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She supposed she should have felt insulted, hurt... But the fact that she didn't spoke volumes about exactly how she truly felt about this entire insane situation.
Karen Angle made her way to the backstage area, not bothering to cast another glance over her shoulder. She knew her husband, Kurt, wasn't looking her way, even without looking. He was too busy preparing for his match against Kaz.
It was just as always... But this time, she had grown tired of him neglecting her and pushing her aside for the sake of his career. At first, it had stung, but after awhile, it had become, sadly enough, second nature to her. It had ceased to hurt because she'd come to expect the neglect.
The tall brunette made her way to the locker room, wanting to collect her things and just leave. She reflected over what she'd just done. She had promised she would drop a bombshell on Kurt, and sure enough, true to her word, she'd done that. She had told her husband, in front of the world, that she wanted a separation... Some time apart would do them wonders, Kurt had agreed.
Karen grabbed her purse and bit her lip as she slipped out of the locker room. The truth was, she hadn't told him everything... But she knew she couldn't do that, not now - not with an audience both right there at the iMPACT Zone and watching on national television at home.
She stopped just out in the hallway, something nagging at her. Should she stop off to see AJ before his tag team match? She knew the young man and his partner, Tomko, were facing Christian Cage and Kevin Nash in a little while. Surely, his mind would be focused on that, and on a subsequent victory. She knew how Tomko was, strict and demanding. He insisted on strategizing and being prepared well in advance at all times. In that respect, AJ Styles was basically the exact opposite. The "Prince of Phenomenal" tended to throw caution to the wind and let the chips fall as they may. She smiled, realizing that was one of his many charms. AJ was unpredictable and spontaneous... Those were two traits that Kurt seemed to have lost over the years. A couple of months ago, it was the sort of thing the brunette would have realized with a good measure of bitterness.
Her mind made up, Karen made her way briskly down the hall to another locker room. She'd seen him slip in there a bit earlier, when he hadn't seen her. She had to see him one more time before she retired to the hotel for the night.
She stopped outside the closed locker room door and knocked. Her breath was held as she waited with anticipation, and a few seconds later, the door opened.
"Oh, great." An annoyed-looking Tomko stared out at her, and he looked away, pursing his lips together. Clearly, he wasn't happy about her presence. "What is it?" he barked with impatience.
"I'm looking for AJ," the dark-haired woman announced tentatively. She felt a little uneasy at the knowledge that the big man most definitely did not like her. "I-Is he here?"
Tomko glared at her. Why did she have to come over here now, so shortly before their match? She was nothing but trouble as far as he was concerned. Naturally, she was back in AJ's head, and as usual, leading him by the nose like a cruel farmer teasing a guileless donkey with a dangling carrot. And it seemed whenever she was around, AJ was clumsy, forgetful, not sharp, and generally a mess. Damn this woman.
"What's goin' on?"
Karen relaxed a bit as she finally heard AJ's voice. She hadn't even realized he was actually in the room until just then, thanks to the way the big, heavily-tattooed and goateed man held the door open mere inches. And then, it opened considerably more.
"Hey, Karen," the Prince of Phenomenal greeted as he caught sight of her. He gave Tomko a look, and to the brunette's surprise, the large man backed off. However, she didn't miss the pointed look he gave his tag team partner.
"Hi, AJ."
The young man stepped out into the hall with her, closing the door to give them more privacy, if such a thing were possible. He turned to face her, his eyes shining with concern.
"Are you okay?" He'd seen the exchange between her and Kurt on a television monitor moments earlier. He took gentle hold of her arm.
She nodded.
"I'm fine, AJ. I just needed to see you one last time before I leave," she said.
He felt his stomach lurch at her words. And why should that be? She was married to his boss and she would be taking sole care of their two kids during the separation... So, of course Karen would be heading home. But that wasn't to say that he wouldn't miss her. He enjoyed having her around.
"You're going back home? Back to Pittsburgh?"
Karen held back the wince she felt.
"Well, not right away. I... I was wondering," she began, looking down and reaching for both of his hands, "could you meet me for dinner tomorrow?" She raised her head, cocking it to one side as she looked into his blue eyes. "Just the two of us? I really need to talk to you."
AJ glanced down at her slender, graceful hands, which were still gently gripping his, then raised his eyes back to her beautiful face. There was no way he could turn this woman down. And besides, he wondered what she had to talk to him about.
"Yeah," he agreed in a soft-spoken voice. "That'd be cool."
The door suddenly opened again, and they were interrupted by the sound of Tomko clearing his throat - loudly, and in a very obvious way. He stared out at them as well, clearly displeased. He focused on Karen with an expression that basically said, "Well?"
The brunette released the man's hands.
"I better get going... I'll see you tomorrow, AJ." She wanted to give him a hug but felt self-conscious with the bearded man watching her like a hawk. She slipped away down the hall, unaware that the two were still watching her until she was completely out of sight.
Tomko smacked his tag partner in the back of the head to snap him out of it.
"Ow!" AJ whined, grabbing the back of his head. He looked up at his friend with a pained expression etched on his face.
"You're letting that broad get into your head again, AJ," the older man growled. "Snap the hell out of
it, we've got work to do!"