Hey all! My sincere apologies for slacking, as I've fallen into the trap of non-updating due to work schedule. Seeing as this is one of the few things that level me, I present to you...another chapter.
Oh yeah, and by the way, Seth broke up with Zahra Schreiber, yayyyy. I mean, she's gorgeous, but from what I do know about her, she doesn't seem to have any likable qualities. So that makes me happy, and it makes this a lot easier to write.
Seth's condo was exactly what she'd expect from him. A far cry from the flat she'd shared with Punk, he had it adorned in gray and black decor, looking modern, sharp, and clean. Though it didn't show much of the superstar's personality, it was very put-together; almost like he had bought it straight out of a catalog. Perhaps, she thought, because he had. The backyard had a swimming pool, a hot tub, and a garage that could pass as a small home. He had a giant grill parked on the patio leading up to sliding doors, a cheesy but somehow welcoming umbrella table in the center.
"What do you think?" Seth asked after he'd given the tour. She turned to face him, and he had an inquisitive look in his eyes.
"I think...it's beautiful, no doubt, but rather dull," she admitted. "I don't see a lot of what makes Seth, Seth." She felt badly as his face dropped a little, and added, "I know it's hard to put a lot of time and effort into a simple thing like decorating your home when you're on the road so much. So don't feel bad." He seemed to liven back up. AJ found herself curious if his home was very hotel-like because he'd given the decorating authority to his ex-girlfriends. Not that it's my business, she thought bitterly.
She'd began to ponder what her own home looked like now. Or, what used to be her home; she really needed to get hold of Colt Cabana to see if he could swipe her nerdy action figures and stuff from her old gaming room before Amy shipped them all off to Goodwill. Her collections aside, most of her possessions were replaceable, and the only things she really wanted were the contents of the spare bedroom.
She supposed, too, that she could shoot Punk a quick text. After all, he had broken the ice and made it known he'd watched her segment with the rest of the divas. And although that didn't mean she should jump back into any sort of friendship with him, it was hard to not speak to him at all. It was hard not to feel like she was a ghost, wandering from city to city with no sense of where to go. Slowly, with the help of great friends, the hole in her soul seemed to be stitching back up. AJ reminded herself that not everyone you lose is considered a loss...
Seth was clambering through his kitchen, an enormous silver display of pots, pans, oils, and noodles. It looked almost identical to something you'd see on the cooking channel, nothing out of place and everything sanitized to probably hospital standards. Though neither of them spoke, it was a comfortable silence; both of them lost in their own thoughts. It was almost as though they'd done this a million times, and this was just another day.
"You like omelets?" Seth asked finally, cracking some eggs on the pan he'd drawn down from it's hanger.
"Sure," AJ watched him intently, unsure if she trusted him to cook. Or rather, cook well.
"Anything you don't like in it?"
"Nah, not really. I'm starved, you could probably put toe fungus in it, and I wouldn't complain."
Seth let out a short laugh, shaking his head. He opened up the refrigerator, and she noted it was fully stocked with water, leafy vegetables, fruit, fruit juice, and labeled protein shakes. It was quite clear that although Rollins could cook himself, he still had someone do his shopping and prep some meals for him while he was gone. He began to pull out all sorts of containers, throwing them all together. Spinach, feta cheese, mushrooms, peppers, and some sort of green veggie that AJ didn't recognize had made the cut. Whatever he was creating smelled amazing, and her stomach let out a low grumble.
"It smells amazing," AJ said when he placed a shiny black plate in front of her, her omelet cooked to perfection. He'd also given her a slice of whole-grain toast.
"Yeah, well. The Rock doesn't have anything on me," he smirked, and AJ shot him a confused look.
"You know...smell what the...Rock...nevermind," his ears turned slightly pink, and she realized he was a little embarrassed. His dorky side was showing, and she kind of liked it.
"I get it," she lightly patted his shoulder. "I appreciate all of this. Thank you. It's been...shoot, I don't know...forever since I had real food."
Seth set down a glass of orange juice for her before setting himself up on the opposite end of the table. Before taking his seat, he slid his phone into his pocket, and AJ couldn't help but to be in awe of such a simple gesture. In this day and age, it was almost unheard of to not have your phone within your range of sight; yet here Seth was, unknowingly showing that the person he was with was more important in that moment than whoever might try to reach him.
Such a simple gesture, but something that nobody did anymore...
His eyes were deep, holding hers as he asked her about the things she'd learned in NXT. She told him all about working alongside some of the legends. She told him about Apollo Crews, somewhat unable to be a team player during their run. She'd mentioned she'd seen the popular rising-star, Baron Corbin, flip off one of the coaches when they told him he wasn't landing a bump properly. About how she was slightly jealous of Alexa Bliss's ass-to which he grunted to, which told her that he wasn't sure if that was something he should comment on or not.
"So...what about the charming Finn Balor?" Seth finally asked. "I presume he has a little bit to do with why you fell off the face of the earth for awhile."
Biting her tongue, AJ could feel a little hint of her anger begin bubbling. He sure was dense...the way she remembered it, she'd brought up the fact that she was feeling more than "just friends" towards the current WWE champion. And his reply was...lukewarm, to say the least.
"Finn is...Finn is really nice. He knows a lot about this business. He's smart. Good-looking. Easy to listen to," she gave him the most basic answers she could, not wanting him to be jealous.
But...why? Because, as far as I know, he's been hanging around with some tattooed, SUV-driving designer label whore.
"I really ought to call him. I sort of left him hanging," she stammered, unable to look into Seth's piercing eyes anymore.
He shrugged off her response, drinking the last of his own orange juice.
"There's plenty of fish in the sea. Which means, there's plenty of gills. And Finn's," Seth joked, but his tone was stone, and AJ thought she understood his roundabout way of speaking. He watched her for a moment longer before getting up, taking his dishes to the dishwasher machine. AJ got up, too, getting the urge to run to the guest bedroom and hide under the shiny silver comforter for...well, forever.
Not speaking, Seth took the dishes she'd handed him, loading them as well. He started up the washer, and she watched him carefully.
"I'm going out," he finally said. "If you need anything, I'm sure you'll find it," he turned on his heel, extracting his cell phone from his pocket.
"Can't I come along?" she asked, hating how small and juvenile her voice sounded. She sounded so needy, like she couldn't keep herself busy for a few hours while Seth did whatever Seth does. But she was considered a guest, wasn't she? So why wasn't he going to hang out with her?
"I've just got to run an errand. You'll be fine," he said, shooting her down. He opened a cabinet, dozens of keys hanging on the inside. Taking out one single, shiny silver key, he opened the garage door. Somewhat shocked at the sudden change in his attitude, she watched him walk straight to a mean-looking motorcycle, very similar to the one she'd seen Baron Corbin jump on after the coaches excused him from practice for his obscene hand gesture. Seth didn't look nearly as intimidating as he peeled down the driveway.
Unsure of whether he was now angry with her or not, AJ wondered what in the hell she should be doing. What could she do? She was in the middle of a cornfield, in a strange house, all by herself. All she needed now was an axe murderer.
Suddenly uneasy, she zoomed upstairs to the bedroom Seth had shown her just a while ago. Her bags were already there, and she tore through her items trying to find a pair of comfortable pants. She finally pulled out her AMBROSE ASYLUM WWE authentic sweats, giggling to herself as she pulled them on over her black bikini-cut underwear. She wasn't particularly tired, but she could relax. After all, her room came with one of the most ginormous flat-screen televisions she'd ever seen.
Flopping on to the king-sized bed, AJ fumbled with the remote control, trying all kinds of combinations to turn on the screen. Frustrated, she got up, searching for the power button along the bottom of the screen. After pressing every single small button, she relaxed when the screen burst to life, a Welcome, Guest! image appearing. It was apparently a smart-tv, and she had the option to go to social media, watch TV, watch a movie, surf the web, order a pay-per-view, or access WWE Network all on the home screen.
This is too much. This guest television was nicer than our entire cable set-up.
"Hey, Mella," Zahra purred to her friend. "I saw your match. You ladies did really great," she faked enthusiasm as best she could, glad her psuedo-friend finally had returned her phone call from the night before.
Sure, she knew she seemed super desperate. But she was anxious, and all she really wanted was to make herself feel a little better by destroying everything in sight. Crazy? Maybe.
"Thanks, Zee. It was...wow. I can't even describe what it was like to be in front of that crowd. Plus, I got a decent reaction, which means there are more and more people catching on to NXT. If that's not saying something, I don't know what is."
"Right, right," Zahra replied, trying to hide the annoyance in her voice. She didn't call to hear about the fucking crowd. Shit, she hadn't called to congratulate Trashy Barbie. All she wanted to know was if she'd been able to insert herself into any backstage gossip.
Who exactly was Seth hanging around with, if anyone at all? Though it wasn't like him to become attached to someone else, especially someone he worked with, she was beginning to think that was why he hadn't bothered to call her, text her, or seek her company whatsoever. In the past, the only person that made her wonder was the youngest diva, Paige. She and Seth could talk geekery for hours, and until Zahra had brought up the foul-mouthed bitch, he was actually pretty good friends with her. However, if that was who Seth was screwing around with, everyone in the world would know. She was either a nobody, a somebody, or Leighla.
"So, I didn't exactly get to talk to Seth," Carmella finally said, and Zahra's ears perked up. She'd given no warning of the shift in her very one-sided conversation, so she wasn't even sure what the Staten Island princess was actually on about.
"What? Why?" Zahra demanded, too angrily. "I mean, I just...really hoped you could at least get him to text me back," she lightened up, trying her hardest to make the blonde feel sorry for her.
"I know, Zee. But he's the champion right now, so it's kind hard to just walk right up to him and demand to know why he hasn't been speaking to his ex-girlfriend. He was hanging out with Kevin, and Kevin will sniff out bullshit immediately..."
"Girl, all I hear right now are excuses," Zahra snapped, not bothering to cover up her true feelings anymore. "I really thought you'd do me well here. You had the opportunity to work alongside the Total Divas, who literally talk about everyone and everything without a filter, and you aren't able to bring me back a glimmer of hope?"
"Zahra, they're all friends. To them, I'm kind of an outsider. Even Becky is still on the outside looking in, and she's been on the main roster for awhile now."
Still pissed, Zahra mentally tried to calm herself down, letting the frustration simmer before she snapped at her "friend" again.
"So you couldn't at least put a bug in his ear for me. So what," she murmured, cradling her cell phone as she poured herself a glass of wine. She'd gone through three bottles since she'd last spoken to Carmella, all in hopes of easing her mind. "Don't you at least have something to offer me? Suspicion that he's seeing someone, perhaps?"
"Umm...no, not really," Carmella sounded exasperated now, and it was obvious she was hoping she'd be able to cut the conversation. "I mean, maybe he is. I have no idea. Truly. But if he is, then he obviously isn't ready for the whole world to know. And, if he is, then maybe it's good. Moving on and that...and maybe you should think about doing the same."
"I AM DOING THE SAME!" Zahra now yelled into her phone. "I don't need that slimeball! I feel like he used me, abandoned me, and threw me aside for a newer, shinier toy. Just as he did to Leighla. So I want to avenge her, and avenge myself. Seth Rollins deserves to rot in the Undateable Hall of Fame!"
"Zahra, you knew the kind of relationship ya'll were getting into before you got into it. Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything. If he wanted to tell you about his life, I'm sure he would be doing just that. So, are we done here?" the NXT diva now had a bite to her tone, and the idea that she would hang up at any second made Zahra a little nervous.
"I...yeah. I'm really sorry to have yelled," Zahra apologized smoothly. "I'm still trying to get over the heartbreak, you know..."
"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I gotta fly."
"Of course. Really, sweetie, I'm sorry for acting like such a brat-" but her words clung into the air as a dial tone sounded, letting her know that Carmella had enough of her childish antics and opted to hang up on her.
"FUCK!" Zahra screeched to herself, her voice ringing through the air so sharp that the pane of the windows rattled. She threw her wine glass at the wall, the glass shattering immediately, the dark red liquid spilling down the walls much like blood in a murder mystery movie. Rather than feel bad and start cleaning the mess she made, she logged on to her Instagram account and began to post angry quote-pictures, knowing full-well they'd cause talk among her followers that they were directed towards the champion.
But that wasn't enough. Nope, she logged on to Twitter, and sent a nasty, angry Tweet to Seth Rollins for being a "hit it and quit it" kind of guy. Even if it was unlikely to make it to his own eyes, at least his sworn fans would see. And, she thought, once I find out who's bed he's sleeping in nowadays, she's going to get a shitstorm thrown her way, too.
Feeling slightly better, she her face just right towards the window, snapping a quick selfie and uploading it to all of her accounts. Yep, she was still hot as hell.
So, why couldn't Seth just see that?
Seth sat opposite his mother, drinking black coffee as she eyed him cautiously. Since he'd ruined everything with Leighla, his mother was not his biggest fan. She had been looking forward to seeing her son marry the love of his life, and had even taken Seth's ex-fiancee to go looking at wedding gowns once while Seth was away, seeing the world.
And Zahra's ceiling, Seth thought bitterly. But by now, he knew that no apology could undo the bad choices he made when it came to his relationship. In turn, he'd hurt his mother, and since then, she had remained distant from him. She didn't call him anymore unless he called her first, stopped inquiring about his work, and didn't even ask about his relationships anymore because if it wasn't with Leighla, she didn't care. She'd said so herself.
The air between the two of them was stagnant, and neither of them spoke. She watched him with her beady black eyes, waiting for him to say something.
"So...how have you been?" he asked finally, and she bristled straight away.
"Maybe if you would call once in awhile, you'd know how your mother was doing," she shot back, now looking into her coffee cup. "Seth, I know you think I want nothing to do with you, and while I admit the disappointment I hold over you is overwhelming, that doesn't mean I don't like to hear from you."
"I know, mom. And I'm really sorry for the way things all happened. Believe me, if I could change everything, I would..."
"Would you?" His wimpy half-ass apology caught her wrong, and now her eyes were spitting fire. "Because I don't think you'd change anything. You backed out of something that would've been a forever thing because you got scared. You are a coward. And now, you have no relationship to show for it-not even with that trollop that you left Lay for!"
"Mom, I-"
"And you know what else? The coward I see in your relationships is the very same coward that I watch every week on television. Seth, darling, I love you, but when are you going to stop running from things you're afraid of? You are much stronger a person than a cheater, yet you portray that in both your everyday life and your persona. Don't you think it's time for a change?"
"I can't exactly ask the creative writers to change the way they book me," he grumbled, now downing his coffee so he didn't have to try to explain the framework for the company he both loved and hated. Unfortunately for him, AJ's ex-husband was right; his "pipebomb" from years ago was coming true in front of the entire world. The backstage politics ran the show. While Hunter saw the potential of Seth Rollins, Vince McMahon was the puppetmaster, and his eyes were forever cast upwards at Seth's former partner, Roman Reigns. It was just a matter of time before things shifted in the Samoan's favor.
"Well at the very least, perhaps you should carry yourself with an ounce of dignity and respect. You might find someone decent. With less tattoos," the small woman gave a soft smile, but she wasn't joking.
"Life isn't about 'finding someone,' mom. You know that."
"Ah, perhaps. But it is about being happy. And you are about as unhappy as they come. Why else would you be making choices like you do?"
"Oooh, the big bad Rollins is getting talked to about choices!" came a booming voice from behind him. Rolling his eyes, he made a quick wave towards his younger brother, who was currently a senior at Iowa State. A star football player, Josh was the polar opposite of Seth. He was huge, athletic, smart, and so focused on getting drafted to the NFL that he had absolutely zero interest in the girls who literally threw themselves his way.
Josh pulled up one of the beat-up wooden chairs to the table, choosing to sit right in between Seth and their mother.
"It's about time you come around here," Josh nodded towards his brother, folding his hands on to the table. "But I guess you're too embarrassed, knowing that your neighbors have seen the most private of your parts."
"Fuck off," Seth muttered.
"Do not curse at the table!" the woman scolded. "Joshua, please do not bring up that incident to me again!"
In response, the larger man turned and laughed, glad to have gotten on everyone's nerves so quickly. As decent of a guy as he was, he was still the typical jock, the very one that sat in every single classroom making rude jokes about the teacher and flirted with the nerd sitting next to them so she'd spot him some quiz answers when he had been up too late partying the night before.
"In other news, how's Leighla's replacement? Did she decide to follow in Hitler's footsteps, and now that she got fired, is spending her spare time making up some gas chambers for her victims?"
"Joshua Hendricks!" Seth's mom was now on her feet, her tiny hand raised over his head to smack him over the top. Seth buried his face in his hands, cursing at his brother much to his mother's dismay. Again, one unfortunate thing about the whole world watching you was that even Seth's brother knew Zahra's stupid Nazi-like postings on her social websites had landed her a ticket home immediately.
"Zahra and I are not together. But, really, both you two really make me feel like I'll find a good girl one day," Seth got up, pushing his chair into the table before walking his empty coffee mug to the sink. His mother followed him, ready to wash it with a faded yellow dishtowel that lay draped across the faucet.
Josh laughed as he got up from the table, yelling something obscene to his brother before tuning into whatever ESPN was rambling on about in the living room. Rolling his eyes, Seth apologized quickly to his mother, but excused himself, stating that he had to go home.
"Go home? But you just got home," his mother put the now cleaned mugs in the drying rack, not looking into her oldest son's eyes.
"I know. And I love you, Ma, but since I've been here, you two have made me feel worse than when I walked in. I have a guest that I brought home with me, and I'm sure she'll wonder where I am if I stay out too long. She's not from around here."
"A guest? A girl?" her hands flew over her mouth, clearly shocked. "Is it precious Leighla?" This caught Josh's attention as he muted the television.
"Come on, get real. Leighla wouldn't have a thing to do with me. No, my guest is a friend. Just a friend. That's it. She just didn't have anywhere to stay...because she just went through a divorce."
"A friend that you work with?" Josh asked, an eyebrow raised. A look of disapproval crossed his mother's features once he'd mentioned the d-word. He could just hear her coming up with a lecture right now..."Seth, a person with that much baggage...it's not yours to carry...you have bigger dreams than..." Yes, he could almost hear those words sitting at the tip of her tongue. But, before she had a chance to speak, he quickly turned to Josh.
"Yes, dumbass. A friend that I work with."
"She cute?"
A flash of a giggling AJ entered his mind, and he knew he couldn't tell his family the truth. They'd expect too much of him if he admitted that yes, she was cute. And yes, she had potential...
"She's okay, I guess," Seth responded. Josh shouted something back at him, but he was already saying his last goodbye to his mother before leaving the home, hopping on to his cycle, and spending the rest of his time away from this chaos. He looked forward to seeing AJ at his home, the only person lately that seemed to think on the same level as he did.
All he wanted to do was relax.
Pulling into the drive, he got a -ping!- text message. It was from Kevin.
Hate to tell u, but Z just blew up ur Twitter with shade.