Dirty Deeds

CH 31: Promo

      It was a great weekend. The guys hung out and bonded. I spent a lot of time with Jeff's girlfriend, Beth, while the three of them goofed off or wrestled or rode motorcycles. Sometimes, one of Matt or Jeff's friends would drop by and we'd have a shift in the dynamic between them, but it would even out after a few minutes. I got a hug from Helms when he dropped in, which was great. But all good things eventually come to an end, and by the time we found ourselves at the next hotel on Tuesday, Matt, Punk and I were ready to get back to work. We parted ways on the third floor of the hotel. I dropped my stuff off in my room and went to find Matt. Punk told us on the way in that he'd be catching a ride to the taping with Gallows and Serena, so we shouldn't wait for him. I hoped he'd figured out what was going on with Gallows, and that our weekend would give him some clarity. I know I certainly gained some from it.

Matt and I grabbed some food on the way into the arena, and took it to my locker room to eat. As promised, Layla was nowhere to be found. I had a match later, though, so I expected I'd be seeing her. I wasn't all that hungry; my stomach was knotted up, just thinking about Layla and having to walk to the ring with her and Vickie and pretend like everything was okay. But even before that, we had the promo to do. When we'd finished eating, I went out to the area where the promos were being shot and got set up to shoot. We were rolling in no time.

"Michelle McCool," Josh Matthews says, once the camera is rolling. "Last week, you came out holding hands with Matt Hardy for his Money in the Bank qualifying match with Drew McIntyre. The whole WWE Universe has been buzzing about it ever since. Can you tell me what was going through your head last week?"

I smile at the camera. "The same thing that's going through my head this week, Josh."

"And what is that?" Josh asks.

Matt steps into the shot then and puts his arm around me. Josh has a stunned look on his face. "I was thinking it would be nice to accompany my boyfriend down to the ring and watch his match," I say. Matt grins at the camera and kisses my head.

"I'm glad you were down there with me," Matt adds. "It gave me an extra incentive to win my match last week."

The camera is shut off, and Matt and I head back to the locker room. "Are you coming down with me tonight?"

He shakes his head. "Creative asked me not to. You're going out there with Vickie and Layla, as usual. I'm sure they'll show me watching backstage, though."

I sigh, but in a way, I'm relieved. The less they show of him and Layla on camera together, the better.

The time until my match passes quickly as I get ready. Matt and I watch Punk's interruption of Rey Mysterio's family celebration, including Punk's badly sung happy birthday to Mysterio's daughter. "Wow," Matt says, "remind me not to let him lead the sing along at Christmas."

I'm half tempted to head to catering after Punk's sing-along, but then I remember our talk and I decide to let him be. Besides, I have my own match to get ready for tonight. The promo I did with Matt airs after the sing-along, anyway, so we stay in my locker room and watch that.

Before I know it, I'm kissing Matt goodbye and heading down to the ring. I meet Vickie and Layla just before my music hits and we have to head out. The match with Tiffany starts with me yelling and doing push ups and basically being a pain. Once we get down to blows, though, I notice something. Layla seems way more focused on Tiffany than on me. At one point, when we're all outside of the ring, Layla's yelling, "Get her! Who do you think you are?" but she's looking at Tiffany and pointing at me. I doubt anyone but me notices, as it's at that point that Vickie steps forward and pushes Tiffany, thus ending the match. I'm disqualified due to outside interference, but that doesn't stop me from screaming insults at Tiffany and forcing her back into the ring until Beth Phoenix shows up to chase team Lay-Cool off.

I don't speak to Layla, but Vickie says to me, "That was fun," once we're backstage.

"It wasn't too bad," I agree, and then Matt's there, putting his arms around me. I grin up at him. "Hey you."

"See you later," Vickie says, waving at me.

I wave back. "So now what?" I ask Matt.

"Catering?" he asks. "Or we can head out, since there's nothing else we need to do tonight."

I shrug. "We should finish watching the show," I say. "Besides, I need a shower."

Matt leads me back to my locker room, where we watch Gallows, who happens to be in the ring with Kane. Punk and Serena are ringside. "I don't like that guy," Matt says, as we watch the match.

"Which one?"

"I meant Gallows," he says. "I don't mind Punk so much anymore. Serena certainly seems cozy with him. Are they dating?"

I glance at Matt. "Didn't you guys talk about that?"

"He wouldn't talk about Serena. Or Gallows, for that matter." Matt pauses. "Except the things that he said last week, of course, about thinking Gallows is against him and looking to take over the straightedge society."

I nod. "He seldom talks about them, except on camera. I think it's kind of like Team Lay-Cool right now. They're united onscreen, but offscreen, it's chaos."

"She plays it pretty well," Matt says, indicating Serena.

"Yeah." We're quiet as Punk jumps into the ring and interferes with the match by landing a go to sleep on Kane. At the end of it, Rey Mysterio comes out from the back. The action becomes fast and furious as Rey and Punk exchange blows. It ends when Rey being held back while Punk runs for the back. "I'm going to jump in the shower."

"Okay," Matt says, smiling. "I'll meet you in catering."