Chapter 4

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"Randy come quick. We're at the bar. We need your help. It's Arianne. –Cody."

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That was what the text message he received said, as he was about to go to sleep. He jumped out of bed quickly and got dressed after reading it, and went to the bar as quickly as he could.

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Earlier that evening, after Raw went off air.

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Some of the Superstars decided to hang out at a bar, before heading back to their hotel. The Raw crew will have their day off the next day so they could afford to stay out a bit late. Ted and Cody decided to join the others to unwind.

"You sure you're not coming man?" Ted asked Randy.

They were in the parking lot, loading their bags on the car. Ted and Cody are riding together this time, while Randy rides with Santino.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He said, "You guys enjoy while you can. We're going to be busy in the coming days."

"Yeah, I'm excited about the Rumble." Cody said, "I feel like it's all going to happen after it. Legacy's gonna be big."

"Hey, guys!" Arianne said as she approached. "You joining the others?"

"Cody and I are. Randy's not."

"Why not?"She asked him.

"I have an early flight home tomorrow, I should get some sleep." Randy said, "I have to phone the wife too. Why? Are you going?"

"Yeah." She said, "I was hoping I could ride with you guys."

"Sure, you can ride with us." Cody said.

"Great!" She said.

Randy took her aside a little. "Are you sure you should go? I mean…" He whispered.

"I'm fine." She said. She knew what he meant. "I think it'd help to keep my mind of it, at least, don't you think?"

"I guess." He said.

"Come on, Arianne. Let's go." Ted called. He was already in the car, and Cody was on the driver's seat.

"I'll see you." Arianne told Randy before she hopped on the backseat.

He just nodded, and watched them roll out the parking area. "Where the hell is Santino?"

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Finally, he got to the bar and saw Ted and Cody. They were already outside.

"Ted, Cody!" He said, "What happened? Where's Arianne?"

"We tried to get her to go, she won't come with us." Ted said, "It's bad. She's totally drunk."

"Come on, let's get her." He said.

So the three of them went back inside, and it didn't take them long to see where she was. She was sitting at the bar, with Kennedy, and a couple of other guys, in her bra.

"How about a tequila body shot?" Kennedy asked her, "That would be fun."

She laughed at him, loudly and obviously drunk. "I think you just want to lick me!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Kennedy said.

That's when Randy came and pushed Kennedy aside, before pulling Arianne out of her seat.

"Come on, it's time to go." He told her, as he put his jacket over her to cover her up. "Where's your shirt?"

"I don't know…I tossed it somewhere…" She laughed, drunkenly. "I thought you weren't coming?"

"Whoa! Hold on a second, man." Kennedy said, as he got on their way. "We were just having a little fun here, what's your problem?"

"You call that fun? Getting a girl drunk so you could get in her pants?" Randy said, "That's pathetic."

"Hey, man, come on!" Kennedy said, "All is fair in the game!"

"Do you not get it? The game's over. Back off!" Randy said. It was obvious he was trying so hard not to blow up. "Ted, Cody, let's go." He told them.

"Wait, wait, wait just a second…" Kennedy pulled Arianne away from Randy. She staggered a little to stand, being drunk.

"What the f**k you think you're doing?" Randy snapped.

"Calm down, calm down!" He said, "I think we should let her chose who she wants to go with. Let the lady choose!"

Randy doesn't like it. If she didn't want to go with Ted and Cody earlier when she wasn't too drunk, why would she want to go now?

"Arianne, listen, do you want to go with Randy…" He asked Arianne, "Or do you want to stay here…and have some fun with me!"

She giggled, "I have to pick?" She was still wobbling a little bit, but still up right at least. "You want me to pick…If I want to go with Orton…or stay here with you…and have some more fun!"

"That's right!" Kennedy said, "What's it gonna be? Huh?"

"I think…" She said, walking over to Kennedy.

"Arianne!" Randy called her. He wanted to just pick her up and get her out of there, but he knows he can't do that against her will, however compromised her will is.

She turned around at him, but still walking towards Kennedy. She put a hand on Ken's shoulder, to prop herself up right because she was losing her balance.

"I think…" She said again, "I think…I'm gonna be sick."
And then she just suddenly heaved all over his shoes. Everyone was too stunned to move or do anything.

"What the f**k!" Kennedy reacted.

"I'm think I'm gonna go with Orton." She said, trying to catch her breath. "Sorry." She told him.

After getting some of the alcohol out of her system, unconventionally, she seemed a bit more sober. Randy just had to snicker at what happened to Kennedy. He thought he deserved it.

"Come on, Arianne, let's go." He said.

Arianne walked towards him, still a little groggy, but better than before. "Yeah, let's go."

"Hey, Orton!" Kennedy called him. "Guess you won, huh?"

He just looked at him sharply, and didn't say anything. He really wasn't playing the game anymore. He meant it when he said the game was over. But he didn't want to explain himself anymore.

He doesn't care what everyone else thinks anyway.

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He held her up as they walked out of the club, and Ted and Cody helped him get Arianne to his car.

"Get in." Randy told Arianne, holding the car door open at the passenger side. "Put your seatbelt on."

"Guys, where are we taking her?"Cody asked. "I don't even know where she's staying."

"I'll take her to the hotel. She can stay in my room. Santino already left anyway." Randy said, not really thinking about what he just said. He only realized in when Ted and Cody gave him a weird look. "I'm staying with you guys." He cleared."If that's alright."

"Yeah, of course it's fine." Ted said, laughing.

So Ted and Cody got in their car, and Randy got in his.

"You ready?" He asked Arianne, putting on his seatbelt.

She didn't answer, and when he looked at her she was already asleep and still without her seatbelt on.

"Psh. I said to put the seatbelt on." He shook his head.

He reached over to put her seatbelt on, leaning over her. At the same time, she turned towards him. Their faces were centimeters apart from each other, and he couldn't help but look at her. For a moment he didn't move, just tracing her face, her soft delicate features with his eyes.

She looks prettier without her glasses on. He thought.
There was something that made him linger and a made him feel a sudden urge to touch her face.

And he almost did but he caught himself before he could when the light from Ted and Cody's car suddenly shone on them.

He smirked, "Hmm…who would've thought you had a wild side?"

He finished putting on her seatbelt, and then he sat back on his seat before starting the engine. He got to the hotel first, so he waited for Ted and Cody so they can help him get Arianne to his room along with her stuff.

He slept at Ted and Cody's room after, on an extra mattress they had brought in. He left early the next morning to catch his flight home.

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For the next several weeks after that incident, Arianne had gotten close with the boys, especially with Randy. Randy had convinced her to ride with them, or more specifically, with him and whoever else he's riding with. She usually rides with the crew or on the equipment trailers, so it was more convenient.

She had no problem getting along with them, and they get along fine with her too. She's fun to be around, joking and laughing, sometimes bantering around. Even Randy gets to laugh because she had the most infectious laughter when laughs at Santino.

She also got to see his other sides—the side of him that nobody ever really sees. The talkative, goofy, playful side that he only shows in closed quarters and to only a few people. He's nice to kids when they meet them at the airport or in the restaurants when they eat. He doesn't talk or smile much but he signs autographs and take pictures most of the time.

He does have a grumpy side, but she actually found that adorable. He doesn't scream or anything like that, but he does sound rather condescending when he's not in the mood. She can't blame him though, she's like that herself.

Slowly and without realizing it, she was starting to feel something for him. She didn't realize that hatred she has for him before meeting him that Joseph implanted in her heart was slowly dissipating.

Of course, when a man and a woman are always seen together, it cannot be helped that rumors will start to fly around. And they were no exception.

There's a rumor going around backstage that they were having an affair. There was even a rumor that Randy had gotten her pregnant that really stemmed from when somebody saw them together in the creative staff's room, and she was crying in his arms.

Then there's the rumor that Randy is just toying with her, and he's still playing the game, trying to prove that he hasn't lost his touch.

As usual, the last ones to know about what rumors are going around are the people that are involved. They both had felt that people are talking behind their backs, but they both just shrugged it off.

They didn't even bother to know what the rumors are, because they know the truth. And the truth is, they're just good friends.

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WrestleMania weekend April 2009 Houston, Texas

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As accustomed to everyone in the company, WrestleMania has become a family affair. Everyone and their families were to be there, especially for the Hall of Fame ceremony, and the pay per view as well.

And since they're on the road all the time, especially the Superstars and Divas that are on TV every week, everyone was excited to have their families along—everyone except Arianne.

She was going to skip the whole thing but the boys convinced her to come.

Watching everyone with their families made her miss her adoptive parents, and even Joseph. And nothing made her feel it more than when Stephanie and Hunter's family arrived.

She was having breakfast by herself at the hotel, watching them a few tables away from her, and she can't help but remember all the good times with Edward and Clarisse.

"Good morning." Randy said, interrupting her thoughts. "Can I sit here?"

"Sure." She said.

He looked at what she was looking at behind him and saw Hunter's family, before sitting. "Why are you watching them?"

"Nothing…I just…I miss my parents." She said.

"Where are they? Aren't they coming?" He asked, innocuously.

She looked at him, suddenly remembering why she was there in the first place. This is the man Joseph's blaming for their parent's death right in front of her.

She was looking for that feeling of hatred inside her but she couldn't find it. There was none. She wasn't even sure if she should really blame him.

Joseph's version of what happened had a lot of holes, but she just took it at face value since he was her brother.

He looked at her, sipping his coffee and saw the look in her face as she was looking at him.

"Are you okay?" He said, "Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah…" She took her eyes off him. "I'm fine…"

"Okay…so where are your parents? Are they coming for the Hall of Fame party tomorrow?"

"No. No, they're not." She said, "They're dead. They died last August. Car crash."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, reaching for her hand.

She pulled her hand slowly away though. "Don't worry about it." She said.

Despite of what she said, he still felt bad for her. He figured she was watching Stephanie and Hunter with their kids because she misses her parents. He wanted to tell her something to make her feel better, but nothing was coming to him.
"I was in a crash last August too." Randy suddenly said.

"Can you tell me what happened?" She asked. She wanted to hear what his version of what happened is.

He took a deep breath and recounted what happened that night. She listened carefully to his every word.

"It was around ten in the evening and I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a ride on my bike." He said. Actually, he wanted to cool off because he had another argument with his wife.

"I was going down a sharp bend on the hill, and all of a sudden there's this car speeding towards me, veering towards my lane. It had its high beams on and I couldn't see. I had no choice but to crash." He sighed, reliving what happened in his head.

"It was terrible. All these thoughts were going through my head…about Alanna… and Sam…I hit a concrete block and I got thrown off my bike. I hit the ground and bounced and rolled for like three hundred feet down the ditch…I don't even remember at what point I lost consciousness." He paused. "When I came to, the police and firemen were there already. They asked me where the guy who was in the wreck is, and I said it was me. They told me I was lucky. My bike was totaled. I was only wearing shorts and sweatshirt, and luckily a helmet. It saved my life. I would've been dead if I wasn't wearing it. I only got some cuts and bruises…and I reinjured my collarbone. But I'm lucky to be alive."

She didn't say anything for a while, picturing what he was saying in her mind. "What about the car?" She asked, "The one you almost collided with…do you know what happened to the passengers?"

"The car was a total wreck too." He said, "The investigators said it had been veering from side to side for miles before we almost crashed. It was speeding too." He paused, "Oh, yeah…there was a survivor…I forgot his name…Anyway, the cops said he had alcohol and traces of meth and cocaine in his blood. They thought he might be the driver so they took samples to test but he wasn't driving according to their findings."

When she heard him say the survivor had traces of methamphetamine, cocaine and alcohol in his blood, she felt like a huge wave just suddenly crashed over. She felt like she was drowning upon the realization of what could have possibly really happened.

Joseph never told her that one small detail. He said their parents came to get him from rehab because he was already clean and sober.

Why didn't he tell me that? She asked herself. Dad wouldn't have taken him out of rehab if he wasn't clean yet. Could they have been fighting in the car?

It wouldn't be the first time either. He's been in rehab a couple of times already, and both times he escaped and come home. Edward would get so angry at him and they would fight, and would force him to go back to rehab.

But why would he lie about being clean and sober…unless…She thought. She looked at Randy, sitting in front of her, and that's when she realized something.

"It wasn't your fault…" She said.

"Well, no…" Randy said, thinking she was talking about his accident. "It was an accident. Although I guess I shouldn't have been riding my bike at that time of the night." He told her.

He noticed she looked like she was going to be sick as she looked so pale all of a sudden.

"Hey, are you okay?" He said, worriedly. "Are you feeling something wrong?"

"Good morning, peoples!" Santino said, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "Mind if join you?"

"Don't worry about me." She told Randy. "I'm fine."

And then she got up and left. He doesn't know what to make of it, and her reaction was puzzling to him. But although she said for him not to worry; that was what he felt more than anything.

"What happened to her?" Santino asked. "I just got here."

"I don't know…" He said, "Maybe she lost her appetite when she saw you." He told, chuckling, not wanting to look too worried.

"That's not funny, Orton." Santino said.

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Joseph's phone had been ringing for the past half-hour, every few minutes, repeatedly, but he wasn't picking up. Arianne had been trying to call him.

She wanted to ask him if he really was still using drugs at the time of the accident. She wanted to know if he was telling her the truth. She doesn't want to doubt him, but Randy told her another version of what happened and it was more believable.

She also doubts herself. She's having second thoughts about what she's doing there. Was there even still a reason for her to stay there, when she doesn't believe that Randy had anything to do with her parents' death?

She felt guilt stabbing at her every fiber and she needs to know the truth from Joseph.

But Joseph couldn't pick up the phone. He doesn't even hear it ringing because he wasn't there. Not mentally, anyway. He was there in body, sitting on his wheelchair, high on drugs he bought with the money she sends him.

"Come on, Joseph!" Arianne said. "Pick up the phone, dammit."

She's already crying in frustration by then as she tried to call Joseph again for the nth time. Suddenly, someone knocked on her quickly wiped her tears off and fixed herself up, and then she opened the door.

It was Randy.

"Randy, hey." She said. "What are you doing here?"

"Well…" He saw couple of the Divas walking down the hallway, and he waited for them to pass before he spoke. "I just want to check up on you. You left so abruptly…I…I was…worried. Are you okay?"

He's worried about me? She thought, surprised. And all this time, I've been plotting revenge against him, thinking he killed my parents.

The guilt was just killing her at that very moment. She found it hard to swallow, as hard as that feeling of something stuck in her throat. She was willing herself not to cry, but her eyes just began to water. She tried to cover up and wipe it off but he already saw.

"Hey, come on…" Randy said, stepping into the room. "What's wrong?" He closed the door behind him.

He would've just stayed outside while talking to her, knowing she was alone in her room and knowing it could start another wave of gossip about them.

He would've liked to avert that, with Sam supposed to be joining him over the weekend. But he couldn't help himself. He was acting on impulse.

"It's nothing…really." Ariane said. Randy had led her to the bed and sat there with her. "I just…I just remembered my parents, while you were telling me your story. And…I could just…picture what could've happened to them." She said.

It was half true, but she couldn't very well tell him everything. "You know me…My imagination's very visual."

He relaxed a bit learning that was all it was. "That's it?" He smiled, "Jesus, Arianne, you had me worried...You're crazy!"

"I'm sorry." She said. She meant it for all the reasons she couldn't tell him too. She wiped her tears off and smiled.

"Never mind." He said, "I'm just glad you're okay. Relatively. You are a little zany." He teased. "So…you're still going with me to the Axxess right?"

"Should I?" She asked, "I mean, I don't really have any business there."

"Sure you do!" He said, "You'll be there to keep me focused, keep me calm. Some of these fans, they hate me, they're going to jeer me, throw insults at me and all that crap, so you have to be there keep me in line."

"Like, I can do that if you decide to bash everyone's faces in." She teased. "Mr. IED."

He just smiled.