Better With Time

Swaying to the music, Kierra laughed as she watched her best friend get slapped across the face by a woman.

“You know, you’re not going to pick a woman up with your cheesy pick up lines Johnny,” Keri smiled as John walked past her, rubbing his cheek where the sting of the slap was still lingering.

“Shut up punk,” he replied, musing her hair as he went to the bar. Keri decided to join him, and ordered herself a shot of Jack Daniels. She toasted with John, then tipped her head back, downing the liquid and wincing as it burned.

“Whoa,” she said, shaking her head as she put the glass back on the bar.

“You know, I haven’t seen your brother lately.” John commented, ordering another drink. Keri nodded she would take another one, and turned back to John.

“He’s been at home with the girls,” she replied. “Steph’s been busy with storylines and everything, so he decided to stay home to spend time with them.”

“Paul loves being a father doesn’t he?” John asked, downing his next shot. Keri nodded, downing hers as well. “Okay, I think I’m done with the JD for the night,” she announced, feeling her head swim slightly.

“Ready to head back to the hotel and call it a night?” John asked her, grabbing her elbow to keep her steady.

“Yeah, let’s go Romeo,” she replied. They took a cab to the club that night, so John turned to the bartender and asked him to call a cab for them.

“It’ll be about fifteen minutes,” the bartender told them. They both nodded and decided to sweat some of the alcohol out of their systems by dancing more. The song was upbeat, so she swayed her hips to the music, John keeping in time with her moves.

“You know, I still can’t believe you gave up dancing for wrestling,” John said over the loud music. “You’re fucking amazing at dancing.”

“Thanks, but you can thank my brother for my love of wrestling.” Keri replied, stepping closer to John. He wrapped his arms around her back and pressed her closer to him. She let her shoulders fall backward, forcing John to keep her up.

“You know you two will be good dance partners on Raw one night,” a voice shouted over the music. Keri stood upright as John whipped around to see it was Anthony Carelli, their friend and co-worker. He was also known as Santino Marella.

“Yeah right Anthony,” Keri smiled, pulling out her phone. She realized she had a missed call from her brother, which surprised her.

“Hey, let’s go wait for the cab, Paul called me while we were here.” Keri said. John nodded and they said goodbye to Anthony, leaving the bar and stepping into the cool spring night.

“Hey bro, what’s up?” Keri said after her brother answered.

“Nothing much, I called you earlier, where are you?” Paul asked, his deep voice sounding just mildly worried. He made sure his little sister knew how to take care of herself if she ever got in trouble, so one missed call he wasn’t too worried about.

“I was out with some of the guys,” Keri answered him.

“Oh, who?”

“Cena, Anthony, Randy was here but he went back to the hotel early. Sam called and said something about Alanna being sick.”

“Yeah, something’s going around, poor Murphy was running a temperature all day today.”

“Aww, poor girly,” Keri sighed, feeling for her niece. “I’m going to have to come see you guys my next break. I still haven’t gotten to meet little Vaughn. How’s she doing?”

“Growing,” Paul answered her with a chuckle. Keri nodded as John indicated a cab was pulling up. She slid into the backseat, leaning her elbow against the door as John slid in beside her.

“So, was there a reason you called?” Keri asked as the cab started driving.

“Just wanted to see what you were up to since it’s been a while since we talked.” Paul replied, the shrug apparent in his voice.

“Yeah, right now I’m heading to the hotel, showing, and passing out in my room.” Keri said, her head falling back against the seat of the cab.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Paul laughed. “I’ll let you go then. I might call Vince tomorrow and force him to give you time off so you can come see your nieces.”

“Yeah right, like he’ll go for that.” Keri rolled her eyes as the cab slowed to a stop outside the hotel.

“Who’ll go for what?” John asked.

“Vince going for me to take time out to see my nieces,” she informed him.

“Who’s making the suggestion?”

“Paul wants to.”

“Vince will go for it,” John replied, opening his door. John paid the cab driver as Keri got out of the car herself.

“Hey I’m at the hotel, so I’ll call you tomorrow I guess,” Keri said as she walked through the front doors.

“Okay, love you little sis,” Paul said.

“Love you too bub, give the girls a hug and kiss for me.”

“Will do, bye.” Paul hung up his phone before Keri moved hers from her ear.

“So Ms. Kierra, you going to bed?” John asked in the elevator.

“After a nice long shower,” she answered him, stretching out her arms. She kicked off the black booties she was wear, groaning with relief of the heels being gone. John smirked as he stooped down and picked them up for her.

“Thank you Johnny,” she said, taking them from him as they reached their floor. They both grabbed out their key cards and walked to their doors.

“So, I’ll see you in the morning,” John said from his room. “I’m meeting Orton for breakfast, want to join?”

“Sure, as long as another Diva’s going to be there.” Keri answered. “I don’t know how much more maleness I can take on my own.”

“I think Randy’s going to have Eve go with him, you two get along right?”

“Pretty much,” Keri shrugged, leaning against the wall beside her door.

“Well then, go, take a shower, go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” John smiled. Keri returned the smile with a shake of her head as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Sliding the card through the lock, she opened her door and tossed her shoes on the floor. Staring longingly at the bed waiting for her. Instead of jumping in the way she wanted, Keri grabbed her suitcase, grabbed out a pair of shorts, underwear, and a tank top, and made her way to the bathroom.

After adjusting the water temperature, she took off her keep purple strapless dress and the bracelets on her arm. After removing the purple heart necklace her brother had bought her for her last birthday, she stepped under the spray of the hot water, allowing the heat to relax her and massage the kinks in her back. She let the water cascade over her face, washing off her makeup, dirt and oil from the day.

With a sigh, Keri realized she needed to hurry up so she could get to sleep. She needed to get up to meet with Randy, John and Eve before they had to get on the bus to head to the city Raw was going to be in.

Finishing her shower, she towel dried her hair before pulling on her clothes. Picking up her dress and jewelry, Keri put the necklace back in the case it came in. She put the case and the bracelets in a plastic bag that held her jewelry and put it back in her suitcase. She placed the dress in her suitcase for her dirty clothes and walked toward the bed. She would put her shoes up in the morning before she left. Throwing back the blanket and sheets, she settled herself into the bed, allowing her mind to drift between different things.

She thought about her brother Paul, how he was so proud to be a father. Her sister-in-law, Stephanie, and he had both made the mutual agreement that if anything were to happen to the both of them, it would be up to Stephanie’s brother Shane and Keri herself to make sure that Aurora, Murphy and Vaughn are well taken care of.

Keri thought about her life since joining the WWE. How hectic and exciting things have become for her. Her original dream was to become a dancer, but thanks to Paul, who to the world was known as Hunter Hearst Helmsly, or Triple H, changed out of her. He brought her with him to a show when she a teenager, and she became hooked on it since then. He helped her train, teaching her how to fall and land without hurting herself. He taught her how to throw a punch without looking awkward and without hurting the other person too badly.

Everything she knew about wrestling, she learned from her brother. She picked up a few tricks from others. John helped her with her performances backstage. Randy helped her learn how to feed off the crowd.

Her thoughts went back and forward between everything. The one subject that kept coming up though.

With a sigh, Keri rolled over and closed her eyes, allowing the darkness and tiredness to engulf her.