Chapter 2
John walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his muscular waist, rivulets of water running down his rock hard chest. "Don't need no copy of vogue magazine..." He sang, smirking when she laughed. "Do you see what you did? You got that damn song stuck in my head, woman." He growled, dropping down on the bed, and leaned over to steal a kiss.
"I know and I'm proud of it. I told you country isn't that bad." She winked and laughed when pulled her back; thankful her cup of milk was on the nightstand, John began tickling her. Austin squealed and finally stopped him with a deep, passionate kiss, feeling him lift her up to where she was straddling him, breaking it. "Enough loving for tonight, champ. I have to do some more wedding preparations." When he groaned, she sighed and kissed him again, sliding off his lap. "You do realize I'll be working while I'm on the road with you right?"
That was the deal. If John could get her a job with the company, she wouldn't have a problem traveling with him. Though Austin refused to travel and be bored out of her mind, which made John beg his boss to make her his new personal assistant so she wouldn't be.
"I know this...but that doesn't mean I can't cart you off for some lovin' every now and again, right?" John pouted, trying to peek at the laptop only for her to turn it away, scowling. "You're looking at dresses again, aren't you? Come on baby, lemme have a look. I could help you out and stuff; you know a male's opinion."
"You are the groom; it's bad luck seeing the bride's dress before the big day." Austin stated for the umpteenth time and shut the lid to her laptop when he went to peek again, raising a slow eyebrow. "I don't need a man's opinion; I'm just trying to find the perfect one. I want to look perfect for you." She smiled when he pouted, kissing his nose and lips, winking. "It'll be well worth the wait, especially with what I have planned for our wedding night." Now her green eyes were full of mischief and John looked like he was a man dying of thirst. Before he could say anything, she popped a cookie in his mouth.
"Okay, so can I help with THAT?" John pleaded, flashing those big blue, puppy dog eyes, clasping his hands in front of him. "I could so totally be of help picking out something for the wedding night." When she shook her head no, he moved down onto the floor, burying his face against the bed. "I need another cold shower." He grumbled, trying to hide his smile.
"Aww is my Johnny boy feeling left out?" Austin taunted with a smirk, seeing the scowl on his face though his blue eyes were a dead giveaway, the amusement clearly in them. "You need to get your tux and everything. There are things the groom needs to plan just like the bride. Not to mention you still haven't given me your list on who's all coming to the wedding." This was going to be big, probably over four hundred people easy, thanks to John's huge family not to mention hers. Elizabeth, her mother, was planning most of it along with John's mother, Carol. "Just watch your cartoons and let me find my dress. You're not seeing it until I'm walking down the aisle toward you on my father's arm."
"My mother is making the list." John grumbled, not amused. He had started it and, when Carol seen how FEW people he wanted to invite, she'd instantly taken over. Carol had this idea in her head that a wedding should be a production to rival freaking WrestleMania. "And I go for my fitting in a week." He was going along with his Best Man and groomsmen. "Watch your cartoons..." He mimicked, smirking when she shot him a look. "If I'm bad, will you punish me?" He asked playfully, dropping down at the end of the bed, reaching for the remote again.
"You are a piece of work." She grumbled, slapping his ass and laughed when he just wiggled it, asking for another. "Sean, Matt, Dan and Steve are going for their fittings too right?" Those were his four brothers and they were all his groomsmen. His best friend Randy, who she was meeting tomorrow, was his Best Man and she couldn't wait to meet him. When John nodded with a sigh, Austin reached over and ran her nails down his back before kissing his ear. "It'll all be worth it." She murmured and tousled his short brown hair before going back to look for a dress, tapping her chin in thought.
"I know it will be, baby." John replied, giving her his heart stopping smile, blue eyes sparkling. Then he winced when Cartoon Network BLARED, hurriedly turning down the volume. "Sorry, Aus. Anyway...as long as I get to spend the rest of my life lovin' you, anything will be worth it." He said sincerely, not caring how corny that sounded.
"Ditto sweetie." Austin replied, suddenly just wanting to be near him as she shut the laptop down.
She had the dresses narrowed down to three; she'd choose tomorrow and snuggled against him. Family Guy was on, one of the only cartoons she would watch. Austin ended up falling asleep against John and didn't feel him lift her up, placing her on the bed correctly, before crawling in beside her. She rested her head against his chest, arm draped over his chest with her hand resting over his heart. Austin had the most peaceful look on her face, looking angelic as John turned the light off, joining her in darkness moments later.
John was up before she was, excitedly bouncing around the hotel room quietly. He was in a frenzy, knowing today Austin got introduced to his world. His friends, and best buddy; all of it. Granted, with this new storyline of Randy's, it had been awhile since they hung out, but that was only because Randy had to watch his ass. Paul had taken the line a bit too personally and was now acting like the world's ultimate asshole.
Her eyes slowly fluttered open as Austin's body stretched, a long yawn escaping her, and seen her fiancé was already up. The side of his bed was empty, but a note with a beautiful red rose was lying on the pillow, causing her to smile.
~Aus,
I went to work out in the hotel's workout room.
I would've got you up, but you looked too beautiful and peaceful sleeping.
Order whatever you want for breakfast, I'll be back soon.
I love you.
John~
Grinning, Austin took the rose and inhaled the scent, running her fingertips over it and decided she was having pancakes for breakfast. After placing the call to room service, Austin slid from the bed and hopped in the shower, knowing tonight she was meeting all of John's friends and would get to see what he did for a living. It was very exciting and she couldn't wait.
"Okay, so you're getting married in October and next week I have to go in for a fitting? Man, you suck." Randy groaned, lifting iron with John, for once free of Cody and Ted. Though him and John were both on alert for Paul, just in case.
"Yep, a frilly pink undershirt is what you'll be wearing too." John said seriously, keeping his head down so Randy didn't see the humor in his eyes.
"That's so not even funny, man." Randy didn't doubt for a second that John would do something so heinous to him; that's just the way his friend's sense of humor ran. "So when do I get to meet this 'babe' of yours?"
"Tonight. She's upstairs recovering from the intense sexual workout I just put her through."
"You are a very twisted man, Cena. I don't need to hear that shit."
After her shower and breakfast, Austin dressed in a blue jean skirt with a midnight blue halter top, which matched her nails, along with white tennis shoes. It was sporty, yet dressy at the same time since John told her about the dress code. Him and Mark Calaway -who most knew as the Undertaker-, were the only exceptions to the dress code rule because of their personas.
Of course, Austin had no idea who the Undertaker was, but from what John said, he was massive and the locker room leader. The Deadman John mostly called him. Austin sighed as she paced back and forth slowly, chewing her bottom lip and sighed when her cell phone rang, grinning at the sound of Carol's voice.
"Hey Mom number two."
"Hey sweetie," Carol chortled at the nickname her soon-to-be daughter-in-law gave her. "I just have a quick question regarding John's fitting. Is he still making Marc a groomsman?"
Marc Predka was John's cousin, though he was making Randy his Best Man due to Randy making John his at his wedding. John felt he owed him one. Ever since John's decision, the cousins hadn't spoken to each other. "I don't know honestly. I'll ask him when he comes back from working out."
"Okay honey, thank you."
After talking to Carol, followed by her biological mother, about the wedding, Austin did her hair, leaving it down curled at the ends. Her lips shined with clear gloss, green eyes outlined in midnight blue eyeliner, and a silver necklace hung around her neck with an angel dangling from it. It was a gift from Carol and had her birthstone in it. Ruby. She was born in July. Austin finally sat down, seeing it was a quarter after five, and knew John should be back any time now. Her meeting with Vince McMahon was at six-thirty and Austin could only pray John remembered.
"Okay I got to go, man. I need a shower before we go see Vince." John said after catching the time, groaning. He was pushing it. "You fucker, you distracted me."
"Sorry." Randy shrugged with a smirk. "Maybe next time you won't run your mouth about what a 'voraciously fuckable'-" He ducked when John hurled a shoe at him. Being the nice guy he was, Randy called Vince to let him know John would be late due to their workout running longer than expected.
John owed him big time.
When John stumbled into the hotel room at six o'clock, Austin wasn't happy or amused, pointing to the bathroom. "Hurry up." She ordered evenly while looking on the laptop for dresses, deciding she would call her Maid of Honor, Amber, for her opinion.
John just went to take a shower, after dropping a kiss on her forehead and apologizing, which Austin brushed off. She was angry and for good reason. Thanks to him, she would probably be late for her meeting with Vince, the irresponsible jerk.
John took the world's fastest shower ever, jumping in and out basically. He dressed as fast as he could, knowing Austin was pissed with him, and inwardly groaned. Her temper wasn't pretty.
They were out of the hotel by a quarter after six, John holding her hand while Austin tried keeping up with him. They slid in the blue SUV and Austin buckled up, a bag with her laptop and paperwork in front of her, and turned her Rascal Flatts CD on. Nerves were putting her on edge as she whipped out a cigarette, ignoring John's groan, and lit it up after rolling the window down. It was a beautiful summer night, early June, and they were currently in Orlando Florida.
'Just breathe.' She thought, coaching herself mentally and took a long drag as her eyes closed, letting the nicotine work its way through her system.
Smoking was disgusting, but...if the alternative was her beating the snot out of him -cause he was man enough to let her- he cracked his own window. "You'll be fine." He promised, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "Vince will love you." Providing he wasn't fuming about being held up.
Austin didn't smoke often, just when she was nervous about something, and knew she was going to be a few minutes late for her meeting. Talk about a bad first impression. Austin took another long drag, flicking ash out the window, squeezing his hand to let him know she was alright and believed him. She didn't want to talk right now and then remembered what Carol called for.
"Your mom called." She said quietly, turning the music down. "She wanted to know if you're still making Marc a groomsman." From Austin's understanding, they weren't on good terms because of John making Randy his Best Man and the CD they created together. Marc was angry John got a bigger cut then him, which lead into a fight. John got punched, Marc got pummeled, but they made up…until now. "I'll have to call her back and tell her."
"Yeah, yeah I'm sure." John answered, knowing he needed to be the bigger man and let bygones be bygones. Though no doubt Marc would view the entire thing as John rubbing his success and happiness in his face. "Look, I'm sure Vince isn't going to think bad of you." He said, realizing that first impressions were important to Austin. "It was my fault; he knows me well enough that I can't keep time."
"I hope you're right." Austin murmured softly before looking out the window again, finishing her cigarette as she flicked it out before popping a breath mint. She knew how much John loathed her smoking, but Austin couldn't just stop cold turkey. She had a cigarette every few days, if that. He made her happy and there were days when she wasn't craving one at all. She felt him squeeze her hand and looked back at him as he brought her hand to his lips, gently kissing the back of it. "Thank you again for getting me this opportunity, sweetie."
Now he really felt like an asshole for making her late. "You're welcome." John murmured, knowing they were only minutes from the arena, watching as the massive building loomed into view. "You ready to do this?" He asked softly, glancing at her across the console. "You're awesome, Austin. Vince will know it and you already know I do."
Taking a deep breath, Austin reached over and kissed his lips softly before sliding out of the SUV, pulling her bag over her shoulder before walking around to grab John's hand. She wasn't mad at him, not able to stay that way more than an hour at the most. He somehow made up for whatever he did to anger her in the first place, to make her forget. They rushed inside the arena and went straight to Vince's office, both hoping the boss wasn't too upset.
