PART 25
OCTOBER 30, 2002
They had been together for over four months. Brock couldn't believe it. After all the shit he pulled, all the times he'd tried to tear them apart, they had stayed together. And they were getting stronger by the day. He could see how comfortable Britney was growing to be around him, and he could see Adam becoming more and more open with his touches and displays of affection. It was making him sick, it was making him pissed, but more importantly… it was making him realize that he was failing. Each day Britney grew closer to Adam she drifted further from him. The same thing was happening to Paul and Stephanie because of Jay. Brock was going crazy… they were losing. He didn't know how much more lovey-dovey bullshit he could take. Over the last two months, he and both Pauls had done everything in their power to scare them apart. From what Heyman saw the night they had planted the first picture, it seemed to be working. The picture of a bloody Adam definitely jolted the couple into realizing that it wasn't over. They had planted even more like that as well… notes, roses, more pictures… it all seemed to have stopped working. Nothing was working. They couldn't tear Jay and Stephanie apart, they couldn't tear Britney and Adam apart. All their plans to psyche the four out were bombing. But all that changes tonight, Brock thought. What they had in store for that night was fool proof. And it would most definitely have a profound effect on their relationship. He had finally pinpointed the one thing… or person… that would get to Adam no matter what. And they had a way of making it look like Britney did the whole thing herself. It was perfect. It was such a genius idea that Brock couldn't believe even Paul Heyman could come up with it. He was sick of leaving notes and pictures… he wanted something physical. Something physical that did not involve an actual fight… at least not between himself and Adam. Today was Adam Copeland's birthday. And he's getting one hell of a surprise from me.
LATER THAT NIGHTBritney and Adam entered the arena at about 10:30 that night. They would have gone straight back to the hotel, but Adam left his things in the arena. He expected to be wrestling the house show that night, so he had brought all his gear with him. Britney had surprised him though, managing to get them the night off. It was good to be the boss's niece sometimes. His birthday had been perfect so far… nothing too elaborate or fancy, as he liked things to be kept low-key. In the morning, Britney showered him with gifts and, um… more gifts. In the afternoon, Jay, Steph, Trish, Amy, Mark, Terry Gerrin, Kurt, Chris, and the Hardys came by for cake, which was kept in Jay and Stephanie's room so Adam wouldn't notice. When they got to the arena, Britney told him to keep his street clothes on because they were going out. They went to a really nice dinner and, because most of the wrestling fans in the area were at the show, they were able to slip virtually unnoticed into a movie.
"That was a good movie, huh Princess?" Adam asked playfully.
"I'm not too sure," Britney answered smiling. "I don't really remember seeing much of it. We, uh… we didn't really do a lot of watching."
"That's my kind of movie," he said slyly, licking his lips and sending her a trademark Edge grin. She smacked him playfully on the arm as they headed down the hall. The two stopped outside the locker room where Adam's stuff was. Britney wrapped her fingers in his as he thanked her graciously.
"Thank you so much baby. This has definitely been one of the best birthdays I've ever had. I can't resist saying that it totally reeked of awesomeness!"
Britney laughed and grinned widely, "You're welcome. You deserve it. I… I'm glad you liked everything… I feel like I've finally done something for you." In response, the Canadian leaned down and kissed her cheek gently. "What was that for?" she asked curiously.
"Because… you're my princess, and I felt that your cheek was lonely," he answered, grinning at her. She eyed him for a minute. Standing on her tiptoes, Britney softly pressed her lips to his cheek, wrinkling her nose adorably as her cheek made contact with the stubble on the side of his face.
"And what was that for?" he asked, repeating her question.
"Because… you're… my beautiful Canadian. And your cheek looked a little lonely too," she said matter-of-factly. He smiled softly at her, lowering his head to hers. About thirty seconds later, Chris exited the locker room, walking in on yet another scene.
"Damn, don't you two have a ROOM you can be swapping spit in?" he asked, unable to keep from cracking a smile.
"Sorry Chris," they said simultaneously and unapologetically, and then they burst out laughing.
Shaking his head as he walked away, Chris called back, "I will never understand you two. Happy Birthday Adam."
"Thanks," he called after him, before turning back to his girlfriend. "I'll go grab my stuff."
Britney nodded, "Take your time… I wanna see if I can hunt down Steph and Amy. They'll be wanting to know how everything
went." They kissed one more time and
then parted directions.
* * * * * *
About twenty minutes later, Britney was off to see Adam again. She and Stephanie walked down the hallway, stopping dead in their tracks when they Paul Levesque stepped in front of them.
"Some guy is here to see your boyfriend," he said half-heartedly, pointing to Britney. Neither of the women said anything. Paul sighed, "Alright. I know you girls don't like me but I'm not playing around. This guy says he sent you a letter, Steph," Levesque explained, to which Stephanie smacked her forehead.
"Oh shit! His uncle! That's right… he wants to surprise him… yeah, yeah I remember now! Bring him back here. Brit can call Adam," she said, recalling a letter received from a man awhile ago. Normally, she wouldn't have even taken it seriously, but after a few phone calls she was convinced.
"I'll go get him," Paul said as Britney flipped open her cell phone.
As the Heavyweight Champion made his way away from the two girls, he took out his two-way. Smirking, he sent Brock a message: "He's in." A few minutes later, Britney was off the phnoe and the two McMahon women were waiting. Paul returned first, bringing with him a shorter man whom he introduced as Joe, Adam's uncle. Paul excused himself, stopping just around the corner, where Brock was waiting for him. They had advised Paul Heyman to stay away, as his excessively large mouth could end up getting them caught. Both men were silent as they watched the shadow of Adam Copeland heading toward the women and Joe.
"Damn Brit, another surprise? I don't know how many more I can… what the fuck are YOU doing here?" Adam said, tone changing from excited to aghast.
"Hello Adam. Nice to see you, too," Joe said, seemingly unfazed by Adam's reaction to seeing him. Britney and Stephanie however, dropped there jaws in shock.
"Adam!" they both cried. He didn't seem to want to listen to them though, as he continued.
"Answer my question… why the fuck are you here?" he asked again through gritted teeth.
"Why, Adam, it's your birthday. You didn't think I'd miss my boy's birthday did you? Besides, I thought you'd be happy to…"
"Oh, cut the act! I told you to stay the fuck out of my life years ago, and I MEANT it!" Adam cried, staring at the three people in disbelief.
"Well, I'm sorry Adam, but I just wanted to see you," Joe said, smirking almost sarcastically. "While I'm here, I'd just like to ask… how's your mother doing?"
"Leave her the hell out of this you asshole… I want you to leave. Get away from Stephanie, get away from my girlfriend, get away from ME. GO," Adam said fiercely. Britney and Stephanie looked at each other, wondering what the hell was going on.
"But it was your girlfriend who called you to tell you I was here, wasn't it? And it was Stephanie McMahon who I called to talk about coming out here. If they knew you wouldn't want to see me, why would they bring me here in the first place? After all, they had just as much to do with it as I did," he said. Britney's eyes widened, as well as Stephanie's.
"What? I… I didn't…" she started, but Adam cut her off.
"You… you had something to do with this? I-I can't believe you'd do something like this to me. Oh my God Brit, what the hell… I… I don't believe you," he said hoarsely, pointing at Britney accusingly. With that said, he turned and walked away, leaving Britney hurt and confused.
"W-who are you?" she asked, suddenly worrying that something terrible had just happened.
"He's Joe," Paul said, stepping out from around the corner.
"And I don't believe the two of you have met before." Britney's eyes widened in horror at the sound of that voice… it was Brock's.
"What the fuck did you do, Brock? If you fuck things up for me…"
"Shut up Britney," Brock said, immediately silencing her by placing a finger on her lips. He loved that he could still have total control over her if he needed to. When she froze at his touch, he continued, relishing in the look of horror on her pretty face.
"Britney, Stephanie… allow me to introduce to my friend Joe… Adam Copeland's FATHER."
10 MINUTES LATERAs soon as what was going on registered in Britney's mind, she bolted after Adam. She grabbed Stephanie and ran, hoping that they could catch up to Adam and straighten everything out before it was too late.
"Have fun!" Brock and Paul taunted as the two women fled.
Britney glanced back at the men… namely Joe. He was sending her a satisfied smirk. What a low life piece of trash. She didn't even know the man's last name and she despised him. How the hell could he agree to do something like this? Whether or not he played a role in Adam's life, he WAS his father. Didn't that mean anything? She didn't have time to think about the questions she was asking herself. She sent Stephanie off to find Chris or Jay. As of right now, Adam thought that SHE had something to do with that Joe guy showing up… she had to find him. Running down the hallway as quick as her heels would allow her, she frantically searched for him. Turning around the corner, she smacked into somebody. Looking up, she saw the Dudleys and Terry Gerrin.
"Woah, watch where you're going honey," Devon Hughes said, smiling.
"I'm sorry Dev. Can any of you guys tell me where Adam is?" Britney asked hurriedly.
"Haven't seen him. Sorry kid," Mark Lamonica said, shrugging apologetically. Sighing, Britney pushed through the men and took off again.
"Hey Brit!" Terry called after her. "Is Adam okay?" Being one of Adam's good friends, he couldn't help but worry about the blonde man when he saw his girlfriend running after him so quickly.
"Uh… I think so!" she lied, starting up her search again. Finally she ran into the hallway where the locker room Adam was sharing with some of the guys was. Praying he was in there, she pounded heavily on the door. After what seemed like ages, the door opened and Chris Benoit emerged.
"Hey Brit. Surprised your still around," he said, allowing her to step in.
"Why?" she asked, eyes quickly scanning the empty room for Adam… or any sign that he was still in the arena. Shit, his bag's not here.
"Cause Adam came in here a minute ago when it was just me and Jay. He was flipping out about something… I assumed they'd get you before they left. He was REALLY upset. He kept saying, 'I can't believe her,' and… oh shit. You're the 'her' aren't you?" he asked, suddenly feeling like a complete idiot.
"In a way. Chris, do you have any idea where they went?" Britney asked hopefully.
"I, uh… I think they left. They both took their bags and…" the Crippler trailed off, noticing that Britney had already taken off. He silently hoped that whatever was going on ended up okay.
* * * * * *
Outside in the parking lot, Britney finally found Adam and Jay, tossing their bag's into their rental car.
"Guys, wait!" she called, jogging over to them. Her heart broke as her eyes met Adam's. He was looking at her as though she'd stomped a hole right in his heart. "Adam, that… that wasn't what it looked like!" she cried, hoping he would see the truth.
"Well than what the fuck was it?!" he demanded, glaring down at her in disbelief. Britney glanced over at Jay, who was currently sending her a very confused look.
"Jay, can you please excuse us. I-I need to talk to Adam alone," she requested, almost desperately.
Jay was slightly torn as to what he was going to do. On the one hand, he would love to just walk away and not look back, and leave the two of them to settle their own dispute. On the other hand, he still wasn't completely aware of what happened, and wasn't sure if leaving them alone was the best idea. He had a feeling it was something really bad. He had never actually seen Adam mad at Britney, so he knew automatically it had to be something big.
"But, I… oh, alright. Good night Brit… call me later Adam," Jay
said, giving up on the protest. Adam
watched Jay head back toward the building until he disappeared before speaking.
"Well?" he demanded again, his tone a mix of anger and hurt.
"I-I know that what just happened seemed really bad, but it wasn't my fault Adam! I… I thought…"
"You thought what? That I'd be HAPPY to see him? Well, newsflash babe, you were a little off!" he cried, surprising her a little. He was really freaking out about this whole ordeal.
"No! You don't understand! It wasn't me… I mean… it's your birthday…"
"So you decided to surprise me by bringing my FATHER in?! What the fuck was that supposed to be, my birthday present!? Come on Brit, you KNOW how much I hate him!" he cut in again. She could plainly see the hurt in his eyes… he was crushed.
From around the corner, Jay's eyes widened. His father? When Adam came to him, he didn't give him any details, just stating that he needed to get the hell out of there. The Canadian couldn't believe Britney would do something like that… as Adam said, Britney knew how he felt about his father. As a matter of fact, Jay knew that Britney would NEVER do something like that… something wasn't right. "Something doesn't add up," he said to himself, automatically thinking of Brock Lesnar and Paul Levesque. A few steps behind, a figure smirked in the shadows. Good though Reso, Brock Lesnar thought. But if you get too smart, it could end up being your last.
"Adam listen to me, PLEASE! I didn't do that! Look, Paul Levesque came up to me and Steph and told us that he was your uncle!" Britney explained, though Adam didn't seem to believe a word she said.
"And you believed him?! How the hell am I supposed to believe that? I… I don't know what to say to you right now. How could you do something like this?" he asked. Britney winced as she locked eyes with him. She had never seen him look at her like this before… he looked so angry and hurt.
She tried once more to explain, "But Adam, I…"
"Save it Britney. I-I don't wanna hear it right now," he said, getting in the car and placing the key in the ignition. As he drove away, she felt the scalding tears springing to her eyes. Oh my God… what the hell is going on? This was really bad… she needed to do something before she lost him. Damn you, Brock Lesnar.
