______________________________________________________
Edge stared at his reflection in the mirror, aghast. What in hell's name was going on? How on earth could it be possible?
He was staring back at CM Punk's reflection. Gone was his own curly blond hair, replaced by Punk's straight black. Instead of his own five tattoos, his body was covered by many! Clear as day, on one shoulder, was the Pepsi logo. Damn it, I hate Pepsi! the Canadian thought. He was definitely a Coca Cola fan. And how could anyone be so dumb as to get a soda logo tattooed on themselves, anyway?
"Are you okay in there?"
The bathroom door suddenly opened, and Ashley entered with a concerned look on her face. She looked him over as he stood staring into the mirror above the sink, noticing nothing awry - at least not in her eyes.
"Hey..." She touched his shoulder, noticing instantly how tense he was.
The man turned at the feel of the small hand on his shoulder, staring at her. He recoiled as though burned.
"What is this?!" he asked.
The blonde diva shrugged.
"What?" she asked, not comprehending.
"I mean," he went on, looking hard into her eyes and practically cornering her against the door, "is this some kind of joke?!"
Ashley wasn't exactly scared, but at the same time, she was alarmed, as she'd never seen Punk like this before. She shook her head, her eye contact steady as she shrugged again.
"I really don't know what you're talking about, baby." She cocked her head, frowning. Someone certainly woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. She'd seen him grumpy, but never like this... It was as though he'd traded in his personality for that of someone else. It was strange.
Edge turned briefly back toward the mirror. A quick glance at his reflection showed that nothing had changed in the couple of minutes or so since the woman had entered the room. Wide-eyed, he turned back toward her.
"What did you do?" he spat, the accusatory tone clear as a bell. "Are you a witch or something? Did you cast a spell or curse me?!" He was so enraged, he pretty much wanted to wring her neck!
Ashley shook her head, and this time, she appeared the slightest bit frightened. She was at a loss for words as she stared up at him, her mouth opening but no words emerging.
He again turned his focus on the mirror. That damn reflection still showed. Was he in The Twilight Zone? And where was Maryse? Where was Punk? He had to guess they were together... His right hand clenched into a fist. If that miserable Punk tried anything with his girlfriend, he would tear him limb-from-limb!
"CM, you're scaring me."
Ashley's voice brought him back, and he turned his head to stare at her. She was standing almost up against the door, her face looking concerned as she eyed him. Edge had to admit to himself, she was pretty... Even if she was a Lita wannabe, there was no denying that fact. He wondered why on earth she had ever given a loser like Matt Hardy the time of day.
"Um... Sorry," he said, finally calm. Something extremely - maybe even supernaturally - weird was going on, but it certainly wasn't the Punk Princess' fault. At the moment, he decided that, since he already looked like CM Punk, he might as well pretend to be him as well. After all, what choice did he have, anyway? He sure as hell couldn't act like The Rated R Superstar looking like this! He cast in his mind for some excuse, even a flimsy one.
"It's just... I had a nightmare," he said.
The young woman studied him intently and cocked her head.
"A nightmare?"
"Yeah," he replied, running a hand through his hair. It felt odd that his fingers were stroking straight hair when he was of course used to fine curls. "And I woke up all disoriented and stuff." He shifted his gaze to her. "So, once again, I'm sorry," he said.
Ashley visibly calmed down, a smile coming easily to her face. She edged closer to him and, to his shock - well, not really shock, since she did believe he was her boyfriend - wrapped her arms around him.
He kept his own arms pretty loose for a beat, as the initial uncertainty of the situation hit him. This woman was not his girlfriend, and he didn't even like her. He wished Maryse was there with him instead.
"It's okay, babe," she said softly, pulling back just enough to look into his eyes. "I totally understand."
"You... You do?" Edge was flustered as he stared into her sparkling blue eyes.
"Of course." She grew a bit softer as she suddenly reached up, trailing her fingers through his hair. And as she suddenly stood on her tiptoes, the man knew she was going to kiss him.
Oh, lord... Edge thought as Ashley's lips were suddenly on his. He kept his eyes tightly shut, trying to imagine that it was Maryse in his arms. But that was an impossible feat. The French-Canadian was a lot taller and kissed very differently than the punk diva did.
However, as much as he hated to acknowledge it, kissing Ashley Massaro was in no way a bad thing.