You guys are awesome! Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews and follows :D :D They seriously made my day! I really like the suggestion to use Lita's old theme for Maria; I want something that is kind of punk/rock and that certainly fits. I'm working on Chapter 7 now so hopefully it will be up soon! Please review and I hope you like this chapter!
xoxo
When Maria got back to the hotel room, Eve was just coming out of the bathroom curling iron in hand. "Hey I just finished getting ready if you want to take a shower."
Maria nodded, "Yeah, that sounds good."
Eve sat her things down on the bed by her open suitcase. "So where have you been?"
"I went for a run." Maria decided she wouldn't mention Phil had been her running partner. Need to know and all that.
"With Phil?"
Eve's question had Maria's eyes darting to the brunette's face. "What?"
"I'd recognize that sweatshirt anywhere." Eve explained with a knowing smile on her lips.
Maria glanced down at the worn grey sweatshirt she had completely forgotten she had on. "Oh, yeah. He showed me the path he likes to take around the city." She tried to keep her tone casual.
"Uh huh. I hope you know you're going to be giving me details when we get in the car."
Maria made an affirmative sound and hurried into the bathroom to avoid any more of Eve's questions. As she let the warm water relax her tired muscles she thought of how she was going to explain her and Phil's relationship. Hell, she didn't even know if it was a relationship. Were they together? Could they be together? They hadn't even gone on a date yet. Didn't that have to happen before you became a couple? Maybe he was the friends with benefits kind of guy and that's all she was; just someone to let off some steam with? Maria ran her hands through her hair roughly, getting frustrated with all the questions flying around her mind. Perhaps talking to Eve would help. She was engaged which meant she knew something about relationships. She was certainly more qualified than Maria was. Plus she was good friends with Phil, so conceivably she would have some better insight on whatever was going on with them.
True to her word, as soon as Maria and Eve were settled in their rental car and on the road to their next stop Eve started in with questions. "So, what exactly is going on between you and Phil? And don't say nothing, because that would just be an insult to my intelligence."
Maria laid her head back against the seat's head rest. "Honestly, I have no idea. We haven't really talked about it."
"Okay..." Eve trailed off, hoping Maria would supply more details. When she didn't she asked another question. "What's happened that you need to talk about?"
"If I tell you this, you have to promise not to tell anyone else."
"I promise."
"I mean it, no one." Maria insisted.
"Fine fine. I'll keep my mouth shut. Now spill."
"Yesterday I went to confront Phil about him telling Kofi that we almost kissed and we both got to talking and then we were arguing and all of a sudden we were kissing." Maria spoke quickly.
"What!? Oh my God that's insane!" Eve gushed.
"Do you want me to tell you what happened or do you want to interrupt me?" Maria didn't mean to sound so harsh, but this whole situation was really getting to her.
"Sorry. Okay so you kissed, then what?" Eve apologized.
"Then nothing! He had to leave for his match and I didn't see him again until this morning. I was in the gym and he came in and asked if I wanted to go on a run with him. That's why I was wearing his sweatshirt. Somehow we ended up back behind the hotel in the parking lot where all the busses were and I decided to race him to his bus and the loser would buy breakfast."
"And?" Eve pushed for more information, totally focused on Maria's every word.
"And I won so he made me breakfast."
"He WHAT?" Eve's exclamation startled Maria. "Phil Brooks made you breakfast?"
"It wasn't that big of a deal." Maria tried to play the gesture down.
"Of course it's a big deal. Phil's a great guy and he would do anything for his friends, but I can't even remember the last time he's voluntarily had someone in his bus besides Kofi, much less to make them breakfast! He must have it bad for you." Eve's smile lit up her entire face and Maria couldn't help but smile with her. The brunette's excitement was contagious.
"You think?"
"Yes! Did anything else happen?"
"Well, we did kiss again and he asked for my number before I left to come meet you." Maria felt like a school girl telling her friends that her crush had passed her a note in class.
"Girl, if you honestly don't think he's into you after all of that you might want to seek some kind of professional help."
Maria blushed. "It's just been a while since I've even considered having a guy in my life. Plus, I should be spending my time working on this case, not fraternizing with the hot tattooed guy."
Eve huffed. "Please, having a little fun never hurt anyone. Besides you two might be just what the other needs. You both put so much time and energy into your work it's amazing you have any kind of life outside of it."
"Gee thanks."
"You know what I mean. Give it a chance and see where it goes. You might be surprised."
"Yeah, I guess." Maria's voice was quieter and Eve looked over at her.
"You guess? Maria, I've been with the company since 2007 and I honestly can't remember the last time Phil was remotely interested in anyone. You have to give it a shot."
Maria's eyes met Eve's and she saw the sincerity in them. Maybe she was right, maybe she did need to have a little fun and not spend her whole life wrapped up in her job. "Fine. He is a really good kisser."
Eve squealed in delight. "This is going to be great, I just know it."
The mood backstage at house shows was always more laid back, something that the wrestlers had come to appreciate, especially coming off a big show. Everyone milled around catering and shared communal locker rooms. Production crew members weren't running around like the building was on fire and overall there was less fanfare. Currently, Maria was in catering surrounded by the other wrestlers. AJ, John, Kofi, Layla, Eve, Randy, and Dolph were all gathered around a table eating and talking before the show started. Maria was at the end of the table content to listen and observe. She hadn't known these people for long, but she felt a strange kind of friendship with them. She had never gotten close to the people she was working for before and sitting here feeling like she was part of the family was very new. The sound of a chair scraping across the hard floor brought her out of her thoughts and she looked to her left to see Phil pulling a chair up. She smiled warmly at him as he sat down beside her, his plate loaded with vegetables and fruit.
"Hey." Phil smiled back at her.
"Hi." Maria greeted, not missing the looks they were both getting from the rest of the table.
"When are you going to start eating meat like a normal human being?" Randy asked Phil
from his place down the table.
"It's called being a vegetarian and in case you haven't noticed I've been doing just fine without it." Phil answered. Orton was always giving him shit, but he liked the guy.
"We were just talking about when we were going to get Maria back in the ring." Dolph said.
"Yeah, I've really missed the bruises." Maria said sarcastically. She hadn't been back in the ring to train since her fall.
"You were doing really well until..." AJ tried to encourage her, but trailed off when she remembered her fall.
"Until I fell on my head? It's okay. What's one more concussion?" Maria finished for her.
"We could just go back to the basics." Eve suggested.
"I didn't go anywhere near the top rope for months." Layla chimed in.
"We can't all be 'high flyers'." Randy agreed.
"Yeah, that's reserved for the extra special talented wrestlers." Kofi winked.
Maria smiled. It was nice that they were all trying to make her feel better about what happened, but it really wasn't necessary. She had been hurt before. "Well I've got the best teachers so I'm sure I'll be fine."
The rest of the meal was spent talking about random things that had happened on their trips and what they wanted to do when they got back home for their day off. Maria sat quietly beside Phil, picking some of the grapes off his plate and popping them in her mouth. Phil's arm stretched out behind her chair and his thumb was drawing patterns on her shoulder. No one seemed to notice except for Eve who was giving her sly looks every few minutes.
Tom, a backstage assistant came in holding a package just as they were finishing up. "Hey Tom, what's up?" John asked.
"This came for AJ." He answered, holding out the small brown box. AJ looked at it hesitantly; the last time she had received something it had been from the stalker.
"I'll take that actually." Maria said.
"Of course, Agent Kanellis." Tom walked over to her quickly and handed it to her.
"Do you have a knife on you?" Maria asked and Tom handed her his pocket knife. The whole table was looking at her, but Maria didn't notice, her full attention on the box. There was no return address. All it had was AJ's name printed on the front. She carefully cut the tape to avoid cutting anything inside. Opening it revealed a folded letter and a small plastic toy; a blue unicorn to be exact. Maria picked it up with a napkin and held it out to AJ. "Does this mean anything to you?"
AJ's eyes went wide and her hand clamped over her mouth. "That's mine. Kaitlyn got it for me at a gas station as a joke. I left it in our car."
"Are you sure?" Maria asked, already standing up.
"Yes!" AJ cried.
"Son of a bitch." Maria put the animal back in the box and sat it on the table. "No one touches that!" She ordered, reaching into her purse and pulling out her Kimber 1911 Pro TLE II pistol. The stainless steal finish flashed under the Florissant lights and if the entire room's attention wasn't already on her it was now. "Who gave that to you?" Maria questioned Tom who looked like he was going to be sick.
"I-I don't know, some guy in the parking lot came up to me when I was out having a smoke and asked if I'd give it to her."
"And you thought bringing in an unchecked package was okay?" Maria tried not to yell.
"I-I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Tom apologized.
"No fucking kidding. You said he was in the parking lot?" Maria knew she was being harsh, but she didn't have time to be nice with this idiot.
"Yeah, yes."
Maria pulled the slide back on the gun to load it. "Watch her." She instructed John before taking off for the back entrance. She heard several people following her, but ignored them until she reached the door. Glancing back over her shoulder she saw that Phil, Dolph and Randy had been the ones behind her. "Stay. Here."
"You shouldn't go out there alone." Phil insisted.
"I will be fine as long as you all stay here. I can not watch all of your backs." Maria's words offered no room for questioning and all three men took a few steps back. Pushing the door open Maria stepped out into the cold night air. With any luck the creep had stuck around to try and get a glimpse of AJ.
The show was about to start and the parking lot looked deserted except for the cars and buses. The sound of Maria's heels against the asphalt echoed in the quiet as she began her sweep of the parking lot. She could see her breath and if it wasn't for the adrenaline pumping through her veins she would probably be shivering. Parking lots were a bitch to clear during the day and even worse at night. There were so many places a person could hide with all of the cars. It took a solid ten minutes, but she finally confirmed that whoever had been there was long gone. She found AJ and John's rental car with its door standing cracked open. After a quick look inside she didn't see anything the stalker might have left or taken, but they would have to check as well. When she opened the back door to go inside, half the locker room was waiting for her.
"Whoever was out there is gone, you can all go back to what you were doing." Maria addressed the crowd, clicking the safety back into place on her weapon. When no one moved she spoke again. "Seriously, the show is over." The sharpness in her words finally got her point across and people started filling back down the hallway.
Phil approached her tentatively. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. This is my job, remember?" She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. She was being a bitch and she knew it. These people didn't deserve to have her frustrations taken out on them. "I'm sorry. I'm just on edge." Maria apologized as they walked back to catering together.
"It's okay." Phil squeezed her arm. "You're going to get this guy."
Maria stopped and looked down at where his hand joined them. "Thank you." Phil nodded. "No, I mean it. You're the first person that hasn't run the second things got tough in a long time."
"In case you've forgotten, I can't run very fast anyways." Phil teased earning a smile.
"True." Maria laughed.
"Plus, you have a gun."
"Also true."
"Which is pretty hot." He added, taking a step closer.
"You're impossible." Maria pushed him back and continued to walk towards catering.
"You like it." Phil whispered from behind her. Maria just shook her head as she reached the door. AJ was a wreck in John's lap and Eve and Layla were trying their best to comfort her from either side of him. Kofi, Randy, and Dolph were all gathered around closely as well.
"He's gone." Maria assured AJ.
"Are you sure?" John asked.
"Yes. I'm going to need you to come with me and check your car to make sure nothing else was taken at some point." Maria answered. "And I'm going to talk to the people backstage about their incredibly pathetic security. If necessary I'll call another agent in. I will not let anything happen to you, do you understand?" Maria's green eyes bore into AJ's chocolate brown ones.
"Yes." AJ answered, a little bit of courage seeping into her voice.
"Good. I'm going to have the police check your car for any evidence the stalker might have left so you'll need to ride with someone else back to the hotel."
"Okay." John agreed.
Maria placed her gun back in its holster in her bag and picked up the box the stalker had dropped off. "And there's no need for you to see this again."
AJ nodded her agreement.
"Okay. The best thing you all can do right now is go on with your night. I know that's hard, but if you let this person control your life they've won." Maria told the group. After a few seconds they stood and went their separate ways. John held AJ close under his arm as they walked out and they both thanked Maria. Once everyone but Phil had left Maria sat down with the box. "Don't you have a match tonight?"
"Not for a while."
"Go. I need to call Graham and update him anyways." Maria said.
"Are you sure?" Phil asked.
"Yes. What I said to the others applies to you too. I'll see you after the show."
Phil hesitated, but nodded, leaving Maria alone in the room. Maria looked down at the box with the gas station trinket and folded letter. "Alright, let's see what you've got to say this time."
So, now that the stalker looks to be back in the game, what will his next move be? And what's in that letter he left? You'll find out next chapter! Please review, they make me want to get updates out faster and work harder! MUAH!