Ch. 9.

Much to the relief of Vince McMahon, the rest of his show ran relatively smoothly, in spite of the earlier excitement. He was therefore able to keep his word and give his wrestlers the following day off. They left the arena happily and headed back to the hotel, longing to relax after a stress filled day.

Chris Benoit was amongst those who were definitely glad to be back at the hotel. It had been an exceptionally long day for him and he just wanted to forget about it. He made his way to his hotel room, turning down invites to hit the bar on the way, in favour of a quiet night by himself. He needed time to think; something he seemed to have been doing a lot of lately. However, he had no sooner sank down on the couch than there came a loud knock on his door. Chris groaned and was considering pretending he wasn't in, when the person tried the door and, finding it unlocked, threw it open.

"Hey, man!" said Chris Jericho cheerfully, as he vaulted over the back of the couch and landed beside him, settling himself comfortably. "You know, you really should lock that - ANYONE could just wander in. You're lucky it's only me."

"Yeah, lucky." sighed Benoit, "So, how come you're jumping about the place? Didn't that just hurt your ribs?"

"Not really - but I won't be doing it again any time soon!" he grinned, "I rested and now I'm a lot better. So, what have you been up to in my absence?"

"Nothing." answered Benoit shortly.

"Nothing at all? There's nothing you wanna tell me?"

"Should there be?"

"Oh, I dunno." said Jericho, quickly deciding to abandon the subtle approach in favour of a more direct method of questioning, "Maybe something like, say, who the chick you were talking to is?"

"What chick?"

"Don't give me that! Are you trying to tell me you're talking to so many pretty girls you don't even remember them now? Besides, Drew met her and then he saw you with her; she said she was a reporter, but he didn't believe her ....."

"She is a reporter ....." insisted Benoit.

"Well, maybe so, but there has to be more to it than that."

"She's a fan too?" tried Benoit, hoping Jericho would leave it at that, but knowing better than to expect miracles.

"Nah, try again." laughed Jericho, "Man, you are crap at lying!"

"Some would consider that a virtue." he replied dryly.

"Not me! Now, c'mon, you've got me really curious!"

"Her name's Shannon." Benoit said reluctantly.

"Shannon, huh?" said Jericho, sensing a story if he could just get Benoit to open up. He knew that he had always been a little reserved. His self-assurance in the ring translated to a quieter confidence outside it; however, his friendship with the extroverted Jericho had noticeably changed that. Now although, he seemed to have regressed slightly. "This is like getting blood out of a stone!" complained Jericho, "Who is she exactly? How do you know her? C'mon, man, spill! You can tell me - we're meant to be friends! You know, buddies, pals, amigos, compadres ....."

"Okay, okay!" Benoit practically yelled, "I get it! Jeez, friendship is SO overrated!"

"Yeah, yeah, Junior." smirked Jericho triumphantly, "I KNEW I'd wear you down! Now, get on with the story."

"Remind me why I hang out with you again?"

"You KNOW you like me!" said Jericho confidently.

"I TOLERATE you, there's a difference." mocked Benoit unconvincingly, "But, since you're going to make my life a living hell otherwise, I might as well just tell you." He took a deep breath, "Okay, where to start? Uh, I've known Shannon for years, practically all my life, she's an old, uh, friend ....."

"Ahhhh." said Jericho knowingly, with an exasperating smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm guessing that by old FRIEND, you really mean old FLAME - there's a difference." informed Jericho, throwing Benoit's own words back at him.

"Dammit, Chris, sometimes you're just too insightful for your own good, you know that?"

"Yeah, but I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes! Yes, you're right, okay?" groaned Benoit.

"Knew it!" said Jericho smugly.

"Are you gonna let me finish? You're the one who wanted to hear this."

"Go ahead, give me all the gory details, knock yourself out ....."

"I'll knock YOU out in a minute! Okay, we were neighbours, our parents were friends, and I suppose it was just inevitable that we became best friends. There were a few years between us, but it never mattered ....."

"Hmmm, corrupting young innocents, huh?" grinned Jericho evilly, "Sounds fun!"

"Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Hey, no fair! That's MY line!" protested Jericho, making Benoit laugh at his look of mock outrage.

"Well, don't interrupt me again, Blondie, or I'll kick your ass!" threatened Benoit.

"In your dreams!" crowed Jericho, prompting Benoit's own "Prove me wrong" catchphrase. "Okay, I won't interrupt again. Tell your story."

"Well, there isn't actually a lot to tell. We started going out in high school, something which really didn't please Shannon's dad. He was fine about us being friends, but, lets just say, the guy he thinks is good enough for his baby girl hasn't been born yet! He didn't exactly make things easy, but we went out for over a year ....."

"A YEAR! God, in high school terms, you guys were practically MARRIED!" declared Jericho, without heeding Benoit's warning against interrupting, "So what happened?"

Benoit fell silent, leaning back on the couch with his eyes closed. There was a long pause during which Jericho wisely remained silent. Looking thoughtfully at his friend, something told him this was bothering Benoit and, despite appearances to the contrary, Jericho knew when not to push him too far. However, curiosity was beginning to get to him and he knew he had to speak out.

"Don't even think about it!" said Benoit suddenly, opening one eye to look at him, making Jericho hastily swallow his question. "I'll tell you what happened. THIS happened, that's what. I got my chance to train with the best, travel the world, maybe eventually get a contract with the WWF. And I took it. I left."

"She didn't understand, huh?" commiserated Jericho.

"Oh no, she understood all right. It was actually Shannon who convinced me to go; she said she didn't want me to miss out, to give up on my dream, because of her. I think that only made it harder though. If she'd been mad, I could have been mad right back, but she ..... understood. At first I thought she was telling me to go to test me, to see if I would. But, I finally saw she wasn't. No ulterior motives, she just wanted me to be happy."

"How come you didn't stay in touch? I mean, if she wasn't angry, you can't have parted on bad terms."

"We didn't, but we agreed we wouldn't stay in touch. A clean break seemed like a good idea at the time - what can I say? We were young. Still, that's one decision I've always regretted." admitted Benoit.

"What about leaving? Do you regret that?" asked Jericho.

"Yes. No. I don't know." he sighed, "Look at what I got out of it, I couldn't say I didn't benefit from leaving. But on the other hand, look at what I missed out on. Who's to say I couldn't have achieved the same things if I hadn't left then. It might have taken longer, but I could have still done it."

"You would have had to leave eventually."

"Yeah, but who knows what would have happened by then. Oh, there's no point in "what ifs" now. It's over and done with, you can't turn back the clock."

"I'm sorry, man. It must be tough, especially being here." sympathised Jericho.

Benoit nodded his agreement. "I know I've never mentioned her, but I have thought about her - I still do, even after all this time. And being here, it's really brought back some memories."

"Still," said Jericho, trying to cheer his friend up, "You've seen her again, maybe there's still hope."

"I don't think so. I couldn't come back and expect things to be the same, and they're not. I also met Billy." said Benoit, the disdain evident in his voice. "Her boyfriend. I don't like him."

"Why doesn't that surprise me? He probably isn't your biggest fan either." laughed Jericho.

"You'd think, wouldn't you? He is a fan, but he doesn't know about me and Shannon, so that probably explains that." said Benoit, suddenly starting to laugh. "Unbelievable, isn't it? And, as if that wasn't enough, Shannon needs an interview - with me. That's why she was at the arena in the first place. I'm supposed to meet her tomorrow, but I'm not sure she'll show."

"And what would Billy say about this little rendezvous?"

"I don't know and, quite frankly, I don't give a damn." said Benoit easily.

Jericho took a deep breath and stood up, announcing in a take-charge voice, "Right, no more moping about here. Lets go."

"Go where?"

"The bar, to get really wrecked. It'll solve all your problems." persuaded Jericho.

"Yeah? But for how long?" frowned Benoit sensibly.

"Until approximately eleven o'clock tomorrow morning when you'll wake up with a killer headache and the same problems you had before. But until then - Problems? What problems?"

Benoit considered for a moment, before following Jericho's lead. "Sounds fair."

*****