PART 16
OCTOBER 23, 2003
Adam pulled his car into the parking lot at the large church in Greenwich, Connecticut. He stopped the door, unbuckling his seat belt and glancing over into the passenger seat. He sent the woman sitting next to him a small grin.
"Thanks for coming with me Adam… I know you didn't want to," Trish said, returning his grin with one of her own.
Adam shrugged, looking out at the church.
Trish had called him two days earlier to ask him if he would consider taking her to Paul and Stephanie's wedding. She had originally planned on going with Randy, but it was quite obvious to both of them that they would no longer be attending together. At first, Adam was leaning towards saying no to Trish's request. He had been invited to the wedding as well, as most of the company had, but he just didn't want to go. Him and a few of his friends – namely, Rob Szaktowski, Jay, both of the Dudley's, John Cena, Eddie Guerrero – had decided that, almost in a way of protest to Paul, they weren't going to show. Trish pulled the guilt trip on him though, saying that it would mean a lot to Stephanie for him to go. Thinking of the young woman who was basically being forced into the marriage made Adam reconsider his decision. Besides, he wasn't going to pass up the chance at spending the day as Trish's date.
"It's cool. Like you said, it's for Stephanie," he said finally, looking over at her as the two of them stepped out of the car. "Besides, I didn't think you would force me into attending an event in the support of Paul Levesque."
"Well that's only because you haven't done anything to piss me off lately," Trish replied jokingly, smacking him lightly on the arm.
"I guess I'll know better than to get on your nerves then," he said, laughing quietly. The two of them continued walking in the direction of the building. Once they reached the doors, Trish stopped suddenly, causing Adam to stop as well. He turned to face her, sending her a questioning look.
"What is it?" he asked curiously. Trish's eyes glanced up at down at the large building before them before she turned to face him.
"Nothing, I was just thinking," she said, shrugging it off. Adam wasn't so quick to forget about it.
"What were you thinking about?" he asked, pressing for her to continue. Trish sighed, looking up at him.
"I was just thinking about Chris, that's all," she admitted, shrugging again. Adam looked down at her again, raising an eyebrow.
"Chris? What about him?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, I don't know… I'm just not so sure I like the idea of him being here today," she said skeptically, her eyes fixed on the large wooden doors of the church.
Adam nodded… he had to agree with her. He didn't understand why Chris would even want to show up at Stephanie and Paul's wedding in the first place. It had to be torture for him, watching a woman he was madly in love with marry another man… especially one that she didn't even want to marry. The Canadian just didn't get why he would want to put himself through all that. Then again, it *was* Chris, and he had a tendency to do a lot of weird things in the name of love.
"I don't really like it either Trish, but he was invited. Nobody can tell him not to come," Adam pointed out.
"True, but still, I don't like it," she said. "I mean, this whole thing is obviously going to upset him. I'm just afraid of him doing something he'll regret."
"Like what?" Adam asked, slightly on the defensive side. He didn't think that there was anything Chris could do to Paul, or Vince McMahon for that matter, that he would regret. Trish frowned at the jumpiness in Adam's tone. She knew that he had pretty much the same feelings for Paul as Chris did, so there wasn't much she could argue with him about.
"Nothing Adam, I just… I don't want him breaking down in the church or anything," she said seriously. As much as she would hate to see that, it wasn't something she considered impossible. Chris was, although he made himself out to be very macho, a very sensitive man, and it would surprise Trish in the least to see him have a breakdown during the wedding.
"Well, I doubt anything like that will happen. Come on, let's just go in and do our best to enjoy the wedding," he suggested, placing his hand on her shoulder and leading her into the building.
The truth of the matter was, Adam *did* thing that something was going to happen with Chris. There was no way Chris would show up at the wedding unless he had some kind of plan, something he could do to ruin it without getting himself into major trouble. He was Chris Jericho for Christ's sake… he *always* had something up his sleeve. Adam almost smiled at the thought. He could use a few good laughs. He didn't care how the wedding was broken up, as long as the job got done.
They were in for one hell of a ceremony.
TWENTY MINUTES LATERPaul Levesque stood at the head of the aisle, glancing out at the people in the church, waiting for Stephanie to come down the aisle. He caught a glimpse of his mom, who he smiled and winked at, and then continued to scan the pews. He was actually quite surprised at the turnout… he didn't have many friends these days. A few people that stuck out of the crowd to him were Adam Copeland, Trish Stratus, Shawn Michaels, and… Chris Irvine? Paul's eyes narrowed as he stared at the blonde haired man, who was seated near the back of the church. He wasn't sure of exactly why Chris had shown up… he certainly hadn't been planning on it… but he would kill him if he tried to pull anything. As he continued to stare, he jumped when Chris's ice blue eyes met his. He looked away quickly, scowling. Don't even think about it Irvine, he thought sadistically. You fuck up my wedding and I will murder you.
Then, the organ music sounded and Paul's head turned to the other end of the aisle, where he saw Stephanie standing, her arm linked with Vince's. As the two headed in the direction of Paul, the wedding party, and the priests, it was obvious to all the guests that the bride to be was not happy at all. In fact, as she passed her mother, Linda could plainly see the tears in her daughter's brown eyes. She, as well as mostly everyone else, knew that they were not tears of joy, but tears of despair. She desperately wished that she had done more to fight this, to somehow get the wedding cancelled so that Stephanie wouldn't have to go through with it, but it was too late.
Once Stephanie reached the top of the aisle, Vince stepped in front of her and lifted up her veil, smiling down proudly at her. Stephanie managed to send a weak smile back, but what she really wanted to do was spit right in his smug, ugly face. She despised her father for forcing her into this wedding, and she wasn't sure how long she could keep the happy façade going when she was actually ready to throw up. She glanced up at Paul as the priest began speaking, staring at him in disgust. She didn't want to marry him… this wasn't the way her wedding day was supposed to be. A woman's wedding day was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, one that is filled with joy and love. Her wedding to Paul Levesque was making a mockery of the institution of marriage. She felt the hot tears burning at her eyes as she watched Paul turn and wink at Kevin Nash, who was playing the role of his best man. The two of them, along with her father, seemed to be the only happy people in the entire room. Even Randy Orton and Ric Flair, who were standing to the side of Nash, appeared a little uncomfortable watching the making of a union they knew wouldn't last. Stephanie did her best to blink the tears back, shaking her head slightly and forcing herself to pay attention to the minister, who was already well into the ceremony.
"And so, if there is anyone who feels that these two should not be united in the holy state of matrimony, speak now, or forever hold your peace," he said, glancing out to the crowd in the church.
There was a moment of split silence, and then someone in the back rose. Everyone turned in their seats, gasping as they watched Chris Irvine standing in his pew, eyeing Paul with an icy glare. He took his gaze off of Paul and shifted to Stephanie, sending her a strong smile. Then, he looked back at the priest, speaking loudly and firmly so that the whole church could hear him.
"I object."
Hey all! Hope you liked this chapter!! LOL, you didn't think I'd actually *let* Stephanie marry HHH did you? Review please!!! I'm almost at 100 reviews!! Thank you so much guys!!!