Trading Heartbeats

Chapter 18 - Turmoil

Brittany and Sonelle exchanged worried looks with each other before looking back up at Khaila. "What do you mean gone," Brittany asked uncertainly. Khaila looked petrified with worry as she looked from Brittany to Sonelle.

Khaila reached into her pocket and smoothed out a piece of crumpled paper. She laid it out in her lap and both Brittany and Sonelle had begun to read.

I'm sorry. I'm in Chicago. I'll be fine.

Amelia

Sonelle's brow furrowed as she thought where Amelia could possibly be. The room had fell silent as the girls' had all contemplated the whereabouts of Amelia. Khaila had buried her face in her hands thinking how their situation had gone from bad to worse. Brittany had now seated herself on the couch and stared blankly at her lap. "At least we know she's alright," Sonelle whispered a bit. Khaila looked up at Sonelle who hastily answered the question she knew they were bound to ask, "Well, she's in Chicago. She'll find her way around." Both Brittany and Khaila had stared at Sonelle with every word she spoke. Finally, Brittany let out a sigh.

"You're right; at any rate, we'll probably see her around. She couldn't have wandered too far, right," Brittany asked as if somehow looking for reassurance. Sonelle gave a comforting and affirmative nod. Khaila, however, hadn't known what to say. Amelia had betrayed her in every sense. Could she really be concerned about her? Somehow the girls had sensed Khaila's confliction and quickly distracted her. "How about we order some food," Brittany asked as she drew nearer to Khaila. "Your pick," she told Khaila.

Khaila had seemed to snap out of her daze and looked at Brittany before answering, "Oh, um … pizza and cheese-sticks?" Brittany smiled and Sonelle handed her the phone. It was only in a few minutes that Brittany had ordered the 8-slice, medium, extra cheese pizza which came with 8 slices of cheese-sticks. By now, evening had rolled around and Khaila had gone back to her apartment. With Brittany showering off in the bathroom, Sonelle had flopped herself on her bed once more, thinking about what Amelia could possibly be up to at this time. Just as she'd rolled over onto her back, her phone had rung out to its usual tune. Quickly picking it up, she answered, "Hello?" From what she could hear in the background, it sounded as if whoever had been calling was amongst several groups of people all murmuring together.

"Hey there, babe," a masculine voice answered from the other line. Sonelle's lips instantly curved into a smile. She'd recognized this voice immediately.

"How are you, Kofi," she asked as she turned on her side.

"Surviving," he replied. Both Sonelle and him gave a slight chuckle. "Hey, look, I don't really have a lot of time right now, but … I just - just needed to hear your voice one last time before I head out to the arena," he told her. Sonelle's cheeks blushed a very pink colour. Even though they had been miles apart, he was still able to put a bit of redness to her cheeks.

"I love you," she told him in a whisper. Her throat had begun to knot once realizing that she hadn't been sure when else she'd tell him this again. Kofi's voice gave a low chuckle.

"I love you too," he told her in a hushed voice. Sonelle smiled. Upon hearing voices in the background calling everyone to the arena, both Kofi and Sonelle had bed goodbye to each other and hung up. Letting her phone slip through her hands so that it rested on the pillow next to her, she curled herself up closing her eyes and thinking of when next she would see Kofi. She'd already begun to miss him even though it had only been a couple hours since they'd last seen each other. Although she hadn't questioned both her and Kofi's determination to make this relationship last over a long distance, she was sure that it would be very difficult.

Wrapped in a bright orange towel, Khaila had stepped out of the shower hoping that it would somehow have washed away her thoughts for now. Walking out into the bedroom, she quickly changed into a pair of comfortable shorts. As she had reached for the shirt that she'd picked out, she stopped dead in her tracks. She'd noticed a shadow by the doorway. Slowly looking over at what could possibly be casting this shadow, she'd felt a sudden chill run through her. Standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and his lip-ringed lips pulled into a smirk, was a smug CM Punk. Khaila's heart had beat unusually fast. She watched as he neared her slowly.

She opened her mouth to yell, but shock and fear had now taken over. Not only was she unable to cry for help, but she was frozen - unable to move. Her eyes now wandered up to Punk's face which had been only inches away from hers and which bore a very smug smirk. Khaila could feel chill after chill run through her. Punk placed both hands on her cheeks leaning forward slowly. Khaila's breathing had quickened; what was happening? How had he gotten in here? She watched as his lips had drawn nearer and nearer to hers.

In an instant, a loud sound had rung out. Khaila jumped into consciousness; her breathing still heavy and her forehead still sweating. As she slowly began to realize that it had all been a dream, however, she'd slowly become more passive. With a sigh of relief, she glanced at the source of the ringing sound - her telephone. Khaila cleared her throat before speaking, "Hello?" There had seemed to be some sort of party going on in the background as Khaila had taken note of a vast number of people speaking and shouting at the same time.

"Hello," a voice spoke from the other end of the line. Khaila, however, hadn't recognized this voice at all. She raised one eyebrow.

"Yes, who is this," she asked as she proceeded into the kitchen where she opened the refrigerator taking out some crackers and cheese and waiting for the voice on the other line to answer.

"It's Cody," the voice spoke once more. Just as she'd raised the cracker topped with cheese to her lips, she'd dropped it on the counter unequivocally stunned.

Punk had sat backstage with his hands on his head breathing deeply, hoping to somewhat breathe all the thoughts and worries out of him in order to focus on his match. He'd been sick to his stomach about what he'd done with Amelia, but nothing could help that now. He'd lost everything he'd ever wanted - Khaila - and he had convinced himself between the ending of that night and his travelling that he'd lost her for good. Suddenly, there came a knock at his door. "It's open," he called still trying to focus himself on his match tonight. Tilting his head in the direction of the door, he saw it open widely as a very familiar face had stepped in.

Standing up with a small smile on his face, Punk spoke first, "What's up, Kofi?" The two shook hands. Kofi gave a slight shrug before 'cutting to the chase'.

"Punk, you're my friend, right," Kofi asked rhetorically.

"Well, I would think so considering that you literally had a room in my old house," Punk answered nonetheless. Kofi gave a slight chuckle before continuing.

"Anyways, I know it's not any of my business, but … I just want to know why you did that with Amelia. Why did you throw away everything you had with Khaila? I mean, you know you liked that girl," Kofi asked. By now, Punk had seemed to be taken aback.

"You're right," Punk began, "it really is none of your concern, and if I were you, I wouldn't push the matter any further. Leave." Kofi raised his eyebrows before raising both his hands about shoulder height and stepping away from Punk who had already been balling up his.

"Look, man, I'm your friend. I'm only trying to -" Suddenly, the inevitable had happened. Kofi had been cut off mid-sentence by a punch delivered by Punk to his lip. This sent Kofi tumbling backwards. The two men had gone at each other once more shouting and yelling insults and swear words at one another, while they wrestled each other to the ground. Punches, kicks and biting were all incorporated into this. Just then, three other men had burst through the door. The men had shouted things such as 'Stop!' 'Come on, guys, break it up!' at the two wrestling men.

Finally, after being pried off of one another, Punk had shrugged off the hands that had kept him away from Kofi, who had been on the floor - his lip bleeding and his eye severely bruised. "Don't you think I know what I did," Punk shouted at the downed man surrounded by the three other men. "Don't you think I know that I lost the most important thing to me," he continued to shout at Kofi. Suddenly, the door had swung open again. This time … a very upset Vince McMahon and shocked John Laurinaitis strolled in at once.

"What the hell is going on here," Vince's raspy voice asked. Punk stood his ground staring his boss directly in his eyes. Vince glared at Punk. "Did you do this," he asked once more with his voice raised.

"You bet I did," Punk answered back with a slight chuckle. Vince's lips pursed angrily.

"Do you think this is funny," Vince shouted furiously. Punk, however, remained completely passive and merely shrugged. Vince's glare intensified. "Why you… You little, ungrateful bastard. I renewed your contract, gave you a championship title shot just so that you can do this," Vince's face had turned a nasty scarlet red as he shouted. "That's it! This is the last straw. I'm done putting up with all of your smartass bull. You're fi-"

"You know what, Vince," Punk asked gathering up his bag, "let me make it easier for you. I quit." Shoving past John Laurinaitis, Punk left a steamed and furious Vince McMahon shouting swear word after swear word at a man, who, at this point, could care less about whether or not he had a job. He'd only wanted one thing, and that was Khaila. And he assured himself, he'd do any and everything to win her back.