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With much resignation, Lita briskly made her way down the arena hallway and to the women's locker room.
She sighed and ran a hand through her long red hair, sadness consuming her. She'd been really angry at first, but now she was just upset and sorrow-filled.
As she entered the room, Trish looked up to see her, and the two locked eyes. The little blonde's brown orbs looked questioning, and, bleakly, Lita shook her head.
Trish approached her, a disappointed expression on her face.
"Austin said no?" she asked in a soft voice.
The redhead shook her head.
"Not exactly... There's just nothing he can do. Bischoff's decision is Bischoff's decision - and I guess it's final." She shrugged helplessly. Her gaze traveled to halfway across the room, when Victoria was standing before a locker, the dark-haired woman's eyes trained on her. She appeared to be trying to overhear their conversation. Then, as though confirming the redhead's suspicions, the other diva headed over to them.
The little blonde's guard was up in an instant.
"What do you want? We weren't talking to you!"
The raven-haired diva frowned, yet at the same time, she couldn't blame Trish Stratus for her hostility. Lord knew, she'd never been nice to the blonde woman.
"Chill!" Lita cried, eyeing her best friend, a hand raised as though to placate the Canadian. She turned to face Victoria, a serious but not unpleasant look coming to her face. "Hi."
"Hey... I was just-" She didn't want to use the words 'overhearing' or 'eavesdropping.' "-standing over there, and I heard you mention Austin...?"
"That was me," Trish snapped.
The redhead shot the petite woman a warning look.
"Okay... Well... Even so, I just wanted to tell you, Lita," the dark-haired woman said, pointedly ignoring the blonde, "I spoke to him, too." When Lita arched an eyebrow in surprise, Victoria continued. "I tried to appeal to him to get out of this Evolution thing." She made a face, not hiding the disgust she felt toward the four men who comprised that group. "And I actually spoke to him on both our behalves."
This time, it was Trish whose face registered surprise.
"You really did that?"
Victoria nodded.
"I figured neither one of us wants any part of that storyline, and we had called a truce... But it's a no-go," she concluded, shaking her head in despair.
"I know," Lita said, her face growing sad again as well. "Steve and Bischoff have been making decisions independently of each other ever since Linda said the Board of Directors decided on that."
"Well," the raven-haired diva said, "you know what that means, don't you?"
The redhead cocked her head to one side, eyeing her questioningly, but didn't speak.
"It means we're stuck - and we're in this together..."
*
"Wow, isn't that great news?" Randy Orton asked practically the moment after co-General Manager Eric Bischoff departed Evolution's locker room.
"I don't see anything good about it, kid..." Triple H said.
"Oh, come on, Hunter - two hot chicks joining Evolution? I think I'm gonna get a lot of pleasure out of this idea." Orton's handsome yet smug face broke into a smirk-grin. He couldn't help it when he envisioned the fun he could have with Lita and Victoria - the two divas would never be able to resist him. After all, what woman could?
This time, The Game laughed.
"I figured you'd say something along those lines. Fine - have your fun with the two broads." His smile disappeared, only to be replaced by a scowl. "I don't trust them - especially the redhead. And I don't like the idea of woman becoming a part of Evolution."
"Listen to me, Hunter..." This time, Ric Flair spoke. The older man rose and came to stand before the leader of the faction. "We'll just go along with Bischoff's wishes for now and see how it goes. Besides, Victoria might be good for us - she's devious, like us."
"Good point... But if I don't like 'em, I'm not going to hold back in letting them know that," Triple H snapped.
Randy smirked, though he knew the other man meant what he said. He just wondered what
fun he could get out of the divas... Well, he'd find out soon enough.