Good And Bad ~ Chapter Four

Good And Bad – Chapter Four


Shari was a good girl. Always had and always would be. So why, she wondered, was she suddenly rebelling so badly? What kind of infection was Taker and what would it take to get him out of her system? She was almost desperate to find out. Something told her that The Dead Man wouldn’t be an easy man to forget.
Shari had managed to wrangle a hand full of acceptable clothes from the wreckage of her apartment. She’d taken what she could over to her best friends duplex, which was only a few blocks away. April had demanded Shari stay over and Shari agreed. In fact, Shari wasn’t sure why they’d stopped being roommates, other than maybe they wanted to get a date once in a while.
Shari had cleaned up as well as she could on Sunday and settled into April’s quite comfortably. The job of drying out her things would be difficult, but doable. Certainly, her insurance company had other ideas, but that was what Shari got for being so nice. Things would work out as they normally did.
Like for most good girls, work was the order of the day. Leave it to Shari to have her car break down, lose her virginity, get burned out of her apartment, and still be at work on time Monday morning. The children needed her and she couldn’t forget that. She had worked hard to get this job and she was determined to make the best of it. Even the Undertaker couldn’t steer her off coarse.
The car dealership had her car returned to the school at lunchtime. They promised that the faulty hose had been replaced and no further damage had been done. The small success went a long way to boosting Shari’s empty bank of self-confidence. She was a full-grown woman, even if she was less than five foot tall. She could handle life just as easily as anyone else. If the thought crossed her mind that it would be easier in the arms of a nearly seven foot tall mountain of muscle, well she would just ignore that.
It was past four by the time Shari left the school. She’d finished most of her grading for the day and was quite pleased with that fact. Monday was her least favorite day, as it was for most people, and Shari wanted to leave it behind if at all possible. She stopped at the grocery store on the way home to grab up some things April might need and headed back to the duplex.
April was an aspiring writer and was home most of the day busy at her computer. Several of her short stories had landed in well-published magazines. She’d also published two novels, which Shari declared made her friend a success.
“ Honey, I’m home.” Shari announced playfully.
“ Bout time.” April teased. She was happily ensconced in her deluxe office chair in front of the keyboard. She had set up the breakfast nook as a work area. Between the lovely view of the park next door and the BonJovi memorabilia lining the walls, April had made herself very cozy. She also had easy access to the door and the television if needed, which made it a better option than the bedroom.
“ I hear ya. I stopped and got more pop and some stuff for lunch sandwiches.” Shari offered.
“ Great. Tonight I was thinking pizza though. What do ya think?”
“ I’m all for it.”
The night was a perfectly normal one for the two friends. Raw was on the television and the smell of mushroom pizza and garlic bread was heavy in the air. Why, Shari wondered, didn’t she feel normal? She felt certain it had to do with The Dead Man on television but didn’t feel strong enough to pursue that line of thought.
“ What’s wrong?” April asked suddenly. She knew her friend better than anyone and the uptight little girl definitely had something on her mind.
“ It’s nothing.”
“ You said insurance is covering all the water damage. You’ll be back home in two or three weeks, right?”
“ You’re right. It’s nothing.” Shari answered, hoping she’d leave it at that. Shari often obsessed over money, to the point of insomnia sometimes. Of coarse, nothing was that easy with April. Why would it start now?
“ Then spill it. I know something is different. If I didn’t know better I’d think you had a sex life or something.”
Shari nearly choked on her Coke. She should have realized her friend would find the source of discomfort and expose it like a raw nerve. Nothing was sacred around this woman. Actually, Shari recalled doing the same thing to her when she’d lost her virginity during their senior year at high school.
“ Oh my fucking Lord. You did lose it, didn’t you? You little huss … what happened? I knew something was up.”
“ April … let it go.”
“ No way on Earth.”
“ It’s nothing serious.”
“ Nothing serious? You’ve waited all this time and now it isn’t serious? If some guy is treating you like dirt, I’ll kill him. You know that. Was it the night of the fire? I never did figure out where you were? Tell me what’s going on.”
“ Yes.” Shari answered softly.
“ Well … fess up.”
“ My car broke down. I met a guy at the bar calling a tow truck.” Shari summarized the happenings of that particular evening.
“ Who? Am I going to meet him? Is he hot? Was it better than my cheap assed first time?” April’s questions came eager and rapid fire.
“ Well … His name is Mark. I don’t know. Absolutely. And yes, I’d say so.” Shari answered the questions in order to the best of her ability.
“ And that’s all you’re saying? Why aren’t you crowing from the roof top?”
“ I guess I’m a little shocked at myself.” Shari admitted.
You would think that a woman well into her twenties would know herself better. At least Shari thought she had known herself better. She was the Good Girl, aka the Perfect One. She wasn’t the type to just hop in bed with some guy within the first few minutes of their meeting. Some how with The Dead Man she hadn’t been able to stop herself. That alone was frightening.

Mark sat at another of a seemingly endless string of cheap bars he visited as he crisscrossed the country working for the WWE. His stage brother Kane sat across the table from him along with the owner of the company Vince McMahon and his son Shane. The four were all large men and attracted quite a bit of attention as they made their way through several rounds of draft and let off steam.
“ So something sure is eating at you?” Vince asked casually. The boss man looked a little out of place in his custom made silk shirt and pants, but then again none of the patrons in this particular bar would have recognized the prestigious label. His dark hair and still tight physique were getting quite a few interested looks even if he was approaching sixty in a hurry.
“ I guess.” Taker answered, sipping on the beer. He’d thought about ordering something stronger, but decided he didn’t need to push his luck. His taste for tequila could be tamed for a night.
“ Guess? That waitress did everything but slip under the table and blow.” Shane chuckled. Though he was air to the billion-dollar empire, he was still quite a bit younger than the other three men and his energy was something that amused them. Every woman in the bar had eyed him at one point or another, even though unaware of his bank account.
The crass waitress normally would have sufficed for an evening’s diversion. Tonight, however, Taker found himself just not that damned interested. He was picturing wide hazel eyes and soft lips parted in a soft o of shock. He was imagining a tiny body clinging to him and a tight sheath easing his all too evident need.
The McMahons left the two wrestlers a short while later. As it got later, Kane and Taker both decided it was past time to turn in. They paid the growing tab and headed for a cab. The crisp night air felt good on Taker’s skin and he groaned as he lost the fuzziness the alcohol was giving him.
“ So … what’s up Bro? You sure weren’t talking earlier, but you got something on your mind?” Kane asked. He knew Taker too well to be put off.
“ Can you believe it’s a broad?”
“ Huh?
“ She was tiny … beautiful … and believe it or not a virgin.”
“ A virgin? How old was she? I thought those were myths like Unicorns and stuff.” Kane asked. His tone was laughing, but he stopped at the serious look in Taker’s green eyes.
“ She was in her twenties … she’s a school teacher.”
“ There’s worse things than being hot for teacher Bro.”


April hopped off the couch and crossed over to her friend who was curled up in a chair with the last piece of garlic bread.
“ So … tell me about him.” April demanded. She moved to kneel in front of her very short friend so that she was nearly right in her face. It was all part of April’s persona and she lived up to it.
“ He’s got a few aliases.” Shari admitted quietly.
“ Aliases? Like a con man or a criminal?”
“ Not exactly.”
“ What do you mean not exactly?”
“ How about The Phenom … The Dead Man … Undertaker.”