Chapter Six

Jon led Chasity into a small diner along the strip. By this time it was well past dinner time, so it wasn't very busy. As a result it didn't take the hostess very long to seat them at a table toward the back of the dining room. Despite the fact it was after peak hours, Jon had still requested a table toward the back just in case. He'd never had a fan bother him while he was eating but he wasn't about to chance it; not when he was catching up with an old friend. He had to make sure he and Chasity were able to have this conversation as soon as possible.

Jon slid into the booth the hostess led them to, as Chasity slid in on the opposing side of the table, directly across from Jon. They looked at the menu silently. Pushing her menu away, Chasity decided she wanted chicken wings and a glass of water. "Are you ready to order already," Jon questioned. He had caught her putting down the menu as he glanced over the edge of his own menu. Chasity nodded, folding her hands on the table top in front of her.

Jon quickly selected his food of choice and closed his menu just as their waitress approached their table. "Hello, I'm Sara, and I'll be serving you tonight," the young girl said, making some type of notation on her notepad. "Are you guys ready to order, or do you need a little more time?"

"I'm ready, but I'm not sure he is," Chasity said, eying Jon.

Pushing his menu toward the center of the table he nodded and looked up at Sara. "I'm ready."

"Alright, what can I get for you," she asked. She was focused on Chasity.

"I'll just have the chicken wing platter and a glass of water, please." Sara nodded.

"And for you," she questioned, eying Jon. Jon stacked his menu on top of Chasity's and laid them in front of Sara.

"I'll have the steak and mashed potatoes with a diet coke, please." Sara nodded and scribbled down Jon's order. She picked up the menus Jon had left in front of her.

"I'll be back with your drinks if a few minutes," she told them walking away from the table.

Jon turned his focus to Chasity, who was focused on her folded hands. Jon rested his hand over top of Chasity's folded ones, grabbing her attention. "Okay, so let's start catching up a bit, shall we?" Chasity swallowed and nodded.

"Sure." Jon smiled reassuringly at her.

"Okay, so the last time we saw each other I was just getting started with my wrestling career and you were…" Jon trailed off, remembering what she had been going through the last time they saw each other and how hard Chasity had taken it. Suddenly everything she had done up to this point start falling into place and making sense.

Chasity cringed at the mention of the worst time period in her life. While her best friend was off making a name for himself and starting his career, Chasity was trying to find a way to deal with the fact one of her mom's "boyfriends" had raped her; and on top of that, her mother didn't even seem to care. Jon squeezed her still folded hands. "I know it's not a fun memory, I'm sorry for mentioning it." Chasity gave him a reassuring smile to assure him she was okay with it.

"It's still a rough memory, but I've done my best to work my way passed it over the last several years." She looked away from him, picking at her nails. "It's been hard, but I've made some small progress."

They fell silent as the waitress brought back their drinks and told them their meals would be out shortly. Chasity took a long drink from her glass of water while waiting for the waitress to walk away again. "So, means you mentioned it, I'll ask. How's your wrestling going? I know you made it into the WWE, but have you won any gold yet?" If there was one thing Chasity missed about their friendship it was watching Jon train in the squared circle. Every time he stepped between the ropes you could see just how much he loved it; he was always right at home in the squared circle. The smile that graced Jon's face told her nothing about that had changed in the ten years they had lost contact.

"Well, what's the last thing you remember hearing about?" Chasity thought about it for a minute.

"Last thing I remember hearing was that you had been signed by WWE and would be joining their developmental ranks in Florida under a new ring name." Jon chuckled.

"Wow! That was back a couple years; two-thousand-eleven, if I remember correctly. A lot has taken place since then." Jon paused as Sara set their plates down on the table in front of them and left again. Jon cut into his steak and took a bite. Swallowing, he took a sip of his water before continuing. "I had made my way around the Indie scene, successfully, might I add, for about six-in-a-half years. I did a few dark matches and one minor TV appearance for WWE in two-thousand-six. At one point I thought they were going to sign me, but then that whole drug thing came out, and the guy I had been talking to go fired. After that, it all died down and nothing major came long for a few years. Then they contacted me again about signing in two-thousand-eleven." Jon paused for another bite of his steak and sip of water.

Chasity allowed Jon's words to sink in. She remembered hearing him talk about wanting to make it big in the wrestling business. Just watching him, Chasity never doubted he could fulfill that dream. Swallowing the sip of water she just took to wash down a fry, she smiled at him. "Oh yeah, and how has it been going since then? I heard about you signing, but I've never gotten a chance to watch any of the programming. Obviously, you know I was working nights," Chasity said, as Jon's trademark smirk spread across his face, ignoring her comment about working nights. He didn't want to discuss that right now.

"You are looking at, and sharing dinner with, the WWE's current United States Champion." Chasity's smile spread across her face.

"Oh my goodness, that's awesome! Congrats!" Jon smiled.

"Thanks. I will admit it wasn't as easy as I made it sound. When they first contacted me again in two-thousand-eleven, I was hesitant because it fell through the last time, but I signed my WWE contract in April two-thousand-eleven, and made my way to their developmental program on May twenty-seventh. I didn't debut on TV until July third, and didn't make my official in-ring debut until August fourteenth, against my now tag partner, Colby Lopez; who's ring name is Seth Rollins." Knowing he was throwing a ton of information at her, Jon paused to take another bite of his food and snag a sip of water to wash it down while Chasity processed the information.

"I was in developmental until September of last year when they pulled me to the main roster, where I wrestled in dark matches against other random guys. They were trying to find some type of storyline to place me in so I could make my TV debut as a singles competitor, but it never materialized, so I stayed in dark matches until November of last year when WWE's creative team finally came up with the stable idea, placing me with Colby and our other teammate, Joe Anoa'i; who goes by Roman Reigns in the ring. Together, the three of us make up The Shield." Again Jon paused to eat more of his food while Chasity took in the information.

Chasity loved hearing the pride dripping from Jon's voice as he relived his career thus far. She finished of her meal as she awaited Jon to continue. Putting his glass back down he cleared his throat. "We made our television debut at last November's Survivor Series, interfering in the main event to help the champion retain his title. Our first match as a team was at December's Pay-per-view, TLC: Table, Ladders and Chairs. They put us in a six-man tag tables, ladders, chairs gimmick match. We managed to defeat our opponents and we stayed undefeated until June." Jon paused for the final time to finish off his dinner and take another sip of water. "In May at the monthly pay-per-view, Extreme Rules, they had me win the United States Championship, while Joe and Colby took the tag titles. We've been champions since, and now we're working with Paul Levesque; who goes by Triple H in the ring, Randy Orton, Bryan Danielson; who is Daniel Bryan in the ring, and Paul White, otherwise known as The Big Show to the fans," Jon finally finished.

Chasity smiled. "Wow! You've had an awesome career so far. And if I remember correctly from when I watched with you, Triple H, Big Show, Orton, they're all main eventers. Already in the main event picture and you only just got started," she said, winking at him. "I'm glad you're living out your dream." Jon smiled.

"To confirm it, yes, they are, or were, all main eventers. Triple H married Stephanie McMahon back in two-thousand-three. A couple years ago they named him to a managerial position, so now he does rare matches, and just basically handles the behind the scenes stuff," he confirmed for her. "Oh, and thanks, I'm glad I made it here, too. I'm obviously hoping I go to the top one day, but for now I'm just content being in the WWE because two-in-a-half years ago, I honestly didn't even think they knew or cared that I existed." Jon paused for a moment before continuing. "And now; now I'm working with some of the biggest names in the business and alongside the bosses; which is always a positive sign. Shows they clearly trust Colby, Joe and I to go the extra mile and take over where they left off in their careers, or they wouldn't have chosen us to help in this storyline." Chasity nodded as the table fell silent.

Chasity sat with her hand holding up her head as they each finished off their drinks. Sara brought the check over and Jon snatched it off the table before Chasity even had a chance to lift a finger. "I'll get this. You relax for a minute. I can tell you're exhausted. I'll pay this and then take you home so you can get some sleep," Jon said getting up from the table and heading to the front counter to pay the bill. He wanted to hear about the last ten years of her life, but she was clearly ready to fall asleep at the table and he knew he had time for that. Everything didn't have to be covered in one night because if he had it his way he was gonna make sure they stayed in touch. He meant it when he said he'd help her out until she got back on her feet, and that would require staying in touch, so they would have plenty of time to catch up at a later time. Tonight he had to get her home to her bed so she didn't fall asleep at the diner's table.

Jon paid the bill then went back to the table to help Chasity out of her seat. He wrapped his arm around her and allowed her to lean her head on his shoulder to keep her upright. "Let's get you home before you fall asleep at the table," Jon chuckled, leading her out of the diner. He allowed her to shift her weight so she could still lean on him while directing him toward her place so she could get some sleep.