"Get your damn hands off, Jack." Zara said calmly, through gritted teeth as she glared up at him her eyes gleaming with anger. This gimmick might have seemed like a smart idea at first, a good way to get closer to Zack, sort of ease into telling him eventually, "Oh and by the way, I'm the mystery admirer on twitter", but now, with each time she had to walk Jack down to the ring, she found herself getting a little more afraid of Jack.
And seeing Eve back on the roster only gave her this underlying sense of urgency, like if she didn't tell Zack soon, then everything she and Kaitlyn and AJ planned for her to eventually TELL Zack how she felt, well..
It'd be all for nothing.
Zack being part of this was the only reason Zara even agreed to this stupid gimmick. And standing here right now, in front of Jack, with him trying to force her into a kiss, yet again, on camera, Zara found herself wondering what she'd do if this all backfired in her face. What if Zack still hated her because she was Eve's younger half sister?
She sneered at Jack and leaning in, she pretended to kiss him, but when his tongue forced past her lips, she bit down as hard as she could, causing him to swear. She walked off calmly as if she'd done nothing, and around the corner, she stopped to get a grip on herself, try to remind herself that this was all for show, that Jack might be an asshole, but he wasn't like the guy who'd raped her when she was 15..
She'd had plenty of time to get over that by now, but sometimes, it still felt like the entire thing only happened just yesterday, and not when she'd been 15. Nobody really knew about it, of course, she kept that part of herself locked away privately.
"And there's the cute valet.. All by herself." Zack said with a smirk as the cameras rolled, catching this on air as it happened. He helped her up, she'd been crouched over, and he asked calmly, "Why are you even with that jackass?"
Zara sighed and shrugged then remembered what she'd been instructed to do, when interacting with Zack.. This part was hands down her favorite part of this whole bit.. She got to show him how she felt without his even being aware of it, with his thinking she was just 'acting'.
She leaned in and then said quietly, "I don't know.. But lately, Zack, I've been thinking about making a change."
"Is that so?" Zack asked, leaning in also. The best part of this whole thing they all had going on camera right now, was that he got to show her that he liked her without saying it and being rejected, feeling like an idiot after that inevitably happened.
"Yeah." Zara said quietly, as she reached up, raked her hand through his hair, then gave a slight wink before adding, "And I think I know just what change I'm gonna make." , blowing a kiss over her shoulder at him and walking off.
Jack stepped out from behind the wall, and Zack smirked at him as he shrugged and said "What, Thwagger?" before walking off as if he hadn't done a damn thing.
Eve sat down the hallway, watching the monitor, groaning inwardly. If she didn't hurry and do something, she was going to lose her big shot. In anger, she stormed out of the room to find Jack. Once she had, she slapped him and then dragged him into a closed room as she paced and then said "And what the fuck was that? What part of getting with my little sister did that fall in, Swagger? Because you PROMISED me that this went the way we wanted it to go.. Why were you not beating the hell out of Zack just then so I could be there, waiting to take care of him?"
Jack glared at her and then hissed, "And what about you, earlier? You practically just LET Zara and Zack keep flirting during my match." as he put his hand on his hip and waited on an answer, angry himself.
"If you want to be with her, Swagger.. Being a brute and an asshole is not going to work.. You have to fool her into thinking you're not an asshole, get her to fall for you.. Now I know you two have rooms side by side.. She has nightmares at night, they're usually noisy.. Not sure why or whatever, but yes.. If you want your way in? Try that.. And stop all this behaving like a caveman, because that doesn't work on any woman and it's worse for Zara because.."
"Why?"
"Men, especially really, really big ones, make her skittish. Look.. I know I've never actually LIKED her, but she is my sister Jack.. And I don't want you doing something that's going to traumatize her." Eve said as she sighed and then said calmly, "Stick to what I tell you. Do not deviate from the plan you dumb redneck ape." as she smacked him in the forehead, turned on her heel and walked out.
Jack stood there a moment, trying to figure out the best way to tone things down, to lull Zara into a false sense of security so he could zero in and get with her. He just had to have her one time. Beyond that? He didn't really care that much.