Chapter 15:

The Truth Comes Out

For the past few days, Mike had been messaging back and forth with Cristina, but he could tell that things were different between the two of them. Her answers were short and seemed distant to him. He could sense that there was something wrong. Mike had a nagging suspicion that it had everything to do with their night together. He wondered if she regretted it, if she regretted the day that they had met. It hurt him to read the one word answers, the short answers, knowing that he was the reason why she seemed to be a far cry from the woman he knew.

Maryse was calling him and messaging him, begging him to give her another chance. She was swearing up and down that she was a changed woman, but Mike didn't care anymore. He had seen the real Maryse, the side of her that couldn't be faithful. The night they broke up, he vowed that the two of them would never get back together. They were toxic for each other; it only took the entire situation to unfold for him to realize it.

Mike had asked Eve why Cristina seemed so different. She had told him that Cristina had been sick. He could see it in Eve's eyes; there was more to the story than what she was saying. He wanted to press the issue, but he knew better than to push Eve.

Alex said that he was noticing a stark difference in his messages to Cristina as well, but concluded that if she was sick, then she probably wasn't up for talking. Mike agreed, but he had his sneaking suspicion that there was something going on that was more than a run-of-the-mill flu bug. He just wasn't sure how he was going to prove it.

"Hey, man, you ready for tonight?"

Mike turned to see John Cena approach, dressed in a bright yellow T-shirt and matching baseball cap. He approached. Mike readjusted the championship on his shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm ready," Mike answered. John wasn't convinced by the answer, stopping in his tracks to give Mike a once-over. Mike could feel John's stare, intense. He looked over at the former champion. "What?"

"What's up with you, man? Head's not in the game tonight. What's the problem?"

"Nothing." John knew Mike was lying. Mike knew that John knew he was lying. John didn't know Mike well enough to push the issue.

"You going to be okay for tonight?" John asked. "Mike, I need you focused."

"Yeah. I'll be fine," Mike reassured him. "You don't need to worry about me. I got this."

"Good. That's what I like to hear.

"So, I met Mike's mistress," Maryse announced, walking into the Divas locker room. Melina, Alicia Fox, the Bella twins, Eve and Natalya all looked up. Eve and Natalya exchanged startled expressions. Eve wondered why Cristina hadn't mentioned this encounter.

"What?" Alicia breathed, crossing an arm over her chest and clapping a hand over her mouth.

"No way!" Melina excitedly exclaimed. She cleared a path for Maryse to sit down beside her. "What is she like?"

"Well...she isn't three hundred pounds. But she has the flattest black hair. And an accent. She is kind of fat, though." Maryse crinkled her face.

"Where did you meet her?" Nikki asked. Maryse smiled.

"I found out her last name and found her apartment in the phone book. Not hard at all. She even let me in."

"You're kidding," Brie gasped, eyes wide. "What happened?"

"I told her to stay away from Mike. You should have seen her, girls. She's not half the woman I am."

Eve's head was spinning with Maryse's revelations. It had been killing her for days having to lie to Mike. She wanted to tell him the truth, to tell him about Cristina's hospital visit, but Cristina had made her swear to secrecy. All the pieces were falling into place for Eve now, and she knew that Cristina's miscarriage was a direct result of this visit. There was no way Maryse knew that Cristina had been pregnant; Eve was the only one who knew outside of the doctors who had treated her. Eve suddenly wanted to get on the first flight out, go back to LA and get the truth out of Cristina. The white noise of her thoughts began to fade back to the real world and she could hear Maryse's high and mighty voice.

"She will not be a problem anymore. Mike and I are going to get through this..."

"You and Mike are not getting back together," Eve told her. Everyone looked over at Eve, eyes widened. Maryse's narrowed.

"Excuse me? I believe nobody was talking to you, putain," she snapped. Eve smirked at Maryse's defensiveness. "So just shut up."

"I would shut up, but you're feeding the girls total bullshit," Eve retorted with a roll of her mint eyes. "Did you mention to the girls that Mike dumped you because he found out you were sleeping with other men on the roster? And that's just who he knows about. God only knows who else you've bagged back here." Maryse had lost the women's attention now. They were all looking at Eve, hoping for details.

"How dare you."

"How dare me? How dare you?" Eve fired back. "If your ego is so huge that you'd be more than willing to act like a psycho than to just cut your losses, then you need help. Mike doesn't care for you anymore. He is past you. Past your lying, past your cheating. That's why he made you give him the house key back."

"Who has she been with?" Melina inquired.

"Don't worry, Melina, it's not John. But I'm sure Dolph's girlfriend won't be too happy to hear about what her boyfriend has been up to, though." Maryse's eyes widened and the Divas gasped. Eve stood. "I need to go. I have a match tonight, Maryse. What are you doing?"

With that, Eve stormed out of the locker room, slamming the door behind her, leaving Maryse embarrassed with the other girls.

Cristina felt like she was walking wounded, a zombie who did nothing but cry from sunrise to sunset. For the past few days, citing personal reasons, Cristina shifted her articles to other writers, asking them to cover her while she got herself back in order. Everyone was more than understanding, telling her that they hoped things straightened out quickly. Her editor gave her a week off. For the past three days she had sat on the couch, watching movies and crying, watching the sky go from light to dark. Sleep eluded her.

The devastation was something she really was not prepared for. It had crushed her in a way she hadn't expected, and now she felt like she had no idea which side was up. She had no idea how she was going to recover from things. Going through it all by herself was harder than she realized, but she was hoping Eve would not say a word. If Mike found out, he would be angry and she would have no idea what to say to him. Considering how little she had heard from him and how awkward and stilted their text messages were, she was having the strongest feeling that he regretted their night together. Knowing he was still with Maryse only confirmed her suspicions.

She thought about Maryse and felt her blood get hot. Cristina thought about the way she had strutted into the apartment, about her condescending attitude. Knowing that she had been abusive to Mike and that she was a WWE Diva - known for beating people up - Cristina felt like she should have known that Maryse would get violent. But she hadn't expected it. She wished she had time to brace for it. Now, she sat alone, trapped in the throes of depression and knowing that Mike was going to stay with the cold-hearted bitch who had left her in this position. For the first time in a long time, Cristina felt ugly, like she was dirt on the bottom of Maryse's Louboutin.

The tears began to flow again. Cristina covered her face with a hand and let herself sob until the well ran dry.

"Mike, I really need to talk to you."

Eve reached out and grabbed him by the crook of the elbow at the end of the night and led him into the empty Divas locker room. The girls were long gone; Maryse and her clique were hitting up the local nightclub. She let go of Mike and wheeled on him. He studied her, cocking an eyebrow.

"What's the matter, Eve? You look upset."

"I am upset," Eve replied. "And you're right. I have been lying to you. I've been lying to you so much, but Cristina made me promise, but I can't. Mike, I can't lie anymore, and Cristina's going to be mad at me, but I have to tell you."

"What's going on?"

"Mike, you'd better sit down for this." He shot her a look and slowly nodded. He sat down in a steel folding chair. Eve grabbed another chair and brought it over so she could sit down across from Mike. "Mike...I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to spit it out. Maryse found out where Cristina lives."

"What? When did this happen?"

"A few days ago. Maryse was talking about it tonight. She went to Cristina's place and had a visit. I have my suspicions about what happened, but Cristina isn't talking about it. Maryse is still talking like the two of you are together, Mike - am I missing something?"

"No. We're done. If she's saying anything else, she's lying."

"I think she left Cristina with the opposite impression," Eve told him. Mike ran a hand through his hair. It all made sense to him now. If Maryse went to Cristina and told her that they were still together, he knew Cristina would back off and respect the boundaries. Mike knew he would have to go see Cristina and explain things to her when he got home in a few days. He looked at Eve.

"Why am I sensing that there is more to this story?"

"Because there is." Eve rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand. "Mike, I have some really bad news, but it's not my place to say anything. Cristina made me promise, but you do need to know."

"Tell me, Eve. Please don't leave me in the dark here."

"Cristina got pregnant."

"What?" Mike looked up at her, eyes wide. He ran his hands through his hair as the words hit him like a bag of bricks. "What...she didn't...she never..."

"She's not anymore, Mike. She...she, uh...suffered a miscarriage last week. I'm so sorry." He looked into the face of his friend. She began to cry. Mike reached out and hugged her. Eve clutched him tightly. "I'm so sorry..."

"Why...I don't understand. Why didn't she say anything?"

"You quit speaking to her. Maryse told her you two were working things out. She didn't want to make trouble," Eve sniffled. Mike was overwhelmed. Eve had given him huge news and then delivered the most devastating news right on the heels of it. "Mike, it gets worse."

"How much worse, Eve? I don't know if I can take much more," Mike confessed, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I have a feeling that Maryse had a hand in what happened."

"Did she know?"

"I can't see how she would. Cristina wasn't even going to tell me. I just found the test." Mike sighed. Eve sniffled.

"God, I'm such an idiot," Mike murmured.

"No…you aren't. The thing you need to do now though is the right thing. Don't let her go through this alone."