"Lo siento," Ricardo says into the phone, a troubled look in his eyes as he gazes out over Mexico City.
"Ricardo," Paige rebukes him. "You have nothing to apologize for, we both knew we weren't going to be able to spend my birthday together with Summerslam today. As you've insisted, we will do something on our next free day... it's fine, don't sound so guilty, please. You're in your home country right now, enjoy yourself, that's all I need for my birthday until I can actually see you. Alright?"
He swallows and nods, eyes downcast slightly. "Si, of course, I know. I'll be watching your match later, but I know you'll do amazing. Two-times Diva champion at the age of twenty-two."
"It's a lot of twos," she chuckles. "But yes, that is my goal." They fall silent, content to listen to the others' breath. "Ricardo?"
"Mm hmm?"
"Thank you for the support. I know it can't be easy, my constantly feuding with your friends' wives or significant others, but you've always had my back... and I truly appreciate that."
He smiles, glancing up to watch Alberto's reflection in the window as he sorts through his clothes, picking a suit for the night ahead. Shaking his head fondly, he wanders over and points out a specific jacket and pants combo that would look best out of all of them, Alberto immediately nodding and scooping the dress clothes up, going to change in the bathroom. "Any time, Paige," he responds after a moment. "I'll always want nothing but your success and happiness, mi fuerza. Unfortunately, we're leaving for the arena soon so I should go get ready, as Alberto seems anxious to get this show on the road. I'll call you later on, si?"
"I'll be looking forward to it," she agrees, the two of them exchanging quick farewells before he hangs up and turns in time to see Alberto exit the bathroom, picking at his suit in a rare show of nervousness. It's his first night back in his home country, post-WWE, and it's clear he wants to impress all who will see him. Ricardo tsks faintly and moves over to lightly swat his hands away, adjusting his collar and making sure it all looks impeccable on him.
"How does it look, mi amigo?" he wonders, voice low and dry. Ricardo snags a bottle of water off of the nightstand and hands it to him, still eyeing the suit critically.
"It looks perfect, El Patron. Now drink that or you won't get a word out when you're under those bright lights." He bustles around, snagging a scarf and putting it in place around his former employer's neck, stepping back to examine the older man's appearance. Nodding in acceptance of his look, he can't help but smile wistfully, remembering the first time they'd done this- Alberto having a rare moment of uncertainty while Ricardo had helped him get dressed, four years ago when they'd both been about to debut for WWE. He hadn't thought his role as ring announcer would be permanent then, Alberto seeming fickle and willing to throw away things he grew tired of with a snap of his fingers, but it had lasted three years... some good, a fair amount of bad, giving him friendships that he'd never want to replace, and a home.
Alberto apparently is thinking along the same lines because once he downs a good portion of the water, he looks up and catches Ricardo's eyes, smiling slightly. "This is no easier than my debut with the WWE, mi amigo. Do you remember then? I barely knew you, but you still were able to calm me down and keep me focused like no one else ever could have." He picks at his sleeves, releasing a deep breath. "Years later and you are still the only one, despite everything I've done to you. If I had known- how drastically blind WWE is to so many things..." He closes his eyes, fingers risking to tear his own shirt to shreds as he tugs at it, a look of guilt and disgust crossing his face. "I never would've turned my back on you for all of those months. I wouldn't have caused either of us so much pain, mi amigo."
Ricardo swallows and rushes over, gripping his hands, gently prying them from the delicate fabric. "Shhh, El Patron. It's fine, everything- everything worked out the way it should... we are friends again, and we are free from WWE's racism and... everything else, to do whatever we want with our lives from now on. I can wrestle to my heart's content now, and you can find happiness in Mexico and anywhere else you choose. Never feel guilty for what's happened in the past, I don't hold it against you. If anything, I guess... I should thank you, because it brought things to a head. Allowed me to see that WWE really will never use me the way I feel I deserve, so that I could go find my own path in this business, like I had started to all of those years ago."
Alberto looks up and stares at him, finding no lack of sincerity in his eyes. "Mi amigo," he sighs. "When you say it like that..." His lips twitch up. "I almost feel bad for Miz and those others stuck there in that situation." They stand quietly, thinking, before Del Rio claps him on the arm. "Alright, mi amigo, go get ready, I want to leave soon." Ricardo nods and bustles off to do just that, Alberto watching him fondly.
Triplemania is interesting. Ricardo is only there as a guest, which is fine for him, though it's clear that Alberto's guilty over leaving him backstage to head to the ring with his father. "This is your moment," he insists when Alberto hesitates yet again, staring at him. "Enjoy it, mi amigo. I will be fine back here, it's nice just to feel the vibe in the air, si?" WWE's vibe was more of a desperation to get things done before the show began, making sure everything was perfect for TV, but this was a little less about all of that and more true enjoyment of their craft, those competing eager to make their voices be heard, their talent shown. Ricardo can't wait for that to be him once more. He makes sure to be close to the entrance ramp, able to peer out at the ring and hear well. Watching this off of a monitor won't be enough for him, he wants to see it actually happen, the expression on his best friend's face, the lilt of his voice as he addresses everything that had been speculated on since his abrupt firing.
It's about as impressive as he'd thought, Alberto impassioned in a way that he hadn't been in a long, long time, and it's nice to see, some of that fire returning to his amigo. He smiles and listens, his own passion rekindling as a result of the words coming from Alberto's mouth. They can't take my pride or dignity away either, he thinks, accessing some texts that had been sitting idle on his phone and agreeing to further dates, right then, right there. He had been weighing it for awhile, needing to act carefully because of his noncompete clause with WWE, but being here, seeing all that's going on at this iPPV, and his own hermano's courage to address it all in such a public forum leaves him not wanting to stall his own future out anymore. He had had more than enough of that in the last few years.
After Alberto rids the ring of the men who had come down to insult, mock him, he returns backstage, face alit with so much joy that Ricardo can't help but smile as well. "How was that, mi amigo?" he asks, clapping Ricardo on the shoulders as he walks over to him, his father following behind.
His grin grows. "Amazing, El Patron. I'm glad you were able to get all of that off of your chest." Alberto nods, resting an arm around Ricardo's shoulders, leading him through the halls, introducing him to a few people along the way before they arrive at the personal locker room set aside just for Alberto. Ricardo glances around, unused to being in a non-WWE locker room yet again, but Del Rio's presence, his voice mingling with his father's, is a comfort so before long, the former ring announcer walks further into the room and settles down on a couch, listening to the sounds of the action out in the ring. As he watches the show, he follows Summerslam results on his phone, unable to shake the weird feeling. There WWE is, in Los Angeles, and I am here, with Alberto... It's a bizarre feeling, he's not sure he'll ever get used to it, but it's still somewhat nice, considering how it ate at him to not be able to compete in front of his home crowd. Soon, he thinks, fingering his phone.
Alberto and his father's conversation dies away when Ricardo releases a gasp, the two men glancing over at him. "Everything alright, mi amigo?" Del Rio asks, frowning slightly when he sees how the younger man is staring at his phone.
"Oh, si, it's- it's great, El Patron. Paige regained the Divas title." Ricardo grins, growing a little flustered as he texts her congratulations, Alberto smiling and shaking his head fondly as he nods at his father and goes to sit next to his best friend, watching the rest of the show quietly. At least until the final match, Ricardo only just looking up from a text from Paige to see Alberto leave the room, appearing on the screen a moment later, facing off with the man who had won the match, Perro Aguayo Jr., one of the group that had confronted him hours earlier. Their brawl ends with Alberto locking in his armbar, Perro Jr. scrambling to get away as Ricardo and Del Rio's father watches on with relief and happiness, Del Rio standing atop a turnbuckle and peering out at the Mexican crowd, clearly as overjoyed to be back home, among their people, doing what he wishes on his own terms.
Afterwards, Dos Caras is back at the hotel, resting, while Alberto and Ricardo walk side by side, both a little too keyed up to rest, get some sleep before they fly back to Florida in the morning. Ricardo licks his lips, stares up at the moon, and releases a breath. "I'm working on some dates," he shares, almost shyly.
Alberto glances over at him. "Oh? Anywhere interesting, mi amigo?"
He nods pensively. "Si, er, as you know I'll be competing for the dojo I train at..."
"Si, and I'll go to as many of those shows as I can."
Ricardo grins, warmth spreading inside of him at Alberto's reassurance. "I'm trying also to get booked in LA and... I think Puerto Rico."
Alberto's eyes light up. "Si? That sounds incredible, mi amigo. I know you've been eager to compete in LA for a long time... and what isn't there to like about Puerto Rico? Perhaps you will come across mi hermanito, Memo."
"Perhaps I will," he nods. "That'd be nice. It's been too long."
Alberto snakes his arm around Ricardo's shoulders, staring down at his phone, which he's still clinging to though Paige is either asleep or traveling to the next city, her responses now few and far in between. "You should tweet, keep your fans informed, mi amigo. I'm sure many people are eager to know where you're going to end up, what you'll be doing so they can go see you."
Ricardo ducks his head, shrugging slightly. "I suppose." He hesitates, however, staring down at his phone. "It's far from the homecoming that you just had, El Patron, and I could never expect such a reception after my career's been in near limbo for so long, but it... it should be alright, si?"
"Of course it will!" Del Rio squeezes his arm. "Ricardo, our situations cannot be compared. I've at least been able to compete on TV regularly, even if the situation was far from ideal towards the end, but you... you are basically starting from scratch all over again, though I have no doubt that you will take everything you've learned in these past few years and turn it around, make this situation end a success for yourself. You will be fine, I'm sure of it."
Ricardo glances up at him and smiles. "Gracias, El Patron," he murmurs, returning to his phone and typing up the tweets that he had been stalling over while Alberto walks quietly by his side, taking in the familiar surroundings of Mexico City.
-x
"I'm sorry you lost your match against Natalya," Ricardo murmurs to Paige, stroking her hair as she hums and kicks her legs back and forth in cool water, eyes closed against the bright sunshine. Alberto had offered the use of his grounds to Ricardo, upon their return from Mexico City, and Ricardo had agreed, not wanting to spend Paige's belated birthday celebration at the apartment tripping over Alicia and her zany actions. So they're currently sitting by the lake, enjoying the peace and quiet. Alberto had even given the workers the day off so the two of them could have some privacy, Ricardo flushing at the unspoken implications but relieved nonetheless for it.
"Oh well," she says slowly, splashing the water around a bit, her bare legs glistening in the sun. "I'm still Divas champion, that's the important thing." Her swim suit is simple, black with white swirls, but he still can't quite keep his eyes off of her. The title belt resting on her shoulder reflecting each ray of the sun, her lips parting as she eats grapes lazily from the pile of food provided by, of course, Sofia... the way her eyes light up when she sees how he's staring at her.
"Er, oh, lo siento," he mutters, glancing around as his face flushes even hotter than before. He's startled further when she sits up, rests her hand on his and squeezes slightly. Their eyes lock and she smiles sweetly at him, leaning in for a soft kiss. He reciprocates, mind spinning with wild thoughts as she scrapes her fingers through his hair and deepens the kiss, pulling him closer, and he's almost lost himself completely in the moment when she shifts forward and his hand, frozen in midair, brushes against her bare stomach, his eyes widening as he abruptly breaks the kiss. "Sorry, I'm sorry, Paige- I-"
She tsks and shakes her head, smiling vaguely as she pulls him back in once more. "Stop apologizing, Ricardo," she breathes, resuming kissing him and muffling his faint words until finally he relaxes into her once more, his hand still resting against her stomach. She's moving, a little here and there, but he's so intent on keeping up with the kisses that he doesn't notice what she's doing until he opens his eyes and realizes- they're sprawled out in the soft dirt next to the lake, her wet feet teasing up his ankles gently.
"Paige," he whispers. "What are you doing?"
Her eyes flutter open and she smiles slightly. "I think you'd at least be able to guess, Ricardo," she shrugs. But her smile slips when he doesn't say anything, her fingers stalling against his shoulders. "Unless you don't want..." Abruptly looking mortified, she tries to squirm out from under him but he snaps out of his thoughts, stopping her by cupping her face with his free hand, leaning in to kiss her.
"It's not... it's not that," he offers. "I just don't want to do anything you're not ready for, Paige. I mean, yeah, we've known each other a few years, but it's only recently we started hanging out more, when you moved up to WWE's main roster, and I don't... I don't want to move too fast and risk our friendship or, or our ... the chance that we could have a long, meaningful relationship, you know? I like spending time with you, and I don't want to lose you just because we... were moving too fast and everything burnt out because of it."
She stares up at him, her smile slowly returning as affection for him overwhelms her. "Most guys wouldn't even bother thinking about those kinds of things," she muses. "They'd just see a situation and go for it... Ricardo, that's why I know, no matter what happens between us now or any time in the future, we'll be ok... because you're too good of a man to ruin what I feel for you." He looks down at her, his expression curious and wonderous, and this time, when she draws him to her, he doesn't stop her, doesn't pull away.
When Ricardo wakes up, it's later in the day, shadows playing across their faces from trees swaying in the soft breeze, and Paige's hand is stroking the hair out of his eyes as she smiles down at him. "Wakey, wakey," she whispers, kissing him on the nose, her accent sharpened by sleep as well. "I think you better check your phone, it's been ringing for at least five minutes."
He groans and fumbles around for it until she giggles and locates it, passing it over to him. He scans through tweets and texts and... "Ay, maldita sea," he hisses, finally noticing the time and why there's so many notifications on it- it's past 5 PM and Alberto had been calling him to alert him that the time he wanted to start getting ready for Team Vision Dojo's event has come and gone. "We have to go, my dojo's event-"
She's up immediately, collecting Sofia's picnic supplies and tossing his clothes to him, pulling hers on over her swimsuit, just to get them by until they get inside and past Alberto and Sofia, to change into what they actually plan on wearing to the dojo. They're halfway to the house within five minutes when he stops her, remembering something vital. "Ricardo, we have to move," she insists, turning to look at him in amazement when he shakes his head. "What-"
"I forgot the most important part of today..." His voice falters, he clears his throat. "Well, the second most important part." He pulls out a box from his slacks and stares down at it before approaching her. "Feliz cumpleanos, mi fuerza."
She swallows and stares down at the box for a moment before prying it open, gasping as she catches sight of a silver kanji character, looking so beautiful upon its chain. "Wha... what's it mean?" she whispers, though she thinks she already knows.
He gingerly plucks it from the interior of the box and moves behind her, brushing her hair back and lightly clasping it around her neck, hugging her around the waist. "It means strength..." He traces the soft, curving lines that spells out the word, and she shudders softly, resting her hand over his.
"We need to go or you're not going to make it to the dojo in time," she breathes, relieved when he nods and pulls away, gripping her hand and running the rest of the way to the house. Sofia and Alberto both look incredulous but neither say a word, shooing the two into the bedrooms to change, prepare for the event. All four of them get ready in nearly record time, and Alex and Alicia meet them there, all eager to support Ricardo at his first show, despite not knowing what exactly he has planned, but even when it's just to interrupt a man named Trevin Adams while he does an interview, challenging him to a match on August the 31st, it's enough.
Alberto is thrilled for his best friend, either way, because it'll be his first match since leaving the WWE, and in his books, that's a very, very good thing. They grin at each other when the show's over and Ricardo rejoins them outside of the building, relief in both of their eyes. Freedom.
-x
"You know," Paige says softly, her hand warm in his, "if you keep booking all of these events, we may not get much time together for awhile." Even though she sounds like she's teasing, there's a sadness in her eyes that makes him stop in the middle of Walmart and cup her face, kissing her softly, a kind of courage that he rarely shows but has seemed to have gained since her birthday, since confirming all of his future dates in LA, Puerto Rico, everywhere else. She leans up on her toes and sighs, wishing that there weren't so many people around as his hand rests on her lower back, holding her close so that the many impatient shoppers wouldn't dislodge them from each other.
"We'll make it work, I promise," he tells her, his hand returning once more to the silver charm around her throat. "Everything will be fine."
She nods and smiles up at him. "I trust you." They separate slowly and continue to walk, Ricardo obliging her when she pulls him away to look for certain things- like women's clothing, even sitting back as she models some things for him, the two of them leaving with a couple of things that had looked particularly amazing on her.
When his phone rings as she's staring curiously at jewelry, he turns and answers, smiling at the name flashing on his ID. "Hola?"
"Hola, mi amigo," Alberto greets him. "I hear through the rumor mill that someone's been booking up all of the wrestling dates. Do you know something about that?"
He laughs, running his fingers through his hair sheepishly. "Ay, well perhaps I do, El Patron, is there something wrong with that?"
"No, not at all," he volleys back. "Just leave some for the rest of us, hm?" They laugh for a moment before he continues to talk. "In all honesty, mi amigo, I wish you all the best at all of them... I'm sure you'll do great... and I'll try to be at as many of them as my own schedule will allow, I'm eager to see you show the world what you can do."
"As am I," Ricardo murmurs, his gaze shifting as a group of loud children rush past, chased by their frenzied mother. He grimaces, only just stepping back in time to not get bowled over by them all.
"Mi amigo, what was that?" Del Rio demands, exasperated and amused at the same time.
"Ay, Paige and I are at Walmart currently, it is a bit noisy here."
Alberto's frown is audible in his voice. "Whatever are you doing there in the middle of a Thursday afternoon, mi amigo?"
Ricardo pinches his nose, sighing. "Alicia," he finally answers, glancing over to find Paige looking at him. "She was... being her usual self at the beach when we were there with Alex earlier, so Paige and I decided to excuse ourselves from the situation for awhile. This was the first place we found that we thought would be alright."
"So let me get this straight, Alicia was being so annoying, you both thought a Walmart would be more peaceful?" Del Rio's accent fades away in his incredulity and it takes Ricardo a minute to confirm that yes, it's still his mejor amigo he's talking to.
"That's the gist of it, si," he admits wearily.
Alberto is quiet for a long, long time. Ricardo wonders what exactly he could possibly be thinking of, if he's still even on the phone. But before he can speak up, make sure that the Mexican aristocrat is alright, Alberto cuts over him, his accent once more strong, voice confident and crisp. "This is ridiculous, Ricardo. I've been... wanting to ask you about this for a long time, but I thought you wouldn't want to... now, however, I think you should truly consider it."
Ricardo swallows, his eyes widening at the somber tone in his former employer's voice, the younger man abruptly fearing the worst. "Wha- what, El Patron?" Paige must sense his discomfort, his anxiety, because she drops the golden earrings she'd been looking at and joins him, rubbing his arm as he holds the phone tight against his ear, her worried gaze locked on his pale face.
When the answer finally comes, it floors them both. "Move back in here, Ricardo, with me and Sofia," Alberto says slowly. "Por favor... come home, mi amigo."