Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2013 18:10:11 -0600 From: Paul Tolbert Subject: Til a death do us part 30 Rey's POV "You almost ready Rey? They're waiting for us! We can't be late." "Almost Ran. Just give me a sec." It's been a while since Randy and I went out on a date, much less a double date. He's slowly but surely recovering from his injuries and as for me...well its been difficult to say the least. Not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of what happened to Randy, and what happened to me. I try to forget it as much as I can, but to no avail. Now I'm just dragging myself through life. Randy on the other hand Is beginning to act more and more like his old self; full of energy and humor, laughter and smiles. He's close to getting the green light to return back to the ring and couldn't be more thrilled about it. He practically lived inside those durable rope walls. Wrestling meant everything to him, to all of us really. He worked very hard on his recovery and we're both proud of his progress, however I just feel like something is off. I often wondered if he put on a brave front for me. I don't want to sabotage things but... I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror once more to make sure I was presentable for our night out. I sighed, put on my best smile and headed out to where Randy was waiting for me in our hotel room. "I'm ready." ... We are meeting up with John and his girlfriend Cheryl at Morgame's, a new restaurant here in Los Angeles. John had a week off the road to promote his new film so he decided to swing by and visit us. Having John here to console Randy and keep him occupied was a great relief for me. I keep sinking deeper and deeper into what seemed like a dark place and It is very overwhelming to be around Randy most of the day. Having John here for a week can get me some time to myself, if only for a moment. Of course I kept this from the one person in the world who could possibly help me escape this small hell I've created for myself, but I didn't want to worry him. He was getting his life back. The least I could do is to put my personal issues on pause for him. We arrived at the restaurant in style, a long black stretch limo that Randy rented dropped us off at the entrance. We got out and were greeted with a few paparazzi, an almost frequent and rather annoying occurrence here in L.A. Randy draped his arm lazily on my shoulders and guided us inside. We walked over to the reservation table to check in. "Pretty swank isn't it Rey?" Randy beamed. "Sure." I replied coldly, quickly catching my mistake. I mustered up a equally charming smile to defuse the predicted question he was bound to ask. I failed. "YouÑ" "Yeah I'm fine." I answered instinctively. Constantly being asked by Randy if I was OK started to annoy me. I'm fine Randy. Are you Fine? We walked into the large dining room filled with tables, bus boys & waiters and, of course, the patrons of the evening. Everyone was dressed in their best attire; suits, tuxes and gowns galore. They should, having paid over $200 just for reservations alone and the strict `formal-wear only' policy the infant restaurant enforced. "Hey! Over here." John waived us to come over to our table. He was dressed in a nice Armani suit with a solid red silk tie and Cheryl was draped in a buttercream color Gucci dress, easily costing over $2000. John was always drowning her in lavish things. We casually walked over and took our seats. "Randy, man it's good to see you. Skyping just isn't enough these days is it?" "Hell no. Miss you bro. How are you Cheryl?" "I'm wonderful. How about you two?" "Well I'm great but not sure about Rey over here hehe." Randy glanced over to me and smirked jokingly. I knew he didn't mean anything by it but it still bugged me a bit. "I'm OK Cheryl. Hey John." "Hey Rey-Rey." John flashed a bit of teeth, but his eyes had a faint sense of worry in them. I swear John is an empath. He always seems to know when someone is upset and trying to hide it. I hope he doesn't out me tonight. I want everyone to have a wonderful evening. "Well Johnny how's the movie going? Is it a flop?" "Fuck you. Pre-box office figures predict the film will gross over 20 million on opening weekend tomorrow. You bitches should have come to the premiere last week!" "Sorry but we got caught up in things, you know." "I understand completely. Well time to eat!" ... We sat, ate, drank and conversed for nearly an hour before we decided to call it a night. The restaurant at this time was nearly empty and the bus boys were cleaning up for the night. "I had fun you guys. We should do this again soon." "We should Cheryl. You and Rey can arrange the next date night." "Yeah John, let our women plan were we go next." I cringed when Randy said that. He knows I hate when he acts like I'm the `female' in our relationship. I kept my head down while Randy and John continued to talk about things when Cheryl signaled it was late and she was tired. "Alright. Night Randy. Night Rey. See you guÑ" "Um before we go I'd like to talk to Rey in private, if that's OK John." "Yeah...sure." Both John and Randy had a puzzled look when Cheryl lightly grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side, ensuring both men couldn't overhear us. "Cheryl?" "How are you holding up Rey? I noticed at dinner tonight you were quieter than usual." "I'm fine. God I wish people woulÑ I'm sorry. I just hate being asked how I'm doing ALL THE TIME. I'm not the one who everyone should be worried about. Its Randy He'sÑ" Cheryl noticed I was getting a bit loud so she dragged me further away from where John and Randy were. As we walked I noticed my eyes were tearing up. I tried to fight back the onslaught that was about to come as much as I possibly could. "Rey...I'm a bit worried...about Randy." "What?!?" I asked surprised. I knew Randy's been through a lot but to everyone else, he's back to normal. It's been a while since someone has expressed concern for him. "Why are you worried about Randy Cheryl?" "Because I overheard him and John while they were video chatting on Skype last week. I should have called you earlier but I wanted to talk to you in person so I waited until tonight." "I'm not sure I follow what you're trying to say. What happened?" Cheryl remained silent for a few seconds, which seemed like minutes to me. I took a deep breath and attempted to reacquire her attention with a slight grunt. "Cheryl?" "Randy sounded agitated about the situation with Dave and him not standing trial. He was telling John that he hired a private investigator to look into the judge and the prosecutor of the case. They were talking about things and I... I just think things are getting worse. He told John that..." "That what?" "Well..." "Cheryl Please. What Did Randy say to John?" "That he wanted to murder Dave. He said that he was going to kill Dave the second he stepped foot outside of Saint Anne's."