*********
"Hey Shane, have you met the new head writer?" Summer asked as she joined him and Jeff in the locker room.
"Not yet Summer, I'm sure I will though. I hear she's making the rounds already." Shane said with a slight laugh.
"Well she's really nice, and Jeff she told me she's from Raleigh, so I figured you would want to meet her eventually too. I told her to call me so we could all get together some time."
"I think your wife is making the rounds faster then the new writer Jeff. She's already planning dinner parties!"
"I am not planning anything. I just think it's nice to have another female around again. I mean it was me and Trish for so long, I want to see what this girl brings to the table." Summer replied smacking Shane on the head gently with her purse.
"You guys must be married because he did the same thing to me this morning, before I came out here."
"You did baby?" Summer cooed.
"I did, but don't make a thing out of it. It was just knee jerk reaction being around Shane all the time." Jeff smiled with a little kiss on Summers forehead.
"Okay guys, are you going to get it on in here? If you are, I want to make sure I get out now!" Shane exclaimed hiding his eyes.
"We aren't going to do anything like that in here, believe me Shane. I just came to get Jeff so we can make more rounds. I also wanted to let you know about the new writer, thought you might be interested."
Jeff took one look at his buddy and the expression on his face and sighed. It was obvious to everyone that Shane really had the girl from the club on his brain and it wasn't going to stop.
"He's hung up on the girl he met last night, when him, Matt and Shannon went out. So don't even try it Summer."
"I wasn't trying anything, believe me. I just wanted to make sure he knew about her. She looks to good to be in the back, she needs to be on TV. I just know these things."
"Yes Summer we know. Are you sure you don't wanna come back and wrestle for us again?" Shane questioned raising his brow. It was obvious that Summer's heart was still in the wrestling business, even though she wanted to hide it and focus on her music. Someone just had to make her realize it.
"I'm sure. I'm happy enough being at home with Jeff and working on music with him in his studio." Summer winked at Shane before grabbing Jeff by the hand.
"I think she wants to get out of here now man, so we're still on for tomorrow right?"
"Yeah buddy, I'll see you when I get home. Then we are totally going to get to the biking, it's been way to long since I got on a bike."
"Later Shaney! We'll call you." Summer dragged Jeff out of the locker room and Shane just laughed. He was glad his friends were so happy with their marriage, it was so obvious they were in love. A part of him just wished that he could find that with someone too.
*********
"Listen, they need me help over there so is it possible that you can go meet Hurricane Helms yourself Hayley?"
"Sure Jim, you go take care of whatever it is, and I can handle this. I have to meet these people sometime right?"
"You're a peach Hayley, thanks a lot. Now he's in the second door on the left, just make sure you knock first. He shares with three other guys."
"No problem Jim. See you later!"
Walking down the hallway, she couldn't help but remember Shane from the night before. When Amanda had taken off with Mike, he had come up to her and asked her to dance. After the dance she was sure he was just going to take off but he stayed and they talked the rest of the night, well until his long haired buddies wanted to leave. She just wished she had gotten his phone number, then she wouldn't have to keep thinking about him, she could just call him.
She reached the door and her stomach started doing flip flops. It was like her body knew something she didn't, which was impossible because there wasn't anything shocking here. It was just new job jitters she was sure. She knocked lightly and waited for a response.
"Yeah come on in, I'm decent."
She thought for a minute she heard Shane, but it was impossible, he wouldn't be here, this didn't seem like something he'd be doing. She opened the door and took sight of the guy known as the Hurricane. He was searching through his bag for something, seemingly lost in his own set of thoughts.
"Hi, I was just looking for the Hurricane?" She smacked her head, knowing how retarded she sounded asking for a superhero. What she got when he turned around made her jaw drop. Before she could say anything, she fainted to the floor.
"Jesus Christ! Hayley! Come on now, wake up for me. I need you to tell me what the hell you're doing here and you can't do that when you're lying face down on the floor. Please wake up baby."
"Sh.. Shane?"
"Yeah, its me, and you're you, so now I need to know what you're doing here. How did you find me?"
"I work here. " She started to get a hold of herself and sat up, not taking her eyes away from Shane.
"You what?"
"I work here Shane, I'm the new head writer for Raw. My question is, what are you doing here?"
"Oh god, I didn't tell you what I did for a living last night did I?"
"No, you didn't."
"Jesus, Hayley I didn't expect you to be here."
"Shane just tell me what you're doing here."
"Hayley I work here too. I'm a wrestler. The guy you wanted to see, The Hurricane? Well that's me princess." Shane ran his hands through his hair and waited for her response. He was still in shock that she was the new head writer. He had been thinking about her all day, but he never would have thought she would walk into his locker room.
"You're the Hurricane?"
"I am, well it's my character anyway."
"I had no idea, not one clue, and those guys you were with last night?"
"That was Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore, also wrestlers on Smack Down."
Hayley realized now why Amanda wanted her to call when she met the Hurricane. The Hurricane was Shane, and based on her earlier reaction to seeing him, she knew this was going to be one hell of a ride.
****************
*******
Amanda watched her friend walking around the house in a daze. Hayley hadn't said anything since she'd come home the night before. Amanda was hoping to hear she'd met up with Shane again and things were great, what she was getting was the complete opposite. She'd never seen Hayley this out of it and it worried her.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Pulling herself out of her daze Hayley looked at Amanda and smiled lightly.
"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about."
"Talk about why you're walking around this house like you're lost. Don't you dare tell me that it's nothing either, because it's obviously something. I've known you too long. Is it something about the new job?"
"No, its nothing, really Manda, don't worry about me. I've just got a lot on my plate now, with work and some other stuff I'm doing."
"Are you still thinking about Shane?"
"Of course not, it wasn't meant to go anywhere."
"If you need me, to talk or anything, I'll be in my room alright? I've got to get some work done before Mike comes over."
"Yeah, have fun!"
**********
Hayley stopped pacing and glanced out the window and down her driveway. She had everything she really needed out of life, so why was what Shane said bothering her so much? She didn't need him. It couldn't work, he was right about that. She just couldn't believe this was her life, it seemed like it should be on TV, not something she was facing.
~~~~~~~~
"So you're a wrestler huh?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."
"Don't worry about it; at least we will see a lot of each other."
"Yeah, look Hayley, I'm not interested in anything serious right now alright? We had a good time the other night, and well I liked it a lot, but it won't go anywhere, not now anyway."
"Of course Shane, were you worried I would be all over you or something?"
"No, I just thought you'd like to know where I stand."
"I do, now if you'll excuse me, I better get back to Jim's office. I've got a lot of work to do."
"No problem. Hey Hayley?"
"Yeah?"
"It was nice seeing you again, and welcome to Raw."
~~~~~~~
How could she have been so stupid? Sitting in her room and thinking about the guy for two days, and hoping that she would get the chance to do it all over again. She was to naïve for her own good sometimes. The phone chose that moment to ring, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Hello?"
"Hey is this Hayley?"
"The one and only, who is this?"
"Summer Hardy, we met on Raw the other night?"
"Yes of course. How are you?"
"Good, look a few of our friends were coming over tonight for some good food and music, and we were wondering if you were free."
"I don't have anything planned at the moment, what time do you want me to be there?"
"Around six. That will give us enough time to get everything in order."
"Do you want me to bring anything?"
"Just yourself princess. We can take care of the rest."
"I'll see you then."
"Jot down this address alright? Just so you know where we live and you don't get lost along the way."
Hayley jotted the address down on her notebook paper as Summer read it off and smiled. When she had met the lady at Raw the day before, she had never planned on her actually calling and wanting to get together. It was nice that Summer was outgoing enough to do that.
"So we'll see you soon?"
"Count on it."
Walking up the stairs to Amanda's room she knocked on the door lightly, waiting for the music to turn off and her friend to come barreling to the door.
"Hey babe, you wanna talk?"
"No, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going out tonight too. I got invited to a dinner party by some people at work. So if you need me call my cell."
"Oh alright, it looks like another night alone with Mike. Thanks Hayley, you're the best!"
"I know, believe me, you tell me all the time. So you don't need me around for anything right?"
"No, go enjoy yourself, and whatever it is that's bothering you, just forget about it. You deserve to have fun remember? That's your new mantra!"
Hayley smiled and closed her friend's door. Ever since she had started dating Mike, who was into everything that wasn't of this world, Manda had been coming up with all these words for every feeling she thought Hayley felt. It was good for her to be this happy for a change. Now if she could only get her own world in order.
************
*********
Hayley pulled her car to a stop on the abandoned street that Summer lived on. She looked around and caught the beauty of the trees and the quiet that surrounded her. She couldn't believe there was a place this truly beautiful In any part of the world. It must really be nice to live here. Stepping out of the car, and making sure her dress was still attached to her, she made her way up the walk to the doorway. Ringing the doorbell she waited with baited breath until Summer came to the door.
"Hayley, you made it!" Summer said pulling her gently into the house and towards the deck where everyone was standing around talking.
"Yeah, thanks for inviting me" she smiled as Summer brought her around and introduced her to everyone.
"I want you all to meet the new head writer of Raw, her name is Hayley Carmichael, and she graciously agreed to join me here tonight to meet the rest of the gang. That blonde guy with the new haircut, you already know as Jason, we call him Jay around these parts, when he decides to come and visit us, and over there is Trish, and my husband Jeff Hardy."
"I finally see someone I know from all the times my roommate wanted to watch Raw. It's nice to finally meet you Jeff." Hayley managed to choke out after her initial astonishment. She knew that Summer was a Hardy now, but she didn't realize who she was married too.
"Everyone remembers Jeff at one point or another, it's a Carolina thing, huh Hayley? Well, that is Matt Hardy and Amy Dumas over there, that's Jeff's brother and my best friend. Have you met Shane? He's the tall one over there with the green hair."
"Yeah, we met at Raw the other night."
Matt turned and looked at Hayley with a look of confusion. This was the girl that spent the whole night talking to Shane at the club, and now here she was pretending she had only just met him at Raw the previous night. Something was seriously wrong with this picture. He had to talk to his buddy and find out what the hell was going on here. Matt figured he would play along with what she was dishing out though, so there weren't any problems.
"Yeah Summer, we met at Raw after you came and told me about her. How's it going Hayley?" Shane asked quietly before turning back to Shannon and pretending she wasn't there.
"It's going fine Shane. You have a really nice place here Summer. I didn't think there was a place this serene in Carolina. You found a perfect place."
"I know, I think I even knew back then when I moved into the place across the street. When we decided to get married, I hated to let my place go, but well I still got to keep the neighborhood, so it worked out well. You want me to show you around?"
"Sure, I'd love that."
"Hey Trish, do you want to come with us? There is some stuff I haven't even showed you yet!" Summer said grabbing the two of them and walking towards the stairs to the second floor."
"Hey guys, don't miss us too much, we'll be right back." Trish exclaimed before heading up the stairs behind Summer and Hayley.
**********
"Shane, buddy why are you acting so indifferent to her?"
"To who?"
"You know who I'm talking about man, don't give me that look either. She came in here and when she caught your eye, and Summer introduced you two, she acted like she had just met you on Raw."
"She did just meet me Matt."
"Yeah, but we all know she met you at the club. So why did she make up the Raw thing?"
"Listen guys, it's nothing big alright. She just met me on Raw and I told her that no matter what happened at the club, I wasn't looking for anything serious."
"Oh give me a break man! You couldn't stop thinking about her all day Monday. Why the sudden change?" Jay interrupted, after hearing Shane spit off the line of bullshit.
"It wasn't a sudden change. Look guys, you have the perfect girls; they are in the business with you, or at home with you. They accept everything the way it is. With Hayley, I don't want to make her think there can be more, when I'm on the road all the time. I can't deceive her like that. That's why I said it." Shane explained with a sigh, taking another drink of his beer.
"Okay, I'm confused here. I just thought she was hired as a head writer for the show you are on, wasn't she? So doesn't that mean she accepts what happens on the road as normal now?" Matt questioned.
"Yeah, I suppose it does. Look guys, I told her I wasn't ready for anything serious and I'm not, so can we drop it now?"
"Yeah whatever buddy, but you know what? If someone else from Raw chooses to date her, you can't get angry, because you fucked it up."
"Do you know something I don't know Jay?"
"No, I'm just stating that the girl was into you, and now that you've made it clear you aren't interested in her, she may move on to someone that is. I'm just leaving you with that thought."
As the other guys walked back to the kitchen to get some more beer and wine coolers for the girls, Shane sat down on the couch and thought about what Jay had said. Hayley wasn't just some girl from Raleigh anymore. She was a girl from Raleigh who just happened to work with him. Jay was right when he said that shouldn't stop Shane from making a move on her and getting to know her better, it wasn't like he would be marrying her right away or anything. He had to do something, and fast, or this pretty girl he wanted to get to know better, would slip right out of his fingers and on to someone else.
"So what are you thinking about now buddy?" Matt asked sitting down in the chair beside Shane's and glancing at him eagerly.
"I'm thinking that you guys are right. I have to do something before I lose something that might have a potential to be good. I just hope she hasn't given up on me yet!" Shane patted Matt on the arm and went to the stairs. Taking one look up to the top, he jumped the stairs two at a time. He had to make sure she would listen to him this time.
**************
