Chapter 34: The Ring
The next day April and Punk spent most of the day preparing for their wedding. Ordering a huge heated tent for the roof, looking at wedding bands and picking out invitations. Punk had no idea so much effort had to be put into an 'at home' wedding. He also was informed he had to go look at tuxes the following week. They decided on a date too obviously and they opted for the week after Wrestlemania. He was hoping Vince wouldn't give them too hard of a time getting a few shows off so he could whisk her away on a honeymoon. The honeymoon was something he was planning all on his own everything else was all April. Punk was happy to be home by eight so he could watch the Blackhawks game. He was looking forward to spending the night on his couch curled up with April but she had other plans. As soon as he got home and crashed on the couch he noticed she hadn't removed her jacket yet.
"We have somewhere else to go?" Punk practically whined "The game is going to start"
"No I have somewhere else to go you can sit on the couch and watch the game" April said to him
"Where are you going?" Punk asked arching a brow at her
"I have a fitting for my wedding dress" April informed him
"At eight at night?" Punk asked disbelievingly
"Yes" April said to him "The owner is well aware of my busy schedule and is seeing me this late as a courtesy"
"So you already picked out a dress?" Punk asked
"Yes I picked one at a few weeks ago" April said to him
"Oh" Punk said casually "You didn't mention that"
"You can't know anything about my dress" April reminded him
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Punk offered
"No" April mocked "What did I just say?"
"I wont look or anything" he promised "But I could at least drop you off and pick you up"
"Nope I'm a big girl" April smirked kissing his cheek, as he remained seated on the couch
"Alright be careful" Punk said to her as he watched her walk towards the door.
The game wasn't on for more than half an hour when he heard the doorbell. Punk groaned before reluctantly getting out of his spot on the couch and walking to the door but keeping his eyes on the TV has he got closer. Whoever was at the door kept ringing obnoxiously and that was pissing him off. He swung the door open prepared to destroy who ever was disrupting him.
"What?" Punk asked the strange man at his door
"That's how you greet a guest?" the man asked calmly
"I don't have time for this" Punk said annoyed closing the door but the man used his hand to stop him from fully closing it. "Do you want to lose that hand?" Punk threatened
"I'm here for my daughter" The man told him and Punk just smirked
"I think you have the wrong house, get the hell off of my property before I throw you off" Punk shot at him
"I'd love to see you try" the man remarked and now Punk was growing red with anger "I'm here for April" he said to him and now it hit Punk, April's father.
April was at the bridal shop trying on her dress and looking in the long-standing mirror.
"How does it feel?" the owner asked
"Amazing" April smiled
"It looks beautiful" the woman grinned at her "It's suits you perfectly"
"You think so?" April asked unsurely
"Yes" the woman smiled "Are you sure I can't talk you into heels?"
"No" April smirked "I'm not a heels girl"
"How tall is your fiancé?" the woman asked as she played with the hem of April's dress
"6 foot 2" April smirked
"You're 5 foot 2!" The gasped "Such a height difference"
"Yea it's pretty remarkable" April smiled
"And no heels?" the woman asked sadly
"Nope" April said surely that's when the doors to the bridal shop opened
"I'm sorry we're closed" the woman said
"Oh no he's with me" April said to the woman
"Your fiancé shouldn't be seeing you in the dress" the woman whispered
"He's a friend" April informed her and she nodded
"Wow April" Jason smiled "You look so beautiful"
"Thank you" April blushed lightly
"Seriously" he said eyeing her from head to toe "Punk is a lucky guy"
"I hope he likes it" April said running her hands over the lace dress
"He'd be insane not to" Jason smirked
"I have to get some thread" the woman said excusing herself
"Thank you for calling me" Jason said to her as April waked off the step "I wasn't sure you would"
"I'm still not sure why I did" April admitted "If Phil would have found that note…"
"Wasn't a note just my phone number" Jason pointed out
"Still if he finds out I called you and you're here with me now he'd kill you" April said to him
"You mean you" Jason corrected with a chuckle
"Oh no he loves me, he hates you" April said seriously "So really what is going on?"
"Nothing" Jason shrugged taking a seat "I really wanted you to have that money"
"Like Phil said we don't need it" April said to him "And I trust where you got it from"
"April I got a job in a gym here" Jason said to her "It's not a lot but it's enough"
"Good" April said to him "Didn't Phil specifically tell you not to come to Chicago though?"
"Yes he did" Jason admitted "But I jumped on a bus and then another bus and another bus and I ended up here" he shrugged "I like the Windy City"
"It is pretty great here" April agreed
"So I guess the wedding is coming up" Jason noted
"Yea a few weeks actually" April confided and he nodded
"That's pretty fast" Jason said to her
"We don't want to wait" April said to him
"Are you pregnant?" Jason asked confused
"No" April said with an eye roll "We just don't want to wait. Besides I'm wrestling at Wrestlemania"
"No kidding" Jason said stunned
"Isn't that amazing? My first year in the company and I'm getting this huge opportunity" April grinned and he just nodded. April noted his sour face and realized he was the same old Jason. "Look I called you here today to tell you that we can't be friends anymore. Don't show up at my home, don't reach out again"
"Wow" Jason said quietly "I wasn't expecting this"
"I'm not sure what you were really expecting Jason but that's the problem with you" April said to him honestly "I never know if you're being upfront with me or getting ready to stab me in my back"
"Alright" he said standing up "Sorry I bothered you" he then stormed out of the bridal shop but April never looked back at him.
As soon as Jason stepped outside he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.
"Hey it's me…no I didn't get it but you could just take it…I know but there's no way…I'm telling you this ring she has will cover my entire debt to you" Jason informed the person on the phone "…her fiancé is loaded and I'm talking millions in the bank so he didn't skim on the ring…she also has a diamond necklace on and that should take care of all it….she's at a bridal shop in wicker park, I'll send you the address"
Punk was sitting uncomfortably on is couch while April's father sat directly across from him with is arms folded.
"I really don't know how long she is going to be" Punk said breaking the silence "You should just come back later"
"No I'll wait" he said to him "So…" he said eyeing Punk "You're the man that stole my baby's innocence? Also helped her get a degrading job"
"Um…well I'm not going to discuss my personal relationship with April with a complete stranger" Punk remarked
"I'm not a stranger" his father reminded
"Oh you are" Punk said annoyed "Did you know your daughter lived in a shit hole?"
"April new the risks of leaving home" her father said to him
"You're wearing a Rolex" Punk noted "You have an all gold chain, your shoes seems pretty pricey I mean you couldn't really send her fifty bucks a week even?"
"April said she wanted to leave to pursue this career" her father informed him "My wife didn't support it and I warned April she'd be doing this all on her own and she decided to do it. I called April up every Friday of the week for the first three months and offered to bring her home and she declined"
"Why couldn't you support her?" Punk asked "And I don't just mean financially. How could you hate her?" he asked with a sigh "April is the most amazing woman I have ever met and I can't believe you and your wife don't recognize that"
"I love my daughter very much" her father informed him
"Could have fooled me" Punk remarked
"I've watched my daughter every week since she's been on TV" Her father said to him "And as for that diner my daughter worked in, Hector is a friend of mine from college as a matter of fact I gave Hector the money to start up that diner" he said to him which surprised Punk "Why do you think she was never fired even though from what I heard she was terrible at her job? I had to respect my wife wishes"
"You fold like that for your wife?" Punk asked shaking his head "Throw your daughter out of your family just to appease her?"
"Do you love my daughter?" he asked Punk
"Yea I do" Punk said to him
"Would you go against her wishes?" he questioned
"If April told me to basically send my young daughter off without a dime to her name and ignore her for years then yes I would" Punk admitted "But I don't have to worry about that because April isn't cold"
"It's the way my wife was raised" he said to Punk coolly
"I think it was shitty thing to do and honestly when your wife stopped by a week ago she upset April a lot so if you're here to do the same thing to her I'm going to ask you to leave" Punk said to him "Same as you support your wife I back April completely" he just grinned
"My wife told me my little girl was living with a deranged thug" the man smirked "She said you were using my daughter so I looked you up. You're worth millions and you have quit the dating history so I can't imagine what you would need my daughter for"
"I need your daughter" Punk said to him "I love her very much and like I said I can't have you upsetting her"
"I'm not here to do that" he said to him "I wanted to see if she was ok" he said standing up "And I can see she's in good hands with you"
"That's it? You're leaving?" Punk asked standing up as well "Don't you want to see her?"
"No" he said to him
"It's been a long time since you've seen her" Punk pointed out "I'm sure she'd like to speak to you"
"It would be pointless" he said to him "Nothing said tonight will change our relationship."
"She needs her father" Punk said to him
"You didn't need yours" he reminded him "Like I said I did a lot of reading up on you" he smirked
"No not my blood father" Punk agreed "But I had a great stand in" he said to him
"Yes I read he passed away a few years back" he nodded "I'm sorry for your loss. But April already has a stand in father in Hector."
"Look" Punk said stopping him from leaving "Just say hello to her obviously your intentions are different then your wife's were" he insisted "She'd want to see you please"
April left the bridal shop and walked towards her car. It was absolutely freezing out as she rounded the corner to her car that was parked at a meter. She placed her hand in her purse as she searched around for her keys.
"Come on, come on" she muttered feeling the cold hit her hard. It was already way past nine as she continued her search "Don't tell me I left them inside" she muttered.
The next thing she felt was someone place their hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. She began to kick but someone else stepped in front of her and grabbed her left hand and tugged her engagement ring off of her hand.
"Stop moving and you won't get hurt" the masked man hissed in her ear. But April's instincts told her to keep moving around as much as she could and the second man ripped her diamond skull necklace off of her neck. The man holding April shoved her onto the cold concrete roughly and both men jumped into their dark car.
"April" the bridal shop owner cried out running towards her "Are you ok?"
"Yea" April said sitting up and looking down at her hand "They stole my ring"
"I'll call the police" she said to her "Come inside" she said helping April up
April was in the bridal shop talking to a uniformed officer.
"No both guys had a mask on I didn't see a thing" April said to him
"And they didn't take your purse?" The officer questioned
"No just my engagement ring and necklace" April said to him
"It's so weird they didn't go for the purse" the officer said to her and then the door swung open and April saw Phil marching inside and the person behind him stunned her.
"Are you ok?" Punk asked her and she nodded "You didn't get hurt right?" he asked placing his hands on her shoulders and looking her over
"No I'm ok" April assured him and she could see the relief in his body.
"What did they take?" Punk asked
"My ring and necklace" April said to him "I am so sorry Phil" she was now on the very of crying "I know how much the ring costs-"
"Hey fuck the ring" Punk said to her seriously "You're what's important"
"Did you have insurance on the ring?" the officer asked Punk
"Yea but I have all that paper work at home" Punk said to him "What happened April?" he asked looking back at her
"I was leaving and walking to my car and this guy came up behind me and covered my mouth while this other guy pulled off my ring and ripped off my necklace" April said to him
"How much was the ring?" the officer asked Punk
"About ten grand" Punk said to him and the officers eyes widened
"Now I see why they left the purse" the officer said to him "Do you remember how much the necklace was worth?"
"Yea a couple of grand- do we have to discuss this right now?" Punk asked him
"Yes it will help up a bit please it will only take a few minutes" the officer said to him and Punk nodded
"Fine" Punk said to him
"Phil what is my father doing here?" April whispered
"He showed up at the house and was there when I got the call" Punk said to her "Just say hello" he suggested
"Dad" April said walking over to him and he smiled warmly at her
"April" he said to her "You're so grown up. Are you ok?" he asked with concern in his eyes
"Why are you here?" April asked him
"Your mother had concerns" her father told her "I came to see for myself how you were"
"Well here I am" April said to him "I'm fine"
"I beg to differ" he frowned
"Phil is a great guy" April warned in a low voice
"I can see that" he agreed "When you called him he nearly flew out the window" he chuckled "I like him. Of course I never envisioned you'd get married you were so independent" he smiled "I remember when the Craines boy from next door asked you to the fifth grade dance you kicked him in the knee and skipped off"
"Dad-" April sighed
"I just wanted to see you were happy" he said to her
"Why do you care?" April asked him
"Because I love you" He said to her "No matter what you are my little girl"
"I'm not your little girl" April corrected
"April who was here?" Punk asked from across the room
"Hmm?" April asked looking towards him
"The owner said the only people here were her, you and a male friend" Punk said to her
"Oh I was just in the middle of something with my father" April smiled and looked back to her dad "So where were we?" she asked hoping her dad would get her out of this question
"Miss. Mendez it's very important" the officer said to her "Obviously these people were waiting for you to leave"
"April answer the officer" her father said sternly.
"It was an old friend from Tampa" April told the officer and Punk rolled his eyes an sucked in a breath to remain calm "His name is Jason Ritter"
"Does he live in Chicago now?" the officer asked her
"He said he was but I don't think he was being honest" April said to him
"How did he know you were here?" the officer asked him
"I told him" April admitted and Punk's entire face was red now. He was about to explode she could see it.
"He has a history of stealing from her" Punk seethed to the officer "He's been doing it for years"
"April" her father scolded "Don't you know any better? Once a thief always a thief"
"First of all these guys that robbed me were way too tall to be Jason" April said to the group.
"We'll look him up just to make sure" the officer told her "And make sure you two drop of the insurance information at the police station. A ring of that value being stolen increases the charges"
"Ok" April said to him then looked towards her dad "Are you leaving?"
"Yes I have a flight to catch" her father told her "But I can stay the night if you need" he offered
"No" April said to him which Punk overheard and seemed surprised "You're going to leave anyway so we might as well get it over with" she then brushed past him and out the door
"Take care of my daughter" her father said shaking Punk's hand
"I can talk to her" Punk offered
"That's alright" he chuckled "It's for the best."
"She's had a bad night" Punk said to him "I know she wants to talk with you some more"
"This is who we are" her father informed Punk "Take my daughter home, make sure you give her a good life or else I'll be back" he warned
"Right" Punk muttered.
Punk walked out of the shop and saw April standing in front of the door
"I'll just follow you home" April said to him but Punk tugged on her arm and walked her over to his car and opened the passenger side door for her. She knew he was mad- furious even so she wasn't sure she wanted to get in the car. "Really I can take my car home" she smiled but he glared at her "Or we can just pick it up tomorrow" she said getting in the car and he slammed the door closed.
Punk was at a whole other level of anger, the kind of anger that left him silent. When Punk was angry he'd yell, kick and scream she had learned that much over the time they spent together and not just as a couple but even when they were just friends. He wouldn't even look at her as he drove. She could tell she was going to be in for a long night…