Chapter 5

"Unbelievable." Kelly said, under her breath when she and Brie finally got on the elevator.

"What is?" Brie asked.

"That woman!"

"Okay, you have to fill me in here, because I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That…Arianne!" She said, "Randy's writer. Do you know she's the one who had my storyline with him to get dropped?"

"I thought it was because Randy's wife didn't like it?" Brie said, innocuously.

"Brie, Randy's wife isn't in the creative team." She said, "And, I mean, you've heard about it, right? Those two are having an affair!"

"Well, nobody's ever really proven it. I don't know if that's true." Brie said, "I mean, there was also the rumor he got her pregnant…but she doesn't even look pregnant."

"Brie, are you on my team or hers?"

"I'm on your team, of course." Brie said.

"Good. Then believe me." She said, "I hate her. That storyline would've given me exposure…and also spend more time with Randy."

"Wait…are you saying, like…you like him?" Brie said, "Coz, that's how you sound like."

"What's not to like? He's hot." Kelly shrugged.

"But he's married." Brie said.

"Arianne doesn't seem to mind that." Kelly said.

April 4, 2009
Hours before the Hall of Fame Ceremonies

Randy left his room for a while, because he was getting bored waiting for Sam to finish dressing up. He went to the bar downstairs, thinking some of the guys would be there. He found Ted and Cody there.

"Hey, guys!" He said. He smacked both of them on the back, to surprise them.

"Dude, that hurt." Ted said, while Cody just coughed.

Randy laughed, "Come on, it wasn't that hard. And I'd think you guys would've gotten used to that already."

"Not when you surprise us in an ambush!" Cody said, rubbing his chest to relieve himself from coughing, as he turned his seat around.

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" He asked.

"I'm waiting for my wife. She's still getting ready." Ted said, "You?"

"Same." Randy said, as he sat on a stool next to Cody.

Meanwhile…

Samantha finally finished getting ready and went out of their room. She was waiting for the elevator when Kelly came up to her, smiling sweetly.

"Hi, Sam." She said.

"Hello." Sam said simply.

In all the times she's joined Randy on these kinds of occasions, she's never really talked to Kelly nor has Kelly ever spoken to her. Especially when she had openly expressed that she didn't like Randy going on signings with her.

"Where's Randy?" Kelly asked.

"He's waiting for me downstairs at the bar." Sam said.

Finally the elevator opened and she got in. Kelly followed her.

"You know Sam, I know you don't like me very much and I understand that." Kelly said. "I know you asked Randy to decline going on signings with me and I also know you didn't like the storyline we were supposed to have together. I understand that. It does put him in a bad light, since everyone knows he's a married man." Kelly said. "But you really have nothing to worry about. Nothing went on with me and Randy, and nothing is going to. I assure you that."

Sam relaxed a bit. Kelly seemed to be sincere enough about what she said. She supposed she could've been quick to jump into conclusions about her.

She just couldn't help but feel a little insecure about seeing Kelly with her husband. Especially when she saw their pictures together during signings and Meet and Greets. Kelly is young and beautiful. Of course, Randy had always assured her, but still.

"Thank you for telling me that." Sam said, "I appreciate it. And I apologize if you got offended with my presumptions."

"No problem." Kelly smiled. "Although…I can't say as much for Randy's writer."

"Randy's writer? You mean Mark?"

"Mark? No! Mark was fired months ago." Kelly said. "He has a new writer. Her name's Arianne."

"Hmm…He didn't tell me he's assigned a new writer." Sam said, surprised about this new information. Randy has never talked about having been assigned a new writer.

"Really? Hmm…that's odd." Kelly said. "I would assume he'd have told you since they're pretty close."

Sam looked at Kelly, "How close?" She asked. Already she was getting a bad feeling about it.

"Like, really close." Kelly said. "Don't tell him I told you. I personally don't believe it, but, they've been rumored to be having an affair. I don't think they are…but you know what they say: When there's smoke, there's fire."

"Why do women take so long to get ready?" Cody asked.

"Dude, that's just how they are." Ted said, "They just want to look beautiful for us. Nothing wrong with that."

"Well, if they're going to look as pretty as my date then you're right." Cody said, "Check her out."

Randy and Ted looked at the direction Cody was looking at, towards the elevator, and saw Arianne in a midnight blue strapless dress. She had her hair messily done up, but she looked really good.

Just the dress, not the person. Arianne's brunette.

She looked around trying to look for a familiar face anxiously.

"Date?" Ted said, "What do you mean date? You didn't even ask her out."

"Well, she doesn't have a date, and I don't either. We're going together so it's a date!" Cody explained, "Quit cramping up my style, Teddy."

"Why? You cramp up my style all the time!" Ted said.

"Whatever dude." Cody said, "Arianne! Over here!" He called her from across the room.

She finally saw them and smiled. She walked towards them quickly and stumbled on her own foot when she was only a few feet away.

Cody and Randy quickly got up from their seats and helped her up. She held on to Cody though so he got most of her weight, so Randy let go.

"You okay?" Cody asked, laughing as he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, laughing at herself as she skipped on one foot.

Cody helped her to a stool next to Ted, who was also laughing then because of her. She elbowed him on the arm. Randy followed close behind them.

Randy just couldn't stop staring at the curve where her neck and shoulders meet though. There's some kind of gravity that's keeping his focus there from when he helped her up.

He keeps wondering how her skin would feel like. It looks so smooth and soft and tender. He wondered how it would feel like to touch her, to smell her, to kiss her there.

"Stop laughing!" She told Ted, still laughing. "Where's my shoe?"

"Here." Randy said, seriously, looking at her. "Allow me."

Ted and Cody looked at each other, as he knelt down on one knee in front of Arianne, who felt a little uncomfortable with the sudden silence of the other two.

Randy put her foot up on his knee, holding it steady under the calf, and slipped the shoe on. Arianne had a warm feeling come over her and she blushed, yet she also felt goose bumps all over.

"There you go." He looked at her. But he didn't put her foot down yet.

"Thank you." She said, looking down at him too.

"So is this what you've been doing when you're on the road?" Sam said, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

They all turned to her. Arianne took her foot off of Randy's knee, and he stood up. Ted and Cody stood up too.

"Or should I say; is this who you've been doing when you're on the road?" She said, looking at Arianne sharply and then back at Randy.

"Sam, it's not like that." Randy said. He felt rather annoyed and embarrassed.

"Samantha, hi." Arianne said, standing up and offering her hand to Sam. "I'm Arianne Carter, I write for Randy, Ted and Cody…"

"It's Mrs. Orton to you." Sam said.

"Sam, stop it." Randy said.

"What? I am your wife, so that's how she should address me." She said.

"Samantha, could you not make a scene here please?" Randy said, gritting his teeth.

"Cody, we should go." Arianne said.

She just wanted to get out of there so as not to aggravate the situation. She figured Randy was already feeling embarrassed by what happened and how his wife was acting.

"We're taking the shuttle, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are." Cody said, getting her hint. "Let's go."

They all rode on the shuttle, with Arianne sitting between Cody and Dustin—or Goldust, however you want to call him, laughing all the while. Ted and his wife were behind them laughing along, with Arianne's infectious laughter. And Randy and his wife sat a couple of rows back on the other side of the bus, whispering at each other, in gritted teeth.

"Why do you always have to do this, Sam?" Randy said, "Why do you always have to embarrass me like that in front of other people?"

"Embarrass? I embarrass you?" Sam said, "And kneeling in front of that girl is not embarrassing?"

"Come on, Sam! Do you have to make a big deal of everything?" Randy said. "I was helping her put her shoe on!"

"Oh is that what it is?" She asked, sarcastically. "Coz I think I call that flirting. She's flirting with you and you like it!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Don't I? Is that why you never mentioned to me that you have a new writer?"

"This is exactly why I didn't tell you! Because I knew you'd over react this way!" Randy said, "You know what? You should be happy the shoe's the only thing I'm slipping on her and not anything else!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just give it a break, all right? Damn it!" Randy said. "Can we just get through this night peacefully? Or at least act like we're getting along?"

"Fine!" She said. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just shut up, all right?"

"Fine!"

After the HOF ceremony, at the after party…

"I almost fell face first on the floor." Arianne laughed. "The shoes are just too much higher than what I usually wear."

She's telling Stephanie what happened to her earlier. It was Stephanie who told her to buy the shoes at the hotel's boutique. She didn't have anything to wear with the dress because it was very last minute, as she wasn't even planning to come to the event.

"Oh my god!" Stephanie laughed. "But you didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"No, I'm fine." She said, "My ankle hurts a little but I'll live."

"Excuse me." Hunter said, as he approached. "I would like to dance with my lovely wife, if I may?" He said to Stephanie.

Stephanie looked adoringly at him, smiling. "Of course you may." She told him. "Excuse us, Arianne."

Arianne smiled and watched Hunter whisked Stephanie away to the dance floor. At the corner of her eyes, she saw Randy sitting by a table across the dance floor from her.

He was looking at her so she gave him a little wave. He smiled and waved back. Somehow she got the vibe that he wasn't having fun, and she wanted to come over and talk to him.

But then, there was Sam who had just gotten back from the ladies room.

"Hey, you want to dance?" Cody asked. "I mean, if you can keep up of course."

"Ah, is that a challenge Mr. Rhodes?" She bantered, "You think you have an advantage just because my ankle hurts a little?"

"Well…I'm supposed to be a heel, so I have to take advantage of an opponent's weakness." He said.

"Oh yeah?" She said, "Let's see what you got!"

The next day, a quarter before three in the morning…

After a day of partying, Arianne couldn't sleep even though she was really tired. All day she pretended like nothing was wrong, smiling and laughing, and joking around with her friends.

But inside, something was still bothering her. She hasn't talked to Joseph since Randy told him his version the other day. She needed to hear from him. She needed to have something to believe in him.

She went down to the bar and got something to drink. It was a good thing the bar was open till 3AM, even though the restaurant was closed already or she would've gone out.

She already had a few throughout the night, so she was already getting a bit tipsy after just one glass of whisky. She put her elbows up on the counter, and covered her face as she closed her eyes for a little bit, feeling the effects of the drink.

"Hey."

A familiar voice said from behind her, laying a warm hand on her back. She looked up and saw him take a seat beside her.

"Randy!" She said, "What are you doing here at this hour?" She smiled, "Does your wife know where you are?"

"She's sleeping." Randy said, shooting her a look. He knows a jibe when he hears one. "I couldn't sleep."

"Hmm…that makes two of us." She pushed her glass towards him. "I can't drink anymore."

He took the glass and finished it. The bar was about to close and the bartender was already cleaning up, just waiting for them to leave.

"Let's sit over there." He said after, gesturing towards a table near the piano at the far end of the restaurant.

It was the only part that had a light on above it and everywhere else was dark. She stood up and he held out his hand for her to hold, since it was dark and she might trip, knowing she was a little bit tipsy. He guided her across the room until they got to the table.

They sat across each other on the table and just talked about random stuff about the party. Mostly it was Arianne who talked, and Randy just listened.

He liked the sound of her voice. It was soft and soothing when she talks. But he likes it most when she laughs.

"Did you enjoy it though?" Randy asked. "You had a good time?"

"Yeah, I did. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad I stayed." She said, "Although my one regret is I didn't get to dance with you…actually, I didn't even see you dance at all."

"I didn't dance." He said.

"You didn't?" She said, "What's the matter you can't dance?"

"I can dance." Randy said, defensively. "I just didn't want to."

"Oh, really?" She mocked, curling her lips. "I think Randy Orton can't dance."

"Of course I can!" He said, with an eyebrow up. "If there's music here I'd show you."

"I have an I-pod right here." Arianne said, as she pulled out her I-pod from her pocket. "We can share the ear phones!"

"You're serious?" Randy asked, incredulously.

"Yeah!" She said, standing up and pulling his arm. "Come on, get up!" He stood up reluctantly, shaking his head, but smiling. "Okay, now, let's see what I got here…"

"Just pick something random." He said, "I can dance on anything."

"Oh, yeah?" She laughed. "Okay, I'll scroll, you say stop."

She scrolled on the playlist and tapped on a random song when he said stop, and pressed play.

"What song is it?" He asked.

"What does it matter? You said you can dance on anything." She teased.

She put one of the earphones on her ear, and Randy put the other on his. He laughed when he heard what song it was.

(It was Selena's "I Could Fall In Love)

"You have this on your I-Pod?" He asked, laughing. "This is so cheesy!"

"I have varied tastes in music!" She defended, "Just shut up and dance!"

"Okay!" He said, putting his hands up in surrender.

He took her hand and placed his other hand on her waist, and they began to move to the music. Arianne was impressed at how smoothly he moves. Who would've thought he could dance like he does? He was even leading her.

"Not bad, Mr. Orton." She said, "I'm impressed."

He smiled, "I told you, didn't I?"

Arianne suddenly felt the effects of alcohol come over her again, and lost her balance a bit, so Randy had to slip his arms around her waist and hold her closer.

"You okay?" He looked at her.

She laughed, at her clumsiness. "I'm okay! I'm just…a little tipsy."

When she looked at him he was so close, and as much as she wanted to look away, she couldn't. His eyes held her gaze. She's never seen them so mellow, like how he's looking at her now. She could feel her heart beat faster in her chest.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, either. Maybe it was the soft warm lights, he doesn't know, but he couldn't get over how beautiful she looks right at that moment. She's more beautiful than he'd ever seen, without her glasses and without any make up on, just the soft blush on her cheeks that was probably because of the alcohol.

He placed her arms around his shoulders as they continue to move slowly. And even though somehow she felt scared of what strange thing she was feeling at that moment, she didn't protest, and allowed him to hold her.

The song was already over and the device had stopped playing, but they were still standing there, with their arms around one another, looking at each other.

She could feel his hard body under his clothes, and his skin was warm where he was touching her. She was still looking into his eyes, trying to find something there, not knowing what exactly.

He could feel her heartbeat in her soft, ample breasts pressing against his body. He could feel her warm breath from her mouth. Her mouth. Her lips. He looked at them, and they seem so sweet, so inviting, making him want to have a taste.

"I-I should…" Arianne started saying.

But she couldn't say anything more as Randy unexpectedly and swiftly claimed her mouth. Instinctively, she tried to push him back and squirm away, but he was strong and his lips and tongue are skilled. He held her firmly in his arms that she couldn't move, and his kiss made her weak.

In seconds, she was responding to him. She allowed him to explore her mouth, after he tasted her lips. She almost lost control with how good he was making her feel, as his warm hands traversed her body.

Until she remembered Joseph.

With all her might, or however much strength she could gather, she pulled herself away from him. That seemed to break what almost felt like a trance that surrounded both of them. He looked at her wide-eyed, realizing what he's done.

"I-I'm…" Randy tried to say.

"I have to go." Arianne said, as she quickly ran away.

"Arianne, wait!" He called after her.

But she was already out the door. He stood there, thinking about what just happened. Why did he do that? What was he thinking?

Why doesn't he feel guilty? Or regretful?

It was wrong. He knows that.

So, why does he want more?

As Randy and Arianne lay on their own beds that night, in their own bedrooms, neither of them could sleep. Both of them tossed and turned through the night.

Arianne couldn't stop thinking about what happened down at the empty restaurant. How good she felt when he touched her, when he held her, when he kissed her.

But along with that comes doubt. Was she the one who instigated it? Was she subconsciously still going through with Joseph's plan to bringing Randy down? Was he seducing him, as Joseph ordered her to do?

"I have to talk to Joseph." She thought, "I have to know the truth so I can stop with this madness."

But does she really want to? Does she really want to stop this madness if it means she has to leave and let go of Randy?

Can she do that? Especially now that she thinks she's having some really strong feelings for him that she can't even begin to start fighting?

A/N: Hi, readers! I would love to hear from you about what you think of the story so far. By the way, I am also posting this story on my livejournal, where I can put pictures and videos that can help visualize stuff in the story (like in this chapter, you can see Arianne's dress and listen to the song). So if you want see that, just go to my profile and click on my homepage. Thanks a lot!

As usual, critiques/feedbacks of any kind are most definitely welcome. :)