Chapter 25 – Telling Stephanie

Because of the anticipated call from Stephanie, Kimber had to break one of her own school rules and work with her phone jammed into the waistband of her yoga pants. Phones were strictly prohibited from leaving the locker rooms during training sessions without explicit permission from Raven, Chad, or herself. She was nearly sick with worry, afraid Stephanie wouldn't be receptive to the nearly unbelieveable story. Her students could see she was preoccupied, distracted, and after Ginger nearly took her head off because of her lack of attention, Seth stepped in and sent her to the outside, despite her protests. Her protege slid out of the ring and joined her on the outside mat.

"I'm so sorry," Ginger immediately apologized.

Kimber shook her head. "Don't be, it was entirely my fault. I have no business being in a ring right now, just like he said." She nodded at Seth, who was now working with Nick and Brett.

Ginger gave her a hug. "I still can't believe you're with him, you're so lucky."

"That is true. If not for him..." She trailed off. Even though Ginger would never tell anyone her secret, Kimber wanted as few people to know about it as possible. She shrugged. "He's a dream. Someday I'll tell you about how we met."

"Hon, why don't you tell me what's bothering you instead?"

"Just stressed about an upcoming creative angle I don't want to be a part of. I'm waiting on a phone call from the boss. I'm hoping to put an end to it before it even starts." Just then, her phone rang. "Excuse me." She stepped out as she answered it.

"Kimber? This is Stephanie McMahon."

"Hey, Stephanie, just give me one second to get into the office." She stepped in and closed the door behind her and sat down at the desk. "Okay."

"Are you at your wrestling school?" The boss asked, and Kimber could hear the admiration in her voice, which made her feel good, and relaxed.

"Yes. Seth's filling in for me right now. This was supposed to be a mini-vacation, but it turned into a working vacation when one of the students, Bryan McCallister, got a tryout opportunity with NJPW. Raven went with him, he's her protege."

"What a wonderful opportunity for that young man! I saw Bryan wrestle in a show Hunter and I went to last year. Hunter said he reminded him of a young Chris Benoit, not in looks of course, but in terms of moves and talent. He said he'd keep an eye on him over the next couple years. And, I'm really happy you and Seth are together. I don't know what upset him near the end of winter, but whatever it was, you fixed it. He's a wonderful man."

"He's my knight in shining armor," Kimber said. "Literally. If not for him, I wouldn't have made it past my first night, Stephanie. You saw what the way they embarrassed me in the ring. That was nothing compared to what happened before and afterwards, in the locker room. I really want to just let this whole thing blow over, and lay dead, but if I need to tell you everything in order to convince your father not to turn this into a storyline, I will."

"Summer Rae told me Alexa had stolen your purse, and of course I saw that match, but I didn't know there was more too it than that."

"There was a lot more. It was physical, and...sexual. Alexa was the ringleader in all of it, but Emma, Carmella, and Nia were pretty well-involved, too. Though, I think maybe Nia didn't want to do it, I think she's just cowed by Alexa. I think the whole locker room took part in the initial incident, when they beat me down, literally tore my fucking, sorry, pardon me, my clothes off, shoved my panties in my mouth, whipped me with a towel I think they urinated on, and threw me out of the locker room naked without my bag."

Stephanie was stunned into silence, just as Seth had been when she admitted it to him, and she gave Seth's response. "Kimber, I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"I'm not done yet. I'll skip the match, because you saw that. What you may not know was that Alexa attempted to break my wrist during it. That was the initial injury, when she stomped on it, she did it as hard as she could. She tried to put me on the shelf. Then, after the match, they...forced me to, um...perform oral sex on them. Nia held me down, and Alexa told me I had to clean her, and everyone else, front and back. They wouldn't let me go, not even after I vomited. Carmella even pissed, I mean, urinated in my face. After that they stole my purse, so I had no way to get to the next show. I was very lucky Seth was there."

"Why didn't you come to me?"

"Most everyone had already left."

"No, I mean before anything else had a chance to happen. Seth implied to my husband that there were multiple incidents."

"I didn't want to be seen as a pussy. That felt like the only thing I had going for me. And, I thought maybe it was just hazing. I mean, I've heard a lot of stories about the disgusting things wrestlers do to each other." She laughed a little, but it was bitter.

"What else happened?"

"They made me stay on my knees naked in the locker room at all times. They called me 'puppyslut' and made me wear a leash and collar. Alexa made me show her my, um, special area, and she penetrated me very roughly with a finger and made me bleed. She wouldn't let me use the toilet, and forced me to urinate in a floor drain in front of everyone. She put peanut butter all over her... You know, between her legs, and made me lick it all off and give her an orgasm. If I resisted in any way, I was beaten, and they especially liked to go right for the wrist Alexa fucked up. Oops, sorry."

Stephanie sniffled, and when she spoke, her voice was very strained. She was crying for her. "Kimber, I don't mind if you swear. I don't even know what to say. Please don't tell me there's any more."

"Outside of the constant verbal harassment, most of it due to my relationship with Seth, no. In fact, after you intervened and got my cards back, and set up the ladder match, everyone let it go besides Alexa. I just want to let it go, too. Hopefully, so does she. But, you can see why I don't want to work with her in a storyline that mirrors the truth."

"I completely understand. I will absolutely not allow that to happen. We'll find something else for her to do, and you'll keep your storyline with Bayley. When we do the brand split, you'll be on RAW and she'll be on Smackdown. You won't have to work with her again," Stephanie promised.

"What about Seth? RAW or Smackdown?"

"RAW, of course. We wouldn't dream of breaking up our number-one fan-favorite couple, even if we haven't mentioned your relationship onscreen. There will come a time for that, as we plan to have an integender tag tournament on the Network this fall, and have some real couples team up, including you and Seth."

Kimber smiled. "That sounds like a lot of fun, I can't wait."

"Kimber, have you talked to anyone about what happened to you?"

"Only you and Seth know everything."

"No, I meant like a counselor, or a psychiatrist."

"Oh. No, I don't really think it's necessary. I'm over it. I just want everyone to forget about it, and move on."

"Okay, but I still think you see someone. You know it's covered if you decide to."

"Yes, I know."

"I'll be in touch as soon as I speak with my father. Again, Kimber, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this."

"Thank you."

After hanging up the phone, Kimber broke down into tears. The lifeshattering enormity of what she had been through, the pain, humiliation, degradation she had received at the hands of other human beings finally hit her, weeks later, when she had been on top of the world. Even though it was over now, the shame, the embarrassment, the emotional damage felt fresh. She realized there was a lot she had not allowed herself to feel, that she had been forced to keep hidden every day she'd had to walk into that locker room, even after she had her relationship with Seth as a protective shield. Telling Stephanie had brought everything to the surface. She had been spit upon. Beaten. Raped. Violated. Injured. She felt broken, and not in the totally awesome Matt Hardy way.

She stayed in the office for the rest of the session. After everyone else left, Seth knocked on the door. Kimber had stopped crying by that time, and unlocked the door to let him in. It seemed to take all of her effort to do so. She felt drained, not only mentally, but physically as well. She almost collapsed into his arms. He said nothing, he just held her and stroked her hair until she was ready to speak.

"Telling Stephanie brought it all full-circle for me. I thought I was over it, but... She thinks I should see a shrink. Do you think so?"

"Do you think you should talk to someone about it?"

"Well, maybe. But I'm not the crazy one. I mean, Alexa's the one with the problem." She went into the bathroom and washed her face.

Seth leaned in the doorway. "It couldn't hurt to talk to someone about it. Maybe not a shrink, but a counselor?"

"Maybe," she replied, as she emerged and started turning off lights. "Raven had a phone counselor after that girl broke her neck."

"You should give them a call tomorrow. And remember, babe, none of this is your fault. What they did to you was wrong. And, you've got me. I will always be there for you, Kimber. I love you deeply and unconditionally."

Kimber turned to smile at him in the dark. "I know. And, I love you the same way. Let's go home."