Melina groaned as she took a quick glimpse at her cell phone's display.
"Oh, I don't believe this..." she muttered. She drew the attention of Jillian, who was changing into her ring gear nearby. The busty blonde slipped her top over her head and in place as she eyed her.
"What?"
The Latina turned to face her best friend, holding up her phone to show her what had her so upset.
"This!" She shook her head. "He sent me a text message! You would think he would get it by now."
Jillian rolled her eyes.
"At least he hasn't called you," she reasoned. "So, just read it, laugh and hit 'Delete,' that's all."
Melina gave her a look. But she knew the other woman was right - everything she'd just suggested was pretty much all she could do. She pressed the button that would enable her to read Batista's message and read it.
Just so you know, I'm moving on. You blew it big time, baby!
"Oh, brother!" the brunette said. She rolled her eyes like her best friend had done and showed the message to Jillian to read.
Jillian actually let out a small laugh. She turned her blue eyes on Melina and said, "Well, this is a good thing!"
"Only if it's true," the Latina replied. She honestly didn't know. Dave was pretty adept at fabricating the truth when it would benefit him. While she had liked him a lot at one point, she knew this to be a one-hundred percent undisputed fact.
"Maybe it is," Jillian offered. "Think positively, Mel... He's probably found another girl to obsess over. That's great news! Now you can just go back to focusing on your relationship with John."
"I guess." Melina wanted to do exactly as her friend was saying, but something just nagged at her. Her gut feeling was telling her that it wasn't quite so cut and dry, and that something more was going to happen with Dave. As much as she wanted to ignore that sense, she simply couldn't.
"Are you going to respond to him?"
The brunette met Jillian's curious blue eyes and flipped her cell phone to a close. She shook her head.
"Not a chance," she said. Yes, it was probably best that she put everything having to do with Batista out of her mind. After all, why should she have to deal with the stress? "Let's go to catering - I'm hungry."
The blonde smiled, nodding, and they were off.
*
Off in another city but in the same state, the SmackDown roster had a houseshow. Kara Drew stood in front of the vanity mirror in the divas' locker room, examining her hair and makeup.
"Hey, Kara... You've got a visitor just outside."
The pretty blonde turned to meet Lisa Marie Varon's eyes. The dark-haired woman had a thumb hooked over her shoulder, pointing in the direction of the door.
"Oh, cool... Thanks, Lisa."
She stepped away from the mirror and made a beeline for the door, wondering who wanted to see her. Maybe it was Dave. A small smile graced her lips at that thought. It was funny, though... She really hadn't given much thought to him until he'd expressed an interest in her. But then, she had always been the type who started to really like someone when they liked her first.
As Kara peered out just beyond the doorway of the women's locker room, she caught sight of him... It was not Dave Batista but another man with whom she had a certain relationship. He stood there in his ring gear, arms lightly crossed over his chest as he leaned somewhat casually against the wall.
"Cliff... Hi," she said in a small voice. She offered him a shy smile. "What's up?"
"Well..." The man appeared momentarily uncomfortable and shifted, running a hand through his shaggy dark locks. "It's probably none of my business at all, but... Kara, there's been a rumor going around the back about you."
Her eyes widened.
"Wh-What rumor?"
Cliff Compton bowed his head for a beat, then raised his gaze to meet her blue eyes.
"About you and Dave Batista... Are you dating him?" He held back the additional words in his head, not wanting to overstep any boundaries with the woman.
Kara blushed in an instant, lowering her head shyly for just a moment, Then, a small smile managed to find its way back to her lips. She nodded.
"I guess you can say that," she admitted. "Well, not yet, but he did ask me out the other day. We're going out on Friday, after the houseshow."
"Oh," was all Cliff could manage. He wanted to curse because he'd hoped it wasn't true. However, he didn't want to spoil any of the blonde's apparent happiness, so he smiled. "Oh, good for you." He knew that sounded very lame, but he couldn't quite help it.
"Thank you." Kara met his brown eyes and smiled.
Their eye contact seemed to last an awfully long time, until she finally turned away. She gestured toward the locker room door just behind her and to the right.
"Well, I'd better-"
"Yeah, you go and finish up," Cliff said, nodding. "We'll meet up later."
The blonde nodded as well and smiled.
"Yes." She turned around and went back into the women's locker room, and for some reason, her heart was positively hammering.
Back out in the arena hallway, Cliff Compton was just lingering by the room into which Kara Drew had just returned. He couldn't
help but feel a sinking sensation, one that ran from his chest down to his stomach. It was the feeling of deep regret, and it
really stung.