That same morning, Chris Benoit didn't get up quite as promptly as his prospective interviewer. At half past ten, he awoke and was instantly given the impression that there was an orchestra of jackhammers in mid-concert in his head. He squeezed his eyes tightly closed and buried his head under his pillow.
"Why the hell did I listen to Chris? I should know better by now!" he groaned.
It wasn't for another hour that he even attempted to get up, when he finally remembered about his meeting with Shannon.
"It's not as if she's gonna show." he argued with himself, "I could just lie here ....."
Nevertheless, he struggled out of bed and into the shower, where he stayed until he felt vaguely human again. Still feeling pretty rough, he shaved and dressed, deciding as he did so that coffee was definitely high on his list of priorities, second only to aspirin. Grabbing his jacket, he headed out of his room in the hope that he would run into someone who would have painkillers handy, feeling thankful he and Shannon hadn't decided on a specific time for this meeting.
"Hey, Chris!" came a cheerful voice, making him start.
"Oh, hey, Amy!" he managed, with a smile which was more of a grimace for the lively redhead.
"You feeling all right?" she smirked at him.
"Not really, now you mention it."
"I'd be surprised if you were! I saw you guys last night, you were still in the bar when we left. What time did you leave?" she asked.
"To be honest, I don't even remember." he admitted.
"Yep, that sounds like a night out with Y2J!" she laughed, "You want some painkillers?"
"Hell, yeah!" he exclaimed, with as much energy as he could muster, "Please tell me you've got some; that wasn't just false hope, was it?"
"Come on, I'll get you some." she said sympathetically, "And some coffee, it'll stop you looking like death warmed up!"
"But will it stop me feeling like roadkill?" he mumbled, following her.
"Sorry, I don't do miracles!"
*****
Fifteen minutes later, Amy's strong, black coffee at least had taken effect and Chris had thanked her profusely before heading on his way. By the time he reached the park, he felt a little better and began to concentrate on finding Shannon. Eventually, he spotted a lone figure sitting on a bench in a secluded area. Although he couldn't see the girl's face, he knew instinctively that it was Shannon. For a moment, he remained where he was, content just to watch her and unwilling to intrude on her solitude.
# /It's been a while since I could hold my head up high/ And it's been a while since I first saw you/ And it's been a while since I could stand on my own two feet again/ And it's been a while since I could call you/ #
A little nervously, he made his way up to her and cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Uh, Shannon?" he said, "Hope you haven't been waiting long?"
"It's okay, we didn't set a time." she said, almost shyly. "Hi, Chris. Please, sit down."
He sat down beside her, both of them staring uncomfortably across the small lake in front of them. "So ....." he began, at exactly the same moment as Shannon, "Sorry, you go first."
"Um, I was just going to ask if you wanted to get started." she said, "What were you going to say?"
"It wasn't important." he replied, "Lets just do this interview."
*****