Chapter 6

Meet at Yankee Candle store at 4 PM.

Jon received the text around 1 PM and sighed with relief, glad Valisa hadn't backed out of their plan. He barely slept, too much adrenaline pumping through his veins at the thought of what would happen when he came face to face with Zelia. Not sure if he would yell at her or kiss her breathless, Jon had yet to decide his course of action and had 3 hours to figure out how he wanted to handle this. Running a hand through his dishwater blonde hair, he stood up from the bed and headed in the bathroom for a shower.

While under the hot sprays, Jon started thinking back to when he first met Zelia in Heartland Wrestling Association. He'd gone to the ring to see if he could practice a few moves with his tag team partner, Aric Byrne Connely –HWA fans knew him as Ric Byrne- that night. They're tag team name was the Heartland Foundation. Earlier that year, he'd been in a tag team called Necessary Roughness with a wrestler named Jimmy Turner that only lasted for a few short months.

The moment he stepped through the curtain, Jon's eyes instantly landed on the ebony haired beauty dangling upside down on the top rope facing the walkway. Zelia had the biggest smile on her face, arms stretched out freely with only her legs holding her up on the rope. The HWA t-shirt she wore slid down her stomach to rest just below her breasts, showing off her toned body and the skinny blue jeans hugged her curves. Even her laughter was infectious and Jon could remember thinking how flexible she was when Zelia grabbed hold of the ring ropes. Her legs spread wide and Zelia pulled herself up sitting on the top rope and did a backflip to the outside, landing on her feet like a cat.

"Who's that?" Jon had asked Byrne, bluish grey eyes wide with wonder.

"I can't remember her name. I know it starts with a Z, but other than I have no idea. It's crazy actually. Why do you ask?" Byrne asked, having nudged Jon with a smirk. "Thinking about making a move?"

"Not sure, crazy name eh? Can't be any crazier than Moxley." Jon snorted, rubbing his hands together and saw the ring had been set up. "How long she worked here?"

"A couple years, I think 2002? She's been part of the ring crew, I know that much. Probably why we haven't seen her around." Bryne shrugged, heading down the walkway while Jon stood there for a few seconds, his eyes watching her every move.

Then he saw Byrne making a move toward her and Jon practically flew down the walkway, clapping his tag team partner on the back harshly with a smile. "Hi, I'm Jon." He greeted the ebony beauty, extending his free hand. "This is my partner, Aric. Mind if we use the ring?"

"I know who both of you are." She shook Aric's hand and then Jon's, the spark instantly igniting between them. "Nice to meet you, Jon. I'm Zelia."

It was a very unique name, one Jon never heard of in his life. "You too." He remembered being too cautious to try saying her name since it was so different.

"I'll ask Marian to make sure it's alright for you guys to use the ring. I'm not sure if it's fully enforced yet, so wait here a sec."

"Take your time."

That was it. From that moment on, Jon made it his goal to somehow 'run' into Zelia on a daily basis and at least say hi to her. Zelia was the friendliest and easygoing woman Jon ever met, always having a joking comeback with everything he said. It was refreshing meeting a woman with a sharp tongue and mind that actually knew the wrestling business. She knew the psychology and what it took to make it, years of bloodshed and dedication. They'd go out for a couple beers and even shared a few hotel rooms together, but Jon never made a move.

Looking back, he didn't understand what held him back because he wanted Zelia. Maybe it was the fact he didn't know how she felt and he was scared of rejection or maybe he didn't want to ruin the friendship they built. Whatever the case, whatever the reason, whenever they did share rooms together and Jon woke up with Zelia in his arms, all he wanted to do was claim her in every way. There was one night in particular that popped into Jon's mind and it was during his reign as champion in the company. He'd just had a brutal battle and got split open right down his forehead. His face looked like a crimson mask and it wasn't the first time Jon had shed blood, not even close. Zelia was waiting for him as soon as he stumbled to the backstage area and she had tears in her eyes.

"I got you, Moxley. Come on."

Zelia had wrapped her arm around his waist and handled his body weight, guiding him to the trainer that stitched the wrestlers up. Jon had wiped blood from his eyes and looked down at her, seeing tears sliding down her cheeks. He could not believe she cried over him and, no matter how hard he tried, Jon couldn't get that image of Zelia's tear-streaked face out of his mind. After being stitched up, Jon had grabbed Zelia's hand and pulled her close, his hand reaching up to cup of her face.

"Why are you crying, Zel?"

"Because I hate seeing you get hurt."

Stepping out of the shower, it suddenly dawned on Jon that was the last night he saw Zelia. She drove him back to the hotel, tried giving him painkillers, but Jon had declined and tucked him in bed. Staring in the mirror, Jon touched his cheek and frowned, remembering the feeling of her soft lips brushing against it along with his bandaged forehead. Zelia held his hand with tear-filled jade eyes and sat with him for a while, wanting to make sure he was alright. Jon guessed anyway.

"I want you to promise me something, Moxley."

"Okay what?"

"Make it big and don't let anything or anyone hold you back from your dreams." Zelia's words were completely heartfelt and stern.

At the time, Jon had laughed her off and made the promise, not realizing he would never see her again after that night. Was that her way of saying goodbye to him? Jon had fallen asleep shortly after and, when he woke up the next morning, Zelia was gone. They shared another room together and all of her things were gone, not one speck left behind that Zelia had been there. He remembered feeling hurt and betrayed, blowing her cell phone up until his battery died. Jon drove to the next area the HWA performed and went straight to the higher-ups, demanding to know where Zelia Bell had gone. Nobody would say a word, only that she no longer worked for HWA. It made no sense to him that Zelia would just pick up and leave the company without a word.

Gritting his teeth, Jon grabbed the brush on the sink and brushed his hair back, taking a few deep slow breaths to calm down. He would get his answers today. Enough was enough, Zelia couldn't run or hide from him anymore. There had to be more to the story with her leaving the HWA and not telling him. Granted, she worked for the WWE for however long, so maybe that's why she hadn't told him that night. Maybe she was scared of what he'd say or how he'd react to find out she'd gotten a job, a better opportunity, with the top wrestling company in the world to date. Whatever the reason, Jon would find out the truth and mentally prepared himself to hear absolutely anything from Zelia.

Jon brushed his teeth and slapped on some cologne before stepping out of the bathroom, already having his clothes picked out. Simple pair of blue jeans and a long sleeved dark blue sweatshirt with socks and black boots, Jon quickly dressed in record time. He still had 2 hours until he could head out to the Yankee Candle store, trying to decide what to do to pass the time. Flicking the television on, Jon bought a movie and ordered some room service, trying not to think about Zelia. That was impossible, she was all he thought about over the past almost 6 years and seeing her again just intensified his feelings for her.

Halfway through a movie he partially paid attention to, a knock sounded at his hotel room door followed by Joe's voice. "Hey Jon, open the door!"

Shaking his head, Jon slipped out of bed and opened it, letting his friend inside. Joe kept it simple with skintight black jeans and a grey sweater, his black hair pulled back in a low tail, black boots on his feet. He was ready to see Valisa again, a pair of black shades over his eyes since the white snow outside practically blinded him. The drive went well and Valisa had a great sense of humor that made her more beautiful to him. Her music taste matched Jon's, but Joe easily overlooked that because she also liked some of the bands he did. Valisa was a woman he definitely wanted to get to know better, though today it was all about Jon and he fully supported his friend.

"Nervous?" Joe smirked, pushing the shades from his eyes on top of his head.

"Wouldn't you be?" Jon retorted, squaring his shoulders while glancing at the clock every couple seconds.

"Staring at the clock isn't gonna make time go by faster, man." Joe pointed out, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Neither is watching that stupid ass movie. I got some errands to run. Come with and then we'll head to the Yankee Candle store afterwards. Valisa knows I'm coming already."

It was Jon's turn to smirk, quirking a brow. "Exchanged numbers and everything eh?"

"We're friends for now." Joe shrugged, whipping out his cell phone and sighed when he read they had a meeting at 6 PM with Vince McMahon and the Levesque's. "Grab your gear, we'll have to head to the arena right after you have your talk with Zelia. Meeting at 6 with the bosses."

Jon nodded, already having his things packed up. "I got it earlier today. You really need a better phone."

"That's one of my errands." Joe assured him, wondering what the hell the meeting was about and hated having meetings with the bosses. "Do you think they'll rip us new assholes?"

Jon chuckled, shrugging. "Who knows? The fans seem to be digging what we're doing, so I doubt it. Probably gonna tell us what we already know regarding Team Hell No." He just hoped Zelia was alright with the fact the Shield was about to go to war with Team Hell No since she was so close with Glen Jacobs.

"True, though Colby did fuck up on Raw with a move. Maybe they wanna talk to him about that." Joe suggested, placing the shades over his eyes. "Hopefully it has nothing to do with my spear."

"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it." Joe stated simply, grabbing his bag and slipped his own black shades on over his eyes, both of them heading out. "I got more important things to worry about right now."

Joe could hear the tension and nervousness in Jon's voice, knowing the only way for that to vanish was talking to the woman responsible for it. He didn't like this Zelia girl, even though she was Valisa's best friend. Joe wondered why Jon wasted his time on a woman that didn't want anything to do with him. That was a mean thought, but Jon had been his friend for a while now and didn't want Zelia hurting him anymore than she already did. He made it clear to Valisa the previous night just how much pain Jon was in over Zelia's cowardice.

"What are you gonna do if she tries running?" Joe asked once they were in the car, heading toward the nearest Verizon store since he had crappy US Cellular service currently.

"Chase her ass down and tie her up if that's what it takes to get some damn answers." Jon replied heatedly, clenching his fists while staring out the window. "I've been in love with this woman for damn near 7 years and I'm not letting her slip away again. She will tell me the truth one way or another."

Joe hesitated, wondering if he should say what popped in his head. "What if she refuses?"

"I have my ways, even if means seducing her." Jon said nonchalantly, lighting up a cigarette and cracked the window, in desperate need of a nicotine fix. "She's not as bad as I make her out to be. In fact, she's one of the sweetest women I've ever met in my life. She helped me back when I worked for HWA whenever I got hurt in a match. It was my mistake not telling Zelia how I felt about her. I'm about to rectify it though."

"Even sweeter than Hannah?"

Jon groaned, not wanting to think about his ex-girlfriend that had a split personality. "Don't bring that bitch up. She was a psycho whore that couldn't keep her legs closed for more than 5 seconds while I was on the road busting my ass trying to make something out of myself. Trying to make it big." He kept Zelia's promise, those last words from her never leaving his mind even after all these years. "Zelia's different."

"Sorry, just had to make sure." Joe grunted, pulling into the Verizon store parking lot and put the SUV in park. "I'll be out as fast as I can. If you need to leave without me, do it. The arena is just down the road from here."

Jon glanced at the clock, seeing Joe had over an hour to get a new phone and nodded. "We got time, man. Just make sure it's a damn phone with decent service." He demanded, bluish grey eyes filled with pure amusement. "Hurry up."

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Joe stepped out and closed the door behind him, jogging inside with his old phone in hand.

Exactly 45 minutes later, Joe came back out with a new IPhone 4 trying to figure out how to work the contraption. He actually forced Jon to switch places with him so he could figure it out while his friend drove to the Yankee Candle store. They'd be a little early, but that didn't mean they couldn't stick to the parking lot until the clock struck 4 PM. Once Jon arrived, he cut the ignition on the SUV and looked through the glass windows of the store, spotting Zelia.

"Fuck this, it's close enough." Jon looked at Joe, waving his hand in the man's face. "You ready to do this?"

Joe nodded, setting his phone down and both stepped out of the car, heading inside the Yankee Candle store.