Chapter 24

The next few days seemed to fly by as Amber continued to train under Bret's tutelage. Each day that passed resulted in her confidence growing with regard to her in-ring skills. With the codebreaker and the additions of the Boston crab for her submission hold and a flying clothesline and flying spinning heel kick for flash factor she knew she could now put on a great show.

She'd had two sessions with Doctor Moreno, had started taken her medicine and had spent the change of the new year lost in the throes of passion with Seth buried deep inside her body. Just when she'd finally begun to think that her life was turning around, they'd returned to work.

She sat inside Dean's locker room, dressed to valet him to the ring and suddenly feeling as if nothing had change. Why had she deluded herself into believing that they could alter management's opinion of her? If they ever allowed her to get back into the ring all she'd ever be was a jobber.

Knowing the other option was for them to release her, she hoped to job for others. At least that way she could stay on the road with Seth for awhile. Maybe they could eventually buy a house near Lexi and Roman. That way when Alea reached school age and Lexi quit to stay home, Amber could quit too. They could finally have a baby and with Lexi's friendship she wouldn't be quite so lonely without Seth.

Lost in her thoughts she barely noticed the others slip into the room until Seth crouched in front of her. "Baby?"

She blinked at him as fantasy slowly faded back into reality. "Hey."

He grinned. "Hey yourself. What were you thinking just now?"

She frowned. "Why?"

"Because you looked really sad." He stroked a hand through her hair. "I don't want you sad, so whatever you were thinking I want to know so we can fix it."

Slowly her frown faded into a soft smile. "I was just thinking about work and my future with the company."

"A future that's about to get a whole light brighter," Lexi said.

Amber jerked her attention from Seth to Lexi. "What do you mean by that?"

"She mean," Roman proceeded to clarify, "that she went to Stephanie and demanded a storyline with you."

Amber's eyes widened. "And they gave it to you?"

Lexi eased down onto the bench next to her. "Once I explained the logic in them giving us a dueling storyline they were all over it." She smirked. "Honestly, it should have been a no brainer from the start, but hey-" She shrugged. "'We have it now and that's what counts."

"So what's involved?" Amber asked as her excitement began to grow.

"Creative is working on the storyline even as I tell you this, but basically we're going to verbally jab at each other for a couple of weeks. Then we're going to start messing with each other's matches with the payoff being a singles match at Royal Rumble."

Shock coursed through Amber and she shot off the bench like a rocket. "Oh. My. God." She cut her attention from Lexi to Seth, then to Dean, and Roman and back. "I'm going to participate in a pay per view?"

Lexi giggle. "You are. Management doesn't want me taking a loss on a pay per view, but a loss to you would hurt your momentum. So they're working on an angle for a disqualification. They seem to think that they could draw this storyline out for at least two pay per views."

Amber covered her mouth with her hands and gasped. "I can't believe this. Lexi-" she squealed then went to her friend and wrapped Lexi in a hug. "You did exactly what you said you were going to do. You got me my shot."

Lexi hugged her back. "And now you're going to capitalize on it."

What do you have to say about Lexi Hart's allegations that you're in over your head and that you can't back up the tough talk?

Only this Josh...Lexi Hart has no clue how I have or haven't developed as a wrestler while she was gone. Personally, I'm not sure why she bothered to come back at all. After all, being gone for over a year, I'm sure her ring rust has ring rust. At this point she'd be best served to stay home bake cookies and take care of her daughter, because there's a new star shining in the diva's division and it's burning bright.

Amber finished watching the clip that would air on Smackdown, then donned her old Shield hoodie and pulled the hood down to hide her face. She glanced around, looking for any fans or press that might see her, then crossed through the secured area and entered Lexi and Roman's RV. She stepped inside and lowered her hood. "I really hate this sneaking around sh...crap," she said as she spotted Alea playing on the floor.

Lexi laughed. "Nice save and I know and I'm sorry you have to, but I promise it will definitely be worth it. That promo you cut for Smackdown on Friday was great."

"You saw it?" Amber asked as she eased on to the couch.

Lexi nodded. "My ring rust has ring rust." She laughed. "I liked it."

Amber returned her smile. "Are you sure? You know, It feels really wrong to be fighting with you, even fictionally."

Lexi scooped up Alea, settled into a chair and gave the baby her bottle. "I know you feel weird about this, but just remember, this is a storyline. It's not real and as long as we keep the lines of communication open everything will be great."

Amber sighed as she watched Alea squirm in Lexi's arms. "Yeah...I get that, but honestly, I'm finding myself a bit conflicted."

"About?"

"All of this." Amber motioned to the RV then out the window to the arena. "A few weeks ago I thought my life was over if I couldn't be a WWE superstar. After being away for two weeks and Seth proposing and then going into therapy...this just doesn't seem as important anymore."

Lexi arched a brow. "You don't want to be a superstar?"

Amber shook her head. "No I do, but it's just not the entire focus of my life anymore." She glanced down at her engagement ring then over to Alea. "I'm just realizing that I want more than just the stardom."

"What is it you want exactly?" Lexi asked.

Amber thought about Seth, their engagement and the fantasies she'd been having about their future together. It was funny, she mused, how a person's priorities could change within just a short amount of time. She'd always viewed wrestling as her way to escape the horrible life she'd had, but her life was already better than she'd ever imagined could be and it was all because of Seth. "I want the fame, the money, the husband and the baby. I want what you have only with Seth." She grinned now as she leaned back and spread her arms over the back of the couch. "I want it all."