"We'd just love it if you could join us."

"It sounds like you really want me," Kurt told her.

"We do, I'm sure of it. We could introduce you as soon as you sign the contract, or if you want to wait a little while, we can discuss the details further, I'm sure. The most important thing would be to get you under contract. We'll of course speak with your agent and the legal team for the company to come up with a fair deal for you."

"I like the sound of this. When I visited WCW, they weren't so accommodating," he told her, giving her a smile that she wasn't sure she was quite comfortable with. She looked down and he blatantly checked her out while she wasn't looking.

Stephanie looked down because there was a bitterness in her heart over WCW. Not because of anything they did, per se, but Chris had told her of the conditions there, of how he was held down time and time again, told he wasn't good enough, not given matches that he so greatly deserved while he was there. While a part of her loved that he had left because he was with her now, another part hated that company for not realizing the kind of talent that her husband had.

She smiled at that word, husband, he was her husband now, and it was in the real sense. She thought back to last night, and smiled even wider. She looked back up at Kurt, and he thought the smile was because he was going to sign with her company, but it wasn't, no, that was a smile reserved for Chris. "Well, we're definitely better than WCW, and we'll definitely make sure that you are at the top."

"I would like to be a main-eventer."

"With your talent and skill, I don't see anything less, of course, at first, we'll just try to get you used to everything that goes along with the life, but overall, you'll be at the top soon enough," she reassured him.

"I'd really like to come then," he told her.

"Great," she said, extending her hand to him. He shook it firmly. "I'm really excited to have you on the show."

"I'm really excited to be there," he returned.

"I'll let you enjoy the rest of your time in Tampa, Kurt Angle," Stephanie told him. "I have your phone number, so expect a call soon. And you have my number, right?"

"Yeah, right here," he said, waving a slip of paper, wondering when he was going to use that number next. He smirked at the thought.

"Good, if you need anything, or if you need any questions answered, then just give me a ring."

She shook his hand again and said her goodbyes before leaving. He watched her walk away with an almost lecherous smirk on his face. She was beautiful, and he couldn't believe that she was going to be his boss. She was totally gorgeous and the outfit she was wearing seemed to hug every single one of her curves, and he had to appreciate every new one he found. Oh yeah, he was going to enjoy working underneath Stephanie McMahon, and maybe he would be working her over someday soon.

Stephanie gave a giddy, little giggle as she sat in her car. This was her first real coup, and she was excited about it. Wait until her father and brother saw that she signed someone who had such a bright future in the business. Kurt Angle had been looked at by other companies, but she had been the one to sign him. They were going to have a coronary when they saw that she was doing a better job than they ever could.

She got back home and walked in through the living room to see Chris lounging on the couch watching television. He gave her a short wave and a smile as she went into the kitchen to write down her appointments on the little calendar she had insisted they put on the door so she wouldn't forget anything. When she was through with that, she went upstairs to her room to change, throwing her clothes on the bed. When she went to open her closet though, it was empty.

Her eyebrows knitted as she went to her drawers and saw they were empty too. It was only then did she notice that her personal effects were gone from the room. She gave a small smile as she left the room, half-naked, and walked down the hallway to Chris's…no, their bedroom and pushed open the door and saw her things lying around. She smirked as she walked into his closet and saw her clothes hanging there and sitting on the shelves across one wall. She didn't want to tear up or anything, but it was possibly the sweetest gesture anyone had ever done for her.

She grabbed a t-shirt and some house shorts and slipped them on before going downstairs. Chris was still watching television so she sat down next to him. He kept sneaking glances at her, trying to seem oblivious, but he was watching her intently with every glance, the smile trying hard to come out as she snuggled up to his side.

Finally she broke the comfortable silence, "You moved all my stuff."

"Well, I didn't want you for one more second thinking that your room wasn't my room too," he told her as they kept their eyes trained on the movie playing on the screen.

"Oh, so you thought I'd change my mind did you?" she asked playfully, poking him in the side a little bit.

"It crossed my mind," he admitted and she was surprised to hear it. But she was also glad that he was being honest with her. That's what any good relationship had, honesty, and she wanted that with Chris.

"Why?" she asked innocently enough.

He shrugged, "I don't really know, I mean, we didn't exactly…date, for lack of a better word, you know, we kind of just jumped into this, so who's to say that you can't just jump right back out?"

She frowned at that, then pursed her lips, "No, we didn't date, and yes, we just jumped into it, but I love you now, and that has to count for something, right? You don't just love someone and sleep with them for nothing, at least I don't. Do you?"

"Are you trying to con me into saying something I don't want to say?"

"Accusing me of something like that, I'm insulted, Chris!" she said in mock indignation.

"No, I wouldn't do that, okay, happy?"

"Hmm…walk-in closet, gorgeous husband, huge rock on my finger, company that's all mine, what's not to be happy about?"

"Okay, I get it…so…"

"It went well," she said, and they were both surprised at the level of understanding that they had acquired in their time together. It was like they knew what the other was thinking and neither one of them had had that before, so it was a surprise to both of them.

"Who's the guy?"

"Kurt Angle, heard of him?"

"Um," he thought for a moment, "sounds familiar."

"He's an Olympic gold medalist, it's a really great pick-up for us. He's going to sign, he didn't even need more time, or to come visit or anything, it was great! I think he'll make a big splash for us, in fact, if you're not careful, Chris, he could become more popular than you are."

"What! I don't think so, do you know how popular I am?" he asked cockily.

"Only because of me," she joked.

"I don't think so," he told her. "You're popular because of me."

"We'll see, Jericho, we'll see…"

--

It was the first time they walked into any arena as a couple. Chris wanted to believe that everyone saw it was different between them, but that was probably just his imagination. They had acted like a couple before, but they were an actual couple now, it was just nobody knew about it. Still, he wrapped his arm around her waist a little tighter and kissed her temple. She turned and rolled her eyes at him, and he gave her a look that said everything. He was going to whisper in her ear before she started to speak.

"Oh wow, Kurt?"

Kurt turned around and saw her, "Hey, I figured I could come by and check out what I'm getting myself into."

Stephanie pulled away from Chris and he frowned at the loss of her body heat, "I'm glad you came, you should see where you're going to work."

"I figured as much, maybe I can strike up a rapport with some of the guys around here," he said, gesturing around him.

Stephanie slapped her forehead just then, "I'm so stupid," she said, more to herself than to him as she turned sideways to grab Chris's hand and pull him forward, "I can't believe I forgot to introduce you, Kurt, this is my husband, Chris Jericho, Chris, this is Kurt, I told you about him."

"Yeah, you told me about him last night when we were getting ready for bed," he said, trying to be subtle, but he wasn't. He gave Kurt the once-over, sucking at his teeth a little before smiling at Stephanie.

"Yeah…that's right," she said, studying him. "But hopefully you guys will get along."

"Yeah, maybe," Chris said, looking at Kurt, who wasn't even looking at him. His eyes were on Stephanie alone, who was gazing at Chris with an excited smile on her face. Chris couldn't help but return it, though tentatively.

"That'd be great," Stephanie said. "But I have to steal Chris for now, but feel free to look around, meet people, just don't go out there since you're not official yet."

He chuckled, "I was hoping I could talk to you more about how you want to introduce me, that's one of the main reasons why I came, I was hoping that we could talk, you know, about what's going to happen."

"Okay," she nodded, and Chris looked down. It wasn't his place to interrupt her when she was doing business. "We'll find the time, until then."

"Yeah, until then."

Stephanie started walking again, not even glancing back at Kurt as she squeezed Chris's hand, "Don't even tell me you were jealous."

"He was checking you out!" Chris protested. "Did you see him? He was checking you out like I didn't exist."

"Bullshit," she told him, and he raised an eyebrow. "He's a future employee, he's not boyfriend-material, at least not to me. I'm a taken woman now, don't worry about him. He's going to be big though, I can feel it, from what I've seen, he's got a lot of raw potential and talent."

"That's good."

She stopped and pushed him lightly against the wall. "Chris, please, give me this? You know that I want to be a bigger presence, that I want to dip my feet into this thing and see what I can do. I'm going to be talking to guys, guys you don't like some of the time, but that's my job now."

"No, I know, I completely understand," he told her, nodding. Then he leaned his forehead against hers, "I'm sorry, I'm just getting used to this relationship thing, and showing you how I feel. I don't have to hide it."

"Well, I'm getting used to it too, so we'll learn together," she told him, leaning in and pressing her lips to his. "I love you."

"I love you too," he sighed contentedly.

"Yeah, I knew I was good," she said cockily. "And I'm totally more popular than you are."

"Lies!"

"No way!" she said.

Edge walked up to them and cleared his throat, Chris and Stephanie turned to him questioningly. "Sorry to interrupt the grossosity going on here, but Chris, we're in a six-man match with you tonight and the bro and I wanted to strategize, because strategizing reeks of awesomeness."

"You good by yourself?" he asked.

"I'm always good," she winked. He kissed her again, holding her gently by the neck. Edge had to clear his throat again and Chris chuckled lightly before leaving Stephanie to go talk with Edge and Christian.

She wasn't alone for five seconds when someone walked past her, brushing her shoulder, hard, she turned to speak to the person, "Watch where you're going!"

"Oh, sorry," Hunter said sarcastically, "oh, it's you, well, look what the cat dragged in."

"Oh, funny," she told him. "Are you still sore about that match I put you in? Don't hold a grudge, Hunter, it was all in good fun, right?"

"Yeah, a handicap match is great fun, you know, you're just like…no, wait, you're worse than your family, you're a huge bitch, a total slut, just jumping from Test to Chris like that, was Chris better in bed? We know you like to lie on your back to decide who gets to be in a title match."

"Why do you want to know how Chris is in bed, Hunter…oh man, do you have a crush on my husband?" she giggled. "Well, this is awkward, but he's taken…and straight, sorry."

Hunter scowled and cursed under his breath, "You're still a slut."

"Keep believing that," she tossed at him, "I'm sure it'll keep you warm at night when you're all alone in bed."

"You're never alone, are you, Stephanie?"

"No, I'm usually with my husband," she said, then laughed at the look on his face. "Yeah, I thought so, you don't have anything."

Stephanie thought he was so pathetic. He was probably just jealous of Chris, since Chris was getting a title shot. Hunter was a very jealous man, but it was never over women or something like that, no, it was always over the belt. She felt a little bit bad that his whole life was that title. She smiled as she thought about how her life had shifted and how she was probably number one on a certain blond's list of priorities. But back to the ass at hand.

"I'm not going to let you have your way, Stephanie," Hunter called after her.

"Yeah, try and stop me, Hunter, just try and stop me."