Deceptions


Disclaimer : I own no one they own themselves and Vince owns the WWF/WWE


A/N : Thanks to everyone who as reviewed the story so far and to anyone new who does review . . .



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For how long he sat there, on the toilet seat, staring at the pregnancy test in his hand, he had no idea. He was completely lost in his thoughts. Why didn't Joanie tell him? Where was Joanie? How could this have happened? Paul was finally pulled out of his thoughts by the ringing of the hotel phone.

"Joanie," Paul said as he answered the phone, not even bothering saying hello.

"No, Paul, it's Vince. I take it that you still haven't heard from her then?"

"No, I haven't. Did you want something Vince?"

"Yeah, I was just calling to see if you had any word from Joanie. And, to let you know that I already got the information from the office this morning on which car rental company Joanie used. I was just about to call them, but wanted to know if you wanted to be here when I make the call."

"Yes, I do. Just give me five minutes to get to your room."

"Okay, I'll see you here," Vince said, then hung up the phone. As Paul hung up the phone, he noticed that he was still holding the pregnancy test in his hand. He was going to through it away, but changed his mind at the last minute and put in the front pouch of his suitcase. He then left his room and made his way to Vince's. When he reached the room he gave a quick knock on the door and then entered, not bothering waiting to be invited in.

"Hey, Paul," Vince said raising from the chair he had been sitting in waiting for Paul. "How are you?"

"I'm okay. Just worried about Joanie."

"Yeah, me too. But, now that you're here, I'm going to call the rental agency and see if they can tell us anything," with that said Vince crossed over to the phone and dial the number. As he waited for someone to answer the phone, he indicated that Paul should have a seat. Paul declined, he preferred to stand and pace. After about six rings someone finally picked up.

"Hertz Rent-A Car, this is Ashley speaking, how can I help you?" A pleasant voice asked.

"Hello, Ashley. My name is Vince McMahon, I own the WWE, and I was wondering if you could help me with a little problem I have."

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm talking to Mr. McMahon, I love the WWE," gushed the voice on the phone. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Well, Ashley, my company rented a bunch of cars from you guys this weekend and I need to find out if one of them got turned in early."

"Normally we're not supposed to give out that information, but if just give me the name of the person who was the registered driver of the car I'll go ahead and check that for you."

"I really appreciate you doing this for me, and the person who was driving the car was Joanie Laurer."

"It'll take me a couple of minutes to pull the information up on the computer, so I'm going to put you on hold."

"That's fine," said Vince, who then heard music come on the line signaling that he was on hold.

Paul, who had being pacing the room, while Vince was on the phone, came to halt when he no longer heard Vince speaking. "What's up Vince?"

"She has me on hold, while she checks the computer."

"Oh," was all Paul said as he went back to pacing. This time tough he noticed that the package that had come last night while he was there was still unopened. "Hey, Vince. How come you didn't open this last night?" Paul asks, as he holds up the package for Vince to see.

"I forgot that it came last night. Why don't you open it for me and see if it's important," Vince finished saying just as Ashley came back on the line?

"Mr. McMahon, when I entered that name into the computer it came back that, that particular vehicle was returned last night at 8:15 p.m. sir." Just as Vince was getting this information, Paul was opening the package and pulling out Joanie's women's title and the letter she wrote to Vince telling him she was ceasing contract negotiations and that last night was her last night with the company.

"Fuck," Paul said as he stared at the letter, the title dropping from his lap.

"Shit," Vince replied.

"Excuse me sir?"

"Sorry. Thanks for all your help," said Vince as he hung up the phone. He stared into space for a few moments trying to process the information he had just heard. He was pulled back to reality by the sound of Paul kicking a chair.

"Paul, what the hell?" Vince asked before he noticed the note in Paul's hand and the women's title belt on the floor.

"She's gone Vince. She returned the title and a note saying last night was her last night with the company and for you to cease contract negotiations."

"Damn it," yelled Vince. "This wasn't suppose to happen."

"What did the car company say? Has she returned the car yet? If she hasn't, we can track her that way."

"Sorry, Paul. No can do. I'm afraid she returned the car last night at about 8:15. Have you tried talking to Deborah or Amy again this morning? Maybe Joanie's been in touch with one of them since you talked to them last. Or, how bout her sister. If anyone should know where she is, it's her. While your making those calls, I'm going to check with the airlines to see if Joanie purchased a ticket."

"Okay," Paul said. He then pulled out his cell phone to make the calls as Vince was using the room phone. The first person he called was Deborah. She said she hadn't heard anything from Joanie at all. He hung with her and called Amy. Who also said she hadn't heard from Joanie. Starting to get frustrated Paul dialed the number to Joanie's sisters, hoping that she knew where Joanie was.


"Joanie, is that you hun?" Was the first thing Paul heard when the phone was picked up.

"No, it's me Paul, and from the way you answered the phone I take it you don't know where Joanie is at either."

"Paul," she spat venomously. "You've got a lot of fucking nerve calling here, after what you and that slut, Stephanie, did to Joanie yesterday. And to answer your question, no I don't know where Joanie is. And, if I did I surely as hell wouldn't tell your sorry ass. The only thing I do is that Joanie called me last night and told me that you two broke up because you were cheating on her with Stephanie and for me not to worry about her because she was going away for a few weeks."

"That's it. She didn't tell you anything else or give any indication on where she might be going."

"Like I said before, I wouldn't tell you if I knew, but I don't. Why do you care anyway? I thought that you would want this. For Joanie to be gone, so you wouldn't have to look at her and feel guilty, knowing that you broke her heart."

"You probably won't believe me, but this isn't how I wanted things to happen. I never meant for her to get hurt. And, no matter how we broke up, I do still care for her and I'm worried about her. I have to know that's she okay," Paul said.

Hearing the genuine concern in his voice, Joanie's sister relented a little and told him about the money she asked her to wire to her at the airport. After getting that little piece of information Paul rang off. Why would Joanie have her sister wire her money when she could just use her atm or credit cards, Paul wondered. Then it dawned on him, Joanie got her sister to wire her cash so she wouldn't have to use her atm or credit cards. Because she knew that if she did use them, she would leave a paper trail and she could be traced that way. He noticed that Vince was off the phone now, and was hoping he had better information then him.

"Any luck?" He asked.

"No, every airline I checked with said they had no record of anyone by her name purchasing a ticket. But, they also said that if she paid cash, she wouldn't have to give her name, so there would be know way for them to track her or know where she might have flown too. How bout you any luck?"

"No, both Deborah and Amy still haven't heard from her. And, her sister said Joanie called her and told her not to worry because she was going away for a few weeks and then she had her wire her some money at the airport."

"Well at least we know she's okay. I'm sure once she's had a few days to calm down and get herself together, she'll call one of her friends and let them know where she's at."

"You don't understand Vince, I need to find her now."

"Why?'

"Because she's pregnant with my child," Paul just blurted out.

"What? How do you know this?"

"When I was shaving this morning, I dropped my razor in the trash, and when I went to pick it up I pulled out the test instead. Now do you see why I have to find her."

"Yeah, I do. But, how are you going to do that? She could be anywhere, and if she's using cash there's not going to be a paper trail to follow."

"I know that, but I have to try. I'll hire a private investigator to find her. She can't cover all her tracks. She has to get in touch with someone sooner or later and she'll want to get her stuff from the house eventually," said Paul, trying to convince Vince as well as himself.

"If you need help with anything, just let me know."

"Well, I don't want anyone else to know about this right know, especially Steph, so could you just keep it to yourself."

"Fine, whatever you want. Anything else?"

"Well, now that you mention it. Do you think that I can have a couple of weeks off? I want to go to the house incase Joanie tries to call or send someone over to get her stuff."

"I'm sorry Paul, but that's just not doable right now. The company needs you. You and Steve or in the main storyline and we can't spare you. I hope you understand."

"Yeah, I understand, business first."

"Why don't you go to your room and start packing? We need to be leaving for Raw, in San Jose, within the next two hours."

Paul left the room and made his way back to his, where his bags were already packed. When he got to his room, he noticed the message light blinking on his phone. Praying that it was news about Joanie, he was once again disappointed to hear Stephanie's voice on the phone asking why he hadn't called her back last night. Not feeling up to dealing with her, he hung up the phone. As Paul sat down on the bed, he pulled out the pregnancy test from his suitcase and just stared at it. He didn't know what to think or how to feel. Joanie and him use to talk about someday maybe having kids, but it was something that he never gave much thought too. Now that he thought about it more, he didn't even really know how Joanie felt about having kids. That's why it was so imperative that he find Joanie. They had a lot to discuss. The more Paul stared at the pregnancy test in his hand, the more he started to realize that he wanted to be a father, whatever happened between him and Joanie, he wanted to be a father to this baby. After coming to this stunning conclusion, Paul got up and placed the pregnancy test back in his bag. Just as he was getting ready to go check out, and get on the road to San Jose, there was a knock at his door.

"I wonder who that could be," Paul muttered to himself was he crossed the room and opened the door. The person on the other side of the door was the last person whom he left liking seeing or dealing with right then. "Hello, Stephanie."

"Don't you, 'hello Stephanie', me," she spat as she pushed passed him and walked into the room. "Why the hell haven't you called be back? And, why are you still in this room?"

"I haven't called you back because I had more important things to deal with," clipped Paul. "I don't know if you've heard, but Joanie's gone. She returned her rental car last night and had her sister wire her some money. She then sent your dad her women's title belt and a note telling him that last night was her last night with the company Nobody knows where's at, she didn't even tell her sister."

"So what. Incase you've forgotten, you two broke up yesterday, and she's no longer your concern. Let one of her friends worry about where she's at. Besides, I should be the only one you worry about from now on," Stephanie said as she walked up to Paul and attempted to put her arms around his neck and kiss him.

Paul couldn't believe what he was hearing her say. Granted, he didn't expect Stephanie to be, as worried or concerned as Deborah or Amy, but he did think she would show a little bit of concern for the fact that Joanie was gone and the part they had in her leaving. Taking Steph's arms from around his neck, Paul put her away from him and walked over too one of the chairs in the room, and sat down.

"What's wrong with you now?" A pissed off Stephanie asked.

"If you really need to ask me that question, then you don't know me as well as you claim."

"This is about Joanie, isn't?" Paul didn't bother to answer her question. Instead he turned away from her and looked out the window. Joanie was out there, somewhere, pregnant with his child, and alone. After a few moments of silence, Stephanie started to speak again, but was cut off by Paul.

"Stephanie, I think we should cool things for a while," Paul said.

Completely taken aback by what he just said, Stephanie was speechless for the first time in her life. After processing what Paul had just said to her, she started to get really mad.

"Why?" She yelled angrily

"I need some time to think. Things have been happening so fast, I haven't really had any time to process them all."

"Bastard, I thought you loved me. Were you just using me?"

"Calm down, Steph. Don't be so dramatic. You know I wasn't using you. I just need some time to sort through some things."

"You mean sort through your feelings for Joanie, don't you?"

"No, that has nothing to do with it," Paul lied.

"Well, you know what Paul? Go ahead and take all the fucking time you need. When you finally realize that I'm the one you want, oh and believe me, you will realize that, you better hope that I still want you," with that said she slammed out of the room.

After she left, Paul grabbed his bags and left the room to go check out. Once everything was taken care of he got in his car and drove to San Jose. Once he got there he went to the hotel where the wrestlers were staying and checked in. After dropping his bags off he left for the arena. When he reached he arena, he made his way to the locker room and went over the script for that nights show. After noting everything he was supposed to be doing, he made a few calls. The first was to a P.I, him and Joanie knew. After he filled him in on what was happening with Joanie, the guy said he would do whatever it took to find her. The next call was to his and Joanies' housekeeper to see if Joanie had called or sent anyone by to get her things. She hadn't called or sent anyone by. Disappointed by this news Paul went back inside and got ready for show. The show went off without a hitch and Paul went back to his room to try and sleep. The next morning, after only sleeping for a couple of restless hours, Paul checked his messages, hoping for news of Joanie, but there was none. He then showered, changed, checked out and went to the airport to catch a flight to Anaheim for that night's Smackdown taping. This routine went on for the next two weeks. The only thing that changed were the cities. Everyday Paul hoped for a call, that would tell him where Joanie was, but none ever came. Finally when he was starting to get really desperate and loose all hope of ever finding her the call came. Paul was in his hotel room, just staring at the wall, when his cell phone rang. When he glanced to see who was calling, he recognized the P.I.'s cell number.


"Jim, any news?" Paul asked, not even bothering with 'hello'.

"Yeah, and it's good news. I finally found her. It was tough because she did a really good job of covering her tracks. . ." He didn't get to finish what he was going to say because Paul cut him off.

"Well, where is she?" He demanded to know.

"She's in Iowa. Ames, Iowa to be exact." Jimmy than gave him the address of where she was staying.

"What's she doing there?"

"As far as I can tell, she went there because that was the first plane she could get on that was leaving."

"Jim, thank you for all your hard work. Send me the bill, and I'll pay you double," Paul said.

"Thanks Paul. If you ever need anything just call."

"Okay, bye." "Bye." After Paul hung up with Jim he called Vince to let him know that he found Joanie and to tell him that he was taking some time off to fly to Ames, Iowa and talk with her. Vince agreed to give him some time off, not that he made much choice in the matter, and wished him luck. As Paul quickly packed he called the airlines and learned that flight for Ames, Iowa was leaving in about two hours, he made a reservation and then check out of the hotel and proceeded to the airport. When he was seated on the plane, he was finally able to take a deep breath and relax a little. In just a few hours he would finally be able to talk to Joanie and together they could make some decisions about this pregnancy. As the plane started his take off, Paul reached into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out the pregnancy test that he had started to carry around with him.


Meanwhile, in Iowa, Joanie had found a nice place to stay. She also went to a see a doctor just to make sure that everything was okay. She was pronounced perfectly heathy and told that she was about 7 weeks along. The doctor prescribed some prenatal vitamins for her and gave her some pamphlet's to read. She didn't to a whole lot or go a lot of places because she didn't want to attract attention to herself. She did call her sister a couple of times, from a pay phone, to let her know she was alright. She still wasn't ready to be found. She was still very much hurt, but along with the hurt had come anger. She normally wasn't a vengeful person, but she wanted to hurt both Paul and Stephanie the way they hurt her. One night, after being in Ames, Iowa, for about two weeks, Joanie heard a knock on her door. Now I wonder who that could be, she thought to herself, as she walked over to the door and opened it without bothering to check who it was first. Boy, did she ever wish that she had, when she saw who was standing there. It was Paul, in the flesh.


As Paul waited for Joanie to answer the door he thought about what he was going to say to her. Finally, the door opened and there stood Joanie. The woman he had been looking for, for the last two weeks. She didn't say anything, she just stood there staring at him, like she had seen a ghost.


"Well, aren't you going to invite me in?" He asked. He then walked inside, without even giving her time to respond.

Finally snapping out of her state of shock, Joanie closed the door and turned to face Paul. "What are doing here Paul?"

"Funny, I could ask you the same question," he shot back, as he walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. "Nice place you have here."

"I'm serious Paul. What are you doing here? And, how did you find me?"

"Well, I'm here because you left without saying goodbye and telling anyone where you were going. And, it wasn't easy, but I hired Jimmy, and he found you."

Just looking at Paul sitting in her living room was making Joanie want to cry. It still hurt so much. But, she was damned if she was going to give him the satisfaction of letting him see her cry. Instead she got angry and lashed out at him, yelling.

"Who the fuck do you think you are Paul? After what you did to me. What gives you the right to hire anyone to find me?"

Taken by surprise by Joanie's angry outburst Paul got angry himself and screamed "I think the fact that you're carrying my child, gives me the right to hire someone to find you. Don't you?"

Shocked by the news that Paul some how knew about her pregnancy, Joanie tried to deny it .

"I I I don't know what you're talking about," she stammered.

That Joanie tried to lie about her being pregnant only made Paul angrier. "Don't lie to me Joanie. I found the pregnancy test. I know your pregnant. In fact that's what you wanted to talk to me about that day at the arena. Isn't it?"

"Oh, you mean the day I found you with your whore," Joanie said. Getting even more mad that Paul and called her on her lie and that he would dare to bring up that day.

"Forget about Stephanie. This has nothing to do with her."

"Oh, I'd say this has a lot to do with her."

"No, it doesn't. It has to do with you, me and the life we created together."

"How do you know if you had any part in helping to create this life?" Joanie asked.

"What?" Paul asked incredulously. The thought never even entering his head before, that this wasn't his child.

Joanie took a small amount of pleasure in seeing the look on Paul's face, when she asked him that question. "I mean how do you know for sure, that you're the father? Maybe you weren't the only one to take a new lover?" She asked. Joanie was starting to enjoy twisting the knife into Paul's doubts. She wanted to hurt Paul like he hurt her.

"I know you Joanie. I know you wouldn't take a new lover while committed to another."

"You know what Paul? I though I knew you too. But obviously I didn't because you did take a new lover."

"Joanie, I don't want to fight with you about this. I know you're mad and just trying to hurt me. I know that is my child you're carrying and we need to decide what we're going to do about it."

"What?"

"We need to way our options. This is a big decision that is going to effect both our lives." Paul said. He knew that didn't come out the way he wanted it to, but he was still upset that Joanie had tried to lie to him again, by saying that he wasn't the father.

I was right, she thought. The bastard wants me to have an abortion. That's why he really tracked me down. To make sure that I don't have this baby and ruin his new life with Stephanie. Well if he doesn't want to know this child, then so be it.


"Don't worry about it Paul, you're off the hook. I already picked an option."

"What are you talking about?" Paul asked. "How am I off the hook?" He didn't like the way that sounded.

"I mean, I already decided for us. I ended the pregnancy," she lied. It was one of the hardest things she ever had to say, but she truly thought it was for the best.

"I don't understand... You mean you had an abortion?" Paul asked in shock. Not daring to believe that Joanie would actually do that.

"That's right," she said as she looked at the floor. She was afraid that if she looked at Paul he would be able to tell she was lying. But by not looking at Paul, she didn't see all the color drain from his face or the haunted stricken look he shot her.

Paul stayed quiet as the lie Joanie told him sunk in. There was no more baby, he wasn't going to be a father. Paul had to get out of there, he was hurting to much and needed to be alone to process the information he just received. As he got to the door, he turned around and shot Joanie one last look, but she still hadn't looked up from the floor.

"You bitch," was the last thing Paul said as he turned and walked out of the house.