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The following week
Amy walked into the arena with her head in a fog. Her mind was full of suspicion and unasked questions, and it was anything but a pleasant feeling.
She supposed she could be making too much of it, but she just couldn't shake the bad feeling she had. Things had gotten strange, for lack of a better word, over the course of the last week or so. The phone calls at odd times threw her off. Adam always tended to wave them off and chalk them up to "no big deal." She wasn't convinced that was all there was to it.
"Hey," Trish greeted with a smile as the redhead bounded into the women's locker room. However, her expression changed radically as she caught the look on her friend's face. "Amy?"
"Hi, Trish."
The blonde frowned as she studied the other woman.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Well, no... not aside from the fact that my boyfriend keeps getting these weird phone calls."
Trish didn't speak and gave her a questioning look.
"Yeah, and he always says it's 'no one.'"
Before the blonde could open her mouth again, the door opened, and Ashley headed inside. She appeared worried, and Trish knew why - there was a Supershow scheduled for that night, so she was sure to run into Matt Hardy at some point.
"Do you think I could get you away with hiding out in here all night?"
"'Fraid not, Ash," the little blonde replied. "Not when we've got a match scheduled." The pair were slated to face Lita and Torrie Wilson in a diva tag team contest. It would be Ashley's first match back since recovering from her fractured leg.
"Hi, Amy."
The redhead raised her head, casting the younger woman a cursory look.
"Oh, hey, Ash." She looked back down at her belongings, clearly not in the mood for chit-chat.
Trish and Ashley exchanged glances, and the Canadian gestured with one hand. She wanted her friend to know not to take the redhead's mood personally. She knew how Amy got when she was upset, and nine times out of ten, the redhead just wanted to be left alone to stew for awhile. Eventually, she would cool off and come back to talk with a close friend or two. Trish just hoped it was the usual type of thing, where Amy got over it sooner rather than later.
"Come on, Ashley... Let's grab a bite at catering," the little blonde suggested.
"'Kay. See you later, Amy."
"Bye, girls." The redhead waved to them but hadn't looked up from her bag.
When they were out in the hallway and starting to walk toward catering, the Diva Search winner posed the question.
"What's up with her?" She hooked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the women's locker room.
"Oh, something to do with Adam," Trish answered. "I'm sure it's nothing they can't work out."
*
Adam was just entering the arena when his eyes narrowed. He caught sight of the man who'd been his friend but sadly had become his one enemy in life.
Matt was standing right in the entrance of the building, talking on his cell phone.
The tall blond man ignored the elder Hardy as he pulled his suitcase in, fully intending on just getting to the locker rooms. He heard Matt tell the person with whom he was speaking to hold on.
"So... you son of a bitch - you're getting the WWE title again, are you?"
Adam turned to look at the man. He couldn't even really feel angry, as Matt's hostility was childish. On top of that, his jealousy was so palpable, it was actually sad. He gave him a lopsided smirk.
"Yeah, that's right. You got a problem with that?" he countered, not at all intending on getting into a physical altercation. Hardy wasn't worth it, anyway, and neither was getting into trouble - especially not when the company was treating him so well.
The dark-haired man glared at him with such hatred. His eyes even bulged a little, and if the blond man were a smaller guy, he might have felt threatened.
"Yeah," came the reply between clenched teeth, "I do have a problem with it. Feces like you have no business getting all the perks."
Adam shook his head and eyed his former friend with amusement.
"You just don't get it, Matt, do you? You and I both know - and you can deny it all you want - I worked for everything I've gotten in this business."
Hardy glared at him.
"Except for my girlfriend."
The Canadian exchanged the unfriendly eye contact for another beat longer. It took all he had not to roll his eyes before he walked away without another word. He had better, more important things to do.
He heard Matt return to his telephone conversation as he departed. He put it out of his mind and decided to go
find Amy as soon as he dropped his stuff off at the locker room.