Chapter 9

Deciding she needed time to reflect on everything that happened, Zelia took off for the next 2 days since the company had no house shows scheduled and headed home. Scottsdale, Arizona. It was a nice change from the wintery weather to the east they had to experience lately. The dry warm air welcomed her with open arms as Zelia walked out of the airport toward her car. A burnt orange 2011 Dodge Charger. Zelia had saved her money since starting the job with the WWE back in 2007 and purchased the vehicle for the full amount in cash in 2011. It was beautiful and if Zelia could drive it all over the country during her travels with the company, she would in a heartbeat.

During her 2 days off, Zelia cooked, cleaned and enjoyed every second being home. She had a small two bedroom house that was all one story –Zelia hated stairs- with no basement. She made BBQ chicken on the grill, dusted every inch of her house and only bought enough food to last her until Friday. Before she knew it, Thursday night arrived and it was time to pack up and head back on the road.

As much as Zelia loved her job, there was no place like home and she had no idea when she'd be able to come back. Sunday was a live pay-per-view event called TLC (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) in Brooklyn, New York and it would take a lot more time than setting up for Monday Night Raw. Now that WrestleMania season was upon them, things were going to get very hectic along with schedules, which meant a lot more shows to perform for.

While packing up, Zelia's cell phone went off –she had it off for the duration of her time at home like always so nobody would disturb her and turned it back on a few hours ago- and she looked at the caller ID, chewing her bottom lip. It was Glen. He very rarely called her while she was home, but given the reason events it wasn't that surprising to Zelia. She flipped the phone open and put him on speaker phone, continuing to fold her clothes placing them in the luggage bags.

"What's up, Big Red?"

"Nothing, just calling to check on you. Decided to go home for a few days eh?" Glen teased, sitting in front of the fireplace of his own home in Tennessee. "Valisa has been worried about you too, told me to tell you if you don't call her, she's gonna string you up by your toes."

Zelia chuckled at that mild threat. "You both know I don't like being bothered when I'm at home. It's my reprieve to regain what's left of my sanity."

"I know, but with this Jon situation she's a little overprotective at the moment." Glen pointed out the obvious, sipping some brandy while his wife showered. "So how are you holding up?"

"Honestly? I'm as well as can be expected. I mean besides the whole running away thing. I don't know." That was the truth. Zelia had thought of nothing else besides Jon for the past 2 days and she was beyond frustrated. "I don't know what to do."

"Glen, you coming to bed?"

"Be there in a second, Crystal." He called back softly, clearing his throat. "Listen, when you get into town tomorrow, let's go somewhere and talk it out. I know you rely on Valisa for that sort of thing, but I'm a great listener too." Not to mention Valisa had spent most of her time with Joe the past 2 days and Zelia had no idea about it yet. "My flight gets in at noon."

Zelia smiled, appreciating Glen reaching out to try helping her with this. "Meet me in the arena stands where we usually talk." Maybe talking to Glen about how she felt would put everything into perspective.

"Sounds good, see you then. Get some rest, Zel."

"You too."

Zelia hung up the phone, walked in the bathroom to grab some toiletries and sighed when it rang again. She answered without looking at the caller ID, assuming it was Glen. "Look Big Red, I'm fine and dandy."

"Big Red?" Jon echoed, trying not to sound disgusted and stood out on the balcony of his hotel room, smoking a cigarette.

Zelia immediately shut her eyes at the sound of Jon's voice and felt her heart start pounding furiously against her chest. "Sorry, I thought you were…"

"Glen Jacobs?" He practically spat that name, gritting his teeth and took a deep breath to reign his temper in. "Didn't realize just how close you two are…"

"He's my friend, Jon." Zelia cut him off, sinking down on the bed with a sigh. "Do you remember how we used to be? We were best friends…"

"And you left without a word." Jon reminded her coldly, flicking his cigarette in the wintery sky of his two bedroom apartment in Cincinnati. "Why did you run away from me, Zelia? Of all people, I should be someone you can fully trust."

Zelia lowered her head, feeling tears sting her eyes and rubbed her temples. "I didn't run away from you when I left the HWA. I left because I had NO choice, I lost my job!" Her voice rose with every word that came out of her mouth, Zelia's temper officially up.

"And you didn't tell me!" Jon shouted back, snarling. "You left instead of confiding in me and letting me try to help you! I had a lot of stroke in that company, Zelia. I could've gotten you a better job with a snap of my fucking fingers and you know it!"

"I didn't want it though." Zelia sniffled, hating herself for showing emotion with this man. "They shattered me, Jon, and I had no idea how to tell you. Don't you understand that? I didn't want to hold you back from what you love most and that's wrestling! I refused to be a burden to you!"

Jon remained quiet for a few minutes, his heavy breathing being the only indication he hadn't hung up the phone. "Why did you run?" He demanded, lowering his voice considerably and lit up another cigarette.

"Why did you kiss me?" Zelia retorted, turning the tables on him and folded her arms in front of her chest. "You never once showed you were interested in me in HWA, so what's so damn different now?"

"I asked you first."

"Jon, this isn't a game and I didn't run from you!" Denial at its finest, Zelia added in thought. "We both had jobs to do and I didn't expect you to kiss me! So stop saying I ran because I DIDN'T."

"Why did you have your phone off for the past 2 days then? You're doing the same shit you did when you first ran into me, Zelia." The only difference between then and now was she'd actually answered her phone for a change. "You think I'm playing games? This is anything BUT a fucking game to me, woman! I kissed you and you ran out of the room like your ass was on fire!" He blatantly ignored what she said regarding how he felt back in HWA, too angry to respond to that. "When are you gonna stop running and face me?"

This conversation wasn't going anywhere and Zelia had to finish packing if she wanted to make her 8 AM flight tomorrow. "Jon, I don't have time for this. When I come home for the 2 days we have off, if nothing else is going on, I turn my phone off so I'm not bothered by anyone. There's only a select handful of people who have my house number and that's how they get a hold of me, but people generally leave me alone for the 2 days I'm gone. You are playing a game with me by trying to turn this all around to be my fault and I don't appreciate it. I've never done anything to you. I just want to know why you kissed me and what the hell has changed between now and back in HWA. But of course you don't want to answer , so I'll keep 'running' away from you until you do. Goodbye."

Zelia hung up before Jon could utter another word and ignored her cell phone when he called back moments later, shaking her head. He could stew on that for a while, she had more important things to worry about. Finishing packing, Zelia looked at the clock and saw it was already going on 10 PM. She'd ate leftover grilled BBQ chicken, so Zelia had enough time for a shower and then had to sleep so she could get up at 6 AM to get to the airport on time. After her shower, Zelia slid into cotton shorts and a camisole before lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, eventually falling asleep with Jonathan Good on her mind and in her dreams.

6 AM arrived sooner than Zelia would've liked as she crawled out of bed and prepared for the day. Brooklyn, New York weather was in the 30's and snowing, so Zelia dressed in a pair of velvet burnt orange pants with a long sleeved matching zip-up sweatshirt, a black camisole beneath in case she got too warm on the plane. Grabbing her luggage, Zelia was out the door in 10 minutes and stopped at a local Starbucks for a much needed espresso shot along with her usual Frappuccino. She arrived at the airport a quarter to 7 AM and went through security, which went pretty quickly. The airport security and workers knew her well since she came home almost every week, going through the same check every time. At 8 AM sharp, Zelia was on the plane in first-class, heading across the country to Brooklyn, New York and managed to fall asleep halfway through the flight.

Around 2 PM, the plane landed and Zelia once again went through security, claimed her rental before heading to the Barclays Center. She sent Glen a quick text message letting him know she'd be there in about 20 minutes. Glen sent her one back a few minutes later letting Zelia know he was already at the arena waiting for her. Zelia put her phone on vibrate and slid it in her velvet sweatshirt pocket, pulling into the Barclays Center parking lot 10 minutes later.

Cutting the ignition, Zelia grabbed her bag so she could change into her uniform in the Barclays Center and walked inside, heading for the bathroom. After changing into the WWE logo t-shirt and blue jeans with holes ripped in the knees, Zelia pulled her raven hair up in a high messy bun to keep it out of her face. Then she headed out of the bathroom toward her and Glen's spot to have their talk, not seeing the pair of stormy eyes watching her every move.

"Bout time you got here." Glen hugged her close, rubbing her back. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine for the most part." Zelia sat down in the bleachers with Glen, both of them peering down at the spot where the setup would start that day. Because it was a pay-per-view weekend, no house shows were scheduled because the company wanted all the attention on the TLC event. "He called."

"And?" Glen raised a brow, folding his arms in front of his chest. "What did he say?"

"Well…" Zelia suddenly looked sheepish, cheeks tingeing a deep crimson. "I answered the phone saying your name…and he didn't like that too much."

"I bet not." Glen chuckled, unable to help himself. "Why did you say my name? I mean I know I'm sexy and everything…"

"Shut up." Zelia ordered, playfully nudging him only for Glen to return the favor. "You should've heard the acidic tone to his voice. It was amusing though, I'll admit that. Then he proceeded to accuse me of running from him again."

Glen had heard something about a kiss, but he didn't know the full story. "What happened?"

"I finally talked to him." Zelia said quietly, lowering her eyes to her lap, clasping her hands in it. "I apologized the best I could for what I did, for leaving HWA without telling him. For cutting off contact with him. He accepted it, then said he wasn't interested in friendship with me when I offered to rekindle ours. Then he kissed me and it was a full-fledged passionate kiss that made my head spin."

"I don't need the details, Zel." Glen grunted, holding his hand up to stop her. "And I'm assuming you made up some kind of excuse to get the hell out of there and have avoided him since."

"Basically." Zelia couldn't lie to Glen and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't know why I keep running from him, but it's just a natural reaction. I'm chalking it up to the fact I don't want to end up another notch in his belt, bedpost or whatever you wanna call it. Because Jon has been with a lot of women and he's never had a relationship that lasted more than 3 months." This was everything she already told Valisa. "But I am in love with him. How did you feel when you first met Crystal?"

Glen smiled at the memory, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever see in my life. Still is. The moment I saw her, I knew I had to have her and the best part was she had no idea what I did for a living. She didn't recognize me, just thought I was a regular guy. Though now she's a huge fan of Kane's, if you catch my drift."

Zelia giggled in spite of everything, shaking her head. "Oh yeah sure, I can just see it now. 'I wouldn't mind taking a ride on the Big Red Machine'." She could totally see Glen's wife saying something like that too, both of them laughing.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Glen pled the 5th on that assumption, hazel eyes glittering down at Zelia. "You'd love to take a ride on the Big Red Machine, don't lie."

"Oh yeah, I'd jump right on that bandwagon." Zelia sounded completely serious even though the amusement filled her eyes, feeling Glen's arm tighten around her. "She's a lucky woman. I wish I could have what she did."

"You will in time." Glen assured her softly, kissing the top of her head. "But you do need to figure out what you wanna do about this. Can't hide this forever."

Zelia sighed heavily, nodding. "I know, I have to tell him soon before this gets out of control. And I will."

"Good idea, listen I gotta run and give Crystal a call. If you want, come to my room tonight and we'll hang out." Glen offered, squeezing her shoulder and knew Valisa would be most likely busy with Joe. "Send me a text."

"I will, thanks for the talk." She stood up, hugging him tightly around the neck and kissed his cheek. "You're the best."

"I know." Glen kissed the top of her head and walked away, leaving Zelia sitting there in the stands alone.

So she was screwing Glen Jacobs. No wonder the woman kept dodging him at every turn and running away! Jon scowled angrily, clenching his fists tightly at his sides and shook his head in disgust. Screwing a married man was definitely a new low for Zelia and he knew he'd have to forget about her somehow. He'd have to squash everything he felt for her since she obviously went for married men instead of available ones. He hadn't heard the whole conversation, but enough to convince him that there was something more than friendship happening between Zelia and Jacobs. Stalking away, Jon headed outside for a much needed cigarette before he ended up chasing down Glen Jacobs and murdering him.