STEP A
The next day
"Now, is there anything else that we need to go over before we put the final touches on the story-lines for next months Raw and SmackDown shows?"
After looking at the notes she had jotted down in front of her, Stephanie let a small smile spread across her face as she replied: "No, I think that about covers it. Thanks again for calling me back in such short notice, Cindy. I know just coming into this business, it might seem like a lot of hard work and it is definitely stressful at times with all the deadlines that we have, but you and the rest of the crew are doing a really great job with the story-lines-Mr. McMahon and I are very impressed with what you and the rest of your team have come up with thus far."
"Thank you, Miss McMahon, that really means a lot to us coming from you," The younger woman replied back.
"Don't mention it," Stephanie replied, before half-jokingly continuing with, "But please call me Stephanie. The only person who still goes by Mr or Mrs. McMahon around here is my dad. You can just call me Stephanie and my brother Shane, for that matter."
After hearing the woman on the other line agree to her request, Stephanie told the new head writer of the creative team that she'd be stopping by later on in the week to look over the final draft of the Raw/SmacDown story-lines, and then after hanging up the phone she turned back to her computer screen; shifting her focus from story-lines to the merchandise reports.
A day in the life of a McMahon is never done.
"You have a minute?"
Looking up at the voice, Stephanie was surprised to see Chris Jericho peeking his head into her doorway...well, not really surprised to see him, per say, since he had been a constant visitor in Stephanie's office these last couple of weeks; always dropping off fattening foods for her to plump up with for the Divas sake. But Stephanie was surprised to see a newly clean shaven Chris Jericho in her doorway.
"What happened to your hair?"
"You wouldn't believe it even if I told you."
Gone was Chris' long blond locs-that Stephanie hated to admit she had become envious of a time or two, especially during those days when she had to fight with her naturally curly hair to get it to straighten in the morning-in its place was a short and shaggy hair cut.
"So, what do you think?"
After using her finger to tell Chris to turn around so she could get a good look at his new look, Stephanie couldn't help but tell Jericho the truth. "It looks good...I mean, it definitely makes you look a lot older than you used to look, but in a good way...it's a good look on you."
As if he had been afraid that Stephanie would tell him that she hated it and that he needed to just shave it off completely or else wear a baseball cap until his hair grew back, Chris let out a huge sigh of relief before replying: "I wanted you to see it first before the rest of the guys did. That way I could get a small glimpse of some of the crap I'm going to be hearing from you out in the ring and backstage for the next couple of weeks."
Knowing that Chris was referring to their on-screen hate/hate banter, Stephanie couldn't help but chuckle slightly before repeating again that she thought that Chris' hair cut looked really good on him. "I like it a lot."
It really brings out his eyes. Stephanie commented to herself, but before she could say that statement out-loud, a knock on her door was heard causing both Chris and Stephanie to advert their eyes to behind Chris where Amy was now standing.
"Sorry. I didn't know you had company."
When has that ever stopped you before? Stephanie opened her mouth to ask, but like before, she was interrupted, this time by Jericho.
"It's cool. I need to get going anyways. I told Matt I'd spot him at the gym while Jeff finishes my laundry..."
Your laundry?
At seeing both Amy and Stephanie's looks of confusion, Chris quickly replied "don't ask," before telling both women that he'd see them later on and then excusing himself from the room.
"What was that all about?"
Figuring that Amy hadn't come to her office for anything that required her undivided attention caused Stephanie to move her gaze back towards the computer in front of her while replying that Chris had just stopped by to show off his new do'.
Taking this as a cue to find out how Stephanie truly felt about the other man, Amy waited until she had taken a seat on the chair that was seated in front of her friend's desk before nonchalantly asking the older woman: "So, what did you think?"
"I think it looks good on him. If anything, now we'll be able to play around a little bit more with his character-maybe give him a more professional gimmick. What do you think?"
I think you didn't help me out one bit just now, Amy thought to herself, before absentmindedly telling Stephanie that she liked Chris' new haircut, as well, and then afterwords switching the subject-slightly. "So, I've been thinking..."
Realizing that Amy wasn't going to continue until she had Stephanie's undivided attention caused the older woman to turn her attention away from her computer screen and raise an eyebrow in interest at the younger woman's statement. "I'm listening.."
"Okay, hear me out..I was thinking back to our last conversation about that guy Keith you met online and I was thinking maybe I over-reacted somewhat to the whole thing."
To say that Stephanie was surprised with this line of conversation would be an understatement.
I'm still shocked the whole locker room hasn't heard the news yet..who knew Amy could keep such a secret this long?
With that being her last thought, Stephanie replied: "I'm glad you see things my way..is that all?"
Okay, now onto the plan..Amy thought to herself, before quickly continuing with: "I get the whole wanting to talk to someone who doesn't know about you and Paul's relationship, believe me, I do. But I still can't help but worry that this person isn't really who you think he is."
Here we go again...
Having spent the majority of an hour on Monday explaining to Amy that she didn't know why but she just had a feeling that Keith was who he said he was caused Stephanie to open her mouth to say just that, but instead she found herself being interrupted for the third time that day.
What is it with people today?
"I know, I know..! You say that you believe him when he says he is who he says he is..I get that. But being your best friend and not knowing a thing about this guy that you spend quite a bit of your day conversing with online, I can't help but feel a little worried, that's all I'm saying."
Knowing that Amy just had her best interest at heart caused Stephanie's annoyance to subdue a little, replaced by a genuine smile. "I'm glad that you consider me to be one of your best friends, Amy and I think it's very sweet of you to be worried about me. I just wish there was someway I could get you to see that there is nothing to worry about as far as me and Keith are concerned. As of right now, he's nothing more than just a name behind a computer screen."
Got her right where I wanted her..
After pretending to agree with Stephanie's words, Amy forced a mock smile on her face while replying: "Hey, I just thought of something. We're going to be back in Connecticut in a few weeks, aren't we?"
Not seeing where this was going caused Stephanie to take a brief look at the planner in front of her; confirming that they indeed were, before afterwords asking: "What about it?"
"Well.." Amy continued, this time having to hold back her slight roll of the eyes at Stephanie not putting two and two together yet, "we'll be in Connecticut and your friend does business in Connecticut, so how about you ask him if he wants to meet up with us while we're there. That way you two will get a chance to meet one another face-to-face and I'll be able to put all my fears aside about him while we're there. What do you say?"
I say you must have messed up your neck and your head a few months ago for you to come up with that idea. Stephanie commented to herself; not believing for one second that Amy, who had strongly protested the idea of Stephanie even talking to Keith just a few days ago could at this point be encouraging Stephanie to meet up with that said man-even going as far as saying she would come along, as well.
I feel like I just stepped into an episode of the twilight zone...
"So, what do you say?"
"I-" Knowing if she said no, she would be out-right telling Amy that she wasn't really sure that Keith was who he said he was-confirming Amy's suspicions-caused Stephanie to pause in her thoughts for a second, before continuing with: "I think that's a greats idea..I'll see if he will be in town that weekend and let him know of our plans."
"Great..well, I'll let you get back to work. We'll talk some more about this later, okay?"
After watching as an almost skipping Amy stood up and made her way outside the door, Stephanie waited until the red head had shut the door behind her before turning back to her computer screen; wondering to herself what the hell did she just get herself into.
***
Next part soon
