Author Note: I'm completely blown away by the reception I got from the first chapter. Thank you so much for it. I do not own WWE. The only thing I own is my OC Savannah and the story itself. Onto Chapter 2 and let me know what you think.
Thanks goes to: Daken's sister, xXxShonxXx, endlesslycountingstars, Amnbama, Lbecter3, Krys Jericho, Ortongirl1993, abitoflightreading, takerschick, mofee, Countryliving Girl, jbrooksx4, caitlynxox, SUK87, and audrey. .58 for becoming followers to this story.
Thanks also goes to: xXxShonxXx, Seth rollins babe, Guest, Krys Jericho, takerschick, Guest, and Ctina(Guest) for the wonderful reviews.
Chapter 2: Conflicting Turmoil
Driving across the city in the direction of the hotel wasn't exactly spent without thinking. How could I not think about the events of my life? Seth's sudden appearance was the last thing I expected. I was slightly feeling guilty for just walking out on him and it brought back the memory of the last time we had spoken. Looking back at it now, Seth had been completely right about Roman and it infuriated me that I hadn't listened. It would have saved my heart in the end.
The sound of my phone vibrating against the material of the cup holder, snapped me out of my own thoughts. I knew I shouldn't even look at it while I was driving; but felt that maybe it was important. Picking up the device and looking at the screen, I realized that it was just a text message. One that could wait until I got back to the hotel.
The warm Florida air blew through my hair from the open window as I drove down the freeway. The sun had finally set completely and the stars were brightly shinning up in the night sky. I absolutely loved coming to Florida. It always left me with some fond memories to hold onto, despite the fact that I could no longer share them with Roman.
Pulling off, I turned into the large crowded parking lot and found the first open space to put my car. Picking my phone back up, I opened the message. It had been from my good friend Krystle. She was an upcoming backstage interviewer. She also had a lot of baggage from the past, maybe even more than I did. "What's up girl? You left early! Everything okay?" The message read.
"I'm fine. No need to worry. I just got back to the hotel." I quickly typed and sent.
Tucking it into the side pocket of my gym back, I opened the door and stepped outside into the night air. Reaching into the back, I took hold of my travel bag with my wrestling gear inside and pulled it along with me as I proceeded towards the front doors. Another chime alerted me to another message, which I ignored. I'd look at it when I got into the privacy of my room.
It didn't take me long to get there, I snuck around the gathering crowds in the lobby and quickly got into the elevator. Seth's sympathetic expression flashed before my eyes, giving my heart an unnecessary jolt in pace. I supposed that I probably should have let him say what he needed to, because now I was curious as to what he had to say.
Fumbling with my keys, I finally unlocked my door and slipped inside pretty much unseen by anyone. The room was simple. A full sized bed lay in the center of the room. A TV sat on the inside of large entertainment center with doors slightly open. An oversized chair hung out on the other side of the room, not really fitting in with the rest of the décor.
I tossed my bags on the chair and grabbed my phone, intending to answer Krystle back. When I actually looked at my screen there was more than one message waiting for my attention. Roman's name was a part of the list and I hesitated in reading what he had to say. He may have said that he still cared about me; but if that was the case, he never would have left me in the first place. It truly pissed me off to think about it.
"Are you sure? Sasha mentioned how upset you were tonight..." Krystle answered, obviously wanting to get inside my head a little.
"Roman came up with this lame ass excuse as to why he left me and my match was cut to make room for a promo. I'm not exactly thrilled with how things of going right now." I replied honestly trying not to sound like I was yelling, which was hard to do when it was written words.
My finger lingered on Roman's name, contemplating whether or not to open the message at all. Did I really want to read anything that could make me feel even less about myself than I already did? Nope, not really. Of course, I'm an idiot and opened it anyway. "I'm sorry about your match getting cut." It read. Not what I was expecting; but not what I wanted to hear either.
"Don't worry about it. It's not your problem." I shot back.
I tossed my phone onto the bed and began to strip out of my clothes. I was sticky with sweat. The only thing I wanted was a nice hot shower. I walked straight into the bathroom and turned the knobs for the water to start pouring from the facet before I switched it over to spray from the shower-head.
Pretty soon the steam from the hot water started to cloud the room in a hazy mist. Stripping down the rest of the remaining clothing, I stepped under the hot spray. The feeling of the water beating down on my skin was heavenly and much needed. Closing my eyes, Seth's face invaded my mind once again. It got me thinking about the last time we spoke again.
"Sav, he's not good for you." Seth stated resting his hands on both of my shoulders.
"Seth, come on! You're being ridiculous." I replied pushing his hands away.
"Am I? You've been blinded by his tender nature. I wish you could see that it's all just an act."
The anger was swelling in the pit of my stomach. The Seth before me wasn't the same man I knew. I couldn't tell if he was really looking out for me or if it was because he didn't like Roman. Him breaking away from 'The Shield' had turned ugly between the three of them and I had been caught in the middle, trying to keep as much peace as possible.
Roman didn't exactly like that I had kept my friendship with Seth. He would have rather seen me walk away like he did; but I just couldn't do that. Seth was a good friend or at least I thought he was. I was so confused as to why his current behavior was coming out. "I've been with him for how long now. If it was an act, don't you think I would have seen that by now?" I asked taking a single step back away from him.
"God, he's going to break you heart and you don't see that I'm trying to help you."
"He's not going to hurt me, Seth."
"Maybe it's just best if I just walk now. I don't want to see the shattered look on your face when he tears your heart out."
"You're not serious are you?"
When I looked at him closer, I realized that he was dead serious. He reached out to brush the back of his hand against the warm skin of my cheek before turning away. He was really going to walk out on our friendship because of Roman. I guessed that I really couldn't blame him. I hadn't really listened to anything he said, because I didn't want to believe that it could be true. "Goodbye Savannah..."
Opening my eyes once again, I was still naked under the hot spray of water. The memory tightened my chest harshly. Nine months later, he comes back wanting to apologize. I couldn't decide if I believed him or not. He had hurt me that day. There were days where I really could have used his advice. Now my career was failing and I seriously doubted that anyone could help me with that, not even him.
Running a hand over my wet hair, I finished cleaning up and quickly shut the cooling water off. Sliding the curtain over, I slipped the large fluffy black towel around my body and stepped out of the tub. Not caring to get dressed, I fell back onto the bed taking my phone into my hand. I once again had unanswered messaged.
"I understand. You know I'm here if you need anything." I smiled upon reading the words. Of course, I knew that she was there for me if I ever needed anything.
"Maybe not; but I'm sorry about it." Roman answered.
I figured those were the only ones I had; but I was wrong. There was another one. My heart jumped at the sight of the same. Seth. I was surprised that he still had my number and even more surprised that he actually used it to send me a message at 11:00 at night. Pressing my shaking finger down upon the screen to open the words, I held my breath. "I'd really like talk with you. How long are you in Orlando for?"
I honestly didn't know what to do at this point. He had completely caught me off guard. I wanted to move on with my life now that Roman wasn't a part of it and maybe mending this friendship was a step in the right direction. Forcing my body back further up the bed so my head could rest on the pillow, I began to type my answer. "I leave Wednesday morning for Atlanta. Smackdown is being tapped here as well tomorrow night."
"Good! Maybe we could work out a little then have lunch...like we used to."
"I'll meet you at the Performance Center at 9:30. I'll think about lunch."
The wounds were still there, nagging at my conscious and forcing me to remember just how much it hurt. I wasn't going to make it easy for him to just apologize and then act like things never happened the way they had. Getting up from the bed, I grabbed the nearest pair of shorts and a tank out of my open bag. It was starting to get chilly now that my hair was wet and clinging to me. "Okay, I'll see you then. Goodnight."
I didn't bother to answer back. Pulling the blankets back, my tired body crawled into the bed. Reaching across the table to turn the lamp off, I snuggled back down into the pillow. My mind continued to race with thoughts about what he would say. Would he really mean it? Would he want to know what happened between Roman and I? Could I even tell him that? So many questions and not enough time to really think about all of them.
The next morning I awoke to the sound of someone pounding on my door. Rubbing my eyes, I cursed whoever had the nerve to wake me up before I needed to. Dragging my still stiff legs across the room, my hand pulled at the handle, opening the door to reveal Becky standing there with a wide smile upon her lips.
Her wavy orange red hair was tossed up into a high ponytail, only laying across her back. She was dressed a pair of running shorts and a light blue tank top with pink trim along the edges. The smile faded fairly quickly when her doe colored eyes took a single glance at me. I knew I looked awful, jeez it was 7:30 in the morning. "What the hell Becky? What gives?" I groaned leaving the door open for her to follow me back inside.
"Sorry...I was just worried about you."
"What's with everyone being so concerned about me? I'm fine."
She put a hand to her hip, clearly not believing a single word I said. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was there to keep an eye on me. She sat down on the edge of the bed, resting her small hands on her lap. "You know I don't believe that. I applaud you for hiding your pain so well; but it's okay to be upset about what happened."
"I am upset; but I also don't need to be moping around bawling my eyes out over it. It was his decision to leave me...not the other way around."
Becky already knew how I felt about it. It's already been several weeks since the break up and it still felt fresh to me. There was no need to dive into more details about things she already knew. The fact that Dean was still angry over his best friend's decision meant that he hadn't move on from it yet either. "I'm sorry that I just up and left last night...I just needed some time to think." I stated pulling my workout clothes out of the bag on the chair.
"Where did you even go?"
"The Performance Center, which is where I'll be headed to in a little while."
She raised a questioning eyebrow at me. Normally I'd just hang out with her and Sasha for any free time we had before a show. She must have caught on that wasn't going to be the case today. Course, I didn't really want to tell her why just yet. Seth's re-emergence wouldn't sit well with her or with Sasha for that matter.
Stepping into the bathroom, I started to get dressed into the clothes that were in my hand. Looking into the mirror, my reflection stared straight back at me. Wavy light brown hair, soft hazel eyes, small nose and full lips. I could almost feel the way Roman would wrap his arms around me from behind and hear the way he'd whisper how beautiful I was in my ear. Looking at me now, I just didn't see it anymore.
"Why are you going there today?" Becky asked curiously.
"Going to work out...maybe ask the trainers advice about my failing career."
"You're career isn't failing, Savannah."
Peaking back out of the bathroom, I looked at her like she was crazy. She smiled and moved across the room to join me. Her hands came to my shoulders, pressing gently on them. "We will figure something out. You are too good not to notice."
I wanted to smile at her attempt to cheer me up; but I simply couldn't. I've heard it all before. Not just from her. No one could help what the boss' don't want to see. The thought of retiring had crossed my mind on multiple occasions since the break up. My friends seemed to be the only reason as to why I haven't yet. "I hate to cut this short; but if I intend to get there at a decent time, I need to get going. Traffic is going to be a bitch."
"Gotcha. I'll see you later. Oh and there will be a small gathering at my place tonight, nothing major...you know how I am about leaving Orlando."
"Yeah I know."
This time I smiled. She lived in Orlando since coming to the WWE. Her place was fairly big considering it was a crowded city. Her parties usually resulted in noise complaints from the neighbors, which were slightly entertaining to watch. My only hope was that Roman didn't decide that he wanted to attend. I honestly didn't think I could handle that.
Separating at the door, I walked down the hall towards the waiting elevator while she moved on in the opposite direction. My stomach flip flopped several times before getting to the lobby. Nervous tendencies were creeping their way into me. There was really nothing to be nervous about. It was just a work out session with someone I've known for years. I had to remind myself that it was someone who had walked away from a lengthy friendship over my love life decisions.
"Oh Savanna, what are thinking?" I questioned myself out loud.
The drive to the Performance Center was not as long as I thought it was going to be. Traffic was actually quite mild compared to most days. I took a moment to take a deep breath and calm down before walking into something I was totally unprepared for. Once I gathered my wits about me, I opened the car door with my bag in hand.
Looking ahead at the building, I swallowed the lump caught in my throat. Clenching the bag in my hand harder, I started to walk towards the front door. The thousands of unanswered questions returned to cloud any rational thought I had left. My hand took hold of the cold handle of the door and pulled it open.
"Here we go..." I whispered before I allowed myself to step inside.
End Note: Krystle belongs to fellow author Krys Jericho. Thanks for allowing me to use her!