Chapter 21; Time Apart

*Alicia POV*

Even though it is Tuesday, we have to tape for Smackdown tonight. (A/N I accidentally wrote RAW on the last chapter, sorry!). Smackdown is usually taped on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

For my ring attire tonight, I decided on wearing a white top that fit like a sports bra with a black stripe down the sides. and black short shorts. I packed all my stuff in my wrestling bag and got ready to go.

“You ready to go babe?” I asked Phil.

“Sure, but I get to drive maniac,” he said as he smiled.

“My driving is not THAT bad!” I joked.

We drove to the Thomas and Mack for tonight’s taping. I was told last week that I have a match with Layla tonight.

Phil had to go do something so I walked to my dressing room. I got stopped by Paul who said, “Hey Alicia, do you have a minute?”

“Yeah, of course,” I said.

“We don’t have enough time for your match tonight and the segment so we want you to  just do the segment," he said.

“Alright, with who?” I asked trying not to seem disappointed. I’ve had matches cut before, but the feeling sucks.

“You will have a segment with AJ. Start by talking about you being champ and beating her. She’ll interrupt and you’ll perform that new finisher of yours,” he clarified.

“How long do I have? Does it have to be PG?” I asked.

“You have like 10ish minutes. We couldn’t fit both the segment and the match into the show. As for your second question, one or two swear words max,” he said sternly. “Trust me, I hate this whole PG thing just as much as you.”

“Thanks Paul,” I said with a smile. Paul is a really nice guy. When I first came into the business, he gave me a lot of advice. 

I walked into the Diva’s locker-room and set my stuff down. This traveling is exhausting.

I went through my bag, to see what I’m wearing tonight. I grabbed a pair of medium wash Capri’s, a white baseball style tee with black sleeves, and black authentic style vans. 

I straightened my hair and threw on a basic black headband to keep the hair out of my face.

I gathered the rest of my stuff and threw it into my wrestling bag. I picked up my Diva’s title and left the locker-room. Smackdown tapings began in 20 minutes so I had some time to kill

. I didn’t know where Phil was, but it wasn’t really a big deal. I’m not a clingy girlfriend.

I opened up twitter and posted:

So excited to be in Vegas for Smackdown! AJ better watch her back tonight ;)! 

I went over to the food area and grabbed a plate. I threw some salad and tomatoes on it.

I sat down at a table with; Stephen, Celeste (Kaitlyn), Brie, Daniel, Randy, and Matt (Zack Ryder).

“Hey Leigh,” Randy said as he gave me a tight hug.

Everyone else at the table said Hi too. I sat down next to Stephen and Randy.

“So how have you been?” Stephen asked me as other superstars mingled with one another.

“I’ve been pretty good. This traveling had made me so exhausted,” I said with a sigh.

“I feel ya fella. So you and Phil are together?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah, we are,” I said with a smile.

“Well he is one lucky man,” Stephen said.

“Agreed,” Randy mumbled. 

“Do you two have matches tonight?” I asked.

“We’re in a tag match together against Reigns and Rollins,” Stephen said.

“Do you have one?” Randy asked.

“No,” I said with a sigh. “But I have a segment to do."

“They made you come to Smackdown just for that?” Randy asked as he laughed.

“They cut the match,” I answered.

“I’m sorry,” they both said.

“Oh, it’s no big deal. I’m a big girl, I can take it,” I said laughing. 

“I heard you and Phil were on TMZ,” Stephen said.

“Yeah, I know. Those reporters have nothing better to do than spy on us,” I grumbled.

“Alicia, you’re on in five!” a producer called.

I hugged everyone goodbye and headed to gorilla. I checked my phone and saw that Phil texted me;

Hey Leigh, sorry I kinda left. Got called into some bullshit meeting about us. I’ll tell you later. Good luck out there.

As I wondered about the meeting, I ran to my locker-room to put my phone away.

My music hit and I walked down to the ring. I was overwhelmed by cheers from the fans.

“Please welcome, WWE Diva’s Champion, Alicia!” Lillian Garcia exclaimed.

I grabbed a mic and waited for the crowd to settle down. 

“First of all, It’s great to be back in Las Vegas!” I shouted at the crowd cheered. 

“Many of you are probably wondering what I’m doing here,” I began. “I have a message to deliver to you AJ. You can ‘demand’ your little rematch, but I’ll gladly give it to you. I’m quite confident that I can beat you. Don’t think for one second that you intimidate me.”

Just as I said that AJ’s music came on and she skipped down the ring. 

“You should be scared of me. I’m prettier and smarter, and a better wrestler than you’ll ever be. I‘m simply better than you,” she said with a smirk.

“At least I didn’t sleep with half of the roster,” I teased.

AJ ‘looked’ pissed off when I said that, “At least there are guys who are attracted to me. Punk really downgraded. I mean look and you, then look at me.”

“You better watch you mouth before I beat your ass,” I said angrily.

“I’d like to see you try,” she said with a smirk.

I then performed my new signature move on her. It is a similar version of Trish Stratus’s chick kick. 

I kicked AJ square in the jaw and she laid flat out on the mat. I picked up the mic and mumbled, “Crazy.”

I took the title from my waist and held It up high! The crowd began chanting ‘Crazy’.

I walked backstage and Phil was waiting for me. He had an upset look on his face.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“We need to talk,” he sighed as he took me hand and led me to his locker-room.

“What happened at the meeting?” I asked. 

“This is more important than what happened at the meeting,“ he said.

“Well what is it?” I asked.

“I didn’t want to worry you, but I seriously injured my ankle on RAW,” he said.

“Why would you not tell me something like this?” I asked obviously upset.

“I didn’t know it would get this bad. The trainers said I’m not cleared to compete so I have to take time off,” he said.

“How much time?” I asked.

“That’s what the meeting was about, I have to take about four weeks off to heal,” he said. 

“Well then you definitely need to rest,” I answered back.

“I’m thinking of going to Chicago for the time being. The execs don’t want me at the shows. It’s just so I can rest,” he whispered.

“I probably won’t get to see you much, I have a week tour in France and Italy next week. After that, I have shows in California, New York, and Connecticut,” I said sadly.

“We’ll make it through this. Just think of it as time apart,” he said softly. “It’ll make our relationship stronger.”

I kissed him softly and thought about how much I’d miss him.

Maybe we need time apart so we can miss each other.

*REVIEWS!!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE STORY? SHOULD I END IT SOON?