#ycm

The first time I met her was on a late spring night in the middle of May. I will never forget it. I was in Orlando, having just wrestled in front of a live Monday Night Raw audience as part of the newly unveiled NXT brand. We'd spent weeks traveling around the country with the main roster, exploiting our chance to showcase ourselves to a larger audience before we returned to Full Sail University, our home. At that point I was a relative unknown in the wrestling business, so I was convinced she had no idea who I was, that she'd shown interest in me simply because I was a nice guy.

For some ungodly reason, the Big Show and Mark Henry had a sudden craving for Krispy Kreme doughnuts that night, and I was assigned the unenviable task of retrieving their late night snack. With my own money, for that matter. Being a lowly rookie, I knew better than to refuse their demands. I asked for one of my three roommates to accompany me, but Jey refused to go out at such an ungodly hour, not when it wasn't a nightclub we were going to. Seth agreed with Jey, Jimmy wasn’t around to back me up, and Dean couldn't have cared less. He was busy with some girl he'd met at the arena. So that left me all alone, to pull out my wallet and take the long, lonely walk to the store and back. I knew this was a test by the veterans, like some kind of initiation to prove to the older guys in the locker room that I know my place.

But even with that, all I can remember, truly remember from that night, is her.

She was leaning against a beat-up black Audi Sedan, her long jet-black hair floating around her in soft waves and her green eyes gleaming in the golden glow of the nearby street light. She didn't take her gaze off me as I walked past her with a box of doughnuts in my hands. I remember thinking that time that she might have been a…lady of the night, if you will. I was too polite to refer to her as a prostitute, at least not to her face.

"Got a lighter?"

Those were the first words she ever said to me. To this day, I still hear that voice, low, seductive, self-assured. I remember how it gripped me in place, how I felt compelled to give her a reply. I can still smell her; that exotic, flowery yet powerful scent that blended with the late night breeze. It's a scent that has never left my nostrils.

To say that I was nervous when she first spoke to me would be an understatement. My palms became sweaty and my pulse accelerated, certain I was about to be mugged. It was around two in the morning after all and we were in a virtually empty parking lot with no one else in sight. I kept thinking of those ghastly Crime and Investigation programs where victims disappeared never to be seen again, and when they were they were either in a ditch somewhere or in chopped up pieces in a cookie jar or whatever. Still, I found myself speaking back, vaguely wondering why such a beautiful girl who looked around my age would be killing her lungs with those cancer sticks.

"Sorry, I’m not allowed to smoke," I said.

Her smile was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. “That’s too bad.”

And with those couple of words exchanged between us, the storm began to brew.

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I saw her every day for the rest of that week. I never touched her, not inappropriately anyway, and she never made any advances towards me like I expected she would. She gave me her address that first night. "If you ever want to talk," she'd added as she told me. I had no pen or paper to write it down, but I never forgot it either. I was at her front door the very next day. The way we talked, the way I was at ease with her was as if I'd known her all my life. She wasn't particularly snoopy, just asked me what a nice-looking young guy like myself had been doing wandering around so late at night. I explained my minor dilemma with the Big Show and Mark Henry to her, choosing not to mention their names or anything about my job. I didn't think I was ready to give her more details than that, telling her I was a wrestler and all. I wanted her to be interested in me for who I was, not what I did for a living. However, she never pressed me; never asked for more than I was ready to give.

NXT was starting to make big waves in the wrestling industry, and we were soon selling out venues outside Orlando. The night before we were to go on the road, I insisted on taking her out for dinner, even if it was just a takeout or something. It was the least I could do after letting me into her home for days without asking for anything in return. Luckily she agreed, and we went to a Denny's. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a meal as much as I did that night. We didn't leave the restaurant for another three hours. I nearly got in trouble with Dusty and William Regal and the other boys for missing curfews all the past few days, and I risked more trouble again, but it didn't matter to me. She was all I could think about.

This night, I kissed her. As we said goodbye and she turned to walk up the steps to her house, I pulled her back and pressed my lips to hers. To my delight, she kissed me back, running her fingers over the back of my neck. The hairs stood on end, dazed and giddy that this was actually happening. The kiss lasted less than a minute, but it was forever embossed on my brain. She tasted like fresh mint, a flavor I personally crave to this day.

The boys and I returned to Orlando a month later with our name bigger than when we left off, but that was not my main concern. I looked for my mystery girl but she was nowhere to be found. Her apartment had been rented out to someone else, and no one at the building had details of her whereabouts. She'd just vanished into thin air. I nearly went insane. I'd waited an entire month to see her again and she was gone, just like that, without any warning or notice.

The boys thought I was out of my mind to get this wound up over a girl I barely really knew. She obviously didn't care about me enough to let me know she was leaving. Maybe it was for the better, they said. I didn't believe them. They didn't know her. They didn't understand how our relationship worked.

Seth soon pulled me aside and told me to snap out of it. If we were meant to be, I would see her again. For now, I needed to focus on the work at hand. We were at a crucial stage in our career as members of the newly-formed trio The Shield, and there were whispers of us about to hit the main roster very soon. It could make or break us and he and Dean were depending on me. He was right, and so I forced myself to banish all thoughts of her.

It was Seth, coincidentally, who introduced me to Melody. She was about our age and was modelling our women’s merchandise to be printed on the company’s website. Seth kept harping about how pretty she was and I should go talk to her. Eventually I did, and I didn't regret it. She was gorgeous, witty and charming. It wasn't long before we were dating. I couldn't have asked for a better woman to be my girlfriend.

Yet, I kept thinking about her.

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The Shield made their long-awaited debut at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, dispatching of Ryback by power-bombing him through an announce table. The next couple of months were a complete whirlwind. We were recognized everywhere we went and we loved the attention from the press and the WWE fans. It was incredible. Dean, Seth and I had waited for this moment for so long, a dream that we'd all shared, and it was finally ours.

One night back in Orlando, a group of us decided to hit a club, and Melody and Dean's flavor of the week, Chelsea or something, were invited. Melody tried to get me out on the dance floor but I was tired from the busy week and just was not feeling up to it. With a shrug, she went off to the dance floor with some of the girls from work.

A while later I leaned over the balcony of the VIP section, looking down at the party-goers on the dance floor below me. Seth as usual was surrounded by women, and Dean and Shelly – I think – were grinding up a storm beside Nikki, Brie and Melody. My eyes wandered idly over the rest of the floor.

Then I saw her.

I couldn't believe it. It had been nearly six months from the last time I'd seen her. There she was in the corner of the club, straddling some sleazebag who was groping her and had his tongue jammed down her throat. She seemed not to care at all. Seeing her in his arms like that made me feel betrayed, despite being with Melody.

As though feeling like she was being watched, she looked up, turned her head, and across several yards and one floor between us, our eyes met. I watched, almost paralyzed by the familiar lazy smile that spread across her red lips. Man, this woman was trouble, but I knew deep down inside me that she was the kind of trouble that I would always want, no matter what.

All of a sudden, the music seemed too loud, there was too much noise, the club was too crowded, everything seemed too much for me to bear. I jerked away from the balcony railing as though I'd been electrocuted, rushing out of the club and ducking into a dark alley, I leaned against the brick wall of the building, breathing heavily, fighting back tears, and cursing myself for feeling like this. For missing her when she clearly didn’t miss me.

That was how she found me. She looked absolutely amazing, from her skin-tight red dress to her long, flowing hair and those long legs that I suddenly, desperately wanted to feel wrapped around my waist. Her eyes sparkled in amusement.

"It's been a while, Mr. Reigns."

If I said anything in reply, I don't remember. I only remember that that night was the first time we had sex. First in that alley right there, then back at her home, where we went at it all night. It was the greatest night of my life. I'd had a couple of girlfriends and even groupies before, but none of them did what she did to me. None of them made me feel the way I did that night. I couldn't find enough adjectives to describe my experience. She blew me away, literally and figuratively, and once again, I knew I would only want more from her, more with her.

When I showed up at the hotel the next morning, it seemed as though a search party was about to be deployed for me. Regal got on my case for being late – again – and straying from the group. Seth berated me for being careless while Melody, with hurt in her eyes, quietly asked me where I'd disappeared to. They all looked at me with disappointment in their expressions, and I lied right to their faces without batting an eyelid. Made up some excuse and walked off to text her about how amazing last night was. I felt no guilt or remorse. All I cared about was that I'd spent an incredible night with an incredible woman, and nothing they said would bring me down from my high.

Nothing.

END OF PART 1

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