THE QUEEN'S GAME

Chapter 32

"They're right," Hunter breathed loudly. "It does feel better when you're married."
He watched as Charlotte shook her head, making her way across the room. "What on earth are you talking about, husband?"
"Everything, wife."
"Have you been drinking?" She asked it jokingly, but Hunter was sure there was a bit of seriousness in her question. He was aware of how off the wall he sounded.
"Not a single drop, love. I'm just saying I've heard people say everything feels better when you're married, and they were right. Just waking up these past few days have felt like I was in a dream. We had so much fun on our honeymoon, and just being your husband makes the days so much more enjoyable. Like we're no longer living in sin."
"You were worried about that?"
"Well you know I have a bit of a reputation, and I didn't want people judging you because of my past."
"People judge people with much less than your past. Besides, I don't care what anyone thinks. You know that."
"I do, but you're perfect. No one was going to think anything less."
"Forget them. Tell me all about this better."
She slid into his lap as his hands sought out her hips. "Waking up for sure. You're like an angel when you're snoring."
"I don't snore."
"You do. But showering can be added to the list because I don't feel as bad when my hands make small detours."
"Small detours? That's what you're calling it now?"
"Yeah. You know I love the scenic route."
"Of course you do."
"But honestly, I just love knowing we finally did it."
"Took us long enough," she joked.
"Seriously, it did. Years, baby. So many wasted years."
"And we're here." She slipped her arms around his neck. "It feels unreal."
"I'm glad. That's the tingling-stomach butterfly-can't get enough of you part, right?"
"Exactly. It's been almost a week and I'm still holding my breath."
"Me too." He held her hips. "But now we have another thing to focus on. We had to be insane to get married two weeks before WrestleMania. What were we thinking?"
"What were we thinking?"
"Okay, what was I thinking?" He laughed. "I just knew I couldn't wait."
"And I'm glad you didn't. I'm so happy. But I hope you don't think this means I'm accepting anniversary and birthday gifts. You have a week to figure out what I'm getting." She teased.
"Im getting you a title. I'm going to win it just for you, babe."
"Really?" She shrieked. "You're promising me this?"
"I promise."
"Babe. That's the best thing in the world."
"It's not your real gift," he chuckled. "But I'm glad you're so enthusiastic. I love that about you."
"I don't really need anything this year. I was just kidding. Everything you did with our wedding and the honeymoon spending every night under the stars was perfect. I could never think of anything that tops that."
"Nothing I could ever do would top the past week. I could try, but I think it would be pointless."
"It was so wonderful."
"And now we're back."
"And so we are. I don't mind it here. The gym is my happy place and now I have my happy place and my favorite person all together."
"And you don't think you're going to get bored after a while? I mean we work together, we live together, and now I'm in your happy place."
"I literally still wait on you to walk in every room when you're not near me. Maybe in about 50 years I'll be over it," she chuckled. "For now, just stay close. I might need you."
"Never leaving your side." He grinned. "But I wanted to ask you something, and I don't want you to freak out. It's just a question."
He could see the gears turning for her as she awaited his question. "What is it?"
"Have you asked why Stephanie was willing to help your sister arrange your party?"
Her expression hardened and he knew this probably wasn't the best subject to discuss with his new bride.
"I haven't had the time." She answered shortly.
"I get it. I truly get why you don't want to speak to her." He grabbed her chin and made her look him in the eye. "I understand completely, love. I just-I know you. And I know you want those answers."
"How would you know that?"
"Because you brought up her helping with the party. I know you so well at this point. You know so much about my emotions as well. You could always feel when something was bothering me, and I can feel that this is bothering you."
"I don't want it to bother me. It shouldn't."
"But you love her."
"I hate it that I do."
"You grew up with her, and no matter what transpired you don't have one hateful bone in your body. You can't turn off the love. She's still your family. Dysfunctional, but you care so much for her, and I feel like she cares about you too on some level."
"Babe, she turned on me and made our lives hell for no reason. She brought him back into my life. I can forgive, but I can never forget. And she also slept with my husband. I want to claw her eyes out for that alone."
"She did all of those things." He nodded. "But you have everything. Imagine if you and your dad weren't as close as you are and you had a front row seat to someone else having the relationship you wanted."
"I wouldn't be a raging bitch about it. Or I'd at least confront my dad. I wouldn't target someone else over his mistakes."
"That's because you're you. You are a different kind of person. Different than most."
"I just don't want to give her the power to hurt me again."
"Then don't. She can't hurt you if you go into it with your eyes wide open. But the key is to be open. Keep an open mind."
"You really want this?"
"Only because it's bothering you. I don't want anything weighing on you before the biggest night of your career. And besides we just got married."
"I wouldn't have let it distract me."
"You are going to be phenomenal."
"I hope so."
"I know it." He lifted her hips. "Now, show me something I haven't seen before."
"Something like what?" She shrugged.
"Surprise me." He sat back and crossed his arms as she went into a few moves he'd caught her sneaking into her routines when she thought he wasn't looking.
***
"Oh my God. That sounds so sweet." Trish gushed. "He's such an amazing guy. I never would have guessed Hunter was so romantic."
Charlotte was doing a light run through with the girls for WrestleMania, but of course, they all had questions about her honeymoon. Even Ivory, who initially stated she didn't want details.
"He's always doing his best to make me feel special." Charlotte had no problem talking about Hunter. She'd enjoyed their time away so much she'd made him promise to take her on a trip after WrestleMania.
"You're lucky," Lita huffed.
"I-" Charlotte paused when she saw a person she'd been tasked to speak with. It was a long time coming. "Can you guys go on without me? Just let me know if we change any sequences. I'll run through all of this with you again."
"Sure." Ivory tapped her shoulder. "Just be careful."
"I will."
Taking a deep breath, Charlotte approached Stephanie. She was nervous, they hadn't had a real conversation in a long time.
Stephanie dropped her hands at her side upon Charlotte's arrival.
"Hello."
"Hi," Charlotte spoke quietly. An awkward silence existed until Stephanie cleared her throat.
"So, how were the rushed nuptials and even more rushed honeymoon?"
Charlotte rolled her eyes and sighed. "You know you don't have to act like this every time I see you. Yes, we had a quick wedding, but it was everything I ever dreamed of. It was small and intimate and most of the people I love were in attendance. My brother would have loved it, I missed his presence so much that day, but there was also someone else missing."
"And who would that be?"
"You. I've known you my entire life, and I've loved you every minute of that life. We've had this thing between us and I don't really even know how it started. There are times when I want to kill you, but then you go and do something amazing like helping with my wedding. You don't have to be so tough with me. I see through you."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know. Megan told me you were involved. Just drop the act. I know you were, just like I know it was you who reached out to Madisyn to get that recording for Raw. Why can't you just be honest with me? Why can't we have a real conversation?"
"Because I don't know what to say to you." Stephanie spoke quietly. "I've gone over everything in my head a million times, and I can't justify anything that I did to you. I said I blamed you for how I felt about my dad, but I knew deep down that wasn't true. I've been jealous of you before, but when I heard what really happened with you and Mickey, I realized I'd had the better life."
"So what is your issue with me?"
"I wanted to hate you, I needed someone to blame, so I picked you. But once I heard what happened, I felt like the cruelest person in the world. And then that transformed. All these years I thought you confided in me and now I realize that you never trusted me enough to be honest about what was happening to you. That hurt me, and then I wanted to hurt you."
"I didn't trust anyone." Charlotte wiped away an emerging tear. "I was so ashamed that I didn't tell anyone close to me what was happening."
"I would have killed him had I known."
"I know that."
"Why didn't you tell me? Of all people I never expected you to keep something like that a secret."
"I was weak. I didn't feel like I deserved to be rescued."
"You did." Stephanie grabbed her arms and held them tightly. "You deserved so much more than you allowed us to do, and I hated you for not letting us. I hated you for shutting me out. The one thing we always had between us was the honesty about how we dealt with this life. When you took that away I wanted to hurt you."
"How did you find out? I never-"
"I called you 6 months before I married Hunter. Do you remember?"
"Yeah, I was rushing to get some things done. Mickey was in a bad mood and I couldn't talk long."
"You rushed me off the phone, but you forgot to hang up. I heard the things he said to you. I heard you two screaming at each other."
"And you called back later that night."
"Yeah, and you snapped at me. I told you he wasn't a good person and that you needed to leave."
"And I told you that my life was none of your business."
"I cried for the first time in years. My first thought was to call your dad and your brother, but I knew you'd never forgive me. The tone of your voice replayed in my mind that entire night, and I decided that if you wouldn't trust me then I wasn't going to worry about you. I didn't know he hit you. I thought it was just a bad argument. Once I found out he beat you I felt so sick. I should have apologized immediately. I was wrong."
"We both made mistakes, but mine were to protect the people that loved me. Unfortunately I thought Mickey was one of those people for a long time. But you went out of your way to make me miserable. You don't do that to someone you care about."
"I can't ask you to understand or forgive me. That's too much, but what I can do is try to make amends."
"It's a start." Charlotte shrugged. "But I don't know if we will ever be back where we were."
"Too much has happened."
"Yes, and you're also one of the few women that I have to see that's slept with my husband. By law I should be clawing your eyes out."
"He was my husband first, brat."
"And I should definitely be kicking your ass about that as well." Charlotte smirked.
"You know, you don't own him."
"Says who? Just ask, he will tell you exactly what I own."
Stephanie let out a real laugh and Charlotte displayed a subtle smile. "I really did miss you."
"You have a hell of a way showing it."
"You know I don't deal with anything well."
"You never have."
"And you like to keep things to yourself. Promise me you won't do that anymore. Give Hunter the chance to be the type of husband I know he wants to be to you. He never tried with me-because he didn't want me. With you all he wants is to know everything that races through that head of yours. Just don't shut him out."
"Hunter is all the way in. He knows every secret I've ever kept and he knows when I need things even before I can ask. You don't have to worry about us."
"Good." Stephanie nodded and Charlotte could tell she really meant it. Stephanie walked away, leaving Charlotte with a clearer head. She wasn't completely sure what would happen, but at least they'd had a real conversation. Maybe there was hope for their friendship, but only time would tell.
Heading back to the girls, Charlotte realized they had worked through a lot of the kinks and joined them in the ring. "What did I miss?"
Ivory rolled her eyes. "Your target. You should have slapped that hoe bag."
"And what would that solve, Ivory?" Trish interjected. "We've had enough bad blood around here to last a lifetime."
"We had a nice chat." Charlotte spoke. "We understand each other."
"Oh." Ivory laughed sarcastically. "Did the two of you compare notes about your husband or did she just continue to call you a whore?"
"She apologized and no, we did not discuss Hunter in bed. There was no point in doing that."
"Well obviously." Trish sniped at Ivory. "Don't let Ivory get you all worked up about the past."
"At this point, no one could get me worked up about Hunter and what he may have done with them. Because as much as he knows I'm his, I definitely know he's mine. Every wicked inch."
"Eewh." Ivory scoffed. "If you're not doing it in our faces you always find a way to put that imagery in my head. Do you and that boy ever sleep?"
"You've seen my husband. Why on earth would I waste time sleeping?" Charlotte laughed at Ivory's face as it contorted. "I'm sorry, did I gross you out?"
"Always." Ivory complained. "I think you go out of your way to do so."
"Of course I do." Charlotte goaded. "You're just such an easy target."
"Well we will see how easy I am at WrestleMania. I'm going to kick your ass."
Charlotte scanned the room and chuckled. "Get in line, sweetheart. You have a lot of competition on that front. And we all know I never back down from a fight. Just ask my husband."
Husband.
She smirked as she ran through the routine again, knowing nothing sounded better. He was the one person she knew she'd always be able to count on. Now all she had to do is focus. WrestleMania was going to be the biggest challenge of her career so far, and she couldn't wait.