THE QUEEN'S GAME

Chapter 14

"You're missing the count. Let's run it again." Charlotte was getting ready for her match that was only a week away. She was probably getting on everyone's nerves, but she needed this to be right. A lot was riding on her Royal Rumble debut. She had so many plans.
"It's really hard to tumble into that move, Charlotte," Victoria spoke. "Maybe we can tweak it a little."
Charlotte nodded, agreeing that the current layout wasn't working on either end. "Show me what you'd like to substitute."
Victoria stood. "This is a finisher I've been working on, I know I'm not supposed to win the match or anything, but I'd really like to show it off. It will probably be the only place I get to use it anytime soon." They'd gotten word that Charlotte would retain at Royal Rumble, but she would be in for one hell of a fight. Victoria was one of the most genetically compatible opponents she'd ever faced. And the stakes would be much higher than it had been before. They would both want to put on a great show.
"I'm okay with it. Show me."
Victoria went into the explanation of how to do the move she'd dubbed the Widow's Peak, and Charlotte loved it. She essentially have to grab Charlotte with their backs turned and stretch her arms and legs around her and go into a full drop. It was a sick move. Very attention grabbing.
"You're definitely using that."
"But how will it work if you're supposed to win?"
"It will work." Charlotte bounced off the ropes. "On your feet, Cupcake. Let's run it. We have less than a week to get it perfect, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather we didn't look like fools."
"We wouldn't want that. Not being the only women's match of the night."
"That's complete crap. So many of the girls have been working so hard. I wish there was an opportunity for more of them on this pay per view."
"You know the only reason why I'm here is because of you."
"Me?"
"They don't have many women on the roster that can fight you. I mean they could, but it just wouldn't be the kind of match people expect at a pay per view. Me, Chyna, Lita, Jazz, Jacqueline, and maybe Gail—we were it. And you've beaten the rest several times."
"There is no such thing as not able to fight. There are the able bodies and the ones not given enough training to do so."
"That's probably true."
"Well let's say we change that. We give them this match, we show them what women can do, and then we demand more."
"More like what?"
"Leading up to this I wouldn't fight the same woman twice. I demanded a different match each week."
"You can make demands like that. You're Ric's daughter and Vince has known you since you were a kid."
"Being my father's daughter means nothing here. He tried to keep me out of the business. Vince went against his wishes and hired me anyway. I don't make demands because I'm his daughter or because I know Vince. I make demands because I know we can be better—so what if they fire me." She laughed.
"I thought— well nothing."
"No, go ahead and say it."
"There has been a lot of talk around here about you, Hunter, and Stephanie. I thought they were shoving you into all those matches to punish you."
"Never believe everything you hear."
"If you don't mind me asking..."
"I kinda do, but I'll answer you anyway."
"What's your story with him?"
"Hunter and I have known each other a long time, and yes, we were in love—are in love—but sometimes love isn't enough. I had no idea about Stephanie, but he isn't some monster. When he loves someone he loves them so completely he can't dream of hurting them. His biggest flaw is not trusting enough. He wants to take on the world alone because he's had to for most of his life."
She'd realized he'd never meant to hurt her, but she just wasn't ready to forgive him. Even with all the necessary distance she put between them, she didn't want people to think he'd intentionally caused this situation. She knew he felt responsible for his family—he even felt responsible for her, and he didn't need to. She was finding herself. A couple of months apart had done wonders.
"The way you speak about him—"
"What about it?"
"Your face lights up. I can tell you don't want to smile, but your eyes say it all. Are you ever going to take him back?"
"I don't know. It's not my focus right now. I finally feel as if I'm doing what I came here for. I'm no longer distracted and I really want to make a difference. I want to build something we can be proud of with you guys."
Effectively changing the subject, Charlotte reengaged. She wasn't ready to discuss her feelings about Hunter in that moment, they were too complex. Of course she missed him, she'd spent the last few months in his arms every night, but they couldn't just go back like nothing happened.
They both needed time to work on themselves, she couldn't put the blame all on him, she knew this. There was something inside her that was broken as well. As good as he was to her she still found herself being afraid at times. She knew he'd never hurt her, but she had been caught off guard before.
"We got so far off subject, but let's bring it back. Start at your top rope kick and we'll go from there."
Charlotte spent the better part of the day with Victoria. They'd rehearsed until they we're satisfied, but they'd have a few more practices before Royal Rumble. Charlotte vowed to leave the crowd stunned. She hoped she could pull it off.
Victoria went off to get showered, and Charlotte stayed behind in the ring just giving herself a moment to breathe.
"You guys looked good in there, but I never had any doubts."
Chyna.
She'd avoided her, not because she was angry, but because she was ashamed. She'd almost slept with her boyfriend. How could their friendship rebound?
"Chyna, I..."
"Don't do that. Can we not do this?"
Charlotte faced her and shook her head. "No, we have to. I know there is nothing I can say to make it right, but I'm sorry."
"You didn't know."
"I knew there was someone. Never mind that I didn't know it was you, I knew he was dating someone and we still went there. I can just imagine the pain I caused you."
"I hated you for a little while, I won't lie, but I hated him more. He'd made promises to me, not you. But I'd also made promises to him. Neither one of us were good at keeping those promises. Me because I realized the life I thought I wanted wasn't really for me, and him because he'd finally admitted the truth to himself after all these years. He was already in love with someone and had been for a while."
Chyna climbed into the ring and sat across from Charlotte. "You know, I never thought I'd be friends with a woman who stole the heart of the man I thought I'd be with, but I can admit he was never really mine to have."
"He isn't mine either. He's someone else's husband."
"On paper, and not for long. He's working on his divorce, and as you can guess it's getting nasty."
"I wouldn't expect any less from that shrew. I can't believe I was friends with her before this."
"Have you talked to your dad?"
"On and off. I can't ever hate my dad, but I can be angry with him. He always pushed my brothers into their dreams, I just wonder why he couldn't do the same for me."
"Your dad has been around a long time. He knows this business so well, and it's messy. Did you ever think maybe he just wanted you working somewhere that wasn't so unstable and closer to him?"
"Maybe, but that wasn't his choice to make, and going behind my back wasn't his business either."
"One day when you have kids maybe you will see. I imagine you'd want to do anything you could to save even one ounce of pain. The way your dad adores you, I know he was only thinking about what was best."
"You know, I get so tired of people thinking about what's best for me instead of letting me live my life. I get it, I really do, I haven't made the best decisions, but I'll never be able to grow if I don't get to fall occasionally."
"Listen, the choice to keep the secret was Hunter's idea, but I could have ultimately decided to be honest. For that I will always be sorry."
"I never blamed you. You of all people don't owe me an apology. I'm just sick about being with him and not knowing that I was flaunting it in your face."
"It's true, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel once he told me you were going to be working with us, but from the moment I met you we clicked. You're probably one of the nicest people I've ever encountered, and although you guys aren't on good terms, I could see how much you loved Hunter. Our breakup hurt because I thought I was losing my best friend. We'd grown so much together and I was angry that we wouldn't have that anymore, but I'm glad this happened. I mean, I wish it had happened differently, but I didn't lose my best friend, I gained another friend and he found what had always been missing. What kind of friend would I be if I denied him that?"
Charlotte felt tears wetting her eyes. "You're too good to both of us. We don't deserve you."
"Does that mean we're okay?"
"As long as you don't mind me hugging you." Charlotte hugged Chyna and felt like a part of her heart had healed. She hadn't known the void that was missing by not being able to train and talk with Chyna.
"I hate hugs," Chyna laughed. "But I'll accept it from you."
"I don't care." Charlotte teased. "You know you missed them."
"I did," Chyna admitted. "I figured if I stalked you for a while I'd finally get you to slow down enough to talk to me."
"Ivory says I'm a runner." Charlotte shrugged.
"You are, but only for the really hard things. You seem to have no problem staring that devil in the face."
"I'm never backing down from Stephanie."
"I really love that about you. She doesn't know which way to turn and it's hilarious to see. And now that Hunter has filed and Vince is on her head to sign, she's even more bitchy than normal."
"It's in progress? Like really in progress?" Charlotte hated the interest she'd shown. She wasn't supposed to care.
"Full blown—he's really taking half—in progress, he had new papers drawn up. I'm surprised he's actually going through with taking her money. I never thought he'd do it. I thought he'd change his mind."
"No, he was pretty mad that night, but he was eerily calm. It was a bit offsetting. I was the one acting like a raging maniac."
"I heard you flipped a chair."
"I would have flipped her if Hunter hadn't intervened." They laughed. "I really want to smack her in the face."
"I'm sure you will get the chance. She doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon."
"No, she's like a rash."
Chyna swallowed hard and looked at Charlotte. "Have you spoken to Hunter?"
"I see him around."
"But do you talk?"
"We don't have much to talk about right now. I mean—we do, but not anything I feel like we can talk about without it going to a bad place. I don't want to fight with him. I used to love fighting because I knew we'd make up, but now it's just draining because I know at the end of this fight we're going to separate places. He's not there to hold me and make things feel normal again."
"It's a shitty feeling."
"It is because I don't know when it's going to feel normal again or if it ever will."
"It's a lot to deal with. I do hope it all works out. I'm still surprised that you tried to help him."
Charlotte shrugged, standing from the ring. "No matter what he's still my family. I'm always going to be his friend and I'm always going to care what happens to him."
"You two are truly the most stubborn people I know. You can't help yourself when it comes to having his back, and he keeps sneaking these things he knows you love through Ivory because he doesn't want you to know it's from him."
"That's him?"
"Of course it is. Did you think Ivory was that nice?"
"Those two." She wanted to be mad, but she found it completely adorable. She thought she'd left his shirt at his house and was surprised to find it in her bag one day. Now she knew where it came from.
"Don't be too hard on him. Not that it makes up for everything, but he does have sort of an excuse."
"An excuse?"
"It's not mine to provide, but if you feel inclined, ask."
"He would never tell me."
"I think he would. He'd do just about anything to be able to talk to you, including tell the truth."
Chyna left the gym, and Charlotte left soon afterward. Everything ached, she wished she had set up some form of massage. She'd have to just settle for a hot bath.
She made her way to her floor of the hotel and looked to see if Ivory was in the hall, she wasn't. She'd planned to give her a piece of her mind for conspiring with Hunter, but a part of her was amused by their treachery. Ivory wanted to act as if she was this house of stone, but she was a sucker for love. They were still in love as much as she hated to admit it.
She got to her door and reached to unlock it and dropped everything she was holding and swore into the air. She was too sore to bend down. Maybe she'd pushed too hard.
"Dammit!"
"Let me help." His voice shot through her. Had he been following her?
"Hunter, I have it."
"Charlotte, you don't. Everything is on the floor." He reached around her and pushed the door open with her key. "There." He picked up the remainder of her things and swung his hand out ushering her inside. "I won't stay. I just wanted to sit these things down for you."
She walked inside and cursed silently. She'd just dressed and left the clothes she'd worn the night before on the bed. He picked up his shirt and smiled.
"You kept it."
"It feels good to sleep in."
"I'm glad." He looked as if he wanted to say something, but then closed his mouth. They were both so awkward around each other.
"Have a good day, Hunter."
He seemed sad. She hated it, but she also couldn't get wrapped up on how to pull him out of it. It wasn't her job anymore.
"I wanted to tell you, it's—I know you don't want any part of it, but it's probably going to get out that we were together while I was married. Stephanie isn't making this easy."
"I don't care."
"I know all this is really messing with you, and I'm sorry."
"Hunter, I said I don't care. It was bound to happen. Do what you have to do, I'll be fine."
"You shouldn't have to be fine."
"It's where we are." She closed her eyes and inhaled when a pain shot through her calf. He saw it and was quickly at her side.
"Charlie horse?" He put his hands on her calf and applied pressure. The pain began to quickly lessen.
"Yeah." She took another deep breath. "It's going away. Thank you."
He removed his hands slowly. "You're welcome." He stared at her, her breathing became shallow. She remembered how his hands felt on her body and how he used to rub all the spots that ached after their workouts and how they'd end up making love for hours because his touch was intoxicating. She looked away, to shake the thoughts.
"You're welcome." He backed away from her, heading to the door. She was going to just let him leave, but felt the need to say something.
"Thanks for the drinks, Hunter."
"What drinks?"
"I know it's you."
"Well then you're welcome."
"Why do you think we're so screwed up?"
"You're not screwed up. You just had people that made you distrust."
"And you?"
"I just wasn't smart enough to appreciate what I had."
"If you had the chance to do it all again, what would you do?"
"I would have told you I loved you that day at the funeral. I also would have tried harder. Calling one time in two years wasn't enough."
"One time? When did you call?"
"The night before I married Stephanie. I called your phone and Mickey answered."
That night. That's what had set him off. She'd had to lock herself in the bathroom to get away from him, but it hadn't been enough.
"I've caused you so much pain."
"You have to go, Hunter." Tears descended her cheeks, and she could tell he felt awful. Again, it was just one of those times they hadn't meant to hurt each other but did. Were they always destined to inflict pain on each other?
He left and she curled up in bed, ignoring her aching muscles and thought about that night. She'd needed stitches, her eye was swollen shut, and he'd ripped out plugs of her hair. She'd had to stay inside for weeks and hide from her family. She thought nothing compared to that feeing, but she was wrong. Knowing that her situation and Hunter's were so closely tied together made her sick. What if she'd taken his call? What if she'd stopped him from making one of the hugest mistakes of his life? What if he'd gotten to her before Mickey showed up? How different would things be?