solitude

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*Two Weeks Later*

Trish sighed as she tended to her own personal needs in the hotel bathroom. She was standing in front of the sink, eyeing her reflection as she brushed her long damp blonde hair.

She was not at all lost on the fact that her eyes were dull and lifeless, not full of their usual spark and brightness. She looked miserable, and it perfectly matched her mood from over the last couple of weeks. And why not? She was a wretch - not to mention, a coward. She'd had her chance to tell Chris the truth - but she'd blown it and kept her mouth shut.

Trish knew she could no longer live through the facade. Now that she acknowledged the truth, it just wasn't fair to continue on like this. She wasn't in love with Jericho... It was Christian she loved. She'd loved the other man the entire time, and for so long.

And yet, why had she rejected the short-haired blond man after that night they'd spent together two weeks earlier? She knew she had no definite answer to that question. She was confused, full of turmoil... After the rejection, how or *why* would Christian ever trust her again?

The little blonde scowled at her reflection in the mirror. She'd fallen back into her old pattern, and history had repeated itself - only this time, she'd ditched the love of her life over for his best friend, not his boss.

A surge of self-hatred so fierce it almost terrified her suddenly coming, Trish tossed the hairbrush aside, her hands violently sweeping all the items on the sink to the floor. Bottles and jars crashed on the cool tiles, and perfume suddenly hit her nostrils strongly - she'd smashed her small bottle of Eternity to smithereens. Her electric toothbrush clattered to the floor, most likely breaking in the process.

She let out an anguished cry as she kept knocking everything to the floor, her tiny body animated in her combination of rage and grief.

Finally, exhausted, Trish sank to the bathroom floor, weak, defeated. Sobs wracked her small form with an awful, overwhelming harshness. God, it hurt so badly.

Wails escaped her as she sprawled out on the floor, her left cheek cool as it rested against the tiles. Her tears flowed so fast, easily, wetting the floor as she wept. She was so stupid... It was true, what people said about her - she *was* a bitch!

The blonde was not of right mind. She hadn't been of her right mind ever since that day. And in all the time between the breakup and her bittersweet reunion with Christian, she felt only half-alive.

Trish winced, the tears still falling as an even more recent memory came to her. Just two days earlier, at the arena, hungry, she'd gone to catering, but she'd halted just in the doorway. He'd been the sole person in the room, sitting at a lonely table, his back to her. The slump of his shoulders and the downcast position of his head spoke volumes...

... He was a man suffering from a broken heart.

She'd stood there watching him silently for what felt like long, eternal moments, ignoring the grumbling of her empty stomach. She hadn't gone in to get food at that time, either, as when all four members of Evolution suddenly approached, she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sounds of their voices. Randy Orton ogled her in a very obvious manner as they passed, but she was grateful they didn't verbally address her and thus draw Christian's attention. And so, Trish had hurried from the area before her longtime love had become any the wiser to her watching him.

Trish sobbed weakly as she remained in her prone position on the bathroom floor. She hurt so badly, she thought she wanted to die.
 
 
 
 

Part 10

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