Chris Jericho opened the door to the arena in a rush. He wasn't late by the company standards but he was late by his own standards. He always liked to make sure he had plenty of time to get ready. It was something that he had promised to do every since he had been hired by the WWF. WCW had never appreciated him and he wanted to make sure that he had earned his keep wherever he worked. He let out a deep breath and headed for the locker rooms with his bag thrown across his shoulder.
Ever since the whole story line with Trish, he could see the baby face turn coming. He didn't mind it; it really didn't matter to him either way; as long as the crowd reacted to him, he would be whatever they wanted him to be. To him, that was one of the easiest things about the job. He could be a heel or a baby face. It was actually very easy for him to either or. However, he would be lying if he said that he enjoyed working with Trish more than he had enjoyed working with Stephanie.
Chris smiled to himself as he found himself going back in time. He had absolutely loved working with Stephanie. They had such great chemistry together with little or no effort. They were such good friends but hardly anybody knew that. They thought it added more to their story line back then if they pulled a Bret and Owen Hart; being enemies in public to make the story line seem as real as possible at all times.
He couldn't help but smile as he walked in and saw Jay Reso practicing his character in the mirror. He shook his head and stood quietly in the corner observing one of his best friends make an ass clown out of himself. He couldn't help but wonder how in the world Adam had put up with Jay for so long before they were split up.
"Yeah, that's right Chris," Jay said with a cocky arrogant look on his face. "I'm the man; I'm the only real man here in the WWF that could handle what Trish is dishing out."
"Oh really?" Chris said out loud smiling as he watched Jay jump.
"Shit dude, don't do that," Jay said grabbing his chest as if he was having a heart attack. "Don't you know that it's not good for people to be spooked like that."
"Oh please," Chris said rolling his eyes. "You know for you to be a Canadian, you sure act like an American."
Jay looked over at Chris and grinned. "I guess that is what happens when you move to America, you just adept to their strange but wonderfully exhilarating culture."
"I guess I'll have to give you that one," Chris said knowing he couldn't argue too much. As a Canadian living in America himself, there were perks in the United States that couldn't be found anywhere else. However, he would always be a Canadian at heart. He tossed his bag down on the bench and unzipped it looking for his ring attire.
"So, Trish and I get to humiliate you some more tonight it looks like," Jay said rubbing his hands together in glee. "You know, I could get used to this."
"Watch yourself Junior," Chris said rolling his eyes. "You know I'm the King of Bling Bling and a sexy beast. You couldn't compete with me on my worst day."
Jay chuckled to himself as he silently agreed with Chris. He knew he couldn't agree out loud because he would never hear the end of it. He also knew that Chris had pushed for this story line with him and for that, he was grateful. They silently got dressed in the ring attire when there was a knock on the locker room door.
"Come in," Jay yelled wondering why they had knocked instead of walking on in.
Once the door opened, he knew why. Stephanie McMahon walked in and Jay couldn't help but notice Chris's eyes light up at the sight of her. "Wow, I think Chris might actually have a crush on Stephanie," he thought to himself.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" Stephanie said as she walked into the locker room.
"Yo Steph, looking pretty good there," Jay said as he leered at her hoping to get a rise out of Chris. He had kind of suspected that Chris had a crush on Stephanie for a while and he needed a way to confirm his suspicions. "What better way to confirm than flirt with her in front of Chris," he thought to himself.
If looks could kill, Jay would have been dead on the spot. It didn't take long to notice the irritated look on Chris's face. He couldn't believe that Jay would look at Stephanie that way, let alone talk to her like that. It didn't seem to matter that she was the boss's daughter.
"Hey Junior, show some respect," Chris said shooting Jay a mean look. He turned and smiled at Stephanie, his eyes twinkling as he smiled. "Hey Stephanie, how's it going?"
"I'm doing good Chris, thanks," Stephanie said smiling at who she considered to be one of her best friends. She then turned and looked at Jay with one of her evil smirks on her face. "You know Jay, I could always go talk to daddy and have you put on Sunday Night Heat."
Jay swallowed the lump in his throat thinking, "Oh shit, I've done it now." He smiled an embarrassed smile at Stephanie and said, "I'm sorry Stephanie, I don't know what I was thinking. Let's try this again. Hey Stephanie, how are you?" Jay held his hand out to shake.
Stephanie tried to keep the smirk on her face but just couldn't do it. Jay looked as though he was about to piss in his pants, and as funny as that would have been, she just couldn't torture him like that. She reached out, shook his hand, smiled at him and said, "I'm doing fine Jay. Thanks for asking."
"Alrighty then, I think I'm just going to see if I can find Trish to go over a few lines with her. You two have fun," Jay said rushing out of the room as if his ass was on fire.
Stephanie looked at Chris and they both busted out laughing at the same time. She shook her head wondering what on earth had gotten into Jay's head but decided that he just temporarily went insane. "So how are you doing Chris?"
"Much better now that I've seen you," Chris said walking over to stand in front of her. "Hey, where's my hug?"
Stephanie couldn't stop the sudden increase in her heartbeat as she heard Chris say that to her. She had been in love with Chris for such a long time. Sometimes she thought he felt the same way and then he would pull back for no reason. It was one of the reasons that she didn't come around as much as she used to. "Well that and the fact that I was fired by my own father," she thought to herself as she walked up to Chris with her arms open.
Chris wrapped his arms around Stephanie and closed his eyes basking in being close to her. It had been so long since they had even seen each other. Stephanie had her eyes closed slowly rubbing her hand up and down his back. When they reluctantly pulled away, they both opened their mouth to speak.
Chris laughed nervously along with Stephanie. He held up his hand and said, "Ladies first."
"Well, I was wondering if maybe, if you're not busy after the show, you'd like to grab a bite to each and catch up with each other," Stephanie said her facing blushing beet red. She adverted her eyes and looked down at the floor hoping that if he said no, he wouldn't see how much it would hurt her feelings.
"I would love to," Chris said taking his finger and gently lifting her face up. He placed his hand on her cheek hoping to keep her looking at him while he answered again. "I would absolutely love to."
Stephanie's eyes widened in surprise. She really didn't think he would go with her. Oh she knew that he might say yes and then say something like, "Oh wait, I've got that thing with so and so." She was so ready for that but she wasn't ready for him to actually say yes.
"Ok, what do you say we meet here when you get done," Stephanie said with a small smile.
"That would be great. I'm up first tonight so let's say we meet here," Chris said looking at his watch, "in about 45 minutes."
"Sure, I'll see you then," Stephanie said turning to walk out of the locker room. She turned around and looked at him wishing she were brave enough to do what she really wanted to do. Instead she threw up a few fingers and walked out of the door.
"You big chicken," she thought to herself as she walked backstage. She knew she was taking the chance of majorly pissing her dad off but she really didn't care. "What could he possibly do, fire me? He's already done that," she thought to herself as she made her way to the women's locker room.
Chris stood there totally amazed that Stephanie had asked him to go and hang out with her. It had been so long since he had seen her and now he was going to have quality time with her. He couldn't contain the grin on his face as he looked in the mirror. "I think tonight will be pretty interesting," he said to himself smoothing his hair down a little. "Pretty interesting indeed."
"You've got to be kidding, right?" Trish asked while her and Jay was discussing what had happened earlier.
"I'm dead serious. I think Chris likes Stephanie and I think it's vice versa," Jay said wrapping his arm around his 'make-believe' girlfriend's shoulder. "This could be a good thing for the both of them."
"Or it can be a total and complete disaster," Trish said thinking of how Vince may react to those two dating. Vince was a strange and complicated individual. Granted, he had beaten his daughter and fired her but he still loved her.
"Let's not think that way," Jay said hugging her to him as they walked down the hall. "Let's try to think of this positively. What can we do to help them get together?"
"Wait a second," Trish said stopping in the hallway. She looked at Jay and saw that gleam in his eye and groaned mentally. "We are not getting involved at all. The last time you tried to set up somebody, you set up Stacy and Test. You know how long that lasted."
"Yeah but it's different this time. It's Chris and Stephanie. I really do think those two like each other A LOT. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't at least tried to push them in the right direction," Jay said rubbing his chin and thinking.
Trish reached up and grabbed his hand off of his chin. When Jay was thinking that serious, it always had disastrous result. She also knew that Jay was finally getting a push and now was not the time to jeopardize his career. "Look, let's just give them a little time and see what happens. If those two like each other as much as you think they do, then they are not going to need our help anyway."
"But," Jay started to say.
"No butts Jay. Look, you are finally getting the push that you've wanted for so long. There is no reason to hurt your career by being stupid. If they are meant to be together, then they will be. You have got to stay out of this," Trish said feeling as though she was a child scolding her only spoiled child.
"But," Jay whined again.
Trish took her finger and placed it on Jay's lips. "Ssshhh, just leave well enough alone for now. Besides, this is Stephanie's first night back since she had been fired." Trish looked at her watch, "Oh shit, we've got to go. We're going to be late." She grabbed Jay by the arm as they went running to the gorilla position to await their cue hoping that she had changed Jay's mind. If not, she had a funny feeling that things would not go well, not well at all.
Chris had just finished taking his shower when Jay walked into the locker room. He couldn't help but be glad to have been put in a program with one of his closest friends. Granted, it was more fun to Chris when he was evil but he kind of liked this whole broken-hearted story line that he had been given. It gave him a chance to show the world that there was more to Chris Jericho than what met the eye.
"Hey man, I didn't hit you too hard did I?" Jay asked with a smirk on his face.
"Dude, please," Chris said rolling his eyes. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried."
"Now that's an interesting thought. I couldn't hurt you even if I tried. Hmm, you know Chris, that makes me really want to try," Jay said walking up to Chris.
"Well, Junior, give it your best shot," Chris said holding his chin out and tapping his finger. "Come on, you know you want to."
Jay looked at his friend and grinned. He started dancing around as if he were boxing while Chris stood there with a completely bored look on his face. He air punched a few times before slapping Chris on the back. "Dude, you know I couldn't do that to you."
Chris looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, and donkeys can fly and oh yeah, pigs can fly too."
Jay's eyes widened at the sarcastic tone in Chris' voice. He couldn't help but wonder what was wrong. The only time Chris was really sarcastic like that was when he was nervous about something. Before he could stop himself, he opened his mouth and said, "Chris, man, are you ok?"
"Of course I am you ass clown, why wouldn't I be?" Chris said turning around to head to his locker. He was so nervous inside he felt like he could grow up. He knew he shouldn't be but he wanted so much more from Stephanie than just her friendship.
Jay's eyes narrowed as he watched his best friend walk away from him. His mother had tried his best to teach him to think before he spoke. Unfortunately for Jay, this was one of those times he should have listened to his mother better. "By chance, would this have something to do with Stephanie?"
Chris froze for a second while buttoning his shirt. He tried to act nonchalant as he finished buttoning his shirt. "What makes you say that?"
Jay smiled as he realized that something was up between the two of them. "I knew it!" he thought to himself as he finished watching Chris get dressed. He couldn't leave it alone. "Chris, do you have a thing for Stephanie?"
"Huh, what?" Chris asked trying to cover up the nervousness in his voice.
"I knew it man! I knew it! I knew you had a thing for her. I am the man!" Jay said flexing the muscles in his arm. He looked at Chris and saw the tell-tell blush creeping up his face. "Dude, don't even try and deny it, it's all over your face."
Chris swallowed hard and tried his best to hide the embarrassment that he was feeling. He thought he had covered himself pretty well. "Evidently not well enough," he thought to himself as he tried to figure out what to do next. He cleared his throat and said, "What in the hell is wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?"
Jay just laughed out loud and sat down on the bench. He shook his head at the way Chris was lying to him and Jay knew he was lying to him. He kept the smug look on his face and said, "Keep lying like that Chris, if it makes you feel better."
One look in Jay's eyes and Chris knew that he couldn't cover it up anymore. He plopped down beside of him, let out a deep breath and said, "I would appreciate it if you would keep this to yourself."
"Why didn't you tell me man? You know, I have always been quiet with things that need to be kept quiet. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Jay asked.
"What so you could rag me about having the hots for the boss' daughter?" Chris said rolling his eyes. "Look, I know I have feelings for her and I think she might have feelings for me."
"Dude, if the way she looked at you earlier is any indication, she so has feelings for you," Jay said in his superior tone.
"You really think so?" Chris asked intrigued by what Jay was saying.
"Totally, I saw the way both of your eyes lit up when you saw each other. Hell, it almost blinded me it was so bright," Jay said. Jay knew that he had to convince Chris that he needed to ask her out. He was going to regret not asking her one-day and as his best friend, he had a duty to make sure that Chris did what needed to be done. "Chris, you need to ask her out and you need to do it now man. Who knows when she'll be back again?"
"As a matter of fact," Chris said looking at his watch, "she should be here any minute."
"You mean you asked her out?" Jay said with a shocked look on his face.
"No, not exactly," Chris said opening his mouth to explain. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Come in."
Stephanie walked into the locker room with a smile that radiated her whole face. She was so happy that she was going to be spending time with Chris that she felt as though she was walking on air. "Are you ready to go?"
"For you," Chris said grabbing his bag off of the bench, "I'm always ready."
As Chris and Stephanie walked out of the locker room, Jay sat there with his mouth open wide and a shocked expression on his face. He sat there for quite a few minutes in shock before Trish came running into the locker room coming to an abrupt halt. She was getting ready to tell him what she saw and couldn't help but wonder if he had anything to do with. She sat down beside him, waving her hand in front of his face. "Jay, Jay, are you ok?"
"They're going out," Jay said his mind completely blank other than for Chris and Stephanie.
"Oh no, did you get them two to go out? I told you to mind your own business," Trish said watching Jay's push go down the drain.
"What? No, they're going out on their own. I didn't say a word," Jay said his mind still trying to comprehend the fact that he didn't have to do anything to get them together.
Trish smiled and said, "See, I told you it would work out without your help."
