Present Day, Missouri – Amber & Stewart Solicitors;
Natalie's POV;
Staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror – I knew that I looked withdrawn and gaunt; but that was the way I had always looked. Make-up worked for a base cover but being that I always knew what I looked like underneath the mask. Sleepless nights, due to treadful nightmares that were reacurring; it meant that I didn't sleep for long. Usually I would sleep 40 minutes and then wake for 20 minutes – I didn't stay awake long enough to not actually wake up, but I did wake up enough to calm myself after the vivid image of being burned alive.
Taking my make-up powder out of my bag, I brushed a fresh coat under my eyes just as the bathroom door opened and in walked my best friend, Ben.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"Something to do with delivering papers to one of the partners; I just wanted to check to see if you want Chinese takeaway tonight?" moving to my side, he placed a kiss to my cheek as he allowed himself to rest against the sink counter.
"Mmmm, yes – I don't know about you but I am not in the mood to cook,"
"Why do you think I am suggesting it?" he asked watching as I applied the fresh powder and then reached for my lip gloss.
"Funny," I laughed stepping back and rearranging myself. My boss, Michael had informed me that we were meeting with a new client this morning, in about 20 minutes to be exact. "Just get my usual,"
"What a surprise..." he smirked, "'Lie is afraid to try something new,"
"Fuck off queen," I joked glaring at him for a few moments before smiling.
If there was ever a gay man who wasn't a queen it was Ben. There was no frills with him, Hell most people who didn't know him, wouldn't ever guess that he was a gay man. Ben was single at the moment, and he knew exactly why he was – he was way too picky. My best friend had a very specific taste in men – and if he couldn't have what he wanted, then he'd rather do without. I loved that about him – the fact that he didn't want to settle for something that wouldn't make him happy in the long run.
"I will not take this abuse," leaning in he kissed my cheek and exited the bathroom before he was literally kicked out for being in the ladies bathroom.
When we had arrived in town – we had both fallen in love with it. Being that we were from Scotland, the largest town we had seen was Aberdeen and that was a rural back water town in comparison to where we had ended up. Ben had fallen in love with the buildings; he had a morbid fascination with the way buildings were built, he had wanted to become an architect but had opted for the life of a court guard instead. Stupidly he hadn't thought that he was brainy enough to follow in that line of work.
My best friend, was extremely comfortable in his own skin; but when it came to having self confidence in the things that he could do – he wasn't what you would call assured. It was down to years of abuse from his Father – nothing had never been good enough for his Dad. Everything that he did was wrong – he hated the music that his son listened too, he hated the movies that he watched, he hated the friends that he chose, he hated the way he dressed and did his hair. I had met the man once and it had enraged me the way he had talked to Ben – every time my friend spoke his father would belittle him. It drove me crazy to just sit there and say nothing. I had eventually opened my mouth to rant at the man when he had said something about how Ben wouldn't get anyone with his hair the way it was and his clothes were all crumpled (Ben definitely loved the crunge look); anyway Ben had literally hauled me out of my chair, threw me over his shoulder and exited the house.
Anyway – the buildings had captured his imagination, and he was in his element, for me – I loved the fact that my Mom had a ranch just outside of the town, where Ben and I had rented the small condo further back in the property – I had always loved the country, ever since I was a little girl – the space, the air and the nature; it really lifted my mood. I wasn't what you would call a horse person, but I stayed away from the stables and the huge animals.
Moving here was the best thing that we had ever done – being friends we couldn't handle being so far away from one another – so we had decided that we were both going to make the move. I didn't know what I would have done had I made the move on my own. Ben was the only friend that I had ever really had – my whole life had been on hold because of those stupid dreams and the impact that they had on my life.
Even now, I didn't form friendships with the people in the office, I didn't make an effort to include myself in anything that meant I had to socialize.
Fluffing my hair, I turned and walked out of the bathroom, and crash bang into a solid body. The heat already staining my face grew more radiant and my mouth turned dry – I hated my glumsiness sometimes, especially when it meant that I was put in a position like this.
However, this was something else – this was something different to what I had ever felt upon a crash and bang drive by. Usually, I would rush away and mumble sorry behind me but in work, it was impossible to be that rude. My body reacted as if I had just been plunged head first into a natural pool in Iceland. I shivered unconsciously as my heart beat increased until I felt like I was unable to get air into my lungs. Slowly my eyes grazed over the mid torso that I had literally bounced off; up over a well developed chest, a thick tanned neck to a pair of luscious lips and then into a pair of stormy blue eyes that seemed to have reacted in the exact same way that I had.
"I'm sorry," the man stated with a voice that was literally like velvet to the ears, "I really should be watching where I am going,"
"I'm sorry it was my fault," I squeeked; only increasing the heat that was flushing my cheeks.
"I'm Randy," he held his hand out to me.
"Nice to meet you," I said sliding my hand into his and literally feeling as if the earth was unstable and flashes of the dream that I had been running from my whole life sparked in my minds eye.
What the Hell was going on here? What was happening to me?
Tearing my hand out of his, I rushed away from him. I didn't want to feel this; and I was pretty sure that he wouldn't want to be feeling it too. I had never felt any kind of reaction like that one. Not that I had met many people – but the thing was; I didn't feel exactly unpleasent by it. Truth be told – I had felt almost warmed by the feeling. It scared me – I didn't want to feel that; I definitely didn't want to feel like this. It would be too complicated.
But my body acted out of control, and turned back around to look at him – he was handsome, like TV/movie handsome – stormy blue eyes that looked safe and warm, beautiful lips that curled into a handsome smile and what appeared to be a body that was carved out of stone. I had never actually met someone who had the type of body that was referred to as that of a Greek God. Or there was the one that always made me laugh – adonis. What the Hell is that? Damn he was handsome, there was something about the way he held himself that seemed vaguely familiar to me. I could feel a tug of something, something deep inside me, something that felt somewhat long forgotten. I watched him talk to one of the other girls who worked for the partner's – he seemed to strong, so calm and relaxed in his own skin.
Shaking my head, I turned back towards my office where I would see my boss, Michael and he would inform me of what he wanted in this meeting. I tried to push the thoughts of the man Randy, out of my head – but my heart was still thumping wildly and my head felt empty. What the Hell was wrong with me? What was happening to me? If I had more time, I would have stopped at my desk and called Ben but I didn't have the time.
Michael came charging out of his office, with his usual brash manner – it never ceased to amaze me that people found him offensive. In my limited opinion; he was just honest – I liked people who were honest; at least that way, you didn't have to worry about being accused of something that you either didn't say or do. I tried to live by that mantra and I knew that it had been one of the reasons that Michael had hired me. In actual fact – if I had made one friend since being here, it would be Michael. Racing along behind him, we walked into one of the conference rooms and I could have turned and fled – there he was...again.
Later that Night, Randy's Home;
Randy's POV;
My wife Lyssa was having one of her famous hissy fits – she was ranting about the amount of time that I had to be away from home with the WWE. I knew that it was hard for her – she had to take a back seat in my life to a certain extent, I mean we were on the road for almost 350 days of the year – it took me all over the world, and she had to deal with the fact that women liked to throw themselves at me. I could understand her dislike of that – I wouldn't like to be in her position if the roles were reversed.
"I mean really Randy – is wanting just one night with you alone, so much to ask for?" she ranted as she slammed the cupboard door after putting away the plates that we had used for our tea.
"No it isn't," I replied standing by the back door and lighting a cigarette, "but I haven't see Tiana in a few weeks – now that she is on RAW it's hard for us to catch up with one another,"
"And what about us?" she all but shrieked at me.
Tiana was my best friend, we had met when she had first started on RAW and we had a storyline together. Our friendship had sparked and we had become inseparable. My wife had always felt slightly threatened by the fact that Tiana was my closest friend, regardless of the fact that she and Jay from Smackdown had been in a long term relationship for at least 4 years now.
"I told you to come!"
"Well excuse me Randall Keith Orton – I was mistakenly under the impression that I was your wife and that you'd want to spend some time with me..."
Inhaling a deep lungful of air; I tried to calm myself down. I didn't want to lose my patience with her but she was really going for full-on rant mode and I had to admit she was achieving it without too much trouble on her part.
Tuning her out – my thoughts turned to the woman that I had met at the solicitors office earlier. I had tried to ignore what I had felt when she had shook my hand but it had been way too strong. There was something almost vulnerable about her. As I had sat in the meeting, I had stolen glances at her every few moments, and there was something that had been familiar about her and I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was definitely there.
I had found out that her name was Natalie; she had beautiful green eyes that twinkled whenever the sun hit them, my attention had been drawn to her full strawberry coloured lips that remained set in a welcoming smile. I had wanted to talk to her but she had been rushed out of the meeting as soon as I had big farewell to my new lawyer.
I didn't know what was happening to me; it wasn't something that I was used to feeling. I wasn't the guy who cheated on my wife – when we were dating; yes I had, had a few flings, but the minute that we had said 'I do' I had vowed to never let it happen again. And I had. But there had been a major attraction between me and Natalie. The sound of my cell phone ringing captured my attention and I pulled the device out of my pocket.
"Hey you," I replied to my best friend after it showed her name as being the caller.
"Hey bestest mate," she cooed, "Jay made me call just to ensure that you were still coming out tonight?"
"Of course I am,"
"IS THAT HER? THE WOMAN WHO IS TRYING TO STEAL MY HUSBAND!" Lyssa yelled.
"Damn Randy does she ever stop and come up for air?"
There was absolutely no love lost between my wife and my best friend. Lyssa thought that Tiana was trying to steal me away from her and Tiana thought that Lyssa was over bearing and clingy. To be honest, it was a good idea that Lyssa wasn't coming tonight – there would be nothing but fighting and catty conversation. No one needed that.
"I'll meet you guys there in an hour,"
"Ok mate, just try not to kill her!" Tiana chorused down the line.
I knew that it was hard for Tiana to relate to my wife – she never worried about things like cheating etc; she lived her life with the mantra of 'what will be, will be'. It was one of the reasons that made her and Jay a good couple; they didn't take things seriously at all – yes they were serious about one another, and loved one another whole heartedly, but they didn't put restraints on one another. I prayed for something like that.
Ending the connection with my best friend, I took one last draw on my cigarette before flicking the butt at the sand box and turned back to my wife who was now in full blown screech that it was impossible to even make out the words that she was throwing at me.
I didn't know what to do for the best – I had always thought that I could defuse any situation that arrose with my wife, but this was a whole new level for her. The catty comments and the strops that she went into were like the calm before this shit storm. There was only so many times that I could listen to her talking about how she was sick and tired of my career, or the fact that I had all these 'supposed' girls throwing themselves at me. Grabbing my jacket from the coatrack by the door, I slammed the door behind me and headed down the path.
Thankfully she didn't follow me. The very last straw would be for her to start something in the middle of our street in front of our neighbours. I made good time and walked into the bar – stepping over that threshold, I felt like my veins were sparking with the kind of tingling pleasure that I always felt whenever I stepped out in front of a crowd at a show. The hairs were standing on end at the back of my neck and my heart was beating erratically. Looking around – I couldn't seem to find what would have caused such a strong and powerful reaction.
Tiana was sat at a booth with Jay and they waved me over, that was when I noticed John Cena at the other end of the bar, I gave my best friend the 'I'll be there in 5 minutes' sign and moved to where John was propping up the bar.
"Hey stranger," he greeted me with a smile.
"Hey what's happening?" I asked resting against the bar and keeping an eye on the barkeep in the hope that I would get served soon.
"Not much my man," he replied, "we're in town for a show tomorrow night, but I'm guessing you that with Ti being in town,"
"I did," I laughed.
Then the world stopped, it faded away and there was nothing but 'her' to concentrate on. At the opposite end of the bar; she was there – Natalie, the girl from the solicitors office. Dressed in an off the shoulder Harley Davidson t-shirt; she had her hair crunched around her delicately beautiful face; her eyes masked by a deep bronze shadow that made the green really more promanent and she was laughing with the man to her side. I was lost – stuck in the action of her tossing her head back and really laughing.
It all seemed so familiar to me – and when she turned her head, and those eyes met mine – I was hit with flashes of images that were impossible to keep up with, let alone pick something out of them. She gave me a wave and a shy smile, I returned both and it hit me that maybe she was the reason that I had been hit with that feeling upon entering the bar.
"Yo man, who is the hottie?" John asked.
"Excuse me?"
"The hot chick at the end of the bar – do you know her?" my friend enquired.
"I just met her today," I informed him.
"Introduce me?"
What could I say to that? No I won't introduce you because I think there might be something between us? I was married, I had no right to deny my friend a meeting with a beautiful girl. I nodded, and beckoned him to follow me as I wove through the crowds towards the end of the bar where Natalie was stood with the guy. A weird feeling enveloped me as I became closer to her – a tingling in my bones, an ache in my heart and a euphoric burst of adrenaline in my veins. God help me!
A/N - THANK YOU to all of you who have favourited, alerted and commented on this - you guys truly are the best ever :D I hope that you will continue to enjoy, please let me know what you are thinking of it :D Love you all loads xoxox