Chapter 26

Candice walked into Stephanie McMahon's office trying hard to stay positive and focused on wrestling and nothing more.

"Hey Candy, have a seat. We're just waiting for one more person." Stephanie told her.

Although they had never gone out socially, Candice had always respected Stephanie as a person. She was a strong woman who didn't take crap from anyone despite the fact that she was knee deep in a family run business with a good old boy mentality. In her mind, Shane may be the one doing all the self-glorifying stunts out in the ring, but in reality, Stephanie was the one with all the balls.

While Candice took a seat and crossed one leg over the other to make herself comfortable, Stephanie got up from behind her desk to open the door for the other person they were waiting on.

"Hi Melina, come in." Stephanie announced as she greeted Melina and guided her into her office.

As soon as Candice figured out the other person was Melina, a surge of hatred overcame her. She could still feel the sting of Melina's words the last time they met.

'You were fucking a married man because you are a slut. No one will believe Shane raped you.'

Melina spotted Candice already sitting comfortably in her chair and raised an eyebrow. Neither woman knew why Stephanie had asked to meet with the both of them except that it had to do with some sort of new storyline.

"As you know, with Lita no longer here, we are in desperate need to fill her heel role in the ring. Vince, Shane and I all agree that you two have improved your in ring skills vastly, so now we'd like to see how each of you do headlining main events." Stephanie told them.

Both Melina and Candice looked over at each other. Candice had hoped that she would get an opportunity to battle Melina in the ring, one on one. Candice knew she was the better wrestler and the opportunity to give Melina just a little payback in the ring would be a glimmer of light in everything that had been so dark for the past few months.

"Shane will be returning as the new Raw GM where the two of you will serve as his personal valets. He'll be feuding with John Cena and the both of you will be getting involved in their matches until we've established you as 'real' wrestlers." Stephanie stated.

Candice could hardly believe what she was hearing. Not only would she have to work side by side with Melina, but there would now be no way to avoid Shane either. Candice could feel sweat forming on her forehead. Refusing to be a part of the storyline could cost Candice her one chance for a decent push. She suspected Shane was behind the whole idea and using Stephanie to deliver the message. It was most likely his way of keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't make any more crazy accusations against him.

"Vince and I originally wanted Shane to return as Randy's manager, where Randy would feud with John for the belt, but Shane was adamant against the whole idea." Stephanie continued.

Of course he was adamant against the idea, Candice thought to herself. Both she and Shane knew that if Randy ended up in the same room with Shane again, Randy would most likely tear him apart, and for all of his bravado, the last thing Shane wanted was to have to worry about Randy Orton.

"What do you think?" Stephanie asked with a smile on her face, not realizing the angst the whole idea had now brought on to Candice.

"I love it." Melina immediately chimed in knowing that Candice hated the idea.

"Great. I'll book Shane in a match with John starting Monday and you two will be right there in the ring with him." Stephanie said. "We'll see you then."

As Candice and Melina got up to leave, Melina held her grin while Candice made no bones in her facial expression that she was not happy. She hated the way Melina seemed to be enjoying her pain and she wasn't about to let her just walk away without a word.

So as the door to Stephanie's office closed behind them, Candice grabbed Melina firmly by the arm.

"Wait one second Melina." She demanded of the other woman.

Melina looked down at Candice's grip and laughed.

"Please Candice, you don't have to get pushy." Melina said acting innocent.

Candice was in no mood for her games and wanted to get straight to the point.

"Why are you so content to watch me suffer? Did our friendship mean nothing to you?" Candice asked.

In all honesty, Melina enjoyed the friendship she had with Candice. She was the only other diva Melina felt she could relate to. They were both relatively new to the company and were groomed to be the next Lita and Trish. But Melina's actions were driven by one thing, jealousy. She feared that Candice would take away any chance she had at all with Randy. She just couldn't seem to understand that Candice had nothing to do with Randy now hating Melina. It was Melina who put herself in that position by sleeping with Shane and now by playing her foolish games. Candice almost pitied Melina because she knew better than anyone that for all her efforts to win back Randy, her foolishness would come back to haunt her.

"Don't act righteous Candice. You know damn well that what this is all about. Randy is mine. And the simple fact that you are going around accusing Shane of raping you just to get Randy's sympathies is pathetic." Melina warned.

"Randy Orton can fall off the face of the earth for all I care." Candice replied.

Even though the words spilled from her mouth, her heart was not on board. Randy still held a place in Candice's heart whether she liked it or not.

"And as for Shane, if you were smart you'd stay away from Shane McMahon. I wouldn't wish what he's done to me on anyone, not even you Melina." Candice stated truthfully.

"Don't worry honey, I won't get hurt by Shane. I'm not stupid enough to fall for a married man like you were." Melina replied just as Shane turned the corner on his way to meet with his sister.

"I think my ears are burning. Hello ladies." Shane declared looking over both of the women at once.

With Melina and Shane now standing beside her, Candice felt as if there were four walls closing in on her. She hated the way Shane undressed her with is eyes as if it was his right to do so. Her palms instantly turned sweaty while her hands shook. How she would be able to focus on this new storyline and perform to the best of her abilities was beyond her, but she refused to let Shane know how much he affected her.

"So I'm sure you heard about the new storyline." Shane suggested with content.

"I love it. I can't wait to get started." Melina said moving closer into Shane flirtatiously and placing a hand on his chest.

"What about you Candice, what do you think?" Shane asked smiling.

"I think it's just a matter of time Shane before everything you've done catches up to you. And when it does, I'll be there with bells on." Candice answered and then turned in the other direction to leave.

Shane looked at Melina and shrugged his shoulders as if he couldn't understand why Candice was so upset. He then bent down and kissed Melina on the cheek.

"I'll see you on Monday Melina. Get to the arena early if you don't mind." He requested with a wink.

As Shane walked past her and into Stephanie's office, Melina couldn't help but to be just a little annoyed by his last request. Now that he was no longer sleeping with Candice, Shane had become more insistent that Melina be there for him whenever he wanted a quick fuck. In all honesty, Melina was surprised he was still asking instead of just assuming she would arrive at the arena early to meet with him. She would be the first to admit that she was getting to the point where it just wasn't worth it anymore. There were plenty of other divas that would be more than willing to further their careers by sleeping with the bosses son. Melina was about to get the push she had been waiting for, Shane would just have to cool off for a while and find someone else to make his lap dog.