"Hunter…" she managed to whimper out. He took a most unwelcome seat next to her.
"Listen sweetheart, I know what you did was an accident. We all have tempers. Now lets just go home and sort all of this out over a nice dinner, huh?" Hunter reached for her hand and almost grabbed it. But at his touch, she flinched and pulled back harshly.
"I have told you my story officer. Now I am assuming that there will be a court date planned, and until then, I want to see if I can get a PPO against this man, and I want to talk about divorce as soon as possible," Her tears were still pouring and inside, she was frightened. If she went back to him, she would be giving up her happiness, and that is something she was willing to fight for no matter how frightening that was.
Chris couldn't help but let out a smile. This was his Stephanie he remembered. She wouldn't be taking anymore of his shit, now she was free.
The officer let out a sigh. "If you feel he is threatening I can put out a PPO, but only until the court date. Then if he is found guilty, the PPO will be permanent. I need both of your signatures here to certify you understand the terms of the PPO, you are not allowed to be in fifty feet of each other until further notice."
"Sir, this is my wife. She is no danger to me and I understand her temper. There is no reason for this PPO," Hunter said, sounding so sincere that Stephanie almost wanted to go back to him. She knew deep down that he was just trying to hurt her again. His fake sincerity would not fool her. Not this time.
She looked up at Shane and Chris for support but found them both scowling at Hunter. She could tell how pissed they were at him for still trying to get out of this whole situation, but they remained quiet, waiting for Stephanie to step up and stop this from starting all over again. She knew that she needed this done.
"Mr. Helmsley, if your wife insists you are dangerous, until the court date, she has the right to do this. You'll always have the phone to communicate, so I see no reason why this should be a problem. Please read and sign here," the officer said, starting to get annoyed.
Hunter signed reluctantly. He turned to Stephanie. "Will you be coming over to pick up your things tonight then?" He asked, almost hopeful to see Stephanie alone.
She gave him a sarcastic smile. "Chris has been nice enough to supply me with some clothing until I can pay him back and I am sure I can borrow some money from my father. Oh, and consider yourself fired, Hunter," She sneered. Now that she wasn't trapped, her confidence soared with every minute she stood before him.
"Mrs. Helmsley, I am afraid you cannot fire him until the court decides what is going on between the two of you," the officer was reluctant to give Stephanie this information.
"Well, I can always find loop holes. This is my family's business and I have a copy of his contract," She turned and looked at Hunter. "But until I do, if I decide to even go to work, you had better stay within your limits of me," Stephanie said.
The officer took the signed PPO statement and gave Hunter and Stephanie each a carbon copy of it. "Here is my number where I will be staying officer," she wrote Shane's number down and stood up from her chair. "Can I leave now?"
The officer took the number and put it in one of his vanilla folders. "You may leave."
Stephanie turned to leave followed by Shane. Chris followed last before taking one last look at an irate Hunter. Hunter threw a threatening glance at Chris. He knew Chris was responsible for all of this.
Stephanie walked back in Chris' house, showing the biggest smile she had shown in ages. "Chris I did it!" she yelled throwing her arms around him. "I actually stood up to him. I mean, I said I would for the longest time, but he always frightened me out of it. I actually did it and now I can move on all thanks to you," she loosened her grip around his neck letting her hands fall over his broad shoulders. "Thank you."
She let go, running up his stairs to his bedroom. "I'll be able to get out of your way now. Just let me get my things."
Chris forced a half hearted smile. "Yeah…" he reluctantly agreed.
Shane walked in taking a seat at Chris' table. "So why did you help Stephanie? I mean, you guys don't get along so well…" Shane recalled the moment only minutes before of Stephanie jumping into Chris' arms. "At least before now." He added with a smirk,
"I don't know. I guess I always imagined her as strong. She was always fun to make fun of because I could never hurt her no matter what I said. She always had a comeback, and I had found my match. When I heard about all of this, I was angry. Hunter must have done some shitty things to make her crumble like that you know?" Chris answered. "She was always so strong."
Shane merely nodded.
Stephanie practically skipped down the stairs with her hands full of clothes Chris had bought her the day before. "Let me take those out to the car for you," Shane offered, holding his hand out to Chris. "Thanks man. If you need anything you can give me or Steph a call," he turned to Stephanie, "You can give him the number. I will meet you in the car. See you later Chris," Shane said, taking the handfuls of clothing and leaving.
Stephanie showed Chris another one of her beautiful smiles. Chris gently pushed a stray strand of hair behind Stephanie's ear. This left him with the oddest feeling of déjà vu from his dream. He smiled back at her, and back the memory of his dream. The dreams weren't so bad now that he was getting used to the idea of Stephanie being a friend instead of his enemy.
She tore her gaze away from his and went to the kitchen. She grabbed a scrap piece of paper from his table and wrote her new number down. She walked over to his fridge and used a magnet to post her number there. "Call me if you need anything, or if your just bored."
She walked over to him and gave him one last, long hug. She pulled away, and turned towards the door. She left without another word.
A/N: Yeah long time no update. School is a real drag and I haven't had time to get on here a lot. Please review, and hopefully I'll find time to update sooner!