Ordinary World

Home : Stories by Mick : Love in Losses : Ordinary World

Summary: John and Carl enjoy the Atlanta rain delays.

AUTHOR: Mick
EMAIL: mick@cryptoffic.com
RATING: PG
SERIES: Love in Losses
CHARACTER: John Cena/Carl Edwards, alternating POV
COMPLETED: November 12, 2008
WORD COUNT: 1,507
DISCLAIMER: If I owned them I’d be too busy to write this stuff. Just fiction, folks. I own NOTHING and am affiliated with NO ONE mentioned here. Not the drivers, not the teams, no one. This is all fiction and fun. In other words...NOT REAL, NOT REAL, NOT REAL. ;-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atlanta Motor Speedway - Atlanta, GA

I know it’s insanely overprotective and he doesn’t need me to protect him, but after the fight with Kevin, I’ve been following Carl everywhere. It’s driving him crazy, but I can’t help it. I don’t want him getting hurt or winding up in another fighting. He’s promised me there’ll be no repeats, but it doesn’t make me worry any less. I didn’t give him a choice when it was time to leave for Atlanta; I was packed and on the plane before he could tell me no. He won’t admit it, but I know he’s at least partly happy to have me with him. Being split up for days at a time isn’t very much fun for either of us.

“…Carl, someone’s knocking on the door,” I lift my head off the arm of the couch and glance over at where he’s talking to his mom at the kitchen table. She’s known about us for a while now and she’s been so cool about it. She’s quickly become one of my favorite people to have around.

“It’s probably a reporter,” he crinkles his nose and gets up to answer the door, “They always look for people to bug during rain delays.” He pulls the door open and sure enough, there’s a camera, boom stick, and a reporter waiting under a jumbo umbrella. They look miserable and apologetic, like they’ve already had a couple doors slammed in their faces. Carl plasters on the work smile and pulls the door open wider, “Hey guys, what’s up?”

It amazes me how smoothly he can transition into Carl-the-Driver. Like it’s normal to have reporters knocking on your door asking for shoot interviews, just because it’s raining. I watch as he speaks with them, and then introduces everyone on the coach with us. His driver, Tom, who at the moment is grilling a couple burgers for us; his mom, sitting at the kitchen table with the laptop open; his “fiancé”, who’s actually a family friend acting as a beard for us; and me, sprawled out and comfortable on the couch.

In no time, the camera’s rolling and Carl’s babbling about anything he can think of. His car, his team, the rain, the coach, the A/C switch I failed to notice above my head. It goes smooth and fast and soon we’re all alone again in the peaceful bubble we all share. Tom grabs the burgers off the grill and midway through our meal, Carl’s phone goes off. It’s someone from Speed, asking him to make an appearance on Trackside Live. He agrees and hangs up, then turns to me and asks if I’d like to come along. It sounds like fun so I agree, scarfing down the last of my burger.

I always enjoy getting to do appearances on Trackside. The guys are fun to be around and the fans are always entertaining. Having John along this time just makes it even cooler. I grin at him as a Speed crew member hooks me up to a mic pack, “You should come out with me, it could be fun. Give the crowd a taste of the WWE.”

He grins at my teasing, winking playfully, “Maybe I will. Maybe I’ll grab some silly string and shaving cream and make a mess out of all of you. A little pre-Halloween trick.”

It’s never easy to tell when he’s serious or kidding around about these things and suddenly I’m afraid he’ll really try it. Pranking a group of people at once on national television is not something I’d put past him, “John don’t you DARE!” He laughs that mischievous laugh I know far too well and rubs his hands together, eyebrows wiggling fiendishly, “John! Seriously! Don’t even think-”

“Carl, you’re on!” A stagehand directs me to the stage entrance and I groan, running out to meet the guys. The fans cheer and a genuine smile spreads across my face. I really do love my job. I shake hands with everyone, give a wave to the crowd behind the stage, and quickly fall into a comfortable interview with the guys. Several minutes in, someone asks about John and I can feel the grin on my face widen, like it always does when I hear his name.

“Actually,” I glance around nervously, fully expecting him to be behind me with a shaving cream nozzle aimed at my face, “He’s around here somewhere…” I can hear myself rambling about his hijinx, but my brain is more focused on ducking for cover if he bursts out here fully armed.

Suddenly, John’s entrance music is blaring and a fog machine is going off. I laugh and sigh in relief when I see him, not a can in sight, across the stage from where I’m sitting. The crowd cheers for him and the guys get up to greet him. I’m a little disappointed when he sits clear across the stage, next to Hammond, but it’s probably for the better. We can’t always keep our hands off of each other.

The conversation drifts to John and his car collection after a few minutes and I take the time to pull out my camera to snap some pictures of him. He sees me but doesn’t bat a lash, continuing to talk about his cars and his abilities as a mechanic. He makes the mistake of mentioning marriage and suddenly all eyes are on me. Dammit, John! I blush and stumble through a carefully concocted story about my new fiancé.  I trip and refer to her as my girlfriend, which earns me some jibes from Larry and Jeff. Oops.  I recover quickly and sigh in relief when we stop for a commercial.

I’ve never had so much fun doing an interview in my life. The atmosphere is so laid back and fun, everyone’s completely relaxed and at ease. Shoot interviews have always been my favorite. I don’t like feeling rehearsed and scripted. It’s more fun to just answer questions with the first thing that comes to mind. Doing on with Carl is even cooler; it’s interesting to come into someone else’s world and see how things work for them. I like getting the sneak peek behind the curtain.

The taping’s over all too soon and after stopping to sign some autographs and take some pictures, we hop onto Carl’s golf cart and head back to the coach. It’s going to be a crazy night. He has to leave for Memphis early to make it in time for quals and the Nationwide race. I admire him so much for his work ethic. He’s dedicated, full of stamina, and so completely driven and motivated. I don’t think he ever has a truly awful day behind the wheel, just hits some bumps in the road. I wish I could have the attitude he does. Sometimes it’s hard to be optimistic when it’s your own body ruining things. One damn muscle and I’m washed up for months, but Carl? Carl finds a way to drive with a broken hand. He makes it all look so easy. He’s incredible.

“John? Buddy, you planning on sleeping on the cart tonight?” Carl gives me a poke in the bicep and I smile up at him sheepishly before following him onto the coach. He shrugs out of his jacket and tosses it onto the kitchen table with his ball cap. I watch him for a moment before following him back to the bedroom, the both of us stripping out of our clothes before falling into bed.

I smile softly and curl up to John as we slip under the covers, draping an arm over his waist. He’s got that happy-pensive look on his face and I can’t bring myself to pull him out of it again. Having him on Trackside with me today was fun and exciting, and I wish we could do it more often. Hell, I wish I could join him for a WWE taping one day; make an even exchange of tonight’s experience. I’ll have to bring it up sometime, maybe on the flight to Memphis in the morning. I know it’s not really his call, but I’m sure he could at least ask someone about it if he’s interested in the idea. I snuggle in closer to him and rest my head on his chest, “John? Whatcha thinking about?”

“Nothing important…” his fingers find my hair, curling around it, massaging my scalp, “Ready to go tomorrow?”

“Of course,” glance up at him, “Got my lucky charm with me, I’ll be fine.”

He smiles and looks down at me, “I’m your lucky charm, huh? And here I thought I was only eye candy.”

“Well you’re that, too,” I tease, tightening my arm around him so we’re as close as possible. I really wish it could be like this all the time, so quiet and comfortable. It makes us seem plain and ordinary, like we’re just two normal people without all the fame and fortune, “John?”

“Yeah?” His voice is thick and groggy. He’s just about gone.

“I love you.”

These authors spend lots of time to write these stories. If you took the time to read this PLEASE take the time to give them some feedback. Happy writers write more ;-)

Mick - mick@cryptoffic.com