Life tilts on its axis again that coming Wednesday. Ricardo is doing random things online to pass the time when a Twitter notification catches his eye and he almost drops his phone. "Alicia!" he calls down the hallway.
"Yeah?" she calls back from the bedroom.
"WWE just released a bunch of people!" A handful to start with, and his heart aches a little for those men and women. What a horrible time to lose your stability, he thinks, trailing his thumb over the screen.
Alicia is running into the room within moments and they sit anxiously side by side, watching the list slowly grow and grow and grow, deep into the afternoon. "God," she whispers, clinging to his hand as they wait and watch. "This is terrible."
"It is," he agrees quietly, hoping that his suspicions will be wrong. But then one particular refresh shows what he was fearing- Heath Slater has been released,we wish him well in...
"Oh no," Alicia gasps, hands going to her mouth. "Oh, poor Heath, and Maryse. The kids." She looks truly upset by this and Ricardo smooths his hand down her back, kissing her forehead. "We need to check the chat." She scrambles, finds her own phone and accesses the server they'd left up after Wrestlemania. It's empty, however, and her face falls.
He soothes her hair back out of her eyes and smiles at her sadly. More releases come, all impactful and painful in their own ways, and Ricardo exhales when Zack Ryder is one of the last ones announced to be let go. "Damn," he murmurs. "He and Heath..." He lays his phone down and stares out of the window for awhile. "It was probably dumb logic, but I always felt like... kindred with Zack and Heath, we were all kind of in the same place when I was in the company, wanting more and struggling to be seen for what we could actually do instead of the jokes the company tried to shoehorn us into being. You know?"
Alicia nods gently at him, taking his hands in hers and lightly rubbing his knuckles. "This is such an impossibly painful time."
"It is," he agrees. "Bizarre to think that none of us are in the company now." He shakes his head and leans into her. "I'll try calling Heath later, see if he wants to talk, or what. Even if he just wants to vent for awhile. I'll listen to all of it without interrupting." He laughs weakly. "For once."
"He'd probably appreciate that," she murmurs, running her fingers through his hair and rocking gently back and forth, a slow, subtle kind of comfort that he drifts off to after awhile, emotionally drained after the last couple of hours. Her eyes soften when she glances down at him, smiling softly and kissing his cheek. "You're a good man, Ricardo Rodriguez. We're all lucky to have you in our lives."
When he wakes up, the first thing he does is grab his phone and do just what he said he would, listening to Heath's gamut of emotions until he's talked himself out, sitting there gasping in a way that makes Ricardo think he's crying. "I'm so sorry, Heath," he says softly. "I know everything feels overwhelming right now, but you're not alone. Anything we can do for you, just ask. ok?"
Heath shudders out a breath. "Thanks, Ricardo," he forces out. "For listenin' and everything. It means a lot."
"Any time," he vows. They hang up a few minutes later and Ricardo sighs slowly, turning his gaze back out the window, trying to ground himself after such an emotionally wearying day. When Alicia joins him with some sandwiches and tea, her eyes soft and gentle, he turns and smiles at her, feeling things slowly ease within him. "What would I do without you?" he wonders and she shrugs, dismissively.
"You'll never have to find out," she tells him with a small smile, cupping his jaw and kissing him. "Now eat."
"Yes, ma'am," he murmurs, smiling at her as he follows her orders.
