Sunday 17th July
The past couple of weeks had flown by; Alexa was slowly getting used to the FCW filming schedule, although she still found it strange filming the shows a month in advance. Her friendships with everyone had grown stronger, especially with Jon. There was just something about him that drew her in like a moth to a flame. She had never felt anything like it before, not even with Randy. But, for the sake of their friendship, she kept pushing her feelings aside in the hope they would disappear.
It was the night of the highly anticipated Money In The Bank Pay-Per-View and the first live WWE event that she had been to in three years. She had received a phone call from Paul three days ago, asking her to fly out to Rosemont, Illinois and attend the event. He had denied it, but she knew his main reason for inviting her was so she could try to talk some sense into Phil. He still hadn't signed his contract and tonight was due to be his last night with the company.
Alexa smiled to herself as she wandered out to the front of house and strolled along the upper tiers of the Allstate Arena. After pacing along several rows of seats and doing a few sets of sprints up the steps, she flopped down in a chair and observed the empty arena with a serene smile. Thousands of fans would soon pile in, wearing their favourite Superstars' t-shirts and wielding homemade signs in their hands.
She had missed this.
Suddenly hearing footsteps echoing behind her, she turned around and a wide grin appeared on her face. ''Jay!"
The Canadian laughed as she jumped out of her seat and leapt towards him, wrapping him in a tight hug. ''Anyone would think you're happy to see me!''
''I am.'' She confirmed as she stepped back from him. ''It's been too long.''
Jason rolled his eyes. ''It's been, like, six months.''
''Like I said, too long.'' She repeated with a smile. ''How did you know I was up here?''
''Paul told me you were coming tonight. And you always used to come up and sit in the stands before every show, I figured tonight wouldn't be any different.''
''You know me so well.'' She said as they settled into some seats. ''Are you missing Adam?''
Jason's face took on a sombre look. ''It's weird without him here but we still talk all the time... we'll always be best friends.''
''Are they still going to do that 'Appreciation Night' for him?''
''Yeah, I think so. Probably when we're in Toronto again, which is sometime in September. Will you be there?''
''With bells on.'' Alexa nodded ardently. ''We've spoke on the phone, but I haven't seen him since just after I had my surgery.''
''How's everything going with your neck?'' Jason questioned.
''Good. All the rehab I've done with Dr. Dokka has really helped, the muscles in my neck are super strong, it almost feels the same as it did before.''
''That's great.'' A wide smile appeared on his face. ''Any idea how long it'll be before you're back?''
''I honestly don't know. I mean, I've only just managed to get over my fear of climbing to the top rope. I've still got a long way to go.''
''Well I, for one, can't wait. I need my prank buddy back again.'' He told her, nudging her shoulder with his.
Alexa grinned to herself, remembering how the four-year prank war had begun.
''You want to go swimming?'' Randy asked as he lounged on Alexa's bed in her hotel room.
''Sure.'' She laughed as Randy jumped off the bed and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the room. "I didn't bring my bathing suit though. I'll just have to stick my feet in." She said as they got into the elevator.
"No, you're coming in with me.'' He glanced down at his watch. ''It's still early, I'm sure we'll be the only ones in there. You'll just have to strip down..."
They made their way through the reception area, soon finding the pool. "Come on, let's get in there!" He began taking off his shirt and quickly slipped out of his jeans, revealing a pair of dark blue boxer shorts. He unclasped his watch and let it drop onto the pile of clothes at his feet.
"I can't believe you're going in there like that." She said with a smile, shaking her head at him.
"Why? I mean, I could go in naked, but I thought that would look bad if someone happened to come in." Randy told her with a wink, before he divided in. He popped out of the water and shot her a mischievous grin. "Come on. Get your ass in here before I have to get out and throw you in, fully clothed!"
''I don't know Rand, what if-''
He rolled his eyes and cut her off. ''Lex, you paraded about in your bra and panties in front of thousands of people Monday night. There's nobody here but you and me.''
Alexa huffed, realizing he was right. Randy smiled triumphantly when he saw he start taking her clothes off. He whistled when she revealed her lacy black bra and panties. She glared at him before walking around to the edge of the deep end of the pool. Turning around, she took a breath before doing a back flip into the water. She looked around for Randy after she surfaced, starting to panic when she couldn't find him.
Then, suddenly, Alexa was yanked down under the water. She struggled as she slowly opened my eyes to see a flash of blue go by her. She popped up, gasping for air, and quickly swam over to him. He swam away, laughing as she tried to catch up to him. She managed to and jumped onto his back, dunking his head into the water. After a small water fight, which Alexa won, they decided to go over and relax in the hot tub.
"Jay, grab Orton's clothes and I'll get Lex's," Adam whispered to Jason as they slowly crept into the pool area. They had been searching for the pair for a while and the receptionist had sent them in this direction. It hadn't taken them long to come up with this master plan.
Chris nodded and quietly snuck over to where Randy had dumped his clothing as Jason grabbed Alexa's. They ran back out the door with their arms full, just as Alexa and Randy climbed out of the hot tub.
"Dude, they're so gonna kill us!" Jason said with a snicker.
"This is going to go down in the history of pranks for us!" Adam laughed as they shared a high-five.
"Randy, where are our clothes?" Alexa asked him as they climbed out of the hot tub.
"What do you mean? They were on the ground." Randy replied as he looked around for them.
Her eyes darted around before she put her hands on her hips, tilting her head as she glared at him. "They're not here. What the hell did you do with them!"
"What makes you think I did something with them? I haven't left your side the whole time!"
"Well, then where the hell did they go!" She shrieked back.
"Jason and Chris." Randy muttered. She looked at him curiously as he grabbed her hand and started to tug her away. "Come on. The kings of practical jokes stole our clothes."
Alexa dug her heels in and pulled him to a halt. ''I'm not walking out there like this.''
''Um...'' Randy trailed off as his icy gaze raked over her body, tongue darting out to wet his lips.
She fought off a blush as she watched him blatantly check her out. ''Hey!'' His eyes snapped up to meet hers quickly. ''Eyes up here, buddy!"
He just smirked at her before he ran over to one of the benches, picking up a towel that someone had obviously forgotten. He re-joined her and held it out for her. ''Here, wrap this around yourself.''
She scrunched up her nose as she looked it over. ''It might be dirty.''
He rolled his eyes before lifting the towel to his face and sniffing it. ''It's fine.''
Alexa begrudgingly accepted it from him and wrapped it around her body. "How do you even know they have our clothes?" She asked as they headed towards the lobby, dripping a trail of water as they went.
"They like to play pranks on everyone."
They eventually found the pair mooching around near the elevators in the lobby, matching innocent expressions on their faces. "Umm... I think you two forgot to get dressed," Jason told them seriously.
"Yeah, clothes are welcomed here." Adam said with a smirk. "Actually, Lex, you can walk around like that any time, but Randal, put some damn clothes on!"
"Guys, give us back our clothes!" Randy demanded roughly.
"Why would we have your clothes?" Adam asked.
"Because, for some reason, you two have decided that you're the 'kings of pranks.' And this is just something you two would do to us!" He explained, scowling at the two blondes.
"Guys, seriously, this is cruel. Look at me. I'm in a soaked bra and panties and have some stranger's sweaty towel wrapped around me.'' She told them with a slight shudder. ''Please give me my clothes."
Adam and Jason shared a look before the latter jogged over to the corner of the room. He ducked into the alcove underneath the steps before emerging empty-handed a few moments later. He returned to the group, guiltily looking at Randy and Alexa. ''We have a slight problem...''
Randy narrowed his eyes at them as Alexa seethed. ''What? Where are they?''
''We hid them under the steps over there.'' Jason responded, pointing to the stairs that lead up to the first floor. ''But I think a maid or someone must have moved them.''
''Unbelievable.'' Randy muttered angrily.
Alexa shot them a calculating look before holding out her hand expectantly. ''One of you give me your shirt.''
''What about me?'' Randy groaned.
She rolled her eyes and took the towel off and shoved it in his arms before turning back to the other two. Randy wrapped the towel around his waist and smirked as he watched the men look her over, Jason with a lot more subtlety than Adam. ''Well?'' She sighed impatiently. ''Hurry up, I'm cold.''
Adam huffed before quickly pulling his black v-neck t-shirt over his head. She snatched it from him and slipped it on. Luckily, Adam was a lot taller than her so the shirt reached the middle of her thigh. Happy that she was decently covered, she reached forward and delivered two sharp nipple twisters. Their smirks quickly disappeared, the pair taking on dramatically pained faces as Randy laughed.
''This isn't over.'' She warned them before she stalked off up the stairs.
Later that night, Alexa snickered to herself as she quietly opened the door to Jason and Adam's hotel room. Making sure nobody was around, she slipped out quickly before closing the door.
''What do you think you're doing?''
Alexa jumped and spun around, letting out a small relieved sigh when she saw it was only Randy. ''Randy, you dick!"
He smirked. ''I know you love me really.''
''Are you always so...''
''Handome? Sexy? Lovable?'' He suggested with a smirk.
''Arragont, egotistical and cocky were more what I was looking for.'' She shot back.
''What can I say? It's a gift.''
"If it's a gift, I'd like to take it back," she informed him, and Randy responded by flipping her off. "Not now, but thanks for the offer."
Alexa glanced over his shoulder and spotted Adam and Jason coming around the corner. She grabbed Randy's hand and sprinted down the hall, dragging him along with her. She quickly pushed open her door to her own room, yanked him inside and slammed it shut.
''What were you doing in their room?'' Randy asked, not really sure he wanted to hear the answer.
She just smirked at him. ''Payback's a bitch.''
''LEX!"
Randy, Chris, Paul and Dave's heads turned simultaneously towards the woman in question, who was sitting opposite them in the men's locker room. She just gave them a shit-eating grin before turning her gaze back to the television set in the corner.
''LEX!''
The door suddenly burst open and Jason and Adam came stumbling in. Alexa took one look at them and burst into peels of laughter along with her companions. Adam's hair was now a hot pink colour instead of its usual blonde and Jason's teeth were neon green.
''Nice, boys. Brings out your eyes.'' Randy told them after composing himself enough to speak.
They glared at him. ''We both have matches tonight Lex, we can't go out there looking like this!'' Jason cried.
Alexa stood up and walked over to them. ''Oh, I don't know.'' She cocked her head to the side and fingered a small strand of Adam' hair. ''I think it looks kinda hot.''
''Not. Funny.'' Adam growled.
''Jason, there's some real toothpaste in your bag that will wash that off. Adam, there's some shampoo in yours that will get that right out.'' She told them, snorting when they both ran out of the room as fast as they could.
''You are evil.'' Chris told her with a shake of his head.
She just grinned at him. ''Now they know not to mess with me again.'' She shared a high-five with Randy before plopping back down on the chair.
''Yeah, I am the prank queen.'' She declared with a proud grin.
''Do you remember when you put itching powder in Chris and Adam's pants?''
''Oh my God, yes!''
Alexa let out an annoyed whine when she felt someone nudge her gently, not wanting to open her eyes just yet. Immediately after landing in Montreal following a ten-hour flight from England, everyone had piled into a bus ready to be taken to their hotel. She hadn't been able to sleep on the flight, much to her annoyance, but had fallen asleep immediately after taking her seat.
"Wake up Lex. We're here." Randy told her softly, nudging her again.
"Go away." She rolled away with a grumble, only to hit her head on the window. "Motherfucker!"
He snorted and stepped back as she slowly shuffled out of her seat, accepting his offered hand with a grateful smile. Looking around the bus, she saw it was empty save for her, Chris, Jason, Adam and Randy.
''What time is it?'' She asked as they stepped out of the bus, squinting when the sunlight hit her eyes.
Adam glanced down at his watch before responding. ''11:30.''
''That's good, means we'll have the rest of the day to recover from the jet lag.'' Chris pointed out with a smile.
She lifted her hand to stifle a yawn. ''I, for one, am planning on going into a sleep coma until we have to be at the arena tomorrow.''
After collecting their luggage and thanking the driver, the small group found themselves at the concierge desk, waiting in line to check-in. Leaning back and resting her head on Randy's chest, Alexa casually glanced around the lobby. Upon noticing she was getting several strange looks from people, her brows furrowed in confusion and she turned around. ''Randy, people keep staring at me...''
He waved off her concern. ''They probably just recognize you.''
''Yeah, I guess.''
After checking in and dumping their bags in the room they were sharing, Adam, Jason and Chris made their way back to Randy and Alexa's room to hang out.
Heaving her case up onto the bed, she unzipped it and dug around inside until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out her Beatles t-shirt and a pair of pyjama shorts before heading over to the bathroom. ''I'm just going to go get changed and freshen up.'' She closed the door behind her, cutting off their loud chatter, before she fumbled around for the light switch.
The room was soon bathed in light and her eyes widened in horror as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Her loud scream was followed by roaring laughter from outside the door.
Someone had managed to draw devil horns on her forehead and a mustache on her face, she knew it was a bad idea to sleep on the bus. That wasn't the worst of it though. On her left cheek, there was a large drawing of the male genitalia.
Taking a deep breath to control her rage, she marched out of the bathroom and glared at the four men. Seeing her so angry just made them laugh harder and she put her hands on her hips with a huff.
Randy held his hands up innocently. ''It wasn't me, I promise.''
''But you let them do it!" She hissed before turning to the three blondes. ''Well? Which one of you fuckers did this?''
''It was them!" Jason told her, pointing both fingers at the other two men.
Adam and Chris shot him a glare before pointing accusing fingers at each other, making her roll her eyes in exasperation.
''Fine. I'll just have to punish both of you, and trust me, it will be worse than this." She warned before storming out of the room.
She headed down the hallway and came to a stop outside of the room she knew Trish was in, before knocking softly on the door. The door opened a few minutes later and the woman's eyebrows shot up as she let out a loud, hearty laugh.
''It's not funny, people actually saw me like this...'' She sighed. ''Do you have something I can use to get this off?"
Once Trish had finally pulled herself together and stopped laughing, they moved into her room and she told Alexa to wait in the bathroom. After disappearing inside the room for a few minutes, Trish returned with a bottle of make-up remover and some cotton wool. ''This should work, unless that's permanent marker, then you're screwed.''
Alexa quickly began to swipe at her face, smiling in relief when the pen started to come off. ''Oh, thank God!"
Trish smiled at her. ''I take it by the grin on your face, you have a plan to get them back?''
''Oh, yeah. I'll teach them jackasses not to mess with me.''
The following evening, Alexa found the food service area buzzing with people and smiled, offering friendly greetings to her co-workers and crew members as she made her way through the room. She was just reaching over to grab a bottle of water from the fridge when she felt a pair of hands grab her waist.
"Hey, good-looking."
Turning her head, she smiled warmly at Randy as he leaned down to place a quick kiss on her cheek. "Hey yourself.''
She grabbed the water and followed behind Randy as he led her over to the corner of the room. As they reached the table, she grinned over at Trish and gave her a small thumbs-up, signalling that her plan was complete. The blonde shook her head with a chuckle before returning to her pasta. Randy looked between the two suspiciously but wisely kept his mouth shut as he took a seat next to Chris.
They were soon joined by Travis 'Tyson' Tomko who had come by so they could go over their segment. Randy busied himself with his food, listening as the others went over their lines and discussed what bumps they were going to do. Travis left when they were finished and the rest of the group diverted their attention to the large screen in the room as Raw got under way.
Edge and Chris Benoit were up first, defending their Tag Team Championships against La Résistance, the champions making their way down to the ring to raucous cheers.
''Jesus Christ.'' Alexa let out a snort as Sylvain Grenier and Robert Conway made their way down to the ring waving two massive flags with the Fleurdelisé on, both wearing matching waistcoats.
Everyone was surprised when over half of the Montreal crowd started cheering for the challengers, nobody more so than the announce team.
''Welcome to bizzaro world!" King cried in amusement.
The match soon got started and the champions had the advantage for a while, the crowd surprisingly booing most of their offence until Robert managed to turn the tide. The crowd roared as soon as Sylvain tagged in, a 'Let's Go Sylvain!' chant hitting the arena.
Half-way through match, Randy noticed that Chris kept shifting around in his seat. ''You alright, dude?'' He asked, glancing sideways at the man to find a confused look on his face.
''Yeah.'' Chris bit out.
Alexa bit her lip to hold in her laughter and didn't need to look at Trish to know that she was doing the same. They watched as Chris grew more and more uncomfortable before he practically ran towards the bathroom.
Randy rose an eyebrow. ''Why do I have the feeling you have something to do with that?''
She just smirked and turned her attention to the monitor as a huge cheer sounded, finding that La Résistance had won. The camera panned down to Edge, who was laid out in the middle of the ring.
Randy leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at the screen. ''Is he...''
''Oh my God!" Trish let out an unladylike snort and quickly covered her mouth.
Alexa snickered as she watched. One of Adam's arms was holding his 'injured' head while the other was not-so-discretely scratching his ass.
''What did you two do?''
Trish shook her head. ''Oh, no, I can't take the credit... This was all Lex.''
''Itching powder.'' She told him with a mischievous smile.
''That was hilarious. I think Adam had that rash all over his ass for a week!" Jason told her, snorting out a laugh.
''We did have some good times.''
''We did.'' He agreed, smiling fondly.
''So... are you going to win tonight?'' Alexa asked curiously, knowing that he was facing Randy that night for the World Heavyweight Championship.
''Now that would be telling.'' Jason replied, a shit-eating grin on his face.
''That's totally a yes.''
He just laughed. ''Make sure you watch the ending though, I'm sure you'll like what I get to do.''
After spending a little more time together, Jason led her backstage to the men's locker room, where he knew there would be a few people happy to see her. He pounded on the door loudly. ''Cover up what you don't want seen boys!" He warned before swinging the door open and dragging her in with him.
Alexa's eyes scanned the room, taking in the familiar faces; Mike Mizanin, Alberto 'Del Rio' Rodríguez, Oscar 'Rey Mysterio' Gutierrez, Bryan 'Daniel Bryan' Danielson and Luis Ignacio Urvie Alvirde AKA Sin Cara.
She grinned when her eyes landed on Luis, her first ever professional wrestling match had been against him. She had been down in Mexico for about a month and the CMLL had finally given her a chance and put her in a match against Luis, who had wrestled under 'Místico' at the time. He was the only one who would agree to work with her, although she had been made to wear a mask to disguise that she was a woman from the audience. After that match, a lot more people had been willing to have a match with her.
Alexa had also met Oscar and Alberto while she had been in Mexico. Oscar had started working the indies down there shortly after WCW closed down, before he had been signed by the WWE. Alberto had just started out and was working with AAA when she had met him. His father was a well-known wrestler in Mexico and she had stayed with them for a short time when she had first arrived in the country. Daniel, she had met after heading to Ring of Honor where he had been performing under his American Dragon monkier.
When Mike started out, a lot of the guys gave him a really hard time because of his background, and Alexa had discovered him changing in a hallway before a show because they wouldn't let him in the locker room. She had offered him the use of the women's locker room, since it was practically empty anyway, and they had been friends ever since.
Pouting when nobody even acknowledged her presence, all too engrossed in whatever they were doing, Alexa put her hands on her hips. ''I've been gone three years and not even a hug from any of you fuckers...''
Jason chuckled from beside her and the small group of men all stopped what they were doing and turned around, smiles breaking out on their faces when they saw her.
''Holy shit.''
''Lex!"
''What the fuck are you doing here?''
''You look amazing.''
Mike was the first to pull her into a tight embrace, quickly followed by the rest.
Alexa smiled warmly as they moved over to her. ''Hey, guys. Been a while, huh?''
The room was soon filled with loud, raucous voices and they spent a long time catching up before she insisted on leaving them so they could prepare for the show. With a promise to find them all at the party after the show, Alexa headed off to search for Phil.
Meandering her way through the arena, Alexa came across a few more of her former colleagues. She told them all she would see them tonight at the after party and they could catch up then, knowing she didn't have a lot of time left before the show and she had to find Phil.
As she turned yet another corner, she found herself hitting something solid. The impact knocked her to the floor and she landed with an audible oof. "Sorry!" She exclaimed, as she picked herself up off the ground.
''Lex?''
The woman looked up as she dusted off her jeans with her hands, her lips forming a nervous smile. ''John... hey.''
He let out a small chuckle. ''I'm getting some serious déjà vu here.''
Alexa only managed to walk about four steps before realizing she had left her cell phone behind in her hotel room. She rolled her eyes and turned around to head back to her room when she smacked into something hard before feeling herself falling face-first to the ground.
The next thing she knew she was sprawled on top of a robust body on the floor. She groaned and pushed against the muscular chest, shifting her upper body so she could see who the unlucky man was. She found a pair of blue eyes looking up at her in amusement. ''I have to say, this is actually the first time a girl has literally thrown herself at me.''
Her eyes widened as she immediately recognized her victim. "You're John Cena."
"Last time I checked, yeah."
"I'm so sorry." She mumbled apologetically.
''It's alright, to be honest, this has been the highlight of my morning.'' He said as he grinned up at her.
Alexa snorted and moved from him, quickly standing and straightening out her t-shirt as he jumped to his feet beside her. She watched him as he looked her over before his eyes landed on her face and the realization dawned on him. "You're Sierra?"
''Or Alexa.'' She smirked, reaching out her hand to him. "Nice to meet you."
He waved off her hand with a smile. ''I think we're past the hand shaking stage.''
''So, um, how are you?''
''I'm good.'' Alexa responded before they fell into an uncomfortable silence.
''Listen, Lex-''
''Look, John-''
Both let out nervous laughs and he ran a hand through his hair. ''Let me go first.'' At her nod, he continued. ''I'm sorry about everything that happened. I was a really shitty friend and I should have told you about Randy. If I had, then maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt.''
''You were a shitty friend to me.'' She nodded sadly as he lowered his head. ''But it had nothing to do with me getting injured. When it first happened, I was so angry and I needed someone to blame... and that happened to be Randy. I was distracted that night, but it was just a freak accident.''
''But-''
Alexa quickly cut him off. ''Look, it's in the past... we need to move on.''
John nodded solemnly before his lips twitched into a small smile. ''Does that mean I get a hug?''
She rolled her eyes and opened her arms, grinning as he scooped her up in a massive hug.
''For what it's worth, I am so sorry.''
Alexa nodded against his shoulder. ''I know.'' She glanced at his shirt after they released each other, an amused smirk settling on her lips. ''So... what's with the shirt? You look like a Mario brother.''
Five minutes after being pointed in the right direction by John, Alexa found herself standing nervously outside Phil's dressing room. She hadn't spoken to him since their disastrous phone call two weeks ago and was worried that he would be angry with her. Letting out a heavy sigh, she reached up and knocked loudly on the door.
It swung open seconds later, instant surprise hitting Phil's face as his eyes found her.
'''Sup.''
He cocked an eyebrow, amusement shining in his eyes as she gave him an awkward wave. ''What the fuck are you doing here?''
Alexa barged past him, walking into the room. ''I came to see you.''
''You came all the way from Florida, just to see me?'' Phil asked as he closed the door behind her. ''Why?''
''I haven't seen you in months, I missed you.'' She shrugged, taking a seat on one of the benches and drawing her legs up to her chest. ''And I wanted to apologize for blowing up at you on the phone the other day.''
''It's fine.'' He told her softly, slipping into the seat opposite her. ''I get it...''
''So... have you signed the contract yet?''
''No, and I don't intend to. I'm so sick of it all... it's like the fucking Cena show around here. I like the guy, don't get me wrong, but there are so many other guys in the locker room who don't get opportunities because they're constantly being overlooked in favour of people like John. Nobody can see that they're wasting talent, it's fucking ridiculous. You were right, I do just want to wrestle... but I can't do that here if they keep leaving me off the card. I'll be better off at Ring of Honor, at least I know they'd appreciate me.''
''The fans appreciate you.''
He looked over and met her eyes, sighing deeply. ''It's not enough anymore. I can't carry on like this, knowing that nothing's ever going to change...''
''Listen to me, okay, just listen... You're not happy, you're pissed, I get it. Believe me, I understand.'' Alexa said passionately, thinking back to what Jon said to her all those weeks ago. ''I'm not going to beg you to stay, or try to guilt trip you into it. All I'm going to say is this; you want to change things and that's great... but how are you ever going to do that if you're sat at home on your couch?''
After imparting her words of wisdom to Phil, she had left him alone with his thoughts and headed to catering to watch the rest of the show. A couple of people had stopped by the table she was sitting at to say hello, but she had been left alone for the most part.
The match between Christian and Randy Orton had just finished, leaving her sitting with a smirk on her face. Jason had been had been right in saying she would enjoy the ending; he got to spit a giant loogie in Randy's face.
''He signed.''
Alexa turned her head to find Stephanie McMahon strolling towards her, a happy smile on her face. ''Seriously?'' Her eyebrows rose in genuine surprise, she had really thought he was going to leave.
Stephanie nodded and lowered herself into the seat beside her. ''Believe me, I was as shocked as you are. Paul said you were going to talk to him, what did you say?''
''I didn't say anything, not really...''
''Well, whatever you said it must have helped.'' The older woman smiled. ''There were a few conditions, but he said that at the end of the day all he wanted to do was wrestle in front of those fans.''
Alexa smiled knowingly before giving the woman a questioning look. ''So, does that mean he's going to win?''
''You'll just have to watch, won't you.''
Phil had won.
The pop he had received as he entered the arena was bigger than anything she had ever heard. Being in Phil's home state, the crowd had been 100% behind him from the start. It was an amazing match, probably one of the best Alexa had seen from both men.
After the show, she had made her way back to her hotel, which, coincidentally also happened to be where most of the talent was staying. She changed into something suitable before making her way down to the hotel bar, where the 'party' was taking place.
She had spent the rest of the night catching up with her friends and making a few new ones. She had been formally introduced to The Bella Twins; Brianna and Nicole Garcia-Colace. Despite the preconceptions she had about them, she found herself really enjoying their company. Especially Nikki's, they were so alike and the woman was so blunt it was hilarious.
The night had been going well. Too well.
Alexa had just been to the ladies room and was making her way back into the main bar when a body suddenly blocked her path. Rolling her eyes, she looked up and froze when she found her ex-boyfriend standing there. She could feel her mouth go dry as she tried to form words. ''Excuse me.''
When he didn't move, she let out an annoyed sigh and tried to step around him, only for him to move in front of her.
''I heard you were here, couldn't quite believe it...''
Her eyes narrowed at Randy's slurred words, knowing exactly what he could be like when he was under the influence. ''Well, now you can believe it. Can you move, please?''
''No. Come with me, I want to talk to you.''
Before she could protest, he had grabbed hold of her hand and had pulled her over to a secluded corner of the room. ''Randy, what the fuck? Let go!"
He towered over her and she found herself backed up against the wall as she tried to move away from him. ''I miss you.''
She couldn't help but scoff at the declaration. ''Please, spare me.''
''I mean it...'' He said adamantly. ''Me and Sam, we're not right for each other. Not the way me and you are... My room's upstairs...''
''You're drunk, Randy.'' As she made to push past him, he reached out and tightly grabbed her arms, pulling her back towards him. ''Get the fuck off me!"
Hissing at her to calm down, he shoved her back and she hit the wall with a thud. She struggled against his grip, her heart hammering in her chest when she felt his fingers dig painfully into her arms.
Randy leaned down and whispered into her ear. "I know you still love me."
Funnily enough, it was that precise moment that she finally realized she didn't. She opened her mouth to reply but he was violently jerked away from her.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Randy turned to sneer at Phil.
"Nothing that concerns you, now fuck off.''
Phil let out a humourless laugh as he glared at the other man. ''It concerns me when you put your hands on her.''
Randy turned around to face him, an angry look twisting on his face. "Why? Everybody knows you have a thing for her... you jealous that I've fucked her and you haven't?''
Phil took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring angrily before he swung.
Randy was stunned as he went staggering back from the impact of the blow. His hand reached up to touch his jaw briefly before he lunged towards Phil.
It turned into a brawl as both men fell to the floor, scrambling around as they continually punched at each other
''Stop it!" Alexa shrieked, darting forward to desperately grab one of Randy's arms to stop him hurting her friend.
Unfortunately for her, she was standing too close and when Randy pulled back to hit him again he caught Alexa's face with his elbow. She stumbled back from the force of the blow and landed on the floor with a bump.
Randy stopped what he was doing immediately and turned around. A guilty expression came onto his face once he'd realized what he'd done.
''What the fuck is going on here?!" John boomed as he approached.
Phil's hair was dishevelled and the sleeve of his shirt had been ripped and Randy had a bloody lip. John's expression turned from angry to concerned when his gaze landed on Alexa. She was huddled in the corner, her hand clutching at her face as tears streamed down her cheeks.
''Randy. He tried - ''
John's jaw clenched as he glared at the man in question, silently wondering what the hell had happened to his old friend. Shaking his head, he moved over to Alexa and helped her to her feet. ''Let's get out of here.''
Phil had already stood and moved over to them, wrapping a comforting arm around her as they started to head towards the exit. They halted, however, when Alexa noticed John had left her side and was storming back towards Randy.
"John, don't, please."
Her words fell on deaf ears as John grabbed the other man by the shirt and had him slammed up against the wall. ''Now, you listen to me and you listen good. I don't know what the fuck is going on in that head of yours, and I don't fucking care. If you ever so much as look at her wrong again, I will end you... Got it?"
Randy stared at him stubbornly for a few seconds before eventually nodding, seeming to understand that the other man was deadly serious.
John nodded before releasing him and making his way back over to Phil and Alexa. "Are you alright?"
She nodded, gracing him with a small smile. ''Thank you... both of you.''
''Come on, let's go and find you some ice for that eye.''