It was always a fantasy to get with your boss's daughter, but for Paul, it was slowly becoming a reality. He was sitting in Vince's office, waiting for him to come in for a small meeting, "good morning Mr. Levesque," Vince threw a pile of books onto his desk, "you're here early, what gives?"
"Oh, nothing, just having a good day today I guess," Paul turned around when the door opened again, hoping it would be Stephanie, Vince's young and beautiful daughter. But instead, it was Shane, followed by Linda. He blew out a sigh and sat back in his chair, looking at Vince.
Shane sat beside Paul and nudged him in the ribs, "you seem disappointed, aren't you happy to see me? Or were you expecting someone else?" He looked up at his father to make sure he hadn't heard anything, "I haven't heard from my sister today, but yesterday she called my parents to say she was sick so she might not come in." Shane was one of Paul's best friends, and even though it was awkward that his friend was in love with his sister, he wasn't gonna be the one to stop anything.
"I'm gonna so get some coffee real quick, you want anything?" Paul stood up and stretched his arms, "Vince, Mrs. McMahon, would you guys like coffee or anything?"
Vince shook his head, so he looked to Linda, "could you get me a cup of coffee with just two packets of sugar? You don't even have to put them in for me, I can do it when you come back. Thank you Paul."
He nodded and walked towards the door, "Paul, can you get me a bottle of water actually?" Shane winked at him, "thanks buddy."
"Sure," as he started down the hallway, he heard a sneeze come from around the corner, "hey Stephanie, I heard you were sick, what are you doing here?"
"My parents told me to come in, sick or not. I wish I could still be in bed though," she reached into her purse and frowned, "what are you doing here so early? I usually make it before you."
"Your dad asked me the same thing, I guess I'm just having a good day," he bit his lip and watched as she dug in her purse, "well I'm on my way to get coffee for me and your mom, you need anything? Tea, soup, water, tissues?"
She smiled, "aw, you're so sweet, actually, tea sounds really nice right now. And if you could get me a bottle of water and some tissues, that would be great."
"No problem, I'll be right back with all that for you," the elevator opened right as he was about to push the button and his ex-girlfriend stepped out. He looked away, trying to ignore her, but she stopped in front of him.
"Hi Paul," she moved her hair over, uncovering her chest, "what are you doing here? You don't have to be here for another two hours."
"Joanie, I have a meeting with Mr. McMahon in ten minutes, I offered to get everyone coffee, I have to go," he got into the elevator, letting out an annoyed sigh when she followed, "what do you want?"
"How close are you trying to get to them?" She pushed the lobby button for him, "I'm surprised they haven't figured out why you've been hanging out with them."
"What's that supposed to mean Joanie?" He growled, "contrary to your beliefs, I'm not just hanging out with the McMahon's for their money. Shane is my friend, him and Vince really think that I could do better than being a jobber. I'm not after their money."
She rolled her eyes, "so what are you after? You want to be the main guy around here? The best in the business? You know that once you become McMahon's favorite, everyone's gonna hate you."
"I just want to be better, I've been working my ass off to get somewhere around here and if I have to hang out with certain people to get higher up on the ladder, then I will. I don't care what everyone else thinks about me," the elevator doors opened again and he couldn't have jumped out faster, "I have to go Joanie, I'll see you around," he paced towards the cafeteria.
"Is this whole thing about her?" She continued to follow him, knowing that the more she nagged, the more he talked, "when we were still dating, I remember hearing you, Shane and Shawn talking about Stephanie McMahon. Is this about her? Are you after her?"
He stood at the coffee machine, his back turned to her, his eyes closed, "why do you keep pestering me about this? I don't have to tell you anything anymore. I know you used to be able to nag at me and I would just spill it all, but I don't have to do that anymore. Just leave me alone," he grabbed a cardboard tray and put two coffees in it, then filled a cup with boiling water, "I know you're still standing behind me," he grabbed a packet of tea and two sugars, almost forgetting the waters.
"Wait a second, are you dating her?" She put her hand on his shoulder and forced him to turn around, "when did you ask her out?"
"Joanie, I'm not dating Stephanie McMahon, we both know that Vince would fire me as fast as he could. Now please, just leave me the hell alone. You're making me late to my meeting." He opened the small refrigerator and grabbed three waters, "goodbye Joanie. Talk to you later. Don't follow me again."
"Well I have to go back upstairs to the locker room," she watched as he balanced the tray and water bottles, "you know Vince won't let his kids date employees, right? He probably would fire you the minute he heard that you were trying to get to Stephanie."
"Will you just shut up already? What are you trying to tell me?" He remembered the tissues Stephanie asked for, "shit, where's a janitorial room? I need a box of tissues."
"There's one upstairs by the locker rooms, why do you need a box of tissues?" They went back in the elevator together.
He looked over at her and ignored the question. To him, the elevator couldn't go any slower, it seemed like an eternity just to go two floors up. The doors opened and he spotted one of the custodial crew down the hallway, coming out from his little room, "bye Joanie," he walked up the to the janitor and smiled, "hi, would you happen to have an extra box of tissues or a roll of toilet paper I could have?"
The man smiled and handed him an unopened box of tissues, "here you go sir."
"Thanks," Paul turned around and ran back to Vince's office, "alright, I hope I remembered everything," he gave Linda her coffee, and handed Vince a bottle of water, "just in case you wanted something," he looked at the couch behind him and noticed only the middle was empty, "the middle seat?"
Stephanie smiled, "I can sit there if you don't want to," he took the cup of hot tea from him, "you actually found tissues? Where'd you find a whole box of tissues?"
"You asked me for tissues, so I got you tissues. I got them from the janitor down the hallway," he took a drink of his coffee, "Shawn's not here yet?"
Shane shook his head, "he's not coming because his back hurts, its just gonna be us talking about the new storyline today," he sighed and put his forehead on Paul's shoulder, "he failed the drug test my dad gave him. I wouldn't mention Shawn's name again today," he whispered, once again so his dad couldn't hear him.
Paul cleared his throat and looked over at Stephanie, who nodded and gave him a half-smile, "the new storyline involves both you and me, so that's why I have to be here. Don't worry about 'you-know-who', he'll figure himself out sooner or later."
He nodded and thought about Shawn, he knew he had failed the drug test, and he knew why he failed. Shawn had been on a downwards spiral ever since he'd crushed two vertebrae in his lower back. After three surgeries, the pain had never gone away and he turned to prescription painkillers to cope.