PART 15
TWO WEEKS LATER
Randy sighed loudly as he stepped into his locker room. Ric Flair, who was sitting on one of the couches reading a magazine, glanced up at him when he entered, frowning at what he saw. Instead of the usual slacks and dress shirt that Randy wore to arenas, the young man was clad in sweat pants and a huge plain white tee shirt.
"Hey kid, are you sick or something?" he asked, eyeing Randy up and down. It wasn't that he minded Randy dressing down on his own time, but at work Evolution was considered the richest, fanciest stable in the company… it just wasn't right to not dress the part.
"No, not really," Randy replied plainly. "Why?"
"Well, you're dressed like, for lack of a better term, a slob," Ric pointed out, gesturing to Orton's choice of clothing. Randy looked down and eyed his outfit for a moment.
"Look Ric, I'm sorry I didn't dress up or anything. I'm just not in the mood today, alright?" he told him, hoping that Flair wouldn't give him too much trouble. He knew that he and Paul were big on being dressy, but to him, it wasn't that big a deal. It was only clothes for God's sake.
"Oh… okay, well, what's wrong?" Flair asked, his voice showing genuine concern.
"A lot of shit… I'd just rather not talk about it," Randy answered flatly. Ric raised an eyebrow, wondering what had gotten the kid in such a bad mood.
"Oh, come on… just tell me. You'll feel much better that way, I promise," Ric assured him. Randy firmly shook his head.
"Nope, I'm just fine not telling you," he stated, standing up straight and crossing his arms under his chest. "Honestly Ric, I'd tell you, if I didn't think you'd feel the need to share it with certain people." Ric's brow raised as he suddenly understood why Randy didn't want to talk to him.
"You don't want me talking to Paul about this I'm guessing," he said. "Randy, if you really don't want me to mention anything to him, just say the word and I won't."
"I don't want you to say anything to him. He'll never get off my case about it," Orton replied, and Ric nodded.
"Okay, you have my word. I won't tell him a thing. Just tell me what's going on," he said truthfully. He knew that Randy looked up to him more than Paul, so if he wanted him to keep it a secret, he'd keep it a secret.
"Oh, alright. It's just… this whole situation with Trish is bugging me. I… I know what I did was wrong, and I feel terrible about it. I'm so confused about where I want my life to be. There are times where I'm glad we broke up, because now I don't have to sneak the women around, but then again, there are times where I miss her. She and I were able to have conversations… not just sex. It's like I'm standing at a crossroad and I'm not sure which path it is I want to take," he explained. Flair nodded, thinking deeply about what Randy had said.
"I understand how you feel. I'm not sure there's anything I can do, but I understand, believe me. It'll get better once you get comfortable not having her around. Trust me, you don't need Trish," Flair said. Randy wasn't so sure about that, but he nodded anyway.
"I guess you're right," he said half-heartedly. "Well, I'm going to go grab something to eat, do you want anything?"
Flair shook his head, "No, I'm good." Then, as Randy was walking out the door, a white envelope caught Ric's eye. "Hey, Randy, wait a second!" he called after him.
"Yeah?" Randy asked, poking his head in the door. Flair stood, motioning for him to come back in the room as he walked over and grabbed the envelope off the table. He walked back over to Randy, handing it to him.
"Somebody dropped this off and said to make sure that you got it," he explained.
Randy eyed the envelope curiously, wondering what it was from. Then, he noticed an Orange County Police insignia on the top corner of it. It was his paternity test results. Breathing deeply, Randy wasn't so sure he even wanted to open it. After all, if he was the father of Christina Lee's baby, he didn't want to know, especially considering the fact that he didn't even know who Christina Lee was. Then again, if the child was indeed his, he had to take care of it. Regardless of whether or not he *wanted* to, it would automatically become his obligation. Sighing loudly, he slowly ripped off the top of the envelope. He closed his eyes as he pulled the paper out, not wanting to look at it. Ric raised an eyebrow at him, walking over and leaning over Randy's shoulder to see what the paper was. It had certainly peaked his curiosity earlier when a paper with the Orange County PD logo on it showed up. Randy almost felt himself shaking as he dared to open one eye. With the other eye squeezed shut, he scanned the paper. He felt the air rush out of him when he read down the bottom…
He was the father.
OCTOBER 22, 2003Chris sat alone in his hotel room, thinking to himself about his current situation. Tomorrow was the 23rd, the day of the big Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque wedding. Just the thought of Stephanie being married to that creep made him want to puke. There was no way he could let her go through with it. She didn't want to marry him, so why should she have to? If only her father wasn't such an asshole. If only he wasn't forcing her to go on with the wedding even though he *knew* how much she was against it. If only he could think of a way to break it up before it started. Hell, if only a lot of things were different. There *had* to be a way that Chris could get that wedding stopped. He thought and thought, but nothing was coming to his head… nothing logical, anyway.
He smirked as he thought of possibly attacking Paul or Vince before the wedding. Stephanie couldn't get married if her father or husband were conveniently missing, could she? Maybe he could tie Paul up and lock him in a closet. Not only would that prevent him from getting married, but that would embarrass the living hell out of him also. Chris almost laughed at how dumb that idea was. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He had to get serious… the wedding was tomorrow, and if he didn't think of something soon, Stephanie would be a Levesque in less that 24 hours.
Chris scowled as his anger shifted from Levesque to Vince McMahon. That man was such a slimy bastard… he deserved to be attacked even more so than Levesque. Paul was only a jerk because that was the only way he knew how to be… Vince *chose* to be an asshole, and he obviously enjoyed it. He thought of Stephanie telling him that her father had actually looked as though he was going to hit her. Chris would have loved to be in the room when that happened. He would have killed him. In all honestly, it was best that he *wasn't* in the room… losing his job wasn't something he was anxious to do.
Finally, something hit him. As he was sitting there, thinking about the process of the wedding, it came to him. He had the perfect way of stopping the wedding, and it didn't involve hurting anyone physically… it hardly involved physicality at all. A sly smile curved up his lips as he laughed quietly in the otherwise silent room. It was perfect. All of a sudden, he found himself very excited about the wedding. Things were definitely beginning to look up…
It didn't look like Stephanie was going to be getting married after all.
Hey all! Hope you're still enjoying it!! Let me know what you think!! **Britney