Lending an Ear

Courtney had just finished training after a long day the the Performance Center. She headed to the locker room to take a quick shower and change before heading home for the rest of the evening. After taking a shower and changing, she was brushing her hair when she saw Lucy in the locker room. She knew Lucy had been going through some things but wasn't sure exactly what. She heard things about Alex and while she was good friends with him, he hadn't really reached out in a while. That was fine, Courtney was used to that and kept things moving but sensing Lucy was not her usual self, she figured she would offer her support and friendship if she needed anything. She wasn't going to pry unless Lucy wanted to share.

Putting her hair up in a ponytail, Courtney walked over to her bag putting it away. "Thanks for working with me today. I love when we get the chance to work together. You make me so sore." she simply said to start up the conversation.

Lucy sat in the locker room at her locker station finishing up an email on her phone when she heard Courtney. She laughed pressing send on the email before putting her phone down on her lap.

“You know I’m always a little snug. It’s the one thing I get from my dad.” she joked. Lucy didn’t have many friends in the WWE. Lucy was close to a lot of the “Divas” but over the years the majority had left or retired and the remaining few were on the main roster. After the incident with Candice a few years back a lot of the girls (and guys) jumped on the “let’s shit on Lucy” bandwagon and although things calmed down and Lucy forgave those who weren’t so nice to her at the time, she would never forget how they treated her. This resulted in her treating the majority of the Superstars as co-workers rather than friends.

She kept to herself these days but there were still a small group of people in the business she considered genuine friends. Beverley being one of them. Lucy met her way back when in FCW and with Bev being good friends with Kevin it mean’t they had hung out a ton over the years and Lucy could trust her more than the other girls in NXT.

"Well you are a great student then because you do an awesome job." she laughed. "Heading out for the night?" she asked as she put her bag aside on the bench and took a seat, getting her other bag to put her dirty clothes in.

“I try.” she chuckled. “I’m not sure... I could use a night to just let loose, but there is just so much going on at the minute I feel guilty about going out and having fun.”

"Well, if you want to talk about things, I'm here. If not, that's fine too. You're more than welcome to come to my place though for some wine and food if you'd like."

“Thanks Bev.” she said sincerely. “It’s just Kevin...” she said taking a deep breath. “He started experimenting with weed last year, after some idiot he became friends with said it would be the perfect way to self medicate his bipolar disorder... but it’s just the worst. He’s the worst.” she told beginning to get upset.

“He just won’t listen. It’s all her cares about now. I don’t know what to do and I don’t know how much longer I can take it.” she said wiping away at a few tears that escaped her eyes.

Courtney let out a sigh after hearing what Lucy and Kevin were going through. "It's definitely a hard place to be in. One on hand you love him so much and want to be there for him but on the other, it's too much. Especially since you have Kirra to think about too." she said, shaking her head. "It's just not easy to deal with someone like that and I can speak from experience." she said. "Has Kevin said anything to you about it?"

“It’s like I’m clinging on to our marriage for Kirra because I don’t want her to grow up in a broken home, but I just don’t know how much more I can take. I don’t let her see him because he’s just always high. I don’t want her seeing her dad like that.” she said.

“He doesn’t see it as a problem. He thinks he’s fine and that people need to just mind their business. He won’t listen.”

"At that point, it's like he's so far gone if he doesn't want to listen or acknowledge it. Or he's ashamed. Addiction is a terrible disease." she said. "And while it sucks that Kirra can't see him, it is for the best. You are doing the right thing by not exposing her to him when he's high."

“I’ve begged him to go to rehab or at least therapy and he’s refused both.” she sighed. “It’s like how do you get someone help that just clearly doesn’t want it? It’s just a mess.” she said running her hands through her hair.

“And I know what i’m about to say is extremely selfish but it’s starting to effect my career. I’ve worked my ass off for the past few years rebuilding everything I lost after the Candice bullshit. I’m working myself to death with all of these stupid shows ontop of training and wrestling, trying to make as much money for my family as possible to give our daughter everything she could ever ask for in life. I feel like I’ve finally regained WWE’s trust to invest their time into me again but now it’s headline after headline with his weird behaviour. I’m lying my ass off to management saying he isn’t on drugs and they know I’m lying.”

"You have worked extremely hard and you're allowed to be selfish in this case. He doesn't see that his behavior is affecting you and your career. And if he does, then he's the selfish one." she told her. "I've never said this to anyone but Shannon was going through something similar when we were married but his vice was alcohol. There were rumors obviously and yeah, I've stated there were issues but I never outright said what it was. So in a way, I can definitely relate to how you're feeling. It was out of control and ruining his career and mine in a sense because I was choosing to cut back on the road and be home for him. Plus, coming to NXT was a decision I made not just for Evy but Shannon as well. It took me leaving him and not allowing him to see Evy for him to realize just how messed up he was. I actually tricked him into going to a rehab, which yes, they're supposed to want the help but I didn't know what else to do. I told him we were going out and then dropped him off there. There is where he realized just how much he lost. But I had to do it for myself and Evy and honestly, it was what worked best for us."

Lucy nodded her head as she listened to Beverley. “I’m so sorry it got to that point. I knew minor details that you and Shannon had issues but I never realised how bad things had gotten.” she sympathised.

“Honestly I’m at that point... my lawyer has already drawn up divorce papers. I’ve been sitting on them for a while in hope I could get Kevin to change his ways, but I feel like I have no other option.”

"Yes, it was a pretty tough time for sure." she nodded and then listened to Lucy. "I can't say I blame you for getting to that point. I know you've spoken to him but maybe sit him down again and tell him about the divorce papers and how you're not budging. Sometimes that could be a real fucking wake up call. When you see you're losing it all and have taken people and situations for granted, it makes you want to sober up real quick. Not in all cases but the majority of them."

“It’s like everything I try he just shrugs off. I’m exhausted with the whole thing. He’s not the man I fell in love with.” she sighed. “As awful as it is I try and use Kirra against him in hopes that will get him to stop but even that doesn’t work.”

"Something will give. It may just be him being alone completely for him to realize what he did." she said.

“Honestly I’m at the point of filing for divorce.” she sighed. “My mental health is at an all time low trying to sort his out… I can’t do it anymore. He isn’t capable of being being there for Kirra and I need to step up and do everything in my power to make sure she’s taken care of. Which means I need to be healthy mentally and physically. She’s way more important to me than him and she doesn’t deserve what he’s put our family through the past two years. I can’t force him to change and I’m sick of tying to make him.”

Courtney listened to her and completely understood. It was a hard choice a person could make but when you've done everything you could, it left a person with no other options. "Absolutely. It's a tough decision to come to but you did all you could and at the end of the day, you will always know that. Kirra is a priority now and so is your over health and well-being."

“I just can’t believe this is my life.” she sighed. “I think about how we were 10 years ago and how we are now and it’s just so fucking sad.” she croaked getting emotional.

“These last few years have been an absolute nightmare. I just keeping thinking like what if I didn’t do this, what if I didn’t do that, was I right putting my career first. It’s just such a mind fuck.” she said wiping away a tear that had escaped her eye.

Courtney went into her bag and took out some tissues from the pack she carried and offered one to Lucy. "You are not to blame, you did nothing wrong. I know it's hard not to think that way, I did the same. But at the end of the day, he chose to deal with things incorrectly. Instead of talking things out or telling you how he felt or what was going on, he decided to handle things his way." she said. "And he has plenty of people he could have spoken to as well. He would have been supported in any way, shape or form."

“Thanks” she said taking the tissue drying her eyes. “Well on the bright side it’s another thing my dad can be pissed off at me about. His sinner daughter getting a divorce. He’ll be having a field day preaching about it at church.” she laughed shaking her head.

"He'll have to get over it at some point. You just worry about you and what you need. Don't give into his antics or give him a reaction, it's what he wants."

“He can bitch about it all he liked I’m past the point of caring what he thinks.” she said. “Anyways enough of me and my drama. How have you been?”

"Well you are always welcome to vent to me, I don't mind." Courtney reminded her. "I'm good, just working and being home. So basically the usual." she chuckled.

“Thanks Bev.” she smiled. “How’s things going with Jay?”

"Things are going well. It's still so weird to be with someone again after so long."