"So, have you heard from Angela today?" I turned my head to Matt and muted the TV, all it had on it was Power Rangers Jungle Fury anyway. Don't ask.
"No," he answered back quickly as his eyes widened in dread. "Should I have? Did something happen to her?"
Bless him. He's so sweet and innocent, obviously madly and deeply in love with Angela and quite frankly she doesn't deserve him. Especially after last night.
"No I suppose not, I was just wondering how she's doing after getting so bloody drunk last night." Relief washed over his face and he grabbed the remote and turned the volume back on. His goofy grin which I loved so God damn much spread over his face and I myself smiled. For a few minutes, I half watched him and half thought of the events that had occurred that morning.
Flashback – the morning after the Vodka Night
I woke up with a pounding headache in a strange bed and strange house. Next to me long hair flowed over a pillow and Katie was snoring in her sleep and occasionally talking incoherently, although I gathered for the most part that she was threatening Max and Angela in her dreams. Despite my hangover, that made me smile greatly.
Silently, I slipped out of Katie's bed and stood up to stretch. I noticed that I was still fully clothed as I glanced into one of the mirrors adorning the walls. God, I looked terrible. Make up was smudged all over my face, my hair was completely wild and crazy and my clothes looked like I'd slept in them. Well, I did sleep in them, but I didn't want to look like I had. That's just not sexy.
I turned and walked towards the door to her room, my throat was so sore it was almost killing me. I needed a drink; any drink, just not an alcoholic one. Soon I was stopped in my tracks by something large and unmoving on the floor, I glanced down and saw Max the slave boy lying face-first on the ground. His uniform from the night before, a pair of boxers, was gone and in its place was roped binding his arms together behind his back and forcing his legs together. There was also a ball gag planted firmly in his mouth. On his back and buttocks there was cuts, obviously fresh and a few still bleeding slightly.
In the distance of my mind, I vaguely remembered Katie binding him up and whipping him repeatedly as punishment for his sins with Angela. He'd enjoyed it thoroughly. Katie was VERY kinky, it seemed.
I groaned and ran a hand through my hair as I stared at the man blocking my path to the door. My foot shot out and I kicked him in the ribs, catching myself by surprise. "You OK?" I asked groggily. Max's eyes shot open and he looked up at me with a mix of terror and desire on his face. He nodded and I shrugged. Max likes pain, I'll give him some.
My foot again found it's way to Max and I dug my heel into his back as he screamed into his gag. I stepped over him, making sure to press my entire foot into his back, then continued to the door and swung it open as I left a rather tortured Max on the ground grunting with what I hope was pain and not pleasure. I had a sneaky feeling it was the latter.
In the kitchen, I set the cold water tap on gently and put a glass underneath it. I don't think I could have handled a loud gushing stream of water at that point. My handbag was on the table, I picked it up and pulled out some pain killers and popped two of them out of the casing. I put the tablets in my mouth and gulped down a large mouthful of water and swallowed, grimacing at the taste of the pills.
The water went down a treat and I set about putting bread into the toaster and searching for the butter in the fridge. Personally I don't like cold butter, it's so hard to spread and rarely melts properly, but it was Katie's home and beggars can't be choosers. I was just about to butter my toast when there was a knock on the front door. Knowing Katie wasn't going to be up any time soon, I went to answer. The clock in the hallway said it was just coming up to noon, I'd eventually fallen asleep at 6am. Not a bad night's sleep considering it was a drunken night and Katie was punishing Max into the early hours of morning.
Angela was at the door and I tried shutting it as soon as I saw her, but she stopped me from shutting it with her foot.
"Hopey, please let me in? We need to talk!"
"No, we don't," I grunted as I pushed all my weight against the door to try and shut it. It was pretty much impossible. Damn you, well made kinky boots. Damn you all to hell. "Just bugger off, Angela."
"Can you at least promise me something?" she called out from the opposite side of the door.
"Well, that all depends on what it is." I gave up on trying to shut the door on her, but kept it firmly closed. I couldn't stand to see her face; I knew that if I did I would honest to God destroy her.
"Just... don't tell Matt, okay? I want to tell him. And I will! I promise I will. Please, just let me tell him?"
Thank God she couldn't see me, because a hugely evil grin spread over my face the instant the words left her lips. That worked for me, I wouldn't look like the Wicked Bitch of the West to Matt. She'd be playing that role. I sighed loudly, pretending it was a tough decision for me while trying not to giggle or laugh.
"Oh, fine. I'll give you three days to tell him and if you don't by then, then I will and I really won't be kind. Understand?" She did.
End Flashback
"My ex cheated on me, you know," I said to Matt as I tucked a strand of hair behind my right ear. He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes, but didn't say anything. Obviously I'd made him uncomfortable.
"His name was Derek," I laughed. "Sexy name, right? It was a thrill to call out during sex. Anyway, my ex-friend Chantelle was the one who stole him from me. I didn't love him, though, so it really didn't matter from that standpoint. What hurt was the fact that both of them had betrayed me when I counted them highly in my life. I got nasty after I found out, I didn't trust anyone for over a year."
Matt shifted next to me on the couch and stayed silent. "I just don't want you to end up like that when you find out," I blurted out. Oops.
"What the hell do you mean?" he asked, narrowing his eyes and glaring at me through the thin slits. I gulped and turned my attention away from him to hide my blushing. The Power Rangers were arguing about pizza.
"I don't mean anything. It's just a phrase in England." I didn't like lying to him, but it had to be done. Silence passed over us and after a few seconds of staring at me suspiciously, he looked towards the TV and we stayed silent for a good few minutes.
"Has Angela cheated on me?" he asked me suddenly. More silence.
"She loves you very much," I stated.
"That doesn't answer my question, has she?" he asked, not peeling his eyes away from the TV once. I didn't either. I could hear the crack in his voice as the emotions began to set in already.
"It really depends on what you count as che-"
"Has Angela cheated on me or hasn't she, Hope?"
"It... it was nothing, honestly. A drunken kiss with Katie's pool boy, she thought he was you." Again I hated lying, but it had to be done. I couldn't afford to ruin our friendship when we were just starting to get closer and confide in one another.
We were silent together again, but it didn't feel uncomfortable any more. Angela wasn't seen by either of us that day.
.&.&.&.
"The following contest is a singles match and it is for the opening round of the second Queen of FCW tournament," I announced in the middle of the ring as the fans surrounding the ring began cheering. Music started over the announcing system and I watched as the cameras all rushed to pick up a view of the entering diva, my on-screen 'best friend' Wesley Holliday. It was certainly interesting to watch the process from this side of things. Wesley got up onto the ring apron and posed in her cowgirl hat as the fans were torn on whether to cheer or boo the supposedly heel diva.
"Introducing first, from Ocala, Florida, the second best FCW diva behind myself, Wesley Holliday!"
Wesley got into the ring and her music suddenly stopped. Another tune rang out across the hall and the fans all got to their feet to cheer for the opponent coming out. However, Wesley and myself leered at the diva making her entrance. "And her opponent, from Hong Kong, China; she is the reigning Queen of FCW and the biggest whore on the roster, Miss Angela Fong!"
The fans booed my 'special' announcing and I just attempted an innocent look. Unluckily for me, I can never really look innocent. Angela got into the ring, not even looking at me. She'd avoided being in the locker room when I was, as well as anywhere else backstage. If I saw her it was only fleetingly and she hadn't stopped once to even say 'hello'. I wasn't complaining.
I took my time leaving the ring and sat on a steel chair at ringside next to the announcers table where Scotty Goldman, Dusty Rhodes and Josh Mathews were calling the action. I noticed Scotty kept glancing at me and smiling, but I ignored him.
The match was over in a few minutes with Angela coming out the victor. As soon as the ref started counting on the final pin, I kicked off my stilettos, grabbing one in my hand and dashed into the ring. Angela stood up with the referee raising her hand up in the air and I ran at her from behind, clocking her on the back of the head with my shoe. She fell to the ground and I viciously grabbed her hair and tugged her up to face me, my knee digging into the middle of her back as I did. Screams escaped her mouth and she tried to claw at my arms to get me off of her, but the script had to be followed. I threw her face back onto the mat with force and stood up. As soon as I was up, I spat on her before I walked over to the tunbuckles and began unstrapping the top pad as Wesley stood on Angela's hair and used her arms to pull her up.
The referee was trying desperately to help Angela out of the situation as her screams continued to fill the air, much to the fans dismay. I shoved Wesley off of Angela and together we hoisted her up. Just as we were about to punish her some more, this time using the exposed turnbuckle, Jenny Cash came running out from the back and stormed into the ring. She hit me with a clothesline, then connected with a drop kick to Wesley. We both quickly rolled out of the ring, pretending to be scared of the big bad diva. I was handed a microphone and I raised it to my lips, glaring at Jenny who was now tending to Angela.
"There's your bloody winner and the first diva onto the second round, Miss Angela Fong. Cash, it's me and you next week in this stupid tournament, so you better watch your bloody back!" I threw the microphone down on the ground and Wesley and myself escaped into the back. A few wrestlers approached us as we went to the refreshments table to get some water and complimented us on our performances out there which I was grateful for. It's always nice knowing you're doing a good job.
"Hopey?" I heard as I downed a little plastic cup of water. I groaned inwardly and turned to Angela, plastering a fake smile on my face. As soon as I saw the legitimate pain on her scrunched up face, my smile turned completely real.
"Yeah, Angela?" I answered politely. Nobody at work needed to know about our personal lives and real rivalry, did they?
"I'm going with Matt to the ECW taping tomorrow night in Vegas for a little time alone. I just wanted you to know I'm going to tell him about that thing you wanted him to know after he's finished at the taping. Is that okay?"
To begin with I didn't get it. Call me dumb, but I didn't. Then it dawned on me and my eyes widened in shock. "Oh. Oh, oh yeah. That's uh.. brilliant. Have fun, Angela, I hear Vegas is great. Make sure you tell him, though."
"I will," she said softly with a sad smile. I almost felt bad for her. Almost, but not quite.
.&.&.&.
The next morning Matt was rushing around our apartment, filling his suitcase with bits and bobs he had strewn around the place. He was quite messy, but so was I, so it didn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, I'd have probably hated it if he was OCD style clean.
I sat on the kitchen counter, munching slowly on toast as I watched him throw his suitcase onto the table and begin attempting to zip it up. It looked so damn full.
"Do you honestly need that many clothes for one night? I have about the same amount to pretty much live in right now, and I'm a girl. I change my outfit at least twice a day."
He frowned as he looked at me but I just smiled, which caused him to smile too. "I have a lot more than clothes in here y'no," he started, but didn't get time to finish as the doorbell rang. Matt ran out of the room and I heard rushed talking for about a minute. He returned just as I slipped off the counter to go wash my plate up.
"My cab's here," he explained as he grabbed his case and threw it on the floor. "I told him to wait five minutes because we need to talk, Hope."
"We do?" I squeaked from the sink. Surely Angela hadn't told him already? He was acting far too normal to have been told his girlfriend had cheated on him. Maybe that was his way of dealing with it.
"Angela's coming with me to Las Vegas today," I nodded as I placed the plate on the drying rack and turned to face him. He was directly in front of me, we were nearly touching. "I'm going to break up with her tonight," he whispered. My face fell. His lips crashed against mine for a few seconds in a short but passionate kiss. He backed away sheepishly with his suitcase in tow and his wonderful goofy grin on his face again. "We'll go out for dinner or something when I get back, right?" I nodded absently and he left, both of us had huge smiles on our faces.
They were going to have a very interesting trip together.
.&.&.&.
A.N. Oooh. =P Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been busy, busy, busy and today's been the first day I've really had the opportunity to sit down and really write something. Once again, thank you to my wonderful reviewers: the regulars faither and ChainGangShorty54 and new blood IloveEvanBourne and ImWithThePack