Chapter Eleven
Without hesitation, Steph began to make her way through the crowd of people that filled the banquet hall. There were constantly superstars trying to make small talk with her as she walked by them. Many told her how much they had missed her backstage since she started having children. Finally, after several small conversations along the way, Steph was only a few feet way from Paul.
"Paul…" Stephanie said as she walked up to the man she believed to be her husband. He turned to look at her. Her eyes caught sight of a small white bandage across the right side of his forehead.
"What do you want?" Paul replied after looking her over for a moment. She tried to study his gaze, seeing if he had any emotion behind his eyes. His face looked indifferent, almost blank.
"Don't you know me…" Was all that escaped Steph's mouth as her eyes remained fixed on the man she thought she knew.
"Your Stephanie McMahon-Angle…of course I know who you are. Why are you even over here?" Paul asked, looking at her as if she had taken leave of her senses.
"I wanted to talk to you, I-"
"What do you want? You're not even working in the company anymore. I hear you've at home playing house. Look, if Shane has something to say to me. You tell him to come say it to my face. You got that Betty Crocker?" Paul said cutting her off before she could even attempt to explain.
Stephanie felt like she was going to cry. Paul was being a complete asshole and she didn't even know why. While he looked like the man she was in love with, he was acting completely different. It was like he was a whole different person.
"Why are you being this way?" Steph asked, her eyes filling with tears that she quickly wiped away.
"What do you want? Seriously, I'm trying to enjoy myself, if that's even possible in this company. Are you having some kind of a mental situation? Are those brats of yours giving you grief?" Paul asked, look at Steph in confusion. He didn't know why she was wasting his time.
"Paul….where's Aurora?" Steph asked, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't believe he was making fun of her. The Paul she knew would never do that to her.
"Who's Aurora?" Paul asked, looking at Stephanie like she was nuts. A manly looking woman with black hair sat down next to him. Stephanie's eyes widened, she knew exactly who the woman was. It was Joanie Laurer. She was looking at Steph, obviously wondering why she was there at their table.
"Stephanie, I must say you look amazing for having two children. So skinny…" Joanie commented followed by a chuckle that Paul echoed.
Stephanie's heart sank as she saw Paul put his arm around Joanie's waist as they sat together at the table. He was with her? It couldn't be true. Paul had ended his relationship with Joanie Laurer before he and Steph became a couple. How could Paul not know their child? He had loved Aurora. Like her, his whole life had been his family.
"Everything okay?" Kurt asked Steph when he walked up and saw the look on her face. Stephanie wiped away any reminisce of tears as she felt Kurt's hand on her back.
"Angle, you might want to get your wife to see a shrink. I think staying home tit feeding your kids has fucked up her head." Paul said shaking his head at Stephanie before rolling his eyes. Stephanie's eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock at Paul's crudeness.
"You know Levesque, you've never been able to keep your mouth shut. Maybe that's why Vince kept you out of the main event. I don't like the way you're talking to my wife." Kurt said pulling Stephanie close; he didn't like seeing her upset.
"Your wife was the one who came over here. Why don't you McMahon-Angles stay the hell out of my business? The only reason I stay in this company is because I love this business." Paul explained as Laurer hand rested on Paul's suit as she gave Stephanie a dirty look.
"Steph, come on babe, let's go back to our table…" Kurt whispered in Stephanie's ear as he took her by the hand. Steph slowly nodded and with Kurt Angle, turned her back on the man she had thought was her husband.
She didn't dare look back at him. Seeing him with Joanie Laurer was enough to make her throw up. She wasn't ready to accept the fact that Aurora didn't exist. Paul acted just as clueless as Kurt did when she asked him about her baby. Aurora had to be somewhere. Aurora Rose Levesque was a real child. Stephanie had given birth to her only ten months ago. She had spent many sleepless nights taking care of her. How could she not be real?
"Stephanie, where were you? This little guy has been crying his eyes out for you." Linda said holding Brandon out to Stephanie as she approached their table.
Steph didn't reply. She simply took the baby into her arms and rocked him back and forth which quickly soothed him. As the baby rested his head against her chin, Stephanie was looking off in the distance at Paul.
"Hey Mom, is Paul Levesque married to Joanie Laurer?" Steph asked still watching him from afar.
"Not that I know of, I believe they have been dating for many years. Who knows if they will ever get married. I don't think Paul Levesque is the marrying type from what I've seen of him." Linda answered back watching her daughter sooth the baby to sleep. The constant chatter of superstars did not inhibit the baby from falling asleep.
"He's being such an asshole…" Steph muttered as the baby's eyes began to open and close, fighting sleep.
"That's because he is an asshole. Always has been, always will be." Shane chimed in as he walked up to his mother and sister. He had obviously been listening to their conversation and decided to add in his two cents.
"Everyone sit your seats. I'm going to kick off this event…" Vince said into the microphone on the podium with his loud booming voice.
"We are here tonight in celebration of World Wrestling Entertainment's newest venture. WWE's own Olympic Gold medalist, Kurt Angle, came to me with a vision. He wanted to set up a program that would allow all the talented amateur wrestlers the opportunity to become a WWE superstar. We put our heads together and we made it happen. I would now like to ask Kurt to say a few words about our new venture."
Kurt smiled as he got up from his seat next to Stephanie and Andrew. He fixed his tie as he walked over to the podium and gave his father-in-law a hug. This surprised the hell out of Stephanie because as far as she knew, Kurt Angle had left WWE for TNA. Her father was pissed at him. None of this made any sense. Huge spot lights came out of no where and began to pass back and forth over the stage. Stephanie squinted each time the light shined over her as it past back and forth. The lights finally dimmed as Kurt began to speak.
"Thanks Vince. It's a real honor to be standing here tonight at the helm of this great program that we put into place. My one goal that I hope to achieve with this program is to produce technically sound wrestlers for this company. I want to help create the wrestlers the likes of Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, and even myself. With this program in place, our company can only become stronger in the long run. This venture will further secure the future of World Wrestling Entertainment. Oh it's true, it's damn true!" Kurt exclaimed with a smirk, nodding his head with a smile on his face as the audience of superstars began to chuckle.
Stephanie couldn't help but smile and clap along with the rest of her family. Kurt's speech was so full of charisma. Angle was so excited about his new program. He looked very handsome standing with her father at the podium. Her father was patting him on the back as Kurt gave the crowd of his fellow superstars the thumbs up. He walked back to the table and immediately gave Steph a peck on the lips before sitting down next to her.
"Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom." Andrew said leaning over toward Steph so she could hear him.
"Can Daddy take you? I'm holding your brother." Steph replied looking down at the sleeping baby.
"No, I want you to take me…" Andrew whined shaking his head as he pulled on the bottom of Steph's halter top.
"Steph, I'll take the baby." Linda quickly offered holding out her arms.
Stephanie carefully passed the baby to Linda before getting up from her seat with Andrew. He wasted no time running ahead of her into the sea of superstars that were standing around talking. She quickened her pace, trying to keep up with Andy who was quickly navigating his way through the crowd.
"Andrew, don't run!" Steph called out just in time to see Andrew run right into Paul. The boy fell backwards as if he had slammed into a brick wall. Paul looked down at him with an angry gaze.
"Andy, are you okay?" Steph asked running up to the child. She helped him to his feet as he rubbed his eyes. He was on the verge of crying. Hitting into Paul caused him to a have a nasty spill. Paul's eyes never left Andrew. He made no attempt to ask if the child was okay.
"You should apology when you run into someone. What are you some kind of wild animal? Judging by the way you look, I'd say you were." Paul commented as he chewed a piece of gum continuously. The tears began to run down Andrew's face as he looked up at Steph, his eyes wide showing that he was uncomfortable. Stephanie instinctively picked up to four year old.
"What's wrong with you? He's only four years old." Steph said to Paul while Andy hid his eyes in her halter top.
"I don't like kids." Paul replied giving Stephanie a blank stare. "My sister has kids. All they do is whine and bitch. They're like dogs but only more expensive."
"You're not Paul. You're not the man I fell in love with…" Steph muttered as she started walking away but Paul quickly grabbed her by her left arm.
"Ah!" Steph shriek as she felt Paul's fingernail digging the top of her forearm as he jerked her back toward him.
"Mommy!" Andrew cried out, terrified by what was taking place.
"Stop this! What the hell are you talking about?! If you're trying to say that we've ever had anything, than you're seriously fucked up in the head. Leave me alone! I've got enough to deal with! I do not need this!" Paul yelled in Steph's face causing her to start crying as Andrew tightened his grip around her neck, petrified. Quickly Steph jerked away from Paul's grasp and ran to the rest room.
"Mommy! I want Daddy!" Andrew cried out as she sat him down on the bath room counter. His face was wet with tears as he continued to cry. Steph took a moment to look at her arm where Paul had grabbed her. She saw a cut on the inside of her right elbow. A little bit of blood formed in the center of her antecubital. It stung really bad, who would have known Paul's fingernail could have done so much damage to her soft skin.
How could that be Paul? Stephanie asked herself as she rinsed off her painful cut inside of her elbow with water. Everything about that man was completely out of character of the man she knew as the love of her life. Seeing the face of the man she loved while he spoke to her in such a terrible way was more than Stephanie could bear. He really did think she was crazy. What if she was? Was it even possible that she had simply fantasized her life with Paul? Could the husband and daughter she loved so dear just be an illusion she had created? She had to find out.