Meanwhile, deep within the hallowed and scared confines of Madison Square Garden, Paul Levesque sat in his lockeroom, pacing like an expectant father. He had been looking forward to seeing his wife, Madison, all day long. He wasn't sure why she hadn't shown up yet to watch the show. Whenever World Wrestling Entertainment made it to the New York area – their hometown area - she always made a point to be there. That was the reason for his nervous pacing. He didn't quite understand what was going on. It wasn't like Madison to just not show up. And what's more, he didn't understand the feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt as though something just wasn't right. It was a nagging, lingering gut feeling deep within the walls of his stomach. What bothered him even more was the fact that when he got those feelings, he wasn't usually too far off base. More often than not, his instincts were dead on. "Damn it." he quietly cursed to himself.

Or so he thought. Unbeknownst to him, while he'd been pacing back and forth across his lockeroom floor, company had joined him. "Hey, Pauly." an all-too-familiar husky voice greeted the big blond man.

Paul cringed when he heard the voice. He could feel the color drain from his normally russet-toned complexion as a chill ran down his spine. He shifted uncomfortably. Nervously. "Hey, Kev. What's up?" he replied with an unsteady voice.

"What's up? Why would you think something was wrong, Paul?"

Paul swallowed nervously. He could tell just by the smooth, calm, ice-like tone in the voice of man known to the WWE Universe, and around the world, as "Big Sexy". "Cause there's usually a specific reason you call me "Pauly", Kev."

"Not really. I just came in here to visit with one of my best friends in the world and his beautiful wife." Kevin Nash looked around the room, somewhat confused. "Speaking of which… where is Maddie? Isn't she comin' tonight?"

"That's what I would friggin' like to know." Paul growled under his breath. "Did you need somethin' in particular man?"

"Do I have a reason to visit a friend?"

"No. I was just asking."

"You know what they say about curiosity, don't you?"

"Kev… right now isn't the best time. Just get to your point, please?"

"Fine then, grouch. You caught me." Kevin loudly sighed as he ran a hand through his long blond locks. He hesitated as long as he could, dreading the fact that come Paul's lockeroom for more than just a friendly visit. "I didn't just come here to see you and Maddie."

"You mean… I was right?" Paul replied, somewhat shocked and surprised that his assumption had been correct.

"Yeah, I did. I didn't want to be the one to do this, though."

"Didn't want to be the one to do what, Kev?"

Now or never, Kevin thought to himself. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to forge ahead with the conversation. "McMahon sent me in here to tell you that he wants to see you in his office." He tried to sound empathetic, but he honestly didn't think his voice portrayed that correctly.

"Which one?" Paul replied.

"Don't be a smart-ass, Pauly."

"I'm not, Kev. I'm bein' one hundred percent dead serious."

"No, you're not, Paul. You know who I'm talking about."

"Kev… is it Shane or Vince that wants to see me?"

"Vince, of course."

That knocked the wind out of Paul's sails momentarily. "Why?" he asked with a cautious tone.

"Not real sure. Didn't sound good, though, man."

Paul again felt the color drain from his skin. When Vince McMahon asked to "talk", it usually wasn't good. Everyone that worked for him knew that. He tried to stay optimistic, though. "What makes you say that?"

Kevin cleared his throat. He knew Paul was trying to play it cool, but he knew him better than to believe that he was anything less than nervous as hell at that moment. Knowing that fact only served to make him cringe with guilt. "He sounded pissed as all hell. To me, at least. I don't know, man. Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong about stuff like that." It was all he could manage to say to Paul. There wasn't anything else he could've said.

"Again, I ask you … why? I'm totally confused, Kev."

"You should let Vince be the one to answer that."

Paul eyed Kevin intently. He could tell there was something that "Big Sexy" wasn't telling him. "True. I also don't want to walk into his office and get blindsided either, man. We're supposed to be best friends for Christ sakes, Kev."

That was more than Kevin could take. That was below the belt, he thought to himself. He felt guilty enough about having to be Vince's "errand boy" and having to come inform Paul that Vince wanted to see him. What bothered him even more was the he knew why Vince wanted the "meeting", yet he couldn't even bring himself to tell Paul what that reason was.

"Kev?" Paul said, bringing Kevin's attention back to their conversation.

"Just go see Vince and let him answer that question, Paul."

With that being said, Kevin quickly turned and walked away from one of his best friends in the entire world, feeling a lump of bile rise in his throat for acting so cowardly.