Chapter 6
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The next day, just before lunch, Randy went to see Arianne at her suite to apologize for what happened the night before. He had to wait until Sam was in the bathroom before he went. It was one of the female staff that Arianne was sharing the room with that opened the door.
"Mr. Orton, good morning." She said.
"Morning…is ah…Arianne there?" He asked.
"No. She's not here." She said, "She left this morning. She said she's taking the rest of the week off."
"But the pay-per-view's tonight. Why would she leave?" He asked. He's thinking she must've gotten mad at him for what he did, that's why she left so abruptly.
"She said it was an emergency." She said, "She'll be back next week."
"Did she say what kind of emergency?"
"No, she didn't."
"All right…" He said, "Thank you."
On his way back to his room, he thought of calling or messaging Arianne, but decided not to in the end. If it was indeed an emergency, then he wasn't really in a position to ask her what it was about.
And if it wasn't an emergency, and she was just mad at him, then it would be better if he give her her space.
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Arianne went straight to Joseph's place, and found all his paraphernalia lying around his room since he wasn't expecting her.
"You lying bastard!"Arianne screamed at Joseph.
She tried to slap him, but even in his condition he was stronger than her and he was able to stop her. She pushed her to the floor as she cried in a mix of anger and disappointment.
"What the f**k do you think you're doing?"He screamed at her.
"You lied to me!" She stood up. "You lied to me about everything!"
"What are you talking about?"
"You lied to me about what happened! Randy told me everything!" She said, "He told me exactly what happened and he told me the police found you had traces of methamphetamine, cocaine and alcohol! Why didn't you tell me that?"
She tried to hit him again, but again Joseph pushed her off.
"So what if I didn't?" He said angrily. "You're gonna believe what that bastard told you, huh Arianne? You're gonna believe him more than me? What? Is he screwing you now? Huh, bitch?"
Arianne suddenly felt her anger rise, and she felt the utmost contempt towards Joseph at that very moment. It wasn't so much that she's proven Joseph lied to her and still lying to her.
It's the fact that he sent her to do something that was against her will to begin with and it turns out to be baseless. He has sent her to hurt Randy, and she couldn't accept that. She couldn't control her anger anymore
"Shut your mouth!"She launched at him, and this time she was successful.
Joseph fell of his wheelchair and they struggled on the floor. She got on top of him, and held him by the collar.
"Get off me!" Joseph screamed, "Get off me you f**king sl*t!"
She slapped him really hard, and didn't let go of him. "You listen to me! You've lied to me for the last time! If there's anyone to blame for what happened to our parents, it's you, you bastard! You killed your own parents and you're blaming someone else for it! You no good son of a bitch! You did this to yourself!" She screamed at him, her whole body shaking in anger.
She wants to hurt him some more, but she controlled herself.
"Randy had nothing to do with it. You killed your parents. It's your fault. You killed the only two people who ever loved you." She whispered right in his ear.
Then she stood up. "You're a bad person Joseph. You deserve to be alone. That's your hell, and that's what you're going to get. I'm leaving and I'm not coming back."
She looked at him in his dilapidated state, lying on the floor like that. He probably won't be able to get back on his wheelchair by himself. She felt a little sorry for him, but she was too angry to show compassion.
"I'm through with you Joseph." She said, "I'm through getting used by you."
She started to walk towards the door, and was about to get out, but not before Joseph had to something to say.
"We're the same now, Arianne." Joseph said, laughing. "If I'm alone then you are too." He said.
He propped himself up with his elbows just so he can look at her, standing with her back to him by the door.
"I'm the closest to a family you have left." He told her.
"What's the difference?" She said, softly. "You were never a brother to me anyway."
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After she left Joseph's place, she went to a motel to spend the night. She could've gone to any of her friends but she didn't want to have to explain what happened so she chose to be alone.
There, in her solitude, she had time to think things over.
Now that she's proven that it was all one big lie, she suddenly felt so alone and without purpose.
What Joseph told her was true. She is alone now. And maybe, after what she's done—or tried to do, she deserved it as much as Joseph did.
What was she supposed to do now? She doesn't even know if she should go back to work or she should just leave and disappear altogether.
She thought of her friends in the company—especially Randy. Would he forgive her if she tells him the truth? Would he still be the same towards her? He's been so good to her, and she felt so guilty she doesn't even know if she could ever look at him straight in the eyes anymore.
His eyes—his beautiful blue eyes. She remembered how those eyes looked at her so endearingly the last few times she was with him. She remembered how he held her, gently, warmly, but tightly at the same time.
She remembered how warm he felt, and how secure he made her feel in his arms. And his kiss—his sweet, sweet kiss. What she would give to feel all that again that she didn't even realize how wrong it was to think of it.
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After the Raw show post-WrestleMania, Randy and Sam went back to St. Louis. But even when he was already home, the thought of Arianne keeps crossing his mind.
It's not that he wants to think about her, it's just that he couldn't help it. When he closes his eyes, he imagines her and how she looked in that midnight blue dress she wore for the Hall of Fame.
She was so beautiful in it, so simple yet elegant. He remembered how he thought of how it would be like to touch her, smell her, to kiss her...which he eventually found out at the empty hotel restaurant.
As much as he tries to not think about it, he just keeps imagining it out of the blue, wherever he was. Because of that, Sam often catches him not listening to her, and spacing off when she's talking to him. But what can he do?
It was a Wednesday night and he and Sam had just come home from having dinner with her friends. He was tired and he didn't really want to go because it was such a hectic week, coming off of WrestleMania, but he relented and came anyway just to save an argument about it.
But being as tired and reluctant as he was, it came off so obviously that they wound up having an argument anyway.
"You couldn't at least pretend like you were enjoying?" Sam asked Randy.
She was changing into her sleep wear in the walk-in closet, while Randy was already in bed, lying on his side, trying to sleep. But he couldn't, and every passing second, he was getting more and more agitated. He didn't even want to answer Sam, but his patience was quickly running out the door.
"Sam, please!" He said, finally. "Can't I get any peace around here?"
"Why did you even come with me?" Sam asked, dismissing his plea.
"I came because I didn't want to argue!" Randy said, sitting up on the bed. "What do you want from me?"
"I want you to pretend like you care!" Sam said, her voice rising. "We're out with my friends and your mind's flying off somewhere and you weren't even paying attention to me!"
"Why don't youpretend like you care?" Randy said, his voice matching Sam's, and his temper beginning to flare. "I told you I'm tired and I didn't want to go, but you drag me out there and you want me to put on a happy face and pretend like I'm having fun when all I want to do is to stay here and spend some quality time with my daughter in peace!"
"Well you could've at least not acted like such an ass in front of my friends!" Sam yelled.
"Oh, I'm an ass?" He said, "Well, sorry, I guess you married an ass!"He grabbed a pillow, a blanket and his phone and headed to the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm sleeping at the den, because you sure as hell won't let me get any sleep here!" He said, slamming the door behind him.
As he lay alone in the darkness of the den downstairs, he still couldn't fall asleep. He was still fuming and he couldn't make himself calm enough. He kicked the blanket off him in frustration. He sat up on the couch and told himself to calm down.
"Come on, Randy, just think of something to help you calm yourself down." He told himself.
And just like that, out of nowhere, he remembered Arianne and her reassuring smile.
He remembered the look she would give him when he answers some fans' questions to him during the Axxess that bordered on rude and insulting, and how he would calm down and turn things around just with a slight movement of her eyebrows and a curl of her lips.
He remembered how sometimes when he gets so teed off when they're on the road, and she'd make faces at him or touch his arm, how his temper just evaporates into thin air.
And then he remembered what happened in the empty hotel restaurant. He remembered how her body felt on him, how her skin felt on his, how she smelled, and how she tasted—she tasted sweet despite the taste of whisky in his mouth. But somehow she was more intoxicating.
He figured he should feel guilty for doing what he did, especially when she could've been mad at him, that's why she ran away and left all of a sudden.
But he wasn't guilty. Hell, he'd do it again if he got a chance. He looked at his phone and looked for her number. He doesn't know what he's going to tell her, though. He figured he'll think about what to say if she answers.
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Meanwhile…
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Arianne was lying in bed, all curled up with her eyes closed, but fully awake. If there were tears left to form, she'd still be crying. But there were no more. She's cried them all out the last couple of days.
For the first time in her life, she was clueless, desperate even. She doesn't know what she's going to do next. She can't even get up from the bed because she doesn't know what to do next.
Suddenly her phone rang. She didn't even stir to answer it until it stopped ringing. But it rang again after a few seconds and she was forced to move and answer it.
The phone was in her bag at the foot of the bed. It took her a while to get it, but when she saw who was calling she immediately pressed the accept button. It was Randy.
She didn't speak for a few seconds, and just listened to him breathing. It was him who spoke first.
"Hello?" He said, unsure whether there was really anyone on the other end or if it just went dead.
When she heard his voice, she felt something she couldn't explain or describe. She just suddenly felt her tears come back. Whether it was guilt, or happiness she doesn't know.
"Hey…" She said.
She was surprised at how hoarse her voice sounded. She hasn't spoken to anyone for the last two days. Randy didn't fail to notice it either.
"Are you okay? You sound sick." He said, with genuine concern.
"I-I'm fine…" she said, "I'm just tired…it's really late."
"Yeah...Sorry about that." Randy said, realizing how late indeed it was. "I don't know what I was thinking calling you this late."
"It's all right…I'm…glad to hear your voice." She said.
Somehow that made things right for him, her saying that. He tried to come up with something to say, but nothing's coming to him, and he just can't help but smile. It just inexplicably made him so happy.
"So…how's everything?" She asked. "Did it go well? I didn't get to watch it."
"Oh, it went as well as it could…" He said, "Shawn versus Mark was awesome…"
They talked about what happened at WrestleMania. He told her how they changed the outcome of his match with Triple H. He knew she wouldn't like it, since she was the one who wrote for him to win it, and then blamed her for skipping the pay-per-view out in jest.
Talking to him somehow made her feel better. She didn't talk to him about her problems, but somehow everything became clear to her about what she needs to do.
She was going to forget about Joseph and move on with her life. She's going to keep working for the WWE. She remembered her promise to Stephanie that she was going to tough it out and make her proud. She wanted to make good on that promise.
And then there's Randy. She can't just as well turn her back on him and leave. She has to do something to make it up to him at least. Or at least that's what she thought the reason is for wanting to come back.
The two of them ended up talking all night, until she fell asleep listening to him.
"…so Santino actually won the whole damn thing." He said.
He waited for her to react or say anything, but she didn't, all he could hear was her soft breathing. He sighed when he realized he had just spent almost two hours on the phone with her and he didn't even get to talk to her about what happened the last time they were together.
But he supposed she wouldn't have talked to him if she was mad at him. There will be plenty of other times to talk about it and perhaps it would be best if they did it face to face. So he said goodbye even though he knew she can't hear him, and then he went to sleep too.
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That Friday, before the house show…
Randy arrived at the venue with Ted. He didn't have a chance to talk to Arianne earlier at the hotel because she had a meeting with the Creative Team.
When he got to the arena, she was already there, talking with Cody.
"Hey…" He said, as he approached them.
"Randy, hey." She smiled.
"Hey, man." Cody said.
"Can I ah…talk to you for a minute?" He asked Arianne. "Alone?" He looked at Cody and he got the hint.
"I'll…whatever, I'll just go." Cody said.
"Okay, so…what do you want to talk to me about?" She asked.
"Let's go over there…" He said.
He took Arianne by the arm and lead her to a corner where there aren't any people. When he was sure no one can hear, he finally said what he wanted to say. Or at least he tried to.
"I ah…just wanna…about what happened…you know…that night." He mumbled, tapping his hands at the side of his thighs. "After the Hall of Fame…ceremony."
What the hell's the matter with me? He thought. Damn, this is a lot harder than I thought. Do I apologize to her even if I'm not really sorry that I kissed her? How's she going to receive that? Dammit, Randy, just apologize. It's the right thing to do.
She was looking at him and she could feel his hesitation. She figured how hard it must be for him, trying to apologize. So she just went ahead and made it easy for them both.
Besides, she didn't really want anything to change between them, and she thought making a big deal out of that one little kiss would definitely change something.
"Forget about it." She said. "It's not your fault. Not entirely anyway. I mean, we both had something to drink and I guess we both got caught in the moment...I understand." She smiled. "Let's just put it behind us. I won't tell anyone if you don't."
He just looked at her and said nothing, his lips closed tight.
"Well, I gotta go. We got a lot of work down at creative…let me tell you, everyone wants a piece of Randy Orton right now. You did really good. It's the hottest thing around this corner of Sports Entertainment!" She said. "Listen, forget about it. Don't let it bother you. You don't…you don't have to apologize. I'll see you around."
He nodded and she walked off. He stood there for a while not knowing what he was disappointed about. The fact that she forgave him without him saying he's sorry, or the fact that she basically brushed it off like it was nothing.
But then he guessed that was for the better. He didn't want it to come between them and change anything in their relationship—whatever that may be.
But ever since then, their closeness grew more evident everyday, especially during the European tours, where everyone from the Superstars to the crew travelled together.
He would always sit next to her in the bus, and even when he's not supposed to sit next to her in the plane, he'd tell whoever it was to swap seats with him.
Sometimes they would spend a lot of time together in his or her room, or anywhere else really, discussing storylines and other stuff, sometimes with Ted and Cody, but most of the time just by themselves if he's not working out at the gym with the other boys, or doing some other promotional stuff.
He does talk with the other girls and Divas, but everyone was getting the vibe that there was something there between the two.
So if those rumors before about them had died down, they were starting to come up again, especially when people who don't even know about it would notice how close they were.
It was in an airport in London on their way home and they were with Ted and Cody when a couple of fans came up to them for an autograph and a picture with her kids. The three of them obliged and Arianne even took the picture for them.
"Here you go." Arianne said, as she handed the camera back to the owner.
"Thank you." The woman said, checking out the picture in the digital camera. Then she looked at her. "They should've just used you instead of that actress in that house invasion, you're prettier than her."
"What do you mean?" She asked, puzzled.
She looked at Ted and Cody for clues but they didn't get it either. Randy on the other hand, was still talking to the kids.
"When Triple H attacked Orton in his house, they used an actress to play you." The woman said. "You're his wife right?"
Ted and Cody looked at each other as Randy approached.
Arianne laughed, "Oh, no! I'm not his wife." She said, "I'm…his…I'm his P.A.."
She said that when she could've said she was his writer because no other writer travels with the wrestlers as much as she does, so it was more of an excuse to why she was with them—with him.
"Oh, my goodness!" The woman said, "I apologize. I thought you were his wife."
"No problem, don't mind it." She said.
"Let's go." Randy said. "Plane's about to board."
When they were far enough from the fans, he elbowed her gently as they were walking side by side. "P.A., huh?"
"Well, you make me do a lot of stuff for you anyway so saying I'm your writer is kind of constricted." She mocked.
He just laughed. Walking a few feet behind them, Ted and Cody can't help but gossip about it.
"So when did she start being Randy's PA?" Ted asked. "I think I should have a PA since I'm the million dollar son."
"It's PA for private associate." Cody said, "Shh…they might hear."
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It wasn't only Ted and Cody who've gotten the same idea. Stephanie had to step in because of the rumors flying around. She called Arianne up to her office one time and asked her about all the issues up front.
"There's nothing going on between me and Randy." Arianne said, "We're just friends."
"And these rumors?" Stephanie asked. "They said you were looking for an apartment in Stamford together."
"He was just helping me out. We're not moving in togetherif that's what you're thinking! He hasn't even been there since I moved in...I had to move out of my old place. I thought it would be good to get an apartment closer to the HQ. Stephanie, they're just that. Rumors." She said.
"Listen, they even said he got me pregnantsome time ago and I still haven't given birth. I don't even have a baby bump."
She took a deep breath. It was frustrating having to defend herself from these rumors.
"Believe me. We know our boundaries. We're not crossing it." Arianne said. "We're just really close. Close friends. Trust me."
She said it, but inside, there was still some doubt. She does know her boundaries. But she couldn't help but think about what happened at the empty restaurant with her and Randy during WrestleMania weekend.
Wasn't that sort of crossing the boundaries? They had talked about it, but nothing really came out of that conversation, except that they had agreed to put it behind them.
Stephanie sighed. She supposed she should believe Arianne. She hasn't really seen her and Randy act inappropriately with each other, although they really seem close and comfortable with each other. What seems like playing and joking around might just seem like flirting to other people.
But then, she's been there before—with Hunter. She supposed she should give Randy and Arianne the benefit of the doubt—especially Arianne. After all she's kind of taken her under her wing.
"I believe you." She said. "Just be careful with all these rumors. You know what the company policies are about these things."
"I will" Arianne said, assured.
Boy, does she have no idea about the turn of events that are about to take place.
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(N/A For an enhanced reading experience, listen to Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now". It will set you in the mood. I promise. Or go to my livejournal page to read Chapter 6 with the media on it. Thanks)
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Randy went out of his house got on the car and drove off. He just wanted to take things off his head and having something else to concentrate on should help.
He just had to get out of the house, get some fresh air and try to unwind. He'd not been driving too long when he passed by the area where he had an accident.
And then he remembered Arianne. He remembered the conversation he had with her when she told him she lost her parents on a car accident.
He looked for a place to park for a while and found a spot over-looking the city. He got out of the car and stood there just trying to relax, breathing in the cold night air.
And then, as if on impulse, he took his phone out and just looked at it, trying to decide whether to make a call or not.
He stared at it for a long time before deciding to look for Cody's name. It's not really Cody's number, it was Arianne's. He just put it under Cody's name because he didn't want Sam to see it and be another cause for a fight. He thought about it for a while, trying to refrain from calling her.
But he couldn't fight it. He needed to hear her voice. He needed to talk to her, and he needed her to help him calm down. He needed her. Period. And that's all there is to it. So he gave in.
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May 13, 2009 1:15 AM Wednesday Hartford, CT
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Arianne was already sleeping, when her phone rang and startled her out of it. She almost jumped out of bed in surprise. She picked up the phone from her side table and read the caller ID. It was Randy, so she immediately answered.
"Hello? Randy?"
"Hey." He said.
Even in that one little word, she could sense his vexation with the quality of his voice.
"Is everything okay?" She asked.
"No." He said, "Not really."
He had another row with his wife about some petty little thing that just grew out of proportion in no time. But he wasn't going to tell her that.
That wasn't the reason he called her, no, not to talk about his problems. Talking about it would just infuriate him more. He just wants to talk with her. Period.
"Well, what can I do for you?" She asked. She waited for him to speak.
"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" He said after a few seconds.
"No…why?"
"Could you fly out tonight and meet me?"
"But it's only Wednesday, we have one more day..." She started to say, but he cut her off.
"Yeah, but I gotta get out of here." He said. "Can you meet me or not?"
He sounded really stressed out and she just felt obliged to do something to help him out.
"I'll be there." She said, without thinking twice.
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Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think of the story up to this point. Any comment/feedback/critiques will be much appreciated. Check out my livejournal page to see the media I embedded with the chapter.