The Following Week, SmackDown
Torrie briskly walked through the parking lot, into the arena. She was filled with trepidation, which seemed to have become a regular thing now.
She was scheduled to make her long-awaited in-ring return that night. To the fans, she was coming off a back injury. It was of course dishonest, but she preferred it that way. If they knew she'd been shut away in that dingy hellhole, they would probably look down at her, treat her as an outcast whenever she had an appearance or signing. They'd treat her the same way her fellow WWE employees did.
She swallowed hard as she walked the hallway and thought about her new storyline. She absolutely hated it. She'd returned the previous week as a heel. The Boise Belle, Torrie Wilson, was fed up with the "All American Girl," Michelle McCool, for having stolen her spotlight. She was America's sweetheart on SmackDown, not McCool. She was the one who deserved an inter-brand Women's title shot against the champion, Beth Phoenix.
Tonight's script called for a match with Michelle. Surprisingly, it was a regular, not a gimmick match. Torrie was supposed to attack the other woman outside the ring, inflict real brutality on her with the ring bell. She was going to get disqualified, but Michelle was somehow going to get a one-up on her and retaliate.
It was enough to make the tall blonde wince. The last thing she'd wanted when she returned was to be put into a storyline with Michelle McCool. It seemed that ever since the other woman had gotten involved with Mark Calloway - The Undertaker. She had a chip on her shoulder and a stick up her ass. She walked around as though she owned the place and was nasty about it. It was enough to make Torrie's skin crawl.
She was surprised as she entered the women's locker room. A few divas from the RAW roster were present. Had she missed something? She didn't recall any mention of a Supershow.
"Hi, Torrie." Candice had issued the greeting, along with a warm smile. It seemed the brunette might actually still be her friend, as she was friendly whenever they saw one another.
"H-Hi, Candice," she replied. She glanced around the room. "Am I missing something? What are you doing here?"
The brunette laughed softly.
"I've got a match against Lisa Marie tonight," she explained. "An inter-brand thing. I've been hearing rumors that Vince is thinking about combining the rosters."
"Really?"
"Yeah... So, I guess this is his way of testing the waters, so to speak," the brunette replied.
"Oh." Torrie was momentarily lost for words. She'd heard not a word of any of this from Lisa Marie, and that hurt.
"Listen, I'll see you a little later," Candice said. She offered the blonde a smile and headed for the door.
Torrie waved, then sighed when she was gone. No one else had bothered to say anything to her, not even 'hello.' She sat down and opened her suitcase, sadness overtaking her. She could hear the whispers of a few of the others in the room and barely looked up. It hurt, but she chalked it up to being a regular occurrence already. Besides, what would happen if she approached them to defend herself? Surely, it wouldn't bode well for her.
As Torrie merely went about her business, someone approached her. She looked up from the wrestling costume she was holding as a shadow fell over her, disappointed to see Michelle McCool, of all people. She decided to be cordial.
"Hi, Michelle."
"Torrie," the other woman said, not even bothering to say hello or anything, "you'd better be on top of your game tonight." She gave the other woman a sour look as she got right to the point of why she was even speaking to her. "I don't want to get hurt getting in the ring with you, especially after your little hospital stay."
Torrie's eyes widened, and she felt as though she was literally being crushed. The room had fallen dead silent as Michelle had spoken those last few words.
She dropped her costume and bolted up, instantly wishing the floor would just swallow her whole. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask the younger woman how she could say such a thing to her, but she froze up. As she felt tears coming, all Torrie could do was flee the locker room.
She raced down the hallway, certainly she could hear a laugh or two trailing behind her. She was about to explode as she reached the corridor. She ducked into it, her back against the wall as the tears flowed freely. Torrie allowed herself to sink down until she was sitting on the floor. She brought her knees up and held them closely against her chest as she sobbed as quietly as she could manage.
Once again, just like the week earlier, she missed the man who hid out in the shadows nearby, watching her.