A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I hope you're satisfied with where I'm going to take this. :)
Shane stormed into his father's office, irate and unkempt. His little sister was being a pain in his side. She wouldn't listen to reason, no matter how many times he told her just what was right and what was wrong with her relationship with Test, or Andrew, as she liked to call him. Didn't she realize that she was out of Test's league, that she was above him? She just couldn't get her mind around that concept.
Then Chris Jericho had the nerve to run his mouth off around his sister, and then to him. He had not supported Chris being put into the company, had opposed it, but his mother and his father had agreed that they wanted to bring Chris in. Shane would've been perfectly happy letting him stew over there in WCW forever.
"Shane what is it?" Vince asked impatiently as he sat at his massive desk.
"It's Chris Jericho Dad, you need to fire him!" Shane said, his voice short.
"What! Are you crazy? The man has been here for one night! If you think that I'm going to invest as much as I'm investing in him and then drop him after one night, I'm going to have to put you in a mental asylum."
"He's not good Dad, we don't need him, we've got plenty of other guys."
"Do you know the kind of charisma Chris has? Did you see him out there with The Rock? He was oozing charisma and the fans were eating him up. No way am I getting rid of him," Vince said resolutely and Shane knew that he was fighting a losing battle.
"But Dad," Shane argued. "I just saw him outside harassing Stephanie!"
"What?" Vince asked, and Shane was sure that he had gotten Chris Jericho out of his company with that. Vince was so very protective of Stephanie that he was sure to get furious over the fact that his precious Princess was being harassed by anyone.
"Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes," Shane said, fudging the truth a little. Shane's biggest problem was that he failed to see Stephanie as she was now, and instead saw Stephanie as she used to be, a helpless little girl who wanted to be by her big brother's side at all times.
"Where was Test!" Vince fumed, and that was not what Shane thought he was going to say. Shane thought he would say something along the lines of where the hell was Chris Jericho, or something to that effect, but not asking where was Test.
"I don't know," Shane said, "Do you mean right now, or do you mean when I was with Stephanie?"
"When you were with Stephanie of course!" Vince said, standing up. "I can't believe he would leave her to her own devices like that! HE should be around to protect her, not her brother for God's sakes."
"Dad, Test is scum, I don't want him around her either."
"Yes, that may be so, but if her boyfriend were around, then he would be there to protect her, it doesn't matter whether you like him or not, you wouldn't like anyone with her."
"That's true, but it's Stephanie Dad, Stephanie, you're daughter."
"I'm not senile," Vince told him, "I'm fully aware of who my daughter is. But Test should take care of her."
"Test is scum Dad, SCUM."
"Shane, I'm well aware of how you feel about Test," Vince said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But Stephanie is an adult now, no matter how you feel and no matter how I feel. And at some point, we're going to have accept the man that she has decided to be with."
"Fine Dad, fine," Shane said, storming back out of the office.
Stephanie didn't look back as she walked away from Chris Jericho. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of a second look. How dare he be so crass with her! Didn't he know who she was? She was Stephanie McMahon, and her father owned this company and owned him…and yet he didn't seem to care, and it was kind of odd to be treated like her father wasn't a rich businessman with a billion dollar company.
But Chris Jericho was gross, and nothing at all like the type of person she normally wanted to be friends with. He was too…well noisy was one word for it, brash was another. And the way he just picked up her book and threw it onto the floor; how could someone just do that without apologizing? What kind of person was Chris Jericho?
Well, Chris saw himself as someone that shouldn't be trifled with. He was a unique person to be sure, and he liked wreaking havoc wherever appropriate. He had made himself a walking conspiracy theorist in WCW, and he wanted to do even bigger things now that he was in the WWF. And there was so much to do for sure, a whole new cornucopia of people for him to beat, and that was just how he wanted it. He wanted to make an impact.
That Stephanie though, he had a feeling there was a whole other layer to her personality, to her entire being, and something made him want to find out. He wasn't the type of guy who settled for one girl. He was the type of guy who went girl-hopping. He was aware that made him a callous person, but he didn't care. He was just aware of it, and that was really half the battle.
But back to Stephanie. She was intriguing for sure, but Chris knew that he wasn't going to go after her or anything. What point would that prove? He wasn't in the business of girlfriend-stealing, and she had made it perfectly clear that she was taken. Besides, though Stephanie was pretty, there were much prettier girls out there that would be easier to get into bed. That didn't mean he wouldn't have his fun with Stephanie when he could. He was just that type of guy.
He went to his hotel and then to his room to change into something more appropriate for clubbing. He was going to have to go by himself because he didn't know anyone here well enough to go out with. He didn't really mind anyways, other people might mess up his game, and he wanted to celebrate his triumphant debut in the company. He left his room and went to the elevator to go down to the lobby.
And then there she was again, and Chris just smirked. She dropped her head down, and just stared down. He sidled up to her, but she just moved away from him, but he just sidled closer. This went on until Stephanie was backed into a corner, and Chris was bearing down on her. She just kept staring down at the red carpet on the bottom of the elevator.
"Oh come on, I'm not even dignified with a look."
"Whatever," Stephanie mumbled.
"Whatever? All I get is a whatever, I am nothing but kind to you, and all I get is a whatever. Well, that's a hard pill to swallow. I mean, you couldn't even come up with something clever, all I get is that whatever."
"My brother will kill you. How's that for clever?"
"It's better," he answered, grinning at her while wiggling his eyebrows playfully.
"I was just going to meet my boyfriend," Stephanie told him, and why she didn't know, but she found herself blurting it out like it would somehow get him to leave her alone.
"That's nice, but why not meeting in one of your rooms? Or is this Test guy into that whole, well, you know what I'm talking about," Chris said with a chuckle. "Believe me though, if you were my girl, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of you."
"Should I be flattered?" Stephanie asked sarcastically.
"I would be," Chris shrugged, "But I'll allow you to come up with your own opinions."
"Did it ever occur to you that I don't like you?" Stephanie asked sassily.
Chris raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips a little bit. Then he rubbed his chin, deep in thought, then tapped it. "Nope, didn't occur to me."
"Well then I'll make it a little bit clearer for you. I don't like you, there, it's out now, and you can just leave me alone."
"And if I don't want to."
"My boyfriend will kick your ass."
"Your brother will kill me, your boyfriend will kick my ass, is there any other man in your life that wants to get his hand on me. I'm not worried so much about the fighting part, but I don't really go for men, so them going for me, not really my style."
"You're just here to ruin my life aren't you?" Stephanie said, cocking her head to her side. "I'd have a lot more respect for you if you came out and said that, that you came into the company just to harass me and make me feel uncomfortable."
"Sorry Stephanie, can I call you Stephanie…eh, doesn't matter, I'll say it anyway," he winked, "But no, I'm sorry to inform you that me coming into this company had nothing to do with you. Maybe in your own little world, you believe that every guy is willing to fall at your feet, but I'm not."
"So then why are you harassing me like you are?" Stephanie said as the door opened to the ground level on what was probably the slowest elevator in the universe. Either that or because this particular hotel had thirty floors.
"Because I can," he answered with a smile, and her face just dropped into one of shock when she realized he really did have no motive for doing what he was doing to her.
"Why me then? Why not one of the other girls around here?"
"Because I saw you first," he told her.
"You know, crossing me isn't going to do you any favors. In fact, it'll probably just get my father really mad at you, and my dad is not someone that you want to mess with."
"I'm not worried."
"Well you should be, I'm Daddy's Little Girl, and there is nothing that he wouldn't do for me."
"He can't fire me, so that's out of the question."
"He can never give you a title shot," Stephanie said snootily. "And he would do it too if it made me happy! And maybe I will tell him that you don't deserve to have a title shot any time soon, or EVER. Maybe I'll tell him that!"
"Ok, go for it, then I'll just make your entire family's lives a living hell."
Stephanie stomped her foot and actually growled in anger. Chris just had to laugh at her as she stood there, fuming. She was looking so funny, and it was so much fun to just rile her up and see her light off like a firecracker. She was opening her mouth to say something when a big, blond man walked over to her, and Chris recognized him as Test, or as Stephanie called him, Andrew.
"Hey babe, you ok?" Test asked, sneering over at Chris.
"Yes, now that you're here," Stephanie said, looking up at him adoringly. It seriously made Chris want to puke. He was not one to care about public displays of affection, especially after he himself had been caught making out in public a few…dozen times. But he did have a problem with the utter mushiness these two were displaying.
"Oh dear Lord," Chris muttered to himself.
"He bothering you?" Test asked, pointing a thumb in Chris's direction.
"No," Stephanie said shortly, and her response surprised Chris. He expected her to rat him out at her first opportunity. After all, what did she have to lose by telling Test that he had been harassing her? Not much, and she would probably enjoy seeing him get beat up by her boyfriend.
"Ok," Test said suspiciously, his eyes flitting from Stephanie to Chris and back again. "I'm going to go pull the car up."
"I'll wait here," Stephanie said, leaning up to kiss Test's cheek, but never breaking her gaze away from Chris. Test smiled at her and squeezed her hand before going out into the night and to the parking lot. "I know what you're thinking."
"Well, I made it pretty obvious," Chris responded.
"I'm not a stupid idiot Chris, no matter what you think."
"I never thought that!" Chris said indignantly.
"I can fight my own battles, and if you want one, you have one," she told him, trying to sound as menacing as possible.
Chris nodded his head, "Well, I did figure you for the type to not go out without putting up a fight. I have to admire that in a person."
"I just want you to leave me alone."
"I just wanted to go clubbing Stephanie, and you happened to be in the elevator, but if you want me to leave you alone, I will, see ya," Chris said to her with a wave and then he was off. Stephanie was surprised that that was all it took to get him away from her.
Chris laughed to himself as he thought of her. She had been surprised that he could be so cordial with her. But Chris liked to keep people on their toes, never expecting what was next with him. He could go from the world's biggest asshole to a gentleman in no time flat, and he was proud of being able to do that. It usually was a surprise to whomever he was with, but surprises were always good…always.
"So what's with that Jericho guy?" Test asked as he and Stephanie were driving to wherever they were going, Stephanie wasn't sure.
"I don't know," Stephanie said simply, and without emotion.
"Was he trying to hit on you?"
"I don't think so," she said, this time her voice confused. She didn't think that he was trying to hit on her, but maybe he was and she couldn't even tell. But she didn't care, she was with Test. She turned to Test then smiled, "Besides, if he were to come on to me, I'd turn him down because I have the best boyfriend in the entire world."
"Say that like you mean it," Test joked.
"You know I mean it, I love you," Stephanie told him sincerely. She had never been in love before, but she felt like she was now. She had never met anyone quite like Test, and he was so sweet to her, and kind. She felt like this could be the real deal, like this could be something that she could have for the rest of her life.
Sure the rest of her life was a long time, but she could see herself with Test, marrying him, having kids with him, anything and everything. And she wanted that. She wanted a normal family life like the kids she had grown up with. She didn't resent her parents for working so much when she was younger, but she just wanted something different, to experience something she didn't know. It would be an adventure of sorts.
"I love you too," Test told her, glancing over to give her a wide smile and she tucked some of his hair behind his ears. She never thought she'd fall for a wrestler, had seen the hazards of the business firsthand and she never expected it to be the one place where she'd find love.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way," Stephanie said to him as she turned her eyes away from her boyfriend and to the road in front of her. "Besides, Chris Jericho has nothing on you."
"How do you know?"
"I can just tell," Stephanie said. "He's a one-hit wonder I'm sure. So he made a big debut, big deal, he just thinks he's a hot shot right now. But I believe in you Andrew, and I believe you're going to do great things."
"You're the only one I let call me Andrew, you know that right?"
She laughed, "I just don't see the point in calling you Test. That seems so stupid, if you ask me. You're my boyfriend, I shouldn't call you by your wrestling name. Besides, I like Andrew better, more dignified."
"Ok, whatever you want." Stephanie smiled. She was a Princess after all, and a Daddy's Little Girl.
She liked the sound of that…whatever she wanted…
