"How are you doing, amigo?" Alberto asks on Sunday afternoon, squeezing his shoulder. He hadn't seen a lot of him since Friday, Ricardo leaving his house not long after brunch, needing to run errands with Alex to keep things at their apartment running smoothly while they're gone this coming week.
"Ah, I'm ok," the former ring announcer smiles. "You know, it is taking a little time to get out of that NXT Takeover mindset so I can focus on commentating tonight, but I'll be fine."
Alberto smiles and nods. "Of course, mi amigo. You'll do great as always. And I'm sure there'll be plenty of things to distract you tonight... such as a certain divas title match." Ricardo's flush from Friday afternoon returns with a vengeance and Alberto laughs, clapping him on the back.
"So how long are you going to keep bringing that up anyway?" he asks, clearing his throat and trying to turn his attention to the papers in front of him, detailing all of the notes and research he'd made for the matches tonight. His attention only seems to make them more disorganized and Alberto laughs, reaching out to help him sort them into piles based by the match.
"Until you stop blushing like that every time, I suppose," he chuckles warmly. Ricardo sighs loudly, his lips twitching up into a reluctant smile. "In all seriousness, mi amigo, I believe she'd be good for you. As a friend, or something more, if that should come to be."
"Maybe. But it gets awkward when you consider that Alicia and Alex are together, I think, and AJ is married to Mike," he muses, tapping his pen against his lips as he tries to read a few sentences on the topmost paper, barely registering that it's about Daniel Bryan and his various issues since winning the World heavyweight title.
"You shouldn't let that affect your decision," Alberto tells him calmly. "Their decisions were never determined by what others thought, so why should yours be? If this is something you and Paige want, then I say go for it."
Ricardo laughs softly, staring down at his pen as he taps it against the papers. "When did you become an expert about relationships, El Patron?" In all of the years that he'd known him, Del Rio had never dated much, if at all, distrustful of who would actually be there for him and not just his money or influence.
"What, you mean I haven't always been?" he chuckles, nudging Ricardo. "Now come, let's go through these papers and get things organized. You need to get ready for this PPV."
Ricardo pauses and looks up at him, smiling. "Gracias, El Patron. I know it bothers you, and understandably so, when you're not booked. That you would spend your free time helping me with these things means a lot."
Alberto grins back at him and pats his jaw, winking at him before they turn as one to organize the pile of papers so Ricardo can get in position for the many hours he'd be spending on commentary.
His former employer's words about Paige are echoing in his mind all through the divas match, Ricardo watching as Paige outwrestles Alicia, defeating her with her submission hold. Ricardo watches as she holds her title belt over her head, celebrating the victory, when she looks right at him, smiling and nodding her head. He's not entirely sure if it's directed his way until he finishes and goes backstage, finding Alberto waiting for him. He stares at him as Del Rio smirks, clapping him on the shoulder. "So, amigo, Paige only had eyes for you after her win, hm?"
"Oh, stop," Ricardo begs, shaking his head. "El Patron..."
Alberto laughs and pulls him into a hug, smirking into his hair. "Relax, Ricardo. I'm just teasing you. I think it's lindo." He nudges him, Ricardo's eyes widening as Del Rio leads him down the hall.
To Ricardo's relief, Paige isn't used the following night, and Del Rio is distracted by his own match against Ziggler to qualify for the Money in the Bank. They tease each other back and forth about sports until Alicia sneaks into the locker room and runs them all off, clearly wanting some time alone with Alex. Not long afterwards, Alberto goes to face off with Ziggler while Mike and Ricardo stand side by side at gorilla, watching. Neither had heard from Alex since Alicia had made her presence felt, and they hope that it means things are going alright for him. Either way, things definitely go well for Alberto- he snags Ziggler into the armbar after a few minutes of back and forth between the two men and the Showoff has no possible way to escape except to tap.
Ricardo grins as his former employer makes his way backstage, getting pulled aside by Tom Phillips for a quick interview regarding his victory in which he declares himself the next Money in the Bank briefcase holder. As soon as he's done, and the camera crew is gone, on the look-out for the next big thing, Ricardo walks up to him. "Congratulations, El Patron. I'm so happy for you."
"Gracias, mi amigo," Del Rio tells him with a wide grin. "I had no doubts, however."
Ricardo's eyes gleam happily. "Me neither, El Patron. Especially against Ziggler." They both pause, remembering their deeply turmultuous history with the man, how vicious it had gotten between the group of them in the past. "Heh," Ricardo chuckles weakly, wanting to move past those memories. "I also have no doubt what you said to Tom Phillips will pan out too. You deserve it, El Patron."
"Not many would agree with you, but I appreciate you saying so, mi amigo," he tells him, smiling. As he pulls away, a tech hands him his phone and Alberto skims through the texts he'd received while in the ring. He looks up after a minute, reading Ricardo's tweet about his chances at Money in the Bank, laughing. "Ay, amigo. That commercial. You always did give great footrubs."
"Ay dios mio," the former ring announcer huffs, laughing as well. "You keep doing this to me on purpose."
Alberto laughs and taps him on the arm. "Si, well, it's good to see you laugh, mi amigo. Any means neccessary." He smirks down at him, eyes soft with affection. "You'll surely forgive me for that?"
Ricardo sighs and shakes his head, smirking back. "I suppose."
"Good. Now, let's get out of here, hm? Unless you want to try to get into Adam Rose's party bus again..."
"No," Ricardo mutters, his face falling slightly. "It wasn't parked out in the lot when I looked. We can go whenever you're ready."
Alberto ruffles his hair. "Alright, mi amigo. Let's go then." The former ring announcer nods agreeably, the two of them walking side by side to the locker rooms to pack so they can go back to the hotel for some rest.
Ricardo trains in his free time after returning to Florida but the more time he spends at the performance center, learning and practicing what he already knows to grow more confident, the more it makes him think about the limited time he had to prepare for the tag title match. He hadn't been contacted as El Local since to compete, even at the houseshows that'd been held the last couple of weekends. He knows that Kalisto has been, and he doesn't begrudge the man his opportunity. But it still leaves him on edge, feeling left behind.
He sighs and closes his eyes as he slips back into his car. Leaning against his steering wheel, he stares glumly at his spedometer. "Maybe I'm just meant to remain as an interviewer," he mutters, shaking his head before he stabs the key into the ignition and drives off, not sure where he wants to go exactly but needing a little time to himself.
He's not that surprised when he ends up on the beach, out of sight of his and Alex's apartment, staring out at the water as he kicks his shoes off and digs his toes into the sand, looking for some peace. "Hmm..."
Despite his best attempts to keep himself busy and his mind off of what's going on, when he receives a tweet from a random fan suggesting that he gets in the ring, he dismisses it by claiming that it's "not his thing". This is far from true, but if he's not going to make it much further than as a Spanish commentator, he's not sure why he should get his fans' hopes up any further when nothing long term's going to come from it. Or his own.
He has a feeling Alex has read between the lines of his tweet and attitude the past few days, but he doesn't have the energy to really get into some deep conversation. So he keeps to himself as much as he can, even picking up his guitar for the first time in he's not sure how long on Friday night, when things are quiet and he's trying to ignore how NXT had had another houseshow not that far away. He sits outside of their apartment, strumming it quietly. On some level, he's aware that Alex is leaning against the windowsill behind him, listening, but he doesn't care, content to just lose himself in the music on this warm early-June night, staring up at the stars over the sparkling water.
When he gets it out of his system and wanders inside, Alex greets him with a faint smile. "What do you say we find some stupid movie to watch and just take it easy for the rest of the night?"
That's all, he says nothing else: not about the tweet, or Ricardo's silence from the past few days, or the somewhat mournful sounding guitar playing outside. The former ring announcer is relieved about it, his lips twitching slightly as he nods, Alex's eyes brightening before he wanders off to find something to watch. It could be worse, Ricardo reminds himself. It's not like you were ever used often in a WWE ring... not like Mike, Alex or Alberto. You're not alone in this. Just take deep breaths, everything will work out. So he pastes a slightly fake smile onto his face and follows his roommate into the kitchen, leaning against the counter to smile at him as he collects some drinks and snacks for them both. "Gracias, mi amigo."
Alex looks up and beams at him. "My pleasure, Ricardo. Now let's go mock networks for the stupid crap they air on Friday nights."
Ricardo laughs. "Si, let's." And so they do and, to Ricardo's present surprise, it actually works: for a while, he actually forgets about everything currently weighing on his shoulders..