*Thank-you for all the reviews on the last chapter. they were greatly appreciated. thank-you all so much.
JOHN:
I arrive at the hotel in Hershey. I am in shock as I walk in to see Callie not behind the desk but walking around giving orders. I walk over to the desk to check in. "How can I help you?" asks the man at the desk.
"John Cena," I say. "I called last week for my reservation."
"Ah, yes, Mr. Cena, your room is ready," he says to me handing me the keys to my room.
"Thank-you," I say, "is Natalie here by chance?"
"Natalie?" he asks. I can tell by his face that something is wrong but of course he doesn't tell me. "Hold on, Mr. Cena," he says as he gets up and walks away.
I am not sure why I am holding on but I'll wait. Maybe he is going to get Natalie for me. That's what he has to be doing otherwise why would he tell me to wait. I stand at the desk for about 10 minutes before I see the asshole coming from one of the hallways. I hope he isn't coming over here to talk to me. After what he did to Natalie I should kick his ass but at the same time I slept with his fiancé; that is something to gloat about. And just my luck here he comes over in my direction. This guy is coming straight at me. I don't even have time to run before he says, "Can I help you, Mr. Cena?"
"Not really," I say, "I was just looking for Natalie."
"Natalie isn't here," he says.
"Is she sick?" I ask.
"No," he says.
"So she has the day off because she told me she would be here today," I say.
"No," says Max. "Natalie is no longer working here. She has taken a leave of absence."
"A leave of absence?" I ask. I am so confused. Why would she ask for a leave of absence? There is no way she would ask for a leave of absence. Something is definitely wrong here.
"Yes, Mr. Cena," he says in a condescending tone, "a leave of absence. She won't be back for a long time. Now how can I help you?"
"Where is she?" I ask.
"I have no idea," he says. "I would assume she is at home. I don't know," he says. "I am not her keeper."
"You are her fiancé; correct?"
"I don't know," he says. "Natalie and I are having problems," he says.
"I see. So she's at home?"
"Yes," he says. "I would assume."
"Thanks," I say.
I was going to leave it at that and I start to walk away as he says, "Why don't you just stay away from Natalie?"
"Excuse me?" I ask. "What do you mean stay away from Natalie?"
"Exactly what I said," he says, "stay away from her. She doesn't need you in her life confusing her."
"I confuse her? I believe it is YOU that has her confused as you beat the shit out of her then tell her that you love her," I say raising my voice causing some employees to look in our direction.
He laughs it off and says, "I don't beat her."
"Whatever, Max. Who is running the show around here?" I ask.
"Callie," he says.
"That's rich," I say. "It must be nice to have a fuck buddy with your power."
"Mr. Cena, that is not necessary."
"Is it too late to cancel my reservation?" I ask.
"Why would you cancel your reservation?" he asks.
"Because this place all of a sudden smells like bullshit," I say. "I want to cancel my reservation and I will make sure my friends and boss know all about the bullshit that goes on around here. Thank-you. Have a good day," I say tossing the key on the desk. I grab my luggage and head back out the door. I am not staying in a place like this.
I arrive at Natalie's house about 15 minutes later. I pull in the driveway to see her car sitting there. I get out and walk to the front door. I ring the doorbell and wait for her to answer. She answers in less than a minute. "John," she says. "I have been waiting for you," she says allowing me to come in and shutting the door behind me.
"I was just at the hotel what the fuck is going on, Natalie? A leave of absence?"
"John," she says shaking her head. "It was Max. He talked to his boss about how you're Angelina's father and told him I was having personal problems distracting me from my job. He told him that I went to work battered and bruised last week. Max told him he felt it was necessary for me to take a leave of absence. I didn't want to take one but they said if I didn't they would fire me. I can't get fired," she says. "I can't. I have a 7 year old daughter and I live by myself. I have bills to pay. I can't even afford this leave of absence."
"Natalie, let me get this straight. This guy forced you into taking a leave of absence for personal reasons and when you told them that you didn't need to take a leave of absence they threatened to fire you?"
"Yes," she says. "I don't think they can do that. Can they?"
"I'm not sure," I say. "It doesn't seem right to me. Do you have a lawyer?"
"I could sue but I don't know if I want to. I should go look for another job. I just don't know how I'm going to survive. What am I supposed to do about bills and Angelina? Without making money she won't be able to go to private school, she won't be able to play sports, take ballet. I won't be able to put food on the table, I won't be able to pay my bills and I could lose this house. I don't know what I'm going to do, John. And how am I supposed to get the money to pay for a lawyer? I am screwed."
"Natalie," I say wrapping my arms around her. "It will be okay. I am here. I can help you. I can help you with the bills. I can pay the tuition for Angelina's school and pay for all her lessons. I can help you with the groceries and buying clothes. Don't worry, I am here."
"And what am I supposed to do about health insurance? Without health insurance Angelina won't be covered and I won't be covered."
"Shh," I say. "You don't have anything to worry about. I will help you. I promise."
"I can't ask you to do that," she says.
"Natalie, you don't have to ask me. I will just do it," I say. I can't let her lose her house and I can't let Angelina leave her school. I am going to help her as much as I can. Ashley is going to be pissed but she doesn't need to know at least not yet anyway. I don't care what Ashley says or thinks. I'm ready to hit her with divorce papers anyway but I just need to make sure she isn't entitled to any of my money.
"John," she says, "Why did I ever give you up?"
"I don't know," I say. "Why did I ever let you go?"
"I should have never given you up. I was stupid for doing that. I just felt like I was doing the right thing for all of us. I shouldn't have let you go."
"Natalie, I should have fought harder. I should have tried harder to keep you," I say. "Things can still change," I say. "We can still happen."
"John," she says. "I'm engaged and you're married. We can't happen."
"Natalie, are you serious about that guy? Are you still going to marry him?"
"I don't know," she says. "I don't know what I'm doing."
"Natalie, the guy is a prick. He doesn't deserve you. He beat the shit out of you and cost you your job. Don't go back to this guy. I want you, Natalie, I want to be with you."
"And your wife?" she asks.
"Don't worry about her," I say. "You are the one that I want, Natalie. You're the one I have always wanted. Please."
"I can't do anything or be with you unless you're divorced, John. I am not going to be the other woman. I can't be the other woman."
"You aren't the other woman. You're the one woman I want. And what about last week? We slept together."
"I know and that can't happen again. John, I am in an emotional state right now. I don't mind being friends with you, I don't mind you being in Angelina's life but as for you and me we can't let what happened last week happen again. I am too confused to make any type of decision right now."
"Natalie," I say. "Please."
"John, I can't. I can't do that to Ashley."
"If I divorce her what does that mean for us?"
"I don't know, John," she says. "Please just be patient with me."
"Okay," I say. Natalie has no idea. I would wait a lifetime for her if it meant that we could be together. I love her so much. I was stupid for marrying Ashley and I shouldn't have let Natalie get away. There is the saying you never know what you have till it's gone. It couldn't be truer. I didn't realize how great Natalie was till she was gone. Things can change. I know they can.
"Thanks, John," she says. "I was thinking about going back to West Newbury."
"To live?" I ask.
"No," she says, "I want to visit my mom and dad. I want to see my brothers. I want to make things right with my parents. I have to make things right with them."
"I see," I say.
"And tell them the truth about Angelina and you. They need to know. I've lied for so long it's time they knew the truth."
"Do you want me to be there for you?"
"You don't have to be," she says, "but if you want to be."
"I will be and I have to tell my parents."
"You haven't told them yet?"
"No," I say. "I haven't. I've been keeping it quiet."
"Okay," she says. "I want to go up to West Newbury next week to talk to them."
"That's perfect," I say, "we have a show in Boston on Sunday night."
"This Sunday?"
"Yes," I say. "We have a pay-per-view event this Sunday and a show in Connecticut on Monday. I was going to go back to West Newbury to spend some time with my parents anyway so we could be up there together and talk to our parents together."
"I don't know if that's a good idea. I think we should talk to our parents separately. What I am telling my parents is a lot different than what you're telling yours. You didn't know you had a kid. I had a kid, knew the father and lied to my parents. We have to do it separately."
"Okay," I say. "I'm okay with that. Do you want to go up this weekend after the dance?"
"We could. Angelina is finished with school next week. We could go up Saturday and be back by Tuesday. I am okay with her missing one day of school. I have to talk to my parents."
"That works for me," I say. "Do you think your mom and dad are going to be upset?"
"Upset that I lied but shocked that you're the father."
"I think my parents are going to be more shocked than anything but they will LOVE Angelina. After having 4 sons I'm pretty sure they will greet their first granddaughter with open arms. You do realize Angelina is the first girl in our family right?"
"I figured," she says with a smile. "I'm sure your parents will love her."
"They will," I say. "So Ashley was talking about having a baby again. I just don't know how to tell her I don't want to have a baby."
"Simple; you just say, 'I don't want to have a baby.'"
"It's not that simple with Ashley. Sometimes I worry she is going to trick me."
"Would she do something like that?"
"Absolutely," I say. "She would do that. She is supposed to be on birth control. I just worry she might purposely forget to take a pill. You have no idea how horrible she is. I think she knows our marriage is failing and I feel that's why she wants to get pregnant. I think she feels that having a baby will save our marriage. I don't want to bring a child into that environment. Our marriage is beyond repair."
"I see," she says.
"I don't know. I want another kid but not with Ashley," I say.
"I see," she says.
"What about you? Did you ever think about having another baby?"
"I want to have at least one or two more. Angelina wants to be a big sister so bad. It's just with Max I couldn't get pregnant. I mean I could get pregnant I just didn't want to and Max didn't want me to so we used condoms all the time. Max barely wanted to make a commitment and we never really talked about having kids. I always wanted to get married and have another baby or two."
"So you want more kids?"
"Eventually," she says, "but right now I need to get my life together and figure out what is going on. Especially now that I'm not working."
"Don't worry, Max is a prick. I told you I am here to help you and I will. So don't worry about anything."
"Thanks," she says. "You're awesome, John."
"No, I'm just in love with you," I think to myself. I would do anything for this woman and give her anything. There is nothing that I wouldn't do for her.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for reading.