La Arquitecta

Chapter 21

Bobby and Joe cheered sarcastically when Bayley and Zelina walked up the steps onto the Vega Cartel tour bus. The men had been on-board and ready to leave for at least fifteen minutes.

"We nearly went without you," Bobby said.

"You'd better get used to waiting," Bayley said, playing along with the banter. "Us ladies take longer to get ready."

"Don't we know it," Joe said, rolling his eyes.

Elena entered the bus, having secured everyone's luggage in the storage compartment in the side. "Everyone ready to leave?" she asked.

"Yep, ready when you are," Zelina said. She walked over and sat down next to Seth on one of the couches. Bobby and Joe occupied the two chairs, both men already working on a beer, leaving Bayley to settle down on the other couch, which she had to herself.

"Hey, muñeca," Seth said quietly but warmly as he slipped an arm around his girl.

Zelina snuggled up to him. "I've been waiting for this," she purred contentedly.

"Me too," he said, giving her a little kiss on the head. He was so glad that they didn't need to be secretive about their relationship while they were around their teammates.

Elena fired up the bus's engine, then, with a hiss from the airbrakes, they were rolling for the first time. Seth found himself having to watch Daga at work, turning the large steering wheel as she navigated towards the parking garage's entrance ramp. He still found it very odd that an attractive girl like her drove a bus for a living. It was something he would have to ask her about at some point. For now, since Bayley was sitting right behind her and had already engaged her in conversation, it would have to wait.

Bobby and Joe were also chatting away, talking about the sports news that Joe had just tuned in to on the sitting area's flat screen TV.

"I think tonight went really well," Zelina said, resting her head against Seth's chest.

"Yeah," he agreed. "They're putting a lot into this idea, so it was good that the fans got on our backs out there, particularly at the end. Honestly, a lot of the heat feels like it's because of how much they're starting to hate you. You're killing it. I was looking at Twitter while we were waiting for you and Bay, and it was on fire with people talking about the cartel and where the angle with you and Steph is going. The thing between you and Renee is getting a lot of attention, too."

"I saw that," Zelina said with a little chuckle. "No one even asked me to start getting aggro with her; it just seemed to fit when she was giving me bad news about you week after week."

"It's definitely something you should try and keep going. Maybe talk to Vince about it and ask them to start writing little things for it? It's getting attention, so it would be a shame to do nothing with it."

While they had been talking, the bus had been stuck at the exit of the parking garage while Elena waited for an opportunity to pull out into the heavy traffic. "Finally," Seth heard her say to Bayley as the bus began to move again. "You would have thought someone would have let me out, no? I love driving, but it tests you patience sometimes."

"I can't even imagine driving something like this," was Bayley's reply.

"What do you think of Daga?" Seth asked Zelina quietly, so that only she could hear him.

"So far, I like her," she replied at an equal volume. "She's no nonsense, without being rude. I can see why she had trouble with past clients. Like she said, she's not exactly what you picture for a bus driver, and I can see why a bunch of guys might think they could push her around."