Chapter 16
She doesn't know how to react when Jeff returns to the room. She
listens to his heavy breaths, his small laugh when Adam jokes about the match.
She can almost feel his eyes baring down on her when she faces forward,
tries not to react too much when Vince announces the breakup of the Dudley's.
She pushes her hair back and tries to fight all of her feelings. She
was never supposed to feel like this. It started so easily. All she did
was carry his bag. She just helped him, she was there for him. How did it
grow from there? Why did she let it continue? "Are you going to avoid him until they announce you two are on different shows?" Adam asked her, resting a hand on her leg. She glanced down at her silver pants and maybe all women felt what she felt? It was next to impossible, but damn, her chances could've been looking better.
"I'm not supposed to feel this way," she whispered, striving not to
sulk because then she would be like other women she had seen. She'd want
something she wasn't meant to have and she was not ready to deal with
the consequences. "Everyone is supposed to feel something Trish. Stop being scared," Adam whispered back and he pulled his hand away, leaving her to her
thoughts. Leaving her to accept what she could not control. Wasn't this
something she read about in a magazine? No, it was a thought she had once.
Everything happened because it was already written somewhere. She might not have access to all of life's plans but far be it for her to try and write
over destiny in a permanent black marker. Trish sat in that conference room, alone, for what felt like hours. It was only minutes, maybe ten, but it felt like a lingering moment she couldn't get rid of. She was pretty sure being drunk would make this all better. Something to numb her from accepting what felt right. She couldn't understand, wouldn't understand this concept.
She stared at the paper in her hand, stared at her pants, looked at
her hands. She did anything not to stare at her own life. She couldn't
swallow what she might find out. Was she really that difficult? It had been
so long since she had a boyfriend, hadn't it? It had been that long since
she let someone into her life. But it was Jeff Hardy. Nice, high-flying,
rainbow-dyed, pretty green-eyed Jeff Hardy. What was there for her?
She figured it was Vince when she heard the door to the conference
room squeak open. He was probably coming to talk to her about why she
wasn't drafted on television, though by judging from her recent matches, she
should've been the number one female contender for a position. Maybe
he was coming to discuss her match? A victory over Ivory was rather good, but
it wasn't something she wanted to rattle on about for an hour.
She thought maybe it was Adam when no one spoke immediately. Vince
had a way of letting people know he was in the room, but Adam didn't. She
liked that about him. No grand entrance, no trumpets or clouds of smoke.
Just Adam with a smile and a tender way about him. She knew it wasn't Adam when the chair from next to her slid to the left and then in front of her, twisted backwards with the backside facing her. She barely lifted her eyes before seeing the multicolored locks and the black nails resting on the top of the chair. She saw the baggy black jeans and the tattoo that was faded into his skin. "Everyone else is out trying to get a hold of a computer or a phone to
find out where they will be next Monday," Jeff said with a candid tone. He
made it so easy to be a friend, didn't he? "I'm sure Adam will rush in here and let me know where Jason and I will be," Trish said offhandedly, content on staring at the piece of paper still folded in her hand. She knew she'd read it again later, when she was lying in her hotel bed trying not to cry. Since when did she cry so much?
"Yeah, Matt and Amy will probably too," Jeff laughed because something
had to be funny, right? It couldn't be like this forever. He didn't know
how to find the answers, but he was willing to suffer through mental
anguish if it meant he was given a few moments with the Trish he knew in those
hotel rooms. Trish felt just a bit out of place. It wasn't a new feeling. She
sighed and lifted her eyes. Why be afraid? She didn't know anymore. She
just couldn't process it all, swallow everything that came along with
feelings that were never meant to exist. She wanted to blame destiny for it all but she knew serendipity played a bigger part in it all.
She gripped the piece of paper a little too hard, felt it prickling
against her skin. His eyes held the world, but not the world she was used to.
She lifted her arm, extended it, and held the paper up for him. "Here."
Jeff couldn't hide the bewilderment and then the shock. He lowered his green eyes and raked his fingers through his hair. "It's for you Trish. It's right out of my journal. I wrote it awhile ago and it was just the easiest way for me to express what being with you for two weeks has meant to me," he explained, a soft Southern accent trying to roll over his words.
"How can you feel this Jeff?" Trish looked at the paper in her hand
and she could almost recite the parts that hurt the most. The lines that were
so endearing but unreal, at least to her. "Because I haven't felt that way in some time Trish," Jeff admitted, his face fully exposed for her to view. He was serious. He was honest. He was nothing less than heart. Didn't they said hearts don't lie? "But Beth," Trish gushed, pulling her arm back, holding the paper against her leg. She never left Trish's mind. It was common knowledge that Beth was Jeff's girlfriend. He avoided the topic at dinner discussions,
even when she was there, but it was established. "But Beth what? You can't tell me that you actually think that I could feel a deep, emotional feeling for her when I see her close to once a month. It's not possible," Jeff argued calmly, his brow furrowing. He leaned toward her, letting her have full access to his eyes. There was still no indication of dishonesty. "But yet you can have these feelings for someone in two weeks?" Trish inquired with a tinge of resentment in her voice.
Jeff sighed softly and reached his arm out. His hand grabbed hers,
lifted it and the paper up, and he had to hold it. "No. The feelings multiplied in two weeks, but we both know when they started," Jeff insisted.
Trish found it hard to deny. She knew when. She knew how. She never
knew why, but she figured it was never a question she should ask. Maybe it
didn't matter? Not enough for her to let her heart march into an
unknown territory. "What do you want from me Jeff?" Her eyes were trying to accept the burn of the tears that were isolated inside of her eyelids. The hazel wasn't so green anymore. It was gray and she felt heat overcoming her body. "Accept the feelings Trish. Stop denying them and just let us explore
them, together," Jeff pleaded, tipping his chair forward a little. She
leaned toward him and she took a final look into his eyes. There was
another plea and she found it hard to fight. She leaned closer and
felt her head tilting. His did too. "This could end up real shitty," she whispered and it could.
"I'd prefer you take a leap of faith and trust that our hearts and
destiny lead the way," he replied, trying to reach closer for her without
falling over. She rested a hand on his cheek and it made it so much easier to
take the risk. "Very romantic," she giggled, her eyes slowly falling closing.
"Very beautiful," Jeff responded, giving her lips once last look
before kissing them, this time, becoming one with the kiss. It felt better
when it was mutual, when he had a part in initiating it. It felt almost right,
but too surreal to exist in the world they were apart of. But maybe it
wasn't that world anymore? Jeff thought it would be better if it wasn't.
Trish didn't seem to disagree.
"Jeff, you're on Raw."
"Trish, you're on Raw."
Adam, Matt, and Amy seemed to lose their importance in the room, even
when they shoved the door open and ran toward the two. Their gasps made
more of an impact than their words. Trish backed away slowly, the taste of Jeff Hardy lingering somewhere between her tongue and her bottom lip. She smiled awkwardly and held back rising blush. She held Jeff's hand confidently and glanced toward them while Jeff snickered. "And you're holding Jeff's hand," Adam pointed out, a broad grin dominating his face. "Guess that means you like her," Amy said perkily, leaning on her boyfriend. Jeff didn't hesitate to nod for her. "Guess you could call it a twist of fate," Matt laughed out, silence
following his remark. "Real corny Matt," Jeff chuckled, shaking his head at his brother. "Dude, you're no Edge and Christian," Adam boasted, slinging an arm
around Matt and it wasn't long before he was leading the two out of the
conference room. Jeff stopped laughing when he turned back to Trish, her eyes still filled with that glow that brought him closer. He gave her a crooked smile and leaned close again. "Looks like you're stuck with me Stratus," Jeff chimed, running a finger under her bottom lip. He smiled at her tepidness. "I suppose I can break a few rules for you," she smiled back, fingering a few strands of his hair. "Not a few rules, doll. Break them all," Jeff insisted before placing a light kiss on her lips. He waited for her to respond. The wait wasn't long. He eased into the kiss and maybe fate liked their connection? No, that wasn't it. It was already written.
THE END.
** Big thanks to Trish Stratus, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Lita, Matt Hardy and
the
World Wrestling Federation wrestlers for giving me a reason to write
this.
The poem is a work of Jeff Hardy and all rights belong to him
respectively.
Please send comments to me and review it as you please. Maybe I'll
write a
sequel. You never know, but it'll be stratusfaction guaranteed because
I
love for the moment. Thanks all. **
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