Thank you so much to Princess Mel for the great review! I really appreciate it!
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Nikki and Juliana got in the arena and decided to head backstage since they were early. Randy had told Nikki that with it being a house show, it's not as hectic and they could go ahead and visit before the show. They showed the security guards they're VIP passes and walked backstage. Juliana smiled when she seen Bob Orton visiting with someone.
Nikki nudged Juliana, "I double-dog dare you to knock on Randy's door and say "Happy Birthday" and see what he says.
Juliana shook her head, "No way. I haven't spoken to him in over 5 years and you want me to do that?!? Are you nuts?"
"No, I just think it would be a good ice breaker for the two of you." Nikki replied. "Therefore, I double-dog dare you."
"Don't dare me, I just might surprise you. It is my 25th birthday after all." Juliana replied.
"If you do it, I'll…buy your food and drinks for the rest of the night." Nikki replied with a smile.
Juliana rolled her eyes, "Alright deal. But if he slams the door in my face, you're going to owe me more than that. How do you know that he even wants to see me?"
"Trust me, I know." Nikki said smiling.
"Hey, how did you get these passes?" Juliana asked.
"Randy." Nikki replied shyly.
Juliana shook her head and walked down the corridor. Her hands were shaking, she had never been so nervous in her life. She had been doing everything she could to avoid him like the plague, and now here she is answering some stupid bet when she was scared to death that one look at him would send her back to the Juliana she used to be.
She found the dressing room door and took a deep breath. "I can do this, this shouldn't be a big deal. Good God we dated for how many years? We were friends for how many years? I can do this." She said to herself.
"Just knock on the door Juliana, we're not getting any younger." Nikki teased.
"Shut up." Juliana playfully snarled.
Juliana took another breath and knocked on the door to the locker room. The door opened and her eyes opened wide. Edge had answered the door. She wasn't prepared for a wrestler she didn't know. "Um, hi. Is Randy available?" She asked in her most professional voice.
Edge smirked, "Sure, I'll get him." He turned around, "Randy, you have a…" then he cleared his throat."Visitor here to see you."
Randy laughed, "Thanks Adam, tell her I'll be right there."
Adam/Edge turned back to Juliana, "He'll be right here." And he shut the door.
Juliana exhaled, "That wasn't so bad." She thought to herself.
Soon the door whipped open and there was Randy. He looked at Juliana and his whole face turned from a smile to a very shocked appearance. "Jules? Is that really you? What are you doing here?" He asked in a surprised tone. He couldn't believe it. She was standing there in front of her. The only woman he had ever truly loved. The precious flower that he had fallen in love with had grown into a beautiful young woman. He couldn't believe how amazing she looked. He always considered her his prayer when he found himself at a desperate hour. He had spend the day pouring his heart out to John that he would give anything if he could just see her, talk to her and tell her how sorry he was for what he had done to her. Which was completely unlike Randy. He had become a very egotistical, cocky, arrogant, god's gift to women type of guy because he didn't want to allow himself to feel again.
Juliana blushed, she hadn't been called Jules since the night she left him. The memories came rushing back to her. She nodded, "I'm sorry to bother you. It's just thought that I would come and tell you happy birthday since it is our 25th birthday today."
"You're not bothering me. I just didn't think I'd see you here." Randy replied.
Juliana smiled as best as she could. "Well, Nikki surprised me by bringing me here and here I am. I just thought that I would wish you a happy birthday and tell you good luck and I'll see you later."
Randy held out his arm, "Wait, can we talk a little? I mean, it's been a long time."
Juliana smiled, "Well, I can't leave Nikki hanging." And she gestured to where Nikki was standing there smiling at the two of them.
"Nikster, can you give us some time?" Randy said to her.
Nikki nodded, "You got it. Take your time, Juliana, the back of your pass has your seat number on it. See ya out there!" And Nikki walked off smirking to herself. Maybe her plan would work.
Juliana laughed, "Boy that wasn't hard."
Randy shook his head, "Nope, sure wasn't. Do you drink coffee still, we can grab some in the green room?"
"Some things will never change." Juliana replied.
"Unlike your name. When did you start going by your full name?" Randy asked. "I'm always going to call you Jules."
"That changed a few years back." Juliana replied. She didn't want to say that the reason why was because Randy always called her Jules and she didn't want to be reminded of him. "So, it looks like you're doing really good for yourself out here." She said changing the subject as they walked to the green room.
Randy nodded, "Yeah, it's been great. I've had a few injuries, but I'm doing pretty good. Why, have you been keeping up?"
"Well, I've always watched, and I didn't stop watching. But I check online from time to time for more information." Juliana replied.
They got to the green room and John Cena and Dave Batista were in there. "Jules, I want you to meet some friends of mine." He walked her over to them, "Guys, I want you to Jules, Jules this is John and Dave."
Juliana smiled, "Hi, it's nice to meet you." And she shook their hands. She felt so little around them. And normally when her and Randy used to go to shows with his dad, the wrestlers never intimidated her because she was with Randy, but now she felt very intimidated.
John looked at her and then at Randy, he recognized her from the pictures on Randy's wall. "We'll umm…give you guys some time to catch up. Come on Dave, let's head out."
Dave nodded, "Alright. Nice meeting you." Dave said to Juliana. "Enjoy the show."
She smiled, "Thanks, good luck tonight!"
Randy poured them some coffee, "Still take cream and sugar?"
"Yes please."
Randy brought it over to a table where they sat down. "Look Jules, I have so much to say to you. But I don't really want to get into it all here where it's not very private." Randy started to say when Juliana rose her hand.
"Randy, I didn't come here for any of that. I don't want to hear it. It's in the past, we've both moved on and now we're all grown up. Let's just catch up and move on." Juliana replied in a stern tone.
"Jules, you don't understand, I have to talk to you about it sometime." Randy replied.
"Well, sometime is not now. How have you been?" Juliana replied changing the subject.
"I've been good. Just wrestling. What about you? How are you doing? What's been going on?" Randy asked.
"Well, I finished college, I got my marketing and public relations degree. I am currently doing the PR for your mom's hospital and I have my application out to a few different places. I had left St. Louis after I graduated for a PR job with a firm out in Minnesota, but then Nana got sick, and I moved back. She passed away and now I'm seeing what's out there." Juliana replied. "I have an apartment here in the city, and I have a cat."
"No husband?" Randy questioned. "No kids?"
"Is that why you wanted to sit down and catch up on old times? To see if I was pregnant?" Juliana shot back. She jumped up out of her seat. "That's what this was wasn't it. Nikki knew that if she brought me here, you could ask me about it yourself because she won't tell you anything."
Randy jumped up, "No Jules, it's nothing like that. Calm down, we're just talking. That's something I figured you would have told me by now."
As Juliana was about to reply there was a knock, "Randy, you're needed."
"I'll be right there." Randy replied. He turned his attention to Juliana, "Jules, hon, I wasn't trying anything like that. I was trying to find out about you. How you're doing. I wasn't pulling a fast one on you, I promise."
Juliana put her head down, "I'm sorry. It's just that was the first thing."
Randy pulled Jules into his arms and held her, "It's ok. But if you want to tell me anything, you can."
Juliana nodded. "I miscarried. When I was 4 months along. You were so adamant on not wanting to be a parent, I didn't bother calling you. I figured you didn't care and that was when I made the decision to move out of St. Louis as soon as I graduated, and I did."
Randy was stunned. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. She was right, when she left, he had made it adamant that he did not want to be a parent, but to know that she was pregnant and had lost the baby, made him feel horrible. Just as he was about to say something, there was another knock, "Randy, now. You can see her after the show."
Juliana grabbed her purse and started heading towards the door. "It was good seeing you Randy. Have a great show, and I hope that you have a happy birthday."
"Jules wait, can we grab something to eat later?" Randy asked. He didn't want to let her go now. He never realized just how much he missed her, and he had so much to say to her. "I still need to talk to you."
"I can't. Nikki has plans for us after the show, and I can't be out all night. I have a busy day tomorrow. Look, the past is the past. We've moved on. Good luck tonight." And she turned and walked towards the exit.
Randy wanted to go after her, but he knew he had to get to where he needed to go. He kicked the wall and headed off.
Juliana got out by Nikki. "Thanks a lot. That was the worst bet ever." Juliana grumbled as she sat down.
"I got you a Coke, hot dog, and nachos. Why was it so horrible?" Nikki replied.
"Because, I can't talk to him. Then he wanted to know what I've been up to and he asked me if I had a husband or kids and I lost it on him. I flipped out saying that the only reason he was talking to me was to see if I had indeed had one of his kids." Juliana replied.
Nikki put her head in her hands, "Oh no. What did he say?"
"He looked horrified. He took my hand and looked me in the eyes and said that was not what he meant. He was trying to find out what all had been going on. He figured I would tell him something like that." Juliana replied. "And then he added that I could tell him anything, so I told him that I had miscarried when I was 4 months along and so no there was no baby. Then he looked stunned and I think he was speechless but it was time for him to go, so here I am. He asked if he could see me later, but I told him that you had plans for us and that I can't have a late night because I have a busy day tomorrow."
Nikki hugged her. "Yes, he thinks he's God's gift to women, yes he can be egotistical at times, or most of the time, but when it comes down to it, he's still a teddy bear. And I think that you're still his special girl."
Juliana shot Nikki a dirty look, "Don't even talk like that, I don't want to hear it. This is not going to turn into matchmaking anything. I haven't been his special anything for a long time, and it's going to stay that way."
"You can keep telling yourself that, but it's not going to make it true. And besides, I know that flame is still there within you." Nikki replied. "Now eat your hot dog before it gets cold."
Juliana shook her head and took Nikki's advice. But now her head was spinning a mile a minute with thoughts and questions all centering around Randy.
Nikki decided to play it safe and not tell Juliana that their plans later included Randy and his friend John.
Soon the lights went out and the show began.
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Oh boy, things are starting to heat up. What do you think could possibly happen? Please continue to read and review!