By: Elektra
THURSDAY MORNING
"Steph, honey, I know how much you dislike Jericho, but right now, you need to work with him," Vince addressed his daughter in her hotel room. It was 9:30am. They were going over last minute plans for the live Smackdown that night.
"But dad..." Stephanie started.
"Don't 'but dad' me!" Vince replied, "This is more important then your squabble! This is about the future of the WWF! The future of our family business! You know the ins and outs of the Alliance. If Jericho is going to keep that belt, he's going to need your input!" Stephanie tried to protest, but her father would hear none of it, "Go find him," he demanded.
Stephanie sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine, fine! I'll do it!" she replied unhappily, then headed out.
***
Stephanie took a deep breath as she stood in front of Jericho's hotel room. She reached up and knocked on the door.
"Jericho, open up!" she demanded.
The door swung open to reveal a pony-tailed Jericho in a pair of black jeans and a black WWF tank top.
"What do you want?" he snapped.
Stephanie stared at him a moment, then quickly offered him a scowl, "Listen, daddy wants us to work together, and—"
"Chris?" A soft female voice called from inside the room, "Who's there?"
Stephanie's eyes went wide, "Who the hell is that?"
"I have company," Jericho replied, not feeling he really needed to give her more explanation then that.
"Oh, Chris… come back to bed. I neeeeeed you…" the voice continued, but Stephanie was too annoyed to hear the joking snicker that followed, or notice Jericho trying to hold in his laughter.
"What did you do? Pick up some two-bit ring rat last night?" Stephanie asked, "Why am I not surprised? You're just like every other man I know. Apparently you've found something more important to you then that title! I'll come back when you're not so… BUSY!" she spat out the last word, and stormed down the hall.
***
Jericho shut the door, somewhat surprised by Stephanie's emotional outburst. He didn't recall offending her yet today. Why was she so angry?
Jericho turned to the pretty redhead sitting at the coffee table. The two exchanged looks, then both burst out laughing.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say she was jealous!" Lita started after their laughter had died down, "Steph seemed pretty pissed off,"
"It's always fun to piss Stephanie off," Jericho replied, "But now she probably thinks I'm a male whore!"
Lita furrowed her brow, "And since when do YOU care what Stephanie thinks?" she asked.
"I DON'T!" he replied quickly, "I DON'T care what Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley," he said the last word with contempt, "Thinks of me! It's not as if she doesn't already consider me the scourge of the Earth!"
Lita eyed him carefully as he sat down on the bed across from her, "Uh-huh. I can see how much you DON'T care…" she replied, "You're just feeling overly defensive today, is that it?" she raised a suspicious eyebrow, wondering exactly what was going through Jericho's mind.
"Never mind about me…" Jericho replied, then offered his friend a smile, "Now let's get back to the business at hand -- our surprise party for your lover boy, Matt!"
***
HALF-AN-HOUR LATER
Pervert! Stephanie thought as she passed by Jericho's hotel room heading back to her own, I can't believe he'd open his bed to some cheap tramp! She stopped when she heard a door open, and turned to see Lita coming out of Jericho's room.
Stephanie's jaw nearly dropped. Were Lita and Jericho having an affair? And here she thought Jericho and the Hardys were best friends. I guess it just goes to show that you never really know someone! Stephanie thought bitterly.
Stephanie watched the two, quietly fuming as Lita and Jericho whispered what she assumed were sweet nothings to one another.
***
"I'll see you tonight after Smackdown, weather permitting," Lita whispered to Jericho as she stepped into the hall, not wanting a certain pair of Hardy ears to hear their chat.
"You heard about the storm warning, eh?" Jericho asked.
Lita nodded, "I hope it's over before Smackdown," she smiled. "If it is, make sure you keep Matt occupied until 12am! He's not to step foot in the bar a minute earlier!"
"I got it…" Chris replied, "Now go… BEFORE Matt starts wondering where his woman disappeared to!"
"Thanks, Chris. You're a good friend!" she clapped her hands gleefully, "This is going to be the best surprise party ever!"
"Well of course it is! I helped plan it!" Jericho replied.
"Were you BORN with that ego?" Lita joked.
"No. It's something I worked long and hard to develop," he winked.
Lita rolled her eyes, "I shouldn't have asked," she
replied, "See you," she finished, and headed back to the hotel room she
shared with Matt. It was 10am. The lazy bum would just be waking up.
