CHAPTER 3:

Randy, The Party Pooper

"You are adorable" Mickie squealed perkily as she squeezed her friend's shoulders while Samantha pulled the hem of her leather skirt to lower it. She wasn't a fan of short skirts (or skirts at all!) and constantly wore pants to hide her legs but Mickie had insisted on it after they had gone out for the night to a dance club. Eventually, Mickie got tired of the annoying drooling men that followed her like lost puppies and decided to come home.

She slapped the uneasy woman's hands away as they walked through the first floor of the hotel towards the bar where they were to be expected. Mickie pulled Samantha along by the hand as she scolded lightly with an impish grin, "Oh no, you don't. You work hard and you play hard."

"Mickie, I swear if this is another set up-" Samantha threatened in futility as she juggled with her clutch purse while trying to measure if her skirt wasn't too short. Her voice cut off when she found herself face-to-face with some of the other wrestlers gathered at the bar for a drink as they sat in one of the back corners of the room on sectioned off ivory colored couches. Why couldn't Mickie just let her snooze?

Classical music with jazz rhythms played in the background which gave the room a classy but laidback feel to it as lamps glowed dimly overhead. . .it strangely reminded her of a vintage era bar. She placed a quick smile on her face despite her bashful mood to greet them politely, "Hello there!"

John Hennigan pointed to her styled hair as he swirled the straw of his mojito and complimented proudly with his boyish grin, "Oh, you finally curled that hair of yours instead of flattening it which practically takes years off your face."

Samantha shot him a small glare but he quickly corrected himself with a chuckle, "Not that you're old but looking fresh isn't bad for your gorgeous face. And you're wearing a silk top and a skirt- okay, who're you dating?"

"I'm not dating anyone, Mickie insisted that I dress a little for a night out but I'm only having wine here since I had a few appletini's already" she pointed out shyly and was sure the light pink blush dabbed on the apple of her cheeks was darkening by the second. She'd rarely spent time among the male wrestlers in dressy outfits and smoky makeup fit for clubbing with the gals so the attention made her a little self-conscious. True, the divas before her were glamorous in ways she could never achieve herself but her own appearance always brought polite modesty. Speaking before crowds with strangers in a professional setting was a breeze but when gathered in an enclosed space with a small number, she would turn into a woman of stutters.

She tried to find an open space on the couches the men occupied to relax in and was about to sit quietly next to John Cena as he chatted with the other John and Randy but Mickie pushed her to the left with a simple hip nudge and piped up cheerfully, "There you go!"

Samantha's feet went off balance with aid from her heels and she stumbled into the directed seat, colliding into Stephen's right side as he managed to save his drink from another liquid mishap by holding it in the air. John Cena, however, ended up getting a black stiletto heel in the peroneus longus muscle of his left leg causing him to yelp in surprise to the sharp prick. Her soft pink lipstick smeared the right side of Stephen's checkered blue dress shirt and she heard Cena snicker aloud, "Isn't that cute? She tried to spear him."

Oh, I'm gonna kill Mickie, she thought embarrassingly and managed to pull herself off the man while maintaining the last bits of her dignity. Oh, what must he think of her by now? At least she avoided smashing the glass against his chest and flashing everyone with her underwear from the unexpected fall. If Mickie thought this was attractive to a man, Samantha had a few choice words to say in argument of it.

"That was not intentional. . .and liquids should really be banned when I'm near you" Samantha offered quickly in apology and sat upright to frown at the pink smear on his shirt. It was a good thing she'd decided to go with a neutral lipstick instead of switching the look to bright lips and neutral eyes. Otherwise, Stephen would look like someone stabbed him in the side akin to those characters in low budget films. Her hands hovered over the stained area as she bit her bottom lip nervously to the conundrum and rambled uneasily, "I haven't worked with lip stains before but I'll wash it and you'll never know the difference. I'm lucky that it wasn't a vavoom red hue or-"

"Ah can do me laundry just fine, Samantha" he dismissed her quick apologetic rambles with a friendly smile that allowed her to sigh in relief and she nodded sheepishly for avoiding conflict. Other men would've yelled about pricy fabric and cleaning costs but Stephen let it slide like a gentleman which Samantha appreciated greatly. Mickie sat across from them with Gail and Eve on another couch as a mischievous twinkle glowed in her brown eyes as she saw her work coming to life. Soon, she'd be gloating at pinning the two together successfully and moving on to play Cupid with someone else. Matthew's been looking a little lonely lately and she smiled at what could be her next project, lightly tapping the skirt of her floral print halter dress with her fingers in thought.

Randy nudged Cena's forearm as he flicked his head towards the quiet woman, who was trying very hard not to stare at the Irishman next to her, and joked with the group, "Stephen's tall enough to eat little Sam here for dinner and Gail for dessert."

"Hey, don't blame our genetics" Gail defended with a playful frown to their height comparisons and sipped her martini as she raised her chin defiantly towards the man. She motioned with her foot towards the redheaded man opposite of her and pointed out smugly with a cattish grin, "At least Stephen can throw you out the door with that seat attached to your ass."

"You wound me, Kim" Randy dramatized with a sigh and clenched a fist against his heart, thumping it lightly over his charcoal dress shirt. Gail rolled her eyes at his dry humor and he snapped his fingers at Samantha, who was trying to avoid conversation by sipping her glass of wine, and chuckled at her skittish behavior as he reminded, "Oh, I might be hung over so if you don't see me down in the lobby by three, you might want to kick the door down and throw ice on me. My manager doesn't seem to get the fact that I'm a heavy sleeper. . .and I promise I won't chase you this time."

"Dude, you're like a bear" Cena pointed out with a laugh and mimicked a drooling Randy as he reclined in his seat, draping his head over Samantha's shoulder and Stephen grabbed her drink before she dropped it on either of them from surprise. John gave her a cheeky smile that she returned before he settled down and Stephen took it as an all clear to return her drink as Samantha uttered a gracious thank you for avoiding another spill that would've stained both their outfits. She'd no idea on how to get wine stains out of silk either.

The blond wrestler decided to use her shoulder as a temporary pillow in which she flicked his left ear but he ignored it as he continued explaining in humorous enlightening context, "Vipers are supposed to be alert constantly so they might as well call you The Bear. There's no way vipers can make the sounds you make when sleeping."

Eve joined the fray of calling the man a bear onscreen and added in, "He'd have to dress in one of those furry undies and put his bum in the air for applause. I'm sure women worldwide would swoon at it while men would scream in horror and feel as if the decency of manhood has been stabbed by a thousand daggers. That would be the end of The Legend Killer and he'll become El Oso Catastrófico for comedy relief." (The Catastrophic Bear)

Samantha choked down her sip of wine instead of spitting it out as she laughed aloud at the Spanish joke (while imagining such a scenario) and Randy questioned the dark haired woman instantly for translation, "Wait, what'd she say?"

Damn, I should've stuck to those high school Spanish lessons, he thought in annoyance to the predicament and hoped it wasn't something too embarrassing. Unfortunately, this only fueled the other wrestlers to join in with their own bilingual languages.

"Deo isang baipeo, ojig geeuleun kogoneungeo gom" Gail spoke rapidly with a mischievous smile aimed right at the man and it had Randy groaning in his hands at the lack of understanding either language. (No more Viper, only a lazy snoring bear)

"An Viper chun Winnie an Pooh, an náire" Stephen spoke up with his own Gaelic joke as he took a sip of his whiskey and Randy snapped his head towards the redhead to glare at whatever he'd said too since men were supposed to stick together. (The Viper to Winnie the Pooh, the humiliation)

"Damn it, one language at a time! English! Switch to channel English!" he ordered frantically to stop the madness as the entire group laughed to tears but Randy waved it off after a few seconds to sip his beer. He was here to relax since the plane ride to Rome would have him knocked out with the aid of sleeping pills because flying for long hours made him uneasy but no one dared to call him acrophobic with a fear of flying if they wanted to keep all their teeth.

Hennigan laughed into his hands as his long hair fell over his face and he suggested amusingly, "Hey, we should do this more often."

A while later, Samantha was halfway through her glass while everyone chatted away and privately wondered if she packed everything. Rome would be her first trip overseas and as excited as she was, Samantha wanted to be prepared for the flight along with keeping her job intact with her new responsibilities. Hopefully, the new workload wouldn't give her a companion called an ulcer.

"Mar sin ciúin ansin, Samantha" Stephen's voice broke her out of her thoughts since she'd stayed out of most conversations, giving only polite replies unless the group headed into sarcasm. She still considered herself a newcomer, especially when working with the wrestlers themselves and tried to keep a certain ambiance of trust within their boundaries.

Her gray eyes shot up towards his and she smiled modestly before replying slyly to his bilingual talk, "Qué?"

Randy quickly intervened from his spot at the head of the group and pointed directly at the two to nag, "Don't start that again."

"Fine, Randy" she chuckled to his little tantrum and imitated a zipper motion across her lips with her fingers which satisfied him enough to return to his conversation with the guys. She shook her head in amusement to tell Stephen privately, "He'll be dead to the world the minute he's on that plane anyway. As the tallest in our group, I may expect you to carry him."

"Maybe Ah'll decide to sleep in then" he joked lightly to the humorous prospect of letting a woman of her height carry the other wrestler that dwarfed her and chuckled softly when she shook her head in protest to the idea.

"Oh no, there's absolutely no way I can drag two men out of the airport without drawing attention" she objected with a small laugh at having to pull two sleeping bears out of the plane without a wheelbarrow to put them in and shook her finger at him. Regardless that she didn't know Stephen too well as she did John and Mike, his demeanor was friendly on a daily basis despite his intimidating height (he'd frightened her into a corner when she'd accidentally met him for the first time by bumping into him but soon warmed up to the man). She gave him a smile full of mirth and teased playfully, "You're going to be the Celtic Warrior and drag his body to the curb while I hail a taxi."

Randy quickly interrupted the duo yet again with the aid of his super hearing and declared aloud to Samantha, "You do that and you get fire ants in your bed. . .you too, Farrelly."

"We're not twelve, Randy" she pointed out to his empty threat but changed her tone in case this was a rare one-in-a-thousand chance cases where he actually took initiative and told him warmly with a perky smile, "I won't let anything happen to you. You can snore and eat like a demon but I'll wake you before you end up somewhere in Germany."

He seemed satisfied with her promise since she wasn't as crazy like some of the other wrestlers (Ted) and returned to his chat once again while Cena looked like he'd aged five years from all the interruptions. Samantha stifled a laugh behind her teeth in regards to the touchy Randy and fun loving John but having both of them on the trip tomorrow would secure peace on the plane because nobody back talked them. John tended to lecture while Randy. . .well, one heated glare from the Viper himself was enough to silence anybody. She sighed to herself in satisfaction of averting a Randy crisis and told the redhead next to her, "When you grow up in a house full of boys, you learn a few things on satiating egos."

Samantha leaned back into her seat, ignoring the cheesy grin on Mickie's face from across which caused Stephen to quirk a red eyebrow in awkwardness to her unblinking stare but she simply turned around to rejoin the chatter. He turned to Samantha for clarification on the woman's behavior, leaning close to her ear which caused poor Samantha to straighten like an army private as he asked uncertainly, "Why is Mickie staring at us like that?"

The unfortunate woman could only improvise because she sure as hell wasn't about to tell him the brunette was trying to pin both of them together in her quest of being Aphrodite herself. Samantha swirled her glass of wine nervously as she avoided meeting his gaze since they were already sitting together and it would only serve to fuel Mickie's glee along with confirmation that she was ensnaring him, which Samantha highly doubted in all the planes of existence. She cleared her throat before lying her head off to protect Stephen's sane mind, "She's practicing psychotic stares for a movie audition in New York City in a few weeks. You know, crazy stalkers and all that teenage horror nowadays. Nothing beats hacked up body pieces in today's world and I'm sure she'll ace it."

Stephen didn't look thoroughly convinced since it seemed a little farfetched to him and Samantha added in a wide smile to boost her convincing skills to make him believe it, waving to Mickie in an attempt to clinch the small lie. The brunette returned it with another beaming smile that bordered on the bizarre and Stephen decided to drop it before his mind became more boggled on why a woman was practicing acting in a bar of all places, shaking his head to let Samantha know he accepted her answer.

The cell phone in her clutch vibrated to life and she popped open the small black purse. Digging through her carry-on makeup (the mishap would have her fixing the lipstick soon), she grabbed her cell phone to check the call number and a grimace formed on her lips on the familiar numbers. Oh jeez. She flashed the redheaded man a polite smile for breaking away from their conversation (which by all miracles was lasting longer than five minutes and cursed her crappy luck) before sighing reluctantly, "Speaking of family. . ."

She answered it with a chirpy hello and the first voice she heard was her mother's overlapping the chatter of her brothers as they wanted answers regarding the wrestlers. Did she mention her brothers were hardcore fans? She hoped the tour to Los Angeles, whenever that was, wouldn't have her mauled by the trio of siblings as they tried to bypass security at the hotel. A few sharp Spanish orders sent their way told them mama wasn't kidding and the line became deathly quiet as her mother began her weekly regimen of questions, "Are you ready for your trip, Samantha?"

The production assistant stared at the table in front of her with boredom as everyone around her was having good time and stated flatly, "Yes, ma."

"Any problems with the airport? Delays? Rain-"

"Ma, it's the summer."

She sighed at her mother's constant worrywart nature over any possible catastrophe that could happen and heard her snap back worriedly, "I know that, but you're going overseas. What if the gasoline runs out or a bird flies into the turbine or a bomb-"

"Ma, you're going to scare me more if you keep talking" Samantha interjected quickly before her mother's paranoia became contagious and placed her drink on the coffee table. John Cena muffled a laugh into his hands and she smacked his shoulder lightly because the last thing she wanted to appear as was a mama's or daddy's girl. . .although she did love both very much. She tapped her fingers on her knee to keep her tone steady from mortification or irritation and assured firmly, "Look, I'm fine and nothing will go wrong, I promise-"

"Are you the one checking the runway? Piloting the plane? Monitoring air conditions?" her mother shot back to rebuff her guarantee and Samantha closed her eyes in embarrassment to being put in this position in front of the people she worked with. Then again, this could've been Los Angeles and her dear mother would've been doing the same in person to raise the humiliation meter into astronomical proportions. Samantha counted herself lucky this time.

She let her mother run out of air in her questioning rants before Samantha replied back neutrally, "Ma, you know very well that all of that is impossible for me without being thrown in jail for life so trust me. Now. . .did you feed my fishes?"

She heard John Hennigan and the women snicker at the mention of her little pets at home since being on the road meant that she either had an empty apartment or the obvious choice, had her separate room at her parent's house. Being single and twenty-five with a recent degree tended to shift you in that angle but once she finished working for the company, she'd be living somewhere scenically outdoors permanently. Randy let out a disgruntled groan for knowing he shared a name with a glowlight tetra fish of all creatures but Samantha had told him she let her brothers name the fishes ages ago and it wasn't her fault they named one after him.

Her mother hesitated before answering calmly, "Yes, perfectly fine."

That didn't sit well with Samantha and she clutched the phone closer to her ear as she demanded suspiciously, "What aren't you telling me? Did something happen to Randy and Mikey?"

The women took this time to point and laugh at Randy while he threatened to shave their hair off for any wisecracks. Needless to say, they didn't believe a word of it and kept on flinging jokes and Samantha cringed when he shot her a warning glare for letting the secret out. Whoopsie daisy.

"Samantha Isabella Mora, you care more about the fish than your own family!" her mother nagged in a piercing pitch and she held the phone away from her ear instantly to avoid bursting an eardrum as she sighed depressingly for riling up her mother.

John Cena laughed to himself from his seat next to her and he nudged her right side to ask amusingly, "Your middle name's Isabella?"

Samantha fought back a humiliated groan for being put in this position when she'd been having a good time with friends (not to mention talking to an attractive man) and shot John a glare while a ramble of Spanish reprimands were spoken by her mother. She simply sighed to get back on her good side and cut in loudly to overlap her voice, "Okay, forget about the fish!"

She felt a nudge from her right and saw John's hand motioning for the phone in which she smiled thankfully for his ability to negotiate flawlessly. He was her go-to guy in unpleasant conversations with worried parents or unwelcome people and by some miracle, he was always listened to. The man was a natural born entertainer and motivational speaker who could make anyone do just about anything. Plus, for some mysterious reason that she couldn't comprehend, her mother trusted him than any other person she worked with. The wrestler simply reclined in his seat to get into his usual conversational mood and spoke politely into the phone, "Hello there, Mrs. Mora, this is Jonathan Cena again. How are you on this fine evening? Uh-huh. Very nice to hear, ma'am. Yes, I know Samantha can be a little stubborn-"

"I'm not stubborn!"

He gave her the old 'adults are talking' glimpse before continuing the conversation, "She's a good kid though, Mrs. Mora. Did she tell you she was promoted today? Yes, I'm sure you'll have a lot to talk about later on."

Samantha groaned into her hands at those words because she already had an influx of calls every day that related to work alone and knew when her mother got chatty, it took hours to get her off without sounding rude. John simply gave her a sympathetic pat on the back as she whimpered inaudible gibberish and he carried on, "She's pretty happy right now and can't wait to board her first international flight. Now, as a mother, I know you worry but I promise her friends and I will make sure everything's all right. Uh-huh. I completely understand and I'll make sure she calls within an hour when we arrive or I'll make the call myself. Uh-huh."

"You know your family's crazy when you have to have pals talk to them" Samantha groaned in embarrassment to her loving but over worrying family. Maybe she should just let voicemail answer the rest of their calls for the week so she could catch a breather but doubted it. They'd probably put a nationwide alert for her disappearance and call the Pentagon by the time she returned to the States simply because she didn't call. She often wondered if there were other families as eccentric as hers because then she wouldn't feel so crazy. Grabbing her drink, she took a good gulp of it to wash away the red flushing her cheeks but it only worsened it.

Stephen's pale fingers grabbed the stem of her glass and he took it away as her oval shaped face flushed a rosy pink that was quickly changing into crimson. She uttered a soft complaint but didn't meet his gaze to argue and he blamed it on her modest demeanor which was quickly becoming inebriated. Her smaller fingers reached for it but he kept it out of reach like a good samaritan as he advised gently, "Not too fast there, Samantha."

"Fine" she agreed politely but frowned to being lectured and received the glass back to nurse a small sip. Stephen watched her carefully to make sure she didn't gulp the entire thing down because he was sure that the rational Samantha didn't want to be drunk hours before a flight. She met his gaze with dismay at being treated like a kid by him of all people and raised her glass in a toast to grin playfully, "Thar we go."

"No makin' fun of me accent" he warned lightheartedly to her little joke but the reserved Samantha took it seriously and he mentally groaned at hearing another apology. He would have to tell her soon that they weren't strangers and perfect mannerisms weren't needed during their conversations. Sometimes he thought that she only treated him this way but doubted there was any validity in it.

She's just a sweet lass that was raised to be polite, he thought in afterthought to her deer in the headlights expression and hoped their interactions would be less jumpy on her part.

"I wasn't, I think they're pretty unique since I spent my childhood getting rid of mine in ESL classes" she rambled sheepishly to dissuade any insults she'd unknowingly said and hoped she hadn't gotten on his bad side somehow. The blood rushed to her head from the alcohol consumption and rested back on the couch with a peppy smile that reminded Stephen of tween WWE fans whenever appearances were made. She shook a finger at him as he smiled to her coy behavior and Samantha lectured in declaration, "Don't America-nize yourself, Stephen. Erin go Brágh. Amhrán na bhFiann, ceart?"

Mickie and the other two women stared with puzzled shock at the flushing woman's last sentences but Eve beat them to the question by inquiring curiously, "What was that?"

Samantha merely blinked in confusion and answered with another dumbfounding question, "What was what?"

"That."

"What that?"

Gail laughed at her mystified expression as Stephen and the women continued to stare at her like a space alien but Samantha's neurons finally made the connection despite the alcohol flooding her system. She chuckled to their baffled expressions with a sudden 'oh' from her lips and leaned forwards to simply explain, "See, when I got my first computer as a kid, the first thing I did was research languages of different countries. My encyclopedia had anthem songs and common phrases so it was easy to learn with practice and since I lacked decent internet with those old static modems we had back then, all I had for fun were the programs already installed. Sadly, I can't say the same for knowing the languages as I grew older."

She eyed Stephen with worried suspicion and light embarrassment as she squeaked out quietly in privacy to him, "I didn't accidentally call you a pig, did I, Stephen?"

"No, yer safe" he assured with an amused laugh towards the humorous girl and wondered why she didn't talk aloud often; she was good company despite the clumsy mishaps and wouldn't mind getting to know her without having her run off. Samantha blushed at the sincere smile and glanced down at her drink to ward off the heat on her face as it traveled down her body and with no cool air flowing through the lounge, she felt like an egg under a boiling sidewalk.

She fanned her warm face with her hand in futility and groaned miserably to the group, "Boy, it's hot in here, isn't it?"

John Hennigan shook his head at her lack of keeping up with the alcohol content in her drinks and feigned disappointment as he declared, "Poor Sam's a lightweight."

Cena finally finished his conversation with a satisfied grin for yet another victory in speech and handed a flushed cheeked Samantha the phone.

"There you go, mom says to stay safe and take clean underwear" he finalized with a snigger afterwards and she shook her head to his words as she tried to fight any oncoming headaches from the call. Honestly, she believed her mother said those exact words because those were the first questions she asked when she first went on the road with the company. That and take a tetanus shot. John finished the humiliation when he gave an eyeful of his cerulean eyes and added in with a cheeky grin, "She also wants me to visit for dinner when we stop in L.A. for keeping you out of trouble all this time."

"Now why does she listens to you all the time and not me, her own child,is beyond belief" she chuckled to his suave nature and tucked her phone into her purse with the hope that it would remain there until tomorrow. Well, tomorrow was like five minutes away anyway in the Stamford but whatever. She stuffed her clutch between the seat cushions to keep it out of the way and heard the group laugh at her actions to do away with it.

John took a drink of his beer and stated simply with pride written over his chiseled face, "Manly charms, Sam. . .and my mom does the exact same with each of my brothers. You learn to deflect it."

Mickie popped in to usher Samantha out of her seat and smiled at the group to pipe up enthusiastically, "Time to dance, don't you think? Such lively music."

Randy made a sour face at the statement since it was lulling him to sleep in actuality and spoke up sardonically, "Sounds more like 40s music-"

"Wonderful music!" she emphasized sharply enough to get the man to back off as he stared at her disturbingly and Mickie plastered a wide smile on her face as if the outburst never happened. Stephen was beginning to think she actually had an audition in a horror film and froze when she pinned him down with a bright eyed glance as natural instinct told him Mickie was planning something devious but didn't get a chance to ask. She feigned a look of surprise as if she'd never seen him before and grinned excitedly at him to suggest, "Here's an idea, Stephen. Take Sam out there and dance for a bit, the poor thing didn't get to sightsee and this might be fun before she boards that plane tomorrow."

Samantha choked on her sip of wine and quickly sputtered to save herself from another of Mickie's crazy plans, "No, I-"

"That's a great idea, let's go" brunette John declared eagerly since dancing was a favorite pastime for him when he wasn't in the gym or playing sports and stood up to pull Samantha to her feet. She barely had time to place her glass down on the table before she poured it over her lilac blouse and Hennigan twirled the bashful Samantha without warning to laugh heartily, "Pura vida, mae."

"I should've never taught you that" she admonished playfully and tried to gather her bearings from the dizzy twirl before she ended up causing bodily damage to anybody nearby, Stephen in particular, since he'd become the magnet for it. Samantha knew her ears were burning red from both the situation and the wine but John Hennigan always lightened her iffy situations by pointing the spotlight on himself.

Mickey tried to fix her plan as it began to tear heavily at the seams and violently jabbed her finger at the redhead, who raised his eyebrows at her, as she intervened, "No, Stephen's supposed to-"

The plan hit critical failure when the Irishman gave the duo a smile and declined with a small yawn as he covered his mouth, "No thanks, it's gettin' late an' we have an early flight so enjoy yerself, Samantha."

The brunette woman could only stare as the two headed off to the dance floor while the redheaded man finished his drink and she sighed at another plan biting the dust. A muffled snicker was heard from behind and the brunette snapped back, "Shut it, Gail. This is just a setback."

With that said, she smoothed out the floral patterned skirt of her dress and ordered another martini from the bartender to enjoy the rest of the night.

Samantha tugged her carry-on suitcase along on its squeaking wheels as she mentally counted everyone for the trip outside of the security screening and tapped her foot against the gray tiled flooring as she waited on the last person. Ironically enough, Randy was the first person to arrive but was already using seven airport seats as a temporary bed while he wearing his coat as a sleeping mask. She hoped that he wouldn't need to be carried inside if he already drank his sleeping pills to snooze through the trip.

She finally caught a hint of neon orange and blue through the airport crowds but tilted her head to the right side when she saw the haste in his steps. What on Earth. . .

"Oh no" she mumbled hopelessly at the idea of the paparazzi chasing the popular wrestler down with fans in tow.

John Cena ran like the wind through the crowds, efficiently dodging people in his way as he confirmed her dreaded suspicions when he yelled out, "Rabid fans!"

So much for an easy check-in at the airport.

Luckily, she'd been saving her spot in the security line for such a scenario and watched him jump over nearby empty chairs as if he were hurdling for the gold in the Olympics until he met her in the line. She nodded impressively to his ability to not plow anyone down on the way there and wondered if this was the first time he'd done that run. John hunched over to take a deep breath as he managed to speak hoarsely, "I think. . .I think I lost them."

"Why in the world did you wear orange of all colors? You're like a neon target sign for them" she scolded before shoving him ahead of her and offering an apologetic smile to passengers behind her as she lied by saying he was her cousin. The sooner she got him past the security line, the better.

Unfortunately, a wrestler like him would get noticed in a heartbeat by loyal TV viewers and within a minute, the fanatical crowd had descended on the man. Now, normal fans would've shook hands and asked for autographs which John would've gladly given but if it caused the man to run like a madman, then it was the worst kind. Poor John got the bad portion on this day because the second they reached him, arms shot out and they started grabbing at him as if he were made of delicious free chocolate.

"Let's be calm. . .okay now. . .Ow! Hey! What the- that's not a toy! C'mon now-"

Samantha could only manage to push the taller man forward through the security line as people rushed the man to tear at his clothes and shouts of praise echoed through the halls louder than the airport's intercom overhead. John's calm and friendly demeanor in public didn't help matters and it only served to fuel their actions in which Samantha cleanly tore off the coat he wore over his shoulders and pushed him with all of her strength through the metal detector. Reaching the safety of the TSA, John was able to stuff his duffel bag in the x-ray machine and headed inside towards safety when the metal detector didn't beep on him while Samantha stayed behind to push back the crowds and deal with the aftermath.

The small group of RAW superstars that were gathered nearby to wait for Samantha and John could only stare in bewilderment as he walked up to them with his duffle bag in tow (which no longer had a shoulder strap) and ruffled clothing but minus a watch, cap, and jacket. He hoped they hadn't managed to snag his cell phone too. John ran a hand over his blond head before declaring to them in a casual sigh, "I gotta start carrying freebies."

"Wasn't there security out there?" Ted questioned as he could see the large crowd dispersing from the area and was glad only passengers were allowed at the gate. Otherwise, all of them would be getting the same treatment at the moment and running into the plane for safety.

"Yeah but it wasn't a pretty sight" John said with a wince at what security would face with the crazy fans but laughed heartily the next second to point out, "It's when they stop grabbing at you that you should really start worrying."

His left ear felt a little deaf when he laughed and he reached up to touch his ear and both Nattie and Ted gaped in revulsion when John's hand pulled out a sticky pink residue from within his ear. John stared at it in shocked stupor as the only facial movement came from his blinking eyes before exclaiming with horrified disgust, "Is this someone's gum? Ugh! Oh my-"

Ted took this ample time to crack a joke and teased with a roguish grin, "Damn John, your fans sure have some weird fetishes."

John was about to flick the sticky gum into the blond man's hair in retaliation to see who had the last laugh but Nattie saved Ted from a hair catastrophe as she spoke up worriedly, "Um, you guys. . .where's Sam?"

John gaped for a second as he realized the dark haired woman was nowhere in sight and muttered under his breath, "Oh crap. . .Sam!"

Just as the two were about to venture into the mad crowd before them, Samantha burst through the security screening while holding her carry-on bag like a life preserver. Her black cardigan sweater hung off her shoulders as she breathed heavily despite the short distance and walked over to John to hand him the last shredded remain of his jacket. The wrestler stared at the ripped remains of his expensive jacket as Ted stifled an amused laugh behind his hand and John pocketed it since it could still be used as a cleaning rag for his cars. Samantha pulled off the clip holding her shoulder length hair in place since half of it had gotten loose (not to mention pulled) and put on a shoe that had fallen off in her haste to scram. She considered herself lucky for not losing it or breaking the small heel.

Nattie walked over to the disheveled woman that appeared as if she'd come straight out from a car accident and clasped a hand over her mouth in disbelief to exclaim over her appearance, "Oh my, Sam, did they get you too?"

"No, they completely ignored me but I was able to sell off his jacket for $5 bucks a piece" she piped up brightly with a toothy grin despite she'd almost gotten mobbed less than a minute before and showed them several green bills in her right hand. Being in TV production, there was never a dull moment to advertise and this time worked marvelously for both parties. When she knew the coat was going to be shredded by eager hands, she'd made a daring attempt to sell the pieces off and it worked like a charm. Waving the dollar bills in the air, she told the trio proudly, "Look, I made $30 in under a minute!"

John yanked them out of her grasp with a mischievous 'yoink' and she groaned disappointedly with a 'hey' for losing her quick made cash but he split it in half to give her the change. He liked treating Samantha like a kid sister and after saving his butt from being mauled by fans, she deserved a little compensation for doing something out of her job description. She pocketed her new fifteen bucks with a smile as she fixed her luggage back onto the floor to squeak its wheels (she really should've bought new luggage before heading out on this job) and John stated brightly, "This will come in handy for the flight."

Samantha rolled her carry-on case and shot him a flat stare since he tended to splurge on stuff without actually having a need for it. Their last trip cost him over two hundred bucks when he bought an R2-D2 replica but the weirdest was a head massager that caused Randy and Ted to laugh for hours at the Tron looking helmet. Samantha, unfortunately, had to side with them on that occasion because it did make him look like a character straight out of Tron or some strange sci-fi film. She hoped he wouldn't go overboard this time and took it upon herself to keep his impulsive buying in check by demanding, "You're not going to buy from the Duty Free or Sky Mall shops again, are you?"

"What? A little Hugo Boss never hurt anyone" he said innocently with a boyish grin but she knew it was anything but that and John turned around to walk away with Ted, who continued laughing at his gum incident. She shook her head amusingly to those two and fixed her rumpled sweater as she tried to patch up her professional look but doubted it would be as before.

Nattie gave her a friendly smile and Samantha wished she could look so put together as the blond did with her tight-fitted black blazer and skinny denim jeans while her flawless face screamed nationwide magazine cover. Samantha would be lucky enough to be on a page titled 'don't let this happen to you'. She pretty much dabbed on whatever lipstick matched her clothes and forgot about eye shadow so early in the morning. . .well, it was three a.m. so pretty much the dead of night.

I need a pick me up and find the nearest bathroom to fix my hobo appearance, she thought tiredly since the wine had given her a small headache but it was nothing a little coffee or chocolate wouldn't fix.

Samantha grabbed Nattie's arm as the blond muffled a yawn behind her hand (apparently, she'd gone to sleep late too) and the shorter woman suggested cheerfully, "Let's go buy Toblerone's and hit a Starbucks since we need our pep to last through two airplane rides!"

"Sammy, you've read my mind" Nattie chuckled giddily at eating something that would perk her right up (despite the calorie count) and both women linked their arms together to head down the chain of stores near their waiting gate.

Unfortunately, time was against them today as the monotonous intercom buzzed to life throughout the airport, "Flight 801 from LaGuardia to Logan International by US Airways boarding now."

The small group of superstars and other passengers could hear the loud echo of Samantha's voice seconds later, "Damn it!"

That, in turn, woke up Randy from his slumber and he shot upright with his jacket over his head to yell out in disorientation, "We'll be back after these messages!. . .Oh god, I'm blind!"

Mike, who was quietly reading a New York bestseller to keep his mind tranquil, used his handy novel to smack the coat off of Randy's head as he sat nearby and returned to his reading without a peep.

"Oh," was Randy's reply when his vision came back instantly.

A/N: Airport security lines, the only way to beat them is to run for your life. . .well, in John's case. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the next one will take place in Rome, Italy where strange food is consumed and a casual visit to a vineyard has a group of superstars lost while Mike runs amok into the wild. Thank you for your fav's and alerts on this story, I appreciate every one I get. Brownie points go to whoever can figure out the country of origin to Hennigan's quote.

Kudos to my story reviewers:

TheProblemIs-It'sNotMusic: Thanks for the fav and alert! There's no way I will ever make a Mary Sue character since OC's are hard to bring to life and making them handle everything like superheroes is a huge no-no. We've all seen the 'love note' tactic from elementary to college and we should know by now that it tends to backfire in ways most horrible. Sheamus is intimidating in height alone but he always makes me laugh on Raw (especially last Monday's when he had that little ice pack on his head) and the accent clinches the interest.

Notallgermangirlsareugly: Thank you for loving the fic and yes, she's as normal as you and me. Especially in this chapter by turning a bad situation into a business opportunity.

WWE Superstar Fanatic: Yeah, this fic will have a lot of comedy in it and I'm doing my best to make sure all the descriptions in my writing are easy to imagine by the readers. Thank you for the review!

LMDxCenaxOrtonxCullen: Glad you like it and I have a tendency as a writer to have a couple face obstacles at first and both Sam and Stephen will face the same (while also surviving the adventures they're put in). I read your story and yes, you should write more Sheamus fics because he needs love too aside from all the other popular superstars.