Chapter 20

"You all right, lass?"

Tonight was not the night she was going to be left alone. Drew was outside, leaning against the building getting some much-needed fresh air. That announcement of Joe's had shaken the locker room to its very core. He wasn't a smoker, but on occasion, he would chew some fine loose-leaf tobacco. Currently, he had a bit in his mouth and turned sideways to look down at Tressa, who had tears streaming down her face.

"No, no you're not."

He reached out to catch a tear on his thumb before pulling his hand away. Of course not, she was the unofficial mascot of the Shield, everyone knew it, she was one of the 'group' with them. From her reaction, from all their reactions, Joe hadn't told any of them anything at all, this had been sprung on them along with the rest of the world all at the same time. Tressa had some run-ins with Andrew, but it was all friendly and he no longer intimidated her. He was currently dressed in a pair of his trunks and a t-shirt that looked painted on.

"No, no I'm not." She agreed solemnly, trembling while taking a drag of her cigarette and leaned her head back against the building, looking up at the sky shaking her head. Why was this happening? Joe was one of the NICEST human beings she'd ever had the privilege of knowing, of befriending! Just like her husband, he didn't deserve this! "Damn it…"

Drew stooped to catch that cigarette when her shaking hand dropped it. A bit amazed and a whole lot impressed with himself when he pinched the butt perfectly between his thumb and forefinger. He hadn't burnt himself or crushed it, tonight was definitely not a normal night. He held it out to her silently, watching as she took it and placed it immediately back between her quivering lips.

"Are you going to be able to work tonight, Tressa?" He asked gently, knowing those shaking hands of hers were not going to mix well with a sewing machine.

This poor woman needed to go back to her hotel.

Honestly, she wasn't sure and really wished Joe would have given her, Jon, and Colby a heads up before he went in front of millions to announce he had a life-threatening disease. Sighing heavily, she slowly nodded and clenched her hand in a ball to rest over her breaking heart, letting the smoke slowly filter out of her nostrils. Her hand stopped shaking after a few more drags and Tressa's eyes slowly opened, not expecting Andrew to be standing right in front of her or his hand reaching out to cup the side of her face gently. Christ, his hand was huge and she took another deep breath for a completely different reason.

"I'm okay." She assured him quietly, seeing the concern written on his face, and cracked a sad smile.

He could probably wrap both his hands around her face and his fingers may just touch the back of her head; he had long fingers and she was tiny. He liked that, her being tiny, he was like any other male and enjoyed the dominance his sheer size alone usually garnered for him, especially with smaller people and small women. They also usually enjoyed being dominated, they found it exciting and overwhelming. Maybe not in moments like these however and he took exactly one small, measured step backward to give her a bit of space.

"You sure?" That smile said otherwise; it was a miserable, sad, fake smile.

"Y-Yeah…yeah, thanks for asking, Andrew." Tressa went to head back inside, but he reached out to wrap his hand around her upper arm, stopping her from leaving.

"I need to ask you something, lass."

Frowning, Tressa turned to slowly look up at him and felt his hand leave her upper arm. He'd only done it to stop her from leaving, not to hurt her. She had to keep reminding herself of that whenever she was around this huge man. "What is it, Andrew?" She asked curiously, folding her arms in front of her chest. "You can ask me anything."

He smiled somewhat sheepishly, sliding fingers through his long black hair. "Anything, huh? Well, I was wondering if ye might wanna have dinner with me tonight. Ye look like you could use an outing after receiving that horrible news." His accent was thicker than normal tonight, his tone lower. "What say you, lass?"

Andrew was asking her out on a date? "I-I'm married, Andrew…" She held up her hand, trying like hell to keep her voice steady and the diamond ring on her left ring finger sparkled back at him. "I'm going to have to decline, but thank you anyway." Tressa hadn't taken her ring off, not ready for that step quite yet, not even being with Jon. "I really have to head back inside. Have a nice night." She scurried through the door before Andrew could say much more and went back to her table, trying to push aside the uneasy feeling Andrew gave her outside.

Drew watched as she hauled her cookies like it was lit on fire, shaking his head. Married. Of course. And she was obviously one of THOSE types, the kind who didn't cheat and there were plenty of those in this business. A rare gem was Tressa then. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, wondering if pursuing a married woman would be worth it, and then shook his head. No, probably not. Well, at least not right now, not when she was obviously having issues because of Joe's announcement on top of her marriage. Drew doubted she'd fall to his charms with both those things looming over her.

"You okay?" Tabitha asked quietly when Tressa finally made it back to the sewing station, knowing how hard hearing about Joe must have hit the other woman. She still looked pale and sick to her stomach. "If you need to take off, Suzanne and I got this."

"I'm okay."

It wasn't Joe's announcement that had her insides quaking and she knew it. Tressa wouldn't say anything, however, because Andrew hadn't given her any inclination he meant to hurt her. He really was a nice guy and she sighed, knowing she had to get her head on straight. Leaving the arena without Jon wasn't an option; she couldn't begin to imagine what he was going through after hearing Joe's announcement.

What nobody knew was that night, Vince had forced the issue of Jon to turn heel against Colby, after their Tag Team match to win the titles. Jon had beaten the holy living crap out of Colby, even delivering 'Dirty Deeds' on the hard concrete after pulling the protective mat up, just to add insult to injury. Tressa looked up, not knowing what was happening, and watch as Jon STALKED down the hallway, no shirt on, black cargo pants, and a pissed-off expression on his face.

What the hell happened?

Colby was wheeled backstage, both for show and because the concrete was not forgiving and Jon in his anger might've oversold the move. Jon had whispered apologies profusely in his ear out there and Colby had reassured him he was fine, shaken the hell up, but fine. To prove it, he rolled off the stretcher as soon as he could, catching himself on the wall. He didn't even need to ask if Jon was around, he already knew his friend had probably taken off to vent some anger or something.

"Damn it…" He groaned, wondering what the hell was Vince's damage. This night hadn't been good to anyone at all and for Vince to pull that shit, after Joe's announcement…Vince was lucky Jon hadn't performed 'Dirty Deeds' on HIS old ass.

They had won the Tag Team championships, but then Jon had turned on Colby during their celebration in the ring. Colby had hugged him and Jon had lashed out, destroying his Tag Team partner. Where did that leave them as champions? Vince had lost his mind to do it THIS night, but it was also brilliant. Evil and brilliant. The emotions the crowd felt were already at an all-time high and WWE had been teasing Jon's turn for weeks. If they were going to do it, now was the time and that was Vince's logic. Tressa looked up at Tabitha spotting Colby and she was out of her chair instantly, seeing he was holding his head.

"You need to go to the trainer, Colbs." She murmured, seeing he was holding onto the wall to keep himself standing straight. "You've got a cut on your forehead…" Maybe that was why Jon had reacted the way he did, stalking down the hallway. She didn't know.

"I'm fine." Colby grunted, pushing her away gently but firmly, and headed to his locker room, needing a shower. A technician jogged up, handing him the tag belts and Colby lost it, beginning to cry as he tossed them to the side before storming off.

"Shit."

"If he's like that," Suzanne said quietly, joining the other two women and began fidgeting with her hands. "How's Jon?" She bet he wasn't happy at all with the way this night had played out. "God…tonight's just been terrible all the way around." She sighed, shaking her head, and turned to get back to finish cleaning up her station.

Thank god the night was over.

Jon was destroying the room he had taken over. Vince was an evil prick. Joe was leaving to fight leukemia again. He had just hurt his other best friend. Growling, he picked up a chair and hurled it at the wall.

Tressa frowned, not sure how to answer Suzanne and wanted to go to him, but she knew how volatile Jon's temper could be. Instead, Tressa decided to leave him alone for the moment and cleaned up her station, trying to wrap her mind around everything that transpired tonight. Joe's announcement, Jon turning heel on Colby, and the uneasy feeling Andrew gave her. She was ready for a drink and bed, wondering if Jon would even join her at the hotel tonight or if he'd go blow off some steam somewhere else. She didn't even know where to begin looking for him in the arena since there was a good chance he wasn't in his dressing room…the same dressing room he shared with Joe.

"Let's go." Jon snorted when Tressa nearly jumped out of her skin, watching her ass go about a foot in the air. He had grabbed his belongings and had an unlit cigarette dangling from his bottom lip, ready to bail and light it up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, kitten." He offered her a humorless smile, her hand over her heart, he bet it was going a mile a minute. Tonight was just not anyone's night. "I need a drink, darlin', how about you?"

"Just…give me a minute, fuck." Tressa hadn't been scared like that in a while and was sure she was having heart palpitations. "Christ Jon, wear a bell or something!" She snapped, not meaning to, but tonight was not the night to do something like that. "And yeah, I could use several drinks. Goodnight ladies, see you tomorrow." She waved at Suzy and Tabby on their way out, leaving her alone with Jon, who had his bag slung over his shoulder and he was still bare from the waist up. "Not gonna put a shirt on, Daddy?"

"Not tonight, Kitten," He didn't apologize for scaring her again, and he didn't expect her to apologize for snapping. It had been totally warranted. "Vince McMahon is a cocksucker." He growled once they were outside the building, instantly lighting that cigarette up, and glanced down at her. "I'm pretty sure I got Colby a lot harder than I meant to." He KNEW he had, and now he was going to have to grovel to one of his best friends, once he was off his period.

Or let Colby have a chance at whipping his ass, something along those lines.

"I'm sure Colby understands. Emotions were running high tonight and if the roles were reversed, he probably would've hammered you harder than necessary too." Tressa reasoned, hearing Jon snort at that, and shrugged, walking beside him while he smoked his cigarette. She surmised Vince was responsible for Jon turning heel on Colby and silently agreed he was a cocksucker for doing it the same night Joe announced his diagnosis. "If you want to be alone tonight, all you have to do is say so, Jon. I'm here for you though, whatever you need."

Jon cocked an eyebrow down at her, wondering if she understood what the potential implications of that one little offer were in his current mood. He wrapped his arm around her, pulled her into him, and blew smoke out the side of his mouth away from her. "What I need, Kitten, is to take you back to the room and fuck your sweet ass into the mattress." He informed her, his intense pale blues searching her face intently. "Any objections?"

"Now, how many times do I have to tell you my ass is off limits? You can fuck me in the mattress all you want, but not my ass." Tressa smirked, knowing she was being a smartass, and laughed when Jon lifted her over his shoulder, smacking her backside firmly with his hand. "Jon!" She squealed out, knowing that would be a LONG way down if he accidentally dropped her and clung to his back. "You do have a great ass, by the way."

"So do you, darlin'," He was palming said ass vigorously. "You sure I can't have this ass? MY ass?" He drawled, carrying her towards the rental. "You might even like it." He had worshipped every last inch of Tressa, minus that one sacred space. Which, he respected, ass play and anal sex weren't for everyone. Laughing, he felt her shifting and lowered her until she was riding his hip, nuzzling her nose with his.

He was already feeling better.

Another month passed by in the blink of an eye.

November drifted into December, making it nearly 2 months since Joe's departure from WWE. Jon had tried calling him, but the man's wife told him Joe wasn't taking phone calls at the moment. That made Jon in a sour mood, to put it mildly. He hadn't left Tressa alone and the sex had gotten…somewhat violent. It was nothing Tressa couldn't handle, however, and she knew Jon needed to vent his frustration on her willing body. Bruising was about the only aftermath she didn't particularly enjoy, but it was nothing a hot bath/shower couldn't fix.

For the third time, the court date had been continued until 2019 with Joseph's family and Clementine told her the judge was giving the family ample time to come to their senses. They had no leg to stand on, no matter how badly they wanted to fight the system. She was positive Tressa would win this, no doubts in her mind because her client was a FAITHFUL, LOYAL wife to Joseph, even though Terri kept claiming she committed infidelity against her son. The woman would stop at NOTHING to win this case and Clementine told Tressa to take a deep breath because they had a long fight ahead of them that would result in destroying his entire family for putting her through this. Because now they were going to sue Joseph's family for slander, especially since Terri had brought WWE into the picture. Luckily, it hadn't gotten to the point where the company had to get involved, but she basically blamed Tressa's job for her son's death.

It was TLC – Tables, Ladders & Chairs – and Jon was going against Colby for the Intercontinental championship. Jon had spun this tale leading up to the pay-per-view about being a germaphobe. He had gone to Stephanie, after freaking out over another cut, and she had given them the idea to incorporate his…issues into the feud. There was one backstage promo where Jon actually BURNED his Shield vest in a trashcan right next to a beautiful vehicle, which was incredibly hot. Tressa had caught it on a monitor on her way from catering and stopped to listen, to watch him. Needless to say, she attacked Jon in his dressing room, going after the rules they had set for themselves, and let him fuck her in the arena, in his dressing room, against the door.

Tonight was the payoff, the match that would show Jon was superior to Colby since he was winning.

Sure enough, 'Dirty Deeds' led him to his third Intercontinental title reign and Tressa had actually put a monitor in their makeshift office to watch the match. She couldn't take her eyes off it, alongside Tabitha and Suzanne, all the women caught up with their work for the night. Tressa was extremely proud of him, though she wished it wasn't at Colby's expense this happened. Jon had made amends with him, they were good, but it still didn't make it any easier for them to face off against each other. She pulled away from the monitor and caught Jon's eye as he passed by their section, the look on his face telling her to follow him. Suzanne and Tabitha knew what was going on between them, both giggling, and ordered her to follow that delectable hunk of meat. Their exact words. Laughing, Tressa saluted them and took off to join Jon, not seeing a pair of cool blue eyes watching her from somewhat of a distance.

They watched as she was yanked into Jon's dressing room and the sounds coming from behind that door…made the watcher's blood boil. So she was married and no better than anyone else on the roster, cheating on her spouse with a wrestler behind closed doors. Clenching his fists at his sides, Drew stalked away to go mull this over in his head, deciding maybe he would give it another shot with Tressa since she was a cheating whore, after all. If she could fuck Dean Ambrose, in his dressing room, she could give him the same treatment.

Dean Ambrose was a bloody animal and the more Drew thought about it, the more irate he became. He had been courteous to the woman, friendly, and even offered her assistance a time or two, but she had insisted on putting a wedge there. Why? He was better than Ambrose, in ALL ways!

Maybe she liked being treated like a bitch, because Ambrose was no better than a dog.