Disclaimer :As much as I wish otherwise, I do not own Randy Orton or any other entity associated with WWE. I can only claim property rights of OC.
A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews! Keep them coming!! Y'all rock!
Claire had slept well, considering she had gone to bed sometime after 7a.m. and was back up before 10 a.m.. She wanted to get her day started. She wasn't sure how she was going accomplish that; only the sooner she did, the sooner she'd be done. Certainly she didn't want to start with Mr. Personality. Maybe she could meet up with Cody and spend the day shadowing him. She dressed quickly and paused just long enough to run a brush thru her hair and make a quick trip to the bathroom. She grabbed her room key and phone before stepping into the hall. The hotel was eerily quiet as she made her way down to Cody and Ted's room. She knocked lightly and waited. After a moment, nobody answered. Damn. She'd already missed them. After taking the elevator down to the lobby and looking around, she hoped she would see someone. No luck. She would have to take a cab to the American Airlines Center.
By the time Claire made it to the Center, preparations for the night's show were already in progress. The ring was already set up and the pyro-team was busy getting everything in place. She made her way deeper into the building toward where catering should have set up. No sense in starving to death. If she was going to deal with Randy, she was going to need all of her strength. She grabbed a turkey-on-white and a bottle of water before sitting down. The first thing she needed was a plan. A plan would make her job easier and hopefully limit the amount of time she would spend being tortured.
Claire pulled a pen out of her pocket and reached for a napkin. Step One – interviews. The more people she could talk to, the less she would have to talk to HIM. Step Two – get outline written and turned in. Step Three – get Randy to stop being an ass long enough to answer questions. Step Four – get the hell out of here and back to Stamford. There. Sounded like a plan. Granted, it wasn't the best plan, but it was better than nothing.
A deep voice from behind made Claire jump. "Look what the cat dragged in."
She turned only to find herself looking at an incredibly well-formed chest. Claire swallowed hard and heaved a sigh of relief as her eyes moved up the length of his body. "You need to shave."
Mark Calaway, better known to the WWE world as The Undertaker, chuckled and pulled up a chair to sit beside her. "What brings you around?"
"Apparently I was bad in a former life and now I'm being punished." Claire reached for her bottle of water and took a deep drink. Mark arched a brow and waited for her to continue.
"You know how Jaz got assigned to write your bio?" Mark nodded.
"Well, guess who I got stuck with?" Her answer was the lazy shrug of a broad shoulder. "Mr. Asshole Himself." Mark laughed softly, thinking that could mean any one of a dozen men.
"Bet you ten bucks you won't believe it." Claire folded up her scribbled-on napkin and shoved it in her pocket.
"You know I can't take your money. Why don't you tell me?" Mark leaned back slightly, taking in the strained lines of her face. He only knew of one man that could put such a look on a woman's face. "You gotta be shittin' me! Orton?"
Claire nodded and glanced over at Mark. "Yep. Lucky me, huh?"
Mark swore softly under his breath. Of all the jerks she could have been stuck with, why did it have to be him? Claire was one classy lady. Much too good to be stuck chasing after a dirt-bag like Orton. "I swear to God I'll kill him."
Claire reached over and gave Mark's hand a squeeze. "I appreciate the offer but I'll have to handle this on my own."
"Claire, I mean it. Orton is not the kind of guy you want to get caught up with. If he tries anything, I want you to tell me. " Mark wanted to reach over and shake some sense into the girl. She had a stubborn streak a mile wide. "If he does ANYTHING to hurt you, he'll answer to me."
Claire stood slowly and picked up the remains of her lunch. "I'll be careful, I promise." With that, Claire left. Mark remained sitting, wondering what the hell Claire had gotten herself into. Orton had one hell of a reputation; he was way beyond the average bad-boy type. He was the kind of man that would hurt Claire and not give two shits about it. Mark knew he would have to keep an eye on Claire, whether she liked it or not.
* * * * * * * * *
It was barely an hour before show time when Claire finally found Cody. He was standing in the gorilla position, watching the crowd file into their seats. She stopped beside him, and looked over the sea of people. "Looks like a full house tonight."
"I was wondering when you'd show up." Cody couldn't help but smile. He was always glad to see Claire.
"You and Ted ran out on me this morning. Took me all day to find you."
"I'm sorry about that. Randy wanted to hit the gym early and then we . . ." Cody's voice trailed off as he realized Claire really wasn't listening. She'd lost interest as soon as Randy's name had left his lips.
"We still on for dinner tonight? Claire patted herself on the back for smoothly changing the subject. Glancing at Cody, she noticied the fine blush creeping into his cheeks.
"Yeah. Sure. Where do you want to go?"
Claire shrugged a shoulder and turned back to look at the crowd. "I'll meet you at your locker room after the show and we'll decide."
Cody couldn't help the flicker of excitement that danced thru him. He didn't get to go out for dinner with a lady very often. He especially didn't get a chance to spend time with a woman as pretty and charming as Claire. He almost wished he wasn't on the card tonight. He wanted to spend as much time with Claire as he could.
A/N: Let me know what you think and write a review!
