Chapter 10

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Birmingham, Alabama
The following week…

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"Arianne!" Cody called out when he saw her.

He'd been wondering what had happened after he left her and Randy. She didn't show up for the house shows over the weekend because apparently she had to report to the headquarters in Stamford for an emergency meeting with the creative staff.

He was a bit worried as well, because she hadn't been answering his text messages. So when he saw her, he wanted to know how she was doing.

"Oh! Hey, Codeman..." She said, as if she had no care in the world. "What up?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." He said, "You weren't replying to my texts."

"Sorry, I've been kind of busy…working on storylines and all that." She said, "Oh, and I've changed my number."

She changed her number because she didn't want Joseph to be able to reach her. The only people who know about it are the other members of the creative team, her bosses the McMahons, and Randy.

"Speaking of storylines, where's Randy?" She asked."I need to run this script through him for later."

"I'll take it to him if you want." Cody offered.

He thought things could only have gone more awry between the two, with the way he left them that night at the hotel.

But he was more than a bit reluctant to ask Randy about it, although he seems to be in a good mood, so he really had no idea about what happened.

"It's okay, I'll do it." She said.

They didn't see Randy walked in backstage, laughing with Santino. When he saw them he told Santino to be quiet as he sneaked up behind them.

He stood behind Arianne quietly and suddenly poked her on her sides, making her jump and yell expletives that he found funny because he's never heard her say it before.

She yelled loud enough to warrant everyone else to look at their direction.

"It's okay! Everyone, nothing's wrong here. She's fine!" Randy said, laughing.

"That was not funny!" She said, hitting him with the rolled up folder repeatedly. "You scared the shit outta me!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were so jumpy." He said, trying to elude her strikes but to no avail.

"Whatever!" She shook her head.

Cody was just stunned that the two seem to have no issues between them whatsoever. His curiosity about what happened after he left them to talk peaked, and he just had to ask.

"Okay…hold on. So…everything's all right with you two now?"

Arianne and Randy looked at each other and realized they were being too cozy, so they inched away from each other.

"Sure…we're ah…we had a really good long…discussion…after you left." Randy said, trying not to smile, looking at Arianne.

Arianne looked a little uncomfortable, and was starting to blush. "Yeah…and you know, weagreeto just put it behind us."

"Really?" Cody asked, still in disbelief.

"Yeah."Randy, "She's my writer, we have to work together…we should be professionals."

"Speaking of being a professional…" She said, while gesturing quote marks. "You're late."

"Didn't you get my message?" He asked, "I texted you. I said we had to make stops at a couple of gas stations because Santino had to go number two."

"Eeww…" She said, "That's too much information."

Randy just laughed, and took the script from her. "Come on, walk with me. Tell me what evil thing I'm supposed to do tonight." He said, pulling his luggage

"Well…you're going to have a Street Fight…with Flair…" She said, walking alongside him.

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Since then, their relationship looks just the same as it was before from the outside. Everything was back to normal and slowly all the rumors about their supposed affair had died down, which was probably due in part because they were more careful now in hiding the real status of their relationship.

From the outside, they were exactly just how they were before, joking and teasing each other, and all that. Everyone just got used to it.

But nobody sees what happens when it's just the two of them alone together. Nobody knows how they are like when the lights are out, how close and intimate they are.

They make the most of those moments as much as they can, at least in the first few weeks. But as their relationship grew, it seems their time spent together wasn't enough anymore so they had to resort to sneaky tactics any chance they get.

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Before—

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Arianne's talking with Ted and Cody, when Randy arrived came for her…

"So is everything clear?" She asked them.

"Yeah, yeah…just have to memorize these five lines." Ted said, sarcastically.

"There you are!" Randy said when he found them, but looking specifically at Arianne. "I've been looking for you the whole day."

"We just saw each other this morning at the hotel." Arianne said.

"Yeah…but ah…I wanted to clear something out about tonight's show…" Randy said, "Could you come with me to my dressing room…I really need to...discuss...something with you, right now."

She didn't get what he was trying to say though, "Can't we discuss here?"

He gave her a look like he's saying come on. "No, we can't…I want to try something new with my character and I want to show you in private."

She still didn't look like she got what he was trying to tell her.

"Just come with me!" He said grabbing her arm, and half-dragged her in frustration.

"Whoa! Okay! We'll continue later, guys." She told Ted and Cody as she walked along.

"What was that about?" Ted asked Cody.

"Beats me." Cody said, "They're both weird."

As soon as he got her in his dressing room and locked the door, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to him.

"I thought we were going to discuss something." She smiled. "Or is discuss become like a codeword for us now?"

"Shut up and kiss me." He said.

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During—

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Randy just finished shooting the backstage segment with Mr. McMahon, after finishing a Last Man Standing Match against Triple H. He was on his way to the shower room to clean himself when somebody suddenly pulled him inside an empty storeroom.

"What the…mmnnn…"

He didn't finish what he was going to say anymore because she had jumped on hi and kissed him already. She didn't even care if he was still covered in baby oil.

"You looked so hot out there…" She said, stopping for a bit.

"You think so, huh?" He smiled, lifting her up, letting her wrap her legs around his hips as she put her arms around his shoulders. "I still have to…shoot the closing…scene at the parking though…" He said, in between kisses.

"I know…I wrote that scene in…that's why we need to make this quick." She said, breathlessly, pulling away for a second.

"Now, what's that thing you always tell me? Oh, that's right…shut up and kiss me!"

"Yes, ma'am." He said.

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And after shows…

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Everyone was supposed to go to a restaurant after the show as they usually do when they perform at that city. Arianne was supposed to ride with Ted, Cody and Beth but she left the arena before the main event.

"I thought you were riding with Randy?" Cody asked Santino. "Where is he?"

Santino was already there for quite a bit when he got there with Ted and Beth. The other guys and staff were just starting to come in as well.

"He just dropped me off." Santino said. "Seems like he's in a hurry…he was driving like a maniac."

He was in a hurry. Arianne had told him she was going to take the next week off during the SummerSlam weekend because of some important matter she had to attend to.

So he wanted to meet up with her before they went their separate ways and make the most of it.

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Of course, in any relationship, especially one such as theirs, it's not always gonna be always rainbows and butterflies. There are instances that they can't be together.

One such occasion is that September's Summer Slam weekend. Just like WrestleMania, everyone and their families usually come to the tour with the Superstars and Divas.

And of course, Randy's wife was going to be there. So, Arianne decided to skip the whole event and went to stay with a friend in New York, instead. She only told Randy that she had to attend to some important matters as an excuse.

The farther she is, the less she'd feel lonely being away from Randy. Or so she thought.

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New York, August 23, 2009 Sunday
(The same time Summer Slam PPV is happening in LA)

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It's the third night Arianne's stayed with her friend, Cat. Of the few close friends she has, she was one of her most trusted.

She was always like the big sister to her when they were in college, so Cat was the only one she's told about her affair with Randy.

Of course, Cat is against it. She didn't try to convince her straightforwardly to stop it. But seeing her friend looking as miserable as Arianne is, she had to try somehow.

Arianne was on her laptop looking at photos on the website when Cat came out of her room.

"Are you sure you don't want to go out with us tonight?" Cat asked.

Arianne suddenly closed the lid of her laptop, "Yeah, I'm sure." She said, putting her laptop behind her.

"Come on, Ari…" Cat sighed, "You've been here since yesterday and you haven't gone out with your friends. Not even with me." She sat beside Arianne on the couch.

"I'm just not in the mood…" Arianne smiled, tiredly.

Cat grabbed her laptop and moved to the other seat so Ari can't reach her. She opened it and saw the page she was looking at.

She was looking at Randy's pictures from the Axxess and the Summer Slam kickoff Party the day before. There was a picture of Randy with his wife, looking happy and very much together.

"Has he even called you yet?" Cat asked.

"No." She sighed, "I don't expect him to. As you can see…he's with his wife."

"Oh, of course…that's why you're so depressed." Cat rolled her eyes, "You do know this is how it's going to be when you got in that relationship didn't you?"

Arianne stood up and took her laptop from her. "I know." She said. She could feel her eyes get warm and her vision blurry. "But what can I do? I love him, Cat."

Cat has never seen Arianne that way so she believed this to be true. She wants to feel happy for her, knowing all about her history, being adopted and all.

She knows what Arianne's been through with her parents' death especially, and if it had been with anybody else, she'd have been completely happy that Arianne has found someone.

"I know you do." Cat said, "But are you sure this is all worth it? Has he even told you that he loves you back?"

Arianne thought for a minute, trying to recall if he has told her those three words and much to her distress, she realized he hasn't told her he loves her.

Not once since they got into their affair. But she refuses to admit what it could imply.

"No…but he doesn't need to…" She said. She stood up and walked towards the window, just so Cat won't see her tear fall. "I know he does. He makes me feel that all the time when we're together."

"What? When he's fucking your brains out?" Cat said, in a mix of frustration and vexation. "God, Arianne! Are you listening to yourself? Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

Arianne looked back at her, "Look, you don't know anything." She told her, "You don't know how he makes me feel. You don't know how we are together."

She wiped the tears that had started to flow, "You don't get to judge! I love him and I know he loves me. Everything else doesn't matter."

Then she covered her face with her hands because she couldn't stop her tears anymore. "Why can't you just be happy for me?" She said, "I didn't come here for this."

Cat felt a little guilty then, or maybe she just felt sorry for her friend. Either way, she felt bad for making her feel bad, when the reason she came there in the first place was to not feel that way.

"I'm sorry." Cat said, "But you're not really helping yourself looking at those pictures of him with his wife."

She took the box of tissue on the side table and gave it to Arianne. She took them and wiped her tears off.

"Listen, I'll stop haranguing you about it if you come with me tonight." She told Arianne.

She tucked her hair behind her ears. "You need to relax, just forget about everything for a night. That's why you're here right? Have some fun with our friends. They know you're here, I told them. They want to see you. "

Arianne considered it for a second. "You didn't tell them anything about…Randy, did you?"

"No." Cat said, "Of course not. You're Little Miss Perfect, remember? They'd never believe me if I told them! So what do you say? You're not gonna make me beg, are you?"

"Well…I did come here to relax." Arianne said, "Give me a minute a dress up?"

"You got ten minutes."

So Arianne went with Cat to meet their friends at Touch Night Club.

She enjoyed herself for a while but then her friends started to mingle with everyone else—more specifically with some other guys at the club, and she didn't feel like doing the same.

She was never really much of a club going person even before. Aside from that, she didn't want to cheat on Randy in any way, no matter how ironic that seems.

Her friends teased her about being so secretive about her 'boyfriend', and Cat was giving her sympathetic smile.

Every one of them knew Arianne was always a great story teller. She can tell the most boring and simple stories and make it more lively and interesting just with the way she talked.

And she knew that if Arianne wasn't in such a relationship, if it was only with a guy who was not married—if it was anyone else other than Randy Orton, she would be more than willing to share her stories and they all would've shared in her happiness.

It was around 11:30 in the evening, New York time, and they were still at the club. But she keeps checking her watch, thinking it was about time for Randy to get in the ring back in LA, and she promised him she was going to watch him on TV.

Cat found it annoying though and dragged her to the bar to get some more drinks.

But then some guy asked Cat to dance and she left Arianne by herself at the bar. That's when another guy approached her.

"Hi." The guy said.

She looked at him, "Hi." she said back, with a discreet smile.

"I'm Richard." He said, offering a handshake.

"Arianne." She said, shaking his hand, if a bit halfhearted.

"You come here often?" Richard asked, moving a seat closer to her.

"No…I'm just visiting with friends." She said.

"Oh, cool." He said, "Can I buy you a drink? Yours is almost finished."

She paused for a while, thinking about it. She supposed there was nothing wrong with it. "Sure, why not?" She said, "I could use another."

In all of that, Cat was keeping an eye on her, and was pleased to see that Arianne had started mingling with other people.

In fact she was pleased enough to take a picture of Arianne and Richard with her phone while they were talking close to each other because it was hard to hear with the loud music and all.

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A/N I want to thank everyone for continuing to follow this story. I'd love to hear from you. Oh, and also, try listening to "Right Kind of Wrong" by Leanne Rhimes while reading. Should set the mood very well. lol :)