Chapt. 32

CLAIRE

I really should have given this trip just a bit more consideration than I had. What the hell had I been thinking? Of course Joe was on this damn plane, and while I was over him and the things he had done to me, I prayed that I wouldn't be the one seated next to him. I got in line to board the flight before he did, my eyes scanning the area for Nic without finding him. Of course he would be late today.

Once I was on the plane, I was pleased to see that I had been assigned to a window seat. I always loved the views that could be had from high above the clouds. I stowed my carry on in the overhead compartment and stashed my laptop beneath my seat and settled in. I had been communicating the last week with the girl who would be taking the position that I would be vacating. I had been sharing and going over my active files with her. She was smart and she was good at thinking out of the box. She was close to getting her bachelor's degree in creative writing and she seemed to have a way with seeing potential and working stories that would make Steve happy with her work.

I was looking out the window, lost in thought, when Colby's voice broke through those thoughts. "Well, well, well," he said as he shut the overhead bin and lowered himself into his seat. "At least the company fo this flight is easier on the eyes than I had expected."

I groaned aloud, leaning my head back against the cushioned seat back. I closed my eyes and wondered who I had pissed off so badly that I deserved this punishment. From the first day I met him, I had disliked him. Through all of my time with Joe, that had not changed. "Well, believe me, that feeling is not mutual."

He laughed that damn annoying laugh of his and closed his eyes. Thankfully he didn't say anything else. I was able to enjoy take off in peace and quiet.

I must have fallen asleep not long after takeoff and when I opened up my eyes there was nothing to see out of the windows but darkness. My bladder was screaming at me for a bit of relief and I dreaded having to cross Colby to go to the restroom. A sideways glance at him told me he was sleeping; soft snores were coming from his body. Carefully I stood and stepped over him, easing out of my seat, holding my breath until I reached the aisle, and then slowly I released it. I headed to the restroom and was beyond thankful to see that shining light that said it was vacant.

As I got back to my seat I slowly and carefully began to step across Colby's still sleeping body. I was thinking that it had been quite the smooth flight so far as one leg crossed his legs. Just then the damn plane hit an air pocket and lurched right then left roughly. I was thrown into his lap, my body pressed back against his chest. His hands came up to my waist, grabbing me, attempting to steady me.

"You okay?" His voice came in a whisper and was thick and gravelly from his sleep against my ear.

I quickly scrambled to my feet and back into my seat. "Fine, thank you. Sorry that I woke you." Ugh, I thought, of all people why this jerk? "Guess that will teach me to be thankful for a smooth flight before my ass finds its seat."

He grunted and closed his eyes as I simultaneously signaled for the flight attendant and pulled my laptop from beneath the seat.

"Yes ma'am? What can I do for you?"

"Can I get an Irish Whiskey or a Guinness? Either will be just fine."

"Make that two of whatever you bring."

"Since when do you drink?"

"Fuck," he grumbled. "Scratch that, make mine a ginger ale and cranberry juice."

"Yes sir," she nearly giggled when he smiled his thanks up to her. I rolled my eyes before I even knew that I had done it.

"And to answer your question Red, I guess attractive females falling into my la, waking me up, causes issues in my thought patterns." There went my eyes, rolling again against my will. I powered up the laptop and did my best to act like the most arrogant asshole in this whole company wasn't sitting beside me.

COLBY

Well it certainly wasn't every day I woke up to a damn beautiful woman falling into my lap. My hands had instinctively reached to grab her waist in an effort to steady her. I hadn't expected her soft, red curls to land in my face, and the weight of her body pressing into my chest. This was the closest she'd ever been to me and in that moment it hit me just how intoxicatingly beautiful this little ball of fire was. Her hair smelled so sweet, beautifully sweet and flowery. It was one hell of a moment, and short lived. She had bolted from my lap and back into her own seat before I could fully even ask if she was alright.

We ordered drinks and it was beyond obvious that she planned to do all she could toy avoid me. I had no idea what the hell I had ever done to her to earn her obvious disdain, but whatever it was must have been a doozy. I'd watched over the time that she and Joe were together how she had reacted to Jon, how easily that they had gotten along. It had been the total opposite of how things were with me. All of that wouldn't have been so damn bad but in all of my time observing her, well in that time it was safe to say that she had left an impression on me. She was a good woman, one who would be a damn good woman to a good man, or that woman who could make a man want to be a good one. I didn't know what Joe had been thinking with the shit that he had done to her, but I did know that he was a damn fool.

I'm sure that the scandal I had found myself in a few months before hadn't helped her image of me at all. I'm sure that all of those negative thoughts she held of me were somehow validated. Of course, only one side of the story was out and that side wasn't mine. It sucked to be villainized without anyone, not even Jon or Joe, asking me what had gone on from my point of view. Oh, and of course, my ex-fiancé played that victim role all too well.

I drained my ale and cranberry, then turned to face Claire. "Tell me, why is it that you have despised me since the moment that you set eyes on me?"

At first I thought that she wasn't going to answer, that she was going to sit there and act as if she didn't hear me speaking to her. Finally, without glancing up from her emails, she said, "Oh, besides the cocky, egotistical, chauvinistic attitude? The fact that said attitude reminds me of someone that I would rather not remember at all is a big part of it all."

"Ahh, so, I'm being judged because of someone else in your life. Yeah, completely fair."

"No, not in my life. At all."

"I certainly hope that you're not referring to that asshole ex-husband of yours."

Her lip twitched as she smirked, cutting her eyes to me. "Oh, so you know him?"

"Hardly a guy that I'd like to know at all. I was just coming into developmental, back when it was FCW still, when all of that happened in the parking lot that night. When he attacked you." She winced at the memory and my voice softened. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

"To be fair, I did. It's okay."

I sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the plane's engines roaring, driving us through the clouds and stars, high above the ocean below, taking us from one land mass to another. I hated to know her impression of me was so damn horrible that it brought a comparison to him. I hated knowing that I reminded her of someone who I could never be.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression of who I am."

"Who are you then?"

Her question took me off guard. "I'm sorry, what?"

She shifted in her seat and actually looked at me. "Who are you then, Colby? If the impression that you give isn't you, then who are you?"

She was really going to put me on the spot here huh? Who was I? I was just me, but that wasn't what she was looking for. No, she wanted more and I wasn't sure that I could give that.

"I'm just me Claire. A mid-west guy who had an impossible dream and busted his ass to make it possible."

"That's it? This… this business is all you are?"

"Well, no, no it isn't."

"Then tell me who you are when you walk back through that curtain, when you put the street clothes back on and clock out of this. Who is that you?"

Times like this made me wish that I drank. Lord knows I would knock it back right now. "I love my family and I'm a damn good friend. I'm human, not perfect by any means but damn it I'm a good guy. I would never put hands on a female for any reason. At all. I love animals, have two dogs even. I love music and I love just… I'm me. I'm that guy that you have to give a chance to, a chance to get to know."

"A good guy who likes to send some steamy pictures to the other woman in his life huh?"

I cast a sideways glance at her and rolled my eyes. "There's more than her side to that story ya know."

"Then tell me yours."

My eyes widened. No one had taken the time to ask to hear my side. "I loved her. Eight years we were together and damn it to hell I loved her. I came off the road one day, got home excited to see her, give her the gifts I had for her. I walk in and she's there on the couch facetiming some guy. Naked. She was cheating on me and I know, I should have left right then, but I didn't. I stayed and hoped that I'd go back to being enough for her but I never was. She berated me for working, following my dreams and doing what I had been doing when we met. I found someone who got it, who loved the business. We talked about life in the ring and how hard the transition going home was. How no one else got it and it just led to something that should never have happened."

"I'm sorry."

She was sorry? For what I had no idea. I mean really she had done nothing at all. In fact, I was pretty sure that she would never do the things that Leighla had done. She'd have been a damn better decision than the one I had made too. Oh well.

We were silent for an hour, and then, from nowhere, we started into this easy conversation. We talked about our pasts, our families, the things we liked and didn't like. I didn't even realize the sun was back, shining into the shaded windows, or that we were landing at all. I didn't want to land. I wanted the talk to keep going.

"So, here we are. Do you think that we could grab some dinner tonight? Just friends, of course."

She hesitated and I gave her that time. I grabbed down her carry on for her and assumed her silence to be my answer. Then she smiled up at me. "Thank you," she said, taking her luggage. "And yes, that sounds okay. I'd like that, I mean, we all have to eat right?"

CLAIRE

Had I really agreed to willingly hang out with Colby later today? The flight must have gotten to me worse than I had imagined. I checked into the hotel and before I could make it into the elevator alone, Joe joined me. He clicked three or four different buttons so that the elevator would be forced to stop on each floor, making the ride up to my ninth floor room even longer. I groaned aloud, not caring to hide my distaste of the company I was forced to have. I had done just fine not dealing with him, and saw no reason to change that now.

"Don't act so thrilled to see me Claire. I mean, come on now, we used to be damn good together and you know it."

"Key phrase there, Joe, used to be. As in, not anymore." I turned from him and hoped that he would take the hint.

"Oh come on Claire. You let a bunch of talk come between that good thing. Then, now, I see you talking to Colby all giggly and smiley on that plane. The Claire I knew couldn't stand him. So, I have to wonder, did I change as you claimed, or was it you?"

I sighed, he obviously wasn't going to let things go. "What I do now is not a damn bit of your business Joe. I had a conversation with Colby, yes, and I gave him something that I hadn't given him before. I gave him a chance without judgement. I was wrong to judge him before I got to know him, and while I don't entirely know him, what I do know right now is that I was wrong about the type of person he was. Of course, with men, I find that I am usually wrong about the type of person that they are." My lips were set in a firm, hard line.

"So let me see if I read this book right. You think I cheated on you and I was wrong for that even though I had given you no reason to think that I was that kind of guy. Yet, here you are, okay about a guy who has proven that he has a wild hair for cheating."

The elevator dinged on my floor and as the door opened I calmly said, "the biggest difference is YOU were my boyfriend and you lied, I wasn't your only one. Colby is nothing more than a friend in the making and his loyalty isn't to me and he doesn't have to be faithful to me at all. Now, have a great night Joe." I walked off of the elevator and didn't give him a backwards look as I headed down the hall to find my room.