California feels strange without Ricardo. Oddly empty, almost freaky. Alicia leans against the doorway to their house and stares out into the distance, smelling the ocean on the night air. It's a beautiful place, for sure, she's slowly come to love it, enjoying the thoughts of Andre growing up here, but still. She's used to Florida, she's used to Texas. This is taking a bit of time to get used to. It does help having so many of their friends nearby, both AJ and Taya only blocks away should she really need something.

Speaking of which, she exhales slowly and pulls her phone out, opening up her video calls. Tapping AJ's name, she bites her lip, waiting to see if her friend's available to answer. There's a quiet series of rings, then the subtle beep beep that it makes upon answered. AJ lights up as soon as she sees Alicia. "Hey, girl, what's up?"

Alicia grins back, tilting the phone so AJ can see the beginning shades of orange and red in the horizon as the sun sets. "Just taking a few minutes to myself outside while Andre naps and thought I should check in. How are things?"

AJ huffs out a breath, shrugs. "Mike won't really tell me much. Just says he needs some time to weigh his options." She frowns. "I knew things were strained between he and John for awhile, but I... I didn't expect it to go south so quickly."

Alicia hums, taking a deep breath. By now they've all seen the clip of Mike attacking John. "Do you think he regrets it?"

"Mike is usually too prideful to ever hint at something like that," AJ says slowly. "But I know he'll double down if I say anything. So best to let him be for now, I guess. I just can't believe he was content to sit back and let John push him around in that wheelchair, even after getting cleared to compete." She shakes her head. "I'm more confused about that than his attacking John, honestly. Those two are always so volatile, I always felt like their partnership had an end date that would come sooner rather than later."

"Yeah, I guess it's just a sad reality when it comes to the business," Alicia says. "Friendships very rarely last."

"That's what's so dumb about it," AJ sighs. "If I know my husband- and trust me, I definitely do- he's probably played this out in his head in such a way that, despite what he's done, and no matter how Morrison reacts to any of it, in Miz's mind, they're still best friends."

Alicia huffs out a soft laugh, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. "Trust me, I know what you mean. Del Rio is... something else, but I know deep down inside, Ricardo would pretty much do anything for that man considering everything they've been through."

AJ smiles grimly. "Guess that's just the kind of men we had to fall for, huh? Loyalty to all degrees, even when it makes zero sense to us."

Alicia laughs a little. "Seems so," she says. She's just opened her mouth to say something else when she hears the familiar, plaintive cries coming from the baby monitor. "Oops, someone's awake and wanting momma. We'll have to do this again sometime soon, AJ, I miss talking to you more often."

AJ grins at the screen. "Definitely! Kiss little Andre for me. Talk to you later, Alicia."

Once the screen is black, and Alicia is heading inside, she sighs softly. I definitely need to call on people more often, even if it's just a few minutes. She loves Sofia, don't get her wrong, but the woman's always busy cooking and cleaning and generally organizing things, so it's nice to have this avenue while she waits for Ricardo to come home in October.