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Callie

Chapter 13

As Callie waited for Mike to pick her up, she sat on the couch, her hands fidgeting in her lap. She was having second thoughts. As she remembered John's face earlier, she could tell how upset he was that she was going out with Mike. Maybe she should call Mike and cancel so she could go see John and try to smooth things over. And it was when she heard the knock on her door she remembered that John sounded like he was pretty much done with her. And she couldn't blame him. He was just being a good friend. So she stood up and walked to the door, hoping to forget that she may never be with John again.

"Callie," Mike greeted her with a smile as she pulled open the door. "hey, you look gorgeous."

She smiled back as she stepped into the hall. "Thank you, you look good too."

His smile widened in response. "You ready?" She nodded and he gestured for her to start walking down the hall. "So how was your day?"

She shrugged. "It was good," She said as she tried not to think about her encounter with John. "nothing special. You?"

"Same, same, though I eagerly anticipated our date," He answered.

She smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes, though she wasn't too sure Mike noticed. "So where are we going?"

"Just a little Italian restaurant one of the guys told me about."

She nodded. "Sounds good. I love Italian food."

"Who doesn't?" He joked. She gave a little laugh because she had a feeling he was expecting one.

Twenty minutes later the pair arrived at the restaurant and it was actually really cute and the food sounded delicious. "So," Mike said after their placed their orders. "you excited for Wrestlemania?"

She smiled as she thought about the upcoming event. "Very excited," She answered. She was especially excited because there was some talk with creative about her being a part of the show. Though nothing was set in stone, she couldn't wait, especially since she hadn't been a part of it last year. "You must be too,"

"Absolutely, I cannot wait. It's going to be amazing." He grinned. "So do you have a date yet for the hall of fame?"

Oh god, she thought to herself, please don't ask me. "Not yet. Do you?"

The way he was smirking told her that he was thinking about asking her to be his date. "Me neither." If she was having second thoughts before, now she knew without a doubt she had to let him down gently tonight so he wouldn't ask her to go with him.

John threw back the shot of tequila before slamming the glass back on the bar top. "Whoa man, slow down," Randy Orton said from beside him. Since Mike and Cal were on a date together, John knew, no way could he just sit in his hotel room. He had to get out so he'd called some of his friends to meet him down in the bar. "Something on your mind?" Randy asked, concerned. He'd been friends with John for a long time and he had never been a heavy drinker. However, since they'd sat down a half hour ago, the man had already downed two shots and a mug of beer.

John shook his head as he pushed the empty shot glass between his hands. "I'm good," He said with a large smile to prove his friend wrong, though the smile was fake. Randy nodded unconvinced before turning back to his conversation with Cody Rhodes.

"Here man," Ted DiBiase said from the other side of John. "I'll buy you a drink." He offered as he waved the bartender over.

John told the bartender what he wanted before turning to Ted. "Thanks,"

Ted shrugged. "No problem, so how've you been?"

Well, John thought sarcastically to himself, the girl I've been hooking up with and developing feelings for is on a date with my best friend right now. "Good, and you?" He said simply.

"Same, same. So Mike has been telling us that you got a girl in your life?" He asked curiously, though of course he already knew that girl was Callie, he was curious to hear what the man had to say.

John rolled his eyes. "Mike's got a big mouth," He said and then thanked the bartender as he sat his beer in front of him. "It's a wonder why any girl would date him."

Ted laughed. "Well he's on a date with Callie right now so apparently he's doing something right."

John instantly tensed up, something Ted noticed and stored away as interesting information. "Yeah," He said and cleared his suddenly tight throat. "He told me." He wasted no time in chugging some of his beer.

"It's a little strange, huh? All this time she's turned down his advances, suddenly she's going on a date with the guy?" He shook his head as if he couldn't figure it out as he took a sip of his drink.

"Definitely strange," John echoed.

Ted watched as the man's neck veins twitched and he rolled his eyes. "Listen," Ted said as he leaned closer to his friend. "I'm going to tell you something and you're not gonna tell Callie cause she may murder me if she finds out." He said honestly.

John tried to look confused. "I'm not really the best of friends with Callie."

Another eye roll from Ted. "Cut the shit John. I know." He said simply.

John furrowed his brow. "You know what?"

"What the hell do you think I'm talking about? I know about you and Callie." He said in a low voice so none of their friends would overhear. Sure Ted was telling John the truth but he didn't want to out them to all their friends.

John's eyes darkened. "She told you?" Damn her! They'd promised not to tell anyone and she fucking told Ted? "That fucking bitch."

"Of course she told me." Ted answered. "And don't fucking talk about her that way. I would hate to have to kick your ass, plus you know you don't think about her like that anyway." He was right of course, John already felt guilty for calling her that. He checked to see what their friends were doing and saw that they were heavily involved in the hockey game on the TV. "Listen, the point is she's out with another guy. Do you get that? Has that sunk in?" John was silent. "You're sitting here planning on getting drunk for the rest of the night instead of trying to figure out how to make things work."

John shook his head. "I don't know what she's told you but its obvious things between us aren't gonna work out. We can't keep up this secret hook up relationship without someone getting their feelings hurt."

"Are you referring to your feelings getting hurt or hers? Cause I can definitely confirm her feelings being crushed many, many times since she's been seeing you." He said honestly.

John frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Ted rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he had to spell it out for this guy. "You're probably wondering why she told me about you in the first place." John nodded in confirmation. "It's because she couldn't hold it in anymore, she had to tell someone her feelings. I don't know if you realize how much she cares for you but she cares a hell of a lot. She tried to keep it all inside but she couldn't. I can't even tell you how many times she came to me after you would leave her in the middle of the night. She was fucking devastated man." John's frowned deepened. He had a feeling that when he would mention something about regretting them sleeping together and him leaving after they had sex had bugged her but he didn't think it actually upset her to the point where she had to vent to someone. "She has deep feelings for you." Ted paused and shook his head, running a hand over his face. "Shit, I really shouldn't be telling you this. Cal's going to kill me."

"No," John said immediately. "Please tell me," He said, encouraging the man to continue.

Ted contemplated it for a second before nodding, having a feeling he was going to help his friend in the long run, rather than hurt her. "I don't know if it's love but her feelings for you are probably deeper than you realize or she lets on. Every time she would come to me and cry about you regretting sleeping with her and then just leaving her there, I just couldn't understand why she'd keep putting herself through that." He looked at John in seriousness. "She told me she'd rather have you keep coming to her and leaving her than to not have you there at all." John sucked in a breath. Shit, he was a dick. "I realize this is the first time you're hearing this, but now you understand where she stands. And she deserves better than a casual hook up," He paused. "Better than what you've been giving her. So if you intend to keep things going the way they are now, get lost, she's better off without you. But if you actually have feelings for her and want to see where things go, then I suggest you pull your head out of your ass and show her you're worth her time."

John was shocked. This was definitely not what he had expected for his night out. He didn't say anything to the man as he focused his attention on the beer sitting in front of him. Did she really feel that way toward him? How had he not known? He thought about what Ted had just told him and he agreed. Cal did deserve better than what he had been giving her. But did he want to give her more? He found himself thinking yes, yes he did want to give her more. Could he? He knew without a shadow of a doubt that sitting here getting drunk wasn't going to help him any. He stood up, throwing some money on the bar to pay for his drinks. Ted smiled at him knowingly. "Thanks man," John said to him before getting his friends attention and telling them he was turning in early.

Callie was counting down the minutes until the date would be over. And wouldn't you know it, the countdown was almost over. She had put it off long enough and once they reached her hotel room door, she turned to Mike and immediately put a hand on his chest when he leaned forward to kiss her. "Mike, you're a great guy." Mike took a step away as he looked at her, his eyes narrowed at where this conversation was headed. "But…I think we're better off as friends. I just...I'm sorry but I don't have any romantic feelings for you."

"What?" Mike asked in confusion, not seeing the night ending like this.

She smiled sadly. "There is just no spark."

He reared back as if he'd been slapped. "What? No spark?" She nodded and he stepped closer to her. "But you haven't even given me a chance." She was about to tell him that she actually had given him a chance by going on these two dates with him but before she had a chance, he'd leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. She let out a little shriek into his mouth and her eyes widened. She stood frozen for a moment, so surprised at what was happening that she didn't know what to do. Once she pulled herself together, she reached her hands up and pushed him away.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked with a frown. "I told you we have no spark so you just force yourself on me?"

He looked a little confused. "You mean even after that…nothing?"

She shook her head and saw his head hang in disappointment. "Listen Mike, I really do like you, just more as a friend. Why can't we just be friends?"

He looked into her eyes, trying to convince her. "Because you're the perfect girl! You're everything I've been looking for in a partner."

She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling vulnerable. "No, Mike, maybe you think I'm the perfect girl but I'm not. You have this little checklist of all the things you want in a significant other and sure, maybe with me, you've crossed them all off but you've been so focused on getting me that you've missed the things you don't like about me and other woman who have approached you who might have had everything on that little checklist and more." She said gently.

He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Are you sure you don't want to give things a shot?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry Mike, but...um, remember that guy I told you about on our first date? The guy I had feelings for?" She asked.

He nodded his head and smiled a little in enlightenment. "You still have feelings for him?"

She nodded. "Unfortunately. It kind of just hit me that things really aren't going to work out and it's hard to take in. It's going to take me a while to get used to that and I would hate to lead you on."

Mike reached a hand out to squeeze her shoulder comfortingly. "He's an idiot if he doesn't see how great you are."

She smiled at him. "That's nice of you to say. I promise you, you will find the perfect girl for you but you can't be looking for her, you have to let her come to you. Who knows, maybe she's someone you see every day."

He smiled at her sadly. "I hope you're right."

She smiled back. "Me too, you deserve it." She said as she stepped closer to give him a comforting hug. "I hope we can still be friends though."

He nodded as they separated. "I'd like that."

"Me too." She said, pointing to her door behind her "Well, I'm gonna head to bed. Thanks for tonight, I had fun."

"Me too. And listen, if I can get over you, then you can definitely get over whoever this guy is." Mike said.

She let out a sigh. "I sure hope so."

Upon entering her hotel room, Callie threw her purse onto a nearby table before sitting down on the edge of the bed. She glanced at the clock and couldn't help but wonder if John was going to come over. The ball was pretty much in his court. If he showed then they could continue what they had going. If he didn't show, well then whatever they had would be over and no matter how hard it would feel, she'd have to get over it. So she just sat on her bed and waited, glancing over at the clock every once in a while. The longer she waited, the harder it was to keep a positive attitude and finally after waiting for the man for over an hour, she decided this wasn't healthy. She kicked off her shoes and crawled into bed, not even bothering to change into pajamas.