Chapter 9

Randy approached Trish's room the next morning and was about to knock on the door when he heard yelling from the other side. "Oh, I don't know…I thought maybe you could at least pretend to care about things that I tell you!"

Randy immediately figured it was Ron that she was talking to and though it wasn't right to eavesdrop on her conversation, he couldn't stop himself from listening…but he also couldn't bring himself to knock…not just yet.

"Why! How about because you care about me and you love me? We obviously have different passions in life that excite us, but when you're excited, I can see that and it makes me excited for you…you're happy therefore I'm happy! I just wish you would show me the same respect sometimes!"

"Fine! Then for now on, I'll keep my stupid wrestling stories to myself and I'll be sure not to care the next time you have something important to tell me!"

Randy had heard enough…he could tell Trish was on the verge of tears on the other side of the door. It was time to interrupt and hopefully end the conversation.

Trish's head snapped to the door when she heard the knock. She walked furiously over and opened the door, summoning Randy in. He could tell she was extremely irritated and angry. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was still wet, but she was fully clothed and it appeared that her gym bag was packed as well.

"Well, I'm sorry that you feel that way…ok…you have a terrific day as well. Don't bother calling me tonight…wouldn't want to bore you with my day!" With sarcasm oozing from her lips, Trish hung up the cell phone and threw it on the bed.

She looked at Randy with tears starting to build up in her eyes, "I wish they still made cell phones that slammed shut damn it…it's so hard to slam the receiver down on phones now days! How are you supposed to appropriately express an angry hang-up?" She chuckled; trying to make light out of the fight that Randy witnessed the end of. Little did she know how much of the conversation he actually heard…

He looked at her with sympathetic eyes, but didn't say anything. To be honest, he wasn't exactly sure what to say. He wanted to tell her to just end the marriage. She deserves so much better than him. She deserves someone that will make her their entire world…someone that will make her laugh instead of cry, someone who will be there for her regardless of the situation. And he was insistent that Ron was not that man.

"This marriage is testing my strength…you know how many times now I wanted to just throw in the towel?"

Randy sighed, "Then why don't you?"

She sat down on the bed defeated, "Because I vowed till death do us part. And I'm not going to be like everyone else…marriage isn't as big of a deal as it used to be. A couple's not getting along? Fine, let's get a divorce! I'm not like that…I take marriage seriously. I entered into a lifetime vow and I'm not going to give up on him. He just makes it so fucking hard sometimes…"

Randy sat down next to her and grabbed her hands, "You are one of the strongest women I've ever met! Don't get discouraged. If it was meant to be, it'll be. But please don't ever let him kill that passion inside of you."

The second Randy grabbed her hands, she felt a jolt of electricity run through her body. Their eyes locked for a mere second, though it felt like an eternity for Trish. She felt an indescribable magnetic pull towards Randy as if all laws of gravity were being defied. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was completely lost in his eyes. She could feel his eyes boring into her soul and never felt such an immediate connection with anyone before. She stood abruptly, breaking the moment. "Ok, we really should get going. I've delayed us at least by a half hour! Just let me pull this wet mop up and we can get out of here."

After a quick hour workout and even quicker stop for breakfast, Randy and Trish arrived at the arena. The first thing on Trish's agenda was to find Beth. She made her way to the locker room, hoping to run into her. But to her disappointment, she wasn't there.

"Hey Trish! I haven't had a chance to catch you since your comeback!" Trish looked up to see Victoria, aka Alicia Fox, emerging from the showers. "I'm actually very happy that you're back! I'm really excited to get to work with you…you've set the bar so high for all of us!"

Trish smiled, "I'm actually very excited to get to work with you too! I love some of your moves and I think we could really work the match well. Unfortunately, we're both faces so we probably won't be slotted against each other for some time!"

She laughed, "Very true!"

"You haven't happened to run into Beth today, have you?"

Vicki nodded, "Actually yes I did…she's in the ring working some moves with Nattie."

"Perfect! Thanks Vicki…see you later!"

Trish had repeatedly practiced her approach with Beth in her head, but as she walked down to the ring, she felt apprehensive. What if Beth didn't respond the way she hoped? What if by talking to her, she makes the situation worse than it already is?

She saw the two blondes working moves as she started down the ramp to the ring. They noticed her presence almost immediately. Nattie smiled and waved while Beth gave a half smile.

"Hey ladies! Practicing some moves for tonight?" She tried to keep the conversation light and positive.

Nattie nodded, "You bet! Would like to join us?"

"Actually I would love to, but I was hoping to talk to Beth real quick?"

Nattie shot Trish a knowing look and winked. Beth dropped her head slightly and slowly stopped making eye contact with Trish. She resembled a child that knew they were about to get scolded. "I actually wanted to talk to you too. I wanted to apologize for the knee to the ribs. I didn't call it and I know I should have." She finally raised her head and made eye contact with Trish. "I could have seriously injured you and that's not my intent. I was just a little jealous that you were back…Nattie and I obviously have been working very hard to get more TV time and longer matches. With you coming back, I thought you'd be taking it from us."

Trish shot Beth a sympathetic look. She understood exactly what these women were going through. They were trying to be taken serious in a sport where the majority of women are here for eye candy purposes.

"Look, that wasn't my intent at all. I'm actually looking forward to working matches with you both. I admire you so much and I think we can do some really great things out there."

Beth chuckeld, "Yeah, I'm not going to lie. Nattie was all over me last night and the whole ride here about what I did to you."

Nattie nodded, "Hey, I have to have my fellow Canadian's back!"

All three of them exchanged laughs. Trish was feeling better already. She decided now was the time to talk about fixing the women's division.

"So, I wanted to toss an idea by both of you…I'm think it will work, but I can't do it by myself so I'm asking you both for help. You two always talk about being 'Pin-up Strong' and emphasize how you're beautiful, yet strong and talented wrestlers. Well, I want to turn the diva's division into just that. I want to make the division what it once was. I think we have a lot of talented women that could excel with a little bit of guidance."

They both nodded. Both women looked excited about the possibility of making the division better. Nattie asked what both women were thinking, "What's your thought process on how to go about doing this?"

"Well, I think we need to start working with the other ladies. Divide and conquer if you know what I mean. We need to start incorporating ring time into our schedules before Raw and Smackdown. Show them new moves and help them master the current moves, give them constructive criticism, and help them with their microphone skills. Then on the nights of house shows, tell them to try and incorporate the moves into their matches that night. What do you think?"

Beth responded first, "I think it's a great idea. I think it's worth a shot. I mean, let's face it, what have we got to lose?"

"Oh, and I also am going to keep a log of all the diva's matches and the lengths of each match. If this is working, we should start to see an incline in match times. And who knows, maybe I'm being very optimistic, but we might even get some promos!"

"So where do we start? Anyone in particular?"

"Um, I think you two should focus on Eve and Barbara since they've been getting pretty big pushes as of lately. I'll start with AJ. You may not need to help Eve out that much, so you'll have to determine the length of time you need to work with them. If you think they're picking up on things and improving, then move on to someone else."

Both women agreed and then Beth asked the question no one had considered, "What if they don't want to work with us? What if they don't want to improve?"

Trish thought about that for a second. She didn't even consider that. Why would someone not jump at the opportunity to further their career? "Well, I don't think that'll be the case, but if it is, then just move onto the next diva. I don't think these women would be here if they weren't interested in wrestling though." With that, the plan was set in motion.

"I'm going to run and find AJ right now and then we can layout the match for tonight."

Trish headed backstage on the hunt for AJ. She was glad the conversation went as well as it did. And she was excited to begin 'Operation Pin-up Strong'!