Masked//Roman Reigns Love Story

9. What a Fucking Rush

As much as I was holding it in, I let out a frustrated sigh. Looking in the mirror had always been a challenging thing for me to do regularly and for long periods at a time. Only because I never knew what would await me when I came into its view. One day, I'd look perfectly fine, so fine that I would flood my phone with pictures and videos of myself. Other days, bags rested under my eyes and my skin would be pale and flaky, and my smile was harder to fake than usual. Apparently it's normal, but I'm terrible at dealing with it.

I tugged at the Aj Lee merchandise shirt that I was wearing, somewhat worried that I wasn't in good enough physical condition to be showing as much as I was. I tried suggesting that I wear the black shirt with a green web on it just as it came, so that it'd cover me as much as possible. But Sandra, one of the WWE seamstresses, argued that wearing it as a crop top would make me look hotter.

It'd been years since I was fully confident in my mid section, with my pregnancy playing a key role in that. I'd trained relentlessly on my abbs since then, yet all I could see was fat and swollen skin. What a cruel, cruel illusion my eyes always played on me. Deciding that it'd be best to take my eyes off my stomach, I refocused my gaze to my face. I thought I looked good, sexy almost. The simple, neutral look allowed my facial features to pop out. However, I knew I needed to work on facial expressions, evoking emotion. Mark told me that I needed to find a way to be expressive but not outrageously expressive. My stoic look wasn't doing it for the higher ups.

So, I twisted my lips downwards to make a frown, seeing if my sad face looked believable enough. Once I was settled, I moved on the next emotion, happy. Then angry, then confused. And I went over all the basic feelings again, seeing if I could improve on it in any way shape or form. My breath mounted when I realized that Danielle, an ex friend of mine, was standing next to me.

I quickly turned around so that we were face to face and I forced myself to lock eyes with her. It was painfully hard looking her in her face, knowing all the things she'd done to me over the years. Knowing she had Joe in a way I could only dream about now.

Her hand ran through her hair before she flipped it all over to the right side of her shoulder.

"Long time no speak, huh? I've been seeing you around but you treat me as if I'm a stranger," she smiled, her naturally high pitched voice working me into a headache.

"There's not much I have to say to you, Danielle. Not anything nice anyways," I shrugged, my arms going to wrap around each other at my chest.

I watched her animated face twist into a shocked expression. I took close note of how easily she did it, deciding to try it out for myself later on.

"So it's like that now? I mean, it's been years since we last saw each other or had a normal conversation. Maria, I've changed. I'm a grown woman who's looking to better her life just as you are yours," I would've tried to believe her if she didn't sound so fake.

It was taking everything in me not to just walk away from our conversation, knowing that she was simply wasting my time and energy. Nothing that she had to say to me was worth me hearing in my opinion. It felt like yesterday that one of my best friends had turned their back to me and my family. She let me down in a way I had never expected, in a way my wicked mind could not even comprehend. As I stood heartbroken in the middle of my high school hallway, I knew that I couldn't trust anyone.

"That doesn't mean we have to be friends, and that doesn't mean that I have to like you. Whoever this 'new woman' that you say you're trying to become, I don't wanna meet her. Because all I see when I look at you is a backstabbing bitch. And clearly, you haven't changed that much if you're still going after my men," I snapped at her but trying my best to not draw attention to us.