Trading Heartbeats
Chapter 6 - And So It Begins
The days passed, each one bringing both anxiety and anticipation. Pooling together their money, the girls had successfully purchased their airplane tickets in advance awaiting that one precious day, Monday, when they'd leave to reunite themselves with the superstars they'd seemed to have got on so magnificently with. As the day approached, however, there were other things that troubled the situation other than packing space.
"Amelia," shrieked Khaila from the bedroom. Amelia, who had been scavenging the fridge for food, suddenly looked up.
"What," Amelia inquired alarmingly. She hurriedly closed the refrigerator door and raced down the hall into the bedroom. Opening the door to the bedroom, she found Khaila sprawled across her bed while a bag of chips lay opened on the floor. Khaila looked at Amelia and opened her mouth to speak while holding a piece of paper above her head. Amelia's eyes widened as she recognized the piece of paper. "Wh-Where'd you get that," she asked making her way slowly over to Khaila's bed.
Khaila looked at it nonchalantly, "It was under your pillow. When you were packing, it fell, and I picked it up."
"Khaila," Amelia began slowly, "give me back the paper." She held open her hand. Khaila hadn't seemed to take notice to it, and continued reading the note. Amelia attempted to snatch it out of her hands, but Khaila, in a reflex, moved it away from Amelia's snatching hands. "Khaila, you're going to wreck it, please," Amelia said calmly once more holding open her hand.
At this point, Khaila stood on her bed so that she now stood taller than Amelia. "No, at least let me read it," Khaila stated. Amelia reached for it once more and failed all the same. Khaila cleared her throat, "Amelia, I'm so sorry that our time to get to know each other had to be so-" Amelia, her cheeks a brilliant scarlet red, had managed to grab on to piece of the paper. "-I want to get to know you," Khaila continued.
"Give it back," Amelia yelled as she tried yanking it out of Khaila's hands. In an instant, their struggling to pry the paper away from each other resulted in a splitting sound. The paper had been completely torn in half. Amelia's mouth gaped open as she stared at the ripped letter. Khaila sank down onto the bed once more.
"We can tape it," she whispered quietly. Amelia merely nodded and collected both pieces of the letter placing it back into the envelope and away in her suitcase. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to read it," Khaila said softly as she inched her way out of the room. Amelia closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't have the energy to be mad at Khaila. Even if she wanted to, it'd been a mistake, right? Amelia shook her head and attempted to clear all remembrance of what'd recently happened from out of her mind.
She instead focused on the day ahead. Tomorrow, Monday, she'd finally get to see Cody again, and this made her beam with happiness.
Morning dawned, not a moment too early to the girls. Each had been eagerly anticipating their flight to Atlanta. Therefore, it was no surprise that the moment the airplane had touched down in Atlanta, the girls were pushing through the crowd to quickly grab their luggage and proceed to the hotel they'd booked. As they were about to step through the doors of the airport to catch a cab, a hand had caught Amelia's.
Turning around with such suddenness that it'd alerted the girls, they turned around too. Standing there, before her, was a hooded Cody Runnels. Amelia smiled a great smile; leaving her suitcase to fall, she flung her arms around him just as he had. "Come on," he whispered noticing her friends' gazing at the embracing two. "The car's right outside," he said a bit louder; the three girls looked around at each other then raced outside. Could there be more surprises at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport?
Amelia and Cody pulled away from their embrace both sharing a smile. As Cody pulled Amelia's suitcase outside where all the cars and buses had been lined off, they watched as the other girls reunited themselves with the individual superstars who'd accompanied Cody in a black Mercedes. Kofi and Sonelle had embraced warmly and pecked each other on the lips between sentences.
Brittany and Justin had also embraced each other neither seemed to have let up on their hold - their heads buried in each other's neck. Punk and Khaila, on the other hand, had already seated themselves in the car where Punk had his arm around her. The two conversed fantastically about comics. Their way of saying 'I missed you', Amelia supposed. "Are you coming," a voice chimed in. Amelia gave a little shudder as she snapped herself back into reality and looked at Cody who'd now been heading towards the car.
"Oh, yeah," she said as she joined him and the rest of the group. Once the girls' suitcases had been loaded and all had piled into the car, they were off to their first destination - the girls' hotel.
"So where are you girls staying," Kofi asked while his and Sonelle's fingers had been intertwined.
"Erm, Castleberry Inn & Suites," Amelia piped up as Cody stretched his arm around her. "Should be 4 blocks away from the Dome." Amelia noticed Justin give a slight nod as he spun the car in an almost James Bond-like fashion and swerved onto the next street. Justin and Brittany had sit up front, Justin taking the wheel (whose bright idea was that?).
Although his driving may have been questionable, the girls and the superstars had arrived at the hotel about 15 minutes earlier than expected. With the men willingly taking the suitcases from the trunk and lugging it behind the girls, Amelia and Brittany checked in with the concierge. Upon calling up the reservations and informing them about the hotel's lounge/bar and restaurant as well as its free Wi-Fi, the concierge gave a polite yet rehearsed smile as she handed both Brittany and Amelia four keys.
The group had boarded the elevator 4 by 4 and reached floor 5. Stepping off, they proceeded down to the rooms inscribed on their keys - 539, 546, 558 and 520. The group soon parted ways and proceeded to their individual rooms. Amelia and Cody walked briskly down the hall towards room 558 with him still lugging the suitcase behind. As they finally arrived and the lock clicked open allowing them to step into the comfortable suite, Amelia and Cody let out a sigh of relief. The most difficult part of the journey had been completed.
Amelia looked around at Cody who seemed to have seated himself on the couch and flicked on the T.V. He apparently had no intention of leaving - not anytime soon anyways. Closing the door and locking it, Amelia made her way over to the couch. Cody looked up at her and in one swift movement had her seated on his lap. Her cheeks blushed a brilliant red as he held her close. "You don't mind if I stay awhile do you," he asked in more of a whisper. Unable to speak due to the closeness of their faces, Amelia shook her head. She watched his lips curve into a smirk then slip under his teeth only to be released a second after.
Amelia's eyes wandered up to his blue/green ones who seemed to be gazing back into hers. Almost as if they'd known each other's next move, both their eyes had either closed or marvelled at each other's lips that drew distinctly nearer to one another. With their lips nearly succumbing to one another's, a sudden ring was heard. Amelia jumped at the sound that seemed to invade their silence. Rising to her feet, she walked over to the source of the ringing that seemed to have resonate from the bedroom that was immediately connected to the "living room"; it had been the hotel room's phone. Picking it up, she gave a breathless hello - still intoxicated by the almost-kiss she shared with Cody.
"Hello," a woman spoke, "I'm sorry, but we forgot to ask if you will be needing anything immediately - brochures, food, towels?"
"Oh, no, thanks," Amelia stated as she looked back at Cody who was lounged back on the couch flicking through the channels at an incredible speed. A smile had spread across her face as she continued to say, "everything I need is here."
"Are you ready for tonight," Sonelle asked brightly as both Kofi and her sat back on the bed watching the characters on the T.V. move across the screen - his arm placed around her and her head on his shoulder.
"Oh definitely," Kofi responded in a recognizable eagerness. Sonelle had known that whether win or lose, if there was a man on the roster who just enjoyed being in the ring, it was Kofi, and she liked that - no, loved that. She gave a smile that he returned and turned her gaze to the T.V. - half-watching, half-thinking. "You'll be there tonight," Kofi began, "so that just gives me an extra boost of confidence, you could say."
Sonelle looked up at him and smiled once more. "Well, I'm glad, but in all honesty, the pleasure is all mine," she stated with the smile unable to move from her face. Kofi chuckled as he flicked off the T.V. only to stare into her deep brown eyes. Placing a hand on her cheek, both Kofi and Sonelle's lips had succumbed to one another's. As their lips moved slowly against one another's at first, speed surely picked up as well as passion. The kiss had intensified with both holding onto each other lovingly - Sonelle's hands had placed themselves onto his shoulders as his placed themselves on her back.
As the kiss continued, it eventually slowed. Both their lips had been separating from each other's as their eyes had begun to flutter open once more. As both their cheeks reddened a bit, their foreheads leaned against one another's looking into each other's eyes. Just from this, both Sonelle's and Kofi's uncertainties, whatever they may have been, had disappeared, for they were sure of one thing - the way their eyes locked onto each other's was the most beautiful thing that either of them had ever experienced.
"Darling," Justin called throughout the hotel suite as he laid himself down on the couch outside.
"Getting dressed, Just," Brittany called back from the bedroom. Justin couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice.
"Oh okay," Justin responded as he stared up at the ceiling with his hands placed on his stomach. A few minutes after, Brittany had stepped out of the bedroom wearing blue jeans, a very flattering deep purple shirt and black ballet flats. Justin immediately propped himself up on his elbows as he gazed up and down at Brittany's attire. He looked up at her with a smirk pasted on his face. Brittany blushed as she playfully tugged at his shoes. "So I take it you're ready," Justin asked as he stood up off of the couch.
Brittany gave a nod and reached for her purse carrying it in her hand. With Justin opening the door and closing it behind them, both Brittany and Justin headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant. As Justin asked the host for a romantic table for two, the host immediately nodded and sent for a waitress to lead them to the reserved table. Brittany looked around at the restaurant. It was quite a nice one. With tables table-clothed in elegant crème linen and its chairs magnificently carved out of a deep dark brown wood, it was exactly the kind of restaurant Brittany enjoyed. The waitress continued to lead them past several tables of customers dining together. She finally stopped outside at the lone table that had been set up with a view of the hotel's garden as well as the magnificent sunset. Justin pulled out the chair for her allowing her to sit herself down as he pushed her in. He, then, sat down opposite from her.
"Good evening, sir and madam, my name is Olivia, and I'll be your waitress," she announced as she laid the menus on the table - one in front of Brittany and the other in front of Justin. Taking it in their hands, they roamed through the dinner specials quickly and immediately decided. "May I take your orders," she asked politely once more.
"I'll have the steak, please," Justin ordered as he set down his menu before continuing, "and a glass of wine."
"I'll have the George's Pasta and a glass of coke," Brittany, in turn, ordered. The waitress nodded as she hastily scribbled their orders down on her notepad. Giving one more courteous smile, she departed. Brittany set her hands on the table as she looked out at the beautiful garden that seemed to be romantically illuminated by the setting sun. Suddenly, she felt two more hands hold hers. As she looked down at the table once more, she'd noticed that Justin's hands had also made their way onto the table and caressed hers in his.
The both of them had given each other a warm loving smile before looking out at the magnificent orange sky. "It's beautiful," Brittany commented absolutely awed.
"Yes," Justin spoke in a lower tone, "yes, you are." As he finished, both their eyes had locked onto each other's. With Brittany's cheeks reddening, they shared another loving smile between each other.
As the minutes and the hours passed, both Punk and Khaila and Sonelle and Kofi were getting ready to head to the Georgia Dome for Monday night RAW. Although Punk wasn't necessarily supposed to be there, he didn't quite care. He was going to show up there if he wanted to, and that's that. The two couples entered the arena. With tickets in hand, Sonelle and Khaila bed farewell to their superstars and took to finding their seats. Cody had done an exceptional job at ticket buying as their seats were the closest to the barricade.
The two girls talked excitedly about finally being able to see the show, and the fact that both their superstars were going to participate at some point or the other in this show. As the missile pyrotechnics went off and Burn It To The Ground by Nickelback resounded through the arena, it was final - Monday night RAW had started. The show progressed with several speeches from superstars looking for a push as well as a match between the divas. Although they had announced that Kofi was to be in a match tonight, there was no mention of Punk.
Khaila sat in her seat most of the time only rising when someone's music had hit only to see if it were Punk then sitting back down as soon as she discovered this wasn't so. Sonelle on the other hand had been full of life throughout many of the matches even to the point of chanting along with her fellow fans. Finally, it had been Kofi's match. Sonelle screamed extra hard as the man wearing a bright green trunks had hopped his way down the ramp and into the ring. As he stood on the turnbuckle doing his signature 'taunt' as they called it, he gave a slight nod in the direction of Sonelle. Her cheeks blushed a bright shade of pink as she watched Kofi pace back and forth ready for his opponent.
There had been a pause before the music had hit. Khaila stood up leaning over the barricade to see if she could catch a glimpse of the superstar with the mysterious new song. No one had entered onto the stage yet. Suddenly, there came a pop from the audience as a man in a white t-shirt with his symbol - a taped hand with an X over it clutching onto a lightning bolt - had entered onto the stage. Khaila's heart raced as she cheered just as loudly, if not louder, than the fans around her. She watched as he slowly made his way to the ring with the WWE championship that he'd won at Money In The Bank and looked out into the audience with a slight smirk.
The bell had rung, and Khaila looked at Sonelle as Sonelle, in turn, looked at Khaila. Realizing that Kofi would either gain a win or lose to CM Punk and vice versa, the two girls said no words to each other, but cheered harder than anyone else in that arena for their superstars.
With this match in the making and both the men that they had come to care for more than just an ordinary fan would, the girls' tempers rose as the superstars either reversed a move, countered it or kicked out. With the two yelling chants against one another's superstars, it was concluded. It had begun.