Stephanie sighed heavily as she swirled the wine around the glass. The red liquid made a lapping sound as it sloshed against the sides of the thin wine glass. She closed her eyes and took a sip, letting the sweet taste consume her. She was used to this feeling. She'd been drinking a hell of a lot more than she used to ever since that day.

The silence in the room was deafening. They both stood in utter shock at the words that had just been said. Vince looked at them and felt even guiltier than he originally had. It was just hitting him now how deep this thing between them had gotten. Linda had warned him. She'd told him that he couldn't just take away what he'd given them permission to do just a few months ago. He'd allowed them to fall for each other and now the heartache was just going to be worse. He looked at his daughter's face. She looked broken. He glanced at Paul but couldn't quite make out what he was feeling. He just stood there, looking as stoic as he'd ever seen him.

"I'll give you two a minute," he said quietly and walked towards the door. Just before he walked out of the room, he turned slightly and sighed. "I'm really sorry." With that, he left them to their own devices, sure that they would rather not have him standing there while they discussed this.

Stephanie watched as the door closed. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. She could feel his presence as he moved closer to her but she just couldn't look at him. If she did, she was sure that the tears would come. His hands rested on her shoulders and he turned her to face him. Sure enough, a tear escaped her and was quickly followed by a few more. Paul took one look at her and immediately pulled her into his arms. She clutched the back of his shirt as if she was never going to see him again. The irony was, she would be seeing him every day but would never be able to hold him like this again. Not after those fateful words were uttered in this very room not ten minutes ago.

"I'm sorry but, you have to stop seeing each other."

Paul swallowed hard as he repeated the words in his head. He pulled her closer and buried his face into her soft hair. When would he get to do this again? Would he ever get to do this again? When Vince had called them into his office, this was the last thing he was expecting.

"I can't believe this is happening," she all but whispered. Ever since they had been given the go ahead, she'd allowed herself to fall for him. And fall for him she had. She let out a shaky breath and slowly pulled back from the warmth of his body. She looked at his face, at his eyes which were staring blankly at the door.

"Paul?"

Paul," she called again.

Try as he might, he could never deny her when she sounded so desperate. He pried his eyes from the door and felt his heart break as he looked into her beautiful but sad eyes.

"What does this mean? For us?" she asked, wiping at her tear stained face.

"I don't know Steph. I don't know," he answered truthfully, bringing his hands up to her face. He pushed her hands away and finished wiping her tears, all the while fighting back his own which were threatening to fall with every passing second.

"How can he do this?" she suddenly fumed, her anger at the situation finally bubbling to the surface.

"Steph...." Paul could see that she was getting angry and the last thing he wanted was an upset and pissed off Stephanie McMahon to deal with. This situation was bad enough without anger making it worse.

"No Paul. He can't just tell us that we can be together and then take it back like we don't have feelings or emotions! This isn't right!"

"I know that but.....you have to think about it from his point of view." With her questioning look he continued. "People are talking Steph, you know that. He can't have people questioning his champion, his business decisions."

"So you're taking his side on this?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course not. I wouldn't ever want anything to come between us. Ever, Steph. But I'm just saying that I can understand where he's coming from.....sort of," he managed a small smile at the end.

She let his words sink in and unconsciously nodded her head. He was right. Her father had to think of the company. Besides, she knew her dad loved her unconditionally and would never do something like this to her unless he had to. Still, that didn't make it any better. As she thought about trying to go on without him, the tears started back up again.

Paul saw her beautiful features soften, then harden with a frown before salty tears slipped from her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks. His heart broke. He was feeling every bit as miserable as she looked. He reached out and lifted her chin between his finger and thumb, raising her tear stained face level with his own. She was looking at the ground and he sighed softly.

"Steph, look at me," he asked gently.

She tore her gaze from the ground and looked into his wonderful hazel eyes. Eyes that had become her safe place. Eyes that told her every time she looked into them just how much he cared for her. And eyes that right now looked lost in a multitude of sadness. He took her hands and intertwined their fingers and leaned his forehead against hers.

"I care for you. I care for you a lot more than I ever expected I would. If this thing between us is meant to be, then it will happen. We've just got to trust it," he all but whispered.

Stephanie could still feel his hands in hers, his forehead pressed against her own and his breath sweeping across her face. His words repeated themselves over and over again in her mind. It had been a couple of months ago since they were told to break it off. Did the fact that they hadn't got back together mean that they weren't meant to be? She shrugged that thought off and took another sip of wine. That couldn't be right. Not with the way she still felt about him.