So here's chapter 18, hope ya like it, thanks so much for the kind reviews, you're all awesome and you keep me motivated. I promise in the next chapter things are really going to start picking up. The story is reaching it's halfway point and I've gotta get it in gear. As usual, Read, Enjoy, & Review! Thanks!
Chapter 18...
John walked to the back after his match, a little out of breath. A few members of the crew patted him on the back telling him 'good job'
"Thanks guys," he called over his shoulder. "Y'all don't party too much tonight."
"We will!" one of them laughed.
He stopped, looking at the same security guard he'd asked to take Brianna and Rodrigo out to their seats before the show.
"You think you could make sure my guests get back here safely?" he asked.
"Yes sir," the man nodded.
"Thanks man," John patted his shoulder, making a mental note to give him a tip before he left.
Someone threw John a towel and he caught it, wiping his forehead. He didn't sweat too much so he wasn't drenched but it helped. He stopped walking when he spotted Paula. She was standing with her arms crossed and she did not look happy. He walked toward her, figuring he might as well just get this over with.
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Paula shook her head as he came toward her, "What the hell was that?"
He stopped in front of her, "What?"
"You know what," she pointed.
"No, I really don't," he laughed a little. "What? You didn't like my match?"
"No John, I didn't like what you did before your match," she glared, blood boiling.
"What?" he asked. "The thing with Bri?"
"Yes, the thing with Bri," she nodded. "What were you thinking!"
He was beginning to look angry, "You need to calm down. That was nothing."
"Nothing!" she yelled, ignoring his order to calm herself.
"Nothing," he said, keeping his tone level.
She wanted to push him or something. He was being such a jerk.
He turned, beginning to leave.
"Don't you walk away from me!" she followed, pulling his arm and turning him around.
"We're done talking about this," John said, running his hand over his hair and then his face, obviously frustrated. "So I kissed her hand? So what?"
"So what!" she fumed. "So I don't like it. And if I don't like it, you cant do it."
"Are you kidding me?" he stared.
She shook her head.
"You know what Paula," he sighed. "I'm sick of you picking stupid little fights with me all the time. I cant deal with it right now. I'm tired. I just want to go, take a shower, and eat dinner. That's it."
She was a little nervous. He seemed really, really annoyed.
"Well I'm not going to dinner," she said, looking away, trying for a little pout. He always fell for that. If she threatened to go off alone, he would feel guilty and apologize.
"Fine," he shrugged. "Whatever."
Paula stared in open mouthed shock as he turned, walking away from her.
What the hell just happened?
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Nick tossed the remote down on the couch next to him, leaning back and watching the news. He was tense. He had been for weeks. It was really starting to get to him. And the way Brianna had talked to him earlier..like he was stupid, like he didn't know how to raise his own daughter…that made him want to throw something. He had earlier. He'd picked up one of her precious little dance trophies and launched it across the room, shattering it. That made him feel a little better. He'd cleaned it up and thrown it away, figuring he could just say that Z knocked it over when she got home.
"Daddy," Maya trotted into the room, smiling. He was surprised to actually see her smiling. She'd been pretty mopey since Brianna went to Miami.
"Hey sweetheart," he smiled as she stood by the coffee table.
"You wanna see the picture I drew?"
"Of course," he nodded.
She beamed, spreading the large piece of paper out on the table.
He smiled, seeing that she drew him on the end in a police uniform. Then three women. She made Brianna the tallest in a pink dress. Gia was next in blue and then Raquel in red. She put Troy beside Raquel and then there was a small black dog, presumably Z. Then, there was an unfamiliar person on the end. A man in a black t-shirt and jeans.
"Who's that Maya?" Nick asked.
"That's John," Maya smiled.
"John?" Nick stared.
Maya smiled proudly at her artwork, nodding.
"Why would you draw John?" Nick asked, annoyed.
"Because he's my friend," Maya said.
Nick took a deep breath, knowing that this wasn't his daughter's fault. He stood up, "Daddy needs to make a phone call. Why don't you go draw another picture?"
"Okay," she picked up her drawing.
"Leave this one with me," he said, gently taking it from her. "I'll find a place to put it."
"Okay," Maya smiled. "I want Brianna and John to see it. And Aunt Raquel. She says I draw pretty pictures."
"You do," Nick smoothed her hair before turning her around. She ran off toward her playroom and he walked into the kitchen, grabbing the phone from it's charger and dialing Brianna's cell phone number. He held the phone to his ear with one hand and crumpled Maya's picture in the other, dropping it in the garbage on his way back into the living room.
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"So we're just going to the Applebee's by the hotel?" Trish looked around, making sure everyone was in agreement.
Brianna looked around the parking lot and pretty much everyone seemed to be nodding.
"Okay, then we can go as soon as someone finds Raquel," Maria said.
"I'm gonna have to meet you all a little later," Brianna said. "I've gotta get Tornado here back home."
"I cant hang with you young kids the way I used to," Rodrigo laughed. "You all have a good night."
Everybody waved, a few people promising to see him next time. Rodrigo walked toward the car.
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"You want me to go with you?" John offered, walking over to Brianna. He smiled, seeing that she still hadn't changed out of her Cena merchandise.
"Hmm?" she looked up, a little surprised.
"You want me to ride to Rodrigo's with you?" he repeated.
"John that'd make you like an hour late to dinner," she said, shaking her head.
"I don't mind," he shrugged. Truthfully, he just wanted to spend more time with her without everyone staring at them, wondering what they were thinking and feeling.
She shrugged, "Sure, why not? I need to talk to you about something anyway."
"You do?" he asked.
She nodded, fishing through her purse for her keys.
"Okay," John smiled. Then, he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned around to see Paula.
"What about me?" she asked.
He pulled the keys to his rental out of his pocket and handed them to her, "There..You can drive yourself back to the hotel."
Paula looked furious but John didn't feel like dealing with it. She was just pissed that he hadn't let her manipulate him earlier.
He turned to Brianna, "You ready?"
"Yeah," she nodded, finally finding her keys and yanking them out of the small bag.
"Where's Gia?" John asked.
"She's um..somewhere," Brianna said flippantly. "Let's go, I bet papa's gettin' tired."
"Well, we cant just leave your sister here," John laughed.
"I think she's getting a ride," Brianna smiled, looking a little anxious. "Let's go."
"Okay," he said, confused, wondering what she was up to. He waved to his friends, following her to her car. As they reached it, he held out his hand for the keys.
She looked at his hand and then up at him, "What?"
"I'm driving," he stated.
"Like hell," she laughed.
"I'm not lettin' you drive," he said.
"I'm the better drive Captain Traffic Ticket," she smirked.
"But I'm the man," he said.
"Your point?" she arched her brow.
"My point is that I'm driving," he said. "I'm the man. It's the law."
"Fine," she rolled her eyes, raising the keys high and dropping them into his hand and opening the door to the backseat. "But if you get us pulled over I'm not flirting with the cop to get you out of trouble."
"Oh come on," he said as they got into the car. "I only asked you to do that once."
"Once my ass."
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Jeff stood at the door to the women's locker room. Somehow he'd been voted to be the one to come get Raquel. She was standing, packing up her bag. Somehow, she always managed to be the last person ready to leave. She had changed out of the green shirt she wore for the show and into a short sleeved red shirt with a white shirt underneath. Her brown curls were held up somewhat messily with a clip. She looked cute. He'd never tell her that but she did. He reached up, knocking on the doorframe.
She looked up from her bag, "Hey. What are you doing here?"
"We're all ready to go," he explained. "Trish asked me to come see where you were."
"I'm almost ready," she said, putting her brush in her bag.
"Did you wanna ride with me and Matt?" he offered. He wasn't quite sure why he offered. She obviously wasn't either because she looked up at him, surprised. Before she could say anything a man Jeff didn't recognize came into the room wearing a dark blue suit. He smiled at Raquel, "Ready to go?"
Jeff frowned, "Who are you?"
"Victor Allen," he walked up to Jeff, extending his hand. Jeff looked down at it but didn't shake it. Victor took a step back, "Raquel invited me to come to dinner with you all tonight."
Jeff looked over at Raquel who had just taken the clip out of her hair. She ran her fingers through her waves.
He nodded a little, "Nevermind then. I guess I'll see you there."
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Raquel watched as Jeff left the room. If she didn't know better, she would say he looked a little…disappointed. She didn't know why he would be though.
"We should probably get going," Victor spoke up. "We don't wanna keep your friends waiting."
She laughed a little, "Trust me, they're used to me keeping them waiting."
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Later…
John smiled when Bri finished telling him what she thought of the show. She'd been gushing about it since they left Rodrigo's house. He loved that she was so interested. It was cute.
"Sorry, I just babbled on for a while there, didn't I?" she laughed.
"A little," he nodded. "But I didn't mind."
"Good," she smiled.
"So," he sighed. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something. What's up?"
He looked over at her as they pulled up to a red light. She smiled at him and he was immediately wary of her expression. It was the look she got when she was up to something.
"What do you think of Brian Kendrick?" she asked.
John raised a brow, a little surprised, "I don't know..he's a good kid..Why?"
"He's a nice, responsible guy, isn't he?" she asked.
"I..guess," he nodded, wondering where she was going with this. "Why?"
"Well," she ran a hand through her hair as the light changed. "What do you think of the idea of Gia dating him?"
John laughed, "That would not happen."
John had already warned the guys not to lay a hand on Gia.
"What if it was..kind of..already in the works," she bit her bottom lip, looking a bit nervous.
"What do you mean already in the works?" John frowned.
"Say, oh, I don't know, maybe he asked her to come to dinner with him tonight," she shrugged.
"He asked her to dinner?" John asked, surprised. "Nobody ran this by me."
"I know but you just said that Brian's a good guy," she pointed.
"Yeah, I said that before I knew he was making moves on Gia," John said, feeling himself start speeding. He didn't like this at all.
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Brianna knew she needed to get to work on this. They were going to be at the restaurant soon and she had to have him calm and cool by then. She smiled a little at how bothered he was. He wasn't furiously angry just..incredibly uncomfortable. She always thought it was cute that he was so protective of her sister. She shook her head, focusing on the task at hand.
"He isn't making moves on her. He hasn't even asked her to go anywhere alone yet," she said. "Essentially, all they're doing is riding in a car together."
"Do you know how many things can happen in a car?" he asked.
Brianna giggled.
"It's not funny," John said, looking over at her.
"Yeah it is," she nodded. "You're cute when you get all riled up."
"It's not cute," he said. "You should be more concerned."
"Why?" she laughed.
"She's only 19," John said, pulling into the parking lot and finding a space. "And he's on the road year round. He's got girls throwing themselves at him. You cant trust a guy in this business."
He parked the car, looking annoyed.
"You're in the business too," she said. "And I trust you more than anyone I know."
She put her hand over his, lightly running her thumb over his knuckles.
"If he's learned anything from being around you," she looked up at him. "Then he's perfect."
He was trying to hide it but she could see the smile threatening to reveal itself. She had him right where she wanted him. She was a little surprised, but quite pleased that she could still work him so easily. She wasn't exactly lying but she was laying it on pretty thick. He could be quite a sucker sometimes. It was adorable. She opened her door, getting out of the car and he did the same. The met near the hood and she smiled up at him, "So..will you do me a favor?"
"What?" he asked.
"Just try to be nice and accepting," she said. "And don't try to scare Brian away from Gia."
He seemed to be thinking about it but he didn't say anything right away.
She batted her eyelashes at him, "Pleeease…I'd really appreciate it."
He shook his head, smiling at her, "Why is it so hard to say no to you?"
"I don't know," she laughed, taking his hands. "I guess I'm just kinda cute."
"I guess," he smiled. He looked toward the entrance to the restaurant, sighing.
"Come on," she smiled, linking their fingers and releasing his other hand, pulling him toward the door. "It wont be that bad."
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