*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated and thank-you to everyone that alerted and favorited the story. = )
After Dave left to go on his "hot" date I stuck around the arena to wait for John. It was about 3 when Dave left and even though the show started at 7:30 I knew that within the next hour John would show up. I called him on the phone to ask him to pick up some Chinese food before he came to the arena and explained to him how my meeting with Dave went. He apologized on Dave's behalf and told me he would see me when he arrived. I wasn't the only one at the arena there were a few people from the ring crew there along with the people that did the pyro and the sounds. Vince had yet to arrive so I sat down at a table in catering to think about what I could say to Vince. I knew I wanted to quit the assignment but I didn't know how to tell Vince that I wanted to give up. Like I've said it wasn't in me to be a quitter. That just wasn't like me but I had no hope in the Batista assignment.
I sat there lost in thought for about an hour with no idea what to say as John came into the catering area. He had Chinese take out in one hand, his bag on his shoulder and a bouquet of red roses in the other hand. "Hey, Baby," I said with a smile as I got up to greet him with a kiss.
"Hey," he said with a smile.
"What's this all about?" I asked pointing to the roses.
"Those?" he asked holding them out, "they are for you. I know you had a rough day so I wanted to give you some roses to cheer you up."
"They're beautiful. Thank-you," I said with a smile. John loved to spoil me with gifts. He didn't need to have a reason to get me flowers or candy he just did it. I always thought it was pretty sweet. John did a lot for me. I was pretty much his world. I hate to admit this but I'm pretty sure he loved me more than I loved him. I'm not saying I didn't' love him because I really did but let's just say he loved me more. I was grateful to have a great boyfriend like John and he cared so much about me it was wonderful.
"You don't' have to thank me. You deserve them just because you're you," he said with a smile as he took my hand and we walked over to the table.
"John, you're too sweet," I said with a smile. "You know the right things to say to make my day better."
"I can't help that it's true," he said with a smile as he laid his things down and pulled my chair out for me. As he got out our shrimp fried rice he said, "so your meeting didn't go well?"
"Not at all. That man is a pig," I said. "Every suggestion I made he turned down. He said that it wasn't him or he didn't like it but he didn't put any input in. Then he turned down the arrogant asshole persona. He said he didn't like that either. I thought that was the perfect persona for him. He wouldn't have to do too much acting."
John let out a laugh and said, "yeah. I know. So he didn't come up with anything?"
"No," I said opening up my food. "It was so annoying. We wasted 45 minutes for nothing. We don't' even have step one done."
"45 minutes? That's a short meeting," he said before taking a bite of his food.
"He had a hot date. According to his words she's f**king hot. I guess some skank is more important than his job."
"That shouldn't surprise you. He always has these ring rats that are willing to do whatever he wants. He doesn't have very high standards when it comes to women. I'm surprised he hasn't caught anything yet."
"That's for sure," I said, "and I'm surprised he hasn't gotten anything either. Have you seen some of the women he's slept with. Ugh they're just ew. Definitely something if I was a guy I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole but to each their own I guess."
"I'm sure next time it will be better," he said.
"Um.. About that," I said.
"What?"
"I don't think I'm going to do this. I don't' want to do it."
"Tessa, what about your promotion?"
"No promotion is worth dealing with that man," I said.
"Tessa, I know Dave comes off as an asshole but I don't' think you should give up on him just yet. You had one meeting. You just have to get used to him."
"Get used to him? Get used to his arrogance and his disrespect toward women? I don't' think so. He has this carefree attitude about his job. I can't deal with it."
"Tess, I don't think he's worth giving up a promotion for. Sometimes in your job you have to do what you don't' want to do. Don't' you want to have a higher title? Have more rank? Don't you want to move up in your job?" he asked.
"I do but I don't' think this is worth it."
"Tessa, it is worth it. You love your job and you're good at what you do. Just because one meeting didn't go so well doesn't mean you should give up. Try it a different way. Work together with him. Find out what he likes and find out things he's interested in. Use that to come up with his persona. Don't give up."
"John, you just don't know. He did everything he could to annoy me and he kept calling me Mrs. Cena. He was just too arrogant."
"So you're mad at him because he called you Mrs. Cena? Is it that bad?" he asked. "You don't' want to be Mrs. Cena one day?"
"It's not bad but that's not my name and John, I don't' want to get into the marriage talk again. We both know how that's going to end and I don't' want to fight about it."
"All right," he said. "We won't get into that but I don't' think you should give up this assignment. This could be the turning point in your entire career. Just think about what could come out of it. You never know where it might lead right? You just have to take the chance and work with him. I know you can do it. I have faith in you."
Take a chance? I don't take chances. That's not me. I don't leave my comfort zone and working with Dave was way beyond my comfort zone. I didn't want to take the chance to work with him but John had a point I never knew where it was going to lead. It could have been the turning point in my career. "I don't know, John. I'm not comfortable with this."
"I'm not asking you to sleep with him, Tessa. I'm asking you to work with him so you can get what you want. You want that promotion more than anything. The only way you're going to get that is by working with him. You need to do what you need to do to get what you want. And you Tessa are not a quitter. Do not give up. I told you. You can do this. You just have to be patient."
"Patient. Right," I said rolling my eyes.
"Look Tessa, I know Dave Batista isn't the assignment that you wanted but Vince obviously gave it to you for a reason. Maybe you might be able to do something other people couldn't do. Vince obviously thinks highly of you and he has a lot of faith in you. If you give up what does that say? Do you think he's going to have the same opinion of you."
John hit the nail on the head. Vince did think very highly of me. I always did what I was asked. I never fought about anything and I put my best into my work. I did everything I could to please Vince and if I did give up on my assignment his whole opinion of me could change. He could see me as a failure and I didn't want to be labeled as a failure. That just wasn't me. I aimed to please even if it was something that I didn't' want to do. I did it anyway to please whomever. I think that was my worst trait. I always thought too much of what others wanted than what I wanted myself. "All right," I said. "I won't give up. I'll do it even if it's the worst assignment possible."
"Good," said John. "I really don't' want to see you quit something just because things didn't go your way. What I want to see is my beautiful girlfriend prove that Dave Batista can be tamed and get the promotion she deserves. I have faith in you, Beautiful. It's going to be tough but I know you can do it."
"Thanks," I said with a smile. John did know all the right things to say to keep me happy. I was glad he had all that confidence in me because I surely didn't have that confidence in myself.
"And you Tessa are not a quitter. You didn't even quit when you played soccer at the age of 7. You know… when you tripped over your feet more than you kicked the ball," he said with a small laugh.
My face turned red as I said, "shut up, John. I wasn't a sports playing girl. I was clumsy. It wasn't my choice to play soccer it was my mom's choice. I wanted to do ballet."
"No kidding," he said, "but at least you knew to run."
"Shut up," I said throwing a piece of a Chinese noodle at him.
"So now you're throwing Chinese noodles at me?" he asked as he threw his fortune cookie at me.
"And you just threw a fortune cookie at me," I said with a smile as I opened it. "I love these things." I broke the fortune cookie and pulled out the fortune and read it out loud. "Love is like wildflowers….it is often found in the most unlikely places."
"And why would you need to find love? I think you found it already," he said.
"I did," I said. "I love you, John."
"I love you too," he said before softly kissing my lips.
We shared a passionate kiss for a minute before it was finally broken. "What does yours say?" I asked him tossing him a fortune cookie.
"Let's see," he said opening it and then breaking it to get his fortune. "The smart thing is to prepare for the unexpected," he read. "All right. Our fortunes are duds. It's official. They suck."
"Not really much of a fortune," I said. "I don't believe in them anyway. I just like reading them for the fun of it."
"Same here," he said. "It's just all for fun anyway."
"Yep," I said as I continued to eat. As I ate I kept my fortune running through my mind. Love is like wildflowers it is often found in the most unlikely of places what did that even mean? I didn't believe in the fortune to an extent but for me to have a fortune that said that and John to have one saying that it would be smart to be prepared for the unexpected made me a little weary. I had no idea what either of them meant but if they were actually true we were both headed for trouble.
As we finished eating John and me headed to his locker room so that he could get ready for the show and get prepared for a match he was going to have later that night. He had left the room to go talk to his opponent to go over details of the match when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," I said as I was going over last minute details to the show.
The door opened and in walked Dave Batista of all people. I had no idea what to say. "Tessa," he said.
"Yes, Dave?" I asked.
"I just wanted to see when we could meet up again. I am ready to discuss my character and my persona."
"I guess we could meet up next Monday at the arena. That is the best time to meet up. I'm swamped with meetings and stuff the rest of the week."
"Next Monday that's good. Same time work for you?"
"Yeah. That's fine and I won't be late this time," I said with a smile.
"I hope not," he said with a smile of his own. "Notice I was on time tonight."
I looked at my watch and said, "I see that. Bad date?"
"It just wasn't what I expected," he said. "It's okay because I got the waitress' number so I'm going to call her later."
"Such class," I said rolling my eyes. "You would do something like that."
"The date sucked but the waitress was hot so I got her number. I told her I would call her after the show. She will be my date after the show."
"Uh huh," I said. "Your sensitivity to women really impresses me," I said sarcastically.
"I can be sensitive to the needs of women it's just I don't have a woman to be sensitive to. I do what I do for fun and I like it this way."
"I see," I said.
"So where's John?" he asked.
"Talking to his opponent to go over details for his match tonight," I said.
"Oh," he said looking around the room. "Those are nice flowers. Did John get them for you?"
"Yeah," I said.
"He's a real Romeo huh?" he asked but there was something about his voice that made it sound like he wasn't being entirely sarcastic. It sounded like jealousy but that could have just been me reading too much into things.
"I guess. He tries," I said. "You know he knows how to respect women."
"So do I," he said.
"All right," I said. "That's good to know."
He was about to say something as the door opened and John walked in. "Dave?"
"Hey," he said.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was just leaving," said Dave, "Tessa, just call me and we'll discuss some details of the meeting. Have a good night."
"You too," I said as he walked toward the door. He gave me a quick smile before leaving the room.
"What was that all about?" asked John.
"I have no idea. He just wanted to talk about meeting next Monday. That's all I guess."
"Oh," he said.
"So is everything good to go with your match?" I asked still thinking about Dave's Romeo comment.
"Yep. We figured everything out. It's going to be good."
"That's great," I said as I continued to think about Dave's Romeo comment and his reasoning behind it and his tone. He was different that night than he was for his meeting with me and I just couldn't put my finger on why but I pushed it out of my mind and went back to working on last minute details for RAW before the show started.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for taking the time to read.