to tell me everythinglater." She said before jumping up and down because Roman won.
When the show ended, a security guard approached us. "Catalina, someone wants to see you backstage." His eyes travelled to a beaming Candy and nodded at her. "You can come too." She grabbed my hand as he took us backstage, and I felt a tinge of sadness because I missed being here.
I felt strong arms wrap around my waist, and Candy gave me an approved nod as she checked out whoever was holding me.
"My best friend just disappeared! Do you have any idea how much I missed you?" I recognised Colby's voice as I turned around to face him. He looked handsome, but not his usually cheery self. He had prominent dark circles under his eyes, and the blonde side of his hair was even more broken.
"Colby.." I said, and he pulled me into a bone crushing hug, and I embraced him, missing the affection that he used to give me.
"I missed you so much Catalina." He said as he pulled back and looked at Candy with a confused expression.
"Colby, this is my friend, Candy." I said as she gave him a hug, he gave me a confused look, but I decided to ignore it because I didn't want him to find out about my current career.
"Girl, I see John Cena. I'll leave you guys to it." Candy said, and we watched as she sauntered over to an unexpected John Cena who was talking to Sheamus.
I saw Colby look behind me and nod at someone, and a loud familiar voice came from behind me.
"Guess who's on the main roster?" I turned around and saw Paige beaming at me, she looked great and her attire was awesome too. She embraced me in a hug and then wrapped her arms around Colby and kissed him on the cheek. Well then.
"Congratulations." I said, and I saw Joe at the end of the hallway, sitting on a crate. I gave them a quick wave, and walked to the end of the hallway to talk to Joe. I stopped in my tracks when I saw Layla wrap her arms around him, but he turned his head and saw me. I quickly backed away and bumped into something firm.
"Can we actually talk now?" The same voice that shook me the other night, sounded behind me. Jon had a slight smile on his face before he wrapped his arms around me and I was tempted to cry, but I didn't want to show anymore weakness.
"Want a smoke?" Jon said holding up a pack of cigarettes, I gave him my death stare and shook my head.
"I like your hair." He said even though his eyes never left my face, I blushed and looked at the darkening night sky.
"Thanks, it's weave." I said, and he snorted. I nudged his arm and he wrapped his arm around me so I could lean on his shoulder.
"We want you to come back, Cat. It's not the same. Everything is boring because Colby is dating Paige, and Joe is suddenly dating Layla. I'm the only single one and I have no one to go to the strip club with." He said in a nonchalant tone and I laughed.
"I'll go to the strip club with you. I thought Layla was a friend, but she waited until I left to get with Joe.. I don't care anyway, whatever." I said and reached for Jon's cigarette, I brought it up to my lips and inhaled, I pursed my lips into an 'o' shape and little rings of smoke rose up into the air. I put it back into Jon's mouth and grinned.
"I haven't really spent time with her, but I don't even see Joe anymore." I sat up and realised what he just said.
"Wait, you're single? What happened with bitch Marie?" I said and he shrugged, looking like he didn't care at all.
"I dumped her. She handled that situation wrong, and she was a bitch to you. I'm not gonna stand for that. But, now she's dating that Fandango guy." I looked at him and we burst out laughing at the same time.
"Cat?" A southern voice at the doorway sounded, I looked at Candy and smiled. "They're serving some good ass food in that catering room!" She said and I leaped up, I looked at Jon who was still sitting down and I reached out, he held my hand and we all went to the catering area together.
"I want to live here." Candy said looking around, Jon squeezed my hand under the table and I smiled at him until I realised that he was warning me. I saw Joe and Layla approaching our table and I rolled my eyes.
"Candy, you ready to go?" I said releasing my grip on Jon's hand. She pouted at me and held up a piece of chocolate cake.
"Girl, we just got here." There was an awkward silence as Joe and Layla sat opposite us, I was tempted to get Candy's chocolate cake and throw it at both of them, but I'm better than that. Revenge isn't that sweet.
"It's nice to see you, Catalina." Layla spoke up first, and her accent immediately irritated me.
"I missed being here." I shrugged and put on my best fake smile, Candy looked to me then to Layla, I guess she caught onto the tension.
"So what are you doing now?" She said with a curious tone, then looked at Candy stuffing her face with cake. It's amazing how she maintained her figure, but I loved that she didn't give a fuck about what people thought of her.
"She works with me." Candy said as she crossed her arms and stared at Layla.
"Doing what?" Layla said, and Joe placed his hand on her back, before looking at me. I gave him the dirtiest look ever, if looks could kill..
"Well, I'm an exotic dancer, and Catalina is a bartender but she dances sometimes too." I felt my face heat up, and heard Jon grinning next to me.
"Nice." Layla mumbled, and Candy looked like she was about to slap her. I noticed Alicia hanging out with the new interviewer, Renee Young. I rolled my eyes, to think that she was my best friend and she doesn't even talk to me anymore. Now, you see why I have trust issues.
"Cat, I think we should go, there's a lot of negative energy in here." Candy flipped her hair over her shoulder and grabbed her bag.
"You're right. Jon, wanna hang out with us?" I said, and he beamed, standing up. I grabbed my bag and we all walked away from the table.
"Catalina." I heard behind me and Joe stood up, facing me. I glared at him, but he looked desperate to say something.
"Do I know you?" I said, and I folded my arms. Candy nudged me and said "It's Roman Reigns." I laughed and turned around to walk away.
"My mama told me not to talk to strangers," I said as he placed his hand at the small of my back. I saw the hurt glaze his eyes, and I rolled my eyes like I didn't care. I obviously cared about him, but after his stunt with Layla, I didn't want to talk to him.
####
"Damn, how much clothes do you need?" Jon said as he put my suitcases in the back of Candy's car.
"A lot!" I said as we got into the car and headed back to Candy's loft apartment. It was one of the beautiful ones where you could see the beach.
"Cat, you're missing the good part!" Candy said as I snuggled with Jon, I covered my eyes until I felt popcorn being thrown at me.
"The bitch is gonna open the closet, and it's gonna pop up." I said, as I felt the vibrations of laughter through Jon's chest.
"She just wants to snuggle with me, it's not even that scary." Jon said and Candy laughed, I slapped his arm, and he faked being hurt.
The buzzer rang, and I looked at Candy, confused. She got up to answer the door, and cheers erupted from the door. I had to crawl over Jon to see what the excitement was all about.
"Movie night, bitches!" Paige ran into the room and sat down excitedly, Colby entered the room and sat next to me.
I was so concentrated on the film that I reached around for a hand to hold when a scary part came on. I looked to my left and realised that I was holding Colby's hand, I blushed and quickly let go. I heard him sigh as I grabbed Jon's hand and hid my face in his jacket.
"Are you mad at me?" He whispered, and he was scarily close to me in this dark room. Jon's grip on my hand was gone, and I looked over and realised that he was asleep.
"Nope." I said and a few minutes later, Paige crawled to the back to sit with us.
This chapter was long, but I enjoyed writing it! I got mixed reviews on the last chapter and I just wanted to clear something up. Basically, the stereotypical stripper has "family issues" and Catalina doesn't know her real parents because she was adopted. But, it all adds up to her backstory which I will slowly reveal. There is a reason she acts the way she does, stay tuned to find out. Thanks for the support in the reviews, I appreciate all of them!
Also, don't take the ending to heart, I really didn't know where to end it since I wrote so much, so I just ended it at that part.