December flew by quickly, with Roadblock being the last pay-per-view of the year. Sasha's match against Charlotte had main evented yet again, as the entire locker room watched backstage and felt the jitters. It was always exciting to watch the two women in the ring—they knew each other so well, sold spots and contorted their bodies frightfully, and catapulted their division on a level they never thought possible. When Ric Flair came out and caused Sasha the match, Seth took that as a cue and stood from catering, where he watched with Roman, Cesaro and Kevin. "Where are you going?" Roman asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Where do you think?" Kevin smirked, as Seth rolled his eyes and kept walking, deliberately ignoring Roman's question.
He waited for her behind the curtains as she walked through them moments later—hair tousled, mascara running, lipstick smudged, and eyes a little droopy from exhaustion. Once in a while, she opened and closed her fist and he could tell something was wrong.
"Hey," he smiled, placing an arm around her shoulders. "You were great."
"Thanks," she tried to smile back but winced as she tilted her head to the side and cracked her neck.
"How's your hand?" he took it gently and checked for bruises. "I saw you take that nasty bump on the announcer's table."
"I just need to ice it down," she said, letting him lead her to the clinic.
Sitting on the clinic bed, Seth grabbed an ice pack and took Sasha's hand again, placing her hand on top before wrapping a towel around it. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she shrugged like it was nothing. "Charlotte will probably hold on to it for a while—then Bayley will come for it, and the three of us might have something for Mania."
"Think Charlotte will kill me if I tried to steal that thing?" he grinned, causing Sasha to laugh and smack him with her uninjured hand.
"Don't you dare, Rollins."
He chuckled. "I'm kidding," he said, adjusting the towel. "So, are you going home for the holidays?"
"Yeah, I'm actually leaving right after RAW tomorrow."
"Wait, you're skipping the company party?"
"Oh. Well, yeah. Was thinking of being a no-show this year."
"You can't do that."
"Of course I can."
"But you're the face of RAW."
"I already told Hunter—he said it was okay."
"Come on," Seth pouted, making her laugh. "Don't skip it."
"Why not?" she laughed again. "I don't think I'll be missing out on anything."
"Banks, stop it. You're going to the Christmas party. End of discussion."
She made a face and groaned. "Ugh, you're making me rebook my flight, buy a stupid dress, and find a ride to Detroit from Columbus."
"I'll pay for your rebooking fee, buy you a nice, stupid dress, and I'll be your ride from Columbus to Detroit—how about that?"
Sasha chuckled. "Why do you want me to come to this thing so bad?"
"Because," he shrugged. "It'll be boring without you."
"You mean you'll get bored because you'll have no one to make fun of."
"Actually, I was thinking we could people-watch and judge silently—together."
"Fine. I'll go," she sighed.
"That's the spirit," Seth grinned.
…
The company Christmas party took place on Wednesday that week, in the ballroom of The Westin Detroit Metropolitan Hotel. Sasha, Charlotte, Becky and Bayley helped each other get ready in Charlotte's suite—borrowing each other's makeup and taking turns either curling or ironing each other's hair. "Glad Rollins convinced you to go," Charlotte started, looking into the mirror to wear her earrings.
"Free flight, free dress, free ride—how could I refuse?" Sasha shrugged.
"Speakin' o' Rollins, you two seem pretty chummy these days," Becky smirked, spritzing perfume on her wrists and rubbing them together.
"He cut back on the teasing," she answered. "And he's been, uh, more tolerable since that night in Mexico."
Charlotte and Bayley made eye contact as Becky looked on curiously. "What night in Mexico?"
"I, uh, met a really cute guy who worked in pharmaceutical and he sort of spiked my drink," Sasha admitted shamefacedly. "Seth came in just in time to scare him off."
"Woah," Becky looked at Charlotte. "How did I not know this?"
Charlotte smirked at Sasha. "You know I was just about ready to scream my head at you the next day? Rollins walked up to me and requested not to bring up anything anymore—said it was the last thing you needed."
"That's sweet of him," Becky commented.
"He pretty much went up to everyone," Bayley snickered. "Told them to never ever mention it again."
"What's that spell in Harry Potter?" Charlotte asked.
"Obliviate!" Sasha giggled.
"Well then, he tried to obliviate everybody," Charlotte finished with a laugh.
"So what is going on?" Becky pressed, watching as Sasha removed the tag from the dress she ordered online and used Seth's credit card to pay. It was a teal, square-cut, neoprene dress that reached the floor—the back dipping low to reveal a bit of skin.
"Uh, nothing?"
"Do you want it to be something?" Bayley asked.
"Uh, no, Bay. That's you. Don't think I don't notice you trying to set me up with him."
Bayley laughed. "I'm not. I just think it's incredibly sweet—how he is with you."
"Seth and sweet don't go in the same sentence, dude." Sasha told her.
"You know that night after the incident? Why'd you think he ended up sleeping beside you?"
"Woah, wait. This is why I sometimes 'ate bein' on Smackdown," Becky interrupted. "I am never on the loop with these things!"
Charlotte laughed. "I almost forgot Rollins was in the room that night. So he slept on Sasha's bed the entire time?"
"Yeah, you should have seen the look on his face," Bayley told them. "He was scared shitless."
"Awww," Becky and Charlotte gushed together. "Sash, I think he genuinely might be into you," Charlotte grinned.
"Guys, stop. Just stop, okay?" Sasha shook her head. "We all know he can be a bit of a flirt."
"Dude, forcing you to come to the Christmas party and then going through all the trouble of rebooking your flight and buying you a dress? That's not flirting," Bayley pointed out.
"Can we just drop the topic, please," Sasha begged. As much as she wanted him to be into her, she would never admit it. It was easier to think that whatever Seth felt was platonic—that way, she'd never have to feel disappointed.
"Fine, dropping it now before you get all defensive," Bayley said, as Sasha scoffed.
They finished getting ready an hour later—glammed up and all set for a night of dinner, drinks and dancing with co-workers from within the ring, backstage, the Performance Center, and in their headquarters. Sasha had to admit—she was glad Seth convinced her to go, as this was the first time all Four Horsewomen were part of the main roster and not NXT.
They settled themselves in a table with Renee and Dean, Natalya and her boyfriend, R-Truth, and Goldust. Craning her neck, Sasha scanned the room, only to find Seth in a corner talking to Charly Caruso. She pursed her lips, but ignored the strange, tightening feeling in her chest.
"Champagne, Miss Banks?" a server approached their table and offered, as Sasha got a flute for herself.
"Thank you," she smiled politely at him, before taking a sip.
Sasha's eyes found their way back to Seth and Charly, who were both laughing and seemed to be in deep conversation. If there was anything happening between them, she wouldn't be surprised—Charly was a beautiful girl. But the idea of them together didn't sit well with her at all, even though she tried to convince herself otherwise.
After dinner and two more flutes of champagne, the four ladies made their way over to the dance floor. Sasha laughed as Bayley twirled her around a few times, before doing the same to her best friend. They took turns dancing with one another, before being joined by New Day.
"Hey," Sasha felt a warm breath in her ear, as she turned to find Seth smiling. He looked incredibly handsome in his all-black suit—she had to fight the blush that was creeping up.
"Hi," she smiled up at him.
"Can I steal you?" he grinned, placing a hand on the small of her back and leading her away from the dance floor.
They walked over towards the bar, as Seth ordered her a mojito and a glass of scotch for himself. "Where's your date?" Sasha asked him.
"What?" he laughed. "What date? I don't have one. What are you talking about?"
She shrugged and took a sip of her mojito instead. "Oh, I see," Seth smirked. "You're jealous I was talking to Charly—is that it?"
"What?" Sasha scoffed. "Of course not."
"Admit it, Banks."
"I was not jealous, Seth. You two just seemed real chummy, that's all."
"Meh, Charly's a beautiful girl but not exactly someone I would go for."
"Alright," she answered, taking another swig of her drink.
Seth eyed her up and down, the smirk coming back. "That the dress I bought you?"
Sasha grinned. "Yup. You were very generous."
"What's a few hundred dollars, if it'll make you look this enchanting?"
"Smooth," Sasha rolled her eyes, though she could feel the heat rising up her cheeks.
"I got you something, by the way," he spoke, hands in his pockets. "I mean, it's not with me right now. But it's something to feed your nerdy obsession."
"You got me something?" Sasha repeated. "Like a Christmas gift?"
"Yeah, I guess you could call it that," Seth shrugged.
"Oh," Sasha was genuinely surprised. "Thank you."
"Consider it the ultimate peace offering."
She smiled and pushed him lightly, earning a chuckle from Seth.
…
Sasha stifled a yawn, trying to keep herself awake as she half-dragged, half-rolled her suitcase to her apartment in Boston. It was almost 3 in the morning, and after trying to get out of the Christmas party (it took four attempts before her friends finally let her go), Seth had offered to drive her to the airport where she caught the next flight home.
"Good morning, Miss Banks," the security guard at the lobby greeted her. "You have a package waiting for you at the reception."
"I do?"
She walked over and the receptionist greeted her, before taking out a large box wrapped in green paper with a gold ribbon on top. There was no other label on the box, except for a white tag that had the words, "Merry Christmas, Nerd," written on it.
With a grin, she thanked the receptionist and headed up to her apartment in a hurry. Opening the gift on her dining table, the box burst with loads and loads of Sailor Moon merch—some of them were even limited edition or collector's items. There was the entire Sailor Moon Crystal Set in Blu-ray, solid replicas of the Cosmic Heart Compact, Rainbow Moon Chalice and Spiral Heart Moon Rod, a Crystal Star Jewelry Case, and a jewelry set of the Space-time Key, made with white gold and rubies. There was a necklace, a pair of earrings, a ring, and a bangle—that set alone must have been over $500.
"Oh my god," Sasha exclaimed, seeing all the items. Quickly fishing her phone out of her purse, she dialed for Seth. She wasn't going to wait until later to thank him.
"Hello?" his voice was groggy.
"Did you buy the entire merchandise collection at sailormooncollectibles?" Sasha laughed, still in disbelief at the amount of Sailor Moon stuff laid out on the dining table. "Dude, I know how much these cost. These must have been a fortune."
"Psh," Seth rubbed his eyes awake, the smirk on his face evident. "It wasn't that expensive."
"You are overcompensating," Sasha laughed, touching the pendant of the white gold necklace.
"I thought it might be fun to spoil you for once," he chuckled.
"Thank you," she smiled coyly. "This is really sweet of you."
"You're welcome, Banks. Glad you got home safe."
"Sorry for waking you. I'll let you get back to your beauty sleep."
"I know. You ruined a perfectly good dream. You couldn't even wait until it was a normal, godly hour to call."
"What can I say? I miss you already," she teased.
"You do?" he raised an eyebrow.
"No, Seth. I was kidding. Goodnight."
"You wound me, Banks."
"Quit the dramatics. I'll see you at RAW next week. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas, Sash," Seth smiled genuinely. "I miss you already."
Sasha ended the call, unsure if she was going to roll her eyes or blush. Seth had that effect on her. Were Bayley, Charlotte and Becky right? Could Seth really be this into her?