********************
The diner they all decided to go too looked clean and quaint from what I saw the moment we entered. I was suddenly realizing that Zach being in his pajama bottoms didn't bother me so much, and I think they were even growing on me. He did have a way of looking good even when he looked like he just woke up. Ariel's words kept coming back to me about giving him a chance and just letting everything from the past go, but I had no idea how Zach felt about me if anything, so I wasn't going to just make a move and get rejected.
We all took our seats and the waitress brought us our menus. I noticed that Brock did a double take on the waitress before she walked away, but when I took a quick look at Zach I found him looking directly at me.
"Is there something on my face or something?"
"No.Not at all, I was just glancing around and you caught me."
"Oh alright." I said blushing just a little bit at the fact that he was looking at me.
"So Hayley, why don't you fill me in on what you have to do with our man Zach here? I know it has something to do with the school paper but I don't know much else about it." Brock spoke up breaking our gaze away from one another.
"Well my school decided this year that instead of getting silly politicians in for the yearly senior speaker that they were going to go with someone a little more down to earth. What happens every year is that I get chosen, as the editor of the paper to do a sort of human interest piece on that speaker. This year it happens to be Zach and now he gets to see what I get like when I have to get the best possible product."
"So you get to ask Zach all the hard questions do you?"
"That's what it would seem like wouldn't it? I mean for me to get the real person and put them across as such in my work, I need to dig deep. Which I hope in the long run won't be an issue with you Zach."
I noticed Zach nod his head and smile a little bit. He seemed to be really relaxed sitting here in a diner where just about anyone could notice him.
"So have you guys started on the piece yet?" Ariel spoke up lightly smiling at Brock with that gleam in her eyes that I had seen so many times before.
"We were going to start, but then the two of you came along."
"Oh way to make me feel bad now Hayley!" Ariel exclaimed.
"So you did get the message then?" I said laughing. I actually didn't mind having Ariel and Brock along for the ride this morning because it was nice just sitting here talking like normal people, and I didn't want to admit it, but being alone in Zach's hotel room was tempting to me for some reason. It was definitely better being out in the public.
"So is there any room in your paper for an interview with a champion?" Brock asked with a cocky grin.
I pretended to actually think about it for a moment and then I couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. Ariel knew what I was getting at and she joined me in the laughter, which was when the guys caught on.
"You do have space don't you? You were thinking about it to throw me off!" Brock said cracking another smile.
"Yeah and you fell for it too!"
"Yes I did, and I'm not afraid to admit it either! Look this has been fun guys, but do you mind if I steal your friend away for a little bit? I want her to show me around town a little, and that way it gives you time to do what you came to do Hayley."
"I don't mind at all Brock, just make sure she doesn't attack you along the way, that Ariel she's a fire cracker."
With a small smile and a wave, I watched the two of them get out of their seats at the booth and make their way to the door. I was happy that Ariel looked so happy but I knew that Brock wasn't exactly Zach's age, and that Ariel better know what she was getting herself into.
*******************
"So what did you want to ask me first Hayley?" Zach asked me, slipping a piece of toast into his mouth and looking back down at the table. If I had known any better I would think he didn't want to look at me. I know that things were weird with us meeting that way and all, but I didn't think I repulsed him that badly.
"Okay how about we start with the basics."
"Sure."
"How old are you, when is your birthday and where did you grow up?"
"Wow you just shoot them off quick don't you?" he asked with a smile.
"That's how I tend to work yes, is that like an issue?"
"Not if it isn't for you. But here's the information you asked for. I am twenty years old now, my birthday was March 30, and I was born in 1983. I grew up in Detroit Michigan. Is that good enough?"
"More then enough. My next question is what made you start wrestling?"
"Everyone asks me that, and it's funny because I give a different version every time I answer."
"So what would your answer be at this moment in time, right here in the diner with me?"
"I was a sophomore in high school, I was watching Nitro and Raw, and talking to a girl on the phone. She asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I told her that I wanted to be a pro wrestler. She laughed at the notion of a one legged kid being a pro wrestler but the more I thought about it, the more I believed that I could do it! A few years later I was at a mall when I noticed a couple of men chain wrestling in the middle of the mall! I asked them what was going on and they directed me to the Thunder Zone Wrestling School."
"It's not all that funny."
"What's not all that funny?"
"The notion of you having one leg wanting to be a wrestler. I think that's awesome."
"You do? I didn't take you for the wrestling fan type."
"Okay! Hold on a second here. There's a type?"
"No, that's not what I meant. I just meant, I didn't think you liked wrestling all that much. It's a vibe you give off."
"Well let me make something very clear to you Zach. I didn't not like wrestling before, it was just that I had never had the chance to sit down and watch it. So please don't make assumptions based on a vibe I might give off sometime."
I looked at Zach after I finished my little self righteous speech and he looked floored. I don't know if it was a good floored or a bad floored, which I have to admit was freaking me out. I was here to do a job with this man and here I was coming off like a complete and utter bitch. It wasn't my intent, and I knew that I had to think of something fast to make up for it, or my interview and human interest piece was going to walk right out the door and never look back.
"I didn't mean anything by it Hayley, I apologize. I guess I turned this whole thing bad for you now. If you want to take off and take this up another time that would be fine."
"I don't want to leave Zach, and that was entirely my fault. You were right, I wasn't the type to watch wrestling before, but now that I have you here and you are talking about it, and with the passion you have for it, that's going to come across in the piece I'm writing, and I think it's changing my ideas too. Your leg, that wasn't something that happened in the ring, was it?"
"No it wasn't."
"Do you want to talk about how it happened?"
"Can we save that for another time? Because right now there is something I want to know more."
"Okay, another time, I've got all the time in the world to get this done. What did you want to know?"
"Two things."
"And they are?"
"Are you single? And when I ask that, I mean not married obviously, but also not seeing anyone?"
"What does my status matter?"
"Can you just answer it for me?"
"Yes I'm single Zach, not from lack of trying though. What's the other question?"
"I'm in town for a week, and I know over that week a lot of the time spent with you is going to be based around me making myself look good in your article and then at your school as the speaker. So I guess what I'm getting at here is, at some point while I'm here, would you go out on a date with me? Just the two of us?"
*****************
