PART NINE
A WEEK LATER
Stephanie McMahon walked down a hallway in the arena, listening to the sound of her heels clicking on the floor as she made her way through. She was taking a break from her work, so she decided she would take a walk and find Chris. She had been doing a lot of thinking lately, specifically about her and Paul, and she wanted someone to talk to. Chris had always been there for her, so she knew it would be safe to go to him. She finally found the locker room he had told her earlier he'd be using, so she stepped up and knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door opened, and Jay Reso stepped out.
"Hey Steph," he said, grinning at her.
"Hi Jay… is Chris in there? I need to talk to him," she requested. The brunette tried her to peer into the room and see for herself if Chris was in there, but she couldn't really see anything past Jay's shoulder.
"Sure, hang on a second and I'll go get him," he said, turning away from her and closing the door over. Stephanie stepped back and waited. On the inside of the locker room, Jay walked up to Chris, who was in the back of the room, and smacked him on the back of the head.
"Chris, your girlfriend wants to see you," he told him, cracking a smile. Chris looked up at him, sending him a questioning look as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I have a girlfriend?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah," Jay replied, shaking his head. "She just happens to be engaged." Suddenly getting that Jay meant it was Stephanie who wanted to see him, he stood.
"Ohhh… Stephanie wants to see me," he said, heading in the direction of the door. "Okay, thanks Jay." Jay laughed, shaking his head as he watched his friend walk to the door.
When he opened the door, Chris caught sight of Stephanie and grinned. "Hey," he said, stepping out and shutting the door behind him. Stephanie looked up upon hearing his voice.
"Hey Chris," she replied. "I'm sorry to bother you, I just kind of needed to talk to someone." Chris shook his head, putting his arm around her shoulder as he walked them a short distance away from the door. The guys, specifically a certain person named Jay, had a tendency to stand on the other side of the door and listen to the conversations going on on the other side of it.
"You're not bothering me… you know I told you that you could come to me any time you needed to," he reminded her. Stephanie smiled, looking over at him.
"I know you told me that… but a lot of times people say things they don't really mean," she pointed out.
"Not me," Chris insisted, stopping and leaning up against the wall. "Now, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Well," Stephanie started, "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I've come to a decision that I realize I have to act upon. The only thing is, I think I might need your help."
"Okay," Chris said, gesturing for her to continue. "What is it?"
"I think…"
"You think…" he encouraged.
"I think… I think I want to dump Paul," she said finally. Chris's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"You are? That's great!" he cried, breaking out into a huge grin before he mentally cursed himself back into seriousness. He didn't want to seem too excited about that. He had to stay cool, even though he was about ready to do a cartwheel in the middle of the hallway. "I mean, are you sure about this?"
"Yes," Stephanie nodded. "Yes, I really am sure. I have to leave him Chris… I can't be in a relationship, much less marry someone who has openly admitted that he doesn't love me. It's not fair to either of us."
"It's perfectly fair for him," Chris said bitterly. "He doesn't deserve you, or anyone like you. I hope one day he finds a woman who treats him like dirt… maybe he'll learn a thing or two."
"I doubt that," Stephanie said quietly.
"But seriously Steph, that's awesome. I'm really glad you're finally leaving him, but I'm curious… what do I have to do to help you?"
"I'm not sure yet," she said, shaking her head slightly. "I just kind of need support right now, and I wasn't sure who would give it to me."
"Well, you've definitely got it from me… and Adam, and Jay, and all the girls too. We're all on your side Steph, don't forget that. Now, I have to get back in there and get changed for my match, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me, okay?" he said, placing his hand on her shoulder again.
"Okay… thank you Chris," she replied gratefully, pulling him into a hug.
"You're welcome," Chris said, feeling her arms wrap around his neck. Forcing himself not enjoy their embrace too much, Chris pushed her off of him gently, waving goodbye as he went back into the locker room.
Stephanie sighed, leaning up against the wall. Chris was so sweet… having someone like him around would make leaving Paul a little easier… not that it was in any way going to be easy. She still had some major thinking to do as to how she was going to do it. No matter what method of dumping Paul she came up with, she knew it had to be done, and it had to be done soon. It made Stephanie feel a lot better to know that she at least had help. She smiled softly, pushing herself up off the wall and heading back in the direction of her office.
What she didn't see was that Paul Levesque had been watching the whole time from around the corner.
THE NEXT NIGHTAdam was walking down the hallway of the hotel, in search of some kind of vending machine, or some place to buy a drink. Sometimes he hated traveling with Jay… his best friend could be more than forgetful sometimes. He had left every single water bottle and soda can they had bought for the week's trip on his kitchen table. As he passed by the room he knew that Trish was staying in, he thought of popping in to say hello. Then again, he had seen her only an hour ago at the arena, and he didn't want to seem desperate to see her. On top of that, he wasn't sure if Randy was there and after he accused the two of them of screwing around last time, he didn't feel like putting up with it. The Canadian decided against going inside, walking right past the room and continuing down the hall. He finally found a soda machine, putting the dollar bill in and selecting a can before heading back in the direction of the room he was sharing with Jay. When he passed Trish's door again, he stopped, walking over to it. He raised his hand to knock, but when he heard a noise coming from the inside, he hesitated. Once again going with his gut and not his conscience, Adam leaned forward and pressed his ear on the door. From the inside, he could hear what sounded like heavy breathing, and after he completely silenced himself so he could listen more intently, he heard moaning. The blonde man jumped, taking a step back from the door, his jaw dropping. He stepped away from the room, completely mortified. He couldn't believe he had just pressed his ear up against the door when Trish and Randy were very obviously engaged in something heavy. Adam was actually surprised that the two of them would be having sex, especially since Randy was obviously getting it from outside sources. Come to think of it, the woman inside the room didn't sound like Trish… then again, Adam didn't know how Trish sounded while she was having sex. Keep thinking like this and you never will either pervert, he told himself. He turned to walk away, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw a blonde woman walking towards him.
"Hey Adam!" Trish called cheerfully from down the hall. Adam looked up at her, a knot forming in his stomach as he walked up to her. He hoped to God that she wasn't going to her room. Whoever was in there having sex with Randy was obviously not Trish. As much as he wanted Trish to see that Randy was screwing around on her, he didn't want her to have to find out this way.
"Hey Trish, where are you headed?" he asked in a nervous and uneasy tone.
"Just going to go drop my bags off in my room and then head downstairs to get something to eat… I'm starved," she said, placing her hand on her flat stomach. Adam jumped as she tried to walk past him, grabbing her by the arm.
"No! I mean, uh… no, you don't have to drop your bags off do you? My room is right there, you can just put them there," he said, pointing to the room a few doors down. Truth was, his room wasn't even on this floor, but he knew that that room was Kurt Angle's and he could get in there if he needed to.
"Why? My room's only right down the hall," Trish said, raising an eyebrow curiously.
"Yeah, but… you don't need to go all the way down there," he insisted, stepping in front of her and preventing her from going anywhere.
"Adam, what the hell is wrong with you? I'm going to my room," she said stubbornly, pushing past him and walking briskly to her room. Adam winced as Trish approached the door, pulling her keycard out of her pocket and swiped in the door.
"Trish, don't!" he called, but it was too late. Trish pulled the door open, her eyes widening and gasping as she saw what was going on in the room.
"Oh my God…"
Sorry it took so long to update, but I've been hella busy… here's the next chapter!!! Let me know what you think!!!!