PART 18
"Randy?" Trish asked, eyeing her ex boyfriend in disbelief. His arm still wrapped around her, Randy shrugged and nodded. He said nothing as he watched Gail Kim pick herself up off the floor, the Asian diva muttering a string of curses as she hurried away. Then, he turned his attention back to Trish, helping the blonde woman up to her feet. He glanced down at her, noticing that the expression on her face had gone from incensed to surprised… maybe even pleasantly surprised. Randy knew still that Trish would want an explanation, so he prepared himself to do just that.
"Look, Trish, I…" he said, pausing to bring his hand up to his jaw, where she had punched him. It was when he spoke that he realized for the first time that she had a hell of a right hook. Still holding onto his jaw, Randy tried again. "Um… are you okay?" he asked, his pale blue eyes full of concern. Ignoring his question, Trish's gaze changed into one of almost sympathy as Randy continued to clutch his jaw painfully.
"Randy, I'm sorry," she said, tentatively raising her hand to his face, touching his jaw line gently. "Are *you* okay? I didn't mean to punch you like that, I just…"
"I'm fine," he assured her, laughing softly. "You uh… you've got a hell of a punch."
Trish smiled briefly, and then their conversation fell into silence. It wasn't a comfortable one though… it was one of those weird, awkward, uncomfortable ones. It was obvious that both of them wanted to say something, but the matter of actually getting the words out just wasn't happening. Trish looked up at Randy, their eyes meeting for the first time she he had shown up. Her breath caught in her throat as he stared down at her, his arm *still* locked around her waist, almost in a protective manner. It was almost as though he was afraid to let go, in fear of not being able to get her back there again. Then, letting curiosity get the better of him, Randy spoke up again.
"What happened?" he asked, loosening his grip on her and sitting down on a nearby equipment crate, pulling her with him. "I-if you don't mind my asking, I mean." Trish eyed him suspiciously. Why was he being so friendly and caring? She wasn't sure what he was up to, but at the moment, she was in desperate need of someone to talk to, so Randy would have to do. She sighed, deciding to go along.
"Well… she just came up to me while I was messing around in my notebook," she said, pausing and pointing to the notebook, which was on the floor in front of them, "and she just got in my face and started saying shit. She kept trying to take the book away from me, and then she started saying stuff that I didn't particularly like, and the next thing I knew, we were fighting. I know that I should have just blown her off, but she was really getting under my skin. I just… I overreacted," she explained, lowering her head. For some reason, Randy just didn't think that was the case. Trish had always been one of the most level headed people he knew. Still, he nodded perceptively, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She just looked so damn upset…
"Are you sure you're okay?" Randy asked suddenly. Trish sighed, looking over at him.
"Well, yeah, I just… I could get in big trouble for this," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.
"People get in fights all the time, Trish. You're not going to get in that much trouble," he assured her.
"You don't know that," Trish shot back. "Especially knowing Gail… I bet anything that she's already ran off to find Vince to rat me out. She'll probably tell him that *I* started the fight, and he'll probably believe her too because he hates that I'm friends with Stephanie." Randy nodded… she had a point.
"Well, I wouldn't put it past Gail to do that. She has a tendency of being a real bitch," he agreed. He should have known better than to say that. Trish shot him a look.
"Why are you acting like you don't like her? You didn't seem to have a problem with her when your dick was in her mouth," she snapped bitterly, the painful memories of Randy cheating on her with her own coworkers rushing back to her mind. Randy frowned at her cold tone. Ouch.
"Alright, I deserved that," he conceded, carefully removing his arm from around her shoulder. "Trish, I know I fucked up, okay? That doesn't mean that I don't care about you." Trish's gaze softened as she heard his quiet, almost shy tone. When she didn't say anything in response, Randy continued. "A-and I don't expect this to change anything, but I'm… I'm sorry," he said softly. Trish looked over at him, suddenly feeling the strongest urge to cry. She wasn't sure why, but it was there, and she found herself fighting tears.
"Sorry…" she repeated him, in a tone so quiet that it was barely audible.
Randy nodded, keeping his gaze locked on her intently as he waited for a reaction. He wasn't exactly sure how Trish was going to take his apology, but his gut told him to prepare for the worst. With the way their conversation was going, he was half expecting to become the victim of another right hook. When she finally did react, however, he was completely taken aback. He was pretty much expecting her to freak out. He had mentally prepared himself to hear her scream at him, to hear Trish cry and scream about how much he hurt her, how much pain he put her through. He would have deserved it too, but he didn't get it. She didn't scream, she didn't cry, and she certainly didn't punch him. But she did do something, something that shocked the hell out of Randy…
She kissed him.
MEANWHILEStephanie McMahon sat in her office, sorting through the script for the night's show. She sighed tiredly as she made some editing changes. She was still a part of the writing team, but not in the way she wanted to be. Her father had all of a sudden decided – right after the wedding fiasco, not surprisingly – that it would be in the 'best interest of the company' for her to step down from the position of head writer. Paul Heyman, who was elected by her father alone as her replacement, knew damn well that Vince appointed him only for the sole purpose of getting under Stephanie's skin, but that smug bastard gleefully accepted the job anyway. A sudden knock at the door drew Stephanie's attention away from the scripts and she looked up at the door.
"Come in," she called, placing her pen down on the desk in front of her as she waited to see who had come to see her.
"Hi," a pair of blue eyes said.
"Hi Chris," Stephanie replied, sending him a small smile. Shutting the door behind him, Chris walked over to her and took a seat in a chair in front of her desk.
"How are you?" he asked, eyeing her curiously.
Shrugging, Stephanie responded, "I'm kind of busy, but I'm okay."
She hoped that maybe he would take the hint that she was busy and leave her to her work. Actually, the truth was that she wasn't all that busy, but she just couldn't bring herself to talk to him. She hadn't really been able to since her wedding… or lack thereof. She was so grateful to him for what he did, so she just couldn't tell him what was going on in her head. Not after all he'd done.
"Um, Steph, can I ask you something?" he requested, folding his hands in his lap. Picking up her pen again, Stephanie went back to her work.
"Sure," she said. "Shoot."
"Can you… can you explain why you haven't spoken so much as four words to me in the last week? Did I do something wrong?" he asked, his blue eyes containing a mixture of confusion and concern.
"No. What would make you think that?" she asked, just as confused.
"I don't know, I just… well, I know a lot's been going through your mind lately, and I know you must want to talk to someone," he said. Stephanie looked up at him for a moment, her gaze serious as she shrugged her shoulders.
"I guess… but you've done enough Chris. I don't want to burden you anymore than I already have," she said honestly.
"But Stephanie, you aren't a burden to me at all. I *asked* to help you, remember? Besides, I'm always here for you. And, as weird as it may sound right now, you're my wife," he said.
Wife, Stephanie thought. What a mockery of the word I am. She just couldn't bear to be in this situation anymore. It was almost as though marrying Chris was the same as being married to Paul. Paul was an asshole, and Chris only married her to help her out as a friend. Neither man loved her. What the hell was the point of having a marriage if there was no love in between the husband and wife. She couldn't stand it anymore, and it had only been a week. Then, she did the only thing she could think of at the moment…
She stood and swiftly exited the room, leaving behind a very confused Canadian.
I'm baaaaaack!!! LOL, hope ya'll like this chapter. I do have a question for you guys though. I want to know what direction you want this story to take. After reading this chapter, its obvious that one of two things could happen. A.) Randy and Trish could get back together for awhile, or B.) Randy could nicely turn her away, because he doesn't want to hurt her anymore. What do you all think? Let me know in your reviews!!