**Thanks to Psychobunny410 and huntersgirl for reviewing! It's nice to know
that you're still out there!**
Steph awoke the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing. Hoping it was Matt she jumped up and grabbed it, "Hello?!?" She answered hopefully.
But all she was greeted with was the cold, robotic voice of the hotel's wake-up call service. She groaned and hung up the phone. She decided that she might as well start the day off right because she didn't know how well the rest of it would go.
She hopped in the shower and made sure the water was nice and hot. She leaned against the wall and started thinking about everything that happened yesterday. All of the wrestlers were more than happy to cooperate with her when she was in charge, up until the whole "Jeff" incident. That's where it all went downhill. She couldn't get over all of the anger and rage he possessed. Especially when he knew that he screwed up. And then, she was totally shocked to find Paul waiting for her at her car with a rose. He had been such a good friend to her last night. And relaxing in the hot tub was perfect. He could have been awful, but instead he was a complete gentleman. He was happy for her relationship with Matt and was more than willing to lend an ear when she needed it the most. He had totally changed. But now her biggest fear would be brought to the forefront, how would Matt react to everything?
She got out of the shower and got dressed. She looked at the clock and seen that they were now serving breakfast downstairs in the dining area. She grabbed her room key and headed down for breakfast.
When she got down there, she noticed that a lot of the wrestlers were also down there. She talked with a few and found a seat with Paul and Shawn. "Is this seat taken?" She asked them.
"Nah doll, have a seat.." Shawn said pointing to it. "How are you doing this morning?"
"I'm ok. Ready to eat and head off to the airport." Steph replied casually. "How about you?"
"Well, I'm doing good." Shawn said. He turned to Paul, "What about you?"
"I'm definitely ready to eat. But I also can't wait to go home." He said with a smile.
"Do you guys have any big plans?" Shawn asked.
Steph looked to Paul, "You can go first."
"Well, I'm going home to relax first, but tomorrow I'm going over to my sister's and we're going to have a big family get together just to catch up on how everyone's doing." Paul explained. "Go ahead Steph."
Steph paused, "Well, I'm meeting up with some people at the airport and I'm flying out to their house for the weekend." She said hoping that would still be true.
"Someone special?" Shawn asked.
"Yeah, someone special." She said turning red.
"You have someone special in your life and you didn't even tell me about it? Steph, I'm hurt." Shawn said pouting.
"Oh Shawn, you are so dramatic. We were just trying to keep it quiet because it's kind of touchy." Steph replied playfully slapping Shawn on the arm.
"So he's a wrestler?" He asked.
"Yeah, on Smackdown." Steph said.
"Hmmm.are you going to tell me who or are you going to make me find out my own way?" Shawn asked with a smile.
Paul leaned over before Steph could say anything, "Steph's dating Matt Hardy."
Shawn's facial expression was complete shock, "Is he telling the truth? You're dating Matt Hardy?"
"What's wrong with that?" Steph asked suddenly on the defensive.
"Nothing's wrong with that. I'm just surprised because you two seem like total opposites. I bet he'd be good for you." Shawn said patting her hand.
"Thanks Shawn. We are opposite, but yet, things are really good. We have an understanding and respect for each other." Steph said to him.
"That's great. I wish you the best." Shawn replied.
The three ordered their breakfast and talked about wrestling when Steph seen Jeff cut through the restaurant. He went over to Jason Reso and Chris Irvine and sat down with them. Steph quickly put her head down.
Paul saw who had walked in and noticed Steph's reaction. He was surprised that he would even show up to socialize with his friends after what had happened the day before.
After they finished eating, Steph stood up, "Well, thanks for the company, but I'm off to the airport."
Shawn and Paul stood up and gave her good-bye hugs and then Steph was back to being all alone. She grabbed her stuff and loaded up her rental car and began the journey to the airport.
She turned on the radio and every song that came on made her think about Matt and really made her think about how much she cared about him.
She pulled into the rental car return depot and got out. She grabbed her bags and turned in the car and headed down the terminal towards the gate.
Once she made it through security, she found her gate and sat down to await the boarding call. She ran to the gift shop and bought a few magazines, signed a few autographs for a couple fans that recognized her and headed back to where she was sitting when she heard them announce they were now boarding. She got on the plane and breathed a sigh of relief. She had survived one airport, now what will happen at the next? *~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Steph awoke to the pilot advising them that they would be landing shortly and to please buckle up and return all seats to their upright positions. She popped in a piece of gum and began praying for the best.
As they were departing the plane, she saw Jeff up ahead. She didn't know how to act around him anymore. She hated that feeling, but what could she do?
Steph walked in the airport and saw Jeff headed towards Matt. Steph looked up to the ceiling and said a silent prayer. She began walking towards the two brothers.
"Hey Steph!" Matt called with a big smile. He walked towards her and held her. Jeff turned and looked out the window.
"I missed you." Steph said hugging him back.
"So, how did the show go?" Matt asked in an excited tone. "Did it go as well as you hoped?"
"Well, I don't know if we should talk about it here." Steph said nervously.
"Why, what's the big deal? We're just waiting for the luggage anyways." Matt asked her putting his arm around her waist.
Jeff couldn't take it anymore. He was seeing how much Matt liked Steph and knowing what he had seen the night before, Matt needed to know. "The big deal is that she fired me and then went back to the hotel to fuck around with Paul in the hot tub."
Steph turned to him angrily, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Jeff shot back.
"Guys, enough." Matt replied. He turned to Steph, "Would you mind giving Jeff and I minute?"
Steph was so furious with Jeff she could explode, "Go ahead." She said trying not to yell. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes so she quickly turned and walked towards the window.
"Did you just say that you got fired last night?" Matt asked Jeff.
Jeff hung his head, "Yeah, I was really late."
"What the hell happened? I thought that you just went through all of this." Matt said to him in a fatherly tone.
"I woke up late, missed my flight, lost my cell phone, caught the next flight, then my rental car wasn't ready so I had to wait again. Then I got lost on my way to the arena and so I showed up 30 minutes after the show started." Jeff replied.
"Why did you wake up late? Were you out all night again?" Matt questioned him. "Did you forget to set the alarm?"
"No I wasn't out all night, I wound up staying at Beth's house and the alarm didn't go off. Look, it's not my fault. And all Steph would have had to do was just not tell Vince and none of this would have happened." Jeff shouted back.
"Jeff do you hear what you're saying? Why would you even ask Steph to do something like that? She is our boss Jeff, just because she's my girlfriend doesn't mean that she can bend the rules for us." Matt replied.
"It was one favor Matt you act like I asked her to give us a raise." Jeff said sarcastically.
"Jeff, it's the principle. You haven't been yourself lately, maybe this is the best thing that could have happened to you. I think that you are so burned out from trying too much that you've forgotten what's most important." Matt said to him. He reached out and squeezed his shoulder, "I'm sorry you lost your job."
Jeff looked at him, "You need to check your girl though."
"I was getting to that, what did you see?" Matt asked.
"Matt, every Raw the two of them are inseparable. The Raw house shows they are inseparable, now last night I found the two of them in the hot tub together. She was practically sitting in his lap kissing him." Jeff replied.
"And you're sure." Matt questioned.
"Matt, I wouldn't lie to you. All I do is worry about her hurting you." Jeff replied in a strained voice.
"Alright, I'll find out what's been going on." Matt replied giving Jeff a hug.
"Are you guys still coming tonight to the party?" Jeff asked.
"That I know of we are." Matt replied.
"I'm going to catch up with you there, I have to go talk to Beth." Jeff said with a hint of sadness.
"Alright, later." Matt said giving Jeff one last hug.
Matt watched Jeff walk away. Matt sat down and took a deep breath. The thought of Paul and Steph being together all of the time did make him nervous. He knew that Steph still had a part of her that was still in love with Paul. Was Steph outraged because Jeff stumbled across her secret? Or because of the way he was behaving about being fired? Matt sighed and got up and walked over to Steph who was looking out the window. He slipped his arm around her, "We need to talk."
Steph turned to him with tears streaming down her face, "Matt, nothing happened. You know that Paul and I have lunch together every Monday at the arena during the Raw tapings. I hang out with Paul at the house shows because he's on the creative team with me. It's not like I stay in his room. And last night, I was so upset because I had to fire Jeff and him and I got into a really big fight before I had to threaten having him removed from the arena that I was practically in tears. I walked out to my car and Paul was out there waiting for me with a white rose." She explained while trying not to cry, "He told me he could tell that I was really upset and he knew that white roses were my favorite so he bought me one to cheer me up. We went out to dinner and we were talking and he started to hint that he was going to ask me out so I interrupted him and told him that you and I were dating. He was hurt that I didn't trust him enough to tell him earlier, but he wished us luck and happiness. Then I told him that I wanted to relax in the hot tub and we went down and relaxed for awhile. That's it."
"So why were you in his lap then?" Matt asked. He had to know.
"I wasn't in his lap. Ever. I started crying because I was afraid of how you would react to me firing your brother and Paul had been such a good friend that I hugged him. We talked about how I was so scared that you would dump me because of Jeff and his situation and because I probably won't fit in real well tonight at Shannon's party. I was really impressed with how much he had grown up, so I hugged him. It wasn't a long embrace, it was a normal hug. No kissing, no nothing. Matt, I wouldn't cheat on you. I wouldn't cheat on anyone." Steph said to him keeping full eye contact. She was telling the truth and she didn't want Jeff filling Matt's head with any stories that could jeopardize their relationship.
Matt took both of Steph's hands in his, "Steph," He said slowly. "I believe you. I'm a little surprised that you were so upset about how I would react to you firing my brother. And that you're so afraid of not fitting in real well at Shannon's, but I believe you. You've always been honest with me about everything, and I'm hoping that it will stay that way. Steph, I'm not holding anything against you because you had to fire Jeff. He signed the contract and he broke the rules. You did what you had to do because you are his boss, and he shouldn't have ever asked you to bend the rules and put you in an uncomfortable situation like that."
Steph bit her bottom lip and looked down to the floor trying not to cry. It felt like a hundred-pound weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.
Matt tipped her face up so she was looking in his eyes, "Steph, I want you to know something."
Steph nodded, still a little uncertain but she definitely felt a lot better.
"I don't want to scare you, but I want you to know something that means a lot to me. And I know that this probably isn't the best place to tell you, but I don't care." Matt said carefully.
"Matt, you can tell me anything anywhere anytime." Steph said softly.
"Stephanie Marie McMahon, I'm falling in love with you." Matt said as he leaned in to kiss her.
Steph was shocked! Those were the last words she expected to hear out of his mouth right now. She kissed him back and held him close. "Matt, that means a lot to me."
"Come on, let's go home." Matt said holding her hand.
Steph smiled, "Sounds good to me."
**How's the party going to go? What will happen if Jeff gets drunk and decides to get a little rowdy? What if Steph gets drunk? Uh-oh! Please read and review!**
Steph awoke the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing. Hoping it was Matt she jumped up and grabbed it, "Hello?!?" She answered hopefully.
But all she was greeted with was the cold, robotic voice of the hotel's wake-up call service. She groaned and hung up the phone. She decided that she might as well start the day off right because she didn't know how well the rest of it would go.
She hopped in the shower and made sure the water was nice and hot. She leaned against the wall and started thinking about everything that happened yesterday. All of the wrestlers were more than happy to cooperate with her when she was in charge, up until the whole "Jeff" incident. That's where it all went downhill. She couldn't get over all of the anger and rage he possessed. Especially when he knew that he screwed up. And then, she was totally shocked to find Paul waiting for her at her car with a rose. He had been such a good friend to her last night. And relaxing in the hot tub was perfect. He could have been awful, but instead he was a complete gentleman. He was happy for her relationship with Matt and was more than willing to lend an ear when she needed it the most. He had totally changed. But now her biggest fear would be brought to the forefront, how would Matt react to everything?
She got out of the shower and got dressed. She looked at the clock and seen that they were now serving breakfast downstairs in the dining area. She grabbed her room key and headed down for breakfast.
When she got down there, she noticed that a lot of the wrestlers were also down there. She talked with a few and found a seat with Paul and Shawn. "Is this seat taken?" She asked them.
"Nah doll, have a seat.." Shawn said pointing to it. "How are you doing this morning?"
"I'm ok. Ready to eat and head off to the airport." Steph replied casually. "How about you?"
"Well, I'm doing good." Shawn said. He turned to Paul, "What about you?"
"I'm definitely ready to eat. But I also can't wait to go home." He said with a smile.
"Do you guys have any big plans?" Shawn asked.
Steph looked to Paul, "You can go first."
"Well, I'm going home to relax first, but tomorrow I'm going over to my sister's and we're going to have a big family get together just to catch up on how everyone's doing." Paul explained. "Go ahead Steph."
Steph paused, "Well, I'm meeting up with some people at the airport and I'm flying out to their house for the weekend." She said hoping that would still be true.
"Someone special?" Shawn asked.
"Yeah, someone special." She said turning red.
"You have someone special in your life and you didn't even tell me about it? Steph, I'm hurt." Shawn said pouting.
"Oh Shawn, you are so dramatic. We were just trying to keep it quiet because it's kind of touchy." Steph replied playfully slapping Shawn on the arm.
"So he's a wrestler?" He asked.
"Yeah, on Smackdown." Steph said.
"Hmmm.are you going to tell me who or are you going to make me find out my own way?" Shawn asked with a smile.
Paul leaned over before Steph could say anything, "Steph's dating Matt Hardy."
Shawn's facial expression was complete shock, "Is he telling the truth? You're dating Matt Hardy?"
"What's wrong with that?" Steph asked suddenly on the defensive.
"Nothing's wrong with that. I'm just surprised because you two seem like total opposites. I bet he'd be good for you." Shawn said patting her hand.
"Thanks Shawn. We are opposite, but yet, things are really good. We have an understanding and respect for each other." Steph said to him.
"That's great. I wish you the best." Shawn replied.
The three ordered their breakfast and talked about wrestling when Steph seen Jeff cut through the restaurant. He went over to Jason Reso and Chris Irvine and sat down with them. Steph quickly put her head down.
Paul saw who had walked in and noticed Steph's reaction. He was surprised that he would even show up to socialize with his friends after what had happened the day before.
After they finished eating, Steph stood up, "Well, thanks for the company, but I'm off to the airport."
Shawn and Paul stood up and gave her good-bye hugs and then Steph was back to being all alone. She grabbed her stuff and loaded up her rental car and began the journey to the airport.
She turned on the radio and every song that came on made her think about Matt and really made her think about how much she cared about him.
She pulled into the rental car return depot and got out. She grabbed her bags and turned in the car and headed down the terminal towards the gate.
Once she made it through security, she found her gate and sat down to await the boarding call. She ran to the gift shop and bought a few magazines, signed a few autographs for a couple fans that recognized her and headed back to where she was sitting when she heard them announce they were now boarding. She got on the plane and breathed a sigh of relief. She had survived one airport, now what will happen at the next? *~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Steph awoke to the pilot advising them that they would be landing shortly and to please buckle up and return all seats to their upright positions. She popped in a piece of gum and began praying for the best.
As they were departing the plane, she saw Jeff up ahead. She didn't know how to act around him anymore. She hated that feeling, but what could she do?
Steph walked in the airport and saw Jeff headed towards Matt. Steph looked up to the ceiling and said a silent prayer. She began walking towards the two brothers.
"Hey Steph!" Matt called with a big smile. He walked towards her and held her. Jeff turned and looked out the window.
"I missed you." Steph said hugging him back.
"So, how did the show go?" Matt asked in an excited tone. "Did it go as well as you hoped?"
"Well, I don't know if we should talk about it here." Steph said nervously.
"Why, what's the big deal? We're just waiting for the luggage anyways." Matt asked her putting his arm around her waist.
Jeff couldn't take it anymore. He was seeing how much Matt liked Steph and knowing what he had seen the night before, Matt needed to know. "The big deal is that she fired me and then went back to the hotel to fuck around with Paul in the hot tub."
Steph turned to him angrily, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Jeff shot back.
"Guys, enough." Matt replied. He turned to Steph, "Would you mind giving Jeff and I minute?"
Steph was so furious with Jeff she could explode, "Go ahead." She said trying not to yell. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes so she quickly turned and walked towards the window.
"Did you just say that you got fired last night?" Matt asked Jeff.
Jeff hung his head, "Yeah, I was really late."
"What the hell happened? I thought that you just went through all of this." Matt said to him in a fatherly tone.
"I woke up late, missed my flight, lost my cell phone, caught the next flight, then my rental car wasn't ready so I had to wait again. Then I got lost on my way to the arena and so I showed up 30 minutes after the show started." Jeff replied.
"Why did you wake up late? Were you out all night again?" Matt questioned him. "Did you forget to set the alarm?"
"No I wasn't out all night, I wound up staying at Beth's house and the alarm didn't go off. Look, it's not my fault. And all Steph would have had to do was just not tell Vince and none of this would have happened." Jeff shouted back.
"Jeff do you hear what you're saying? Why would you even ask Steph to do something like that? She is our boss Jeff, just because she's my girlfriend doesn't mean that she can bend the rules for us." Matt replied.
"It was one favor Matt you act like I asked her to give us a raise." Jeff said sarcastically.
"Jeff, it's the principle. You haven't been yourself lately, maybe this is the best thing that could have happened to you. I think that you are so burned out from trying too much that you've forgotten what's most important." Matt said to him. He reached out and squeezed his shoulder, "I'm sorry you lost your job."
Jeff looked at him, "You need to check your girl though."
"I was getting to that, what did you see?" Matt asked.
"Matt, every Raw the two of them are inseparable. The Raw house shows they are inseparable, now last night I found the two of them in the hot tub together. She was practically sitting in his lap kissing him." Jeff replied.
"And you're sure." Matt questioned.
"Matt, I wouldn't lie to you. All I do is worry about her hurting you." Jeff replied in a strained voice.
"Alright, I'll find out what's been going on." Matt replied giving Jeff a hug.
"Are you guys still coming tonight to the party?" Jeff asked.
"That I know of we are." Matt replied.
"I'm going to catch up with you there, I have to go talk to Beth." Jeff said with a hint of sadness.
"Alright, later." Matt said giving Jeff one last hug.
Matt watched Jeff walk away. Matt sat down and took a deep breath. The thought of Paul and Steph being together all of the time did make him nervous. He knew that Steph still had a part of her that was still in love with Paul. Was Steph outraged because Jeff stumbled across her secret? Or because of the way he was behaving about being fired? Matt sighed and got up and walked over to Steph who was looking out the window. He slipped his arm around her, "We need to talk."
Steph turned to him with tears streaming down her face, "Matt, nothing happened. You know that Paul and I have lunch together every Monday at the arena during the Raw tapings. I hang out with Paul at the house shows because he's on the creative team with me. It's not like I stay in his room. And last night, I was so upset because I had to fire Jeff and him and I got into a really big fight before I had to threaten having him removed from the arena that I was practically in tears. I walked out to my car and Paul was out there waiting for me with a white rose." She explained while trying not to cry, "He told me he could tell that I was really upset and he knew that white roses were my favorite so he bought me one to cheer me up. We went out to dinner and we were talking and he started to hint that he was going to ask me out so I interrupted him and told him that you and I were dating. He was hurt that I didn't trust him enough to tell him earlier, but he wished us luck and happiness. Then I told him that I wanted to relax in the hot tub and we went down and relaxed for awhile. That's it."
"So why were you in his lap then?" Matt asked. He had to know.
"I wasn't in his lap. Ever. I started crying because I was afraid of how you would react to me firing your brother and Paul had been such a good friend that I hugged him. We talked about how I was so scared that you would dump me because of Jeff and his situation and because I probably won't fit in real well tonight at Shannon's party. I was really impressed with how much he had grown up, so I hugged him. It wasn't a long embrace, it was a normal hug. No kissing, no nothing. Matt, I wouldn't cheat on you. I wouldn't cheat on anyone." Steph said to him keeping full eye contact. She was telling the truth and she didn't want Jeff filling Matt's head with any stories that could jeopardize their relationship.
Matt took both of Steph's hands in his, "Steph," He said slowly. "I believe you. I'm a little surprised that you were so upset about how I would react to you firing my brother. And that you're so afraid of not fitting in real well at Shannon's, but I believe you. You've always been honest with me about everything, and I'm hoping that it will stay that way. Steph, I'm not holding anything against you because you had to fire Jeff. He signed the contract and he broke the rules. You did what you had to do because you are his boss, and he shouldn't have ever asked you to bend the rules and put you in an uncomfortable situation like that."
Steph bit her bottom lip and looked down to the floor trying not to cry. It felt like a hundred-pound weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.
Matt tipped her face up so she was looking in his eyes, "Steph, I want you to know something."
Steph nodded, still a little uncertain but she definitely felt a lot better.
"I don't want to scare you, but I want you to know something that means a lot to me. And I know that this probably isn't the best place to tell you, but I don't care." Matt said carefully.
"Matt, you can tell me anything anywhere anytime." Steph said softly.
"Stephanie Marie McMahon, I'm falling in love with you." Matt said as he leaned in to kiss her.
Steph was shocked! Those were the last words she expected to hear out of his mouth right now. She kissed him back and held him close. "Matt, that means a lot to me."
"Come on, let's go home." Matt said holding her hand.
Steph smiled, "Sounds good to me."
**How's the party going to go? What will happen if Jeff gets drunk and decides to get a little rowdy? What if Steph gets drunk? Uh-oh! Please read and review!**