Chapter 10

Eve still couldn't believe she was still alive, especially after outing Kane the way she did to Rajani. She couldn't let the man get away with what he did to Beth though. She was their friend and, as terrified as Eve was of Kane, women of the WWE had to stick together, especially the Divas Mildly surprised at finding a distraught looking Rajani at the local Laundromat, Eve ventured over to her, carrying a bag of clothes herself.

"Hey."

Rajani looked up, finishing sorting her clothes. "Oh hey Eve." She couldn't even muster up a smile, hoping her lips weren't still swollen from the kiss with John. "Laundry for you too eh?"

"Yeah..." She began sorting her own clothes at the table right next to Rajani's, frowning. "Everything okay?"

"Far from it, but thanks for asking."

Eve was not normally a timid woman, but all this stuff happening with Kane had her on edge and acting more reticent than usual. She figured the only reason she was still alive was because Kane was just biding his time. What she was hoping was that he had bigger fish to fry and she was a little minnow who managed to escape his radar. That would be fantastic. She had been traveling with the other Divas for the most part and, the only reason she had come here by herself, was the fact that it was well populated. Public places were good. They were safe, at least that's what PSA's said.

"Um, is there anything I can do to help?" She offered softly.

"Besides killing a certain rapper wanna-be who claims he's a thug? No." Rajani shot back, staring down at the pair of white panties he pulled off of her clothes and gritted her teeth.

"Uh oh...Cena again?"

"Ding, ding, ding."

Eve chuckled softly. "What did he do to you now?" She asked, tossing a pair of jeans to the side. "Or do I even want to know?"

Rajani waved her off dismissively, having more important things on her mind. "Never mind, have you heard anything about Beth's condition?"

The smile fell from her face as Eve shook her head, both of them worried for their friend. "No, as far as I know she's still in that induced coma."

Rajani made a mental note to ask Stephanie about Beth. Silence reigned as they finished sorting their respective laundry and then put it in washing machines. Eve returned to her table and hoisted herself up on it, dangling her feet and kicking them back and forth almost nervously. She watched the machines going in circles, deep in her thoughts and decided to talk to Rajani about what she was thinking.

"There's a rumor going around..." She said slowly, glancing at Rajani before back to the machine, chewing on her lower lip nervously. "That Stephanie's body didn't shut down on her, but...that someone, well…knocked her out or something." That speculation had started after people had begun coming up knocked out.

The only problem was, there was no sign of injury to Stephanie.

"That rumor is null and void, I spoke with Stephanie in person yesterday. I was going to quit after everything that happened and she paid me a visit, convinced me to stay." Rajani explained, not surprised that the rumor mill had already started regarding what exactly happened to Stephanie. "She didn't have one mark on her that I could see unless she hid it really well, which I doubt. She was under too much stress and pressure, which forced her body to completely shut down and, after those events, I don't see how she's back so soon."

She was also very thankful to her boss and friend for returning quickly because Rajani wasn't sure if she could handle another night in charge. Eve didn't mention the second part of the speculation. Gossip was continuous in the WWE; they could literally do a gossip magazine a week based on some of the stuff that tended to go around. She supposed it was a normal part of any workplace, just amped to the max for them. When the fact that there had been no obvious sign of injury to Stephanie, there had been a few meekly voiced suggestions about chemicals, or things like ether. That had made everyone automatically think of the Taker, who had been quite notorious for that sort of thing back in the day. Shoving it out of mind, she idled towards the vending machines, her throat suddenly parched.

"You look troubled." Rajani pointed out, following Eve with concerned eyes. "What's on your mind? Is there something else?"

"No, just thirsty is all." Eve lied, trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice and decided on some water. "I'm fine Raja, really."

Of course Rajani could read between the lines and knew Eve was anything but, however she wasn't going to push her for answers. It wouldn't be fair to do so, but Rajani would end up doing her own investigating to find out what else had gone around the company. Whatever it was had Eve standing on edge, which wasn't normal for the woman. Nothing had ever shaken Eve like this. This storyline had transcended past 'script' and right into reality, and her worst nightmares. Every horrible rumor about messed up things in the WWE, or the Attitude Era, seemed to come rushing back to her. A lot of things were being repeated now as everyone speculated on what might come next.

Of course, John wasn't as sick in the head as Kane was, which was a small relief, but the fact of the matter was John wasn't acting like John either. She flashed Rajani what she hoped was a reassuring 'I'm fine' smile before collecting her bottle of water and skirting around the other woman, heading back to the table. For the first time ever, Eve was not looking forward to returning to work. Once laundry was finished, Rajani parted ways with Eve and headed back to the hotel, hoping she had no more run-ins with John. She still could not believe she kissed John...big brother would have a FIELD day if he ever found out! Rajani groaned, knowing she had royally screwed herself and had no idea how she was going to fix this.

She had a feeling she would never be rid of John now, not after that explosive moment between them. Surely he knew she felt something from it just from the way they kissed alone. Trudging into the hotel with her basket of clean clothes, Rajani suddenly felt sick and wasn't sure if staying on as Stephanie's intern was a good idea. When Rajani finally made it up to her room, there were roses in all shades scattered about the room. Vases covered every available surface, loose stems on the bed and chair. In her bathroom, the sink and bathtub had been filled to literally overflowing with petals. There was no card, no note, nothing to indicate who had sent them.

"Oh my..."

The smell of roses permeated the air as Rajani stared from the doorway in shock, the basket of clothes slipping from her grasp. It looked like a giant rainbow of roses exploded in her room! Rajani slowly made her way further into the room, looking around wearily while the door closed gently behind her.

"Who could've done this?" She wondered aloud, wrapping her arms around herself and briefly wondered if this was John's doing.

He was the only one who had pursued her relentlessly for the past six months, but was he slick enough to pull something like this off? Whoever had done it had probably cost a small fortune and a hefty tip to get the staff to do this, not to mention the price of silence. But there were also other ways to obtain someone's silence. The rainbow effect gave no indication of who had done this. No specific colors stood out, though all the roses were thornless. Eventually, Rajani would find out who had sent them, but...not tonight.

Roses weren't Rajani's ultimate favorite flower, but they definitely gave off an incredible scent. She slowly ran her fingers over the rose petals on the bed before jumping down on it. A few of them fluttered in the air before slowly coming down again on top of her. If Rajani was in a relationship with someone, this would definitely be the most romantic gesture she'd ever experienced. But she wasn't in a relationship and that's what unnerved her about this entire situation. Laundry had drained her and, pretty soon, Rajani fell asleep on the rose petals. The aroma was intoxicating, inviting and relaxing all wrapped up in one marvelous feeling.

Stephanie didn't know whether to question the fact that Kane was voluntarily agreeing to stop his real life feud with John or just be happy for it. Of course, she didn't trust him, but...at the same time, there was that small chance he was serious. If she didn't take it, she might regret it.

"No tricks?" Stephanie demanded, staring up at him out of narrowed blue eyes.

"No tricks." Kane promised in a gruff voice.

Letting out a shaky breath, Stephanie just nodded.

A few nights later, refreshed and no longer had sleep deprivation, Rajani walked into the arena with a smile...and with a new haircut. It wasn't that massive of a change, but something Rajani desperately needed done. Her hair now went to the middle of her back, still long, but not impossible to maintain anymore and she could keep it down without it looking crazy. The lady put a few layers into it for style as well; it looked incredibly healthy and soft to the touch. She also had her bangs angled, loving that look and knew Stephanie was going to freak out when she saw it. Rajani wore a simple black skirt that went to her knees along with a soft pink, almost white, halter top that went around her neck and left her back bare along with her arms. 2 inch black open toed heels were on her feet, knowing her boots wouldn't look good with the outfit, as Rajani walked down the hallway, waving to a few people on her way to Stephanie's office.

"I am so glad you're back, I didn't realize fetching coffee and editing scripts was such a pain in the ass." Alex greeted her, emerging from the cafeteria, carrying a...cup of coffee. He was capable of the job, obviously, but Stephanie did drink a shitload of java. "Is it healthy for her to live on this stuff?" He was personally a green tea sort of guy.

All the energy without any of the ulcers.

Rajani laughed softly and leaned over to kiss Alex's cheek, taking the coffee he handed her. "Believe me; I've tried telling her that since I started here and all she told me was caffeine is the only thing keeping her sane."

Alex touched his cheek, eyes widened slightly. "What was that for?"

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have made it out alive the night I was in charge. You really helped me out and I appreciate it. " Rajani took a sip of the coffee. "And I promise, I won't give you meaningless jobs to do. Not that Stephanie gives them to me, but I know how some people are with assistants."

"Oh yeah, I'm YOUR gopher now." Alex joked, pushing his hair out of his eyes. His hair was brown and he wore the front a bit long, cheeks tinged pink. "Stephanie said the assistant needed assistance. And I'm glad I could help you out, that was just a bad night all around. I can't imagine someone dealing with it alone." Especially someone who had never even ran the show on a normal night, Alex looked at her and blinked. "Did you do something to your hair?"

Beaming, Rajani nodded as she ran a hand through it, loving the feel of it because it no longer felt like she was carrying dead weight on her head. "Yeah, I had it cut while I was...recuperating. I had a lot of dead-ends and got a few layers put into it. My hair stylist wanted to streak it, but I refuse to ruin my hair with dye." Rajani had always kept her hair its natural color and would never change it, not seeing the point in doing so. "Do you like it?"

Sometimes Rajani wondered if Alex was gay or straight. She could never tell because he had both mannerisms, enjoying style and fashion too. Alex was aware that some people were confused over his sexual preference, which he never disclosed because he didn't think his love or personal life had any business being in the workplace. He dressed well, loved fashion and usually kept his own hair styled in ways that wasn't considered typical male.

"Yeah, I like it." Alex said honestly, tapping his chin. "You know, if you wanted to change the color without dying it, you could just do some colored extensions. They have the clip-in kinds that'll blend right in." He suggested helpfully.

"Why are we talking about hair clips?"

"Because Alex was asking me about my new haircut." Rajani answered, turning to face Stephanie and smiled when the woman embraced her. She laughed when Stephanie said it was great having her back and a lot had to get done. "Good to be back and, as for the extensions, I'll think about it. Never really thought about my hair being different colors cause I've always been attached to it."

"I love what you did to it. I was starting to wonder when you were going to have it cut because you kept complaining of headaches whenever you pulled it up."

"Yeah, not anymore."

Rajani grinned, walking with the boss and listened as Stephanie filled her in for the night's events. It was once again Monday night Raw, Rajani had exactly five days off due to Stephanie's orders. Alex followed behind the women, carrying a clipboard and jotting down notes when Stephanie began giving Rajani a list of what needed to be done. He was taking notes on the notes, considering them reminders, just in case she forgot or something, which she wouldn't.

"Um Steph?"

"Yes?

"Here comes Cena."

Stephanie looked down the hallway, arching an eyebrow when she spotted him. "Good, I have something to tell him anyway."

Oh great, Rajani thought, as soon as they spotted John, really not wanting to see him, even after 4 days of no contact.

It was very strange...and somewhat nice. Rajani decided pretending the kiss never happened was her best option, hoping John didn't push the issue. She hadn't seen him in the past days so she safely assumed the hotel room full of roses hadn't come from him. He would've followed that up with something, she was almost sure of it. As soon as they were face to face with John, Rajani kept silence, not even greeting him while Stephanie took care of business. John listened as Stephanie informed him that Kane had come to her offering to end the feud they had going, the real life aspect of it at any rate. There was no way they were going to call off the WrestleMania storyline, not this close to the event, that he had set up a year prior with Dwayne The Rock Johnson.