Chapter 5 – Truth, Lies, a Videotape and Surprise

Stephanie kept Evie busy over the next few days, finalizing her arrangements and last minute changes for the ceremony. Evie had wanted to stay as far away from the situation as possible, but Hunter had asked for her help. She had reluctantly agreed and set about to whatever task they asked, or in Stephanie's case, demanded, her to do.

When the day finally arrived, Evie decided she didn't want to be anywhere near the arena tonight, nor did she want to watch the broadcast on television. She had enough of the "happy" couple, not to mention more than enough of Stephanie. Every time Evie crossed paths with her, Stephanie had a triumphantly smug expression on her face. It took all of Evie's strength not to slap the look clear off her face.

After dropping off the ring that Hunter had asked her to pick up, Evie headed back to her hotel room for some dinner and a long hot bath. She put a white tank tee and a pair of blue pajama shorts on and settled down on one of the beds with a book that she had been trying to read, but never seemed to have the time for. Two pages into a chapter, her cell phone rang. She picked it up.

"This is Evie"

"Evie, it's Linda McMahon."

Evie sat up.  "Hi Linda. What can I do for you?"

"Is Hunter nearby?"

Evie put her book down. "No. He's at the arena getting ready."

"Where are you?" Linda asked.

"At the hotel. Why? Is something wrong?"

Linda sighed softly.  "I really need to talk to him about something and his phone seems to be turned off."

Evie wondered was so important. "Ric is there tonight. You can probably leave a message with him."

"I planned on that, but I thought I'd call you first," Linda answered and then asked, " Why are you at the hotel?"

"Hunter gave me the night off," Evie responded.

"Well if he does call you, can you have him call me right away?"

"Sure. It's not a family emergency is it?" Evie asked, hoping that nothing had happened to Hunter's family.

"No, but it's important that I get a hold of him as soon as possible," Linda answered.  "Before the ceremony starts."

"Well I'll tell him to call you right away if he phones me."

"Thank you Evie.  I appreciate that."  Linda paused for a second or two and then- "Are you going to be watching the broadcast?"

Evie made a face, even though she knew Linda couldn't see it. "No. I'm not planning on it."

Linda tried convincing her.  "You may want to watch."

"I've had all I can handle of this whole thing Linda.  The less I see, the better."

Linda chuckled. "I can understand that. Goodnight then."

"Goodnight." Evie pressed the release button and put the phone down on the bedside table. She turned her attention back to the book.

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  A loud knock at her door woke her up. As she sat up, the book she had been reading fell to the floor. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was late. The knock became more insistent.

"All right, all right. I'm coming. Keep your shirt on." She got out of bed and opened the door slightly, peeping around the edge. Hunter stood on the other side, his bag in one hand, wearing an incensed expression and what was left of his tuxedo.

"Hunter! What are you doing here? I thought you were on the plane by now."

"Change of plans," he replied harshly. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." She held the door open for him.

He walked in and put his bag on the floor. Without so much as a warning, he began to rip off the remainder of his tuxedo. Evie watched in astonishment as he stood there in his underwear, wadded the garments up into a ball and tossed them into a corner of the room. He opened his bag, took out a pair of sweatpants and put them on.

Evie wasn't quite sure what to say. She wasn't quite sure what to do either. She continued to observe as he sat on the edge of the bed she had vacated, his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands.  "What happened?" she asked tentatively.

His words tumbled out quietly. "She lied to me."

"Lied to you?" she asked, not quite understanding.

"Stephanie.  She lied about being pregnant."

Her heart lurched in sympathy.  "Hunter, I'm sorry."

"Not half as sorry as I am." He raised his head to look at her. "Not half as sorry as she will be when I get done with her."

"How did you find out?"

He glanced at her.  "Didn't you watch the show?"

Evie shook her head. "Apparently I should have."

Hunter began to explain what had taken place. Everything was going fine until he had received a Fed Ex package. He didn't think anything of it until Arn Anderson told him that Linda McMahon was trying to reach him. He called Linda after Stephanie had gone to get dressed. Linda had sent the package, which contained a videotape. She said that someone had sent it to her and as soon as she had watched it, forwarded it to Hunter. He took it out, put it in the VCR and played it. It turned out that the doctor that had spoken to them the week before wasn't a doctor. He was an actor. Linda apologized to Hunter and said that Stephanie had been lying to him. She never was pregnant.

Instead of confronting his wife right away, he had gone through with the ceremony until it was his turn to say his vows. He remained calm as he spoke, until the end, when he called Stephanie a lying, no-good bitch and told her it was over. She denied everything, but it was no use.

Vince, having reconciled with his daughter earlier that night, stepped in to defend her. Hunter punched him and then went ballistic and wrecked the set-up in the ring, knocking down the lattice archway, kicking the flowers and ripping off his tux. Vince recovered from the punch and again confronted Hunter, who gave him a pedigree.

Stephanie got in his face and started yelling at him. He pushed her down, took his wedding ring off and threw it at her, then jumped out of the ring and walked backstage. He didn't bother sticking around. Just grabbed his stuff and left, ending up at Evie's hotel room.

Too bad I didn't watch. I would have paid money to see that, Evie thought with a twist of sarcasm. As far as she was concerned, Stephanie got what she deserved, but how far would she go to exact revenge on her soon to be ex-husband? Knowing her, anything can happen. And it probably would.

"Damn Evie. I was actually stupid enough to believe her. I mean, I know I can be a bastard and I've done some pretty low things, but this…" he shook his head, "Never this low."

She sat down next to him. "I wish there was something I could say or do to make this easier for you."

He looked at her. "Just being away from her is what I need right now."

She met his eyes and saw the anger smoldering there, but behind that she could see the pain. Her heart went out to him. She knew how it felt to be used and lied to. She laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry it turned out this way Hunter."

"Better that it happened now instead of later. But it kinda makes me wonder how long she was gonna drag this out before I noticed she wasn't really pregnant," he said.

"You loved her didn't you?" she asked quietly.

"I thought I did. I don't know." He sighed. "I don't know anything anymore." He shook his head. "That'll show me won't it?"

"Show you what?"

"Not to trust some people as far as I can throw them," he said with a twinge of regret. 

Evie offered a small smile. "One of the most difficult things for anyone to do is trust someone."

Hunter said nothing; his eyes still fastened on her face. He never noticed the scatter of freckles across her nose before. His eyes moved down to her lips and as her tongue darted out to wet them, he had the sudden urge to kiss her. He became aware of the warmth of her leg pressed against his. Deep inside, he felt the familiar flicker of desire. Slowly and gently his finger traced the line of her jaw and stopped underneath her chin.

Her eyes went wide with surprise. He had never touched her that way before. She unconsciously held her breath as he leaned towards her. The pounding of her heart was so loud that she was sure he would be able to hear it. He hesitated, his mouth centimeters from hers, the warmth of his breath on her skin. She ached to feel his lips on hers, but common sense reared its head.

"This isn't a good idea Hunter," she whispered.

He pulled back. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I just wanted… well, I don't know what I want right now."

Evie stood up. "Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"Yeah. Maybe I'll do that." He got off the bed and rummaged through the suitcase again.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna see if they have any rooms available."

Before she could stop them, the words tumbled out. "You can stay here if you like. I don't mind." She mentally kicked herself for suggesting it, but it was too late to withdraw the offer. "It's not like I'm using both beds," she continued as she gestured to the other bed.

"You're sure?" he asked uncertainly.

"Would I have said so if I wasn't?"

"Thanks." He disappeared into the bathroom with his toothbrush.

She picked her book up off the floor and got back into her bed. As she turned out the light next to her bed, she wondered what the hell she had been thinking. It was difficult enough to be around him sometimes. Sure he was attractive, physically and personality-wise. In the time she had been working with him, she had gotten to know him fairly well. It was hard not to develop some type of feelings for the man. She grunted in disgust at herself as she faced the wall and closed her eyes.

The sound of his voice interrupted her thoughts. "You mind if I watch TV for a bit? I'll keep the volume down."

"No," came her muffled response. She heard him switch it on and make himself comfortable on the other bed. Her mind dwelled on the almost-kiss then moved on to what might have happened if she hadn't stopped him.

She screwed her eyes shut against the images. This isn't helping me sleep.

Rolling onto her back, she stared at the ceiling and the images came to mind again. It didn't help that he was six feet away from her. A sigh escaped her lips and she sat up and turned her light on.

"You okay?" Hunter glanced at her.

"I'm fine. I'm not as tired as I thought." She grabbed her book and propped the pillows under her head.

Thirty minutes later, Hunter gently pulled the book from her hand and set it on the nightstand. She had fallen asleep while reading. He looked down at her as his hand reached up to turn the light off. She was lying on her side, facing him. Her hair was splayed out over the pillow, a few strands falling across her face. He gently brushed them aside. As soon as she stirred, he pulled his hand back. It probably wouldn't be a good thing if she woke up to him touching her.

He still couldn't believe what he had attempted earlier. Sure she was an attractive woman, but she had never made any indication of wanting anything from him beyond friendship. You definitely weren't thinking with your brain were you?

He turned off the light and sat back down on his bed. What would she want with someone like me anyway?

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Author's Notes: Thanks to all of you who have read this and reviewed it so far. It is greatly appreciated! Please keep on doing it! And thanks for the suggestion Disco Inferno. Hope the dialogue wasn't so difficult to follow in this chapter.