After four hours and some odd minutes of Stephanie tossing and turning in her seat, the words of the monotonous tone of the stewardess saying over the intercom that they'd land at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in twenty minutes never excited Stephanie more!
She was hungry, sleep deprived, abused, neglected, and she wanted off this germ box! So many people were coughing and sneezing, babies kept crying, and all Steph wanted to do was go into the bathroom and hide! Not that Steph was trying to be a bitch, but she was just on edge. She honestly felt like she was about to go mad, and this was only Day 3 of what seemed to be her permanent hell!
On the flight, the flight attendants handed out Coke in teeny bitty cups, and the potato chips bags were no bigger than her hand. Steph's stomach growled badly, and with her having no money, and the hunger inside her stomach about to send her off the deep end, Steph finally rallied up the courage to ask Mark for some money, like a common Stepford wife, to buy her bigger portions of snacks. The look on his face as he went into his back pocket absolutely made Stephanie sick!
He was getting his rocks off of mentally masturbating with her! Although he reached down in his wallet and purchased her about $10 worth of snacks, he whispered into her ear, "You're on punishment, don't get too used to all this nice treatment."
Punishment? Steph called "punishment" losing the black card in Jamaica and having American Express take forever to replace it; the longest three hours of her life it felt like then, but if this had been Mark's version of punishment before, then what in the world would he call punishment now?
After the plane landed, everyone got up out of their seats and headed for the exits. Stephanie was was so sore and cramped up from this terrible plane ride that she had honestly even forgotten to get up, despite her surroundings, and since Mark wasn't taking any strides to help her, she had help herself up.
Pushing herself up, Steph followed behind Mark and down the stairs of the plane. Stephanie had been to Houston several times before, both while on business with the WWF and for her own personal satisfaction, but now that she was with Mark, she felt completely different, and worst off, alone.
The realization that she didn't have any of her family members, friends, or any of the WWF associates, like Tori, whom she had actually become quite close with over the past several months, by her side made Steph begin to walk and cry silently. She was scared. It was no denying that.
She was scared, Mark and everyone else knew she was afraid, but no one was coming to her rescue. Hearing her sob, once inside the airport, Taker pulled her into the restroom area right outside the terminal to ask her what was wrong, and although Steph simply shook her head and looked down, trying to control her tears, Mark lifted her head up again and reiterated his question.
"It's nothing really. I just got myself upset over nothing is all," Stephanie lied, looking up at Mark this time, who had on a pair of sunglasses on. Steph then looked down at her hands and began fiddling with them, a nasty habit that always gave away the fact that she was nervous.
"You're not being honest," Mark said in a very stern voice. "Steph, I want the truth and I want it now."
Steph nodded slowly, then responded, "I…I…I am being honest. Honestly. I just worked myself up over nothing, really."
Continuing to look down, Steph heard Mark sniff, once again lifting her head up with two fingers, telling her point blank, "Well, if you're going to continue to lie, I guess I'll have to tack on more things for you to do then, since, like a true McMahon, you're incapable of being honest."
What did he mean by tack on more things for her to do?
Steph knew if she told him the truth, he'd get upset, and if she knew if she continued to lie, he'd still be upset. She was literally damned if she did and damned if she didn't. In the end, however, Steph simply decided to tell him the truth, because she just didn't want to visualize what all he had planned for her to do if she kept her wall up.
"I was just upset about me missing my family and my friends from grade school and stuff, that's all Mark, really." Stephanie admitted, almost trembling she was so nervous.
"Is that right?", Mark asked, sarcasm spilling out his voice.
Stephanie, nodded, and said, "Yes. I promise."
Taker, putting his hands on his hips, put a right forearm on the wall to Stephanie's right, trapping her. Pointing his index finger right into her face, Mark spoke dark, dangerously.
"Steph, you still don't seem to get it, so let me break it down for you: forget about your old life. The people in it didn't want you around anyway as far as I can tell and …"
Just then, an older looking woman, who had a magazine in her hand, walking out the restroom, looked at Mark questioningly, and with the terrified look on Stephanie's face, she continued her look of concern as she sat in a seat opposite of the scene playing out in front of her. She obviously didn't like what she was seeing, and wanted to be a witness just in case Mark got too out of line.
Mark, however, taking clear exception to the woman's blatant stare of his business, asked abruptly and impolitely, "May I help you?"
The woman, who looked utterly insulted, then opened the magazine and attempted to read out of it, while Mark returned his attention back to Stephanie.
"Steph, you're my wife now, do you understand me? and when I say 'you're mines', I don't say it for it to be a catchphrase on a T-Shirt. Your family? I'm your family. Your friends? You don't need friends. All you need is me! Now, get your act together, because you pissed me off last night, and I'm not about to be all sympathetic with you. When we get home, you go to work. Are we clear?"
Steph, astonished how Mark managed to speak to her like this, stood there wide eyed for a moment, before finally nodding in return, not truly knowing what to say.
"Good," Mark replied.
As he grabbed her by the arm, ushering her away from the restroom area, Steph finally spoke up.
"Mark, I have to go to the restroom."
Still pulling on her, however, ready to exit the airport with all of the busybodies as quickly as possible, Mark replied, "You better hold it. We're already behind."
And with that, the two went outside the airport, to where Christian and Paul Bearer were waiting for them in another sedan.
The scenery of Houston was incredible! Steph always loved coming here, the shopping, the food, and the Southern hospitality were all absolutely amazing, but Stephanie wasn't in a particular mood for any of those things. All she wanted was her old life back, and sadly, as each second ticked on, all of that began to fade away faster and faster.
As she sat in the back of the car with Christian, as Mark drove, with Paul Bearer sitting in the passenger seat, Steph stared helplessly out the window. What had she done to Mark to deserve this kind of treatment from him? Why was he so mean to her? All she had ever done was be nice to this man, and he was treating her like crap!
Did she run down and hug Austin? Yes, but only because she was just so overwhelmed with joy that she couldn't help herself. If Mark had a heart, he'd understand that, but he didn't, leaving Stephanie in the predicament she found herself in now.
There were times when she felt Mark staring at her body, especially when she had been nude in front of him, and she felt all of her skin crawling. But then at other times, despite the fact that she kept telling herself over and over again that this guy was bad news, she felt herself get small urges of something around him. She couldn't figure it out. Steph guessed that's why she had allowed him to touch her like he had, hoping if she did, he'd open up some and stop being so damn harsh towards her, but it seemed as if nothing she ever did pleased this man.
They must have drove for at least an hour and a half, passing a bunch of ranches with cows and horses grazing in various fields and such before they pulled up to this magnificent looking house on the left side of the road. As they passed the house a bit more, Steph allowed a "Wow", to escape under her breath. Unfortunately however, this was loud enough for Mark to hear her, who looked back into the rearview mirror at Stephanie, while she continued to take in the magnificent sight of what was Mark Calaway's home.
Growing up in Greenwich, which was only behind Beverly Hills as one of the most expensive zip codes in the country, Stephanie wasn't often impressed when she saw these huge houses; they were honestly sprouting up all over the place now. In fact, Stephanie often found that when people did start building homes or adding on to their existing ones, the finished result was often times just ended up being gaudy instead of classy. Mark's home, however, was the immediate exception to the rule.
The house was outfitted with a reddish metal copper roof, a sand stone exterior, and was obviously designed with French Country architecture in mind. It was also a waterfront property, with a pond just out back, and had to be sitting on at least eight or nine acres of land.
Reaching his long arm out and pressing a code into a keypad, the gate to the home swung magically open, with Mark drove inside.
"How is this his house?", Steph wondered. In her mind, Mark lived in a God awful cold and dank castle somewhere in Transylvania. She knew he was from Texas and all, but this home definitely did not fit his outward appearance.
"Maybe there's something I'm not seeing about him."
As Mark got out of the car, stretching his long body, Steph watched as he walked behind the car. Looking into the rearview mirror, Steph saw another car pull immediately up behind them.
"That must be the rest of the Ministry," she said to herself.
Then, Paul got out, as well, and when Steph heard the trunk open, so did Christian, who hadn't uttered a word nor looked her way the entire time they had been in the backseat with together.
Looking around, Steph tried to figure out just where were they. Did Houston have any rural areas to it? It sure didn't look feel like a big city atmosphere. In fact, Steph found everything too be far to quaint, however, in a good way, for this to be the Houston she had often traveled to.
The atmosphere in Greenwich was polished lawns, political fundraisers, and having people in your home all the time discussing business with Vince into the wee hours of the morning. But the setting she was in now felt more peaceful, more rustic.
Her thoughts were quickly interrupted when Mark unexpectedly opened the door she was leaning on, almost making her fall completely out of the car! Looking up at him with both shock and anger, Mark ordered Steph, "Get your shit and get inside, upstairs to the double doors at the very end of the hallway on the right. I'll deal with you when I get in there."
"Deal with me? Dear, God, he hasn't calmed down yet?"
Grabbing her bag from Christian, Steph headed inside the gigantic house just as he told her to.
The entrance, with its magnificent oak woods doors, gave quite the visual aid. Opening the heavy door, Steph walked right into a very grand foyer, which was as brilliant as it was gorgeous. Opening up into the living room, the foyer also featured a beautiful winding staircase, which obviously led upstairs. Stepping down from two steps on the foyer, Stephanie, looking overhead, saw a huge crystal chandelier that was literally illuminating all of the downstairs area.
If growing up in extreme wealth had taught Stephanie anything, she learned early on how to separate the real from the fake, and simply looking up at that thing, Steph could tell that this particular chandelier was custom made, all crystal, with gold bulb holders wrought throughout it. Impressed, since this must have set Mark back at least ten grand, Stephanie began touring a room to the immediate left of the foyer to the left.
Floor to ceiling windows were covered by heavy brown and gold draping, a stand stone fireplace was the centerpiece of the room, and the mahogany wood floors matched the dark and light brown matching couches and end tables perfectly.
"He must have an interior decorator," Steph thought to herself, moving out of that room and into another. To the right of the foyer sat an informal dining room area, which also had a small chandelier hanging over a dark oak table, which had ten seats around it, four on each side, and one at either end.
Exiting this room now, Stephanie was curious as to what she'd find behind an open double door at the end of the foyer. Walking to it slowly, in a trance almost, Stephane suddenly felt the fury of Mark's right hand as it came crashing down on her behind!
Had Stephanie not known who it was slapping her behind, she would have yelled out from the pain. Did he not know that her rump was still tender from the havoc he placed on it last night?
"Or does he just not care?"
Pointing upstairs and inconveniently stopping her informal tour, Steph walked up the carpeted staircase with her bag, looking back down at Mark, who was now speaking to a laughing Bradshaw.
Following the staircase to the very top, Steph looked over the railing to see yet another living area, which was the room she was trying to take a peek at until Mark had caught her.
Walking along the hallway, Steph saw that spacious upstairs had doors at almost every turn, most of which were closed. As she made it to the end of the hallway to the right, just as Mark had told her, she came across a similar set of heavy oak wood doors she found downstairs.
Opening one of them, Steph looked around at the beautiful master bedroom suite. The ceiling had an alluring coffered crown molding etched into it, with the same oak wood that was found throughout house, however, these had intricate patterns carved into them, with a beautiful crystal and brown wrought iron chandelier hanging over the quite large king size bed, which had four posters, along with two brown end tables on each end, topped with matching brown lamps.
To the left was yet another beautiful sandstone fireplace, and a huge big screen TV literally covering one wall to the other in front of the bed. There was a door to the right of the fireplace, and when Stephanie opened it, she saw nothing but lush green acreage, along with a gorgeous custom made swimming pool, with a stone waterfall, grotto, and a jacuzzi right beside it, the view literally taking Stephanie's breath away.
Closing the door to the magnificent view and walking into the bathroom, it was just as magnificent as the rest of the home. What looked to be onyx covered the his and her vanity, which had a huge clear mirror in front of it. At the end of the vanity, it curved into a makeup area for a woman, with a white, tuft back stool sitting underneath. The tub, which had two onyx steps leading into it, was honestly big enough to fit a whole family of four. There was also a huge separate shower that was enclosed in stained glass, the warm brown's and and gold's within it adding to the overall decor of the room.
There were also no exposed toilets, and when Stephanie opened a door to what she thought was the closet, there was a toilet and also a bidet, the thought of Mark honestly ever using the bidet making snicker a little bit.
Closing that door, Stephanie opened yet another door in the spacious bathroom, which this time did turn out to be the closet. However, there were old worn out clothes scattered everywhere, along with helmet was tossed carelessly on the floor, and some old memorabilia was in the room as well. One of the relics Stephanie found was a picture of Mark with his short, natural red hair, black tights exposing his thighs, walking beside who looked to be a younger Teddy Long. But this room was an absolute disaster!
Leaving out the bathroom now, Stephanie walked back into the bedroom again and saw Ryan standing near the bed, the right cheek on her face a deep purple and blue color, no doubt bruised from the Stunner she suffered from Austin.
She was holding what appeared to be a white tube, twirling it around in her fingers, while looking back at Stephanie as if she had some type of deep resentment for her. What had come over Ryan these last few days, Stephanie didn't know. For sure Mark had a lot do with her new physical appearance, probably brainwashing her, promising her the world to boot, but on the other hand, like Kenny, she didn't seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.
She and Steph stared at each other for a polarizing thirty seconds or so before Saphirra finally spoke up.
"Lie on the bed and pill down your pants. Master wants me to apply this ointment to your behind."
"So Mark does have a heart, huh?"
Following Ryan's instructions and laying face down on the bed, Steph pulled her pants down ever so gently, making sure not to touch her still buzzing flesh. Ryan took the cap of the tube off, applying a generous amount of ointment to her fingertips. Steph just still could not believe that Mark had actually spanked her!
It had honestly felt like with every slap, his hand came down harder and harder, five slaps to each cheek. The thought of going through that again sent chills down Stephanie's spine, but she had already made it up in her mind, if Mark ever tried to do that to her again, the "Hometown" question in his biography wasn't the only thing that was going to read "Death Valley".
Rubbing her hand over Stephanie's behind, Ryan kind of started off rough, causing Steph to wince in pain, looking back at her to see just why was she applying the ointment so harshly. But then, after a few seconds, Steph felt the medication starting to work, receiving instant relief.
Ryan was being gentler too, causing Steph to close her eyes for a bit. After a few minutes of rubbing the ointment into her backside, Ryan stopped.
As Stephanie looked back, she saw Ryan putting the cap back on the tub, telling her "I'll have to reapply it in a few hours."
Nodding, once again, Steph all of the sudden felt bad for not asking Ryan about her physical condition. She has a real ugly bruise sitting on her face from Austin, and even though Steve was one of the true stand up guys in the locker room, despite what people saw on TV, she did not condone what he done to her at the Smackdown! taping. Steve was twice Ryan's size, and yes, Ryan was wrong for getting involved in his match, but that was still no reason for Steve to actually give her a finishing maneuver designed for a man!
Stephanie decided to speak up.
"Rya — Saphirra, is there anything I can do for you? I mean, you've been nice enough to help me out and I just feel like, you know, if you need me, maybe I can help you out."
Saphirra began to smile then, but it wasn't the kind of smile one would want to see on someone face. No, this smile had no genuine feelings behind it. Saphirra gave Stephanie a smile that was eerily creepy and similar to what Mark or one of the Ministry would give. It was from that moment when Stephanie made up in her mind of not to ever attempt to converse with this mad woman again, unless she absolutely had to, of course.
Just as Stephanie was making the silent vow in her head, Mark entered the room, this time with his glasses pulled back into his hair. Steph, who still had her pants below her behind, should have been used to Mark making interruptions just at the right time she found herself in compromising positions, but she didn't think she could ever still herself against surprised such as this.
Looking back again, Steph saw Mark rubbing Ryan's swollen jawline, as a flash of anger rolled across his face. Stephanie knew with that look, Mark and the Ministry would more than likely have all kinds of surprises in store for Austin, especially since he was now going to be taking her father's place in the company … until Vince got it back of course.
If Steph knew one thing about her father, she knew that he always had a backup plan, and Mark would definitely be in store for a surprise himself. Ryan, who looked as if she was going to melt under Mark's touch, was dismissed from the room, but not before she could shoot Steph a dirty look before she left.
"What is wrong with that woman?"
Walking up to her, butt still exposed, Mark surveyed the damage. It was nothing like what his father had poured on him when he got out of line, but it was just enough for Stephanie to get the picture. Picking her up from behind, Mark sat her down on her feet, before he began speaking.
"You're one hardheaded woman," Mark revealed calmly.
Stephanie, who looked around confused, pulling her pants up, didn't understand what Mark was getting at, but she knew that she'd know all too well in a few seconds.
Continuing, Mark said, "I told you to come straight here, didn't I?"
"So this is what this is about?" Steph, of course didn't ask that freely, but she did nod, just to avoid another whatever this man could dish out.
"So I figured that since you wanted to take a tour, and since Saphirra has shown so much loyalty, while you on the other hand have not, that you wouldn't mind taking her place in doing the chores I originally assigned for her."
Steph, with an honest look of surprise on her face, didn't protest. Having done household chores before, despite how minimal they had been, Steph nodded saying, "O…O…Ok. What do I have to do?"
"The entire house, top to bottom," Taker said with absolutely no pause whatsoever.
Stephanie had a look on her face that screamed, "WHAT?!" Had Mark lost his mind? This house was massive! How was she going to clean it all by herself?
Continuing with his demands, Taker pointed to the bathroom.
"That closet in the bathroom is filthy. Clean it up. Get going ASAP. Oh, and a few friends …", Taker said smiling, rubbing his chin hair devilishly. Looking down at the floor for a second or two, before he gaze caught hers again, Mark proceeded. "… Are coming over here. I need you to get down to the kitchen in about an hour and a half and whip up some stuff. Drinks, party food, stuff like that. Don't screw up, Stephanie."
Stephanie was shaking now. Not because of the fear, but because of what Mark was requiring her to do!
"That's why he wanted my butt to heal. Not because he felt bad, but because he wanted me to be well enough to do his manual labor!"
Mark, who saw Steph become visibly upset with his orders, asked her in a tone that suggested that his question was rhetorical, "Do you have an issue with that?"
After Steph just stood there for about a second or two, not saying anything, Mark said, "Good. Now, follow me."
Hell! That's the only thing Steph could imagine her life being like from now on if Vince didn't save her and save her now!