Hey everybody! I know it's been awhile since my last update so here we are:
Chapter 20
Monday Night Raw was here and Maria was stuck in the Women's locker room trying to memorize her lines.
"Urgh!" She exclaimed as she once again looked at her script for the night.
"You alright?" Maria looked up to see a quirked Candice Michelle.
"Yeah. I'm just trying to memorize my lines. But all I can think of is my baby."
"Well, that's understandable."
"I guess. I just really need to memorize my lines."
Maria glared at the door as a rush of Divas flooded into the locker room.
"I'm gonna find a quieter place to practice." Maria told Candice as she got up in search of a lonesome area to memorize her lines.
As Maria wandered the halls, she thought of how she used to memorize her lines. She would get a chance to look at them and John would hold them as she practiced. If she got it right, she was rewarded with a kiss; if she messed up, she got a little spank. With this tactic, the night normally ended with the two wrapped up in the sheets. Needless to say, Maria always had her lines memorized.
But now, she couldn't even think let alone memorize. She found a quiet corner down a hallway. The red-head pulled out her script and began to practice what she would have to say in just a few hours.
"Hey, John." Maria read, without any emotion. She just wanted to get the lines down; she'd work on 'feeling it' later. "Hey there, Maria." She mimicked the Champ's deep voice. "How you doin', darlin? Actually not so good… Blah blah blah. Alright." Maria hid her script behind her back.
Just as she was about to begin, a voice called to her from down the corridor.
"Maria."
Maria smiled as she met the steely grey eyes and walked toward them at the end of the hallway.
John Cena was just peachy. He was ready for tonight. He got to kiss Maria. He had a match with Edge. He got to kiss Maria. Survivor Series was just six days away where he would become champion again. And he got to kiss Maria.
The last time they had kissed was… Halloween? He couldn't even remember. Which was way too long in his opinion.
Cena walked to catering room and grabbed himself a plate full of food and dug in. He groaned as the tender, savory steak practically melted in his mouth. After a few more large bites, he noticed a small group of Divas enter, Mickie included. When he saw her eyes reach his, he quickly decided to finish up and make like a tree and get out of there.
John shoved the rest of the steak in his mouth and chugged the rest of his water while Mickie looked around for a seat. Still chewing, he fled the canteen and briskly walked back to his locker room.
On his way, he spotted Maria hugging someone. John choked on his steak when he got a glimpse of his face… No… It couldn't be…
Later that night, Maria met up with John to go over there scene.
"Hey." John greeted her with a hug. Maria returned the embrace as John pressed his lips to her temple.
"Ready to go?" Maria asked with a smile.
"Yeah." John repressed the anger he was feeling toward what he saw earlier.
The kayfabe couple readied themselves as they prepared to practice their scene.
"Hey, John." Maria feigned sickness in her voice.
"Hey there, Maria. How you doin', darlin'?" John asked after he walked up to her. He slid his hand up to brush her hair out of her face.
"Actually not so good."
"Babe, what's wrong?"
"… My uh… Urgh!" Maria grunted in anger and disappointment as she pulled out her script. She couldn't remember her line. "My stomach is really upset. I think I'm going to throw up." Maria recited from the paper in front of her.
"You gonna be alright to come out with me to my match later?"
"I don't think so, John." She noted how his dimpled-smiled faded. "I'm really sorry. I… I… Ugh! Not again." Maria whipped out her script again. John pulled the script away as Maria looked at him with a quirked brow.
"Maria," John said to her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, "Baby, you need to calm down alright. We're gonna be doin' this for real in less than an hour. You're gonna do great, but you need to concentrate." He stroked her cheek and she leaned into the touch. Feeling him so close to her… It made her feel safe. She knew he was right. She opened her eyes to find him boring into them. Maria shivered at the intense gaze. "I love you." Maria felt her heart swell at hearing this.
Right then, she realized that John did truly still love her. She didn't know why he cheated on her, but she didn't care. John loved her with all his heart, and he meant it. In that instant, Maria forgave him.
Ring Ring!
Maria looked at her phone. The caller ID stated Shawn with an emoticon heart next to it. She looked up to John to see his intense gaze gone but replaced by annoyance, clearly shown as his eyes rolled.
"Hey Maria." Shawn greeted.
"Hey Shawn." Maria greeted back monotonously.
"Whatcha up to?"
"Rehearsing my lines for tonight with John."
"Oh that's cool I was just—"
"Actually can I just call you back. I still don't have my lines memorized."
"Uh. Sure. Talk to you later?"
"Sure." Maria didn't notice that his voice fell with disappointment as John detangled himself from her. Maria snapped her phone shut.
"John." Maria called to him on the bench across the room. She walked over to him since he didn't respond to her. "John?"
John sighed deeply before looking up at her. "Yes?"
Maria sat down next to him and held in his hand in both of hers. John looked at their hands and up at Maria.
"John, I know you love me—"
"But."
"No buts. I know you do. Except for what you did to me. I… I…"
"Shit, Maria!" John exclaimed jumping off the bench and rapidly swiping his hand away. "I know I messed up. I live with that every day. Can't you just accept that I'm not human? You know I love you and whether you know it or not, you love me too. Now all that's left for you to do is to leave Shawn and come back to me."
"I… John, I don't think I can do that."
"Why the fuck not?" John roared through clenched teeth, clawing his hands at his face.
"Because what if you hurt me again. You think it's as simple as forgiveness? John, I lost all my trust for you! All of it! I don't know what—"
"What can I do to gain it back, 'cause, Maria… God, it's killing me."
"What is?" Maria asked with a small voice as she saw John trying to rip his cropped hairs out.
"Not being with you. I fucking love you. You were mine. I fucked up and now I have to see you with your geriatric boyfriend everyday until you come to your fucking senses and realize that I am the one you need to be with! Not him!" The champ screamed through clenched teeth. He whipped around and banged his fists into the lockers, causing Maria to jump. "I have to go." John said into his arm before storming out of his locker room.
Later that night, Maria arrived at the scene where they were supposed to film the segment coming up, which was just outside the Women's locker room. Five minutes before the segment was supposed to be filmed, John was no where in sight.
"Maria, if he's not here soon, we can't air the segment."
"I know. I'm sorry. He's not normally late." Maria sympathetically told the crewman. After a few more minutes, Maria thought her waiting was futile. She was proved wrong as John appeared in the hallway and jogged to the scene.
"Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time."
"It's fine. Get in position and we'll start shooting." The crew man told them.
John backed out of the camera shot and the camera zoomed in on a sickly Maria.
John appeared into the shot and Maria greeted him, weakly, "Hey, John."
"Hey, Maria." John said with a smile as he pulled her in for a quick hug. "How you doin', darlin'?"
"Actually, not so good."
"Baby, what's wrong?" John asked as he brushed her hair behind her ear.
"My, uhm…" Maria stuttered. John positioned her head so she was looking into his eyes. "My stomach is really upset. I feel like I'm going to throw up." As Maria looked into his eyes, not only did she remember her lines, but she felt safe and happy, especially after what happened that afternoon.
"You gonna be alright to come out with me to my match later?"
"I don't think so, John." Maria started. John was still looking into her eyes, a fake hurt expression was present. His intense gaze caused the baby in her stomach to swoosh rapidly in its womb, causing Maria's to churn. She ignored the feeling. "I'm really sorry. I…" Maria clamped a hand over her mouth and rushed into the locker room. The camera man was confused but decided to zoom in on an equally confused looking John.
Maria pushed a few divas out of the way as she sprinted to the toilets and spewed into the porcelain. She felt a hand rub her back as her shoulders crept forward again. Maria flushed the toilet as she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. She turned on her knees to see an expressionless Trish Stratus.
"Honey, no offense but I am so glad I'm not pregnant. It sounds painful."
Maria weakly smiled up at her friend. Trish stood up, grabbed Maria's hands, and pulled her up.
Maria jokingly glared at the blonde Canadian.
"Aren't you supposed to be filming your segment with John right about now."
"Actually, we were in the middle of filming it. I didn't want to puke on camera so I ran in here."
"Well, go! The camera might still be rolling." Trish pushed Maria out the door.
Maria stumbled out to see the cameraman and John talking.
"You alright, Ria?" John asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Yeah."
"It stinks that you threw up, but honestly, your timing couldn't have been better."
"Well, I try." Maria joked. John tightened his grip on her shoulders as a smile appeared on his face.
"I gotta go, guys. Maria, I really hope you feel better."
"Thanks." Maria said with a smile.
"See ya later, man." John said with a wave to the friendly camera man.
When the videographer was out of sight, John turned to Maria.
"You alright?"
"Yeah."
"What happened?"
"The baby was moving around really fast. It made me feel sick."
"But you're alright, now?" John asked, moving his hands around her waist.
"Yeah. I just wanna go wash my mouth out."
"Where's your toothbrush?"
"In there." Maria nodded her head towards the Women's locker room.
"Why didn't you do that when you were in there before, silly."
"Because, Trish pushed me out of there because she thought they were still filming. She didn't want me to miss out. Silly." Maria taunted.
"Well, go." John lightly shoved her.
"I'm goin', I'm goin'."
Maria walked in and found her bag and rummaged through. After a little more searching, she found her lime green tooth brush and minty tooth paste. She went to the sink and brushed.
Out in the hall, John started thinking about the scene. He was supposed to kiss Maria before his match. That was ka-put since Maria's upchuck. It had been at least a month since he last kissed Maria, and that was 30 days too long. He was really looking forward to that tonight. Now all he had to look forward to was losing his match against Edge. He was scheduled to lose his match now, sensing that because Maria wasn't there, he would lose. But then at the Pay Per View, Maria would be there and he would win, despite the loss of momentum.
Maria emerged from the locker room with Trish following behind her.
"All better." Maria smiled.
"Good. Hey, Trish. What's good?"
"Have you seen Dave?" Trish asked.
"Yeah. He was in catering last I saw him."
"Thanks."
"No, problem, Blondie."
Maria gave John a hug.
"What was that for?"
"I just wanted a hug."
"Well then." John tightened the hug and spun Maria around. He set her down and Maria stared into his eyes.
"You alright?" The red head questioned.
"Yeah, fine. Why?"
"You look sad, is all."
"Well I am a little upset."
"Why is that?" Maria asked, her arms wrapping around his waist.
"Because we were supposed to kiss tonight, and because the scene got altered, I didn't get to. Now I'm upset."
"You've kissed me before." Maria pointed out.
"Yeah, but the last time was almost a month ago. You know what that means?"
"What?"
"I haven't kissed anyone in almost 30 days."
"So?"
"That's like a new record or something. I don't like it."
"Aww. Poor Johnny."
"You know I hate it when you call me 'Johnny'."
"And I hate it when you make me feel guilty."
"So you feel guilty about not kissing me?"
"I didn't say that."
"So you don't?"
"I didn't say that either."
"So you do?" John asked very confused now.
"I'm gonna head back to the hotel. 'Night, Johhny."
John stared at her as she walked down the hallway, a slight waddle to her walk.
A/N: So I know I said this chapter would be RAW and Survivor Series, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging! So here's RAW and I PROMISE next will be Survivor Series and hint: there will be a kiss… maybe two. We'll see…
PS: REVIEW!