Reacquainted
A/N : Here's the next chapter I promised you guys. Hope you like. And, thanks to all of you have reviewed so far. Me and my muses thank you with all our hearts. We love you all. On to the story. . .
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Even though Paul knew he had no right to be jealous of anyone looking at Joanie in Playboy, he couldn't help but be mad that Shawn and Kevin were looking at her.
"What the hell are you guys doing looking at this? How could you betray me like this?" He yelled.
"Paul, what the hell is wrong with you?" Shawn asked.
"Why are you so upset about us looking at Joanie in Playboy? You guys aren't together anymore. She's with Sean now, or did you forget that little piece of information," Kevin taunted.
"Fuck you, Kevin," Paul yelled, as he suddenly dropped the magazine and grabbed Kevin by his shirt and pushed him up against the wall. Kevin was so shocked, he didn't have time to put up any defense. Paul pulled back his fist to punch him, but his hand was grabbed by Shawn.
"What the hell has got into you Paul?" Shawn asked as he pulled him away from Kevin, who took a deep breadth, know that he could breathe again.
"Get the hell off me Shawn," said Paul as he pushed him away. "You guys are supposed to be my best friends and you betray me like this."
"Like what? What the fuck are you talking about? How did we betray you?"
"By staring at those pictures of Joanie. You know that she's mine and I don't like my best friends ogling her."
Kevin and Shawn just stared at Paul, like he was insane.
"What?"
"Paul, she's not yours. She hasn't been yours for over a year now. She's with Sean and they have twins together," Shawn said gently.
This brought Paul back to reality. He slowly sank down on to the nearest bench and put his head in his hands. Kevin walked over to Paul and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Talk to us man. You haven't been the same since you saw that article on Joanie and Sean in PWI, last November."
"You wouldn't understand."
"How do you know, if you won't talk to us," Shawn interjected. He had come to stand next to Kevin, in front of Paul.
"It's complicated."
"So, we ain't going nowhere. Are we Shawn?"
"Nope, got nothing better to do. So start talking."
Shawn and Kevin were quiet, as they listened to Paul recount the whole story. He told them how Joanie walked in on him and Stephanie, and they broke up and how she left and didn't tell anyone where she was going. He explained about how he accidently found the home pregnancy test, and then hired a private detective to find her. And, how as he was waiting for her to be found how happy he was to become a father. He then told them that when he did finally track her down, how is happiness turned to hurt and anger to learn that Joanie had terminated the pregnancy. But, he was quick to stress, that he didn't blame her. He didn't want Kevin or Shawn to think any less of Joanie. He then told them about how after he got hurt, he started to spend more time with Stephanie and they began dating again, but then they took a trip to Nashville and he ran into Joanie again, while eating with Stephanie. He told them, that seeing her again, made him realize that he was still in love with her, and wanted another chance, but he couldn't do anything about it right away because Steph was with him. After he got her back to the hotel and she fell asleep, he went to look for her, but couldn't find her. And, how after he got back to the hotel, Stephanie told him that Joanie's sister had called and said that Joanie had moved on and didn't want anything to do with Paul anymore. Feeling dejected and not thinking clearly, he asked Stephanie to marry him. They pretty much knew everything that had happened after that. He told them that the reason he got so upset last November, when he saw that PWI article, was because it was exactly one year to the date, that he last saw Joanie and realized that they would never be together again. After he finished his story, Kevin and Shawn were quiet for a few minutes as they tried to take in everything that Paul, had just told them.
"I'm so sorry man. I had no idea," Shawn finally said.
"Yeah, me too."
"It's okay. You guys had to clue."
"Now, I know why you reacted that way to both magazines. I would have done the same thing," Kevin said.
"Can I ask you something," Shawn ventured cautiously.
"Sure, anything bro."
"How, do you know, Joanie really said that she never wanted to see you again?"
"Well, Stephanie said her sister called."
"Yeah, Stephanie said. But you never talked to her yourself. Did you?"
"No."
"So how do you know, she didn't lie about the whole thing, just to get you to forget about Joanie and propose to her?"
"She wouldn't do that, would she?"
"This is Stephanie McMahon we're talking about. She would do anything she could to get what she wanted. And if that meant lying to you about Joanie, then she wouldn't hesitate to do that."
"Shit, I never thought about that. You think she would actually do something that cruel."
"Uh, yeah I do. She is a McMahon, after all. Like father, like daughter."
"Bitch," Paul said.
"Joanie, never tried to contact you after you left her apartment the first time you found her."
"No she never. . ." Paul started to say, but stopped when he remembered the letter that she had sent him, but he never opened.
"She did send me a letter, but I never opened it."
"Why not?" Both Kevin and Shawn asked simultaneously.
"Because at the time, I was still hurting over the fact that I wasn't going to be a father, and couldn't deal with a letter from Joanie."
"What did you to with the letter? Do you still have it or did you throw it away?"
"No, I still have it, I think. I remember putting away and thinking that I would read it later, when I was up to it, but then I got injured and it completely slipped my mind."
"Well, I think that you need to go find that letter and see what Joanie had to say. I mean she was obviously writing to you for a reason, and I don't think it was anything bad."
"It's too late. You said it yourself. She's not mine anymore, she's with Sean and they have twins."
"Yeah, but you're never going to move on unless you get some kind of closure. Maybe that letter will be it, but I really think that you need to see her face to face and say goodbye. You never got the chance to do that."
"Yeah, I think you're right," Paul said. With that said, he started to get ready for his rematch against Booker T."
After Raw was over, Paul flew back to Connecticut, to look for the letter Joanie had written him more than a year and a half ago. At first he couldn't remember where he put the letter, then remembered he had put in his dresser drawer. When he looked for it, it wasn't there. What he didn't know was that, it had fallen out of the drawer sometime last year when he was getting clothes out of there, and the maid that he paid to come in and clean twice a week had picked it up and thinking it was important put it in the drawer of the desk Paul never used. Paul tore his room apart looking for that letter, but it never turned up, since the desk was in the living room. Somewhere Paul would never look. He was so depressed that he was thinking of getting reacquainted with Jack and Jim, when he turned on the t.v had saw that Joanie was going to be signing copies of her Playboy magazine in New York the day after next. This is it, he thought. This is my chance to talk to her. So he made plans to go to New York and talk to Joanie.
Meanwhile, Joanie had been having a great time being back in the States and seeing her sister Kathy again. They had a lot of catching up to do, since she hadn't seen either Joanie or the twins since they went to Japan. She also had to admit to herself that it was nice to get away form Sean for awhile, he was starting to smother her. Joanie was booked on a whirlwind publicity tour for her new Playboy magazine. It started out at the Playboy Mansion, with the official Unveiling Party, with Hugh Hefner, and was to end in New York with a signing. Kathy traveled with Joanie to help with the twins, she had a hard time remembering to call them Tommy and Jessie now, to her they would always be little JT & PJ. The day of the New York signing finally came, and when it did, Joanie had a funny feeling, that she couldn't shake. Though she tried not to show it, Kathy picked up on her unease.
"What's wrong Joanie?" Kathy asked.
"Nothing," she lied.
"Don't tell me that. I can always tell when your lying. And this is one of those times," she persisted.
"It's nothing, really."
"If it's nothing, then why won't you tell me? You know I'll just keep asking until you do."
"Okay, stop badgering me, and I will."
"I knew you would see it my way," she laughed.
Joanie stuck her tongue out at her sister before she told her. "It's just that I have a funny feeling about today."
"Why?"
"That's just it. I don't know why. Today just feels weird."
"Your probably just nervous because you're suppose to start pre-production on your new movie in a few days."
"Yeah, you're right. That's probably just what it is," she said, but couldn't shake the feeling that something big was going to happen today.
"Are you coming with me today?" She asked her sister.
"No, I think I'll take PJ & JT to the Central Park Zoo, if you don't mind?'
"They would love that. And, Kathy how many times do I have to tell you, they go by Jessie and Tommy now?"
"To me they will always be PJ & JT. I don't know why you started calling them by their middle names?"
"Because I didn't want people asking what the JT & PJ stood for. That would raise too many questions, that I don't want to answer."
"Joanie, have you ever thought about trying to talk to Paul again. Maybe he's changed his mind. It has been more than a year and a half."
"No, he had his chance, and he choose not to know the twins. And, that's that," she said with finality and left the room to finish getting ready. Kathy took the twins to the zoo and Joanie went off to the signing that was scheduled to last three hours. She had made plans to meet Kathy back at the hotel for a late lunch.
Paul had thought about going to the signing to see Joanie, but knew it would be crowded and he wanted to talk to her in private. He needed to see her in private for the first time in more than a year. He didn't know where she was staying, so he decided to follow her from the signing. The only thing he did know was that Sean wasn't with her on this trip, which was a good thing, because he didn't know what he would do if he saw them together. He only knew that it probably wouldn't be good. Once Joanie left the signing, it was easy to follow her to the hotel. Once she got there he waited for a few minutes so she could go to her room, before he entered the hotel. He didn't have her room number, but hoped it wouldn't be to hard to get. Luckily for him the desk clerk was a huge fan and gave him her room number in exchange for a picture and autograph. Which he happily obliged. He then made his way to Joanie's room. Once he was standing outside her door, he took a deep breadth to calm his nerves and then knocked.
Joanie had only been back in her room a few minutes and was starting to unwind when she heard a knock on her door. She assumed it was her sister, and that she had left her key card in the room, so she didn't check the peep whole before opening the door.
"What's wrong forgot your. . ." her voice trailed off when she saw Paul standing there. She just stood there and stared, she was completely shocked. He was the last person she had expected to see there.
Paul also just stared. She looked so beautiful to him. It had been so long since he had been this close to her, that he just wanted to take a moment to look at her. Joanie was the first to speak and break the silence.
"What are you doing here Paul," she asked.
"I came to see you."
"Why?" She asked defensively.
"Because, I need to talk to you."
"We said everything there was to say to each other," she said and tried to close the door.
Paul saw her trying to shut the door and stuck his foot in the way, so she couldn't.
"Joanie, please. I really need to talk to you. It's important," Paul implored.
Seeing the pleading look in his eyes and hearing the sincerity in his voice, Joanie relented and let him in the room.
"Alright, Paul, you can have 10 minutes."
"Thank you," he said as he followed her into the room. He looked around and noticed some baby items in the room. That's when he realized Joanie must of brought the twins with her. Before he ask where they were. Joanie was again asking him what he wanted. Before he had the chance to respond the door was opening again and a women was entering the room with her back to Joanie and Paul.
"Joanie, you'll never believe what JT & PJ did at the zoo today," Kathy said as she brought the stroller into the room with the sleeping twins.
"They. . ." she stopped dead when she turned around and Joanie standing there with all the color trained from her face and right behind her, an equally shocked Paul. Joanie was praying that Paul hadn't heard Kathy refer to the twins as JT & PJ. She didn't get her prayer.
"Who's JT & PJ. I thought your twins were named Tommy and Jessie?"
A/N : Well that's it for now. Hope you liked this chapter. Please feed the muses and review. Until next time. ; )
