Chapter 17

Trish rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 10 AM on Saturday, December 31st. After a full day of sight seeing yesterday with Matt, she crashed and had the best night's sleep she had in quite some time. She crawled out of bed and opened the curtains wide, letting the sun shine in. She decided she needed to find the nearest mall and quick as she didn't have anything to wear to the party tonight.

She walked into the bathroom and started the shower. Just as she was about to step in, she heard her cell ring. She smiled immediately when she saw Randy's name. "Hello?"

"Hi! How's St. Louis treating you?"

She chuckled, "It's good so far. Do you have everything set up for tonight?"

He sighed, "Yes, everything is taken care of. And while Sam is out all day with the girls, me and Al get to have a fun day together!"

Trish smiled to herself, He really is such a great father, she thought.

"So, what are your plans for the day?"

"Well, I need to find the nearest mall. I need something to wear tonight!"

"There's a mall not too far from where you're staying. I'll tell you what…how about I'll swing by in about an hour and you, me, and Al can have lunch together and then we'll help you find an outfit at the mall."

Trish smiled, "That sounds perfect. And I can't wait to meet Alanna! So, I'm assuming jeans are out for the party?"

Randy laughed loudly on the other end of the phone, "You can wear whatever you want, but I'm not going to lie, you'll be under-dressed if you wear jeans."

She sighed, "That's what I thought. Ok, a dress it is. I'll see you in an hour?"

"Yup, I'll text you when I'm outside."

"Ok, see you soon!"

Trish sighed as she hung up the phone and thought back to Wednesday night and the 'kiss that almost was'. She hadn't seen Randy on Thursday at all, other than the drive over to the arena. And they really didn't get to talk much either as Stefanie had called to set up a time to meet with Trish to discuss her Wrestlemania idea.

She was starting to notice a trend with Randy and herself. Any time they found themselves in a bad situation, instead of talking about it and clearing the air, they avoided each other for a few days until the issue cooled off. That bothered her. So she decided, the next time a similar situation would occur, she would say something to him about it…throw it on the table, and figure out what the hell is going on between them.

Trish watched Alanna and Randy from across the table. He was cutting up her chicken into little pieces so that she could eat it, while she nibbled on a French fry. She noticed that Alanna's hair color was a lot lighter than Randy's and that she also had green eyes. She was so adorable and so well behaved as well.

"Alanna, your eyes are so pretty! You must have your mommy's eyes!"

Randy laughed, "Actually, Sam's eyes are brown. We have no idea where the green eyes came from. Sam said her great grandmother had green eyes, so I guess she must have gotten some of her genes. You would honestly think she's the milk man's daughter…I can see a little bit of Sam in her, but for the most part, she doesn't look like either of us! So where did you and Matt go yesterday?" Randy asked as he took a bite of his burger.

Trish smiled, "We went down to the Gateway Arch, and then went over to the Citygarden which was so beautiful. I absolutely loved it. Then we went on a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery." She chuckled and continued, "I had a brewski with my broski!" She laughed harder for a second or two, realizing that Randy did not find her comment funny. "I'm sorry…Matt threw the word 'broski' into almost every sentence yesterday, but none of them were any good except that one…I guess you had to be there…"

Randy swallowed hard. Not only did Trish have a great time with Matt, but they obviously shared inside jokes too. "Wow, it sounds like you fit a lot in for one day."

"Oh, we did even more than that! We made our way over to the Soulard Market too…and then met up with Nick, Brie, Stefanie, Eve, and Cody. We bar jumped around down there all night. It kind of reminded me of New Orleans, with the blues music and all. It was a really fun time! I wish you could have been there with us."

Randy's features softened. Listening to her talk about bar hopping around with Matt was making him very jealous…until he heard her last sentence. His heart melted right then. All day on Friday he thought about Trish, where she was, and wondered how bad Matt was hitting on her. It never occurred to him that she was thinking about him too.

"Are you ok? You don't seem to be yourself today."

Randy shook himself out of his thoughts, "I'm fine. I'm sorry about that. I'm just running through the party checklist in my head to make sure I didn't forget anything. Are you ready to head over to the mall?"

Trish nodded, taking the last bite of her salad, "Yes! We only have a few hours to find me a dress!"

An hour later, and ten dresses later, Trish walked defeated around the mall with Randy and Alanna. She knew she had to find something and quick…Al was almost at her limit and ready for a nap. She sighed, "Ok, let's try this store and if I can't find anything here, I'll go back and purchase the least hated of all the other dresses."

Randy nodded as they made their way in the store. He was worried Al was on her last leg. She was getting antsy and she was definitely ready to get out of the stroller. The good thing about Trish, she didn't mess around. She walked right into the store and back to the dress section. Within fifteen minutes, she had three dresses picked out. "Ok, let me go try these on real quick. If any are promising, I'll come out for an opinion!"

Five minutes later, Trish emerged from the dressing room and Randy was speechless.

"What do you think?" She asked, twirling around a few times, trying to get a good look in the mirror.

The dress was perfect…it was as if the designer made the dress specifically for Trish. The dress was tightly form fitted and strapless. It had black scalloped lace trim around the top bodice and around the hemline. The rest of the dress was a light stone/taupe color made out of satin. The dress ended around her mid thighs…it wasn't too short like most of the dresses the diva's wore. This dress gave the perfect mix of sexy and sophistication, which also is the perfect definition of Trish Stratus.

Randy swallowed hard, "You look amazing…" he muttered out, still entranced by how beautiful she looked.

"Wow! So pretty!" Al exclaimed from her stroller.

Both Trish and Randy started laughing instantly. "Well then, I guess this is the dress!"

Trish also grabbed a pair of strappy black sandals with a 4" heel that perfectly matched the dress as well as some jewelry.

Randy's stomach started to turn as they walked out of the mall. Matt is going to be all over her in that dress. He wasn't sure he had the strength to watch him hit on her. He also didn't know if Trish was actually buying into his advances on her. He hoped she wasn't, but the only way to find out for sure was to try and pull some information out of her. "Matt's definitely going to be flirting with you tonight!"

Trish gave him an odd look before rolling her eyes, "You're nuts! Matt and I are just friends. Besides, he has a girlfriend back in Long Island. The only reason why she's not here with him is because she's in the Bahamas with her family for Christmas vacation. Regardless, he's not my type."

Randy felt relief surge through his body. "Is that right…what is your type?"

You…She cleared her throat, "Hmm…he's got to be tall, dark hair, a killer smile…he needs to be funny, but not a big goofball, he needs to be caring and considerate, family oriented, driven, outgoing and just fun to be around overall. So, totally not Matt!"

He chuckled as he thought about her type. "Trish, you realize, every man is taller than you?"

She smacked him in the arm, "Haha! Aren't we hysterical! You know what I mean! I would prefer someone six foot or taller."

After her comments, he could tell Trish really wasn't interested in Matt. Honestly, he personally felt he had all the characteristics she was looking for in a man. Randy stop this! I shouldn't care in the first place! Trish should be able to date anyone she wants to! And I shouldn't even think that she's describing me!