Memphis studied her boyfriend, giving him a serious look. His eyes briefly cast upwards, meeting her gaze with a sobering look of his own.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"There's nothing to talk about, Dollface."

Memphis exhaled.

"Looks like you have a decision to make."

Phil Brooks popped his knuckles.

"I guess I do. And it kills me because I know this is gonna hurt you but trust me, Memphis, this will hurt me way more than it's going to hurt you."

She ran her fingers through her hair.

"Go for it. A man's got to do what a man's got to do."

Phil nodded and then he made his move.

"It was sweet while it lasted but this is over. Checkmate."

Memphis watched with a sad face as Phil won the intense game of chess the pair had been playing for the last two hours.

"You absolutely suck!" she pouted.

"Harsh words from a sore loser," he teased. "And I do not suck. In fact, this is the ninth game of chess we've played together and this would be my fifth crushing victory, which means that I am the superior player and if anyone sucks, my dear, it would be you."

"Oh this isn't over, Philip Brooks, not by a long shot. I will defeat you in this game of wits and wills and reclaim supremacy if it's the last thing I do."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know why you insist on the humiliating repeat of this pathetic intellectual beatdown but I will humor you."

"Oh is that what you call it?" she laughed out loud.

"Winning is too easy, like taking candy from a baby. I'm gonna start playing you for clothes. Seriously. Strip chess, best two out of three."

Memphis giggled out loud as she stood from her chair and walked to the other side of the small table where they had set up the board game in their hotel. She plopped down in his lap, caressing his face as she lowered her lips over his and captured the moment with a kiss. The city was Topeka and after another successful and exciting sold out Monday Night RAW, the happy couple had reconvened inside the quiet and private confines of their hotel room. Things had been going well. Though Phil continued to battle with the daily discomfort of a nagging hip injury, he had recently begun a grueling rehab regimine that was geared to getting him back in the ring, stronger and faster than ever. It had cut into his travel schedule, eliminating his duties commentating on the house shows and other non televised events. That left pay per views and of course, RAW. It felt good to do what he had to do to start wrestling again, but at the same time, he missed being with his girl on the road.

Memphis was enjoying her life with the WWE. Every day was a new adventure and each morning she had to pinch herself to make sure it all wasn't just a dream. It was a dream…a dream come true and she was loving every moment of it. In a short time, she had already garnered the mainstream attention,which had culminated in the FHM shoot. She was officiating more and more matches, many of them main events, which was the job she loved she more than anything. The road was more fun than she thought possible and making everything even better, she had developed some special and real relationships with her co-workers. Phil Brooks had turned out to be a good match, the yin to her yang. A caring, funny, sarcastic, sexy, lovable boyfriend who had made her a very happy lady. Then there were the other Superstars and Divas on the roster. It was a good feeling to come to work and just relish in the comradery and positive engery that surrounded the backstage area. With the exception of Ted DiBiase Jr. and the rest of the referees, she got along with all the talent and the crew. Memphis had particularly grown pretty close with Mike Mizanin, Maryse Ouellet, John Hennigan, and Nattie Neidhart. She spent a lot of time with Melina Perez also. It was nice having a girl BFF, someone to giggle and gossip with, someone to shop with and talk to. She hadn't had much of that in her life and she was learning to let her guard down and just enjoy it. She was enjoying something else as well.

Randy Orton was one of a kind, good or bad. He and Memphis had started their relationship on the wrong foot and things had only gone downhill from there. After months of torment and ill will, it had ended with the ultimate humiliation. As she had stood there, staring at him that night with tears in her eyes, the anger, sadness, embarrassment, confusion and hate she felt for him was scarily overpowering. Never in a million years could she have guessed that she would forgive him. But circumstances had happened and in a process where both individuals had matured profoundly and learned to find themselves, that forgiveness had produced a unique kinship. They had talked and spent time together. In those minutes and hours, each had been uncharacteristically vulnerable and let the other in on some of their most personal feelings and thoughts. They were more alike than they thought and had more in common than either dreamed possible. It was safe to say they were friends, something the two were comfortable and happy with. It was a mutually beneficial connection.

Memphis had arrived in Topeka that morning, arriving in a rental with Maryse and Victoria "Alicia Fox" Crawford. After enjoying brunch with the girls, she had settled in the hotel and caught a quick nap after a workout. By 2 p.m. she was in the arena. She had attended a meeting and had gone over the two matches she was scheduled to officiate. After hair and makeup, she had wandered over to catering for a quick snack that consisted of an apple and a Crystal Light. It was there that she had bumped into Randy and the two had casually chatted about 15 minutes before Phil had arrived. The two men had grunted what could have been interpreted as either greetings or insults at one another, and Phil had gotten some grub as his girlfriend finished her conversation. He hadn't made a big deal about it or openly jocked them and Randy hadn't gone out of his way to be a douche. Memphis could only count it as progress and when it came to those two, she would accept what she could get. The show had started and ended without a hitch. Afterwards, she and Phil had gone out to dinner with Melina and John, and Nattie and TJ. When they returned to their room, instead of opting for sleep, they had continued their ongoing chess rivalry that had resulted in several heavily contested matchups during the course of their relationship. It was now after four a.m. and neither was tired.

"You don't have to challenge me to chess if you want to see me naked," Memphis teased, biting Phil's earlobe. "If you just ask nicely, who knows, it could be your lucky night…"

"Ask nicely, huh?" he growled, attacking her neck. "I've got one word for you..."

"Please?"

He pulled away and shook his head.

"Rematch."

"You read my mind," she grinned, licking her lips. "I am going to smoke your ass in this next game, and then I am going to give you really hot consolation sex."

"Daddy loves it when you talk dirty."

Memphis went to take a sip out of her cup and frowned when she did so.

"Ugh, that's gross."

"What's wrong, Dollface?"

"My water got all warm. How's your Diet Pepsi?"

Phil shrugged.

"The ice melted."

"Set up the board and I'll go get us some ice, okay?" she volunteered, grabbing the complimentary hotel provided ice bucket.

"Make sure you grab enough for the freaky after chess nookie," Phil called out loudly just as Memphis was closing the door behind her.

She shook her had and laughed as she made her way to the end of the hall. Just her luck, the ice machine was broken. Sighing grumpily, she headed to the elevator and took one floor up, hoping for better luck. Indeed there was an ice machine and it happened to be in working harder. Memphis filled up the bucket, humming to herself lost in her own little world as out of the corner of her eye, she saw a door to one of the rooms open. A pretty and petite girl with long brown hair stumbled out of the room. Her hair was tussled and her makeup was smeared all over her face. She was stumbling over her own feet, carrying her heels in her hands as she struggled to button her low rise jeans.

"Sweetie, you okay?" Memphis carefully approached her.

In her law days, she had seen too many cases of young, intoxicated girls being in the wrong place at the wrong time. More often than not, the stories had bad endings. As a woman, Memphis couldn't help but be concerned.

"Yeah," the girl slurred, reaching into her purse and frantically moving stuff around. "Can't…find, my, my keys."

"Are you staying here?" Memphis questioned. "And I really don't know if it's a good idea for you to be behind a wheel right now."

Just then the door opened, from which the girl had just exited from.

"Hey, you forgot these."

Both women turned around in the direction of the voice. The girl smiled goofily and staggered back towards the room, towards the shirtless man dangling a set of keys into the hallway. Memphis' mouth fell open. It was Randy.

"Thanks," she took them from him.

Randy's eyes caught Memphis' and he looked away.

"See ya," was all he had to say.

The girl made her way to the elevator as Memphis walked over to where Randy was still standing.

"Is she okay?" she asked.

Randy shrugged.

"I guess."

"You guess?"

"What do you want me to do?"

Memphis rolled her eyes.

"Some random chick leaves your room in the middle of the night, quelle surprise, and she can barely stand up. She's going God knows where and you just let her leave and then stand there like it's no big deal."

"It's not," he answered matter of factly.

"Randy! She obviously has been drinking…or worse. You can't just let her drive home."

"Relax. I called her a cab. The keys she left behind were just house keys."

Memphis breathed a sigh of relief.

"That is good to know."

"Anyway, what are you doing up here on this floor?" Randy, smiling, folded his massive, tattooed arms. "Stalking me?"

"What? No. I…The machine is broken on my floor and Punk and I needed ice."

"Kinky," Randy smirked. "I'll try to ignore the mental image creeping up in my mind before I throw up in my mouth a little."

"Not for that. God, dude, sometimes I swear you are so impossible. It's for our drinks."

"If that's your story," he shrugged. "Anyway, guess I'll see you around."

He went to shut the door but noticed she was still standing there. Her look was serious and one of disappointment.

"You're never gonna learn, are you?" she asked softly.

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought you changed, Randy. I thought you were working really hard to become a different person, a better person."

"We both know I've done some things I'm not proud of. I have changed. I think you of all people know that."

"You haven't changed. You're back up to your old tricks again."

"Memphis…"

"Sleeping with strange girls in every city? Really, Randy?"

He chuckled.

"I'm still a man. I have needs and one of those needs is to get laid every now and then. I don't recall reading the part where becoming a good guy means giving up ass."

"It's not funny. I mean, does the name Hannah Wilson and do the paternity test results I read to you not even two weeks ago, ring a bell? You dodged a major bullet, made a huge mistake and after you poured your heart out to me, I gave you the benefit of the doubt and assumed you had actually learned something. But I guess not."

"Relax, Mom. I used a rubber this time."

"It's not about that."

"What is your deal?" Randy eyed her.

Memphis sighed.

"You are a good guy on the inside. I've seen you be that stand up guy. You're good looking and intelligent and so very talented. You're lost on the inside but we all go through things like that. It's just a matter of finding yourself . I, I thought you were on your way. But this…this isn't you, the real Randy…or at least it doesn't have to be. The drinking, the weed smoking, the getting in trouble at work, being an ass to everyone, hooking up with random ring rats in every city…it's all the same."

"It's not what you think," Randy replied quietly.

"Why? You're better than that, Randy. I have seen you be better than that. Why?"

He looked at her like a child that had just been scolded after being caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Normally he didn't give two shits what others thought about him. Any other broad that got in his face and had the nerve to try to call him on anything would have been verbally cut down right on the spot. But not Memphis Kramer. Memphis was different. He hated to admit it but her opinion did matter. She looked angry, disappointned in him even. And that oddly bothered him.

"I, I don't know."

She nodded. Neither did she.

"I have to go."

"Look…"

She grabbed the ice bucket.

"I'll um, I guess I'll see you around. Good night, Randy."

He watched her turn the corner and then disappear into the elevator a few seconds later. For some reason he couldn't take his eyes off of her and for some reason after her chastising, he felt an element of shame at his actions. He wanted to call her back, talk to her, attempt to explain it somehow but he knew it was no use. It was just better to let it go. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes as he closed the door softly behind him.

"Good night, Memphis."