I'll Be Your Best Kept Secret

-April 3, 2014; New Orleans, Louisiana-

It was nothing like she had expected. The entire roster had been pulled into meetings and had the itinerary explained to them, they had been lectured on proper behaviour and then had their itinerary explained again but she still wasn't expecting it to be as busy as it had been.

It was only day 3 of WrestleMania Week and Axxess wasn't set to start until later that night. Tessa was sure that she would be absolutely exhausted before the week was out. She just had to keep on her toes or risk not being okay for her match.

Interviews had taken up most of her day already but when she sat down opposite Sam Roberts she was happy that they had already done one before.

"I have with me, again, The Divas Champion. Tia, I'm really happy to have you back."

"Glad to be back."

"I was going to jump straight into some talk about Japan but I feel like talking about the cut on your face would be a lot more interesting."

"These things happen."

"It doesn't take a genius to work out that it's because of a stiff, left handed punch."

"There's a lot of speculation going around about this, isn't there? It's not a big deal. Like I said, these things happen. I'm more concerned about how much makeup is going to be required to cover it up at the Hall of Fame."

"It doesn't look too bad; hopefully it'll be gone by then. Has anything changed now that AJ Lee is sporting that ring?"

"I don't spend much time with her so I don't know if anything has changed."

"You're not friends with AJ?"

"You can't be friends with everyone."

"You are friends with Nikki Bella, though, aren't you? There have been plenty of photos of you two on twitter and instagram. How do you feel about having to face her at WrestleMania?"

Tessa explained that she was looking forward to facing her friend in what could be the most important match of her life. Throughout the rest of the 20 minute interview she was asked questions about Japan, the change in environment, the pressure going into WrestleMania as champion. Tessa all the while managed to avoid any questions about AJ Lee.

"What are your plans for the rest of the week?"

"Tomorrow I get to build a playground with KaBOOM! and I have more interviews, signings, I get to hang around at Axxess and get beaten in the first round of 2k14. Tonight, though, is my only night off and I think I'm going out somewhere with Summer Rae."

"Do you know where you're going yet?"

"Not a clue, I let her be in charge."

Finishing up the interview, Tessa told everyone to be safe, respectful and to have fun during the week leading up to the biggest night of the year.

"I'm really not happy that you're not coming out tonight."

"I get to go to a red carpet event. I would rather do that than let Summer Rae get me drunk during WrestleMania week."

"Nikki Bella not wanting to get drunk?" Tessa asked in mild shock. "We're in New Orleans and you don't want to get drunk? I want to get drunk."

"You have to go to work tomorrow, don't get too drunk."

Tessa rolled her eyes and scoffed, "I'm more responsible than you are."

Tessa was sitting in Nikki's hotel room watching her do her hair and makeup for the Superstars for Kids. As Divas Champion she expected to be involved in more than just building a playground and attending the Susan G. Komen luncheon but there was a sense of relief that she had some time to rest, and play.

"You're going to run into every person you've ever worked with this week. You know that, right?"

"That's partly why I want to get drunk," Tessa sighed. "Maybe then I won't care as much."

It wasn't much later that Nikki had to leave – John came to the hotel room door looking very nice in his expensive suit – and Tessa made her way back to the hotel room that she was sharing with Summer.

When she walked in, she groaned upon noticing the dress that Summer had laid out for her. Without even having to lift it up she knew that it was going to be tight. She wasn't opposed to tight fitting dresses but the cut-outs over her chest combined with the tightness and most likely shortness made her wish that she hadn't put so much power into Summer's hands.

"I love that dress a lot so you have to look after it," Summer stated, walking out of the bathroom in a similar dress. "You, my dear, are going to get laid tonight."

"No, Summer, I don't want that," Tessa protested, putting the dress back down. "I just want to go out and have fun."

"Have fun with a cute guy then," Summer insisted, moving forward to put her arms on Tessa's shoulders. "Live a little, Tess. You're young and gorgeous you can't pine over cute redheads for the rest of your life."

Tessa's eyes widened and she shook her head quickly, "I'm not pining over anyone. I just don't think it's a good idea to go out and sleep with the first person who looks at me twice."

"You're the Divas Champion; you could have your pick out of anyone."

She didn't respond to the comment. It wasn't the first time she'd been told that she could date whoever she wanted – Nikki told her almost every time they were out somewhere. She wasn't interested. It made no difference whether she was sneaking around with Colby or not, sleeping with fans always made her feel more than a little uncomfortable.

"Get dressed; we have dinner reservations for 7."

Just like Nikki had predicted, Tessa had seen more former co-workers than she could count on both hands. A lot of them had sent her curious looks, others had watched her closely for far too long but none made any effort to talk to her. She was slowly drinking her cares away.

"June!"

Tessa sighed, wishing that she hadn't been able to hear her name be called. No doubt she would have been followed had she pretended to not hear it. She turned around and smile - it was genuine enough, she had missed him, but it could mean Jimmy was close by.

"Chuck!"

She hugged her old friend tightly, surprised that he reciprocated. He and Rami were very close.

"Wow! Look at you!" Chuck Taylor exclaimed, standing back to look at Tessa properly. "Little June Jacobs actually grew up. Here I was thinking it was the magic of television."

"What have I said about talking to me like I'm so much younger than you?" She said in a joking tone. "It's a matter of months."

"Yeah but you're a whole lot more innocent than me," he told her, directing them over to the bar. "Besides, someone had to be the baby and I was sick of it being me."

Tessa's eyes drifted to his hands as he pulled out his phone. She had a terrible habit of staring at people's phones when they were texting. Some shrugged it off as natural curiosity, others criticised her for being nosey.

Chuck opened up his messages and Tessa nearly snatched his phone from his hand when she saw Jimmy Jacobs being typed into the 'To:' bar.

"You can't tell Jimmy where I am," Tessa said desperately, reaching forward to snatch the phone from Chuck's hand.

"He's my friend, J," he reminded her, moving the phone out of her reach.

"You're my friend, too. I know that I messed up and then I left but please, Chuck. I'm just here to have a good time."

"Lying by omission is still lying. I have to tell him."

"I'll introduce you to Summer Rae," Tessa said quickly when he brought his phone back in front of him.

"What?" he asked, looking up from his phone. It was clear that he was interested.

"If you promise me that you won't tell Jimmy – I will introduce you to Summer Rae," she smiled at him. He hesitated before shaking his head.

"Bros before hoes."

Tessa wasn't fazed, calmly stating, "She's leggy, blonde and a WWE Diva. You can't have changed that much that the idea doesn't make you a little excited."

"It makes me a little excited, yeah."

"Jimmy never has to know, okay? Seriously, this is between you and me."

He still didn't look too convinced but he nodded nonetheless. Tessa had made no promises other than introducing him though he clearly had other ideas in mind.

Tessa took hold of Chuck's forearm and pulled him away from the bar and towards Summer. She was still sitting in the same spot where Tessa had left her though she was accompanied by Dolph Ziggler.

"Oh hey," Tessa smiled leaning in to hug him. "How long have you been here?"

"I just walked in; I haven't even gotten a drink yet."

Tessa nodded before shifting her weight and standing back to push Chuck slightly in front of her.

"Summer, Dolph this is my friend Chuck Taylor."

"Hi," Summer said with a large smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah man, it's great to meet you. The Best Friends stuff is great," Dolph said, shaking Chuck's hand.

"Thanks." Chuck pointed into a large group of people, "Trent's actually around here somewhere if you wanted to say hey."

Dolph nodded and said that he would find him on his way to get a drink and he convinced Tessa to go with him as he was leaving. She waved quickly at Summer and Chuck when Dolph started to guide her away.

"You're not a bad wing woman," Dolph commented when they stopped at the bar.

"Believe me," Tessa said with a slight shake of her head and a light laugh, "it wasn't at all my intention."

She ordered herself another drink, simple vodka lemonades, and spent the rest of the night shadowing Dolph. He introduced her to some new people and invited her into conversations whenever he got the chance though she was more than happy to just stand around and look like she had friends.

Each time she glanced back at Summer and Chuck they appeared to be getting closer and closer to each other. She couldn't help but groan. She had no problem in being Summer's wing woman, it had proven fun the few times she had done it, but doing the same for Chuck just made her feel dirty. He was great, she knew that he was a good guy, but she knew that it didn't take much for him to sleep with someone. A few of his sexual partners had been questionable – and it had been years since the last one she saw.

"Why aren't you having fun?" Dolph asked, drawing her attention away from her two friends. "You look way too dressed up to just be standing next to me. I don't hate it – I'm always happy to have a hot girl by me – but you sort of look like you do."

"I'm not too big a fan of casual sex," Tessa responded with a casual shrug. "I don't mean to ruin your chances. You can tell me to leave you alone; I promise I won't be offended."

Dolph shook his head and laughed, "You're keeping me out of trouble. I appreciate it."

Tessa was walking back to her hotel room alone. It was just after 2 – late by no one's standards – but she knew that she needed to be well rested for the playground building in the morning.

Jimmy, to her surprise, hadn't made any appearances. Despite the number of independent wrestlers in the bar he hadn't come looking for her. Perhaps no one cared enough to let him know that his estranged sister was there, perhaps he didn't actually care enough to hunt her down or perhaps he just didn't want to have their reunion be in the middle of a crowded bar. Whatever the reason, she had seen neither hide nor hair of Jimmy Jacobs.

As Tessa walked out of the elevator, her mood deflated. Colby was standing in front of the doors.

"Hey," she said softly, moving to walk past him.

"Hey," he said back. He stepped forwards into the elevator only to change his mind and step back out just before it closed. "Can we talk?"

"About what?" It was a genuine question, in no way cold or rude. "You know that we can't. I really need to focus on wrestling and being a good champion."

"It's not because of him?" Colby asked, noticing that she was walking them to her hotel room.

"No," she told him as earnestly as she could. "This is about me. It's about you deserving better. No one knows – Jon and Darcy excluded – and don't you think it'd be best for everyone if it stays that way?"

He nodded, agreeing that it was definitely better that way. Tessa smiled at him again, pushing her card into the slot and opening her door. As she stepped into the room she told him goodnight with a warm smile.

a/n Thanks to ajroleplays, deanambooty, Straight Edge Queen, Imagineer1392, naive melody, CarolReigns, nmoxracha, UntilNeverDawns, Guest and Livin on the EDGE for leaving reviews last chapter! :D