A/N: I didn't even put an author's note on the first chapter I was in such a rush to get it up, but I wanted to say thanks to those who've read my story so far; I hope y'all are still hanging with me! This is the first story I've published so any kind of feedback is incredibly helpful! I want to know what YOU want to happen as this story is still in progress.
I'm almost done with Chapter Three so keep an eye out for it soon. Enough of my chatter though, here's chapter two!
An hour later Maria sat in Phil's locker room watching him get ready for his match. He'd taken her around the entire arena, showing her how they set up the stage and ring and introducing her to more people than she had a hope in hell of remembering, photographic memory or not. Everyone had been extremely nice, if not a little otherwise occupied with their own tasks. Phil and Maria had made small talk in between introductions and when he invited her back to his locker room she thought nothing of it. Now, watching him stretch, she was simply trying not to stare at the way his muscles rippled.
"You do this before every match?" Maria asked, breaking the silence.
"Yep. Can't risk getting hurt because I'm not warmed up." Phil answered without looking at her.
Maria nodded even though she knew he wouldn't see the gesture. "When do we start working in the ring?"
"Ready to get started already, huh?" Phil glanced at her.
Maria shrugged. "I guess I'm a little skeptical about the whole thing. I've never 'pretended' to punch someone in the face before."
Phil snorted at her comment.
"What's so funny?"
"I'm just trying to picture you punching someone in the face...it's not working."
"I bet I could take you." Maria said.
"That so?" Phil was sitting up and facing her now.
"Mmhmm." Maria smiled confidently.
"I guess we'll have to see about that in the morning then."
"I guess we will."
There was a knock at the door before Kofi Kingston, whom Maria had met earlier, came in. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know you had company."
"It's no problem. I should probably go talk with some of the girls anyways. Thanks for showing me around." Maria stood up and grabbed her bag.
Kofi had been one of Phil's best friends for several years now and he recognized the look on the Champion's face as disappointment immediately. "You know, a few of us usually get together and grab something to eat after the show. You should come." Kofi suggested before Maria could leave.
"Oh, um," Maria knew she should say no. She should go back to the hotel and get to work; that's what she was being paid to do. Then she looked at Phil and caught the flash of hope on his face before he put a mask of indifference on. What the hell, she had to eat at some point. "yeah that'd be great actually."
"Awesome. We can meet you at the women's locker room then." Kofi said.
"Okay, I'll see you then."
Maria spent the rest of the show talking to the Divas and watching the matches on the monitors backstage. It turned out most of the girls weren't so bad. In fact she quite liked some of them. AJ was incredibly sweet and grateful for her presence.
"I know John thinks he can protect me, and I know that he can too, but it will be nice having someone who's trained in this sort of thing around." The petite brunette had said to Maria earlier.
She had also hit things off with Eve right away. Their background in Jiu Jitsu had served as a topic of discussion for a while and by the end of the night they agreed that they would room together at their next stop. By the time there was a knock at the door all the other women had headed back to the hotel after Maria told them she'd be fine by herself when they offered to stay.
"It's open." Maria said while she gathered up her things. Phil walked in a second later, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Hey, give me two seconds." Maria said, looking up through her long hair as she pulled her black Uggs on. Throwing her heels in the bag she zipped the duffel and stood. "So you do own clothes. Good to know." Maria joked, looking at the man in front of her. He cleaned up pretty well.
Phil chuckled. "So, it turns out Kofi forgot about his date with Layla. You and I could still go, but only if you want."
"I guess you'll do. I'm starving." Maria smiled.
The pair walked out to the mostly empty parking lot together. "That's my rental." Maria pointed to the black Tahoe. "What about you?"
Phil pointed to a large tour bus parked at the back of the lot. "That's my ride."
Maria did her best not to miss a step at the sight of the massive, extremely expensive looking bus. "What are you, a rock star?"
"Only in my spare time." Phil winked.
"I guess we're taking my car then."
Walking over the black SUV they put their bags in the back and Phil opened the door for Maria to get in on the passenger side. "I'll drive."
"And they say chivalry is dead."
They decided on a 24 hour dinner Phil knew about from previous visits. It was a short drive and she and Phil maintained comfortable silence with the radio playing in the background. It turned out they liked some of the same music.
Once they got inside and were seated Phil asked Maria what she thought of the show.
"I enjoyed it actually." Maria said over her glass of water.
"You didn't think you would?" Phil asked.
"I wasn't sure what it would be like now." She answered.
"What do you mean, 'now'?" Phil asked.
Crap, he'd picked up on that. "I used to watch it with my father, but that was a long time ago."
"Why'd you stop watching?" Phil questioned.
"He died." Maria said simply. Hazel eyes fixed on her with a look of sympathy.
"I'm sorry, I didn't-" Phil began but Maria cut him off.
"Like I said, it was a long time ago. It's fine." Maria's voice was strong and sure, as it should be considering that line had been said more times than she could count. She was a firm believer in not talking about things from her past. Luckily the waitress came to take their order letting them avoid anymore awkward apologies and explanations.
"Your match tonight, it was really amazing." Maria noted while they waited for their food.
"Thanks."
"Your gear, it's for the Chicago flag, right?" Maria asked.
"Yeah...most people don't get that right away." Phil said. This girl, she kept surprising him. He was pretty good at reading people, but after spending the entire evening with her he still couldn't figure her out.
"I'm from Chicago too."
"Really?"
"Born and bred." She wasn't sure why she was telling him this.
"I knew I liked something about you." Phil joked.
"You're not too bad yourself." Maria looked up at Phil with a tiny smile.
"Did you get to meet all the girls?"
"I did. They weren't what I expected. I actually liked most of them. Eve and I are going to room together I think."
"Eve's pretty great." Phil said.
Maria looked up from her hands at that. "You two aren't together are you? I didn't read anything in your file about that..."
"Me and Eve, no. She's engaged." Phil answered quickly.
"I would think it would be hard to be in a relationship when you're constantly on the road like y'all are."
"It's not the easiest thing in the world, but they're perfect for each other so it works I guess." He explained. "What about you? I wouldn't think your job is the most conducive to relationships either."
"You have no idea." Maria confessed. "It's hard to get close to someone with my occupation. I'm gone half the time and the other half I'm regrouping from my last assignment."
"That sounds familiar."
When their food arrived they ate in silence. Maria was used to getting some looks when she was out, her shock of red hair and model's face warranted a lot of male attention, but what surprised her was the amount of people looking at Phil. She supposed it shouldn't shock her. He was covered in tattoos.
Once they finished their meals Phil insisted on paying despite Maria's protests. They were just about to leave when a little boy about ten appeared at their table.
"You're CM Punk." The boy exclaimed excitedly.
"That's me." Phil said.
"Luke! They're eating, don't bother them." A woman in her late thirties rushed up and took the boy's hand.
"It's fine." Phil assured the mother.
"I'm going to be straight edge like you when I grow up." The little boy said proudly.
Maria smiled as she looked from the boy to Phil.
"Come on Luke, we've got to go." The mother started ushering her son away.
"Bye Mr. Punk!" The boy said over his shoulder.
Phil smiled and waved at the kid as they walked off. "Does that happen often?" Maria asked.
"More than you'd think."
"You're pretty good with kids. Despite the whole 'piss off' vibe you apparently give off to older fans."
"Was that in my file too?"
"I do my research." Maria smiled.
The ride back was spent talking about their favorite places to go in Chicago and their never yielding love for the Bears even if they rarely won.
"So I'll met you in the lobby tomorrow at seven?" Phil asked once they got back to the hotel.
"I'll see you then." Maria agreed.
By eight the next morning Phil had already began to put Maria through her paces...and she was keeping up just fine.
"That all you got?" Maria asked when she got to the top of the stairs for the tenth time. They'd been running bleachers for half an hour to warm up and Phil looked at her in amusement.
"You're kidding, right?"
Maria bent over at the waist and placed her hands on her knees, letting out a deep breath. "A little."
Phil laughed. "How about we see what you can do in the ring?"
"I did promise to take you down, didn't I?"
"I seem to remember something like that" Phil said as they made their way to the ring. Holding the ropes Phil helped Maria in the ring for the first time.
After running the ropes and getting aquatinted with the general feel of things Phil decided Maria was ready to take her first 'bump.' Before he could say anything though, a flash of bleach blonde hair appeared beside them.
"You weren't going to get started without me, were you?" Dolph Ziggler asked in mock hurt.
"And deprive her of the opportunity to work with the best seller in the WWE, of course not." Phil said.
"You're damn right. Hey Maria." Dolph greeted the red head standing a few feet away.
"Morning, Dolph." Maria smiled.
"Alright, let's do this then." Phil said, clasping his hands together.
"You look a little too excited at the idea of throwing me around." Maria noted.
"I'm just ready to see if you're all talk."
"Uh huh..." Maria trailed off as Phil walked to her. As soon as he reached out towards her , she grabbed his wrist and took both of them to the ground, her legs wrapping around his arm and applying a quick arm bar. Phil was so stunned it took him a second to tap. Dolph stood above them with his mouth open while Maria let go and sat up. "Just wanted to make it clear that I'm never just talk."
Phil raised up on his elbows. "Noted."
"What are you trained in?" Dolph asked.
"I'm a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. I'm also trained in Krav Maga, the self defense the Israeli army uses. I've done some other hand-to-hand combat training, but those are my favorites. Besides weapons training of course." Maria said.
"Of course." Dolph said, still trying to figure out how the slim woman had taken a man twice her size to the ground faster than he could track. "Remind me never to piss you off."
Maria laughed. "Good guys have no need to worry about me."
"Well, I'm impressed. I think you could definitely use that in a match with the right opponent." Phil said standing. "If I help you up are you going to hurt me again?"
Maria rolled her eyes and took Phil's hand. "I was talking to Eve about that actually. She said she could help me too."
Phil nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she'd be a great person to get involved with."
"Now that we know what you're capable of, how about we show you a few of our moves?" Dolph suggested.
"I'm all ears." Maria said, ready to get started.
Two hours later Maria's entire body was aching. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd been picked up and dropped onto the mat. Not to mention the number of flips she'd done herself to learn how to land. She knew she would be covered in bruises by the next day, but she had to admit she'd enjoyed it. Phil and Dolph had made it fun and their constant praise helped push her. Dolph had left a few minutes ago because he had an appearance to make before Smackdown's taping. Phil was sitting on the top turnbuckle looking at home as ever, but Maria was laying flat on her back near the middle of the ring.
"How you doing down there?" Phil asked even though he knew the answer. The grimace on Maria's face was a good enough explanation.
"Everything hurts." Maria said honestly. She usually tried to mask her pain, but she was either too exhausted or too comfortable with this man to care. She really hoped it wasn't the second reason. She couldn't afford for it to be the second reason.
She heard and felt Phil get down off the turnbuckle, but didn't open her eyes until she could tell he was standing over her. Slowly she opened them to find him staring down at her. "You did really really well today, Maria." He said and the sincerity in his voice dulled the pain in her body momentarily.
"I had a really good teacher."
"Hell yeah you did." Phil grinned. "You're going to want to ice the spots that hurt the most."
"So, take an ice bath?" Maria said, only half joking.
Phil chuckled. "That's always an option."
Maria sat up slowly debating on whether or not she wanted to stand yet. Phil offered her his hand and Maria took it gratefully. Before she could get her legs fully under her he had pulled her up and consequently she slammed into his chest, grasping his shoulders for balance. Phil's hands went to her hips to steady her on their own.
"That was graceful." Maria mumbled under her breath peeking up at Phil's face.
"Sorry about that." Phil said, trying and failing to hide the smile tugging at his lips.
Maria was so busy concentrating on the way his hands felt on her where they still rested on her hips that she didn't even notice the person who'd walked up to the ring apron until he cleared his throat.
"You two seem to be getting along...well." John Laurinaitis' distinct voice had them stepping apart quickly.
"She's a quick learner." Phil said.
"Yes, well, I was just coming by to check on your progress." The older man said before turning on his heel and walking back up the ramp. As soon as he was out of sight Maria stepped out of Phil's arms, eyes glued to her shoes.
"Listen, don't worry about him-" Phil started to reassure her, but Maria cut him off.
"I should go. I've got a lot of work to do." Maria said, already gathering her things.
"Maria-"
The red head stopped just before ducking under the ropes. "Thanks for the lesson Phil." Before he had a chance to respond she hopped down and jogged up the ramp.
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