Just Friends

Chapter 1

It was a day like any other.

The beautiful honey blonde pulled her locks back in a tight ponytail, knowing she didn't have a lot of time to get downstairs to the lobby. Caralyn pulled a black hooded sweatshirt over her head, blue skinny jeans hugging her hips and legs perfectly, and feet encased in black steel toed boots. She had a big black luggage bag slung over her shoulder, keycard in hand, her cell phone pushed in her back jean pocket.

Insomnia had struck again, so she wasn't exactly in the best mood and not fully awake yet, desperately needing coffee. Sighing heavily, Caralyn stepped on the elevator and pushed the button that would send her down to the hotel lobby. Her shoulder was killing her from the heft of the luggage bag, which also had her pride and joy laptop in it.

Caralyn Nichols worked for World Wrestling Entertainment and was the personal assistant of Randy Orton, who was also known to many wrestling fans around the globe as The Viper or The Legend Killer. He wasn't the easiest person to get along with, stubborn to a fault, and definitely liked things a certain way. Caralyn could take anything he dished out though, which is why Vince McMahon, the owner of the company, chose her for the position.

Randy didn't really give her any problems, unless he really felt it necessary, and for that Caralyn was very thankful. However, one thing Randy couldn't stand was when Caralyn ran late and currently, that's exactly what was happening. Of course Randy wasn't always on time either, so when Caralyn stepped off the elevator and didn't see him waiting on her, she sighed a huge breath of relief.

Caralyn was a very headstrong woman, though she did have her moments of vulnerability, but didn't take any snuff from the Superstars or Divas in the company. Vince had originally wanted to make Caralyn a new Diva, but she respectfully declined. Knowing she could never parade around in skimpy outfits, not to mention every Diva was obligated to learn how to wrestle.

Something Caralyn knew she'd never do.

Before the position for Randy's personal assistant came about, Caralyn was one of the script writers for the Smackdown! brand of the company. WWE was split into two separate shows that competed against each other and she'd started her career on Smackdown!, where most of her friends were. Caralyn loved her job and never wanted to do anything else…until she found out that Lauren, the lead script writer and Caralyn's supervisor, had been taking credit for her ideas on the show.

Caralyn confronted Lauren about it and Lauren simply told her she had to earn her stripes in the company, that there was nothing Caralyn could do about it. Never in all the years of her life had Caralyn wanted to hurt someone as much as she did Lauren, but refrained because she didn't want to be fired from the company. Caralyn didn't let it go though and went straight to the top, Vince McMahon, and told him what was happening.

"I'm not here to make a complaint, Mr. McMahon. I'm simply here to tell you that if you don't give me a new position in the company, I will have to resign and find someplace else to work. I love what I do for a living, but I also refuse to be walked on and have my ideas stolen from Lauren."

To make sure Vince took her seriously and didn't blow her off, Caralyn promptly handed him her official resignation letter, walking out without a word. Caralyn cried for the next several days as soon as she arrived home, her heart broken because she loved script writing. She loved coming up with the ideas that came to life on television, courtesy of the Superstars and Divas.

Three days later, Caralyn received a shocking phone call from Vince McMahon, informing her that she would be transferred to the Raw brand, but she wouldn't be a script writer. The Raw brand already had their script writing team and Vince didn't want to toy with it, so he decided to make her a personal assistant to one of his main superstars. At first, Caralyn was hesitant to take this opportunity, but then again, she hated living with a 'what if' moment and accepted.

Caralyn was absolutely stunned when she found out who she would be working exclusively with.

Randy Orton.

The first time she'd met Randy, Caralyn instantly knew he had a cocky arrogance and she wasn't going to put up with that. When he actually asked her if she would run down the street to a local mart to grab him some condoms for a date, Caralyn told him to go take a walk off a short pier. After that, Randy knew he wasn't dealing with an ordinary woman and apologized to her for his behavior. Caralyn accepted the apology, but warned him if he EVER asked her to do something that degrading again, she would beat the hell out of him.

Randy didn't doubt it and they became fast friends, telling each other their deepest and darkest secrets. Caralyn felt comfortable with Randy and knew she could tell him absolutely anything; he would never let any of her secrets or skeletons slip. She'd been his personal assistant for two years and Caralyn never wanted it to end, knowing Randy like the back of her hand. He was her best friend and she knew Randy felt the same way, especially with how protective he was of her.

Randy had recently begun feuding with Stephen Farrelly –most fans knew him all over as The Celtic Warrior Sheamus- and Caralyn didn't like the man from the moment she met him. There was something about him that rubbed her the wrong way, but she couldn't put her finger on it. This man had bright fiery red hair that stuck up like he'd been electrocuted and his skin was pale white. He did indeed look like a huge jar of human mayo, which John Cena had recently called him.

Stephen was downright frightening and built like a freight train, though Randy wasn't scared of him in the least. Caralyn was really hesitant to even go near him, not even sure if he belonged on this planet, but had no choice. Randy had to work with him because he was going after the world title that Stephen currently held. Randy assured her everything would be fine and promised he would protect her, knowing she was terrified of Stephen.

Someone grabbed her from behind, an arm wrapping around her waist, jolting Caralyn out of her deep thoughts. She jumped about a foot in the air and whipped around, coming face to chest with Randy, scowling. Randy couldn't help laughing and kissed her forehead, only to receive a sharp slap on his bare arm.

"Sorry couldn't resist, Cara." He winked, rubbing his arm. "Damn, you got quite a slap for such a tiny woman."

"There's more where that came from if you scare the shit out of me like that again." Caralyn warned, though couldn't help smiling when Randy took her bag, relieving the burden of carrying it. "By the way, you're late."

"So sue me." He grumbled, causing her to laugh because Randy always pointed out whenever she was late. "I guess the tables have turned eh?"

"Damn straight and you didn't have to carry that."

"Shut up and get moving woman, we're on a tight schedule."

Randy shook his head, knowing Caralyn had probably been late, but he couldn't prove it so he wasn't going to call her out. They walked over to the receptionist and handed over their key cards, Randy guiding her out of the hotel toward their rental car. He knew her shoulder had been bothering her lately and didn't want it injured further.

He didn't blame her; the thing weighed a ton for a tiny person like her. Caralyn stood at just five feet six and weighed practically nothing, though she did have a curvaceous figure. However, height didn't mean anything because this tiny vixen put anyone in their place, no matter the size. Her hair was beautiful, though Caralyn rarely left it down to show off the honey colors throughout her hair.

What captivated Randy most about his woman were her deep teal colored eyes and they were not contacts. Shortly after Caralyn began working with him, he couldn't help asking her one night on the way back to the hotel if her eye color was real. Caralyn laughed at his curiosity and put his mind at ease, assuring him they were indeed real and not fake contacts. Having nearly perfect vision, there was no reason for Caralyn to wear contacts in the first place.

"So where are we headed before the airport?" Caralyn asked once they were on the road, Randy always being the driver unless he was deadbeat tired. It didn't happen often.

"Well first I'm taking you out for breakfast because I'm starving and you know I'm a bottomless pit." They both laughed because Randy was telling the truth. "Then off to Canada, which I'm not looking forward to, but that's between us."

Caralyn blushed furiously and looked away from him, which Randy absolutely loved because he knew he was the only who could get that kind of reaction from her. Unbeknownst to Randy, Caralyn had fallen in love with him over the past two years, but she was a master at hiding her feelings. She was scared to mix business with pleasure and didn't want to ruin the special friendship they had, deciding she'd rather have Randy in her life as a friend than not at all.

"You're something else." She slapped his arm playfully, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you managed to get up this early." Caralyn smirked and looked out the window, the beautiful city of Los Angeles staring back at her. "Any particular place in mind you want to eat at?"

"Not sure, I was gonna let you decide because the last time I chose, you didn't approve." Randy loved Cracker Barrel, but he didn't always want to make the decisions for Caralyn. "I was thinking IHOP, but…"

"You definitely know the way to a woman's heart." Caralyn grinned from ear to ear, loving IHOP, and couldn't wait to have some strawberry stuffed French toast. "Definitely IHOP, get going I'm hungry now!"

Randy chuckled at her enthusiasm and they made small talk throughout the drive, smiling the whole time. Randy reached over and pulled the holder from Caralyn's hair, watching it cascade down her shoulders in shining damp honey waves. She whipped her head to stare at him and Randy simply tossed the holder over his shoulder, winking. Caralyn scowled, though she knew how much Randy hated it when she put her hair up, which was ninety nine perfect of the time.

He liked seeing her hair down, though Caralyn always brought extras with her and knew when they began eating at IHOP, it would go right back up again. Randy knew how much Caralyn despised having her hair messed with, but he honestly couldn't help it. She looked breathtaking with it down and it smelled heavenly, always leaving behind a scent when she left a room. The scent would linger for five minutes and it was always something different, switching from strawberries to mangos.

"You know I hate it when you put your hair up, you need to show it off. It's gorgeous." He stated, causing her to shoot teal daggers at him and Randy simply laughed. "You can't stay mad at me."

Rolling her eyes in his direction, Caralyn pulled off another holder from her wrist, but Randy had quick hands, snatching it from her. "You just love messing with me don't you?" It wasn't a question and Caralyn growled in frustration, knowing she would have to eat carefully since Randy wouldn't let her put her hair up.

"You know I do, Cara, always." He smirked and didn't realize that every time he did that, it melted Caralyn's insides into mush.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." She grumbled good-naturedly, but truth be told it wasn't that bad.

She smiled up at him and leaned over, kissing his cheek to let him know there were no hard feelings…that she wasn't angry with him. Randy smiled and took her hand in his, kissing the back of it gently while he continued driving. He knew he was falling in love with Caralyn, it'd been happening for awhile, but Randy tried everything to ignore his feelings.

He didn't want to take the chance of having Caralyn reject him, knowing there was no way she felt the same way about him. He'd rather have this beautiful woman in his life as a friend than not at all because it would kill Randy if he did lose her. He was glad they were best friends and Randy knew he would just have to settle for that.

They arrived at IHOP a few minutes later and Randy opened the door for her, guiding her inside, the hostess seating them in a booth. "So what are you having?" He asked, looking over the menu, chuckling when she said French toast. "That's exactly what I thought."

Sadness radiated from Randy and Caralyn could feel it, frowning as she set her menu down, locking eyes with solemn blue. "Randy, what is it?" She asked softly, watching him heave out a heavy sigh. "Come on, you can talk to me about anything."

"I know, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind lately." He looked out the window, suddenly not able to meet those beautiful teal orbs. "I asked Sam for a divorce last night."

Caralyn blinked in shock when she heard that because Randy was completely in love with Samantha. "Come again?" She wanted to make sure she'd heard him right, immediately reaching across the table to take his hand. "Please tell me I heard you wrong. Why did you do that? I thought you two were doing really well?" She was baffled and watched Randy take a slow sip of his water.

"She wasn't too keen on coming on the road with me anymore. It's not that I didn't want her on the road with me, but nobody likes her, Cara. When I told her it would be better if she stayed home for one week, she flew off the handle and told me to go fuck myself, hung up on me and that was the end of it." He explained, the conversation pretty much being a lot of cussing, crying and ranting from Samantha while Randy tried consoling her.

Caralyn couldn't exactly deny the fact that Samantha was incredibly annoying because she did have a bad reputation backstage. "I'm sorry." She whispered, not knowing what else to say.

"I know you don't like her either, but thanks for being nice about it." He smiled and once again entwined their fingers together just as the waitress came over to take their orders.

"No problem."

Randy ended up getting the same thing Caralyn did, stuffed strawberry French toast, both of them changing the subject to something more upbeat. He had a match against Ted DiBiase that night and Caralyn knew he would win, always on his side no matter what. Samantha wasn't spoken of again, though Caralyn knew it would take some time before Randy could move on fully.

She would do what she could to help her best friend through it.