I'm back with another inexcusably late update. I honestly got a little stuck with this story. I usually come up with an outline before starting anything, but this idea came at me so quickly I wanted to start writing before I couldn't remember things. So now I'm going back and doing an outline. Fingers crossed that helps. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter; there's some Phil/Maria cuteness. (At least I think it's cute..) Enjoy and REVIEW! xoxo
The next morning Maria found herself in her current hotel's 24 hour gym. After spending half the night working on the case and the other half trying and failing to go to sleep the red head had decided she could at least get a good work out in before they moved on to the next city. The punching bag in the back corner of the room was her current target. It wasn't like sparing with an actual partner, but it was what she had. Maria considered hand to hand fighting her speciality and the sound of her fist and feet hitting the punching bag always put her mind at ease.
When Phil walked through the double doors leading into the spacious gym he was surprised to find someone else working out. It was barely 5:30 in the morning and he usually had the place to himself until at least 6:00. He recognized Maria immediately even from a distance and with her hair pulled back into a messy pony tail. The tight black yoga pants and bright purple sports bra revealed her tan skin and he decided he wouldn't mind her company every morning in the gym. Walking over to the blue mats he made sure he gave her enough space and time to see him before he approached. He didn't need a repeat from the training room. He had enough bruises as it was.
Movement to her right had Maria slowing her pace and when Phil came into her line of sight she gave the bag on final round house kick before stopping and pulling her ear-buds out. "Hey." She greeted, a genuine smile spreading across her face.
"You're up early." Phil smiled back.
"Couldn't sleep. What's your excuse?" Maria took a sip out of her water bottle and eyed him. He was dressed simply: black running shorts and a worn out T-shirt. She looked away when she started wondering if the cotton felt as soft as it looked.
"Haven't you heard? I never sleep."
Maria laughed and cocked her hip. "I did hear that somewhere. I was going to hop on a treadmill if you want to join."
"I have a better idea. How about we take a run around the city? I have a route I usually take that's about five miles. If you're up for that of course." Phil challenged.
"I'll try and keep up." Sarcasm laced her words and Phil smiled. "I should probably go grab a jacket though."
"I think I have a something in my bag." Phil offered, swinging his gym bag off his shoulder and to the floor. After digging to the bottom he pulled out a worn grey sweatshirt and handed it to her. "It's clean, I promise."
Maria tried to hide the smile that threatened to spread across her face at him offering her his sweatshirt. 'This is not high school, Maria. It's not like he's giving you his letterman's jacket. Get it together.' Her mind chastised as she pulled it over her head. It hung off her shoulders and was too long, but did the job. "Thanks."
Phil nodded. "No problem. You ready?"
"Yep." She let him lead them out of the gym and into the lobby where he left his bag with the front desk before heading out onto the street. Making sure he wasn't looking Maria inhaled his scent from the sweatshirt. It smelled like cologne and aftershave and something else that was distinctly Phil and she concluded that she rather liked it. A lot of guys used too much of both, but whatever he used was light and clean and intoxicating. When they got outside she was glad she had the extra layer of clothes. The sun was just coming up and it was still cold out.
"Ready?" Phil asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"Let's go." They started off at a slow jog to warm their muscles up before picking up the pace. Phil's route led them through the city to a park area and circled back around to end up at the back of the hotel where all the production busses were parked.
"Last one to your bus buys breakfast!" Maria dared, taking off for the shiny black and silver tour bus parked about 50 yards away. She could hear Phil right on her heels and squealed in delight when her hand was the first to come in contact with the bus's door.
"You cheated!" Phil accused playfully when he reached her a second later.
Maria scoffed. "Did not! You're just slow."
"Oh, I'm slow huh?" Phil asked, taking a step towards her.
"I guess you're not the best in the world at everything." She teased, a smirk firmly in place.
Phil put his hand over his heart feigning hurt. "You wound me."
"You mean I beat you. And now I'd like to collect my prize."
"I suppose that's only fair." Phil relented. Before she could stop him he had her around the waist and lifted up over his shoulder.
A peal of laughter escaped her lips at the surprise move. "What are you doing!?"
"I'm going to make you breakfast." He answered, opening the door of his bus and stepping inside. Once he was fully inside he sat her down. The hood of his sweatshirt had come up over her head after she had been turned upside down and her cheeks were flushed from the run. He decided he had never seen anything more adorable in his life.
Maria looked around at the new surroundings. She had never been on a tour bus so she hadn't really known what to expect, but it definitely wasn't this. Everything was sleek and state of the art. There was a couch on one side with a TV mounted on the wall and two seats with a table between them on the other. Everything was upholstered in grey leather. The walls looked like marble and recessed lighting shown off the stainless steel appliances. "This is nicer than my first apartment."
Phil chuckled at her awe struck look. "Well, when you spend 300 something days a year on the road, it's worth the investment."
"Yeah, but still..." Maria traced the trim of the leather with a finger, admiring how supple it was. "Aren't you going to show me the rest of the place?"
"Sure." Phil led her to the back and showed her the first small bathroom and bunks where Kofi sometimes slept followed by a shower and a second, larger bathroom that Phil used. His room held a queen size bed that was still unmade and a large flat screen TV hung across from it. There was also a closet and a few built ins for storage.
"Is this 'where the magic happens'?" Maria couldn't help but snicker at her own question.
"Someone's watched too many episodes of MTV Cribs." Phil laughed.
Maria rolled her eyes and headed back to the kitchen area. Being in the same room with Phil and a bed could only end in trouble. "So, what are you going to make me?"
"You'll see."
Half an hour later Maria sat across from Phil at the small table scraping up the last of her egg white omelet made with fresh spinach.
"How's the case going?" Phil asked, a smile playing on his face as he watched her eat.
Maria swallowed and sighed. "No where. I was up half the night looking over everything, but I just can't figure this guy out. The fact that he hasn't tried to make any contact since I've gotten here hasn't helped either."
"Maybe he's lost interest." Phil suggested.
"It's very unlikely. When a stalker picks a target, they don't just lose interest all of a sudden. The target is their life. They're consumed by the imaginary relationship they've created. Most stalkers have a previous relationship with their target to go off of; a resentful ex or former employee, but I can't find anyone with a link between AJ and Maryse." Maria explained.
"How do you know it's the same person?"
"I can't know for sure, but I'm almost positive it is. The language used in the emails is the same and the hand writing from the letters looks identical. What I don't get is why he went from obsessing over Maryse to obsessing over AJ. There has to be a trigger, something that turned his attention from one to the other." Maria placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward. She hadn't talked to anyone about this since her arrival and she was surprised at how nice it was to have someone to share her thoughts with.
Phil drank the last of his vegetable juice as he listened. It was obvious Maria was taking this very seriously and he wished there was something he could do to help, but he wasn't sure what that was. For now he would settle on encouragement. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Maria gave him a half smile. "I hope so. No one should live their life in fear."
"I could not agree more." Silence followed Phil's words and Maria began to fidget, deciding to take their plates to the sink and wash them to give herself something to focus on. Every time she glanced behind her Phil's eyes locked with hers, and every time they were filled with something different. First there was a look of understanding and admiration, then a look of adoration followed quickly by a look of lust and heat.
"What?" Maria spoke up breaking the silence, tucking the strands of hair that had fallen from her pony tail behind her ear self consciously.
"I was just thinking that I could get used to this."
"What? Having someone do your dishes?" Maria said jokingly. She hoped she sounded light-hearted and not like a girl who thought she might be getting asked to prom. They hadn't talked about yesterday's kiss yet and she wasn't sure what that meant. It had been so long since Maria had been in even a semblance of a relationship and she had almost forgotten how they worked. 'Just because they had shared a kiss didn't mean they were together,' she reminded herself.
"I have Kofi for that." Phil quipped back.
Maria shut off the water and turned around to face Phil, bracing her hands on the counter top behind her. "Then what do you mean?"
A smirk spread across Phil's face and he stood up, crowding Maria's space until there were only inches between them. "I mean I could get used to having you around."
Maria bit her lip to stop the smile from spreading across her face. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." His eyes fell to her lips and to his surprise Maria was the one to stand on her toes and initiate their second kiss. Her lips were hesitant against his like she was unsure of whether he wanted her there or not. Phil's hands went to her hips like they had the day before and the contact seemed to reassure Maria because her lips became more insistent. Maria slid her hands up his arms from their place on the counter top and when Phil slid his tongue into her mouth she gripped his biceps in pleasure. The things he did to her with his tongue made her toes curl and when thoughts of feeling that talented tongue on other sensitive parts of her body flooded her mind she let out a moan.
God, he loved it when she moaned like that. The sound only spurred him on and his hands slipped under the hoody she was wearing to grip the exposed skin of her lower back. He groaned when he discovered it felt as soft as it looked. Maria's nails dug into Phil's biceps when he slanted his mouth over hers in order to gain more control of the kiss. Everything about him was intoxicating. The buzz of her cell phone from its place on the table was the only reason she broke away from him.
"Let it ring." Phil insisted, moving his lips down her neck.
As much as she wanted to, she knew she couldn't. "It could be Graham."
"That's why voicemail was invented." His tongue laved at a sensitive spot at the junction between her neck and shoulder and he smirked when goosebumps appeared along her neck and arms.
"Phil." She meant it to sound like an order, not a plea.
"Hmmm?" He hummed against her skin.
"I have to get it." Maria said, finally able to muster up the strength to push him away. She grabbed the phone just before it went to voicemail. "Hello?" She answered breathlessly.
"Um, Maria?" Eve's voice came from the other end of the line and Maria couldn't stop the blush from spreading across her face. She knew that Eve had no idea what she was doing, but it still felt like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Everything okay?"
"Eve! Yeah, everything is fine. I just finished working out." The smirk on Phil's face earned him a middle finger from Maria. "What's up?"
"I was just checking to see if we were still riding together. When I woke up you weren't here." The brunette Diva asked.
"Oh yeah definitely. Sorry, I hadn't planned on being gone this long. I'll be up in a minute." Maria explained quickly.
"That's fine. I'm just getting all my stuff packed up. See you when you get here." Eve said before hanging up.
Maria pressed the 'End' button on her cell and looked at Phil. "That was Eve."
"I got that."
Maria rolled her eyes at his smart ass tone. "Meaning I've got to go unless I want to walk to the next city."
"You could always ride with me." Phil suggested.
The red head was surprised at how good that offer made her feel. 'I bet he doesn't let just anyone ride with him.' Her romantic side told her while her realistic side said, 'Or maybe he's just being nice you idiot.' "I'll keep that in mind." Maria settled on answering, moving to the bus's door.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"I don't think so." Maria glanced around not seeing anything she'd left behind.
"Aren't you going to at least give me your phone number?" Phil smiled.
"Oh! Yes!" She slapped herself mentally for sounding so damn excited. "Here let me put it in your phone." After making sure she was saved to Phil's contacts she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before sprinting out of the bus and back to the hotel. Phil stood in the bus's open door watching her with a smile. There was something incredibly refreshing about her. He was actually looking forward to seeing her again, a feeling he hadn't had about someone of the opposite sex in a long time.
Thanks for reading, PLEASE REVIEW! They really do make me happy :D
QUESTION: What do you think Maria's theme song should be for her WWE debut coming up soon? I want to use something different than what her real one was. Can't wait to hear your ideas!
xoxo Meg