Even The Beautiful Lose Control
-March 3, 2014; Chicago, Illinois-
Raw being in Chicago had caused a lot of stress amongst WWE employees. Punk's unwillingness to return, even in his home town, left Vince McMahon to make an important decision. They were going to play the crowd. The internet had been abuzz with the #hijackRAW plan but Vince always liked a good fight. They had all been briefed about what to do about 'CM Punk' chants – continue as though nothing was happening – but this week they were allowed to respond if they wished.
"I wish we got to do promos," Nikki commented from the other side of the locker room. "There's a few things I'd like to say about CM Punk."
Tessa, who was pulling up her knee pads, laughed, "I have eight and a half years of pent up frustrations with CM Punk, you're going to have to get in line."
"Air your grievances, Tessa. You're in a safe place," Nikki joked and pretended to hold a microphone in front of her friend's mouth. Tessa sat up straight and cleared her throat.
"CM Punk put me through hell under the guise of wrestling training. He repeatedly told me that it was because I needed to wrestle and not model. I've since come to realise that it had nothing to do with me and everything to with him not being seen as incompetent. It might also have to do with the fact that I refused him sex – I did have morals once upon a time. CM Punk is bitter. He is a bitter old man."
"CM Punk is the reason you're considered one of the best female wrestlers in the world," AJ snarled as she stormed into the locker room. Tessa scoffed, fed up with AJ's constant praise for her boyfriend.
"Japan is the reason I'm considered one of the best female wrestlers in the world."
"Without him you wouldn't have made it to Japan," AJ retorted furiously.
"Get your head out of his ass, AJ," Nikki cut in. "If you paid any attention to some of the shit that he pulled without those rose tinted glasses you like to wear you'd realise that he's an asshole."
AJ, with all her might, launched forward to attack Nikki. As soon as contact was made Nikki fought back but the fight could barely get started before Brie was holding her sister by the waist and Nattie and Tamina were pulling AJ back. The two continued to sling insults at each other until Tessa's phone began ringing. The sound was abrupt and unexpected, causing a certain amount of surprise that halted the screaming.
"Um," Tessa said as she looked down at her phone to see a number she didn't recognise appear on the screen. "I suppose I'll go take this elsewhere?" She hastily walked out of the room and answered the call once she was around the corner. "Hello?"
"Tessa?" She recognised the voice immediately. It was forever engrained in her memory.
"Rami?" She asked back to clarify because no matter how sure she was, he was the last person she ever expected to call her.
"Yeah..." He trailed off slowly. Tessa managed to find a seat that she ended up collapsing onto. "I just wanted to tell you something."
"Okay?"
"I'm getting called up," he revealed. Tessa smiled to herself, unable to stop the pride that soared through her.
"That's great," she told him earnestly. "I'm happy for you."
"I just wanted to let you know because you let me know."
"Thank you," she managed to say. It was great to hear his voice again; it was one she could never get sick of. It made her far too happy even after so long.
"How are you?" The question caught her off guard. He sounded like he cared.
"I'm – I'm fine."
"Good. That's good," he said somewhat awkwardly. "I suppose I should let you go. You probably have a match to prepare for."
She nodded, though he couldn't see it, "Yeah, I do. Thanks for telling me."
The call was ended after a quick, awkward goodbye. Tessa felt her heart racing after the phone call. He had called her voluntarily. He thought of her when he was told he was going to make his debut.
With a smile on her face Tessa walked back into the locker room to grab the Divas Championship. No one was in there and Tessa figured that they probably went their separate ways so they wouldn't cause a serious fight.
Her walk to Gorilla was stopped halfway when someone told her that Sean Cleary wanted to see her in his office. The request puzzled her given that she was a week away from starting a new angle with Nikki Bella who would be named number one contender, but she did as she was told and went to see the Head of Talent Relations.
Sean Cleary was waiting for her with the office door wide open. He motioned for Tessa to step inside and shut the door behind them.
"Am I in trouble?" Tessa asked instinctively when she realised that there was no other reason for her to be there.
"No," he shook his head, "of course not. I just wanted to let you know that we have a new storyline in your future."
"Are we scrapping Nikki?"
"No, that will play out and you'll still face her at Wrestlemania for the title but in about a month's time we're going to give you a love interest."
Tessa was shocked, "Oh?" Love interests in WWE generally meant a bigger storyline for Divas, giving them a chance to show what they can do beyond 5 minutes of match.
"We're bringing Sami Zayn up from NXT and we'd like to pair him up with Tia." He clearly had no idea what he was telling her because he was surprised when her face fell.
"You want me to work with Rami?" She asked him slowly, all breathe leaving her body.
"It was decided that Tia would be best suited to Sami Zayn. So yes, we want you to work with Rami. Is that going to be a problem?"
Tessa shook her head and drew in a deep breath. She tried her hardest to keep a straight face as she assured him that it would be no problem at all but the crack in her voice surely gave her away. She excused herself quickly; suddenly aware of just how little time she had before her match, and walked straight to Gorilla.
When she arrived at Gorilla she was visibly stressed, with her mouth hanging, her cheeks pale and her breathing heavy. She stood beside AJ but said nothing, focusing on the monitor showing the live ring.
"Are you okay?" AJ asked sounding genuinely concerned for her opponent. Tessa didn't look well enough to be competing in AJ's eyes.
"Fine, totally fine." Tessa nodded and exhaled. "New finish for the match: running big boot to the corner."
"Why?" AJ looked at Tessa quickly.
"Because I feel like it," Tessa deadpanned, shaking her head and jumping up and down on the spot to get herself ready.
"Are we allowed to do that?"
"I don't care."
AJ's music began to play and she walked to the curtain, checking over her shoulder to make sure that Tessa was going to be okay during their match. The last thing AJ wanted was for her opponent to be distracted.
-Live on Raw-
She barely knew your name.
With a smile on her face and spring in her step, Tia tried her hardest to do her normal entrance, but the peace sign was as half-hearted as the smile on her face and she didn't blow kisses to the fans.
"Tia's a little different tonight, isn't she?" JBL asked.
"Nervous, maybe? AJ Lee has always been one of her toughest adversaries," Cole judged.
Tia ran up the stairs and into the ring as always but instead of ducking underneath the middle rope, she surprised everyone and launched herself over the top. Managing to land on her feet, Tia did her usual cute curtsey for the people clapping her.
"She doesn't seem too nervous," King laughed.
AJ was waiting for her, the referee took her belt and handed it to the time keeper and signalled for the bell to be rung. Tia, for the first time in her entire career, didn't bother trying to shake her opponent's hand.
No time was wasted; the Divas locked up in the middle of the ring and fought for the advantage. AJ won it and was able to push Tia towards the ropes, hitting her with an elbow when the champion was rebounded into the middle of the ring.
When AJ was parading around, Tia got back to her feet and hit the drop kick as soon as her opponent turned around. Tia didn't make a show of it and immediately pulled AJ back to her feet only for AJ to counter it into a schoolgirl pin.
Tia kicked out at one and stood up with a shake of her head. She pushed the hair from her face and quickly hit the running AJ Lee with an exploder suplex.
AJ was quick to roll out of the ring, straight to Tamina. Tia, with a disgruntled sighed, looked at them over the rope before she rolled out of the ring, standing in front of the commentator's table.
She looked at her opponent and took a deep breath before running towards the corner of the ring, sliding underneath the bottom turnbuckle and catching AJ with a tornado DDT. The men in the front row started an 'Olé!' chant as she stood up and curtsied with a huge smile on her face.
A few minutes passed and AJ flew into the turnbuckle and just as she recovered from the shock Tia ran at her. AJ had no time to move, only to blink as Tia's boot met her chin.
"A huge boot by the number one contender!"
"I think Tia might have gotten over those jitters."
Tia untangled herself as AJ slumped to the floor; Tia was able to pull the champion into the centre of the ring, barely struggling with AJ's deadweight.
Tia hooked AJ's leg and counted along with the referee and the crowd, "1, 2, 3."
"I don't think we had anything to be worried about. Maybe Tia should be nervous every week, it worked in her favour," JBL commented as Tia began her celebration in the ring.
The celebration was cut short when AJ began to stir causing Tia to leave the ring in a hurry. AJ was visibly irate but it only encouraged Tia and her celebration.
-Off Air-
"Tessa, Stephanie wants to speak to you." Dean Malenko appeared by her side as soon as she pushed through the curtain. The smile dropped from her face and she sighed.
"Yeah, I figured." The quiver in her voice surprised even her. Dean gently touched her arm when she turned away from him.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm not sure," Tessa answered honestly before turning around again walking off in search of Stephanie McMahon's office.
It was a walk of shame; people knew where she was headed. The match, to the untrained eye, had run as smooth as ever, it was near perfect. To a veteran of the business, however, Tessa's instructions to AJ were all too clear. Tessa wasn't stupid enough to think she'd get away with it.
She knocked hesitantly on Stephanie's office door, awaiting a response from her boss. She was called inside to see Stephanie sitting behind her temporary desk.
"Miss Scobille, have a seat," Stephanie gestured to the couch and Tessa did as she was told, sitting down gently. "Do you know why you're here?"
"I changed the match," Tessa nodded in understanding.
"Why?"
"Because I was angry, upset... It was stupid but I did it." Tessa tugged at her suspenders, her new nervous habit. Stephanie gestured for her to elaborate. "Rami called me and told me he was actually getting called up but that was fine. I figured that would happen eventually. It's just... Ten minutes before I had to be at Gorilla, I get called into Talent Relations and they're telling me that when Sami Zayn debuts he's going to need a love interest."
"And that's you, correct?"
"It's me," Tessa nodded as her lip began to quiver again. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "I don't know if I can do that. I will because it's my job but if I didn't take out that anger now I'd take it out on him and he doesn't deserve that. I've hurt him too much already."
"Okay," Stephanie sighed, taking Tessa's hands and holding them tightly, warmly. "You're getting out of this with a slap on the wrist. I trust your judgement in the ring enough for you to be able to call a match as it's happening... I am very happy you did it with AJ but inn future, don't change the match or break character like you did."
"Of course not. Never again." Tessa nodded quickly. She was still crying at the thought of working with Rami but that would be dealt with later.
"I'm going to speak with Talent Relations because telling someone of a new storyline just before they go out is unprofessional."
Tessa sniffled, "Thank you. I really am sorry."
"Don't let it happen again," Stephanie patted Tessa's hands and helped her to her feet. "It was a good match."
"I won't," Tessa said, a smile pulling at her lips. "And thank you."
Tessa exited the office and sighed in relief. She was grateful that Stephanie saw the stupidity in a meeting directly before a match.
As she walked down one of the many halls, she was unexpectedly grabbed by the wrist and pulled around the corner. Startled, she violently ripped her hand away and whacked the culprit over the chest, only to have her wrists captured again.
"Look, I don't know what you've managed to do but he's in the locker room having a fit."
"Hi Jon," Tessa snarled at Jon who still had a hold of her wrists.
"You need to go calm him down." There was no denying who Jon was talking about.
"Why?" Tessa asked, trying to pull her hands back. Jon wasn't letting go.
"Because it's your fault," Jon rolled his eyes. "Your match started and he lost it."
"Great," Tessa groaned. "Yet another person I've pissed off."
"You know what you did?"
"Most of those moves were taken directly out of El Generico's playbook," Tessa revealed. Jon let go of her wrists and breathed out a twisted laugh. "They're calling him up. They want me to be his girlfriend. I was angry and did the only thing I could think of."
"Become your ex-boyfriend?" Jon leant against the stone wall, shaking his head. Sarcastically he added, "Makes sense."
"I was angry and that's what happened. If I had stuck to the plan, I would have looked a lot more like Tyler Black."
"Their styles aren't that different," Jon said, almost in disbelief. "You're fucking with me."
"If I was, Colby wouldn't be as angry as you say he is. Right?" Tessa shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm in no state to talk to him about this right now. Can you tell him?"
"Tell him that he has to compete with Generico for you again?" Jon laughed manically. "No thanks. I'd rather live to see my match."
Tessa raked a hand through her hair before she started to unwrap the tape from her left wrist. She looked up at Jon with pleading eyes but he shook his head. She felt her cheeks going red, the dried tears still on them.
"Just try calm him down," Tessa begged, sniffling as she felt more tears starting. "I'll talk to him after the show."
"Good," Jon smiled at her, ruffling up her hair. "Good match, by the way."
"Yeah, thank you," she said before her head flew up and she hit him across the chest again, this time as he was walking away. "He doesn't have to compete for me."
"I'm sure that's what Generico thought back in '08."
Tessa watched as Jon turned the corner, going back to his own locker room. She felt more tears fall down her cheeks, clouding her vision. As she walked back to the Divas' locker room she looked down to avoid the stares of everyone as she did so.
"How much trouble did you get into?" Nikki asked as soon as Tessa pushed the door open.
"None," Tessa responded emotionlessly. Her tears had dried up and she just felt empty. "I think I used my fuck up."
"It wasn't really a fuck up," Nikki reasoned, stopping Tessa from walking away. "You changed the match but it still went well, so it's not all that bad. Mind telling me why?"
"Can I tell you later? I don't want to break down again."
Nikki let Tessa go, the latter making her way to the showers quickly before anyone else could ask her more questions.
The moment the hot water ran down her back she felt herself relax. The running water helped clear her head and she managed to convince herself that being in a storyline with Rami wasn't going to be terrible. Difficult, yes, but terrible was pushing it too far.
Nikki had convinced Brie that they should go back to the hotel with Tessa. Any other night she would have enjoyed the company but it was the last thing she needed after the night she'd had.
"So, what happened?"
Tessa retold the story about being told about Rami calling her and how she had been told about her future storyline just minutes before her match. Neither twin was surprised to hear that Steph had been lenient with Tessa given the history between Tessa and Rami alongside the unprofessional nature that Talent Relations had used when informing her.
"That's terrible," Brie pouted. "And you can't get out of it?"
"I don't think I really want to..." Tessa admitted. "Not because I'll be spending time with Rami but because this is too good an opportunity. I know that Sami Zayn will become a household name in no time. He's going to sky rocket and, it might be selfish of me, but I wouldn't mind going along for the ride."
"No, I understand. It's good exposure and that's exactly what all of us are looking for," Nikki smiled at Tessa. "That's why we said yes to Total Divas."
"You should say yes to Total Divas," Brie concluded, leaning in between the two front seats.
"You're kidding me, right? They fabricate most of your drama, right? Mine would be Class A explosive material, it would be all real and that's not fair on anyone."
"But it'd be fun," Nikki laughed before flipping off someone who honked at them. Tessa was getting distracted and not driving very well.
"Fun? It'd be terrible, Colby and Rami would be dragged into it and last time the three of us were in a dramatic situation they both ended up with a broken nose."
"Are you serious?" Brie asked, suddenly worried. "Okay, so maybe we don't need that on the show. 'Roid rage rumours would go through the roof."
"You must be a good fuck if everything ended like that," Nikki remarked resulting in Brie thumping her over the head. "What?"
"Don't be rude," Brie reprimanded her sister. "Tessa, it'll all be fine, okay? You've all grown up a lot since then."
"I was 22 years old," Tessa sighed. She thought to her current situation, she hadn't really grown up given that she was sleeping with Colby despite the fact he was in a relationship. She was starting the whole thing again.
"You were a kid," Brie continued for her. "You were pressured into sleeping with Gabe, right?"
"I suppose, I don't know. It all just happened so quickly. I don't try and justify it because it was terrible no matter what way you look at it."
The car was consumed with silence and Brie leant back in her seat, watching the cars pass by. Tessa did her best to concentrate on the road but she felt her mind drift occasionally. It mainly went to the conversation she had to have with Colby. She had to explain to him why she had resorted to El Generico's move set and she knew he wasn't going to be happy about it. They'd finally began to work out everything, their relationship was beginning to change once more, and she knew that what she had to say was going to reverse all of that progress.
She desperately wanted to tell someone about their renewed affair. Darcy knew about it, sure, but she was the last person Tessa wanted to talk to about it. Darcy was friends with Rami and she didn't want to run the risk of him finding out, especially if they had to work with each other. Ideally she would tell Brie but from past experience she knew that anything Brie was told Nikki came to know and Nikki was notoriously bad at keeping secrets.
And of course there was Jon who liked to bring it up any chance he got. He wasn't mean about it but he was always quick to remind her how badly everything had ended in 2008.
"I'm sorry for bringing it up," Brie said as soon as Nikki got out of the car. "I know it was a pretty bad experience for you but you need to know that nobody cares anymore."
"I mean, Bryan's getting better..." Tessa began. "Punk still calls me a whore whenever he sees me. Claudio gives me a death stare whenever I'm in the same room as him. Colby still brings it up on occasion and Rami definitely hasn't gotten over it. The people who don't care are the people who didn't experience it firsthand."
Tessa didn't go straight to her own room; she carried her bag straight to Colby's knowing that she sooner she got the conversation out of the way the sooner both of them could rest easy. She was thankful that he had sent her a text with his room number earlier that afternoon.
Her knock was light and cautious because the idea of telling Colby that Rami was coming up... It wasn't something she wanted to do.
The door opened and Tessa couldn't help but smile. She looked up instinctively, expecting to see Colby's kind eyes and scruffy beard but she only saw empty space.
"What do you want?" Darcy Quinn was glaring at Tessa, moving further into the hallway so she could prevent Tessa from seeing into the room.
"I need to speak to Colby," Tessa responded, motioning to the room. "Can I do that?"
Darcy snarled, "No. You can't." Tessa was surprised by the blonde's aggression. The last time they had seen each other Tessa had held a sobbing Darcy as the latter worried she was being cheated on. "Leighla's my friend. You're fucking crazy if you think I'm about to let you speak to him. You're a good for nothing whore." Tessa flinched back at the name she had been called.
"You spoke to Jon, then?" Darcy didn't respond to the question but she did cross her arms defiantly. "Do you want him to stop throwing a fit? The only way that's going to happen is if I speak to him and explain that match."
"You're a pathetic excuse for a human."
Tessa sighed, "I know. Can I please speak to him?"
Darcy huffed as she pushed the door open with her foot and walked into the room announcing that Tessa was at the door. The brunette stepped into the room and was horrified by its state. Colby had clearly not calmed down.
"Come on, Darc," Jon said with a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "They need to do this alone."
Darcy protested, "We can't leave them together!" Jon rolled his eyes and directed her out into the hallway, leaving Tessa and Colby together.
He was standing near the window, anger written all over his face. Tessa stepped towards him, wanting to touch him and comfort him, but he flinched away violently.
"That wasn't... Why are you so angry?" she chose to ask that question. It was a valid question, he had no reason to become so irate because of a few wrestling moves.
"Him, Tessa. It doesn't exactly bring back fantastic memories, especially when you're out there flying around like him," Colby explained, his voice hoarse. It looked like Jon wasn't kidding when he said Colby had thrown a fit in the locker room.
Tessa chose to rip it off like a bandaid, "He's coming to the main roster."
"What?" Colby asked, his head snapping towards her.
"And they want me to work with him. I wasn't happy and that was my way of saying FU." Colby sat down on the bed and sighed in exasperation. "You know what that means, Colb."
"You're going to end this because of him, aren't you?" He asked in a sad voice. Tessa sat down beside him, sitting so that she was facing him. One hand came to rest on his knee, the other on his shoulder.
"He'll know what we're doing," Tessa sighed as she leant forward to rest her head over her hand on his shoulder. "That can't get out, you know that. Jon told Darcy, that's already too many people."
"Fuck," Colby groaned, furiously wiping a hand over his face.
"I'm sorry, Colby." Tessa leant forward just a bit more and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
a/n thanks to everybody who took the time to review: UntilNeverDawns, CarolReigns, Guest, Imagineer1392, nmoxracha, deanambooty, ajroleplays, Straight Edge Queen, Livin on the EDGE and OhYeahCabana! :D