Chapter Six – The Morning After
"You did what?" Jeff exclaimed incredulously.
Pixie ducked her head, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"I tried to kiss Chris," she repeated quietly.
They were sitting in their locker room at the arena, getting ready for Sunday Night Heat. Pixie had just finished filling Jeff in about the events of the night before. Pixie still couldn't believe that she had made a pass at one of her best friends and it was obvious from his reaction that Jeff couldn't believe it either.
"So, uh, what happened?" Jeff asked. "Did he, uh, did he…"
"No, Jeff, he didn't kiss me," Pixie said, anticipating what his question was going to be.
"Oh," he said, giving a sigh of relief. "Good."
Pixie jerked her head up and looked at him strangely. "What?"
"I mean, uh…"
God, he'd landed himself in it now. How was he going to get out of this one?
There was a knock at the door and Jeff called for them to come in, glad of the interruption. The door opened and in walked Shane McMahon.
"Shane!" Pixie cried, rushing over to give him a hug.
"Hey Pix," he laughed, returning her hug. "Jeff."
Jeff gave a slight nod. "Shane."
"So what brings you here?" Pixie asked as she sat back down.
Shane sat across the table from them and clasped his hands, as if he was praying.
"It's about tomorrow night and Wrestlemania," he told her.
Pixie nodded. "Cool. Have we got a match?" she asked, gesturing to herself and Jeff.
"Of sorts," he replied.
"I don't understand," Jeff said. "What do you mean, 'of sorts'?"
"Well, Jeff, you will be having a match, we'll set that up tonight."
"And me?" Pixie asked.
"Well you'll be walking Jeff out for his match and will also be part of a contest," Shane told her, trying to sound as bright as possible.
"What sort of contest?" she asked suspiciously.
"A bikini contest," he admitted, bracing himself for the verbal explosion that was sure to come his way.
"What?!" she yelled.
"And a beauty contest," he continued.
"No."
She sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest defiantly.
"No way. Shane you know I don't go in for any of that."
"I know you don't honey but you have to do this. We need you to."
"We? Who else is in on this?" Jeff asked.
"Stephanie and my Mom. It was their idea."
Pixie stared at him. "Your mom and sister came up with this?"
Shane nodded. "Yeah. Eric's in on it as well but we've made him think it was his idea, he doesn't know why the matches have been made."
"I'd hardly call them matches," Pixie scoffed.
"Sweetie, calm down," Jeff said. "Just give Shane a chance to explain I'm sure there's a good reason for these…uh…contests." He turned to Shane. "Isn't there, Shane?" he asked forcefully.
Shane noticed the almost pleading tone in Jeff's voice and nodded. "Oh, yeah, course there is." He smiled over at Pixie. "A really good one," he said with a wink.
Pixie rolled her eyes. "And what, pray tell, is this 'really good reason'?"
"We're bringing Austin back."
"I already know that," Pixie snapped.
"On Monday night."
Both Pixie's and Jeff's eyes widened.
"So soon?" Jeff asked.
Shane nodded. "Yeah. We figured that the sooner we knock Bischoff on his ass the better."
"I agree," Pixie said. "I just don't understand where I fit in to all of this."
"I'll explain all of that later," Shane said, checking his watch. "For tonight, you just walk out with Jeff."
"Who am I fighting?" Jeff asked.
"Tommy Dreamer. We'd like to start a feud with both of you."
Jeff smiled and nodded. It was always fun working with Tommy.
"You'll get promo outlines for the set-up and Pixie, we'll talk more about the contests before Raw, ok?"
Pixie nodded. "Sure thing Shane-o."
He smiled. "Great. I'd better go, I have to meet the new girl. I'll see you two later."
"See ya."
"Yeah, bye Shane," Jeff called as he left. He stood and started stretching out. "Well Austin's coming sooner than expected."
Pixie nodded. "This is gonna be big."
Jeff stood in the centre of the ring as Tommy Dreamer made his way down to the ring. The fans were going crazy, as they always did when Tommy was making an appearance. He was carrying his trademark Singapore cane and banged it on the steel steps before stepping into the ring. They stood opposite each other and stared each other down. Jeff could hear Pixie yelling for him to 'Kick his ass!' and was so glad that he had her in his corner cheering him on. The ref signalled for the bell to be rung and the match was officially underway.
There she was. Standing at ringside cheering her little friend on throughout his match. Eric didn't like her. He didn't like her at all. She was the most rebellious person on the roster and it pissed him off that he couldn't control her. Sure, a few of the guys went against him but he would just threaten to fire them and the problem would go away. He couldn't do that with her, it just didn't work. She would just jump to SmackDown! and while that didn't really bother him, he knew that he couldn't let that happen. She would just bring more ratings for his rival, Stephanie McMahon, and would take her Women's title with her. He was in a no win situation and Pixie knew it which just made her all the more defiant. His situation reminded him of Vince McMahon and Steve Austin. They both had a deep, intense hatred for each other. Then again, Austin walked out on Vince. Eric smirked. He could only hope that Pixie would follow Austin's example and take her bratty kid with her. Of course, Austin came back. And as his co-general manager as well. Eric shook his head. He wouldn't be able to cope with Pixie being his co-GM, it just wouldn't work.
But with the Bikini Contest on Raw, hopefully he would be able to provoke her into doing something which would get her fired from the whole company, not just his show. If it was on national television, well Hell, that would just make his day. Eric grinned and rubbed his hands together deviously. Making Pixie Harper compete in the Diva Beauty Contests was going to be the best fun he'd had in a long time.
Steve Austin sat in his hotel room and watched Pixie as she celebrated Jeff Hardy's win over Tommy Dreamer. Even after being accidentally hit with a Singapore cane, she managed to stay and cheer her little buddy on to victory.
Steve didn't know the girl very well but what he did know was that she was going to be instrumental in his return. He would make his comeback on the Monday night Raw following the pay per view, during the aftermath and repercussions of the night before.
The camera focused on Pixie standing at the top of the ramp with Jeff and Steve studied her for a few moments. She was tall compared to most of the Divas, but standing next to Jeff Hardy, or any of the guys for that matter, she looked tiny. She was a very pretty girl, too young for him, but he knew that a lot of the guys liked her. Plus, she was one Hell of a competitor. She always gave as good as she got, if not better. She was a feisty little thing and never let anyone tell her what to do. Steve liked that in a person, it showed they had guts. It also showed him that she could help him piss of Eric Bischoff. Steve nodded to himself. He could use Pixie to keep Bischoff on his toes and also keep her out of harms way. He picked up the phone and dialled Shane McMahon's number.
"Hello Shane? It's Steve, I have an idea I'd like to run past you…"
"How's your head?"
Pixie turned and found Tommy Dreamer standing there, a look of concern across his face.
"Oh it's fine," she said with a wave of her hand. She smiled at him. "Nothing a couple of painkillers can't fix."
Tommy sighed with relief. "Thank God for that. The way you went down I thought I'd knocked you out cold!"
"Aww, you were worried about me?"
"Course I was sweetie," he replied. "You're the only chick around here that doesn't gag when I show all my gross scars and shit."
Pixie laughed and nodded. "Yeah, the girls are pretty squeamish. Stace and Trish are getting better though."
"Oh yeah, they wait until I leave the room then they gag," Tommy deadpanned.
Pixie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Anyway, are you all ready for the matches against Jeff?" she asked.
Tommy nodded. "Yeah. Tomorrow there's a match 'cause I hit u with the cane and then there's the big one on Sunday."
"Cool. Well I'd better be going, Paige isn't feeling too hot so we're just gonna go back to the hotel."
"Say hi to her from me and I hope she feels better soon," he said sympathetically.
Pixie smiled. "I'll be sure to do that. See ya later Tommy."
"See ya sweetie. Hope your head feels better."
She waved as she walked away. "Thank you!" she called.
Music was blaring from one of the locker rooms as Pixie walked back to her own. She stopped in the middle of the corridor and tried to determine what song or band it was. She couldn't tell what it was and was going to carry on walking when the music suddenly stopped. The door next to her swung open and Pixie came face to face with Chris. Her eyes widened and she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"Um…hi, Chris."
He smiled at her brightly. "Hey there Pixie baby. What's up?"
She shrugged. "Nothing, I'm just going to get Paige then we're heading back to the hotel."
Chris nodded. "Yeah, Jeff said that she was feeling under the weather."
"Yeah, I think it's one of those 24 hour things. Well, I hope it is." She bit her lip and looked up at him. "Look, about last night –"
He put his hand up and cut her short.
"It's really ok Pix." He reached out and touched her hand. "Don't worry about it, we've all done things like that when we've been drunk." He smiled. "Don't you worry your pretty little head."
She nodded and smiled. "I'd better get going, Paige will be wondering where I've got to."
"Yeah me too, I have to go and see Shane. I'll see you at the airport tomorrow."
"Sure, see you tomorrow."
With one last smile they parted ways.