Spaces Between

Week #1: His Concern & Her Denial

She was getting ready to head back to Orlando for a couple of training sessions that kept having to be rescheduled. Sure, she would have preferred to have had them before Summerslam, but she would take what she could get, particularly since September was going to be an intense travel month.

She was in her room packing when her phone went off. Picking it up, she found a message from Fergal waiting for her. When she opened it, she found a picture of a beautiful cliffside view of a gorgeous body of water.

< Wish you were here, P. >

She didn't respond right away, finishing off her packing first before responding.

< Beautiful view. >

< Came up here to get some fresh air and do some thinking. Did I wake you? >

< Nope. Still packing. >

< Thought you had a couple of days? >

< Until I report to the PC. Flying out to Orlando bright and early. >

< Pamela Rose, you promised. >

< I'll get my rest, don't you worry. Since when did you become such a worrywart? >

< When it comes to you? Always. Just because I haven't told you doesn't mean I don't worry. >

She quietly stared at her screen for a solid minute before another message came in.

< I'm allowed to be worried about my best friend, right? >

< Of course but there's nothing to worry about, Fergal. >

< I'm always going to worry, whether I talk about it or not. >

Pamela carefully considered her response.

< That's really sweet of you. There's really nothing to worry about right now. I was just thinking a lot about what I can do to help get us back on track. It can wait. We'll talk when you get back. Promise. >

< Don't think I'll forget. >

< I know you won't. I should get to sleep though. Early morning. >

< Sleep tight. >

- - - - -

Fergal was on his way back home when his phone went off. He knew it wasn't Pamela because she'd gone to bed several hours earlier. He was right. It was actually a video call, not just a simple text. He turned on the video to see that it was both Colby and Rebecca, calling from Rebecca's phone.

"Morning, Sunshine, how goes the motherland?" Rebecca greeted him playfully.

"Hey, man, how are you?" Colby chimed in.

Fergal couldn't help but chuckle. "It's been nice to be back," he told the pair, "Isn't it a bit early out there?"

"Yeah, we're heading out to the PC to get a workout in," Colby explained, "Bec wanted to check in."

"I am quite jealous you got the time off to go home," Rebecca commented.

"I'm going to check out the UK PC in a few days while I'm visiting my sister."

Rebecca turned to Colby as she commented, "Of course he is."

Colby chuckled. "Don't forget to take pictures and let us know it goes."

"Of course, you guys." He paused for a moment before he said, "Have you guys noticed something off about Pam lately?"

He saw the pair exchange knowing looks between each other, having obviously noticed the first name usage. Ignoring it, he gave them an expectant expression, waiting for the answer to his question.

"Nothing I could tell from a distance," Colby replied, which didn't surprise him at all.

"She's been a little more subdued since Stomping Grounds, a little more intense. But she was preparing for a handicap match for Extreme Rules so I assumed that was it that caused the shift. It's nothing glaringly noticeable. But I could see how you would notice it. You guys used to be so close."

Rebecca's explanation did nothing to reassure Fergal. "She just seemed really tired in the last picture she sent me, maybe even a little stressed. It's like three years ago all over again."

The pair he'd been talking to exchanged looks again, but this time they were concerned.

"You think she's going through another rough patch?" Colby asked.

"I don't know. I just wanted to give you guys the heads up since she's going to be in town this weekend and training at the Performance Center at some point."

"Oh yeah, I'll definitely check in," Rebecca assured Fergal.

"Thank you, Bec." He exhaled sharply. "I should let you guys go, it's almost lunchtime here and I'm going to meet up with my brothers."

"Hey, try to take to it easy. I know you've worried about her in the past but she's got a great support system here," Colby attempted to reassure him.

"I'll keep an eye out while you're gone," Rebecca told him.

"Thanks you guys. I'll catch up with you later."

After they said their goodbyes, they hung up.

- - - - -

"What did he say?" Brenda had asked her.

The Martinez sisters were in the car, with Brenda driving to the airport while Pamela was in the passenger seat, her phone in her hands.

"Nothing this morning. He texted me last night though, said he was worried about me."

Brenda raised an eyebrow, still focused on what was ahead of her.

"I sent him a sleepy selfie first thing in the morning."

"How much sleep did you actually get compared to how much time you spent in bed thinking about him?"

Brenda's question threw her off. She wasn't sure how to answer that. "I mean, I've been thinking about him...but that's not what's going on."

"Sure, Pam. If you stopped obsessing over him and started communicating with him more, you might actually have a boyfriend, and a good night's sleep."

"Listen, Brenda, it's complic -"

"No it's not, it's really not. Just open up to him. Talk. See if he's actually dating right now. If he happens to be single, good. If not, you'll at least be able to talk and be there for each other like you used to. Right now, you're just avoiding the personal parts because you're afraid of what you'll find out as much as you're afraid of what he'll find out. Fear doesn't get you anywhere, sis."

Pamela said nothing in response to what Brenda had said. "He'll be back in Orlando for my next house show, the only one that hasn't been cancelled this month for Smackdown. I'll talk to him in person then," she instead offered.

Brenda simply sighed in resignation. She wasn't going to win this one with her sister. Pamela was going to handle things her way. Abandoning the subject, she turned on the radio and sang along and before long, she'd managed to distract Pamela from her phone long enough to sing along all the way to the airport.