Chapter 21
"What's wrong?"
Zelia hated how well Glen could read her and shook her head, pulling the black lace fingerless gloves on over her hands. "Nothing."
"Don't lie to me, Zel." Glen turned her to face him, his mismatched eyes boring into hers. He had to wear an ice blue contact in one eye to make him look like a monster. "What's going on?" He hadn't been down in catering, so he had no idea what happened with Valisa.
Sighing heavily, Zelia stood up smoothing the dark red corset dress she wore that went just barely below mid-thigh, running a hand through her haphazard hairspray-filled black hair. "It's Vali." She admitted quietly, chewing her bottom lip. "Something happened tonight…"
Glen's eyes narrowed, his fists clenching at his sides. "Who do I have to kill?"
"I don't know yet." He would find out eventually, so Zelia figured it would be best if Glen heard this from her. "I'll tell you what happened, but you have to promise me you won't fly off the handle."
Rolling his eyes, Glen held his hand up and sat down like she requested. "Scouts honor." He muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now tell me what the fuck is going on."
Sitting down as well, Zelia explained to Glen what happened that Jon told her. She hadn't been here, so she could only go off by what Jon said. There was no reason for him to make something like this up and Joe had looked like a pissed off bull. That anger was real and raw. She made it clear that Joe would never cheat on Valisa and that they had to find out who made the DVD along with having the television set up. Glen sat there quietly and listened to everything Zelia said, his own heart going out to his friend because he knew how much Valisa loved the rookie.
"You're positive he wouldn't cheat on her?" He asked quietly, staring back at Zelia to try to gauge her reaction.
She nodded without hesitation. "If you could've seen the look in Joe's eyes when Jon was talking to me, you'd know he would never do anything like this. Someone is screwing with them, trying to split them up. So if you hear anything or Bryan does, please let me know."
"Will do." Glen reached out to pat her thigh and leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "Thanks for telling me. I know we've been rocky lately, but I'm still here for you and Valisa. I don't want to lose our friendship. I shouldn't have let Mark spar with Jon." He didn't apologize often, but Glen knew he'd been in the wrong and was man enough to admit his mistakes. "So, will you forgive me and can we be friends again?"
Zelia pretended to think it over, tapping her chin thoughtfully and laughed when Glen groaned, nudging him. "We're fine, Big Red. I know you meant well and you were only trying to protect me." She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders, pulling her close and she wrapped hers around his waist, both of them sharing a friendly embrace. "So, how are you and Crystal doing?"
"We're gettin' there." Glen nodded, running a hand through his curly brown hair. "It wasn't easy to convince her that I hadn't cheated on her, but I think she's finally startin' to understand how much I love her. Time will tell, I guess."
"It will work out." Zelia said confidently, knowing how much Crystal and Glen loved each other. "Just like I know things will work out the way they should between me and Jon."
"You really do love him, don't you?"
Zelia nodded, feeling the tears budding in her eyes and blinked them back, not wanting to ruin her makeup. "Yeah, I never stopped and I don't think I ever will."
"Even though he vandalized your car?" Glen was still fuming over that, eyes narrowing slightly.
"I honestly don't think he did it, Glen." Zelia said truthfully, looking down at her clasped hands in her lap. "When Jon does something, he fully owns up to it. He's sworn to me on everything he stands for and everything he is he didn't do it. And I believe him. Maybe I'm stupid, naïve and blinded by love, but that's how I feel and I'm sticking to it."
Glen didn't know what to think about Jonathan Good because the kid was incredibly difficult to read. He was tough as nails though and was a great wrestler. His psychology and the way he presented himself to the crowd was also captivating, he definitely had a future with the WWE. However, the way he treated Zelia did not set well with Glen and part of him wanted to kick the hell out of the kid, but he couldn't. Not if he wanted to maintain his friendship with Zelia. So he would let her handle it and if she really needed his help, Glen would come to her rescue if the time came.
"You need to talk to him." Glen said finally, taking her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, nodding. "Make him understand that there is nobody else you want. Sometimes you gotta be the bigger person and make the first move, Zel. If you really love him as much as I know you do, you'll have to be the one that goes to him."
Zelia couldn't hold the tears back anymore and let a few slip down her cheeks, shaking her head. "He thinks I'm a whore, Glen." She whispered, not trusting her voice at the moment because of how much emotion currently coursed through her. "He fully believes I'm fucking two married men – you and Mark. I would never do that. I have more respect for myself than that. And I know I was stubborn and ran away from him at first, but I was scared and didn't know what to say to him. Then he kissed me and…I freaked out. I didn't expect it to happen. And suddenly he got the idea in his head that we were fucking around with each other – and then the sparring beat down with Mark didn't help matters either. What if he wants nothing to do with me? I'm better off not feeling that rejection and just keeping it as a 'what if' scenario."
Before Glen could say anything else, Bryan walked through the door and he stood up, shaking his head when his partner asked if Zelia was alright. She mumbled an apology and walked into the bathroom to clean herself up, knowing they had to go on soon. While redoing her makeup, Zelia felt her phone vibrate on the bathroom counter and looked down, immediately answering it as soon as she saw the name light up on the screen.
"Thank god, Vali. What the hell happened?" Zelia demanded, breathing a huge sigh of relief and closed her eyes as her friend sobbed over the phone.
"I-I need to talk to you when you're done with the show." Valisa stammered out, trying to hold back her crying, but it wasn't happening as she had countless tissues surrounding her from blowing her nose.
"Of course sweetie, whatever you need." Zelia looked at the clock on her phone, sighing. "We're going on in about an hour. I'll clean up and come to your hotel room. What number are you in?" She immediately made a note in her phone so she didn't forget the room number, having a feeling Valisa would be shutting her phone off after this conversation. "Should I bring some alcohol and ice cream?"
"No, just yourself. Have a great show." Valisa hung up and shut her cell phone off, collapsing back on the bed as the tears continued pouring down her cheeks.
Zelia frowned at her phone, not remembering ever hearing Valisa so broken in her life and felt her stomach twist violently. What if Joe had cheated on her and Eva Marie used the footage to get back at him? There were a lot of possibilities with this situation and there was only one outcome Zelia would accept, determined to find out who was screwing around with her best friend. Patting her cheeks to try to get the puffiness down a little, Zelia applied some foundation to be on the safe side and walked out to join Team Hell No. Glen filled Bryan in, which Zelia didn't mind and they ended up talking about who could potentially be behind this. Bryan said he'd talk to Brianna since she was in the gossip loop with the company, especially the Divas.
After the segment was over with, Zelia quickly showered and changed into a pair of blue jeans with a long sleeved wine colored top that had a V-shaped neckline. She brushed her hair, not bothering with makeup and jetted out, heading to the hotel. On the drive over, Zelia contemplated texting Jon to let him know that she'd found Valisa, but decided against it. Until she knew for a fact Joe didn't cheat on Valisa, she was on the fence about involving him and didn't want to break Valisa's trust. She stopped on the way to get some peanut butter flavored ice cream, Valisa's favorite, and arrived 20 minutes later. Traffic wasn't that bad since she took off before Raw was fully over with.
Knocking on the door, Zelia felt her heart clench painfully in her chest at the sight of her friend as soon as Valisa answered the door. She had a huge t-shirt on that hung off her shoulder, her ocean blues rimmed red and were swollen, tear streaks burning her cheeks. Zelia immediately pulled her into a tight hug, feeling Valisa squeeze her back and stroked her back, guiding both of them back into the room. Valisa sat on the bed while Zelia retrieved two spoons from the drawer, sitting beside her friend while they both began digging into the ice cream silently.
"What happened?" Zelia asked, reaching out to tuck a strand of caramel behind Valisa's ear, pure sympathy in her eyes.
Valisa sniffled, taking a bite of ice cream and shook her head, lowering her eyes. "I was stupid." She whispered painfully. "I just don't understand what I did to make him do this to me. We had such a fantastic time with his family in Pensacola over our few days off and he seemed like he really cared about me, maybe even loved me. I was wrong about all of it and I feel so stupid for being blind."
"So I take it you saw the television in catering of him and…"
"Don't say that whore's name." Valisa snarled, her head snapping up to lock with Zelia's wide jade eyes. "I'm serious, I don't want to hear her name. And yes, I saw it. Why do you think I hightailed it out of there? I was so embarrassed and now everyone in the company knows he cheated on me with that nasty filthy snatch. I swear to god, if I ever see her, I'll rip her Jessica Rabbit hair right out of her fucking head."
Zelia couldn't help laughing at her choice of words, shaking her head. "Jessica Rabbit hair? Wow, now that you mention it she really does mimic that character." That was great, Glen and Bryan would get a kick out of that when Zelia met up with them tomorrow for the Smackdown! taping.
Valisa couldn't help a small smirk that curved her lips, taking another bite of ice cream. "Stupid bitch has nothing on Jessica Rabbit though. Definitely not the boobs. And her ass isn't firm enough. You've seen Jessica Rabbit. That bitch has it going ON." They both giggled and it felt good that Valisa could still laugh, even in the worst circumstances.
"What makes you think Joe cheated on you?" Zelia held her hand up. "Let me finish before you blow up at me. The DVD only showed them sleeping in bed together naked. But it didn't show anything else. Doesn't that strike you as suspicious? I mean, why not show the whole shebang if it happened?"
"What are you saying? That he didn't sleep with her? Because that DVD didn't lie. There was no way it was created either. He was clearly in bed with her and it looked like both of them just had a romp." Valisa spat out viciously, stabbing her spoon into the ice cream like it'd personally done her wrong.
Zelia sighed heavily, trying to find the right words to say, but it was incredibly hard since she was on Valisa's side partially with this. "Look, I'm not on his side with this and I know the evidence is pretty thick against him, but just think about it for a second. Really think about it. Do you honestly believe in your heart Joe would ever cheat on you with a snatch like her? Because I don't. I've seen the way that big man looks at you. You are his entire world and he only has eyes for you. What if someone set this up to split you two up?"
Valisa honestly hadn't thought about that possibility because she couldn't get the image of Joe and Eva Marie together in bed out of her head. "Who would want to split us up though?" She asked quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. "I won't talk to Joe until I know the truth about what happened and why he was on that DVD naked with that Jessica Rabbit wanna-be."
"Just give me a little time to try to figure this out. I've got Glen and Bryan on it too and they're in agreement with me regarding Joe. They honestly don't think he did it, not willingly at least. I think it's time to have a talk with that nasty snatch and find out exactly what the fuck is going on." Zelia stated, cracking her knuckles as fire erupted in her jade eyes, swallowing down her anger for the moment.
They talked for a little longer and Valisa asked Zelia to leave because she wanted to be alone. Zelia was hesitant to leave, but complied with whatever Valisa wanted and tucked her in bed, kissing her forehead. She promised they'd get to the bottom of this and told Valisa to keep her head up, leaving her friend alone like she wanted. Zelia headed back to her room, so many thoughts rushing through her mind. Even with everything that was going on with Valisa, Jon was still at the forefront and Zelia had no idea what to do about him. How was she supposed to let her feelings for him go when they just intensified every time she saw him? If Zelia didn't get a handle on her feelings, they were going to explode and make her implode inside out, which couldn't happen now that she was a WWE Diva. Turning the corner after stepping off the elevator, Zelia stopped at the sight of none other than Jonathan Good standing outside her hotel room and swallowed hard.
What did he want now?