Welcome to the Queendom

Chapter Fifty-Three

I felt so stupid. How could I not have at least expected it? I actually turned to the thought if it being Dean.
"You are not going to believe this," I said as I bursted through the guys' locker room door. Only Roman and Seth were occupying it.
"What?" Roman asked.
I handed the check over. He scanned for a second, his eyes narrowing and then widening when he got to the signature. "You're kidding."
"Look at this face," I told him, pointing to intense blue eyes and full lips that were stretched in a very thin line. "Does it look like I have a sense of humor right now?"
He shook his head before passing it off to Seth who was approaching his side. He smirked darkly. "How am I not surprised," he stated.
"What are you guys talking about?" Dean said as he came out of the bathroom, pulling his shirt over his head. I grabbed the paper from Seth and gave it to Dean.
"Does this involve the Wyatts?" he asked, not looking at the slip.
I nodded. "Yes and-"
He handed it back, shaking his head. "No," he said.
"But, Dean, you don't understand-"
"I don't want to see it," he told me, his voice rising. "I don't want to see or hear about anything that involves them, okay?"
"But, Dean, if you would just look-"
"What did I just say?" He was full out yelling at this point. "Do I need to spell it out for you?"
"Randy was the one that was paying them!" I exclaimed, tucking the check into my back pocket. Dean's jaw clenched shut. "Erik dropped it out of his pocket on purpose so that I could see. I just thought you should know."
"Chelsea, I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"Mhm," I muttered, making my way to the door. "I got some business to handle. See you guys later."

"Come in!" Randy called out as I knocked on his locker room door a few minutes later.
I marched in. Randy turned around from his bag and smiled at me. "Chelsea!" he shouted, going over to give me a hug. I tense, not hugging back. "I'm glad you're back. Did the Wyatts hurt you?"
"No," I answered curtly, giving him the meanest eyeball. "They didn't."
I sighed in relief, placing my hand over his heart. "That's a relief. I got scared."
I laughed, but nothing about it was humorous. Randy noticed. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"You're full of crap," I told him. "But I have to say that I applaud you, not only for your acting, but for covering up your tracks very well."
"What are you talking about?" he questioned, averting his eyes from left to right. He pulled on the collar of his T-shirt.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," I stated through clenched teeth, pointing an angry, shaking finger in between his eyes. His eyes crossed as he followed it. "I know your little plan."
He rubbed his temples, frowning. "I'm really confused," he admitted. "What's this all about?"
I yanked out the check and slammed it down on his chest. He scrambled to get it before it fell to the floor. He looked at me, not even glancing at it.
"Go ahead and look at it," I told him and he did.
His face darkened. "Erik gave this to you, didn't he?" Randy spat. "He never like the plan."
"Actually, no," I lied. "I found it in the hall. It must have dropped out of one of their pockets but that's not the point. The point is, you're in trouble."
It was his turn to let out a laugh that was not at all comical. "What are you gonna do, huh?" he questioned. "Run to Steph and Hunter?"
"No," I replied matter-of-factly. "I'm gonna handle this my way."
Any trace of a smirk he had vanished and I could see his Adam's apple bob when he swallowed.
"Here's something you have to understand Randy, I'm mad. You messed with the wrong girl and if you don't like me now, you will despise me when I'm done."
"Chelsea, wait," Randy said once my hand touched the doorknob. It turned and raised one of my eyebrows.
"Maybe we can talk about this," he reasoned. "I was completely out of line and I shouldn't have done what I did-"
"Got that right," I mumbled.
"-and I just want you to know that I'm really sorry. Maybe I can make it up to you and we can sweep this whole mess under the rug." He raised his arms to his side, a hopeful smile dancing across his lips. "What do you say?"
I pretended to think about this for a moment, tapping my index finger on my chin, making his smile even more hopeful.
"I think I'll pass," I told him, his smile dripping into a frown. "Besides, I'd have to be stupid to forgive you. This isn't something you can just sweep under the rug. Watch out because I'm gonna hit you where it hurts."

"Randy?" Nikki asked me for the millionth time as Brie swiped some cherry red nail polish onto her big toe. We were in my locker room-I forgot I still had one-laying around until it was time for Brie's match against Paige. I told everything that happened from picking up Erik's "dropped" check to my confrontation with Randy.  Their eyebrows were raised the entire time and they gasped when I proclaimed finding Randy's signature on Erik's payment.
"Yes," I answered tiredly.
"I just don't understand," she said. "He told us that you went missing and that he had a hunch it was the Wyatt Family," Nikki explained. "He seemed truly upset about that."
"That's because he's a good actor," I stated. "That's how he extracted himself from being a suspect mastermind behind all this."
Both her and Brie shrugged, considering this.
"You know what I don't get," Brie said. "Erik's behavior. I'm not saying what he did wasn't sweet, but just why did he do it?"
Nikki turned to me, wanting to know this as well.
"I guess he didn't want to be the bad guy anymore. He caught me off guard too, but I kinda always knew deep down there was something different about Erik, a certain quality that Luke and Bray didn't possess. Everyone has a sensitive, sweet side, I guess he wanted to let it be known."
"Aw," Nikki gushed. "That's cute."
"People continue to surprise me," Brie sighed, wiping extra nail polish from the skin around her sister's nails. "First Dean, then Randy, now Erik?" She shook her head, overwhelmed. "I don't know if I can keep up."
Nikki nodded in agreement. "This job is crazy," she stated.
"Who are you telling?" I asked her and we all laughed.
"So what's your plan for revenge?" Brie asked as if we were discussing the winter, picking at the already chipped polish on her own toenails. Was I that vengeful?
Nikki gingerly got up and walked over to the couch, a cotton ball wedged between each toe and sat beside me as I sat up, drumming my fingers on the cushion.
"I don't know yet," I admitted, still trying to process the situation and reminding myself that no, it's not a dream and yes, it happened to me of all people. "But it's gonna be huge."
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. These weeks were going to be fun.