Ricardo stares at a calendar. The days are moving faster and faster, and he knows he'll be heading home before he's ready for it. So he has to buckle down, teach his students all that he can, and hope that they can continue to progress without him. He smiles as a couple of boys yell goodnight to him, waving at them before returning to his paperwork. Booking, and filling out paperwork for their weekly events, is such a tedious job. He kind of hates it, though he appreciates when everything works out well. It's just to get it to that point...

He sighs and lays in the ring, staring up at the ceiling and meditating a bit in the silence of the training facility after hours. It's nice here, he likes it, but he does miss home. Although, considering Total Divas is returning to television tomorrow, he thinks perhaps it's just as well he's over here and can't watch it, though he's sure he'll hear and read plenty about it in the next few days. Sighing, he rolls over and gets out of the ring, walking up to bed. It's still early in the States so he runs through his twitter timeline, hesitating long enough to reread some Raw results.

Paige had returned from her concussion, though she hadn't wrestled, just staying in Natalya's corner at ringside during her match against Brie Bella. He's relieved to read that Alicia nor Brie had done anything to her, though he wonders if she's as fully recovered as she claims if she's remaining out of the crossfire like this. He paces around his bedroom for a moment before laying down and staring out of the window. He's been booking stuff in the States and Puerto Rico for when he finishes in India, but mostly he just wants to get home, reunite with Paige, Alberto, Sofia, Mike and the rest, and get caught up with everything that's been going on.

Alberto is a great help with that. "Hola, amigo," he greets his best friend.

"Hola, El Patron. How are you?"

"Fine. I suppose you can guess why I'm calling."

"Total Divas," Ricardo says, relieved that Alberto had figured out the time zones well enough to guess when Ricardo would be alone. "Alright, I'm prepared. Tell me what happened."

"Paige spent most of the episode getting involved in Nikki Bella and Ziggler's business," he says dryly. "Then Saraya Knight learned of her engagement, and led Paige to telling him that she doesn't want to marry him. They're still together on the show, but... at least there's that, si, hermano?"

Ricardo thinks of the ring locked away in Alberto's safe for the last few months. "Si, it is. Thank you for letting me know, El Patron. I have to go, my students are arriving. We'll talk soon."

"Si, we definitely will," Alberto agrees. "Have a good day, mi hermano."

"You too, tell Sofia hola for me," Ricardo says softly. "Adios, El Patron." Hanging up, he tries to turn his attention to his students but finds it increasingly difficult to do so. "Ay dios mio," he sighs, giving himself a good shake. "Alright, men, take it from the top," he orders, clapping his hands together sharply.

-x

To celebrate Alex returning to NXT next week, Alicia takes him out to eat. Their favorite restaurant, with soft lights and gentle music, great food and a soft ambiance, greets them and they smile at the familiar staff as they're lead to their table for the night. Alicia sits back and sighs as the waiter puts fresh glasses of water in front of them, setting their menus down before leaving to give them a minute to make a choice on drinks.

Once that's done and they're trying to figure out what they want for supper, Alicia reaches over and tangles her fingers with his hand. "You know how proud I am of you, right, A-Ri?"

He puts his menu down and beams at her. "Of course. But it's nice to hear it again..."

She strokes his knuckles. "I am so proud of you. You've worked so hard, through all of the setbacks, to get back into the ring and now look at you. Here we are..."

She's pouring her heart out to him, telling him all of her feelings from the last few months, when he realizes that the waiter is staring straight at him. Alex squeezes her fingers and continues to stare back at the waiter with a perplexed look on his face. It doesn't dissuade the man to look away, or react at all, and Alex swallows. "Foxy?"

"Yeah?" she asks, a little put-out at having her heart-felt words completely ignored and then interrupted.

"I think that waiter back there is enamored with me." Alicia giggles helplessly and he squeezes her hnd. "I mean it! He hasn't taken his eyes off of me since leaving our menus..."

Alicia frowns at him before accidentally dropping her napkin off of the table. In the course of turning to grab it, she takes a look at the waiter and frowns. Sitting up straight, she grimaces. "You're right, he does look pretty... demented..."

"Told you!" Alex exclaims, gnawing at his fingernails.

Alicia reaches over and pulls his hand out of his mouth, searching his nails for a moment. "C'mon, Alex. You think I'm going to let that guy take you from me?" She rests her hand against his chest, stroking his skin through the fabric as best as she can. "I promise I'll protect you from him."

He smiles down at her. "What would I do without you?"

"You would've made it without me, just without as much of the happiness, the colors and the bright lights," she says softly, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. "Either way you don't have to worry about it because I'm here and you're stuck with me."

"Works for me," Alex decides, gripping her around the waist and making her sit in his lap. "Thank you, Foxy."

"You're welcome," she sighs. "Now, let's discuss what beautiful things you're going to get me for Valentine's Day."