Stephanie woke up the next morning not realizing where she was. A smile formed on her face remembering the night before. She rolled over to look at Paul but the space beside of her was empty. She sat up in bed pulling the blanket around her looking towards the bathroom to see it open and the light was off. A second later Stephanie heard the hotel door open and close and Paul appeared.
"Hey" said Paul coming over to the bed. He had two coffees and a bag of food in his hands.
"Hey" Stephanie replied with a shy smile. Paul leaned down and kissed her.
"I'm sorry I left. I wanted to have coffee and food ready for you"
"That's so sweet Paul, thank you. Just let me get up and get dressed and we will eat"
"Okay" Paul replied as Stephanie got up from the bed and looking for her clothing.
"Umm..I need to borrow a shirt" Stephanie said remembering how Paul had ruined her shirt the night before but to her it was worth it.
Stephanie watched Paul grab her shirt and throw it to her with a smile on his face. She wondered if he was thinking about last night just as she was. Stephanie finished dressing quickly and went over to sit on the couch with Paul as he pulled out their food from the bag.
"How long were you awake before I got back?" Paul asked handing Stephanie her food.
"Just a couple of minutes"
"I was kind of afraid that when I got back you would be gone"
"I wouldn't leave like that Paul"
"You did the last time you stayed here"
"That was only because I felt embarrassed because I threw myself at you and you turned me down" Stephanie replied feeling her cheeks flush at the memory.
"How are feeling today about everything you told me last night?" Paul asked looking at her. Stephanie hadn't even gave any thought to what she told Paul last night about ending her marriage. Honestly she was sad at the thought of it but she couldn't deny how happy she felt being here with Paul.
"I have to admit that I'm sad. I was with Chris for five years and I've been used to being with him. At one point I was completely in love with him so it's going to be different but like I said last night the marriage has been over for awhile. We never are together anymore and I fell in love with you along the way and didn't even realize that until yesterday"
"When are you going to tell him?"
"I'm going to tell him when he gets back home. He had to go to California on business so I'm not sure when he will be back. But I want to do this in person"
"What do you want to do about us until then?" Stephanie sighed at the question. She hadn't even thought that far considering she came right over here last night after making her decision and then they had ended up sleeping together. She hadn't planned the last part, it had just happened after getting swept up in the moment.
"I'm not sure. I don't want to hurt him anymore than I already am"
"Should we put this on hold until you talk to him?"
"I think that would be best" Stephanie replied looking at the disappointment on his face.
"I understand. I'm just afraid of something else getting in the way of you telling him"
"Paul I promise nothing will get in the way of me telling him" Stephanie replied reaching out and taking his hand giving it a gentle squeeze.
"So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" Paul asked standing up apparently not wanting to discuss the subject further.
"I don't know about you but I've got to go home and pack. We have to fly out tonight for tomorrow's show"
"That actually had slipped my mind"
"Paul Levesque forgetting about wrestling? What has this world come to?" Stephanie joked trying to lighten the mood.
"I can't help that some very beautiful woman has been distracting me all morning" Paul joked back as Stephanie smiled shyly. "Do you want me to pack and then us head over to your house and then leave out tonight together?"
"That's probably not a good idea considering I've been gone all night and Greg and Lily are still at the house. I don't want Greg knowing anymore than what he already knows"
"Okay well how about you go home and pack and then I'll meet you at airport and we will fly out together"
"That sounds better. I'm not even sure where I'm going to say I was last night"
"You might want to stop and buy a new shirt cause well mine is a little obvious" Paul replied as Stephanie looked down at the shirt she was wearing. It was a couple of sizes too big and had the words game over written across it.
"Yeah that would be completely obvious" Stephanie laughed while she watched Paul pull out his wallet pulling some money out and tried handing it to her.
"What is this for?"
"I told you I would buy you a new shirt"
"You don't have to do that Paul" Stephanie replied rejecting the money.
"Are you sure? I mean I did ruin yours"
"I'm sure Paul. It was worth it" Paul put his money back in his wallet and stepped towards Stephanie putting his hands on her arms. "I guess I'll see you later tonight then"
"I guess so. Ugh I don't really want to leave" Stephanie replied looking into his eyes.
"I know but if you stay here I'm not sure I could refrain from keeping my hands off of you. It's going to be hard until you can tell him"
"I know. I feel the same way" Stephanie replied with a small smile. Paul leaned down and kissed her on the forehead gently and pulled her into his arms hugging her.
"I love you Stephanie"
"I love you too Paul."
Later that night Stephanie was packing her clothes getting ready to leave out. She had stopped at a clothing boutique and bought a new shirt before heading home earlier. Greg and Lily had been up and eating breakfast when she had got in, and of course Greg had asked her where she had been. She lied saying she had went to visit one of her friends Trish and had ended up falling asleep. For the rest of the day Stephanie had just spent it with Greg and Lily chatting about random stuff and watched movies. She was counting down the time to see Paul again the whole time so when it was getting closer to time to leave, she headed into the bedroom to start packing.
Stephanie suddenly heard her cellphone ding indicating she had a text message. She grabbed her phone beside of the suitcase and opened the text. I miss you. Stephanie smiled and replied back to the message as she heard someone walk into her bedroom. She closed out of her text messages quickly and tossed the phone back down on the bed beside of her suitcase.
"Are you sure it's okay that Lily and I stay here while you and Chris are both gone?" Greg asked sitting down on the side of the bed.
"Of course it is. Just try not to burn the house down" Stephanie joked folding her clothes and putting them in the suitcase.
"I only started a fire once but I took care it before it did serious damage. Lily does all the cooking anyway now so you shouldn't have to worry" Greg replied while Stephanie just laughed shaking her head.
"Do you know when Chris will be home? Have you heard from him?" Greg asked and that is when Stephanie realized she hadn't heard from him like he had promised.
"No actually I haven't heard a word from him"
"Maybe he just got really busy" Greg shrugged.
"Maybe but still, he usually calls. Do you think I should call him before I leave?"
"It couldn't hurt. I'm sure he just got busy though" Greg replied as Stephanie grabbed her cellphone and dialed Chris. She stood listening the ringing until it reached his voicemail.
"Hey Chris it's me. I haven't heard from you so I was just checking in, call me when you get this" Stephanie ended the call and look at Greg feeling kind of worried.
"Hey, you just finish packing and if you don't hear anything from him let me know" Greg said watching her. He must have seen the worried expression she had. "I'll keep calling him for you and let you know something"
"Thanks Greg" Stephanie replied zipping her suitcase. She was sure she had everything she needed pack but she headed over to the closest to look through her clothes to see if there was anything else she wanted to take.
"Stephanie" Lily called as Stephanie heard her step into the bedroom. "There is a limo outside in the driveway"
"Hmm..I guess dad must have called to have someone pick me up" Stephanie assumed closing her closest and picking up her suitcases.
"Do you need any help?" Greg asked standing up from the bed.
"No I only have two suitcases I'm sure I can manage"
"Okay well I guess we will hear from you later?"
"Yeah. If Chris calls here first just tell him to call my cell" Stephanie replied walking of the bedroom with Lily and Greg behind her.
"I will"
"Well I'll see you guys in a couple of days" Stephanie said opening the front door and waving to them. Once she was outside and Greg had shut the door behind her she headed to the limo. The driver got out and met her taking the suitcases to the trunk of the car. Stephanie opened the door to the limo and slid in, her eyes suddenly focusing on Paul.
"Hey" Paul replied smiling at her.
"I thought we were to going to meet at the airport" Stephanie replied shutting the door behind her.
"I know but I couldn't wait that long" Paul said lacing his fingers through hers. "I knew if I showed up in the limo then Greg wouldn't suspect anything because he wouldn't be able to see me"
"He could of easily followed me out to the limo"
"I know but I had to risk it. Plus he knows we are best friends. He may know that you're in love with me but he has no idea that I even know or that I'm in love with you" Paul pointed out while Stephanie just shook her head. If she was being honest she was glad Paul had showed up. She had been counting down the hours until she could see him again.
"I'm glad you're here"
"Should we head on out?"
"Lets go" Stephanie replied as Paul let the driver know they were ready to leave.
After their flight Stephanie and Paul went to the hotel and checked in and went on their separate rooms to get settled in. Stephanie had just got out of the shower when she heard a knock on the door. Stephanie went over and opened the door to find Paul standing there and smiled.
"Hey" Paul greeted.
"Didn't I just see you?" Stephanie joked opening the door for him to come in.
"Are you getting tired of seeing me?" He joked back with a smile.
"Maybe a little" Stephanie chuckled.
"I was coming to see if you wanted to go have dinner with me?"
"Now that you mentioned it I am pretty hungry. Just give me a minute" Stephanie replied going to the bathroom and brushing her hair and putting it into a ponytail.
"Okay I'm ready" Stephanie replied coming out of the bathroom and slipping her shoes on. They headed out of her room
to the elevator.
"There is a nice restaurant just right down the street we can walk to" Paul said as they entered the elevator.
"Am I dressed appropriately for it?" Stephanie asked looking down at her sundress and sandals.
"You look great Steph. I'm sure it will be fine, it's nothing really fancy or anything" Paul replied as they stepped out of the elevator and walked through the lobby and outside. As soon as they were outside and farther away from the hotel Paul laced his fingers through Stephanie's.
"Do you really think we should hold hands?" Stephanie asked looking over at him.
"Why not?"
"Well considering there is going to be a lot of the wrestlers staying at the hotel there might be someone who sees us. Then word would probably get to my dad and I'm not sure how he would react"
"I hadn't even thought of that" Paul sighed "We have so much against us. If its not Chris, then it's your family"
"Hey" Stephanie said stopping and turning to him "We will figure it out Paul. I love you and I'm not going to give up"
"I love you too" Paul smiled as they started their way to the restaurant again.
Stephanie and Paul finally arrived at the restaurant and were seated at a table in the back. It was a nice restaurant, it was quite full of people with low sounds of chatter. There was a bar where a couple of guys sit watching a football game.
"This is a cute place" Stephanie commented to Paul while she flipped through the menu.
"The food here is good, I've been here a couple of times" Paul replied as the waitress came over and they placed their orders. As the waitress walked away Stephanie heard her cellphone ding. She opened her purse and retrieved her cellphone to find a text from Greg. Have you heard from Chris yet?
"What is it?" Paul asked as Stephanie's mood shifted.
"It's Greg, we haven't heard from Chris since he left"
"Have you called him?"
"Yeah and I haven't heard anything. I'll try calling him later, I don't want to ruin our dinner" Stephanie replied as she text Greg back and put her phone back in her purse.
"This is hard" Paul replied picking up his glass of water.
"I know. I'm sorry I'm putting you through this"
"You're worth it Steph. I just wish it was a little easier though but I guess its my fault"
"How is this your fault?" Stephanie asked confused.
"I started this between us when you were still married to someone else. That wasn't right of me"
"If it hadn't started this way then I might not have ever realized my feelings for you"
"You might have, eventually"
"This wasn't your fault Paul. Let's change the subject to something that doesn't make us feel guilty" Stephanie replied as the waitress appeared with their food.
About an hour later after dinner Stephanie and Paul made their way back to the hotel. Stephanie was feeling a little tipsy from having a little too much to drink.
"I think someone is drunk" Paul said with a laugh.
"I'm not drunk" Stephanie laughed almost tripping over her feet "okay maybe a little"
"Do I need to carry you?"
"No I can make it" Stephanie replied entering the hotel lobby. Paul led her over to the elevator trying to make sure she didn't fall. Paul helped her out of the elevator when they made it to her floor and walked her to her door.
"Are you going to be okay?" Paul asked chuckling.
"Yes I'm fine I should of slowed down on the drinking though. Dad will kill me if I'm not productive tomorrow so I really hope I don't end up with a hangover"
"Just go inside and drink some coffee and then try and get some sleep"
"I will" Stephanie replied smiling at him.
"Thank you for a great evening. I'll see you tomorrow" Paul said coming towards and kissing her cheek.
"I'll see you tomor-" Stephanie was cut off when there was a crash at the end of the hallway. Paul and Stephanie looked to see what the commotion was.
"Shit" Stephanie thought she recognized the voice. Finally they came into view fumbling to open their hotel door and they turned to the side and Stephanie froze. It was Chris.
"Am I that drunk or is that-"
"It's Chris" Paul confirmed as they continue watching him.
"I thought he was in California"
"Apparently he lied to you" Paul replied sounding apologetic towards her.
"But why?" Stephanie
"I have no idea Steph"
"Maybe I should go talk to him"
"You should probably wait until the morning when you're sober"
"I just want to know why he lied to me" Stephanie replied taking a step in the direction Chris was in but she froze in her tracks as she watched a curvy blonde came up to his door. Stephanie watched as the blonde giggled until he finally had got the door open, and then Chris kissed the blonde. Stephanie felt too shocked to move or say anything as she watched them go into his room, closing the door behind them.