Chapter 9

Mina was getting ready to go to the gym with her friends. She had braided her long hair, prepared some sport clothes and was zipping her bag before leaving the hotel room. She was feeling motivated and happier than ever, as if the punch she gave her ex had removed a huge weight from her shoulders. She opened the door to find Rhea waiting for her without any gym material.

- "Today we have a day off. Hunter's special authorization as I'm not in the next show and you are early in your job" she said. "So, we let the boys go work their ass at the gym and we go on a girl's day!"

- "What are you going to do?" Dominik asked with disappointment.

- "Girl's stuff. You know, go shopping, having our nails done, getting pampered, having girl's talk…" Rhea answered with amusement.

- "New life goes with a new haircut they said." JD said. "Now that you are free, you might want some change".

- "There's no way I cut my hair!" Mina answered. Her hair was her favourite thing about her body, she was very proud of the mane she had grown on her head over the years.

The boys headed to the gym after wishing the girls a good afternoon. Mina felt trapped, she hadn't had a real girl's afternoon in ages and knew Rhea well enough to know that it won't be an easy task to follow her. However, the idea of a chill afternoon with her friend was amusing and she knew she needed it. She climbed in Rhea's car to head to the mall.

Mina had to hold on her seat as Rhea drove fast and recklessly, turning way too tight and sometimes forgetting she was not the only one on the road. She sighed in relief when Mami finally parked the car.

- "Next time, I drive" Mina said.

Rhea didn't answer and the two women entered the mall to begin their shopping by the shoes store. Mina's combat boots were worn out and she needed to buy new ones. Rhea made her try some high heels stilettos, which ended with Mina losing her balance and falling on the floor. She finally opted for combat boots and high squared heels leather boots. She didn't have the time to get the bag that Rhea grabbed her hand to head to another shop, where the two women bought various clothes, including trousers and tops for Rhea and shirts and skirts for Mina. The wrestler insisted that Mina tries almost all the dresses she found interesting, begging her to buy a revealing black one; she agreed only to the condition that Rhea tried a dress and sent a picture to Dom.

The arms filled with various bags, they headed to a beautician shop to get their nails done and some face massage and skincare. It was the pampering part and Mina was looking forward to it. She closed her eyes feeling the hands of the beautician softly massaging her face with warm oil, purring when her fingers went to her temples.

- "I heard that Drew asked you out" Rhea said while a mask was setting on her face. "What did you answer?"

- "That I was not interested, as for Ludwig, Jey and the others."

- "Are you planning on turning down every man who show you interest?"

- "As long as it's physical, yes."

Four men were sitting in the back of a coffee shop, enjoying a well-deserved rest after a long training session when a cell phone buzzed. Dominik reached for his phone and opened the message; it was Mina sending him a picture of Rhea wearing a long red slit dress letting her leg appear. She was air-kissing her hand as to send him a flying kiss. He smiled softly as his cheeks became red when he saw the dress was highlighting her generous bosom.

- "The girls are having fun" he said to his friends. "Mami is splendid" he said, showing the picture to his teammates.

- "Maybe we will have a parade tonight" JD whispered, taking a sip of his latte. "I would love to see Mina with this kind of garment."

Finn's phone buzzed briefly. He took it to open the message sent by Rhea. The picture was showing Mina wearing a tight black corset over a low-necked white shirt, shyly smiling to the camera. A short text message sent after said "New heartbreaker on the road". Finn chuckled and handled his phone to Damian.

- "You don't know your luck Dom!" Finn said.

- "Come one men! Which one of you is going to ask her out?" Dom asked.

Damian choke on the cookie he was eating with his coffee and Finn almost dropped his cup.

- "That's true she is adorable and pretty" Finn started. "But when I see how she turned Drew down, I don't want to try my luck."

- "I might try if the big guy doesn't mind" JD chuckled.

Damian remained silent, trying to look uninterested. Asking her out? He didn't even think about it, preferring the sweet torture of imagining her in his arms or in his bed. Imagining a happiness with another woman was not in his plans. He didn't deserve it even if Mina was different. He was sure she wouldn't want him after hearing what he had done. He wanted to protect her, this he was able to do, and it was enough.

The next day they were back to the arena for a live event. Mina headed to her workshop and worked on her masterpiece. She put all her heart and skills in this costume intended for Charlotte Flair, assembling the royal blue silk with white feathers. It had to look grand on her, showing she was the queen. A knock sounded on her door and Ludwig entered the workshop. He had been asking her out for weeks now, refusing to take no for an answer. Not willing to cause any trouble in the WWE, she kept turning him down politely. As usual, he stood straight in front of her, arms behind his back, hair perfectly done.

- "Fraulein Mina, would you accept a dinner date with me tonight?"

- "No, Herr Kaiser, I already told you that I'm not interested, would you stop asking me, bitte?"

- "Please, stop playing hard to get" Ludwig insisted.

- "I'm not playing Ludwig, stop asking me out" Mina stood her ground. "Would you like me to report your behaviour to Herr Gunther and Hunter?" She got up and stood in front of Ludwig, fixing him with no fear in her eyes. "Now get out of my workshop" she shouted.

- "You heard the lady, Kaiser" Finn said while coming in with JD.

- "Fine, I let her to you punks. I'm too good for her, she is a better match for your underdeveloped brains" Ludwig spat, visibly annoyed and fed up.

- "If you respected women a little bit, you should know I'll always prefer a kind and caring man to a misogynistic so-called perfect arrogant jerk." Mina shouted again. "Finn, JD and Damian will always be a better match than you!"

Ludwig stormed out of the workshop with an angry hiss and slammed the door.

- "Wow, one punch in the good jaw and our sweet Mina becomes a terror" JD chuckled. "Are you okay?"

- "I'm good guys, just angry. I need to go back to work and listen to some good violent Rob Zombie or Type O Negative".

The men left the room as the first notes of Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem thundered. Mina sang for a while before finally calming down and going back to Charlotte's costume, carefully fixing the white peacock feather that will form the collarette of her royal blue silk coat. She was looking forward to be on the road again to go to Florida. She would have some alone time in her apartment.

Mina was listening to some Sabaton tracks while observing the landscapes through the window of the bus. In a few hours she would be back in her apartment and lay down on her couch like a bear in its cave. She loved spending time with her friends but sometimes missed having a place she could call home. She felt a presence next to her, it was Finn, putting his arm around her shoulders. He was still fond of physical contact, especially with her, sometimes he would even purr next to her while resting his head on her shoulder during long trips. He had this little boyish sparkle in his eyes that made him be endearing.

- "Happy to go back home?" He asked.

- "Yeah, going back to my cave" she answered with a smile.

- "Would you let us pay a visit?" He asked.

- "Sure"

They eventually got off the bus. Mina breathed in relief as Florida's air was warmer at this time of the winter. Even if she liked snow, she always had a hard time dealing with freezing temperatures from the north of the country. She headed to her friends to hug them goodbye before climbing in her car. It was an old fashioned Chevette which had clearly known better days, but she didn't want to change for anything. Driving this car was a glimpse of freedom to her. She started the engine which coughed a couple times before roaring regularly. A knock on the window stopped her from choosing the music she would be listening while driving.

- "Are you up for us bringing pizzas and beers for tonight?" Finn asked.

- "What tonight?" she asked with a puzzled look.

- "Tonight, we are celebrating your new home with you!" Rhea said ready to party. "Just text me your address".

Mina was finishing tidying and cleaning her apartment while some food was cooking in the oven. She still didn't know why she accepted to give her address to Rhea but here she was; about to throw a party in her 3 rooms apartment in a small city of Florida. The rent was cheap, and she could afford to have a spare room just in case. She pulled off her apron to get dressed in a black shoulders-revealing shirt and a long and large black skirt. She had always loved to wear black; some people might call her gothic due to her music tastes and the way she dressed but she didn't care. Black was her colour. However, she chose to add some contrast to her outfit with a high-waist corset-like brown belt.

The whole crew knocked on the wooden door and waited for Mina to open. The first words they heard when entering the apartment were "Crawl on me, Sink into me, Die for me" sung by Rob Zombie's voice.

- "That's both sexy and scary, curious mix" JD said.

Damian was already singing with Mina as she drove them towards the living room. On a shelf stood four framed pictures. On the first one, an old lady with white hair and green eyes was sewing a onesie. On the second one, that same lady was surrounded by a couple in their mid-thirties in front of a farm. The man had curly brown hair and green eyes, the woman had long black hair and was holding a laughing little girl in her arms. "Mina was cute." On the third picture, the old lady was giving a sewing machine to a teenager Damian immediately identified as Mina. The last frame surprised everybody. It was a picture they had taken during their afternoon to the lake. Damian was holding the phone as he had the longest arm while Dom and Rhea playfully pulled their tongue out. Behind them, Finn was holding Mina piggyback style with JD brightly smiling at the camera.

- "You printed this?" Rhea asked.

- "Yeah, it might be silly but, it's an important memory for me, I hope you don't mind." Mina explained while putting the beers and sodas in the fridge and the pizzas on the table. Her friends had brought everything they needed to enjoy the night, beers, wine, rum, pizzas, snacks and sodas.

Damian sat on the couch while looking at the apartment. White walls with shelves containing pictures and sewing materials, a big bookcase full of various books, Edgar Poe, Lovecraft, Stephen King, some classics like Dracula or Wuthering Heights and of course, sewing books. A fully equipped kitchen stood behind him and a sewing workshop was set next to a window. As decoration, tapestries were hanging on the walls. Mina came back with cutlery and the night started. They ate, drank, played silly games, opened the bottle of rum and began a karaoke. Finn and JD achieved their hip-hop song and Rhea and Dom immediately started to sing in Spanish, according to the sweet gazes they were exchanging, it was a love song. Finn took this opportunity to drag Mina into a waltz making her swirl around him, sometimes stepping on her toes, visibly drunk. Damian pulled his friend aside and danced with Mina, looking straight in her eyes, he had always been a good dancer and so was she, they started swaying their hips with the rhythm. Their turn came and they chose Powerwolf's We Drink Your Blood. "We drink your Blood, And we open your veins" They finished the song with bright smiles, energetically dancing. Finn sung some Irish folk song, leading JD to dance some sort of Irish Jig, immediately followed by Mina. Before the end, JD went back on the couch, visibly exhausted as the tailor kept clumsily dancing and jumping, alcohol disinhibiting her.

- "Time to go back to the hotel" Rhea said seeing JD already nodding on the couch.

- "No way I let you drive drunk as you are" Mina replied. "You all sleep here" she said while trying to unfold the couch. "With the bed in the guest's room and my bed, there are six places and I love you way too much to risk you dying on the road."

She went to take some blankets as they tried to figure out who will be sharing bed with who. Dom had come with the idea of Damian sharing bed with Mina due to some size complementarity logical.

- "No man in my bedroom" Mina said. "My wedding dress is there and it's bad luck if a man sees it".

- "Wedding dress?" Finn asked

- "If one day I find somebody to marry." Mina answered.

Damian was turning in the couch he was sharing with JD, unable to fall asleep despite the alcohol in his veins. He let his mind wander to Mina who was probably deep asleep with Rhea. Discovering her apartment was an opportunity to add to his fantasies. He had already imagined having sex with Mina in various places, the locker room, her workshop, his own house, a hotel room… but he started missing new ideas. With JD snoring next to him he couldn't satisfy himself, so he had to keep everything in his imagination. It was a new kind of sweet torture to him. At the beginning he was surprised to enjoy suffering through his imagination but not wanting his fantasies to be real. He felt the need to hurt himself with desire. He forced himself to imagine his beloved Mina coming to him to start undressing him and licking his skin, but this time, his mind refused to obey him. All he could dream about was Mina hugging him and whispering words he didn't know he wished to hear: I love you.

Two days later, they were warming up for the show to come. The party had helped them to let go of the pressure even if the next morning hangover was pretty hard to deal with. Rhea came back from her match and laid down to let her muscles cool down before having her shower. Damian and Finn got dressed in their wrestling attire, ready to make their entrance. They didn't have the time to go to see Mina before the show as they had some storyline issues to cope with, but they knew she would be watching their match on the screen that was in her workshop. They left the locker room to go on stage, proudly holding their tag team championship belts.

Mina was watching her friends match while sewing. Damian and Finn were facing Imperium. "An easy match" they said. This time she couldn't tell them to be safe as she always did and it felt wrong. She was strangely worried about this match, anxiety tearing her guts. She saw Ludwig punching Finn in the face until the referee stopped him. Damian was setting a table next to the ring. The men kept fighting and exchanging their place for several minutes when Ciampa hold Damian above his head and threw him through the wooden table over the third rope. She startled on her chair at this sight, no matter how many times she saw these moves, it was still terrifying. The match kept going for a few second until she noticed Damian was not getting up, holding his back while screaming in pain. When she saw the referee crossing his arms like an X and the match stopping, she immediately got up from her chair and rushed out of her workshop to reach for her friends. Damian was laying down on a stretcher, surrounded by medical staff and the rest on the Judgment Day trying to put him in an ambulance. There were no cameras, the injury was real. Damian was screaming in pain and yelled that he didn't want to go to the hospital.

- "He is scared of hospitals, and we still have a segment to perform" Finn explained.

- "I'll go with him" Mina said, before Hunter could say anything. "I'll let you know about his injuries, Boss" she said while climbing in the ambulance. "Can you guys bring my stuff to the hospital?"

Rhea nodded as the ambulance's doors closed.