Chapter 45:
"Adamle!" Batista exclaimed in disbelief one week later, as the couple returned to their hotel room after an enlightening, ground-shaking Monday Night RAW.
"Isn't he the ECW announcer that never says my name right?" Haley dropped her purse by the door, shedding her shoes beside it.
"He can't say anyone's name right." Dave assured her. "It's nothing personal. He's just an idiot. The only good thing about this is that I have full permission to beat the tar out of your ex-boyfriend!"
"Dave." Haley sighed. "It's not funny."
"Do you not remember that Cena hit me first last week?" He gaped at her. "I have a right to be a little annoyed with him, despite the fact that he keeps coming after my girlfriend."
"He was aiming for JBL, Dave. We watched the footage, remember?" She pointed out. "He didn't hit you on purpose."
"Oh sure, it looks that way on the surface, Hales, but after tonight, I'm not so sure." He argued. "I mean, it looks like he was aiming for JBL that's for sure, even I believed it at first. But think about it, I have everything he wants, Hales. I have the recognition, the title matches, the popularity, but most importantly, I have you. We both want the same things, the World Heavyweight title and you. He's not getting either, it's gotta make a guy frustrated after awhile."
Haley thought about it for a moment. She had to admit, Dave did make a good point, but he forgot one thing. "You make good points, Dave, but I was John Cena's girlfriend for months. I got to know him pretty well when I roomed with him. Is he hotheaded? Yes. Is he impulsive? Absolutely. Is he stubborn? Hell yes he is. But John has an incredible amount of integrity, that alone would keep him from hitting you over personal jealousy."
"How can you be so sure, Hales?" Dave sat down on the bed. "Look, I respect John more than most guys around here. He's a great competitor, and he's been my friend. But let's face it, you guys have been apart longer than you've been together. And, you did some drastic things when heartbroken, what's to say he doesn't do the same."
"Well," She ran a hand through her hair. "I still don't think he hit you intentionally, and until proven otherwise, I'm going to keep thinking that way."
Dave took that as his cue to let this particular subject drop, for now. "So I wonder how Adamle is going to run the show now."
"I don't know, but he made one hell of a main event for Summerslam. You facing John, its clash of the titans, something everyone will want to see the outcome of." Haley shrugged. "I can only hope that now with a GM, I can get a fair title shot out of Mickie James."
"You should talk to him about it." Dave suggested. "He's had to have seen the screw job done on you."
Haley shot him a playful look. "The only screw job I want done on me better be by you." She retorted seductively.
His eyes lit with the challenge. "Oh, I think I can arrange that." He chuckled for a moment, before pouncing.
"So, what do you think?" Eve Torres finished explaining stage one of her scheme to win the heart of Dave Batista to the veteran SmackDown Diva, Victoria.
Victoria frowned quizzically. "Do you know what you're taking on here, Eve?"
The Latina frowned in confusion. She had been expecting Victoria to laugh and congratulate her on an excellent plan. "What do you mean?" She inquired.
"I mean," The Black Widow began to explain. "Look, there's no love lost between Haley and I. We're on opposite sides, probably always will be. But, I have respect for her. She's tough and she's already in a bad mood thanks to Mickie James and the Burchills. You pull this off; you'll have one pissed off former Women's Champion coming after you with a vengeance. And Eve, you can't even wrestle yet."
Eve waved it off. "She'll be too broken hearted to come after me right away and by the time she does, Dave wouldn't let anything happen to me."
"I don't know, Eve." Victoria still looked skeptical. "Batista loves that girl. They're so affectionate with each other that it's downright sickening. Plus, how are you going to get him away from her? They're practically attached at the hip to one another."
"I'll figure that part out when I get to Summerslam." Eve assured her. "So, will you and Kenny help me or not? Come on, what have you got to lose?"
"This could blow up in your face, Eve." Victoria warned. "I just want you to be aware of the consequences. You taking on Haley like this, is akin to Kelly Kelly taking on Beth Phoenix."
"Haley beat Beth Phoenix as an underdog once. All she needed was one chance." Eve smirked. "And all I need is mine."
Victoria reluctantly agreed. "Okay, but Kenny and I will only help with the first part. After that, you're on your own."
"Great!" Eve giggled, rising to leaving Victoria's hotel room. "Remember to keep this between us, Michelle and Maria can't know I was here."
"Like I want Natalya and Maryse to know you and I are best buddies." Victoria rolled her eyes. "You're secret's safe with me."
"Good." Eve nodded with satisfaction. "This is going to be so much fun!" The Latina squealed, before checking the hallway and leaving the room.
Victoria shook her head in disbelief. "And they think I have mental issues?" She scoffed.
Dwayne Johnson sat on the recliner in his living room, a glass of scotch in one hand, and a contract in the other. Only the tableside lamp was on to dully illuminate the room. He had been sitting there for almost an hour, contemplating his decision.
No one other than Stephanie McMahon knew what he was thinking about. The Billion-dollar princess had been stressed out when he first called, but immediately perked up when she found out what he was calling for. Actually, perked up would be an understatement, the McMahon princess had been ecstatic and instantly accommodating.
Even Dwayne had to admit the deal she offered him was more than fair. His contract was extremely flexible should a movie come up that he wanted to film, or his daughter need him for an exorbitant amount of time. Plus, it would give him the opportunity to be around Haley full time again, which was a definite plus. Working with Haley was one of the best distractions there was, plus with all the twists and turns going on right now, there would be enough drama to keep occupied for months.
Yet, he was still hesitant to take that plunge. He had promised Dani almost two years ago that he had hung up his boots for good. His main priorities were his family and his acting career. He would put the WWE behind him. But, perhaps he was fooling himself. Would he ever really be free of the WWE? It had launched him to stardom and even now, after years of no appearances, the fans still exploded with love for him.
They had embraced Haley initially because she had been a part of him they could have. Now they loved her for Haley, but in the beginning it had been because she had the Rock's name on her list of trainers. They would take the WWE by storm if he did this, as team they would be near unstoppable, especially since Haley was now a package deal. With Haley came a six foot six, two hundred and ninety pound Animal.
Was it enough incentive for him to do this again?
He leant forward so that he sat on the edge of the recliner. He let the contract draped over his right knee, before placing his glass of scotch down on the coaster of his table. He dug into his breast pocket and pulled out a simple black ballpoint pen. Unscrewing the cap and tossing it aside, he straightened the contract across his lap and flipped it open to the appropriate page.
With a slow and fluid motion, he let the ballpoint drift across the paper. It formed his signature on a standard one-year trial contract to see if the new deal took before they made it more permanent.
Haley had always been enough incentive for anything. Now it had the added bonus of reconnecting him to his past and bringing him forward to the better future.
It had been years; years of torturous waiting, wishing, hoping and praying for this to happen. Meanwhile most had doubt that it ever would. But all those thoughts of doubt could be banished, the hopes and prayers stopped.
Because, finally, the Rock has come back to the WWE.
A/N: So, Eve's plotting something for Summerslam...Adamle is the new GM and Dwayne is coming back? And that's only on the surface of what's to come.
Up next, Adamle thinks he's doing Haley a favor when setting up a match for her at Summerslam...what he doesn't realize is that he's just made her life more complicated. How will she figure this one out?
Sorry I haven't been able to reply to your reviews guys, my email account is giving me some issues. It should be fixed by the end of this week though. So you should have your review responses soon. Thanks for sticking with me! I'll keep posting this week regardless. Love you all!