Chapter Five

WrestleMania Season

Mike left Maryse in Atlanta, boarding the company jet for the WrestleMania press conference. It was a big deal, set to include Rock, Snooki, Trish, John and a few of the other guys involved with the event. Stephanie McMahon was set to host the festivities. Maryse could have gone with him; on the flight, Stephanie had mentioned that Maryse had been more than welcome to come. Mike didn't say it, but he was thankful to put some space between himself and his girlfriend. So far, the time in Atlanta had been miserable. He was disappointed that she was raining on his parade.

She was being aloof with him again. He knew that she had her secrets – it was hard to ignore the feeling that they were drifting apart – but this time it felt different. With Maryse out of sight, he was messaging Cristina. Part of him still felt guilty about being so secretive, but Maryse wasn't listening to reason. He hated the way she got ideas in her head about him, like he was some kind of philandering scumbag. It drove him crazy, the way she hung off her male friends and demanded he accept it, but he made one female friend and he was a heartless cheater.

Out of everyone, he thought Maryse would sympathize with Cristina, a fellow immigrant who taught herself to speak English to fit in. He didn't understand why she was so upset about him befriending a girl in the same position. Mike thought Maryse would have a little bit of empathy for the woman in a situation that she had been in so long ago. But Maryse didn't care. All of the years in America, with the Playboy spreads and cameras and magazines had erased the small-town girl she had once been. Maryse had become too caught up in the lights and the fame; too far gone to be brought back down to Earth.

Fans were lined up, waiting for the press conference to start. They were absolutely rabid. Mike got out of the limousine, waving to the crowd. "My adoring public," he shouted over the chatter. He readjusted the championship over his left shoulder before walking the red carpet, stopping to shake hands and sign autographs. Walking inside, he found WWE cameras setting up. Snooki was talking with Stephanie McMahon, her hair in a bump, dressed in a T-shirt with the words Brunette Mafia on the front. With a smirk tugging at his mouth, Mike messaged Cristina, letting her know that Snooki was short. He bit back his laughter when Cristina messaged back, letting him know that shortness was an Italian thing. Mike openly laughed when she messaged right after, asking what a Snooki was. She had no idea about Jersey Shore, and Mike felt a twinge of relief at that. Maryse was starstruck by Snooki; Mike found her obnoxious and always reeking of alcohol.

Cristina was curious about the press conference, asking him all kinds of questions. He told her to log onto the company website to see him at work. She promised that she would be watching, and he had no doubt that she was telling the truth. He was a little surprised to find himself so happy that she would be watching. His phone buzzed again and he read the message from Cristina.

My brother told me you suck.

He openly laughed, shaking his head. I really don't. I'm known for being awesome. You'll see.

While Mike was in New York, Maryse was in Atlanta looking for a Hall of Fame dress with Nikki and Brie Bella. Maryse looked at her reflection in the mirror, taking in the tight white dress with the beaded sweetheart bodice. It was floor length and incredibly elegant. On the other side of the changing booth, Brie and Nikki were waiting for Maryse to emerge. The entire time, the twin sisters listened to Maryse complain about Mike and his new friend.

"It's been such a relief with him being in New York," Maryse confessed dramatically. "He has been driving me absolutely crazy lately."

"Layla mentioned that you found another woman's number in your phone?" Nikki asked. Maryse smiled; she didn't need to repeat the details all that much – it never took long for word to spread backstage.

"Oui. I'm not sure if it is a big deal. I don't think he has spoken to her since I confronted him." She opened the door to the change room. The three of them shook their heads. It was a nice gown, but Maryse hated the way it fit around her midsection. Turning, she shut the door to the change room. There was a red dress with a lace bodice to try on next.

"Do you think Mike is trying to fool around on you?" Nikki pressed. Maryse laughed.

"Maybe, but he can't do anything right." She laughed, shrugging out of the white dress. The twin's laughed, but Maryse noted that Brie's laughter was awkward and conveying discomfort. "I doubt Mike could find anyone better than me," Maryse continued. "This woman...she's probably ugly. It explains why she works behind a computer. She's a journalist." Maryse dropped the "J" word as if it were an obscenity on her lips. "She can hide behind her keyboard and eat candy all day." She opened the door, and the three of them shook their heads at the red dress. Maryse went back into the change booth. There was a navy dress she was pretty sure she was going to go with. "Mike is not going anywhere. The truth is that he doesn't want to."

Brie and Nikki exchanged glances. Maryse sounded confident, but they both knew that Mike would only put up with Maryse's superiority complex for so long before he realized there was someone who would treat him with respect.

Cristina sat on her couch with a glass of lemon water and a small bowl of popcorn, watching the press conference unfold on her computer. She was putting faces to names, something she had never really done, despite her brother's fandom. When she saw John Cena, she wondered how Mike was going to overcome the challenge. John was much bigger. The fans didn't seem all that happy to see John, but they weren't as open to Mike, either. She watched him work, playing his part as the arrogant champion. It was such a difference, seeing the humble man she knew acting so brash, condescending and loud. The championship on his shoulder was big and tacky. He was promising fans that he would beat John Cena, that he was the most awesome champion the company ever had, that he was going to cement his legacy at WrestleMania. Cristina wasn't ashamed to admit that she bought every word he said.

The world of professional wrestling seemed larger than life and majestic to Cristina. She never quite understood what her brother saw in it. Her brother used to watch it with their father. She wanted to watch, too, but her mother felt it was a "man's sport" and not a good use of Cristina's time. Her mother felt it was more important to teach Cristina the things that would make her the perfect housewife. But she wasn't very good at a lot of the things her mother showed her, like knitting and ironing. It took her a few years before she caught onto cooking. Her mother had always thrown up her hands, proclaiming that Cristina would never make it on her own, that she wasn't good at anything.

Cristina was eight when her parents divorced. Her father and brother moved to Palermo, while Cristina and her mother stayed in Milan. She didn't want to be separated from her brother, but it wasn't a decision she could make. Until she decided to move to America, it had always just been Cristina and her mother, with the seldom visit from her brother. Telling her mother that she was leaving the country had been one of the hardest days in her life. Her mother had sobbed and wailed and begged Cristina not to go. She had warned her about the people, about the men and the violence. But Cristina wanted to come to America, and she was determined to make it.

The press conference ended with John Cena having a stand-off with The Rock. It struck Cristina as odd, since Mike and John were the headliners, but she would be the first to admit that she didn't know anything about pro wrestling. With the conference over, she shut down her computer and grabbed her phone, messaging Mike to tell him that she was proud of him, that he had done a wonderful job at the event. Mike responded with a quick token of gratitude. Cristina had to smile; she had never seen a wrestling event in her life, but she wanted to see WrestleMania. She wanted to see if Mike could keep his belt.

Alex sent her a message. He wanted to know what she thought of the press conference. She told him it was wonderful. Placing the phone on the couch beside her, Cristina looked over at the sliding glass door, smiling at the blue sky outside. She would have to invite the men over for dinner when they got home to congratulate them on a good week.

With the press conference in the history books, Mike went out for drinks with John, Phil Brooks – CM Punk – Alex and Dwayne. Stephanie, her husband Paul accompanied them. They invited Randy Orton, but he had plans to go back to the hotel and call his family; earlier in the week his daughter had come down with an ear infection and he wanted to make sure she was all right.

They found a bar and grill in the heart of Times Square, where they took pictures, shook hands and signed autographs for fans. Even John got some fan love, from a group of girls and a kid who took the day off school in hopes of meeting his idol. Some of the fans inside the place were dressed up like their favorite wrestlers, past and present. WWE had a far-reaching influence, and sometimes it hit Mike just how big it was. Seeing the power and respect John commanded with children was also something that left Mike in awe; TMZ had announced earlier in the afternoon that John was set to grant thirty wishes for the Make A Wish Foundation in the form of a pizza party after WrestleMania. John did a lot of work with the charity; Mike wished he could do more, but the truth was that kids don't typically like to hang out with the bad guys.

"To a great press conference," Stephanie announced, lifting her margarita in the air for a toast. It was her second drink. Everyone at the table hollered and cheered, clinking glasses with her. Punk, who was notorious for being Straight Edge, had a glass of Pepsi with a lime wedge on the side of the glass.

Mike knew the history of WrestleMania, and why it was such an important event for everyone in the McMahon family. Vince had thrown every resource he had against the wall in hopes of the first one working, the first step in his plan to take professional wrestling national, as opposed to the territory system wrestling used to have. Vince, who had taken over the company from his father three years earlier, had been relieved when he broke even, and ecstatic when the first WrestleMania had turned a profit. Since then, it has become his crown jewel, an event where celebrity and mainstream and pageantry came together to make one spectacular event. In the years since that shaky time, WrestleMania had become a symbol of success in the family.

"The fans were good to you today, Steph," Dwayne teased, sipping on his tequila. He was on leave from Hollywood for a bit, coming back to a business that was in his blood. When Mike was a teenager, he never in a million years thought he would get to meet guys like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. And now, he was drinking tequila with Rock, who had gone on to become one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Sometimes it was hard for him to believe that it wasn't a dream, that this was really his life.

At nightfall, Cristina closed up her apartment and locked all the doors and windows. She had a quiet night planned, with Resident Evil: Apocalypse in her DVD player. On the table her laptop was open, with a glass of red wine beside it. She shook her head, recalling the frantic phone call she received from her mother only an hour before. It had taken some time for Cristina to convince her mother that she was fine, that things were just a little busy. She happily told her mother all about her new friends and her great job, but she was disappointed that her mother was still so apprehensive about Cristina living in America. After a half hour, Cristina's mother had congratulated her for her success, but ended the call with the parting shot that she wished Cristina would return home to Italy.

Looking over at her phone charging on the end table, Cristina smiled. Mike and Alex had spent the day messaging with her, completely draining her battery. They were quickly becoming her favorite people. Leaning back against the couch, her glass of wine in hand, she started the movie. Earlier in the day she had been excited when Epica's management had messaged her back, telling her that the band would love to do a Skype interview with her, to help her with a few articles she was working on.

Tying her hair back in a sloppy bun that she held together with a pencil, Cristina scanned the computer screen, looking for any typos and words that didn't belong in her article. On the TV screen, the character of Alice was giving Cristina a rundown of what had happened in the first film, a movie that Cristina hadn't enjoyed at all. Her stepbrother Marco was a video game fanatic who loved the Resident Evil games. So Cristina was familiar with the series, and felt the first movie didn't do the series justice.

She had another quiet night planned. Once she got home from the office, she spoiled herself by ordering a small pizza from a gourmet pizza place down the road. It came with free breadsticks. She hate half of the items and put the rest in the fridge for the next night.

Cristina looked at her phone. It went silent an hour before. She wondered what the boys were doing. Alex mentioned that working for WWE was like having a few full-time jobs. She wondered what that meant, just what their job entailed. Whatever the boys were doing, she hoped they were happy.