- CHAPTER ELEVEN -
"PEOPLE'S TRUE INTENTIONS ARE SHOWN WHEN NO CAMERAS ARE ON TO CATCH THEM."
Kalani had been the first one in the meeting room, even before Hunter. The brunette figured that because she had caused this entire mess, that it would be best if she could ensure that no other mistakes could be made for the time being.
When Hunter entered, Kalani remained quiet, not wanting to upset him. He seemed to like the silence, as he sat and immediately began answering emails on his phone. Mindlessly, she twirled her necklace in her hand until she saw the text on her phone that made her stomach flip.
"Still haven't gotten fired yet, after everything? That's a shame. I must have to take matters into my own hands."
It had been an unknown number, so Kalani had no way of discovering who the mystery sender had been. She debated whether or not to answer it, not knowing whether it was a prank or a threat.
These days, she'd been receiving so many messages like that that she was beginning to not see a difference.
AJ had been next. The Southern boy cleared his throat as he decided to sit next to Kalani, though there were many other available seats. Hunter sighed at the act, making Kalani shake her head.
AJ hadn't realized what he had done. He assumed that maybe it was his uncomfortableness that made him want to gravitate towards the girl. Kalani seemed to help him calm down, as much as he hated to admit it.
The Scotsman was third. His usual low bun was sported with another tight t-shirt, making Kalani peel her eyes away. He greeted Hunter, happily, but avoided Kalani at all costs, sitting on the opposite side of the table and glaring at the two wrestlers in front of him.
Drew was unsure of what to think on the situation. He could have cared less about his picture with Kalani getting out to the media, in fact he was worried about how Kalani's friends would react to her when seeing it. However, seeing that AJ also had his own picture with the girl woke something inside of the psychopath. Had he not read Kalani right, after all?
He sighed, avoiding eye contact with Kalani, but he coincidentally mirrored her movements as he began fidgeting with his hands. His attention turned towards the door as the last four came in right on time: Ronda, Nattie, Tyson, and Travis.
Immediately, Travis' eyes were on Kalani. She grew anxious at his presence, but couldn't let herself show it now, after everything. The girl took a deep breath, rolling her eyes when Ronda complained, "let's get this over with, I have shit to do."
Hunter sighed, but stood and awaited the groups full attention. He had been waiting on the two blondes in the room, as Ronda and Nattie could be seen talking amongst themselves. The COO hadn't appreciated the wrestlers placing themselves above the situation as he was wasting his valuable time to solve it.
"This all ends today," he sternly spoke. "Ronda, nothing like last week can happen again. So, figure this out. All of it."
The boss unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat back down, not bothering to say another word. For a while, the room was silent, with most of the wrestlers looking mysteriously at Ronda rather than Kalani, which shocked the brunette.
Kalani had never felt more out of her skin.
The blonde fight her chuckled. "None of you should be looking at me. We're here because of Kalani."
Kalani bit her tongue. "Are we here because of me? Or are we here because you hate Drew McIntyre so much?"
"That's a great point," Ronda sarcastically replied. "Drew McIntyre is an asshole. He fucking insults Nattie, screams at her backstage about her work ethic not being enough and she needs to rethink her life; what kind of a man does that? Nattie used to be friends with Drew, Kalani. They used to work together before he was fired the first time. He hurt her, but yet you kissed him? Real classy."
"'Real classy' says the girl who sucker punched me last week," Kalani scoffed, sitting back in her chair.
Drew had his own past just like she did. From knowing Drew, she couldn't imagine that he would act that way for no reason. For once, she didn't want to be so quick to judge, seeing as Drew had already done that for the both of them.
"Oh please, you're bruise is probably makeup," Ronda said, dismissing her former friend. "Besides, you deserved it after what you did to us and AJ."
"Just like I deserved the beating my dad gave me when you wrecked my car?" Kalani spatted out, freezing after she had done so.
She never talked about her past. She never brought up her father. Ronda had known that their relationship was severed but she had figured it was due to Kaden's death. Perhaps there were bigger things at play. Perhaps the abuse rumors were true.
Every person's eyes stared in horror at the brunette.
She cleared her throat; her eyes paced around the room in a panic. "All these years, Ronda, I have followed you blindly. You gave me hope. But as soon as I found my own light, it was over. You could never truly be happy for me," Kalani changed the subject.
"Alright, enough," Travis stood up, startling Kalani. "Before you start placing the blame on my wife for your wrongdoings, need I remind you that there's two men at this table and another one at home that you have wrapped around your finger? Men that you manipulated into sex for your own benefit?"
AJ began to stir next to Kalani, rightfully uncomfortable with the idea of intimacy with the girl. However, Drew remained stoned-faced. Kalani had almost felt as if any emotion would be better than none at all.
"Travis," Hunter spoke, calmly. "Let's calm it down a bit."
The fighter scoffed and chuckled. "Damn, Kalani, you got the whole office on your side, now," he shook his head. "Maybe I should enlighten you all on the little secret our beloved Queen Karma has been holding in all this time: she used to be a prostitute."
Her blue orbs snapped towards Travis, shaken at the thought of him knowing that information about her. No one had known that about her; how could he?
Drew had felt a part of himself twitch at the statement.
"I mean," he continued, smiling, "look at this. It doesn't get much better than that."
The taller man pulled out a video from his phone: the video from the club the night Kalani had debuted with WWE. The video that was supposed to be safe with Nattie.
Perhaps Kalani should have asked Officer Williams to accompany her to this meeting after all, seeing as Travis has all this information on her.
"Nattie had that video. It was the night of my debut, I was drunk. Nattie sent you that video," she began to ramble, trying to get the staring eyes to understand the context of the situation.
"Yeah, the night where I had to carry you back to the hotel before you tried to sleep with the entire club," Travis clapped back. "You're just as much of a slut when you're drunk as you are sober."
Immediately, Drew had stood from his chair. It shocked Kalani—she hadn't been thinking about the Scot due to all of the outbursts from Travis.
"I suggest you lose the tone," his accent rang through the room, standing toe-to-toe with the fighter. "We both know that you were just wishing Ronda wouldn't have been with you that night."
Travis' brown eyes grew angry, but Drew held his ground. Hunter's voice spoke a warning to the men, but Ronda was the one who stood in between the two.
"Are you fucking crazy?" she yelled, irate. Drew only smirked, making Kalani chuckle. The blonde, however, took Drew's smirk quickly with a slap.
Rule number one of fighting: slaps are the ultimate sign of disrespect.
"Ronda, Travis!" Hunter yelled, standing from his chair. "Out, now!"
His muscular body walked toward the married couple, escorting them out of the room. "You going to support your little girlfriend now, huh?" Travis asked Drew. "You even step near us again, you'll regret it! You hurt my wife and I'll hurt you!"
Before Hunter could open the door and calm the room down, the door had burst open and caused an even bigger problem. Conor McGregor stood in the doorway, heavy breathing and fists clenched.
His eyes were dead set on AJ.
"Conor?" Travis asked, confused, only for the Irishman to disregard him and walk straight towards his target: the Southern boy AJ Styles.
AJ had stood from his chair. Kalani wasn't sure if it was out of instinct or fear, but immediately Conor had grabbed the collar of AJ's shirt and shoved him against the wall with force. "How dare you put your hands on Kalani!" he yelled, and Kalani winced.
She had promised AJ not to tell anyone. She hadn't told Conor; Conor had figured it out on his own, but she couldn't explain herself in the moment. She betrayed AJ and it might cost him his whole family.
She gave pleading eyes to AJ who just looked disappointed, in himself or in her, she wasn't sure. On the other side of the table, Drew had raised an eyebrow, shaking his head in disbelief. And then, he too seemed to grow angry at AJ.
The meeting was supposed to calm the situation at hand, but instead it had accelerated it. How had Kalani found herself in the middle of it all?
How would she resolve it before it was too late?
<>