Like I've Lost My Best Friend
(From Stephanie's view)
"Man," said Shane as he watched the door slam shut, "he's really mad."
Good observation, I thought to myself. He was really mad. I just don't know what to think. On one hand; I did kiss Heyman, but on the other; it wasn't consented.
"But I wouldn't worry about him." Shane continued.
"I would; he's my husband, Shane." I said.
Shane raised an eyebrow. "Well, so what? If he won't support you, then he's no good. Besides, this night isn't over yet. I have a few more surprises in store."
I stared at him, and he gave me one of those smirks that he must have picked up from Heyman. "What surprises?" I asked.
"Oh, you'll see," he said mysteriously.
I looked away from Shane to the door. Hunter was really angry. I didn't think that I'd ever be able to get him back now. Great. This has ruined my entire life. I have no husband. No father. No mother. I've lost my best friend, Kurt Angle. But I think I lost him a long time ago, ever since that damn two-man power trip. I haven't talked to him since…God, I don't know how long. I used him, just like I've used everyone else in my life. I utterly betrayed them - all of them.
After a while, I thought that I might have been seeing things. I could have sworn that I saw the door rattle a little.
Soon, I caught sight of Shane looking at the door, as well. I could clearly see it rattling, as if someone was trying to open it and not be noticed.
"Quick; grab that lamp over there," Shane whispered, "and stand behind the door. When it opens, hit whoever it is over the head." I nodded, and did as I was told.
The door slowly creeped open, and I stood, barely breathing. It soon pushed all the way open, and I jumped out, prepared to crack a little skull.
"Stephanie! No!" I heard Shane say. I looked down, and saw Paul Heyman, barely conscious, trying to crawl into the room.
I walked over to the table, and plugged the lamp back into the wall. I turned to look back at the door, and I saw Shane helping Heyman over to one of the chairs.
"Why didn't one of you selfish brats come out and help me?" he demanded angrily.
"Hey, man," Shane said quickly, "I've been insulted enough today. You remember who you work for."
"Well, don't you think I have the right to be?" he continued on his rampage, his deranged eyes suddenly turned towards me. "Your damn husband just comes out of nowhere and cracks me over the head with a crutch, and what am I supposed to do? Be happy?"
"Look, I'm sorry." I snapped. "It's not my fault that you were careless."
"Hey, Steph, he has a right to be mad. Helmsley told us that you may be injured, and we didn't take the threat seriously. You're one of my most valuable people, Paul, and I don't want to lose you." Shane said, throwing another one of his obviously fake sympathetic smiles at Paul.
"Uh, I'm not mad at you," Heyman shouted madly, "I'm mad at your sister, for telling her husband."
"I didn't tell him; somebody else did," I replied, seething. "I would have never told him what you did to me, you son-of-a-"
"Woah, woah." Shane said. "What the hell happened between you two? You've been showing such animosity towards each other since last night. What's going on?"
"I'll tell you what's going on," I replied, "he brought me into a room and –"
"You lie!" Heyman shouted. "I never did that. I may be a manipulator, but I don't interfere in marriages like your buddy Angle. What you obviously did was tell your sorry no-good husband that I tried to seduce you, when it was really the other way around!"
"What in the hell are you talking about?" I roared in fury. "I didn't tell my husband anything!"
"Believe me, Shane," Heyman said, his voice now down a few decibels, "I didn't do anything to your sister. The obvious explanation for all of this is that she tried to get me into her bed, and then she told Hunter that it was the other way around, so she could get rid of him. Which, is good for us, since we don't need him; he's injured. But, she is just being a self-centered bitch right now."
"That is not true!" I insisted.
"But you know that it is." He replied.
I shook my head in disbelief. This whole thing was just a mess.
Shane was looking from me to Heyman, as if trying to figure out who was telling the truth.
"I have to admit," Shane said, "that you are both first-class manipulators. I just think that Paul has a valid story, and Steph…is just crazed with power." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Heyman must have been paying him or something. "Get your damn act together, Steph. I'll be back to see you later tonight. Think about what is at stake here, people. This isn't an episode of All My Children."
He sighed. "C'mon, Paul. Let's get out of here." Paul nodded, still rubbing the top of his head. He rose from his chair, and with Shane's help, walked out of the room. As he was leaving, he turned his head around, and gave me a self-righteous smirk that I just wanted to wipe off of his face.
They closed the door behind them, and I was alone.
I looked around, sighing and shaking my head. At least that hadn't been shown on TV like my fight with Hunter had been.
Speaking of TV, I looked back at the TV to see what was going on. At first I didn't believe what I saw, but it had to be true, since I was obviously seeing it. I was seeing my mother walking down to the ring. I wondered what she had in store for Shane and me. I grabbed the remote, and turned it up.
I wondered what she was going to say, and J.R. seemed to be wondering the same thing.
I leaned closer to the TV, and eagerly listened as mom began to speak.
"I was talking to Triple H before on the plane here to Birmingham," she began, "about my husband and my children. I told him that my children were ungrateful and selfish - which is true, but mainly because of one thing: their father. Their father, Vincent K. McMahon, gave them the vast majority of the problems that they have today. Look at the things that he has done to them in the past – he put me into a nursing home, which caused Shane to fight him in a street fight at Wrestlemania, and nearly break his neck against the Big Show at Backlash. He kidnapped his own daughter. How can you support him and the WWF at all? If Vince wouldn't have been so selfish in the past, his children wouldn't have rebelled against him and bought rival companies. The ECWCW as we know it wouldn't even exist if it weren't for Vince McMahon's disgraceful example!" She paused, and I tried to take all she had said in. I was selfish too; and it wasn't my father's s fault.
"That is why you all should be cheering for my son and daughter, even if they have been ungrateful in the past. They have taken a stand, and fought against their father, as I will be officially be doing now. Thank you." She gave the mike back to the ring announcer, and headed backstage, to a mixed and confused reaction from the crowd.
I was shocked, to say the least. How could mom just decide to look over everything we've done? I've done horrible things to her in the past – I've even slapped her! How could she just overlook all of that and blame my father? It didn't make sense.
I was horribly confused, and I heard a small knock on the door. "Come in." I said.
It was Shane. "Well, what do you think?"
I stood up, and walked over to where Shane was standing. "I don't know what to think. Mom…on our side? It just doesn't seem right; after all we've done to her. Why would she do it?"
Shane merely grinned. "Oh…we're taking a stand, remember?"
I looked at him. "Do you know something that you're not telling me again?"
"I may."
"You may? That means you do." I said, seeing right through his deception.
"All right, I guess I can't fool you anymore. I got mom to think our way. It's not that hard to do, really."
I bet that my eyes just about popped out. "You…organized all of this? How did you do it? How did you get mom to think that way?"
Shane made his fist into a ball, and looked at it, as if bored by the topic altogether. "Oh, I have my ways, Steph. Paul Heyman and I make a good team. And, remember, we're the poor innocent victims of our father's selfishness and neglect." He laughed, a laugh that I was sure that I didn't like. "So," he said, in between his strings of laughter, "what do you think?"
I managed a weak grin. "I like it."
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I spent the rest of the week with Shane and Marissa at their home in Greenwich. It was a fairly uneventful, since Shane would barely speak to me, because he still thought that I had tried to seduce Paul Heyman. He must have instructed Marissa to do the same, since she barely said two words to me the entire time.
When Thursday came around, I didn't watch Smackdown! like I normally did, even though Shane invited me to. I couldn't bare to see myself on screen acting like a complete bitch.
I spent most of my time in the guestroom; unable to stop thinking about the mess I had gotten myself into. I briefly thought about going to see Hunter, since our house was a mere block or two away, but I decided against it, as it would have only made Hunter angrier at me.
So, I just sat around in my room, and wandered the halls of the mansion, bored out of my mind.
Monday couldn't have been more welcome to me, since I could get out of the damn mansion. I just had to act my fake self again, but I didn't mind too much, since I couldn't get out of it anymore.
As I sat on the plane alone, I kept myself sane by talking to myself. I kept telling myself that I would just hide all my feelings, and everything would be fine. I owned ECW, damn it! I was rich and powerful, and no one would get away with insulting me or taking advantage of me.
I was so incredibly wrong.
We arrived at the arena in Rhode Island at noon. I had eight hours to waste until RAW started, and I wasted most of them in a conference with the ECWCW stars, Shane, and Heyman. I was surprised to see that mom wasn't there, and Shane told me that she wouldn't be needed until Invasion. I was confused, and I knew that I was being left out of something, but I didn't pursue it, since I didn't want to argue in front of my employees. Employees – it feels so strange to say that I have employees. Anyway, we basically covered all the corners for what we'd do that night. Shane said that the 'old' Stone Cold would probably return that night, since he still despised dad. I agreed, and voiced that that may be a threat.
"No," Shane said, "we have them out numbered." He laughed.
"Never estimate Daddy and the WWF." I warned everyone, but they seemed more drawn to Shane's words of confidence that we had their asses outnumbered and that they'd never survive.
Heyman also said that he'd continue to try and recruit people, and that he'd start with Spike Dudley, since he was making an announcement to Molly Holly in the ring. If he didn't join, Heyman said, then there'd be consequences. Everyone laughed, and I think that I lost my lunch.
The meeting was adjourned at about 8 o'clock, and I had a quick dinner with Torrie Wilson, and found that she was an even bigger slut than Trish Stratus was.
I went to the ECWCW locker room, and went to the back room, where I found that Shane was sitting.
"Hello," he said briskly and cheerfully, "Paul should be here in a few minutes. He's talking to the Dudley Boyz."
"Great," I said, a hint of sarcasm in my voice. He didn't seem to catch it. "Do we really have to do this to Spike Dudley? He hasn't done anything."
"We won't have to do anything if he joins." Shane insisted.
"Big chance that'll be." I muttered.
Paul did arrive a few minutes later, and he had Booker T with him. Booker smiled at me, and I smiled back. Heyman smiled at me. I ignored him, and he sat on the couch, next to Shane.
"Great. Everybody's here, right Paul?" asked Shane. He nodded, as did Booker T.
"Then let's get this show on the road," he said, and flipped the TV on.
It showed the highlights of last week's Smackdown, mainly parts of mom's speech, dad asking Austin to return, and my fight with Hunter.
Next, Spike Dudley came down to the ring. "There's your cue." Shane said to Heyman.
He rose, and walked out. I shook my head sadly as I watched Spike give his loving speech to Molly, and I wished that Hunter and I could be like that. Could have been, I reminded myself, since he'll never speak to me again. It was actually hard to think, since Shane was adding his 'witty' commentary to the scene. Booker T looked a little annoyed, and he got up and quietly left the room. Shane didn't seem to notice as he continued to talk.
Just as Molly and Spike were about to leave, Heyman came out and ruined their day. He asked Spike to come to the ECW, and he said he wanted to stay with Molly. Heyman insulted Molly, and then Spike tried to beat him up. The Dudleys came down, and beat up Spike.
At that point, I finally decided that I had had enough, excused myself, and left. I walked out into the hallway, where I saw Booker T watching from a nearby monitor. He heard me come out, and smiled at me. "Hello, Mrs. Helmsley," he said in his deep voice.
"Hey Booker." I greeted him. I walked up to the monitor, and saw that they were showing replays from the Molly/Spike incident.
"Did you get tired with Shane's commentary as well?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah." I laughed. "You know, Booker, you are a true champion," I said, eyeing his two championships. "You even look like a champion."
He smiled, and looked down at them casually.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chris Jericho walking our way. My smile immediately turned into a frown. I hate him – I really, really, really hate him.
"Hey, Steph," he said innocently enough as he approached. He stopped when he was right in front of Booker and I. "You know, I finally think we've all figured out what ECW stands for – Every Customer Welcome. I mean, look at Paul Heyman! He just proves it!"
I put my hands on my hips and glowered at him.
"That's some way to speak to a lady." Booker said in my defense.
He ignored him. "And hey, Steph. You may be the queen of hardcore now – but movies don't quite count."
If Booker T looked angry, it was nothing compared to the heat that was inside of me. "You know what, Jericho? If you're so big, then why don't you go against Booker here for the WCW title?"
"All right." He said coolly. Booker nodded, and Jericho stalked off, a crazed look in his eyes.
I walked in the opposite direction, and I heard Booker T calling after me, telling me not to listen to him. I couldn't listen – I just wanted to get away.
--------------------------------
So I ran. After a while, I found that I was exhausting myself, so I slowed to a walk, and I finally collapsed at the stairwell leading to the exit of the arena. I buried my face in my hands, barely able to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill down my face.
I felt a twinge of guilt. I deserved that insult from Jericho, and I knew it. I wasn't sure why I was siting here, crying my eyes out, when I should be in the locker room with Shane and, like it or not, Paul Heyman. I had no reason to be sitting here, since I should have known when I agreed to sell my WWF stocks that I would never have a relationship with my father. I also should have known that Hunter would never sell out on his WWF roots. Why did that come as a surprise? Add this with my mistake with Kurt….
I couldn't be caught here and risk being found by anyone – especially my father or Hunter.
I quickly wiped my face off, and grasped the railing to sturdy myself as I rose from the floor. I brushed my hair out of my face with my hand, and I turned around to see Kurt Angle standing directly behind me.
"Kurt…what are you doing here?" I asked finally, trying to muster a pleasant look to my face.
"How funny," he said, an utterly serious look on his face that I'd never seen before, "that I was about to ask you the same question."
"I…was just sitting here. I didn't have anything else to do." I lied quickly, the words hardly able to form as they spilled out of my mouth. Any time before this, Kurt would have accepted this without question. He always used to believe anything I would tell him, because he was in love with me.
Now, unfortunately, when I needed his love he no longer had it.
"I don't believe that for one minute," he said. "I'm not that naïve anymore. I'm a leader."
I blinked. "I didn't say you were naïve."
"Why are you hanging out around WWF headquarters?" he pressed. "What are you planning?"
"Nothing," I replied truthfully.
He gave he a suspicious look. "You know that I can't just trust you anymore, not after what you did to me and everyone else who cared about you. Now spill." He snapped.
My mouth dropped open. I had never heard him this angry with me before. He's changed a lot. "I'm not doing anything!" I insisted.
He shook his head. "I don't know what's happened to you, Steph. Or maybe it's happened to me. Because, now that I look at you closely, all I can see is a lying bitch."
If I had any doubt in my mind that he may have still been my friend, this about made it vanish.
However, as the old saying goes, the truth hurts. I burst into tears and tried to walk away from him, but he was blocking my way. All I could do was stand in front of him and cry.
"You got what you deserved, Stephanie." He said softly.
"I know, I did. I don't want this. I don't know why I did this in the first place," I choked in between sobs, "I'm losing everybody, Kurt. I know it's my fault, but…I don't know what to do anymore…." I stopped because I knew how pathetic I was sounding, that and I could barely choke the words out.
I sniffled and looked at him. He looked confused, as if he didn't know what to do or whether to believe me or not.
"Believe me, Kurt. I want to get out of this. I want to have my father back. I want to have my husband back. I want to have you back. I want my best friend back…." I said, trying to wipe the tears out of my eyes.
He laughed. "Steph, you lost your best friend long before this invasion started. I realized how wrong I was about you when you dropped me like a rock when I poured my heart out to you." He said bitterly.
I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry, Kurt. I should have told you that we were only friends…."
"You told the entire world we were only friends, but you never told me to my face. When I finally heard it, after the night that I thought I was sure you loved me, I changed. And it was for the better. Now, leave." He moved from the top of the stairs so I could move.
I climbed to the top of the stairs, and looked at him. I hoped that he could see in my eyes that I wasn't lying this time. He avoided my glance.
I quickened my pace and walked away from him, back to the locker room. I gave myself the privilege of taking one last look back. I saw Kurt staring after me, a sad look in his eyes.
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I entered the locker room quietly, since I didn't want to have any attention directed to me. However, it seemed that everyone had been waiting for me, so there was a big commotion anyway.
Shane came out of the office, and he caught sight of me. He quickly worked his way around the ECW and WCW stars, obviously eager to talk to me. I started walking towards him too.
"Steph, where were you? We had to announce the choices for Team ECWCW without you!" he exclaimed, agitation in his face and voice.
"I'm sorry. I was upset about what Jericho said. I hate him!" I said, trying to work up a little anger.
"That's all right. We'll take care of him at Invasion." He said assuredly, patting me on the back.
"I know," I said.
"Now, we have to worry about tonight," he said, raising his voice, as a sign for all of the stars to come around, "and the return of the old Stone Cold." Everyone laughed, as if they didn't care. I had a feeling I was being left out of something yet again. "Now, we need backup to interfere in the match. When Austin drives up, just take the shots from him. All right? Now get out there." Everyone nodded and departed to their assigned spots.
"Shane, what's going on?" I asked. "Why aren't we taking Austin seriously?"
"I'll tell you later."
"No; you'll tell me now." I said back to him. "I'm sick of being left out on all of our plans."
He turned back to me. "All right," he said, "I'll tell you what. Austin is on our side."
"What?!" I said, half-asking and half-confused.
"Doesn't it make sense? We have someone on our side in the WWF camp, finding out all of their secrets for Invasion. With Austin in his current paranoid frame of mind, this is going to work perfectly." He said, a pleased look on his face. "Don't worry, Steph. Sit back and relax. We have Austin now. The WWF is going down."
I chuckled. "I don't believe you brought this all together." I actually kind of admired his ability to lead a team.
"Hey; I'm Shane McMahon, damn it!" he replied, and I couldn't help but smile. "Now, let's go." He put his arm around my shoulders, and led me out of the room.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"We're going to say good-bye to Freddie Blassie." He said firmly.
"Oh," I said as we rounded the corner, "he's here?"
"Yeah." He confirmed. "He was here to motivate the WWF. They don't have a chance of winning the brawl anyway, so it was for nothing."
I nodded. "I haven't seen Freddie for a while. I remember when he used to baby-sit me, when you were at parties." I said, giving him a knowing look.
"Parties? Me? Never!"
"Very funny." I said, rolling my eyes.
"But now's not the time to be engrossed in memories." He said quickly.
"Why? Aren't we going to see –" I stopped suddenly, remembering that Freddie was obviously on the WWF's side. "Why are we going to say good-bye?" I said quietly.
"To fire up the WWF." He said, as if that answer was obvious. "To make them mad. We'll insult a legend, and it'll only make them angrier. It'll be fun to watch, Steph, since they have no chance of being the number one company in sports entertainment after this Sunday."
I stopped dead in my tracks. "I'm not going to do this, Shane!"
"And why not?" asked Shane, also stopping.
"We have no reason to!" I said, appalled.
"We have to make them think we're bitter after Austin beats up everyone. This is the only way. If you don't do it, I'll buy ECW from you, and then you'll have nothing left." He said, and continued to walk, as if the matter was settled. He dragged me along after him.
"How can you say that?" I asked as we approached the exit. He didn't answer me, and we remained silent for a time. I kept looking uneasily around me.
After about ten minutes, Shane checked his watch. "He should be here soon." He muttered. I shook my head in disgust.
Shane walked back inside. He was gone for about two minutes. When he came back, he said, "He's coming. Step out of the way."
I did so, and Shane did the same thing. I watched the man push the wheelchair with Freddie in it out the door. We stepped in front of them, and I started to talk.
I just let the words flow out of my mouth, and I can scarcely remember what I said. As I talked, I imagined that I was talking to Heyman, or to Shane or to everybody.
"You and the WWF have something in common," I said, getting right in his face, "you're both about to die!" I hissed.
I stepped out of the way, next to Shane. "Get him the hell out of here," he said, and the man did so, but not until he had the chance to give us both a horrified look.
I walked quickly back inside to the arena, feeling like an absolute monster. Shane was on my heels. "Good job," he said, and grinned. He walked away, leaving me alone.
I closed my eyes, and looked around. It felt great to get everything off my chest…but it had only gotten me into this mess even deeper.