Voices in My Head

Ana had been doing a great job avoiding Randy at work for the next few days. A few run-ins aside, it was like he didn’t even exist. She was still feeling bad about telling him her story and even more by his reaction to it. She knew that hearing it would unsettle anyone hearing it, but him threatening harm to the person having caused her harm took it to another level. She told Brad that she had opened up to Randy but in the same breath swore him to secrecy of who the offender was. He had kept her secret for years; she knew he wouldn’t break his silence now.

“Ana!”

She heard her name being called and stopped on her way to gorilla to see Shane almost jogging to catch up with her. They had a few chances to meet over the last few days and she came to not hate him but still wasn’t thrilled that she was lined up in a storyline with him. So far she hadn’t seen any suggestions of it going romantic and she thanked the Gods because she simply didn’t think she’d be a good enough actress to pull it off.

“So,…tonight’s your big night? Randy’s been looking for ya to wish you well but wasn’t able to find you,…something tells me you didn’t want to be found?”

He winked at her before slipping an arm around her waist. She let him do it. Only because she could see a camera crew marching up the hallway.

“Yeah, he overstepped and I am trying to give him the silent treatment. Do I…do I look ok? I never had to sit in fucking make-up before.”

Shane looked at her and smiled brightly, the arm around her waist pulling her closer.

“Trust me, you wouldn’t even need all this make-up shit and you still look absolutely gorgeous. But TV is a different thing altogether and with the lights and all…they prefer to cake you up. I am sure I am in more foundation right now than you wear on any given normal day.”

She couldn’t help but laugh: the ice was definitely broken. She didn’t know why she was so against this idea: he seemed like a nice guy and they had no issues getting along. It was the WWE history she feared, the one that Brad had filled her in with, that had her scared.

“I am still afraid that they’ll make me look like a fucking bimbo. I…have always worked behind the scenes, so this is kinda scary.”

She suddenly wished that Brad or Randy were here: both of them were always able to calm her down.
But Shane laid his hands on top of her shoulders as she could see the camera crew setting up lights for their shot.

“It’s different with you, you’re actually working here so Steph and I would never compromise your integrity. She more than anyone knows that you’re a smart girl and she would never portrait you as anything else. Now…”

He moved away from her and looked at the camera crew still setting up near them.

“Let’s just both be at our best. We have looked at the script, we know it’s shit and we’ll eventually have to wing it so don’t be scared. There are literally millions of people out there who will watch this, so let’s go with the flow, yeah?”

Even though his words somewhat scared her, she gave him a hug, thankful for his guidance.

“And fucking call Randy or see him later, he’s been a massive jealous pain in my ass these last two days, ok?”

She laughed as the production team walked up to them, telling him to get out of the picture and asking her to get ready to move a production crate to look busy before the big light was switched on, hurting her eyes. Her insides were in turmoil: she was scared.

“And rolling!”

She started lifting the crate onto another box and wiped some invisible sweat off her brow as Shane appeared from the side, circling his arms around her waist and giving her a berating look.

“Babe, seriously. I told you that you don’t have to work this hard. You’re my girl and you shouldn’t be doing any hard lifting like this. Aren’t there men around to do the heavy work?”

She pushed him away by his chest and looked at him as if he’d fallen out of a tree:

“I am not your babe, Shane. And for your information: this is my job, why would I need a man to do my job when I am very much able to so it myself?”

She looked at him but could hear the crowd outside in the arena get loud after her response. Yet again, Shane stepped closer to her and put his hands on top of her shoulders, winking at her with the eye that was not visible to the camera.

“And that’s why I adore you: you take matters into your own hands, babe. You’ve always been a hard worker. I’m making my first entry back after a while…come with me? I know that you’re usually running shit from backstage…but maybe tonight you can make a difference and we can...-“

“Are you saying that you want us to go public?”

The camera crew was moving around them, capturing her as she said it and quickly capturing his face as he looked at her.

“I know you don’t want people to think you got your job only through me, but I am sure they know you’ve been along way before I came back seen that you kicked Randy O-“

“Leave Randy out of this, it was nothing more than a work accident.”

She could feel the camera zooming in on her and she tried her best to look hostile.

“Come out with me. I’ll…need a friend with me.”

She was trying hard not to roll her eyes at the cheesy line creative had give him. She was about to agree and hug him, when Randy suddenly appeared, pushing her away from Shane. The camera crew quickly adjusted so that all three were in the footage.

“You’ve been my friend and mentor for years Shane, so why are you doing this?”

Randy was shirtless, his body looming next to Shane in his suit.

“I’m making my comeback tonight, you were aware of that Randy. I have no-“

Randy pulled ana closer him, his arm around her waist.

“You know I like this girl. Why would you go out of your way to make people believe she is your girlfriend?”

This was the moment she dreaded, but she pushed herself off Randy’s body and moved closer to Shane.

“I am sorry Randy, but Shane and I started dating a while ago. Maybe you should have-“

Shane grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him to kiss her cheek.

“All is fair in love and war, brother!”

As soon as Shane said this, the main light went off and she could her the crowd outside go crazy. The camera crew left and Ana stood, not knowing what to do. Randy and Shane were talking amongst themselves, laughing. Just as she was about to move away, a hand caught hers and she looked up into Randy’s eyes.

“I have to go out there and pretend to be his girlfriend. Whatever personal issues you have to discuss will need to wait until later.”

She hated the hurt expression he desperately tried to mask, but she simply couldn’t deal with any of this right now: Shane was waiting for her a few feet away and she couldn’t give him the name he was so keen to hear from her. Stepping next to Shane, she took a long, nervous breath, playing with her hair that had been put into soft falling waves for her. She hated having her long hair open; it was always in the way.

“You’ll be fine Ana: you’re witty, you’re a stunner and people will love this storyline. Stop worrying.”

Shane whispered into her ear as he placed his arm around her waist again, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Just as they were given the 10 seconds count in to walk onto the long ramp, Orton appeared next to them:

“Get ‘em killer, I know you can.”

Shane laughed but started walking and gently pulled her with him as she threw a look back at Randy, who gave her an encouraging wink.

Seeing the arena filled and the crowds screaming as his music came on as they started making their way down the ramp, her knees felt like giving out. This was crazy, how could anyone do this every night and not fall flat on their nose in awe of the noise! She could hear a healthy balance of cheers and booing as they made their way towards the ring, her eyes trying to focus on anything but the jumbotron above the ring that was most likely showing their entrance.

Shane motioned for her to climb the steel steps to the ring before him and she with another calming breath, she smiled and climbed the few steps before coming to a halt next to the turnbuckle, waiting on him. Elegantly slipping between the ropes before he even had a chance to help her, she came to a stop in the middle of the ring, slowly turning and finally taking in the crowd. Shane was handed a microphone and he circled the ring near the ropes, smiling into the crowd, pointing out posters with his name on it and raising his free hand in salute before he returned to Ana’s side, placing his hand gently around her lower back again until the crowd started to calm down a bit once his song had ended and he was lifting the microphone.

“How are you doing tonight San Diego? It sure feels good to be back!”

He allowed a few seconds for the crowd to react before he raised the microphone again.

“Now I know you wanna hear all about why I haven’t been around and all, but I thought I’d break protocol and introduce you to this amazing woman beside me.”

Even though this was not what had been scripted, Anna reacted quickly and curtsied followed by a shy laugh that was somehow caught by the microphone and the majority of the crowd laughed with her.

“Some of you may wonder why this lovely woman is by my side right now, especially after she got caught up in some nasty in-ring smack talk a few weeks back. This woman right here is one of the hardest working people backstage that has helped keep this show together for the better of 5 months. She takes no bullshit from anyone, is highly respected by every single one of the people on this show’s roster and her peers. In my absence, my sister has kept tabs on her hard work and we were introduced to each other just after the so-called Orton incident. Let me tell you: if she really did knee him in the balls, he would have deserved it!”

Ana stepped away from him and looked at him shocked, making it very clear that she had not expected that he would bring this up again. But Shane reached out his hand and beckoned her to come back to his side again, an invitation she followed slowly.

“But after I met her about a week ago, I could see why she was hired, how well she was getting along with everyone and what a fucking great addition she is to the WWE family. And what can I say…I fell in lov-“

Randy’s music suddenly started blaring over the speakers and Ana instinctively scooted closer to Shane, allowing him to push her behind him as they watched Randy stand on top of the ramp, a sneer on his face. His eyes were transfixed on hers as he made his way down the ramp, ignoring the people left and right of him, slipping under the bottom rope and eventually coming to a halt in front of both Shane and Ana.

He grabbed Shane’s mic off him and turned towards the crowd, enjoying the screams of his name. As he finally turned back, the pair still stood in the middle of the ring, the music and crowd subsided.

“Barely back a day and already you’re making a fucking fool of yourself. Did you really think that your position and money would have someone like her fall for you? Come on Shane, she’s not your average ring rat; give her a little bit of respect. You fell in love with her? More like you want in her pants.”

The crowd roared with laughter and Ana almost laughed, too, until she remembered that she had a role to play. Moving from behind Shane, she stood in between both men and pointed her finger at Randy before wiggling it to signal him to come closer to her. Randy smirked and stepped closer to her only for her to grab the microphone out of his large hand and making her way to the nearest turnbuckle, leaning her arms on the ropes and staring out over the sea of people.

“Isn’t it funny how people always talk about you like you’re not even in the same damn ring with them?”

The noise level rose and she could female voices cheer, causing her to smile. Moving along the ropes, she still looked into the crowd, giving neither of the two man even a glance.

“I mean, let me introduce myself: hi, my name is Ana, nice to meet you all!”

People stood up and hollered, clapping and greeting her in response.

“I have to be honest, Shane and I have been getting mighty close these last few days and Randy here didn’t like it one bit. But I for one was never a fan of cockfights. So why don’t you two make use of all that pent up testosterone and give these people what they really want: a fight!”

And with those words, the entire arena was on board with her as she dropped the microphone between Shane and Randy, pulling Shane’s head down to her level and giving him a long kiss on the lips before sauntering off and making her way out of the ring, both men staring after her.

“Fuck me, that was definitely off script.”

Shane mouthed quietly to Randy as they watched her shake hands with people left and right of the ramp, as if she had been doing it for years.

“They did tell you that she was impulsive, good luck trying to reign her in on camera. Off camera: take your hands off her, she is mine.”

Shane’s eyes narrowed at him and he immediately went for a well-placed hook that didn’t only take Randy by surprise but also had the crowd spinning.