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Kaitlynn Stryfe barely looked like herself. She hadn't been out of her pajamas in days; she hadn't shaved her legs or bothered to do anything with her limp hair other than throw it in a messy ponytail. She was barely sleeping and seemed to be existing on the Demi Moore diet, at least according to what she'd read in one of her many supermarket checkout magazines— Red Bull energy drinks and salads consisting of lettuce and not much more than that.

She'd even gone completely silent on Twitter and had systematically deleted every unheard voice mail on her cell phone without listening to them. None of them were from the only person in the world she wanted to speak to. She was fully expecting to never hear from him personally again. Eventually a team of lawyers would swarm her like vultures and rip the flesh from her bones, leaving her with nothing.

She'd done nothing for weeks but stew in misery, only taking a single break to show up in Philadelphia simply to interfere in Jennifer's match. It was so damn easy to let that anger continue to simmer, blaming her for everything that had transpired over the last few months.

Nobody knew where she was, other than the one person nobody would have expected to become her friend in a moment of need. And when you are the personal guest of the owner of the company you work for, it's rather impressive word hadn't leaked out. But the fact remained, here she was. In Los Angeles, staying in the home of Samantha Star. The CEO had offered her a place to hide several days ago, and she took her up on the offer without much hesitation. And this morning as Samantha was handling a few things from her office, she exited out and saw her guest, and seeing her the exact same way each day was beginning to wear on her a bit.

Making her way into the living room, she was every bit the opposite in appearance of Kitty. Made up head to toe and looking as though she were about to be on the cover of Business Week, she let out a long sigh and took a seat across from her.

"So another day in your pajamas, I see. You know sooner or later, Kaitlynn, something will have to change. And watching you like this....it's beneath you. Truly." Samantha always did like Kitty, even respected her. But it was growing more and more difficult to do that with each passing day as she watched her languish more and more.

Kitty looked up from the magazine she was thumbing through for the hundredth time. "Something will have to change?" She echoed the words, her voice filled with a tone of bitterness. "I think it's far too late for a blanket statement like that. Everything's already gone to hell, now hasn't it?"

"Only because you've allowed it to, Kitty." The redhead seemed to have a far different grasp of this situation than did her house guest. "Now I'm your friend, and hopefully you know you can trust me, so take what I say as a friend and not someone else trying to bring you down. It's very simple. You made a mess of this. You let insecurity overcome you and cause to do things that made your husband believe you didn't trust him. And the irony of that is, based on what you told me, it should have been the other way around. And as I said, none of this will ever be repeated. But the fact remains this entire situation was primarily created by you, and Jennifer swooped in to pick up the scraps. And you let that happen. Some of this does lie at her feet in fault, but you....you are the one who created this. You have to be the one to fix it." Samantha's tone was a bit softer than she was known for. "Besides this....this isn't you. I remember a woman years ago who was far, far more independent and sure of herself than what I see now. You need to find her."

"I don't know how to fix it," she murmured, shaking her head as she cast the magazine aside, letting her frustration boil over even though she didn't snap at the woman who'd been gracious enough to take her in. "And that woman was a bitch. Nobody liked her. Is that who I'm supposed to be? The cold-hearted bitch that walks away from tag team matches and forgets to show remorse for kicking her husband in the face because she's so hell bent on destroying a rival? I don't know who I am anymore, Samantha."

Samantha covers her mouth, stifling a laugh. "It's Crystal Hilton, dear. I'm impressed you waited as long as you did to leave her." A roll of her eyes, and it's clear how Samantha feels about that woman. "I'm talking about confidence. I remember a night way back in the EWC days when on camera, you walked into Alexander's office, laid it out in front of him, and he took the bait. And thus this all began. You see, that's where I think you made the mistake. You let other people try to get into your personal life. In this case, it was Jennifer. Do you really believe truly that your husband is a complete fucking moron?" She let the question hang for a moment. "He's one of the brightest men in the business world, and you believe for a moment that he would jeopardize his marriage for a woman who has left him again...and again...and again. He would have to be colossally stupid to do that, Kitty. You let your insecurities take over, and you let Jennifer get herself into this position she is now. You put her there, and you can take her out of it. But it's not going to be..." She waved her hands towards her. "This before me that does it. It has to be that woman that knew what she wanted three or four years ago, because she got what she wanted. This one....she doesn't."

"I know what I want," Kitty fired right back, a little spark coming back into her eyes, "I want that ugly bitch out of the picture. I want my damn husband back. I didn't fight tooth and nail to get back into his life that last time only to lose when it really matters." She shook her head, that ponytail smacking her on both cheeks, "I walked into his office and I told him I was interested and you know what? That was the single scariest thing I ever did... but..." she paused for a moment, frowning, "it's not as though I can do that now. He's already made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want to see me and the more I beg, the more turned off he's going to get. I saw the look on his face in that diner when he complained about all the messages I'd sent him."

"Yes, of course. Because men love it when a woman begs." Samantha countered, shaking her head. "Begging is another sign of weakness, and they don't respond well to that. What you need to do is show some backbone, a bit of strength. Weakness is a turn off for men and for women, as well. When you were trying to get a man's attention, did him pleading and begging to you sway you? Of course not. You are beyond the point of asking now, Kaitlynn. It's too big of a mess. You have to take it. You have to own this situation, instead of being owned by it. Does that make sense at all?"

"It does." She nodded, "I tried to do that at Cold Blooded," she chuckled bitterly, "and succeeded in making a bigger mess out of things. God, I don't even know if that was before he found out about the whole mess or not. I almost wonder if it would have mattered. If I'd known she was going to dodge and could have done something else to beat her... UGH!" The sound of complete and utter frustration came from between her clenched teeth, "beating her won't be enough, Samantha. I know it won't and I don't know what else I can do."

"You can destroy her in Milwaukee. Today though, we are going to work on the more important of the two goals here. You and I are going to go out today, and we are going to have a bit of retail therapy. And we are going to find something that will make your husband forget what her name is upon seeing it." Samantha rose from her seat, waving her to get up. "But we aren't going anywhere with you looking like you just escaped a Sylvia Plath novel. Get up, go get dressed, perhaps even shower. And then...we are going on a little shopping excursion. Words have failed you, it's time for action. Remember, Kitty.." A smile curled the corners of her lips. "Men are born with two heads, only enough blood to run one at a time. You've tried reasoning with the brain, now we are going to help you take the alternate path."

A wicked smile came across Kitty's lips as she shot to her feet. "Samantha, you're a genius! I was so fixated on the rest that I didn't even think of the most obvious thing of all." She closed the gap between them and threw her arms around the gorgeous redhead, giving her a squeeze. Samantha patted her house guest on the back, after giving her an embrace in return.

"Tell me something I don't know, Kitty."