"Great," the man who did the majority of the talking for his band said.  "This is just the opportunity we've been looking for.  I don't quite know how to thank you, Mr. Flair."

The man affectionately known as The Nature Boy grinned as he shifted his gaze across the room, where the tall young blonde woman was setting the dining room table.

"Oh, I can think of a way..."

The man followed Flair's line of vision and smiled.  "Sorry...no can do there.  She's Randy's girlfriend, and I don't know anything about him 'sharing,' if you get my drift..."

At that moment, although she couldn't hear a word they were saying, Stacy Keibler turned around to catch the two men watching her.  A bit naive, the leggy blonde waved at them, then returned to her chore of setting Dave Batista's table.  A moment later, Randy Orton returned from the bathroom and put an arm around the young woman as he came up behind her.

"Too bad...but what's really important is Evolution, and the future thereof," Ric said.  "Stephanie and I would love to have talent such as yours playing at In The Raw..."

Batista grinned, but he was unable to stop wondering about this Stephanie Flair kept mentioning.  He knew she was his business partner, so she was probably older, like him.  But he couldn't be sure.  She could be young and luscious - exactly the way he liked his women.

The fourth man present in the apartment came into the dining room, a cell phone clutched in his left hand.  He glared at it as though it were to blame for the crap with which he was currently dealing, then placed it down on the table.  Amazingly, he managed to rid himself of his sourpuss and smiled at Randy and Stacy.

"What's the deal?" Flair asked Dave, his gaze traveling from the newcomer and back to the man sitting across from him.

"We just hired him - sort of a spur of the moment-type thing..."

"Well, he's really good," Ric said with a nod.  He'd been at the tiny club in which they'd played about an hour earlier, and the band had played a quick set for him.  Normally, on scouting trips like this, he required talent to play at least four songs for twenty minutes, but Evolution hadn't needed to do that.  In his eyes, this band was more than tight.  And despite the fact that this one guy was new, it was as though he'd been playing music with Dave and the others all along.  Impressive...

"Okay...Here's what we'll do...I won't be back to my club for another week - but I'll give you a call, and you four will travel to In The Raw," Flair said, gesturing with both hands.  "You guys are gonna pack the house.  And if all goes really well, you'll make a record."

"That sounds...absolutely awesome," Batista said, his dark eyes lighting up.  "I'm looking forward to it."  He couldn't wait to celebrate all of this later - with his new 'squeeze.'

*

Lita was still feeling as though she were in the Twilight Zone a little later, when Edge was still acting civil toward her.

They were sitting at a small table across the bar, sipping coffee in mugs.  The redhead gazed into his dreamy green eyes, marveling at just how one-hundred and eighty degrees nicer he was than she'd originally thought.

"So, how long have you been playing?" Edge asked her.

"Well, I originally started playing bass," the redhead began.

"Really?"  The blond man cocked his head as he regarded her with interest.  "What made you switch over to guitar?"

"I always wanted to play the guitar," she said, tucking a lock of hair behind one ear, the coffee cup in her other hand.  "But bass is easier...anyway, I taught myself how to play that when I was about fifteen - after a few months, I bought myself an acoustic guitar and taught myself."

"Cool..." the tall blond man said, his gaze fixed on her, a small smile on his face.  "You really taught yourself?"

"Well, not completely...I taught myself the basics, but my boyfriend taught me how to play riffs and leads."

Adam blinked as he eyed her with surprise, and even more surprising was the fact that he felt a twinge of disappointment.

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Not anymore," Lita admitted, her eyes downcast for a beat.  "We broke up a few months ago.  We were in my last band together."

"Oh, yeah?" Edge asked, intrigued.

"Yeah...Evolution.  Actually, he and I were the founding members."

"Metal?"  Somehow, the Canadian couldn't picture this woman in any other type of band.  Her look was very metal, especially with that tattoo on her shoulder.

"Of course..."

After a beat, the blond man took a long gulp of coffee, then turned to her again.  "So, why'd you leave your band?" he asked.

Lita sighed, placing her cup down and running a hand through her red hair.  "I just...I couldn't stay."  She felt uncomfortable discussing this very personal matter with him.  It was none of his business - first of all, they still hardly knew each other, and second, it had been no more than an hour or so since they'd called a truce.

"Personal differences, I take it?" Edge asked.

"Yeah...yeah, you could say that."  The redhead met his emerald eyes squarely.  "I decided that, since we were broken up, I couldn't very well stay in a band with him.  I tried at first - but it...it made things very uncomfortable - at least for me."

As she spoke, the blond man actually felt sympathetic.  He thought of how very difficult it must have been for Lita to deal with such a situation.  At the same time, he was glad to see that she was most definitely not the cold, unfeeling bitch he'd originally thought.  She was nothing like that.

"Am I in a parallel universe or something?!"

They both looked up at Chris' booming voice, which was full of surprise, and Edge took note of the shock etched on the man's face.

"You two are actually getting along!  Hey, Christian!" Jericho called, looking over his shoulder at the drummer, who was standing by the bar with Trish.  "Pinch me, will you?"

"I'd rather pinch Trish!" Christian called back, placing his hand near the woman's buttocks.  The petite blonde playfully slapped him away.

Everyone laughed, including Chris, and, for the first time all day, Lita found herself feeling genuinely at ease.