Chapter 8
10 minutes later, Rajani walked out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of Hello Kitty fleece pajama pants with a matching tank top. It was black with the white kitty embroidered on the front. Her hair was pulled back in a low tail, teeth brushed...she felt refreshed.
"Sorry about that, you caught me at an awkward time." Rajani set the bag down and padded over to where Taker sat, taking a seat on the bed since he took the only other chair in the room, sitting Indian style. "So, what did you want to talk about, Taker?"
She knew better than to call him anything else. This man did NOT condone being called Mr. Calaway or Mark. She found that out the hard way her first night on the job with the WWE. She had gone from unintentionally sexy to...little girl and it was still somewhat...sexy, so Taker decided he was going to schedule himself a cat-scan in the morning. Clearing his throat, Taker leaned back in the chair, folding his hands behind his head as he surveyed her, muscles flexing with every movement.
"Stephanie wanted to make sure I wasn't pissed off at you for screaming at me..." His eyes narrowed, having distinctly heard her snickering over the damn phone. "And then wanted me to reassure you personally since you apparently seemed worried..."
"Yes well..." Rajani cleared her throat and leaned over to pull something out of the dresser drawer by her bed, a bottle of lotion. She had really dry skin after getting out of the shower. "Like I said, it was unprofessional and I've never...snapped like that." She poured some in her hands and began running it up her arm, trying to avoid contact with this man at all costs. "I'm not worried anymore though, now that you've accepted my apology. We can move on and pretend it never happened." That's what she hoped for anyway. "And I wasn't just screaming at you, Cena was just as much to blame as you were for my outburst." The only difference between Taker and John was that Rajani wasn't apologizing to John, only Taker, because she respected the man a hell of a lot more.
"You have never, from my understandin', been in that position before, so..." Taker shrugged his massive shoulders, watching her applying the lotion with an arched eyebrow. "And technically, I didn't accept your apology." He informed her, unable to resist himself, an impish smile spreading across his sensual lips. "I'm just here to reassure you and Steph that I'm not mad. Amused, though. Every time I look at you, I'll probably see you standin' there screaming 'for the love of fucking god'."
Rajani felt her cheeks burning a deep crimson red and it was noticeable even through her tanned skin. She definitely couldn't look him in the eye now and the fact he hadn't accepted her apology unnerved her to say the least. She wasn't going to let him know that it bothered her though, finishing with the lotion.
"I'm glad you find my humiliation so amusing, Taker." Her voice dripped with sarcasm as Rajani rolled the tray of food over next, not caring if she had company or not. She was starving, eyes widening when she lifted the lids to see what Stephanie had ordered her. "Holy cow!"
Holy cow was right, and holy chicken, and holy seafood. This woman must've had one hell of an appetite because this was more food then even HE ordered when he was starving. It looked like Rajani had the entire menu right there on the trolley, his green eyes moved down to the second tray at the bottom and arched an eyebrow.
"How the hell do you stay thin?"
"I didn't order this. I could never eat...You actually thought I could eat all of this?" Rajani couldn't help laughing at the bewildered look on Taker's face, raising an eyebrow of her own. "This is Stephanie overreacting and making sure I'm eating and taking care of myself." She took a plate off the trolley and extended it to him with a soft smile. "I could never eat all of this by myself and you look like you have quite the appetite. Mind helping me polish most of this off?"
Maybe he would accept her apology if she fed him well. Taker considered it, finally shrugging and took the plate, gesturing for her to take what she wanted first. He wasn't a total jerk after all; he could occasionally be a gentleman.
"Stephanie reminds me of Linda, overreacting and motherin'...with a hefty dash of Vince thrown in for good measure." It was like an angel and Satan had had sex and Stephanie was the outcome.
"She means well and I'm definitely not complaining."
How could she? The woman had ordered her mostly seafood with a huge steak, lobster and shrimp with some oysters. Living in Miami, Rajani had a love of seafood because that's what her parents mostly ate throughout her childhood. Rajani finished piling her plate and then pushed the trolley over to where Taker sat, which wasn't far away, letting him have whatever he wanted.
"I also think she's trying to put me in food comatose, so I'm forced to get a good night's sleep."
"This is definitely a great way to go about doin' that." Taker conceded, now fixing his own plate.
Having noted that she seemed to really have a thing for seafood, which worked out great for him because Taker was a steak and chicken kind of guy. Leaning back, he rested the plate on his knee and took stock of her. Noting that while she looked a little rejuvenated, Rajani still had circles under her eyes and looked tired, not surprising.
"You quittin' or takin' a few days off to recover?"
"I was going to quit and actually sent my resignation in." There was no reason to keep it a secret from the man, it was a legitimate question. "But Stephanie convinced me to stay on until after WrestleMania. I was shocked, I thought she would've been thrilled to be rid of me since I let her down last night..." No matter what Stephanie or anyone said, that's how Rajani felt and nothing would change it. "Anyway, I'm staying on until after WrestleMania and then I'll make a decision if I want to stay or not."
Taker snorted, swallowing the bite he had taken before saying anything. "Last night could have happened to anybody and there wouldn't have been anyone who could have prevented it, except maybe Vince, emphasis on maybe. Definitely not Stephanie. You coulda had one or both of them thrown out of the building and they still would've found a way back in, darlin'. It's not your fault."
"Thanks, that's what Stephanie said." Rajani smiled, tilting her head slightly while eating a piece of lobster, chewing thoughtfully. "You know," She paused briefly, swallowing first before speaking, not having bad manners. "You're not as bad as people make you out to be." Rajani was always one to speak her mind, she got that from her big brother and sometimes it came back to bite her in the ass. Rajani hoped this wasn't one of the cases. "Is the chicken good?"
"It's delicious, darlin'." Taker replied, hiding the amusement that coursed through him at her 'not as bad' comment. She obviously didn't know him very well, which was probably a good thing or she would have rang for security by now. "I'm as bad as I need to be." He said after a moment. "Usually when the boys get a little too...rowdy or their egos inflate past the point it should be, then I sometimes step in. Not very popular during those times."
"You do what's best and right for business though and that's what matters. You don't let your own ego run away with you like a lot of others do."
John suddenly popped into Rajani's mind and she stabbed a piece of shrimp with her fork. Dark eyes flashed momentarily before Rajani pushed him in the far recesses of her mind. Even when she was trying to relax and enjoy a meal, John intervened and it annoyed her to say the least.
"I'm glad you're enjoying the meal, I really didn't want all of this food going to waste."
Taker had a feeling some of it was going to go to waste because neither of them would be able to eat all of this. They hadn't even made it to the halfway mark. Stephanie had really pulled overkill on this food thing.
"You looked annoyed for a minute there, somethin' on your mind?" He asked, totally ignoring the ego thing.
Taker didn't have to worry about his ego. He knew his worth and the weight he carried, it was simply a fact. That and he didn't need to stir up the pot with that ego crap. He preferred his more subtle, sneaky ways of handling things.
"Nothing worth discussing."
There was no way Rajani could tell Taker about her annoyance with John. She had to keep everything about John a secret, or as much as possible. Everyone knew that John had been harassing Rajani ever since she came into the company six months ago and it didn't take long to spread like wildfire of their encounters. There were other encounters though that nobody knew about, ones that she didn't want to think about, because she knew that train of thought would only lead her to trouble.
"Can I ask you something, Taker?" When he just stared at her, Rajani knew that was stupid to ask, but she was hesitant about asking this. "Is umm...Kane alright? He was bleeding pretty badly from Cena's attack last night and I just...I wanted to make sure he got it taken care of..."
One black eyebrow slowly raised at that. "Is he alright?" He echoed, pretty sure no one who didn't have an interest in Kane financially had asked that one recently. About his physical health at any rate, everyone was always asking what the hell had happened mentally. "He's fine, got stitched up and took off a few days; he's at his place in Tennessee, I think." Double emphasis on think, because Kane had made an insinuation he might hang around for an odd reason or two.
"Oh good." Rajani breathed a sigh of relief as far as Kane getting himself stitched up went, not meaning to ask about how he was mentally. She didn't want to know what he was thinking because the man was scary enough with his recent attacks on everyone. "Tennessee is a beautiful state, Nashville especially. Home of country music and all that."
Taker snorted at that, preferring classic rock over country, and his opinion of Tennessee wasn't that high either. Then again, a lot of places didn't compare to his home state of Texas. "Texas is better." He grunted, smiling slightly. "Where is it you're from? I'm sure Steph probably mentioned it, but..." He tapped the side of his head with his knuckles. "Old age."
"Miami, Florida." There was no harm in telling him where she lived because a lot of people, Superstars included, lived there. "Not a big fan of it, but I guess I can't complain either considering it's constantly warm." Rajani pushed her plate away, which was only halfway eaten and leaned back against the headboard, needing a breather. She felt more stuffed than a Thanksgiving turkey. "And Texas is a beautiful state, though it's a little too dry for my liking."
"And Florida is a bit too humid for mine." Taker shot back playfully, also storing the Miami fact away for a later time.
He had a side business involving real estate. Not to mention Taker also had a few part-time residences in Florida and had been browsing new properties, looking to expand said business. He couldn't wrestle forever; he needed something to fall back on, sort of.
"Finally full?" Taker had emptied his plate awhile ago, but wasn't in the mood to give the still rather full trolley another tackle.
"That's probably the only thing I don't like about it is the humidity. I know Texas is just plain dry, don't like that either. Someday, I'm hoping to move to one of the Carolinas."
Rajani didn't bother answering his question about being full because just the look on her face told him she was. She also looked more tired, it was the food induced comatose setting in. Stephanie was an evil genius, sneaky too.
"Feel free to eat more if you want, there's no way I can eat another bite."
Rajani hadn't even bothered looking at the dessert, deciding to save whatever Taker didn't eat for later...if she could. Shaking his head, Taker stood up and set the now empty plate down on a clear space of the trolley. Not that there was much in the way of free space. Rajani was going to fall asleep with him right there if he didn't get the hell out. This woman was ready for some serious sleeping.
"No, but thanks. I should probably be leavin', you look ready to pass out and sleep for 7 years or more." Food induced coma, he had experienced a few of those and Stephanie was a devious woman. "Thank you for the meal."
"Thanks for keeping me company and helping me at least put a dent into it." Rajani smiled weakly up at him and slipped under the comforter, not even caring if he was standing in the room still. Rajani's body was shutting down quickly, her eyes drooping. "Good night, Taker." She whispered, rolling over on her side curling up a little and closed her eyes.
Her black hair was still damp and pooled around her, the pillow covered with it. Stephanie's plan had worked like a charm. Rajani was out for the count before Taker could turn the light off for her and leave. Taker took the trolley with him when he went; knowing the chances of Rajani waking up in time to start eating more of this stuff before it began going bad was rather slim. He headed down the hallway towards his own room, knowing he had a lot of new interesting information to sort through and decide just what he was going to do with it.
There were so many options and all of them promised to be entertaining.