Chapter 2 – Who's the Boss?
-Backstage at NXT-
"What the fuck was that out there?" Stu's voice shot down the backstage hallway as he ran after Katie; his okay-mood completely obliterated by his rookie. "Oi," he caught up to her and grabbed her by the shoulder to turn her around, "don't you dare walk away from me. Haven't you got any respect?"
"Respect?" Katie spat at him angrily, "you want to talk respect?" She prodded him in his hard chest with her long index finger. "Why should I respect you when you sure as hell don't respect me? It was a tag match – T.A.G." Each time she spoke a letter at him it was laced with poison. "You left me out there by myself."
"I wanted you to show some bloody initiative!" He was getting up in her face by this point. An audible rumble came from the back of his throat as he pushed her up against the wall with some force. "You're a disgrace."
"I had something to prove out there and you fucking ruined it. I was about to get Lou into my finisher and then you bark orders at me like I'm some sort of slave."
"The only thing you proved out there was that you've got a bad attitude."
"Why don't you just shut your fucking mouth for once, Barrett?" As soon as the words escaped her, Stu smirked knowing his last point had just been confirmed.
He leant his body further into her, "Watch your mouth, rookie." Direct order. Katie was having none of it, biting back the urge to break his nose; she straightened up and let out a breath.
"Yeah because that's all I am to you, huh. A rookie. You don't even care enough about this competition to even ask my name."
"I'll have you know that this competition means a lot to me. Aren't you forgetting that I won the first season; easily for that matter?"
"Well I'm surprised your abnormally big head can fit in the hallway." She smirked when his face dropped and his large hand gripped her wrist tightly. Tough love, Stu thought, was what the woman required.
"Listen, I don't have to be here. I could be taking care of official Nexus business but instead I'm taking time out of my busy schedule to coach some amateur who isn't even grateful or open to insight." Amateur? Katie's blood was boiling; the girl was ready to erupt, rip his head off and throw the remains to some rabid dogs. If he wasn't crushing his weight against her right now she would have no problem slapping him in the face.
"I want to win this." She simply stated, calmer than she'd ever looked before. That was a horrible sign that something would kick off momentarily – the calm before the storm. Her hazel eyes connected with his green ones, his heated breath ghosted her cheek he was that close. "And I don't need some egomaniac standing in the way of me reaching my dream. So if you're not in it just fuck off because you're not helping me out at all right now."
"Since when did I get stuck with such a foul-mouthed rookie?"
"I guess the bosses thought someone like you could handle me; well guess what?" She leaned forward as much as she could, her knee connecting with Stu's mid-section then his crotch. "You can't handle me, Wade Barrett."
He released her in order to nurse his offended body part, groaning in pain. Katie looked down at the retreating man, smirking. "So don't even try, okay?" Stu coughed, the wind being knocked out of him when she kicked him; he lifted his head in time to watch her sauntering off in the direction of the locker room, her attitude eluded pride. She was proud that she'd put him in his place so early in the season after John Cena had been trying to do so for months.
~#~
"Great, just great." Hunter and Chesca were heading backstage after the pro had stopped at ringside signing autographs for a couple of minutes. "I know a few great women who would be proud of you."
"Oh, come on," the half Italian girl tried to hide her smile at the wrestler's compliment, her cheeks turning slightly red. "It was only...let's call it a warm up match." She ended her sentence, taking a sip from the little bottle of water in her hands. Trips liked the young woman's attitude; he could see she was aware of her skills, yet she was being modest.
"Warm up?" The blonde lifted an eyebrow at her and chuckled, as they were in front of his locker room, "then I guess we'll have to put up something more entertaining for your tastes, miss?" He smirked in her direction, a hand resting on his large hip: the woman behind Titania pushed a tuft of wavy hair behind her ear, and mirrored her hero's smirk.
"I always enjoy myself when I'm in the ring." She admitted, shrugging her shoulders, her eyes meeting Triple H's fierce ones. "The fun doubles when I'm beating up on people I don't like." Even though outside the ring she was shy, nice and easy going, Hunter had the chance to see how self-confident, dominant and cocky she could be when he had seen her wrestle: under his guidance, he was pretty sure she had the potential to become a kick ass heel Diva.
"The sadistic expression on your face showed that, I guess." Trips kept on looking at her; she was no Maryse, but she surely was good looking; her eyes were two open windows, transparent and deep, surely the majority of the FCW roster had been enchanted by that look. They heard a phone ringing, and Hunter recognized it as his, vibrating in his jeans' pocket: he pulled it out and glanced at the screen, 'Steph' flashing on it.
"Hey honey," As he answered the call, Chesca waved at him wanting to head to her locker room with the other girls, but he stopped her gently grabbing her forearm.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Hm? Oh, you watched NXT?" Paul shot a look at his rookie, and his lips curved into a smile, "I know, I know...Trust me, I saw her wrestle live and she's way more amazing than on TV."
"Steph says the kids have liked you since you stepped on stage." He said, making her blush as she listened to him."Chesca. Yeah, that's her real name. Next time you're coming around I'll make you guys meet." The pro looked at his rookie and winked, his trademark smirk appearing, sending her mind to the gutter; Trips nodded at her to wait, and took a few steps in the hallway.
"She's not a slut, I know for sure. Yeah, she's sweet and respectful." He glanced at the brunette standing by the door, as he listened to his wife talking, "Of course, you know I melt in front of my fans. Oh, remind me to get her the new tee." Hunter brushed a hand on his jaw and facial hair, and then chuckled, "No, she's not gonna fall for a forty-year-old big nosed wrestler like me: you're the only one that has ever liked me, hun."
He probably didn't know how much a girl could love the man that had made her laugh, cry, get angry and shout at the television for the majority of her life, becoming an inspiration and settling the standards for her boyfriends.
"Sure, talk to you later. I love you." He hung up and put his phone back in the pocket, sending another smile to the young woman waiting for him to come back.
"Everything okay?" Chesca asked him as he approached her; Hunter shook his head and rested a hand on his left hip, the golden wedding ring slightly glistening under the cold white light of the backstage.
"Yeah," he said to her, and then placing a hand on her shoulder, "I wanted to settle the work out hours with you before you go."
"You say it; I do it." The girl replied, her eyes still filled with admiration "Time?"
"Then 7.00 tomorrow morning," he smirked again. "Let's see if you can surprise me again by standing my training." The half Italian girl sucked in a breath and let out a little laugh.
"Surprise is my second name, Hunter," for a second she wore herself confident in-ring character. "Have a good night then." Chesca shook hands with The Game, and blushed as he placed a quick kiss on her knuckles.
"Don't be late." He added, before parting from her as she made her way down the corridor waving back. Standing on the locker room's doorway, the Cerebral Assassin looked at the girl, a smile plastered on his tough features. He naturally couldn't wait to discover the aces up her sleeves: Chesca was interesting both from an athletic and a human point of view, but he was sure there were a lot of other different sides of her personality and abilities that he still had to find out.
~#~
"Did yeh have fun out there?" Lou looked up to the door of the locker room, a half naked Stephen stood leaning against the doorframe.
She smiled, "So much fun." She stood up as he walked further into the room, closing the door behind him. "Thank you for cheering me on, your support helped so much." She bit her lip as a grin spread across his face.
"Yer welcome sweetheart, yeh've got a lot of potential." She couldn't hide the grin on her face as the two time WWE champion praised her. Her eyes drifted down his chest to the top of his workout shorts and the hip dents peeking out from the waistband. A body like his needed to be admired, she couldn't comprehend the hours he must have spent working out and training to get such a defined physique.
"I want yeh to come to the gym with me in the morning. I think yeh need to work on yer flexibility; it will help yeh with the submission moves." Her eyes widened, he was actually inviting her to work out with him. She had to jump at such an opportunity.
"I would love to, thank you so much." She pushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled.
"6.30am isn't too early?" Raising an eyebrow he waited for her reply.
She wanted to groan; she had been looking forward to a lie in, "No, not at all."
He smirked at her slightly, "Good, I can't wait to teach yeh a few things. What's yer number and I'll call yeh in the morning?"
"Do you have your phone?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she looked over his attire; she knew he didn't have his phone.
"Ah, no. I guess I forgot about that." She wanted to laugh at his nervous mannerisms as he played with the hair at the base of his neck.
Lou dug around in her bag for her phone, handing it over to Stephen when she found it; "Put your number in and I'll call you. Then you'll have my number."
"Not just a pretty face then." From any other man she would have been offended but his smirk and tone made her skin tingle, like he had just told her she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
"You just wait; I can be a calculating cold bitch when I want to be." Her hard words were followed by a sweet smile.
"Ah guess we're gonna get on just fine then." He flashed his perfect smile, which almost made her crumble to pieces on the floor, "Goodnight, Lou. I'll see yeh bright and early." He winked at her as he placed the phone back in her hand, closing her large hand around hers and placing a soft lingering kiss above her knuckles before smirking and leaving nothing but an awestruck Lou in his wake.
-At the Hotel-
"I'm telling you, he's a psycho." Lou and Chesca stared at Katie in complete amusement as they walked through the glass doors and into the hotel lobby. They were all dragging their suitcases behind them, walking in a line across the shiny floor in order to get to the check-in desk. She hadn't let up at all in the car, moaning about how Wade Barrett was getting kicks out of embarrassing her and ordering her about like his lackey. "These weeks are going to be hell with him, I just know it. It'll probably be even worse now that I've assaulted him."
"What?" The two rookies stopped in their tracks.
"He was getting in my face backstage," Katie began to explain whilst Lou shook her head. "So I ever so politely asked him to leave me alone by kicking him in the bollocks. No big deal." Chesca slammed a hand to her mouth as soon as the words left Katie's lips.
"So you stunted his chances of being a father? Poor guy."
"Poor guy? Poor me! I'm stuck with his whiny arse."
"You realise he's going to work you twice as hard now." Lou piped up becoming the voice of reason, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And just so you know, you're acting like a whiny ass too."
"Yeah, you're actually quite evenly matched when you think about it." Chesca's agreement caused the pair of them to laugh and Katie to roll her eyes at her two friends.
"Urgh, why couldn't I have gotten an awesome pro like Triple H or a hunky Celtic warrior like Sheamus?" Lou's face brightened up at the mentioning of her pro.
"Stephen's really great, you know."
"Ooh Stephen's really great, you know," Katie mockingly quipped back at Lou in a terrible American accent, making the grin on her face to drop to a frown. "So it's Stephen now, is it?" The New Yorker kept quiet; she hadn't stopped thinking about the Irishman ever since she jumped into his arms during the 'Find the Pro' challenge. She ran a hand through her blonde locks and shuffled her feet against the floor, eyes focused on Katie and Chesca tapping their feet in unison, impatiently.
"I saw the way you guys were acting throughout your match from backstage; he looked completely into you."
"He was just being an encouraging pro, Ches."
"Which is refreshing considering the monstrosity I'm stuck with." Katie's mind drifted back to the half Italian's words. What the hell was she suggesting when she said Katie and Stu were evenly matched? Her train of thought was cut short when Chesca grabbed two key cards from the receptionist. "Oh look, Lou, we're roomies!" The pair squealed happily and began jumping up and down in front of a very subdued Katie.
"What? Who am I rooming with then?" She walked up to the receptionist and was told that her roommate had already checked in. Lou and Chesca stopped their celebration when they heard the shrill voice of Busty Brandi, her much too cheerful demeanour poisoning the air around Katie. As she strutted towards her, boobs bouncing out of radar, Katie attempted to mentally prepare herself for the night ahead of her – a fake smile plastered on her face all the while.
"We'll see you later, okay?" Lou hugged Katie whilst Chesca waved at her from the elevators, pressing the button for their floor. She grabbed Lou's arms when she moved away from her, pulling her in front of the fast-approaching Brandi.
"No, no. You cannot leave me with that plastic Barbie doll!" She offered her a sympathetic smile and prized herself from her grip, squeezing her shoulder as she followed Chesca.
"Oh. My. God!" Brandi laughed when she finally reached her roommate. She pulled her in for a hug which Katie didn't reciprocate; she was even more pissed now. "We're gonna have so much fun! It'll be like a girly slumber party!" The American woman's strident voice was hard to take; and she wasn't looking forward to painting nails, doing make-overs and having pillow fights when really all Katie wanted to do was punch her dumb Barbie head off.
She grabbed her hand, giving her key card to her and pulled her unwillingly towards the elevators. "Great," Katie mumbled sarcastically under her breath, "just what I need after the day I've had."
~#~
"Phone number?" Chesca lifted an eyebrow to the New Yorker, who was going around their hotel room and putting her things in order. "Are you serious?" Lou stopped for a second and nodded, crossing arms on her chest and slightly blushing.
"He asked for it first," she replied, shrugging her shoulders, "But it was just for the trai..."
"Yeah, right," the half Italian stood up and smirked, opening up her suitcase, "Training, of course." As Chesca passed behind her, the blonde slapped her arm.
Lou narrowed her eyes at her roommate, "So did Trips have to catch you anymore?" The other girl snorted, entering the bathroom.
"Hey, I was only...Only..." Actually, Lou had hit a nerve: Chesca barely had words to reply, "Yeah, you know how I was." She could hear her friend's chuckles from the other room.
"Too in love to stand the sight?" The blonde said, "Have you already told him you carry his action figure everywhere you go?" The girl from North Beach appeared by the doorframe and threw Lou a slipper, which she managed to avoid.
Lou's phone rang in her bag settled on the bed, she rushed over and grinned as she saw Stephens name flashing up. "Oh, he can't leave you alone for 5 minutes." Chesca was peeking over the New Yorkers shoulder. Lou rolled her eyes and pushed Chesca back making her fall over onto the bed. The conversation was quick, confirming he would meet her in the lobby at 6.30am. She was excited to say the least; training with the Celtic warrior would be a day never to forget.
~#~
Katie lay in her hotel room nursing a headache that was growing with every syllable that left Brandi's mouth. She whipped around the room laying her stuff out everywhere. All Katie could see was a haze of bright fuchsia flashing back and forth in front of her – she'd never seen so much pink crap in her life.
"For God's sake don't you ever shut your trap?" She stopped dead in her tracks, her cerise covered lips forming a perfect 'O'; finally there was silence in the room – an awkward silence, but a silence nonetheless. The Englishwoman sighed; today was supposed to have been an amazing day filled with everything she'd ever wanted in a debut but it just couldn't be that easy. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to shake the image of the egotistical Wade Barrett from her mind. His disgusting smirk, greasy slicked-backed hair and smug face; she was sick of the sight of him already.
As if on cue, there was a sharp knock at the door. Brandi opened the door to be faced with a rather suppressed Wade; he didn't say anything, only giving the Barbie the once over followed by a dirty look.
"I take it you're here to see Katie and not me," Brandi backed into the room and shot him a look over her shoulder, "she's in a pretty foul mood at the moment though. Perhaps this isn't that wise." Stu scoffed at the woman, holding back a laugh. She was telling him that the situation wasn't wise – she probably couldn't even spell the word 'wise', let alone comprehend it. The man had finally found out his rookie's first name, however, from the blonde bimbo of all people.
Katie got up from her bed and peered out into the living area, wondering who had bothered to visit. Her eyes narrowed to slits when she caught a glimpse of the visitor's tattoo. Wonderful, more torment. She walked out to meet him; Brandi excusing herself from the awkward situation after Wade had decided to insult her about how dumb she was.
"I think you owe me an apology, Katie." His voice was firm, his arms crossed over his chest.
"An apology for what, Stu?" She had a right mind to full-name her pro, undermining his apparent authority over her. Playing dumb had obviously rubbed off from staying in a room with Brandi; she was the master of being stupid after all. His arms dropped to his sides as he made his way over to her quickly, grabbing a hold of one of her wrists. "You know exactly what I want an apology for."
"Okay," Katie smiled sweetly as Stu loosened his grip on her, "I'm sorry you're such an arsehole." She wasn't going to give in easily, as much as he wanted to be the boss; he guessed that was as close to an apology as he was going to get from her. To her surprise, he let her go and looked down at her smirking.
"Gold's Gym, tomorrow morning, 6.30am." He ordered, backing away from her and making his way over to the door.
"I'll be there at 6am." She shouted out to him which earned her another smirk and a shake of his head before he left the room. When he'd gone, she groaned in frustration. Why did she have to say 6am? She loved to sleep; an extra 30 minutes would have done the trick for her ever-increasing headache. But no, she had to get the last word in; she needed to one up him. That was just her.
-The Following Morning-
Stu walked into Gold's Gym around 6.15am, he scouted around the area for Katie, spotting her jogging at a fairly fast pace on one of the treadmills, her back to him. He just watched her for a few minutes, the way her body bounced up and down every time her feet would connect with the apparatus, a light dusting of sweat forming on her back. A lump formed in his throat and he was quick to shake the thoughts from his mind – he hated the woman; he was supposed to be making her suffer.
Katie glanced over her shoulder, noticing her pro approaching her.
"You could have worn something more appropriate." Stu simply said in her direction. Trying to put her down this early wasn't going to sit right with her.
"Never seen a sports bra before, Barrett?" Katie smirked as she watched him drop his gym bag on a wooden bench, "I'm pretty sure that sports bras are more than appropriate for gym work." He was clearly still mad at her for assaulting him last night, sleeping it off hadn't worked; his groin ached like a bitch but he wasn't about to let her know that. He attempted to walk towards her without making it apparent that he was limping slightly. Peering over the front of the treadmill, he snapped his index finger out and pushed down on the button to increase the speed Katie was running at.
"What are you doing?" She asked, beginning to breathe heavier by the second. Her fitness was actually really good but the incessant stare down from Stu was making her uneasy and unable to cooperate properly.
"You think you can kick me in the bollocks and get away with it?" Her legs were moving at an almost supersonic pace as she tried her hardest to keep up with the speed. Her hands gripped onto the handles of the treadmill, her brow furrowing; his now intense glare seeping through her being. "Welcome to hell, sweetheart." He pushed another button and the treadmill stopped abruptly, sending Katie flying backwards and landing on her backside. A small yelp escaped her lips when the force of the fall caused her to smack her head against the wall. For a minute, she thought she saw a flash of regret in Stu's eyes; until, of course, he leered over her causing her to feel the size of a borrower. He slowly lowered his hand to her, Katie hesitant in grabbing onto his long fingers. Pulling her up half the way, he slipped his hand out of her grasp for her to fall back down again. An amused chuckle boomed out of him as she let out a frustrated groan and got up by herself, walking away from him and over to the weights.
~#~
Lou leant against the cold gold railing in the elevator, her eyes drifting shut as the elevator made its descent down to the lobby. It was 6.20am, she wanted to impress Stephen and being early would only put her in good stead. She was in a good mood despite being sleepy and receiving an earful from Chesca that morning. She had accidently knocked over some bottles of shampoo and body wash in the bathroom, robbing the half Italian from her last precious moments of sleep. Lou protested that she would be late to meet Stephen if she cleaned up the mess and escaped the hotel room just as Chesca threw a shoe at her which hit the back of the door.
Her blue eyes shot open as she felt the elevator stop, she tightened her grip on the Diane von Furstenberg canvas tote resting on her shoulder, 'Love is Life' written in cursive on the front. It was filled with the gym essentials; towel, water and iPod. Black sweat pants covered her legs and a grey cotton cropped vest showed off her stomach; the words 'Born to Ride' clear across the decorative embellishment on the front.
The blonde stepped into the lobby glancing around and seeing only a few hotel staff. She wasn't sure if she really expected to see Stephen here this early but she pushed those thoughts aside and made her way over to the large couches to the left of the hotel entrance. As soon as she sank into the soft cushions her eyes drifted shut again and she let out a breathy sigh.
"Sleeping on the job are yeh?" The strong Irish brogue swiftly dragged Lou out of her power nap; she stared up at Stephen who grinned back at her.
"I came early." She tried to defend her sleeping in the lobby.
"Don't worry; I don't have any sort of punishment thought out for yeh." He held out his hand to her which she gladly took. He helped her up from the couch then dropped her hand, his long strides took him towards the hotel entrance, "No time to waste, love." He glanced back at her and raised his brows; she hastily followed him being thrust head first into the life of a WWE superstar.
Out of the corner of her eye, Katie noticed Lou walking in with Stephen; both of them grinning from ear to ear. She grabbed an exercise ball and began working out with some weights whilst he left her to it, beginning his own routine. Meanwhile, she felt Stu standing close behind her, his hot breath ghosting down her neck.
"So, are you going to lift those weights or just stare at them all day?" She turned to him; he was unnaturally close, invading her personal space with that cocky smirk plastered on his smug face. "Come on, get to work."
Lou sat on a shiny silver exercise ball, her legs stretched out in front of her; feet planted square on the ground. Her legs burned and her arms ached as she lifted the small set of weights in her hands. She let out a breath, trying to keep her breathing steady. Stephen stood close by whilst he did his own workout, keeping an eye on her. He knew she was in good fitness, but he also knew he could get her to her prime. He watched her lift the weights, a thin sheen of sweat covering her smooth taut stomach. Though she tried to concentrate, her gaze kept landing on Stu and Katie. She knew Katie was pissed, that was more than obvious.
~#~
While busy cleaning up the mess Lou had left in the bathroom, Chesca blessed one of her previous jobs in her parents' restaurant: being a waitress had certainly improved her speed in mopping up puddles and putting things in order. Still in her pyjamas – a large size of Eddie Guerrero's "I'm Your Papi" t-shirt – she looked at her watch, 6.25 am, meaning it was too early for her meeting with Trips; the half Italian girl took the training outfit out the suitcase and slipped inside it after a quick shower she wore the Motörhead black tank top and a pair of grey sweatpants she had decided to use for the day. Still twenty minutes left, but Chesca decided to leave her room and go knock on her pro's door anyway; she was sure he wouldn't have minded seeing she was more than simply on time.
She walked up to where his suite was, he had told her the room number in case she needed something. Her heart jumped in seeing the number carved in the shiny golden plate; adjusting the rucksack on her shoulder, the rookie used a single firm knock on the door. Chesca was looking down the hallway as she heard the door swing open, making her turn her head to clash with the sight in front of her: Hunter stood in the doorway, wearing...well, he was wearing nothing but a towel around his large waist, drops of water tracing his tanned chest falling from his wet hair, and that irresistible smile on his lips.
"Am I late?" He talked first, leaning an elbow on the wooden doorframe; the girl felt her cheeks burning like hell as she tried her best not to scan his entire body.
"N-no," she finally replied after a couple of seconds, turning her head away and looking in his hazel eyes, "My roommate woke me up early so I had nothing to do and decided to..." Trips chuckled as he saw her visible embarrassment and took a step back inside the room, nodding in that direction.
"Oh never mind," Hunter said, already in the suite's corridor, "We'll get in the gym in a few minutes. Come in, I'll be ready in a heartbeat." Come in? Had her favourite wrestler of all time just invited her to get inside his room?
"I'll just wa-wait here, if you don..."
"I insist!" The familiar voice echoed from inside, sending a shiver down her spine. She carefully stepped inside, the scent of his bath foam filling the air, making her mind think about things she really shouldn't; the suite was definitely big, made up of a little living room just at the end of the corridor, and the bedroom attached to it. Chesca didn't even sit down, too nervous from being right where she was, and she just glanced around. She noticed the large gym bag lying near the table in the centre of the room, and something that looked like a folded shirt placed on it, along with keys, his phone, random fitness magazines and a DX baseball cap.
"Ready." He showed up after a few minutes, a grey wife beater and Adidas black sweatpants with white stripes on the sides; he took all of his things and put them in the bag, except for the shirt, which he held in his hand, and the cap, which he put on backwards on his head, looking kind of cute, too.
"Let's go then?" She shyly said to him, who nodded and picked up his bag; Chesca made her way back and went outside the room, and waited for the pro to follow her.
"Nice shirt, by the way." Once in the floor's hallway, closing the door behind him, Trips glanced at the girl's Motörhead top, pointing at it; then she handled the folded shirt he held to her, blushing and giving him a puzzled look.
"What's that?" She asked, taking it and opening it: a big smile widened on her features as she realized it was the new Triple H tee, with this big green, orange and yellow crowned skull, 'Rex Cranium' written on its side, "Is this...?"
"Yeah, a little present." He replied to her, gently placing a hand on her back and pushing her to the elevators, "Don't know, maybe you could wear it next time we're in the ring?" She folded the shirt again and asked him to put it in the rucksack on her shoulders.
"Of course I will."
She answered, the smile still plastered on her face, "Thanks...Paul." He winked at her, pleased she had called him with his first name: it meant that maybe she had overcome her shyness, discovering he wasn't that bad at all.
"Lou! Focus." Stephen shouted to her and she snapped her head in his direction. He sent her a stern look, wanting her to continue with her workout. Her instinct was to check if Katie was alright, she glanced to the lobby doors just as Chesca and Paul were walking through; more distance between them then necessary. She glanced up at Stephen, who now had his back to her, her eyes traced over his defined muscles before she literally shook her head stopping her from staring. She quietly placed the weights on the floor and rushed over to Chesca, wanting to vent her concerns for Katie.
"Ches!" The blonde grabbed Chesca's upper arms and shook her a little, completely ignoring the giant man next to her, "I think Katie was right about Stu."
"LOU!" She cringed as Stephen shouted her name again. She looked over her shoulder at Stephen expecting him to be giving her a disapproving look but he was staring at Paul who stood smirking back.
"Please keep an eye on Katie; I just want to make sure she's okay." She asked Chesca quickly before turning to look at Stephen again who was now beckoning her over with his finger. She smiled softly at Chesca before returning to Stephen, looking him up at down as she reached him.
"Go to the ring." He pointed to the empty ring, wanting her focused 110%.
Lou smirked at him as his gaze returned to Paul, "Yes master."
~#~
As soon as Lou had warned her to look after what that strange Englishman was doing with Katie, the half Italian woman just followed her pro where the punching bags were: her usual workout involved a lot of boxing, so she felt lucky that Trips had chosen to test her skills there.
"Let's see what you've got, Ches." The blonde man told her, after placing all the bags on a bench against the wall; Chesca put on her boxing gloves and smirked at the older man, watching as he put himself between the tall black punching bag, firmly holding it with his big hands, his bicep slightly flexed. After a deep breath, she put herself in the guard position, with a fist covering her face; she usually did that with heavy metal or hard rock music blasting her ears from her iPod, but she decided it would have been better to listen to The Game's tips and suggestions, that time: she was sure she had a lot to learn from him.
She charged the first punch and hit the bag, right over Trips' hand: he nodded, silently telling her to continue and find her rhythm; one after the other, she alternated punches and kicks, a thin layer of sweat slowly covering the crook of her neck, a few drops tracing her neck down to the valley of her chest. Hunter looked at her and her concentration, feeling the hits vibrating on the bag, admiring how focused she could get.
The girl went on with her practice: using high kicks, stretching both of her legs very high; she suddenly remembered what her blonde friend had told her, that was to keep an eye on Katie. She hit a first then a second kick, and momentarily turned her head to look at Barrett towering over the British woman, ordering her to do this, to do that, to do everything he wanted from her: she had probably imagined to kick the Nexus' leader's mug, because she suddenly used an extra dose of strength in doing it.
What she heard though, was not her foot clashing with the leather of the bag, but with something else; something that spoke and that let a groan of pain come out after her hit. She had just kicked Triple H in the face.
"FUCK!" The girl even lost the balance on the leg she was standing, falling with her backside on the gym's wooden floor, but she got up in a flash, wanting to check on Trips' condition after her killer kick, "I'm a disaster, seriously! How...How are you?" The man was still on his feet, massaging one of his cheeks and shooting a glare at the girl; embarrassment and guilt at the highest levels ever.
"It's okay, girl." He said to her with a sigh, patting a hand on her shoulder, slightly gripping on her deltoid, "Just pay attention to what you do, huh?" He nodded at Stu and Katie, "They'll be fine."
Still all reddish and embarrassed, Chesca wiped the sweat off her forehead with her wristband, and went back behind the punching bag.
"You sure you don't wanna try some other training?" She asked him sheepishly; Trips laughed, shaking his head.
"I can handle a couple more kicks, don't worry." He smiled again, and invited her to start again.
~#~
"Stephen! LET GO!" Lou begged, breathless and wanting to be let out of the restraining submission hold Stephen had her in.
"This is why yeh need to work on yer flexibility; it wouldn't be so hard then." She groaned, he had proven his point. He let her go leaving her spread out on the mat, she sat up resting back on her hands as Stephen towered over her.
"Spread yer legs."
"Excuse me?" Lou's blue eyes were wide at his demand.
"Yeh need to stretch yeh hamstring muscles." Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' before she went about completing his request. She smirked as she showed Stephen just how flexible she actually was.
"Alright, yeh can get up now. We're done" She jumped up onto her feet, regretting it as a stitch of pain ran through the back of her right thigh. She winced slightly and gripped onto the top rope, Stephen rushed over to her; this is what she got for showing off, "Ah think yeh have cramp. Let me help yeh."
He crouched down next her and let his huge hands settle on her thigh, her grip on the rope tightened as he began rubbing the back of her thigh to try and ease the tension in the muscle. His long fingers worked into her skin, she could feel the heat radiating from him through the thin material of her sweatpants. He worked up the back of her thigh, the back of his hand slightly grazing the curve of her backside.
The sound of weights crashing to the floor stopped Stephen's actions. Lou whipped her head to where Stu and Katie were; a set of hand weights rolling along the floor. She looked at him apologetically before stepping out of the ring.
"How the fuck am I supposed to concentrate if you're fucking breathing down my neck?" Katie shouted at Stu, Lou hadn't seen her this mad since she accidently shrunk her favourite pair of jeans. Lou felt Stephen's hand on her shoulder as she approached the couple; Stu looked just as pissed as Katie.
"Well I wouldn't have to keep an eye on you if you were doing it right." He retaliated with equal force.
She scoffed at him, "How hard is it to lift a fucking dumbbell?"
His fists clenched at his sides, "You're driving me up the wall." He stared daggers into her, clearly being pushed to his limit.
"I'll drive this dumbbell up your arse in a minute." She pointed a slender finger at him. Stu stepped towards Katie, a smirk slowly appearing on his lips.
"You still haven't learnt have you?" His hands rested on his hips, only making him appear bigger.
"Why don't you cut her some slack?" Lou chimed in, she'd seen enough. Stu turned to the petite blonde, frowning at her input into the conversation.
"Or else?" He chuckled at her, clearly amused by her ill-advised comment.
"I'll kick you in the balls. I heard you like that." She grinned as Katie laughed, his face dropped; she'd hit a nerve.
"Maybe you should mind your own business." The tall Englishman stepped towards Lou, only for Stephen to move in front of her and gently push Stu back with his hand on his shoulder.
"Back off Bennett." Stu adhered Stephen's warning and turned back to Katie.
"Pick those up now." He pointed to the weights she had dropped only moments ago.
Stephen turned back to Lou, his features softened as he saw the look of concern for her friend written all over her face. His large arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her away from the drama. "She'll be fine, don't worry yehself."
Glancing over her shoulder quickly she saw Katie lifting weights again. Stu stood directly before her, arms crossed over his wide chest making sure she didn't put a foot out of line. Perhaps the Londoner was right about Stu, he was acting psychotic; and she was sure that he was the most possessive man she'd ever come across. At that moment, she thanked the Lord that she'd gotten Stephen as her pro; they were much more suited.
A/N – Thanks Liloxbubbly, miamitravel, xFindTheEnigmaWithinx, LA Williams and Mew of Fire for the reviews. Also thanks to anyone who added to their favourite/alert list :D! We've changed from the original idea, instead of posting 3 separate chapters, posting one made more sense! Hope you enjoyed!
Lou, Katie and Chesca x