Chapter 82:
Td Banknorth Garden is primarily the home arena for the NHL's Boston Bruins and the NBA's Boston Celtics. It had hosted Wrestlemania XIV back in 1998 and ten years later, it would host WWE's Survivor Series.
It was also the home arena of WWE Superstar John Cena and WWE Diva Haley Mariano. Both stood outside the concrete building the morning of November 23, holding Starbucks cups of coffee with identical smiles on their faces.
"So how long before the rest of the WWE gets here?" Haley asked conversationally, her cheeks pink from the brisk fall air.
"Couple of hours before the Superstars and Divas show up. The Roadies should already be inside, setting up the ring and shit." John shrugged, taking a deep swallow of his coffee.
"Setting up the ring and shit." Haley repeated with a smirk. "Classy."
John chuckled. "I'm a classy guy, Hales, haven't you figured that out by now?"
"Silly me, nope never crossed my mind until now." She grinned up at him. "Should we head inside and be confined to that little office so no one knows we're here until later?"
"I actually have to spend all day in a little room with you?" He said teasingly, his blue eyes lit with humor.
"Idiot." Haley slapped his arm, but couldn't hide the grin on her face. "You've been living in my house with me more than yours for a month."
It's all about the Game
And how you play it
All about control
And if you can take it
All about your debt
"Hi Hunter." Haley answered her cell phone.
"Your ringtone for him is his theme song? How unoriginal." John rolled his eyes.
"No I'm with John at the Garden already. We're about to go into hiding so you won't see me until after the pay-per-view is over." She ignored Cena in favor of the Game. "Good luck in your Triple Threat tonight. I'll see you after the show. Love you too, bye!"
"You are such a Daddy's Girl." John started towards the entrance to the building, leaving Haley little choice but to follow.
"You're just jealous because I'm his fan before yours." She retorted lightly, shouldering her gym bag with her clothes for later tonight.
"Yeah, you suck for that by the way you know you want to be a part of the Cenation." He continued to tease her as they were engulfed by the heat inside the building.
"Suck it up. And worry about facing Jericho." Haley shook her head.
They flashed their passes at one of the members of the security team and were directed towards a private locker room where they would stay for the rest of the day, being catered to if necessary. Haley's return was still a surprise and Creative did not want John seen until his match later that night.
Meanwhile…
"She's not home." Candice Michelle looked baffled as she relocked the front door to Haley's townhouse and placed the spare key back in it's hiding place. "How can she not be home? WWE is in her hometown, she knew we'd be flying in?"
Kelly shrugged. "Maybe she went out on an errand or something?"
"Or she's still in Connecticut." Michelle suggested. "Did you call her?"
"Twice." Candice nodded. "No answer. This is all very odd."
"Well we don't exactly have a lot of time to look for her before we need to be at the arena." Kelly pointed out. "Do you think we should just head that way and swing by here after the show? See if she's home then?"
"We can keep calling her too. She can't avoid us forever." Michelle agreed with Kelly.
Candice looked over towards the Black SUV they had arrived in and the large man who stood beside it. She gave him an apologetic glance. "Sorry Dave, she's not here."
Dave sighed heavily. "It's not your fault. Like you said, she's not answering her phone."
"Maybe she was at John's this morning." Kelly said as she hopped into the SUV. She felt bad for Dave, knowing how much he wanted to see her. "They've been hanging out a lot and doing physical therapy together."
Dave's hands fisted around the steering wheel. "And maybe while we've been apart she's decided she wants to be with Cena instead after everything Orton's done."
"That's not true Dave." Candice leaned over and squeezed his forearm comfortingly. "If anything, Haley and John have cemented their friendship and nothing more. I think John's finally figured out their meant to be friends because anyone could have seen how much the time away from you was killing her."
"Then why didn't she call?" Dave asked miserably. "She found out the truth. Hunter told me she knew everything. Why is she still keeping me at a distance? I thought if she knew what Randy had done, she would come back to me. Instead I feel like she's running in the opposite direction."
"I don't know Dave. But she's not running from you. I don't know what she's doing right now but there has to be a good reason why she hasn't called you yet." Candice reassured him sympathetically. "She loves you, it's always been you. She told me that, even when she did finally admit feelings for Randy, she said it was nothing compared to what she feels for you."
"It's true Dave. You're the one, her one." Michelle chimed in from her spot in the back beside Kelly. "Candice and I were here trading off days when you couldn't be. We all saw it. She was trying to be stronger, but she was still broken without you. I've listened to her on the phone since the truth came out. She's back to being the old Haley, the one we all know and love."
"Just give her the benefit of the doubt, Big Guy." Candice said. "She has to have a reason for waiting this long to get in contact with you. I'm sure she'll make it all up to you."
Later that night…
Haley Mariano stood nervously in the dressing room on the opposite end of the arena from all the other WWE Superstars and Divas. So far, Team HBK had defeated JBL and The Raw Divas had beaten the SmackDown Divas thanks to the power of the Glamazon, who worked in tandem with her long time rival Candice Michelle to pick up the victory.
Up next, it was Team Batista vs. Team Orton. Haley had changed from the sweats she'd worn to the arena earlier, trading them for tight dark denim jeans, that tucked into black knee high boots and black shiny halter top that's hem stopped right below her bust line. She had showered, restyled her hair and done her make up in various shades of pinks, beiges and browns to bring out her natural coloring.
John Cena thought she looked beautiful. Randy Orton would eat his heart out and Dave wouldn't know what hit him. "You ready?"
"Always." Haley smiled at him, before turning back to the monitor.
Team Orton was assembling in the ring first. William Regal first, followed by the Gold Standard Shelton Benjamin, the World's Strongest Man Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes accompanied by Manu, and finally, the Captain and Viper himself, Randy Orton. Randy made his entrance in his slow methodical way, the only difference was that Eve Torres trailed behind him, smiling brightly as the crowd booed and jeered her.
CM Punk's music cut of Randy's sharply and the former World Heavyweight Champion was received with cheers as the first member of Team Batista made his way to the ring. His tag team partner, tonight and more recently on Raw, Kofi Kingston, kept the hype going as he made his way down to the ring next. They went ballistic when Matt Hardy followed the Jamaican sensation. They sang along with R-Truth as rapped his way down to the ring.
But loudest pop of all came for the team Captain, the Animal Batista. He was fired up and ready to inflict pain on his opponents. The crowd could stay blood and on the back of the Animal, they could charge into battle against the so hated Randy Orton. Batista chants filled the arena, drowning out his music as he entered the ring. All members of his team looking to him with respect as he climbed a turnbuckle and posed, playing to the crowd.
Randy Orton had a sneer of his face, but other members took a step back from the Animal, recognizing the ferocity in his eyes and not wanting to be on the receiving end of his fury.
Haley turned away from the monitor and winked at John. "Showtime."
Her fellow Massachusetts native grinned back at her. "Go get 'em!"
Haley left the shared locker room with John Cena and started down the seemingly empty halls toward the Gorilla position. The closer she got the louder the crowd became. The match had already begun, she could hear the CM Punk chants as she drew closer.
Butterflies waged war in stomach as she thought of Dave, moments away from reuniting with the man she never stopped loving and now she knew he loved her without reasonable doubt.
"I love you, Dave." She said to herself as she entered the Gorilla position. "It's time for Randy Orton to pay."
Ooooooooh! Can you feel it! The tension, the excitement.
Big shout outs to Nic-002001, Chang-Tong, BSPunk, Dreamin'BIG, xSamiliciousx, Flufferz and Sandraschmidt19. You guys are so great for sticking with me and with Haley all this time! These coming chapters are dedicated to you.
Chang-Tong you asked me how I remembered everything that was going on at this time and no I don't have WWE on tape, though I wish I did now that Dave has retired lol. This is one of my favorite time periods in WWE, 2008 to mid-2009. I did use Wikipedia and Youtube to fill in some of the blanks because my memory isn't perfect, plus I'm tweaking stuff to my liking. IE, Candice having more AIRTIME! Lol
I don't know when you really enjoy something, which I definitely enjoyed WWE during this time period, it's easier to recall the details. The next two fics are going to be harder since I skipped lots of episodes after Dave retired. I mean No Boundaries will be just as easy because that centers around Triple/Orton feud going into WM25, but From the Ashes is going to require more Youtubed matches and Wikipedia for general ideas lol.
Happy Reading!