To Pique an Interest
Chapter 11: The Only Exception
Author's Note: I hope y'all are enjoying the story so far!
Lilly's POV
I was absolutely starstruck at that moment, when Adam introduced me to four of his good friends and the top Superstars in the WWE at lunch. John Cena was, as many fan reports have said about him, was cool, cheeky, and laidback. Trish was just a sweetheart. Christian, also known as Jay Reso, had a witty sense of humor and a great personality. Randy, on the other hand, did not surprise me at all. I didn't think it was very appropriate for a married man to flirt with a girl close to his age like me, but I had to admit that Laurel had every right to be in love with that man. It took all of my strength to call up Laurel that day, brag to her about how Randy kissed my hand and all that, and then be all, "Suck it, bitch. I just met the man of your dreams."
But perhaps what was interesting was the way Adam suddenly kept quiet whenever Randy sweet-talked me or smirked at me with that sexy signature smirk, guaranteed to make every straight woman's panties fall to the ground. Maybe Adam didn't like the way Randy was talking to me, or he just thought it wasn't proper for Randy Orton, a married man with an adorable one-year-old at home, to flirt with a fan girl like me.
It didn't exactly help Adam either when Randy stopped by the next day at his house, where Adam initially invited me over, to invite me for lunch. I was initially unwilling to go until Randy mentioned that we weren't going to be alone, and that Adam was more than welcome to join us. I gave Randy a weak smile as Adam begrudgingly accepted the invitation to a seafood restaurant in the heart of the city.
"Adam? Are you alright?" I asked Adam for what was the thousandth time in two days, as I laced up my Dr. Martens boots. Adam hadn't been this quiet since that day at the restaurant when he introduced me to his friends.
"Lilly, I told you, I'm fine," he insisted again for what was the thousandth time as well.
"Do you like my outfit?" It was a question I never asked anyone, but at least it was something for Adam to clear his mind of whatever was bothering him.
Adam glanced up from his feet and examined what I was wearing: a black ribbed tank top underneath a gold striped sequined crop top, pleather tights, bright red Dr. Martens and a dark green military style jacket with a beaded shoulder cuff on one side. My hair had been let down in my natural, loose curls, and I wore earrings with big feathers and beads in them. He grinned at me and gave me a wink, that same wink he gave me that night when I first saw him at the club.
"You look sexy," said Adam flirtatiously, whistling as he squeezed my butt playfully. This made me blush furiously. At least I managed to change the subject.
"Um…thank you…" I mumbled. No one had ever called me sexy before, least of all a famous WWE Superstar.
"No need to thank me, Lilly Pad," he replied, still smirking at me.
"I thought we got over this whole nickname thing," I raised an eyebrow at him.
"So it's corny, but that's all I could come up with," admitted Adam, shrugging. I giggled.
"Well it's not as bad as calling you 'Edgie-poo' when I was sixteen," I confessed that affectionate pet name I'd given him when I was a crazy, hormonal teenager at the age of sixteen.
"Did you just say 'Edgie-poo'?" Adam suddenly burst into howling laughter, "man, and I thought I was horrible with nicknames."
"Hey! I was sixteen and undergoing puberty!" I exclaimed in protest.
"I've heard of fans who've proclaimed they're going to marry me in the future, but I have to say that your nickname is probably the weirdest thing I've ever heard from a fan," said Adam, ruffling my hair.
"I could go on about that love letter I wrote to you when I was eighteen," I added, "and I went into detail about our honeymoon, by the way."
"Don't need to hear it unless it involves mind blowing sex, babe," flirted Adam, who got up and started walking towards the garage. I followed him in suit.
"You'll never know," I giggled, "because you'll never read it." I hopped into the front seat of his convertible and we drove off to meet Randy. However, I noticed that Adam had taken the freeway instead of taking the turn towards downtown, where the restaurant was located.
"Adam? Where are we going? I thought we were supposed to meet Randy in town…" I began, noticing we weren't in the direction we were supposed to be going in.
"Actually, Lilly Pad, we're going to take a detour," answered Adam, exiting at a road that led to The Great Lakes, "I've decided that we're going to ditch Mr. Lady Killer and have our own lunch by ourselves."
"But what if he's expecting us?" I asked, puzzled, "he probably booked seats for us at the restaurant we're supposed to meet him in."
"Well, he did say that he had other company when he invited you to lunch," Adam pointed out.
I gaped at him, punching him lightly in the arm playfully. "You are horrible!" I gasped.
"I know I am, babe," remarked Adam, driving up to a very suburban area where not a single high-rise building was within sight. Along each side of the road was a row of little shops and restaurants. I rolled down the windows and inhaled the fresh air deep into my lungs. I had to admit, this was definitely better than driving downtown and dealing with the horrible traffic in the city.
"Adam, this is beautiful," I sighed, "I've never been here before."
"Told you it was better than meeting Randy for lunch in the city," Adam said with a smirk on his face.
"So which one of these little cafés are we going to visit?" I inquired, as we walked down the row of shops. Every shop sold various kinds of knick-knacks like handbags, jewelry, and hair accessories, giving me the temptation to stop by and buy whatever interested me. I felt his arm slither around my waist and I blushed.
"This one," said Adam, pointing to one called 'Dreamboat Annie', "and don't worry, we can always go shopping later." He added, grinning at me, as though he'd read my mind earlier.
The café was definitely the type of place I'd visit on a regular basis. As I could tell from the name, the owner was obviously a classic rock fan. Black and white framed photographs of famous figures such as Slash, Jimmy Page, and Janis Joplin adorned the walls, and the speakers blasted various hits from bands such as Heart, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple. The furniture was quite similar to a Hard Rock Café style: lounge chairs with a pillow shaped like a guitar on each chair.
"Oh my God, Adam," I gasped, picking up the menu, silently giggling at the descriptions given to the menu items (eg. Under Fried Chicken Wings was a line from the song 'Back Door Man' by The Doors: I eat more chicken than any man ever seen), "How did you know about this place?"
"A good friend of mine owns it," he replied, just as a waiter with hair that could rival Jeff Hardy's walked up towards us.
"Oy, Adam! Great to see you again!" said the waiter excitedly in an Australian accent, as Adam stood up and gave him a fist pump followed by a chest bump. I smirked; this was exactly what Brian, Torrey, and Connor always did to me whenever we saw each other.
"Hayes! It's been a while," Adam greeted him back, "so how've things been going around here?"
"The usual; not too busy, but enough business to stay around here," replied the waiter named Hayes, "still getting lots of compliments about the hair."
"You look like you added some yellow to it," Adam eyed the thick yellow streak of hair that greatly resembled Jeff's, "trying to copy Hardy, eh?"
"I thought it would look pretty cool on me," replied Hayes. His eyes suddenly darted to me, a cheeky smirk forming on his face. "Speaking of which," said Hayes, eyeing me, "who's the pretty lady you've brought with you today?"
"Hayes, this is Lilly, she's a friend of mine," introduced Adam, "Lilly, this is my friend Hayes from college. He was a roommate of mine."
"She's a pretty little Lilly," said Hayes, who took my hand and kissed the back of it, not unlike the way Randy did whenever we greeted each other. From the corner of my eye, I saw Adam's jaw twitch slightly, "where you from, love?"
"Toronto," I replied, "and I believe you're from Australia?"
"The Gold Coast, love, you're good," said Hayes, smirking at me.
"I can see we have the same taste in music," I said, glancing at the décor around me, "I don't find too many cafés that are themed after rock and roll, aside from the Hard Rock Café, of course."
"Please, love, I'm better than the Hard Rock Café," chuckled Hayes, "I'll prove it to you once you try the organic steak sandwich."
"Hayes puts a little healthier side to his food, but the Hard Rock Café is just bar food," said Adam, "I do recommend the giant onion rings, though."
"Try it with our new spicy tomato dip," added Hayes.
"Okay, I'll have the steak sandwich you suggested and a side of onion rings," I laughed.
"I'll have the same," said Adam quickly. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"You sure, Adam?" asked Hayes. He too was surprised, "You sure you don't want your usual of our signature chicken kiev burger and a side of sweet potato fries?"
"Nope," insisted Adam, "it's always good to try something new."
I couldn't stop smiling at Adam with endearment after Hayes had left to place our order. "Adam, this place is so perfect," I said dreamily. For some odd reason, I felt tingly and nervous inside as my eyes met his.
"I knew you'd like it, Lilly. After all, it's a hell lot better than that seafood restaurant Randy wanted to meet us at," said Adam, smirking mischievously and I laughed.
"Speaking of Randy, does he actually know that we've decided to ditch him?" I asked him, trying not to laugh at the possibility of Randy not knowing we were no-showing his invitation.
"Nope," said Adam quickly. At that very moment, Adam's cell began ringing and the caller ID was none other than Randy Orton's.
"Where the hell are you, man?" I struggled to fight the urge to burst into laughter upon hearing Randy's panicked voice (Adam had put his phone on speaker mode).
"Hey Randy, we've decided to ditch you at the last minute since we weren't in the mood for seafood," lied Adam, as he gave me a secret wink.
"You're fucking lying, Adam," Randy's response was quick, "where's Lilly?"
"She's in the bathroom at the moment, she can't speak to you right now," said Adam, as I tried not to give away my presence.
"Tell me the fucking truth, Copeland, I know she's there—" Adam had cut Randy off at that last sentence, and that was when I lost in and burst out into hysterical laughter.
"I can't believe you just hung up on Randy Orton," I choked on my breath, holding onto my stomach for dear life, "wait till I tell Laurel about this!"
"She'll be more than horrified to hear that you hung up on the man of her dreams," added Adam with a laugh.
Adam as he watched Lilly marveling at the setting of the restaurant around her, his heart swelling with pride at how he'd managed to impress her. When their food arrived and she was busy savoring the steak sandwich and onion rings, he excused himself to a trip to the bathroom. On his way back, however, he was surprised to find Hayes ushering him quickly into the back of the kitchen where there wasn't anyone else around.
"What the hell is going on, Hayes?" Adam said irritably, wanting to get back to the table where his lovely Lilly sat so he could join her back and enjoy lunch together.
"Dude, are you fucking serious? You just brought some fan girl and let her tag along with you while you're taking a week off from work?" Hayes asked him suspiciously.
"She's not some fan girl, Hayes," said Adam, rather shocked at Hayes's behavior, "what the hell is making you act up like this?"
"Dude, I've never seen her before. You haven't mentioned her the last time you talked to me. She's obviously some fan girl trying to live off of your fame so she can feel better about herself," snapped Hayes, "I've told you about this type of girl, Adam. She's nothing but trouble."
"What the fuck made you think that, Hayes?" exclaimed Adam, "is it just because she's hot?"
"Okay, so she's hot, but I tell you, you can't just go around using women like this. And you can't let women like her do the same," warned Hayes.
Adam let out a sigh of frustration. Hayes was not the first person to get on his nerves about the same issue. "Why can't people just get off of my fucking back, about Lilly of all things? There's nothing wrong with her, and she's not looking to live off of my fame. You can't fucking assume that she only wants me because of my fame; you obviously don't know her at all."
"Oh, please, Copeland," argued Hayes, rolling his eyes, "I'm just trying to watch out for you, because I can't let it happen like the last time."
The last time, Hayes had mentioned, had been with a pretty blonde named Charissa, also known as his last girlfriend. Charissa, like Lilly, had been a fan by ringside supporting him, and she, like Lilly, had run into him at the club after the show. However, unlike Lilly, Charissa had slept with him the night they met, and the next morning, just as he was about to get up and get dressed, Charissa grabbed his arm and promised she wouldn't leave him like the rest. That single promise alone, however, had made him realize his mistake, when Charissa suddenly announced she was fed up with him and left him heartbroken and crushed. It was after the unpleasant encounter with Charissa that Adam had struggled to trust women, hence hindering his chances of meeting the right girl…
…until he met the beautiful Lilly Hazel.
Lilly? The girl for him? She couldn't be. He didn't know Lilly well enough to tell that she was the one for him. She had initially been a fan he found attractive, but now they were extremely close in terms of their friendship. He'd always had a soft spot for green-eyed redheads, but Lilly had proved to be something else when his inner Casanova had attempted to seduce her.
It irritated him, however, to think that people believed she was just using him to get fame. Lilly was far from supercilious or shallow. She was sweet-natured, independent, and humble, too humble to the extent where she often criticized herself. She was definitely not the type who would use him for her own personal gain.
"Just because it happened with Charissa, doesn't mean it's going to happen with Lilly," argued Adam, "you're getting the wrong idea about Lilly, Hayes. She's not like other women."
"This may not apply to your sweet little Lilly, but the trouble with women is that they're manipulative," warned Hayes, "they'll pretend that they're cute and innocent, but really they're just playing with your feelings, which they'll eventually hurt in the end. I say that's more painful that getting socked in the balls."
Adam could tell what Hayes was trying to tell him, but he knew deep down in his heart that Lilly had no intentions to toy with his emotions and leave him heartbroken. Hayes may be a close friend, but he was entirely wrong about Lilly. She was the only exception.
Author's Note: For all you rock fans, you know where 'Dreamboat Annie' comes from :)