CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lamika hastily sat up, straightening her clothes out and taking a few deep calming breaths. She ignored whoever was at the door, sitting on the edge of the couch, her arms resting on her knees and stared down at the floor, her now loose black hair hiding her crimson face.

David nodded after finding out from Vince's assistant he was ready to see him. He closed the door and turned to face her, keeping his distance. "Vince is ready to see me, my boss. I'll be back shortly. If you want, you can go explore or just stay here. You can even come with me if you want, unless you need to… cool down." He smirked.

Not amused by the smirk, Lamika arched an eyebrow at him. "I'll explore." She said evenly, planning on smoking an emergency cigarette she stuffed in the lining of her pants. She walked past him when he held open the door and they parted ways, quickly making her way out the way he'd brought her in. She stepped outside, leaned back against the building and lit up, inhaling deeply. "Much better."

**********

David made his way to Vince's office and knocked on the door before walking in, rolling his eyes when he seen Vince with one of the Diva's on his lap. "You wanted to see me, boss?" He cleared his throat loudly, snorting when the nameless Diva jumped and dropped down in a chair, propping his feet on the desk. "What's up?"

Vince watched as his floozie vacated the office, not bothering to look ashamed for himself. He just cleared his own throat, ignoring David's feet and leaned back in his chair, staring at David. "You said you were injured." He began without any preamble. "How bad is the injury and how did you get it? And who, by the way, is the woman with you?"

"Who she is, sir, is no business of yours." David stated gravely, his brown eyes peering at his boss through his tinted shades, folding his arms across his chest. "As for the injury, I got jumped, a stab wound to the leg. I'll be out until it's properly healed." He wasn't about to go into detail of Samantha's death, not really in the mood for one and it wasn't anyone's business but his own to begin with.

"I was just wondering David, no need to get defensive." Vince said, smiling slightly. "Hmmm stab wound? Would you be up for one match tonight? Then I'm prepared to give you the time off you need, no pay of course, this wasn't an on the job accident."

"Yeah, I'm up for a match. Whatcha got and do I relinquish the title?" David asked, feeling his heart clench a bit at the thought of having to give up HIS championship.

"No, you won't relinquish the championship. You said you needed time off and I need a way to explain it to the fans." Vince said matter-of-factly. "So you'll be facing Kane tonight and you'll lose. Just… do what you need too, make it look as realistic as possible." That was as close as Vince ever got to saying: get hurt. "Then the time off is yours and you'll also be set up for a storyline when you return, though I might ask you to come in and do some promos over the weeks, update on your condition… the usual."

David had slowly removed his feet from the desk, arching his eyebrow. "You want me to lose to Kane?" He questioned, standing up and removing his shades. "Fine Vince." He was eerily calm. "If I were you, I'd watch the match tonight."

**********

Lamika was lost. She'd finished her cigarette and returned inside only to be swept up in what seemed like a damn stampede. She'd wound up with a few elbows in her ribs, her feet trod on and almost shoved into a wall.

She wasn't happy. Her feet were fine thanks to the steel toed boots but her ribs were a little sore. "Next person who elbows me is going to fucking die." She vowed inwardly.

As if on cue, someone darting by knocked her into the wall.

"That's it!" Lamika shrieked, turning and tackling whoever the fuck it was. She didn't bother looking, just started swinging. "Mind where the hell you're going!" She snarled angrily, not appreciating being ran over anymore.

"Goddamn what the hell is your beef?" Jeff Hardy shouted as he blocked her hits, not believing the audacity of this broad to jump him and groaned when she kneed him in the stomach. "Oh… fuck me…"

She stopped pounding on him but didn't remove from her spot, staring down at her victim through narrowed eyes. "What's my beef? You plowed me into a goddamn wall moron!" She snapped, tugging on his hair angrily before standing up, rubbing the side of her head where she'd connected with the wall.

"Well damn, I'm sorry!" Jeff snapped, rubbing his own head with a groan, not believing how vicious this woman was. "You're not with the WWE."

"You always state the obvious?" She shot back, hands on her hips while she watched him get to his feet. "Like you plow people?" She groaned, side stepping as yet another wrestler came flying down the hall, flattening herself against the wall.

"Come on woman, lemme show you a place where you won't get plowed into." Jeff said, smiling crookedly at her and extended his hand. "The name's Jeff, though you can call me Skittles, everyone does."

Lamika shook her head, not taking his hand and almost groaned when he snatched hers. "Skittles huh?" She eyed his hair. "Nice choice. My name is Mike." She smirked at the raised eyebrow he shot her.

"We all have our nicknames." He grinned back at her, keeping her close to his side and led Mike into the cafeteria. "Welcome to my world!" Jeff announced proudly, seeing the craziness, but at least she wouldn't get plowed, hopefully. "You want anything to drink? My treat."

Smiling, she pulled out a loose roll of bills from the inside of her jeans pocket, which she had put a hole through in order to tape the money to her leg. She'd lifted from enough people to know better then to keep her money in her actual pocket. "How bout a drink on me? Since I did kinda um… beat you up." She cocked her head to the side, staring at him.

"I could never resist a beautiful woman." Jeff grinned, his green eyes twinkling, leading the way to soda machine. "Mountain Dew if you please." He bowed jokingly to her.

"Beautiful my ass." Lamika snorted, slipping the money in and getting his drink. She passed it over before getting herself the same thing. "Is it always this… hectic?"

"Shit, you ain't seen nothing yet." Jeff promised, laughing when her blue eyes widened and wrapped a friendly arm around her shoulders. "This is just for the regular show, it's worse with the PPV's."

"Wow…" Lamika shook her head, letting him lead the way over to the low windows and sat down on the ledge besides him, dangling her legs against the wall. "So you're a wrestler then?" She studied him thoughtfully, he was smaller then some of the monsters she'd seen.

"I'm the crazy son of a bitch around here, yep, I'm a wrestler. You don't watch?" He sounded almost amused.

"Not until like, two days ago." She admitted. "I'm more interested in the fighting then trying to remember who is who." She sniggered at the look on his face. "Cocky aren't ya Skittles?"

"Nah, just crazy." Jeff laughed softly. "I take it you've never heard of TLC matches?"

"Nope. I'm guessing it don't stand for tender loving care either."

"You damn skippy."

Lamika listened curiously for the next hour as he explained the TLC match to her, asking several questions and finally glanced at the clock. "Man… we've been here forever!" She shook her head, trying not to giggle. "Uh oh, I gotta go."

"Why? Where's the fire Mike?" Jeff asked, his eyebrows raising as he stood up, not wanting her to leave yet.

She dropped to the floor, waving Jeff off when he reached out automatically to help her. "Erm, there ain't one technically, but I don't wan to spend the next hour trying to find my way back." She stared at him for a minute. "Hey… could you help me? I was lost when you plowed me and now I have no clue where the Hell I am."

"Sure sweets, anything for a beautiful woman." Jeff teased, winking at her and draping an arm around her shoulders as they strolled out of the caf. "Where ya headed Mike?"

"Um… David's room."

"There's a couple David's, you're gonna have to be a bit more specific."

"Actually, I don't remember what his ring name is." She admitted, looking guilty. "He um… he has that gold thing, that belt. The championship? That David."

Jeff spewed out his pop, coughing harshly. "You're with… the Animal?" He asked in disbelief, blinking rapidly.

"The Animal?" Lamika echoed, looking amused and nodding. "Yeah, I'm with him but not with him with him, you know? We're sort of… stuck with each other for a few weeks." She cleared her throat, not exactly sure what her relationship with David was at the moment besides they needed each other, sexual tension aside.

"Understood, not my business, sweets." Jeff said instantly, smiling reassuringly at her. He quickly located David's room and knocked once before strolling in. "Looky what I found Animal."

"Thank god…" David's body flooded with relief as he walked over to hug Lamika, nodding at Jeff. "Thanks kid, I owe you."

"Then would be asking her out on a date be too much to ask?"

The look David shot him sent Jeff running.