Tuesday 9th April
Alexa's lungs burned as her legs pounded on the tarmac, music blasting into her ears through her headphones.
She had always loved running, it almost felt like flying.
Also, it gave her the opportunity to be alone with her thoughts without any distractions. The events of the previous night had really thrown her for a loop and she didn't know what to do. Should she leave Phil alone and let him deal with whatever it was that he was feeling or should she try to talk to him? How long had Phil been feeling that way? Should she tell Jon what had happened?
Her mind was full of all these questions and she just couldn't find the answer.
All she knew was that she didn't want to lose Phil as a friend, she had to figure out a way to fix this.
If someone had even given her a hint of what was about to happen, she would have just carried on running and never looked back.
''So, how long has it been going on?''
Those were the words that greeted her as she entered the hotel room, just coming back from her morning run. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she glanced over to Joe, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, the man pointedly avoiding her gaze. A sense of soul-numbing, overwhelming dread swept over her as he eyes drifted back to her boyfriend.
''How long has what been going on?''
He walked over to her, his expression cold as he shoved his phone in front of her. ''Don't play dumb, Lex.''
Her heart dropped when she saw a photo of Phil kissing her on the screen.
''Are you serious? You- you think I'm cheating on you? With Phil?'' She couldn't help but let out a small laugh of disbelief as she looked over at the Samoan. ''You too, huh?''
''Well, it sure fucking looks that way!'' He shot back angrily. ''So, how long has it been going on?''
''There is nothing going on!''
''Then why the fuck is there a photo of you kissing him all over the internet?!''
''He kissed me! I-''
''Look!'' He showed her the photo again. ''Doesn't exactly seem like you're fighting him off!''
''Where's Colby? He-''
''Why?'' He demanded with a sneer. ''You fucking him too?''
''I don't have to listen to this.'' She muttered, turning to storm out of the room, only for him to reach out and forcibly pull her back.
''Calm down, man.'' Joe spoke softly from the bed.
''You're not going anywhere until you tell me the fucking truth.'' He hissed.
''I am telling you the truth.'' Alexa swallowed the lump in her throat, glancing across at Joe uncertainly but getting nothing but a blank stare from the big man. ''There's nothing going on with Phil, okay? He kissed me, I pushed him away. End of story.''
''Bullshit.'' He shook his head. ''I knew, I fucking knew you two were too close to just be friends! I bet you asked for that angle between the two of you! All you've talked about these past few weeks is him, and how upset you are that he was being so distant. What happened, huh? Did he finally wake up and smell the roses? Did he cut you loose and you were so upset because you realized that you were stuck with me?''
''No! Jon, what the fuck? Stop-''
''I'm not going to stop, alright? I've done nothing wrong, you're the cheating whore here, not me!'' Jon roared angrily, his eyes dark with fury.
''Fuck you!'' She shouted, defensive anger overwhelming her.
''No, fuck you!'' He shot back. ''I fucking knew this was too good to be true! Why would anyone like you be interested in someone like me, huh? But now it makes sense, you were stringing us both along, keeping your options open... well, it's backfired, sweetheart, we're done.''
Alexa's heart was pounding in her chest as she gaped at him. ''Jon-''
He moved towards the door and yanked it open, stalking out of the room while she stood frozen, not quite believing what had just happened. It took a few moments for her brain to catch up with her body and she jerked after him, before a large hand clamped down on her shoulder.
''Don't.''
She had forgotten about Joe, turning to face him helplessly. ''What? I need to go after him, make him see that he's wrong and-''
''Is he?'' He asked, eyes steely as his hand dropped from her shoulder. ''He's just calling it how he sees it.''
''Joe-''
''Just leave him alone. If I were you, I'd get your stuff out of here and make sure you're not here when we come back.''
Alexa flinched at his harsh tone, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip until she tasted blood, refusing to let herself cry as she watched him follow after Jon, the door slamming shut behind him.
''You really need to slow down, we've got a show later.''
''So? I'm not wrestling, who cares?'' Alexa shrugged before gulping down another vodka shot from the mini-bar in Chris' hotel room.
After her confrontation with Jon, she had calmed herself down, packed up all her stuff, turned up at his door and promptly burst into tears. As always, the Canadian had comforted her without question, once again reminding her exactly why he was her best friend.
''What are you going to do?'' He rolled his eyes when she shrugged, quickly darting in front of her before she could grab another drink. ''No! You are cut off, young lady.''
Scowling, she was about to protest when there was a knock from outside, the blonde moving away from her to stride over to the door. She quickly grabbed another mini-bottle while he wasn't looking, unscrewing the lid as he swung open the door.
''Hey, man, I just went back to my room and I can't find anyone.'' Colby's voice floated inside. ''Is Lex with you?''
''Uh, yeah, come on in.''
Colby walked around the corner, his eyes immediately dropping to where Alexa sat on the floor, leaning against the wall by the mini-bar; several empty bottles discarded beside her.
''Hey, what...'' He trailed off, eyebrow raising as she swallowed her mouthful before dropping another empty bottle to the carpet. ''Are you drinking?''
''Yep.''
''It's not even lunch time!'' He cried incredulously. ''And we've got a show later, what the hell?''
''Have you been on Twitter today?'' She asked casually.
''No, I've been at the gym all morning.''
''What, no post-workout selfies today?'' Alexa scoffed, reaching for another drink.
''Okay!'' Chris chirped, moving forward and leaning down to pull the woman to her feet before guiding her over to the small sofa in the corner. ''No more booze for you.''
Colby followed them over, dropping down into the seat beside her, his eyes narrowing in confusion. ''What's going on?''
Chris grabbed his phone from his back pocket, pulling up one of the photos that was causing so much drama and dangling it in front of the younger man.
''What the fuck?'' Colby's eyes widened and he snatched the phone from the man's hand, squinting as he got a closer look.
''Jon broke up with me.'' She murmured quietly, her voice cracking at the end.
''What?!'' His eyes shot to hers. ''Didn't you explain what happened?''
''I tried, but he wouldn't listen. He thinks I've been seeing Phil behind his back... he called me a whore and asked if I was fucking you, too.'' She told him, her eyes starting to fill with tears. ''And Joe... he was just super rude and basically kicked me out of the room.''
Colby's jaw clenched, his blood boiling at the situation. ''This is bullshit! How could they- look, I'll speak to them and clear everything up. I saw the whole thing and-''
''And then what? Everything will go back to normal? They both instantly thought the worst of me, they didn't even wait to see what I had to say. I thought they both knew me better than that and for them to think I'd do something like that really fucking hurts. Especially from Jon, I...'' She shook her head sadly, trying not to cry again. ''I just want to get today over with so I can go home, okay?''
''What the fuck have you done, you stupid asshole?''
The angry cry, mixed with the slamming of the locker room door, drew Jon's attention from taping his wrists; the man looking up to find a furious Colby stalking across the locker room towards him. He had no time to speak as the Iowan lunged forward and grabbed him by the front of his vest, roughly yanking him from the chair and throwing him to the ground.
''What the hell, man?'' He exclaimed, quickly pulling himself to his feet.
''The only reason I'm not giving you a black eye right now is because we've got a show.'' He fumed, pacing angrily in front of him. ''You, my friend, have obviously suffered brain damage or something from all the shit you did in the indies, what the fuck is wrong with you?!''
''I'm guessing this is about Lex, huh? Listen-''
''No, you listen.'' He demanded. ''You have, quite possibly, just ruined the best thing that has ever happened to you. I know it looks pretty bad, but that photo you saw is not what it looks like.''
''Really?'' Jon sneered. ''Because it looks pretty obvious to me. My cheating slut of-''
The sound of a fist meeting a cheek rang out through the locker room, just as the door to the locker room opened again; Joe stepping inside just as Colby's punch landed.
''Hey!'' The Samoan darted forward, grabbing the man as he tried to swing at Jon again.
''She is not a slut!''
Jon just smirked as he lifted himself from the ground rubbing his sore cheek. ''Well, you would say that considering you've probably had a go too.''
''You fucking piece of shit!'' He yelled, face contorted in anger as he tried to lunge at him again, struggling in the big man's grip.
''Calm the fuck down, dude, come on.'' Joe dragged him backwards, keeping him still for a few moments before releasing him, happy he wouldn't go on the attack again. ''We're going out in fifteen. Lex is waiting by Gorilla, we have to keep this professional, alright?''
A disbelieving smirk curled at Colby's lips and he stepped back towards the door, facing the two men. ''I'm going to say this once, so you better get this into your fucking thick skull; Lex is not sleeping with Phil. I am not sleeping with her. The only person she's been sleeping with is you. Though, after this, you'll be lucky if she ever wants anything to do with you again.''
''I don't-''
''Shut the fuck up and let me finish!'' He bellowed, heaving out a sigh. ''Last night, when I went to see what was taking her so long, I saw her and Phil in the parking lot, arguing about something. She turned around to walk away, he grabbed her and kissed her. It was barely even a second before she shoved him off and slapped him. There is no... sordid affair, he kissed her.''
''The photos.'' Joe spoke softly. ''They, uh, they looked pretty-''
''I don't care. You should have listened to her side of the story before jumping to conclusions and calling your girlfriend a whore.''
Silence fell over the room as Colby walked out, Jon visibly starting to pale as his friends words sunk in and Joe hanging his head, both men realizing how badly they had screwed up.
Since she wasn't needed for the Smackdown taping, Alexa had been given to go ahead to leave after Main Event was over, which suited her just fine; all she wanted was to go home and drown her sorrows in a tub of Ben and Jerry's.
So, after accompanying the guys out for their match and her scripted altercation with The Funkadactyls, she headed straight back to the women's locker room, not stopping to talk to anyone and pointedly ignoring the stares she was getting from everyone around her. The photo was all over social media so it was no surprise that she was already the subject of backstage gossip, luckily, she was no stranger to this and found it quite easy to tune it out. They would soon find something, or someone else to talk about.
As soon as she entered the locker room it instantly fell quiet, everyone stopping their conversations and glancing over at her curiously. Nikki and Brie were over in the corner with Renee Paquette and one of the new girls she had met at Wrestlemania. Eva, if she remembered correctly. The twins both sent her a sympathetic smile before resuming their conversation, the newbie barely acknowledged her and Renee, who she had never even spoken to before, just looked at her in disdain.
Rolling her eyes, Alexa walked over to where she had dumped her bags earlier, ignoring April and Celeste, who were perched nearby.
''Are you okay?'' The former asked, sympathy written all over her face.
''I'll be fine.''
She quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before shoving her ring gear back into her case and zipping it up. Dropping her case on the floor, she pulled out the handle and forced out a smile.
''I guess I'll see you next week.''
''You're leaving?'' Celeste asked.
''Yeah, there's no point me staying. I'm not on the show and Jon...''
April's look of sympathy turned in to one of concern and she stood, stepping over to wrap her arms around her, Celeste soon joining them in a tight group hug.
''If you need anything, you know where we are.'' April mumbled softly.
Alexa almost smiled. ''Thanks, guys.''