Chapter 10...

2 Weeks Later…

"Why cant we eat yet?" Jeff asked as he and his brother sat in the restaurant located in the hotel lobby.

"We're waiting on John and his friend, " Matt explained.

"What friend?" Jeff asked. "And why does that mean we can't eat yet?"

"I don't know, he just said he's bringing a friend," Matt said. "And we cant start eating 'cause it's rude."

"Why? It's not like we're telling them they cant eat."

"Shut up Jeff," Matt laughed. "John said he'd be here at 3. It's 2:50."

"Well he's got five minutes before I order," Jeff said, looking down at his menu. "I'm starving."

Matt rolled his eyes then looked toward the door. John walked in and Matt was quite surprised at the 'friend' he'd brought along. He was expecting a guy, not a pretty brunette.

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"Wow."

"Wow, what?" Jeff looked up from his menu. His brother was looking at something behind him. Jeff turned, staring when he saw Raquel walking a few steps behind John.

"Since when does John have friends that look like that?" Matt asked.

Jeff was too focused on the brunette to answer Matt's question. She looked good..damn good. She was wearing a very low cut, green sleeveless shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans. Her hair was curled and she was wearing slightly smoky makeup. She was looking down at her cell phone as they walked toward the table and she obviously hadn't seen him yet. Jeff wasn't sure how this was going to go. The last time they'd seen or spoken to each other was that morning in her apartment. After they finished Troy's breakfast, they each said they'd call the other and neither had done so. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to her, he just assumed that she would call him. And then once she didn't, he figured she wasn't as interested as he thought. So hopefully this wouldn't be too awkward.

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"There they are."

Raquel finished the text she was sending to Brianna and Troy and then looked in the direction John indicated. She stopped in her tracks when she saw who was sitting at the table…Jeff Hardy.

"You didn't tell me he was gonna be here," her eyes narrowed.

"I didn't?" John smiled. "My bad."

Raquel glared at her friend, "You did this on purpose?"

"Did what?" John smiled, taking her hand and pulling her toward the table.

She stumbled a little in her heels as he dragged her, "Is this payback? Is that what you're going for here?"

"Don't know what you're talkin' about Rocky," John smiled.

Matt and Jeff both stood as they reached the table.

"Such gentlemen," John smiled, putting a hand on his chest and batting his eyelashes.

Everyone rolled their eyes and John laughed a little, "Matt, this is Raquel Davenport, Raquel this is Matt Hardy. And I don't think I need to introduce this one."

"Hey," Jeff offered a small wave.

Raquel turned to Matt, smiling and shaking his hand, "Nice to meet you."

He smiled back, "You too. Any friend of John's is a friend of ours."

They all sat down and Raquel briefly considered moving when she realized she was directly across from Jeff but if she switched with Matt or John she would have been next to him so she decided to stay put. She was going to get John back for this. She hadn't had enough time to figure out how but she would. She'd made it very clear to him that she didn't want to see Jeff after the way he blew her off. How dare he not call her? What was wrong with him? There certainly wasn't anything wrong with her.

"So," John smiled, obviously enjoying her discomfort. "Is anybody else hungry? 'Cause I am starving…Hope your chairs are comfy. We're gonna be here for a while."

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Brianna plopped down on the couch, propping her feet up on the armrest. She didn't have any work to do for the next week and the thought of it made her smile from ear to ear. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. There wasn't any rush. Her only appointment was with the TV, her oh so comfortable couch that she so rarely got to enjoy, and a carton full of peach ice cream in her favorite bowl.

She picked up the remote, flipping the TV on, pressing the channel button, hoping there was something worth watching.

Z hopped up onto the couch and onto her lap.

"Hi baby," she smiled, rubbing his head. She gave up on trying to find something new and just went with an old favorite, turning to The Golden Girls. She'd seen every episode more times than she could count but that didn't matter, if she wanted to watch Bea Arthur on her day off, she had every right. She laughed, remembering how she used to make John watch the show with her when they were together. She knew he secretly liked it but he always pretended that he was just putting up with it for her. He was a fan though. He seemed to have a soft spot for Blanche.

She sighed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. It had been a week and she still couldn't stop thinking about him. What was wrong with her?

Z crawled onto her stomach and laid down.

She opened her eyes, looking down into his, "Z…Mommy is an idiot."

He stared back at her, blinking once.

"No comment?" she smirked.

He blinked again.

"I kinda miss him," she said. "Is that weird?"

Z just stared at her.

"Well you are no help at all," she said, rubbing his head. "It's okay..I know I'm crazy..and not just because I'm asking your opinion."

Again no response.

"You miss him too, don't you?" she asked.

Z nuzzled her a little and blinked.

Brianna smiled, "I know."

She heard the door open and after a few minutes, Nick walked in, moving her feet so he could sit. Without saying a word to her, he took the remote off of her lap, changing the channel to ESPN.

She frowned, "Uh..babe?"

"Yeah?" he looked over at her.

"I was watching that," she informed him, snatching the remote back.

"Baby, I.." he pulled it out of her hand. "Am the one who was out working all day."

"So?" she raised a brow, growing annoyed.

He turned the volume up, leaning back against the couch, "So I get to decide what we watch."

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"So you two had sex and you haven't called her since," Matt Hardy laughed. "And now she's gonna start working with us?"

Jeff nodded, finishing his drink. That had been, quite possibly, the most awkward lunch he'd ever had the misfortune to attend. Raquel had only spoken to him once, to ask him to pass her a napkin and she was obviously making a point to be very nice to Matt and, of course, Matt was loving the attention. He didn't get why she seemed to hate him so much. He hadn't called but it wasn't like she was trying desperately to get in touch with him.

"Are you insane?" Matt asked.

"Not last I checked," Jeff said.

"You have to be if you would spend a night with a girl that looks like that and not call her," Matt pointed.

"She didn't call me," Jeff pointed out.

"She doesn't have to," Matt laughed. "She's the woman."

"So?" Jeff shrugged.

Matt shook his head, "Nevermind."

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"Why would you do that to me?" Raquel asked as she and John rode the elevator up to the floor they were both staying on.

"I think you know why," John smiled. "Doesn't feel so good being on the other end of the setup does it?"

"Okay what I did with you and Brianna was completely different," Raquel argued. "That was just a gentle push toward an old flame…I didn't force you to have a meal with the guy that blew you off."

"Raquel he didn't blow you off," John insisted. "He wanted to call he just..got nervous."

"That doesn't make any sense," Raquel rolled her eyes as they exited the elevator. "I had sex with him, it's not like I was playing hard to get."

"You were drunk off your ass," he reminded her. "He told me he was gonna call you but then he got busy and then when you didn't call him, he just kind of figured that you regretted it."

"Whatever," she sighed. "I am so gonna get you back."

"You cant get me back I was getting you ba-"

"Baby, where have you been?"

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Raquel stared as the redhead rushed toward John, looking rather tense. She was tall, probably about 5'10" with her heels on, with red hair and green eyes. When she saw Raquel, her eyes narrowed a bit, "Who's this?"

"Paula," John sighed. "This is Raquel Davenport. I told you about her, remember?"

"Oh, right," Paula said, her voice sounding more cheerful. She smiled but Raquel got the feeling that it wasn't genuine.

"Raquel, this is..Paula," John said, briefly rubbing the back of his neck. He was beginning to look a little uneasy.

"I'm John's girlfriend," Paula smiled, extending her hand.

"His what?" Raquel stared, surprised. What the hell was John doing with a girlfriend?

Paula smiled, taking John's hand, "His girlfriend."

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Brianna slowly crept out of Maya's room, closing the door behind her. Maya had gotten home from school about an hour earlier and she wasn't feeling well. Brianna had given her some medicine and then sat with her for a while and read her a story until she got sleepy. Hopefully she'd feel a little better when she woke up.

"Bri!"

She jumped when Nick's voice boomed through the penthouse. She rushed into the living room where he was still planted on the couch watching TV.

"Nick," she kept her voice low. "I just got Maya to go to sleep."

"Why is she sleeping?" Nick looked at his watch. "It's 4 in the afternoon."

"She came home with a stomach ache," Brianna said. "Didn't you notice?"

"Of course I noticed," he lied.

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, "What did you want?"

"I wanted to know when you're gonna start dinner," Nick said.

She looked down at her bandaged hand and then back at him, "I haven't been able to cook for two weeks…That hasn't changed."

"Cant you just put a glove on it or something?" Nick asked.

"Cant you just order a pizza?" she suggested, beginning to lose her patience. "I'll cook something in a few days, I promise."

"I'm sick of ordering food," Nick sighed.

"Well I'm sorry Nick," Brianna threw her hands up. "There's nothing I can do about that right now."

She turned to go get the phone.

"Funny, you were more than willing to cook for your ex-boyfriend," Nick rolled his eyes.

She stopped, turning back around. A part of her had expected him to bring John up but after two weeks, she figured he was just more mature than she thought. Apparently she was wrong.

"You cant seriously be bringing that up," she shook her head.

"Why not?" he asked. "Am I supposed to be okay with that?"

"With me making dinner for a friend?" she said, trying to keep her voice down. "Yes, I would hope you would be okay with that. Besides, it was weeks ago."

"A friend?" Nick laughed.

"Yes, a friend. Why the hell is that so funny?" she asked.

"I saw the way he was looking at you," Nick pointed. "He didn't look at you like you were just his friend."

"I haven't seen him in years Nick," she said. "What do you think we've been fucking each other from across the country?"

"No but I think that he came here to try and get you back," Nick's voice rose as he stood up.

"Why would you think that?" she asked, frustrated.

"Why shouldn't I!" Nick yelled. "I came home and found you two alone in the hallway and the way he was looking-"

"I don't wanna hear about the way you think he was looking at me Nick!" Brianna yelled. "Let me make this clear..he didn't do anything. We didn't do anything. He didn't plan to see me. He ran into Raquel, Raquel invited him here. That's it. There's nothing more to it!"

"Why are you defending him?" Nick asked.

"Because you aren't making any god damn sense," she threw her hands up. "Your conspiracy theory about John wanting to take me away is so stupid it's making my head hurt so can we please just stop talking about it?"

"Do not call me stupid!" he pointed, getting right in her face, causing her to stumble back.

Brianna took a deep breath, not wanting this fight to go any further. The look in his eyes was making her a little nervous.

"You're not stupid," she said calmly. "I just..I'm just trying to make you understand that he wasn't trying anything. John doesn't want me back."

"What if he did?" He stepped closer to her. "What if he had tried something? What would you have done Bri?"

"What?" she took a step back.

"I said what would you have done if he had tried to get you back?" Nick asked angrily.

Brianna opened her mouth to respond but before she could, Maya walked into the room, sleepily rubbing her eyes, "Brianna? I couldn't sleep. I heard you and Daddy yelling."

Bri glared at Nick, who was clenching his jaw tightly. She took a deep breath, turning to face the young girl, "I'm sorry sweetheart. Daddy and I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Is everything okay?" Maya asked.

"Everything is fine," Bri nodded, kneeling in front of her. "I'm gonna make dinner in a few minutes, you wanna help or you wanna try to take a nap again?"

Maya smiled, "Can I help?"

"Of course you can."

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