December 2011

Bobby was reading a book in his hotel room, trying to relax a little before his match with AJ that night, when his phone buzzed with a text from AJ. He hadn't heard from him in a couple of days now since AJ had been on the TNA Cruise and he didn't have cell phone service on the boat, or so he said. He was pretty sure AJ did in fact have a working cell phone, but since things were still kind of touch and go between them, he didn't push the issue. He put down the book, being careful to make sure his place was marked, and checked his phone.

"glad to be back on land how are things?"

He texted back, "things are okay planning out our match tonight"

"no funny business"

"I promise to keep everything squeaky clean okay"

"good gotta go talk to you later"

"love you"

"you too"

It wasn't perfect but it was a lot better than being ignored. He picked his book back up, but before he got more than two pages his phone rang again. It was James. He was disturbingly jovial for 11 o'clock in the morning.

"Hey Bobby! How are you man? I missed your ass."

"I'm fine, taking a break before we have to come in. How was the cruise?"

"We had a good time. I got in a little trouble with the wife when this girl twerked it on me at the Bahamas party, but it was all good. Not too many people there though. You know only like 50 fans came."

"So people didn't swarm you all day?"

"Hell no. I think even you would have liked it with your nonsocial ass. We just ran around and had fun, and nobody bothered us."

"How was AJ?"

"Oh, he was fine. Him and the wifey were thick as thieves the whole time. I don't think I saw them apart once."

Bobby chewed on his lip for a bit, then said, "Yeah, maybe it's for the best that I stayed home."

"I agree, because there was no way I was gonna spend all my time cheering you up and having to deal with your mad face all the time. We're all home now, so you can unclench. Anyway, that ain't even the reason I called you."

"What's up?"

"Pool party, motherfucker, that's what's up."

"A pool party?"

"Yeah, fool, turn up your hearing aid. We're having a holiday pool party after the tapings finish up. It's at the Westgate Lakes Resort on Thursday. Not everybody's gonna be there, but all the cool people are. And you, if you're up to it."

"Funny."

"They asked me to do a show on the boat but I was too busy drinking. You coming or what?"

"What about Tommy?"

"Got him on a leash. You stay on your side, he'll be on his. AJ is coming and you do the same with him. Hear me?"

"Oh yeah, I turned it up to 10."

"Don't bust your battery. Alright man, I'll see you tonight." James hung up.

Bobby tried to go back to his book, but he couldn't stop wondering about AJ. Thick as thieves, eh? He wondered if AJ would have even bothered to talk to him on the boat, or if he would have been distantly polite the whole time. It would have been torture to be there, he reminded himself for the hundredth time. Torture. He deliberately focused himself on the book again, but three pages later he noticed he hadn't picked up a single bit of the plot; it had gone in his eyes and leaked out his ears without leaving a whisper or a bread crumb. Sighing, he stuck a bookmark on the last page he remembered and went for a run.

By the time he got to the Impact Zone, he was back to his usual self. He met up with EY in the dressing room and got to unwind even more listening and going back and forth with him. He was even able to joke around with some of the employees about the missing stone in the championship belt. AJ dropped by his dressing room to talk a little about their match; they decided not to go with any huge spots, and instead laid out a solid match that went well with the finish. Both of them were satisfied with that result, although AJ made Bobby promise again there would be no shenanigans. EY opened his mouth at that and AJ shushed him wordlessly with a side eye. EY settled for a grin instead.

"Oh, Bobby," AJ said, "did Bischoff have any special instructions for you?"

"I haven't talked to him."

"Really?" said AJ, shocked. "I thought he would have called you right away after Turning Point to chew you out."

"I'm surprised too. I haven't heard a word from him. That's a good thing, though."

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like I'm trying to hear from the man. As far as I'm concerned, if I never hear more than hello and goodbye from the dude, I'm great. It's just a little weird."

Bobby smiled. "Thought he was gonna wear my ass out, eh?"

"More or less," AJ said with an answering smile. Both of them remembered EY was still in the room and their smiles dimmed to more appropriate levels. It didn't matter much, since EY was paying more attention to his Twitter feed. AJ looked over at him and said, "How's your fantasy football team coming?"

"First in the league, bro, of course. Jarrett swears he is better than me, but he won't go head to head with me, he just talks shit instead."

"Yeah," Bobby laughed, "that's Jeff for you."

AJ and EY traded fantasy football talk for a little while longer, and then AJ said goodbye to them both to go get ready. As Bobby was walking him to the door, AJ's mouth turned up in a wicked grin and he brushed his hand against the sensitive spot below Bobby's navel. Bobby caught his breath. AJ opened the door and mouthed, "Miss you" before closing it, and Bobby's heart did a triple flip and wept for joy. He walked back and went for his seat, but swerved on the way there to pretend to rummage through his bag until he could pry his huge smile off his face.

"Bobby?" EY said behind him.

Bobby's breath crackled and iced. He strained to keep his voice level and normal. "What?"

"You think I can get AJ into a league with me next year?"

Bobby laughed and exhaled both physically and mentally. "Maybe. He's real busy these days with the kids, but he does love his football. Couldn't hurt to ask him again next year, maybe he'll say yes this time." He kept pushing around in his bag, rearranging his supplements, and finally, he grabbed one just to have something to swallow.

The match went off just like they planned. Bobby only slipped up twice; once, while kissing the belt, he looked up at AJ and his tongue seemed to have a mind of its own, and AJ looked away, embarrassed; and once, during a headlock, his hands roamed over AJ's ass, and AJ slapped them away. Luckily, they were facing away from the camera so at least Bischoff wouldn't have video evidence of that one.

That turned out to be a good thing, since Bischoff called them into his office the very next day, before the Impact taping. The phones were ringing off the hook in his office and there were papers and books piled everywhere. Yet Bischoff breezed through all the chaos and looked like he was feeding on it like a malign bacterium. His usual smarmy grin was turned up to 11, and a savage glee was thrumming in his eyes. Bobby took one look and reminded himself to toe the line; it wouldn't take much to set Bischoff off today. Bischoff silenced his phone and grinned at them as they sat.

"Well done, gentlemen. You've come through your test. I won't say you came through with flying colors, because I saw that damn match yesterday, but you made it through to the other side without embarrassing the company again. Bobby, did you feel a little rejected when AJ shoved your hand off him? That must have hurt, especially since you just missed out on a lovely vacation with him."

"No," Bobby said, his words devoid of any inflection at all.

"Sure?"

"Why would I?"

"Fair enough, fair enough." Bischoff swiveled in his seat. "And AJ, how do you feel about kicking Bobby off the cruise, a vacation that he deserved after working virtually every Impact taping and PPV this year?"

"I- I…ummm…"AJ fumbled about for words. Bischoff waited, his hands back in their familiar steeple. "Well, I don't know, now that you put it that way-"

Bobby interjected, "I was fine with it. I got to be home with my wife and kids. Nothing's better than that."

"Oh, I don't know," Bischoff said, "it would have been nice to take your wife on a company paid vacation, now wouldn't it?"

"Sure, but I would have had to leave my kids at home, and I don't see them enough as it is. So honestly, I'm fine with it. I'll pick being at home every time."

"You really have an answer for everything, huh? If I didn't know better, I would think someone had slipped you an answer sheet. Just be warned Bobby, I take points off for cheating, even if you two don't."

Bobby, as in his all his recent interactions with Bischoff, could feel his anger rising high. He shifted his eyes and consciously focused on the wall trim, forcing himself to think of as many colors as he could to keep from throttling Bischoff until his head popped off. He could even imagine the sound it would make, and he pushed this thought aside, meaning to bring it back up and value it later. Right now it was about purple, blue, black, white and orange. He hoped AJ was doing something similar. He wasn't. AJ, in fact, was turning a deep shade of red, and he burst out, "Don't you ever get tired of being a dick all the time?"

Bischoff's grin was nearly a caricature of itself. "Not at all. I enjoy every single second of needling stupid idiots like you when you fuck up. Every time I get to dress someone down, it's the highlight of my day, and you two have practically been an episode of Sportscenter. Hey, human highlight reels, let's go to the videotape!"

"I thought you didn't have anything on tape?" asked AJ.

"That, AJ, was a figure of speech. He's good looking, Bobby, but the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, huh?" Bischoff didn't wait for Bobby's answer; he knew there wouldn't be one. "I'm sure he has other fine qualities which you intimately appreciate. Or did, anyway, before you two had your little falling out. Anyway, your feud is over. Bobby, we're putting you with Hardy, and AJ, you'll be feuding with Kaz and Daniels in a bit. I figure why not shatter Fortune into little pieces and leave AJ all alone. The marks will eat it up. Poor AJ, all alone out there with no one by his side. Truly, a story for the ages, don't you two agree?"

"I'll make it work," AJ said, slouching down in his seat. "I always do."

"Correct. That's why you're a building block of this company. That's why we keep tabs on you. And you too, Bobby. You're also an important part of the team."

"Oh, corporate speak," Bobby said, a smirk rising on his lips. "I liked it better when you were insulting me."

"Is that one of your kinks? Scratch that, I don't really want to know. I'm sure AJ knows."

Bobby's eyes rolled back up to the ceiling and he was a little disgusted with himself for giving Bischoff an easy target. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, so we're clear now on what's next. Anything else?"

"Not from me. Do you two have any questions?"

Both of the wrestlers shook their heads. Bischoff leaned back in his chair, satisfied with his verbal slithering. He looked at his phone and put one finger on the ringer to turn it on, then looked back at them. "That's all, gentlemen. Merry Christmas."

AJ robotically wished him the same, and left quickly. Bobby also wished him a Merry Christmas, and just barely kept himself from adding "you fucking asshole" at the end of it. By the time he got to the hallway, AJ was already disappearing around the corner. That was a good thing. Bobby wanted to be alone right then. Sure, he'd liked those extra days at home, but what Bischoff had said was needling him in a sore spot he didn't even acknowledge he had. He thought to himself that if he'd never made a move on AJ, none of this would have ever happened, and then he remembered he had essentially the same thought every time he came out of Bischoff's office. It just hurt him so much inside to have to be an open target for that guy, to sit there and take all that bullshit he was shoveling just to make a dollar. At least now he could see his way out of it, and if things stayed under wraps for a while, maybe Bischoff's terrible eye would fall somewhere else soon enough.

He found himself in front of his dressing room without even noticing he'd walked that far. With a shrug, he pushed the door open and pulled his workout cables from his bag. He'd gotten in almost 20 bicep curls when his phone beeped with a text. It was AJ.

"hi"

"hey"

"he always knows the right spots to hit huh"

"basically"

"you all right?"

"yes"

"going to the pool party?"

"yes should I wear a little speedo for you?"

"lol I was thinking gstring but a speedo will do"

"later on you can pull it off me"

"sounds like a good idea"

"so you forgive me now?"

"guess so"

"I don't want a guess so I want a yes or no"

AJ didn't send a text right away. Bobby went back to his curls. He got in another ten when his phone buzzed again.

"yes. okay?"

"thanks"

"good luck tonight"

"you too love you"

"love you too"

Bobby looped the cable back in his bag and zipped it up tight.