Disclaimer: I haven't done one of these in a while so I thought I would remind you that I still don't own anyone except Lorelei. I am simply borrowing the rest for my own amusement, and hopefully yours
Never Say Never
Chapter 25
It had been two weeks since Lorelei had left, and Paul honestly was pretty miserable. He knew what he had to do to begin the process, that would inevitably be hard and most likely unsuccessful, but he couldn't bring himself to make Stephanie leave. He knew he had gotten himself into this mess from his own choices, but he couldn't undo it without going absolutely crazy.
Stephanie, as much as he hated it, was going to have his child, and he wanted to be there every step of the way. The baby would know if he wasn't there and it would be one more barrier in a normal father child relationship.
Paul told himself at first that Lorelei had just needed some time to calm down and that she would come back, but she wasn't here yet. He honestly didn't think that she would ever come back. If he made Stephanie leave it wasn't a sure fire bet that he could fix the already complicated relationship that he and Lorelei had. He wanted something that was sure right now, and the only thing he had for sure was the baby.
He had hardly seen Lorelei even a work. They didn't have many things to shoot together now that Randy was getting all the attention in that onscreen duo. Lorelei had been almost reduced to his lackey who distracted the ref or his opponent, usually Paul. She had only defended the title once since she won it. That time they scripted her to cheat to win, even though she and Randy were faces.
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Lorelei was thoroughly convinced that Paul wasn't ever going to come for her. She knew that he would need a few days for everything to sink in, that was just the way it was, but she had been imposing on Mike and Rebecca's space for nearly two weeks now.
Part of her was happy he hadn't come to Mike and Rebecca's but they were in the same freaking place as each other three to four nights a week. She hadn't made herself hard to find. She even told people that if he asked to let him know where she was. It was as annoying as hell knowing that he was right there, but still hadn't come to find her.
It was also depressing. She gave him everything she had, and he obviously wanted Stephanie. She should have seen it coming, Stephanie had more power, wealth and beauty than she could ever have dreamed of having. It had been pointless to let Paul come back. She knew that Stephanie would just come back and eventually win. Maybe Stephanie deserved to win. She was just a fool for even trying. She should have let Stephanie have him a long time ago. They deserve each other.
She wasn't sure of her place anymore. She had come to think of herself as Paul's wife ore than any other role in her life. It was Paul who got her everything she had now. If she wasn't Mrs. Levesque then she wouldn't have the respect and the spot in the company she did now. She might have been able to get herself a developmental contract, but no way would she have been able to get herself all that she had now in such a short time. Everyone defined her as Paul's wife. Even if someone didn't know her name they knew she was Mrs. Levesque.
"Just go to him and tell talk to him," Rebecca told her. "I know that you think that would be him winning, but your miserable without him."
"Why? If he loved me he would have followed me to the ends of the earth like I would have done for him," Lorelei said. "Why make a fool of myself again and go back? I can make a fool of myself enough without following a lost cause."
"Maybe he's just giving you your space. Maybe he thinks that when you calm down you'll come back," Rebecca told her.
"I told him when he gets his priorities straight to come find me; how much more clear could I get?" Lorelei asked. "I refuse to let him make a fool of me again. I can't let him walk all over me."
"Is it really worth making yourself miserable about? You can't deny that you're unhappy; everyone can see it on your face. Even people who barely know you know that you're miserable. It's written in your eyes," Rebecca said. "And you haven't been exactly nice to people the way that you used to."
"I don't care. I can't go through this again. I can't let Stephanie be the center of his world, and me be the other woman. I'm his wife damn it. I don't mean to sound selfish, but my patience is extremely thin at the moment," Lorelei said.
"He knows that you're his wife, but he feels the need to take care of his own also. It's a natural instinct. If Mike found out that he had a child from before he met me then he would do anything in his power to get to know the child. It's the way the world works. Unfortunately, right now Paul's own is growing inside Stephanie. He's not making Stephanie the center of his world; he's making the baby the center of his world," Rebecca said. She knew from just seeing both Paul and Lorelei that they were absolutely miserable.
"That doesn't make it any better because every time I'm around Stephanie I feel the urge to push her down the steps or something equally violent. I'm not a violent person, but that woman brings out the worst in me. That's only going to get me into trouble, because she's a bitch and wants me to be the bad guy," Lorelei said. "This is a no win situation. I know that, so I'll sulk for a while then see what I can do about moving on."
"Whatever. I can't make you do anything. I can only tell you what I see," Rebecca said. "I'm going to go watch Mike's match. Catch you later."
Lorelei knew that her friend was trying to be helpful, but she didn't know very much of the history between the couple. Lorelei also knew that much of what the older woman was telling her might be true.
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Stephanie knew that she wasn't winning. Lorelei's physical presence might be out of Paul's life for the moment, but he was miserable without her. It was like he needed her to keep him from going off the deep end. He was back to his cruel, at times manipulative self that he was before Lorelei, and Stephanie wasn't sure she could take it.
For the first time some serious doubt was crossing her mind that her and Paul weren't meant for each other. All the other doubts she had she'd been able to pin on hormones, but this was different. It was like a sinking feeling in the pit of her heart. No matter how long Lorelei stayed away, she would be the one that Paul constantly thought about.
Lorelei would be the name that would at least come to his mind, if not his lips when he was having an intimate experience. It was just the way that it would be.
Stephanie decided that there were two things she could do like always: She could back down and let Stephanie win, which wasn't ideal, but would make everyone except her happier, or she could keep going and know that Paul was only with her because Lorelei had left and she was the one that was carrying his baby. That would be pure hell, but at least she would be with the man she loved.
As she thought about it, she he realized that it was a no win situation. Nothing that she could do would actually bring both her and Paul lasting happiness. She didn't know why she even tried to win him back. She should have known that something like this was going to happen. It was stupid of her not to think of the consequences.
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Paul was sure that he couldn't get more miserable if he tried and he had been taking it out on everyone. He'd tried to keep his frustration and miserableness in the gym, but it hadn't been working very well. Even Stephanie was keeping her distance right now. The woman who would never leave wasn't paying all that much attention to him.
He knew that things were going downhill in every aspect of his life, even professionally. He was distracted, but worse he was unable to pull his focus back. He knew that everyone else could see that he wasn't at the top of his game and he knew that by now everyone backstage probably knew that he and Lorelei were on the rocks more than they had ever been which he didn't think was possible without loosing her.
He was so unsure so he went back to being cold and cruel to everyone that came near him. It was easier to keep everything except his own personal torment out that way. He knew that he was regaining his old reputation, but he honestly didn't care. Lorelei was the one who had changed his old reputation, not him. Lorelei was the only one who brought out the fact that he wasn't a cold, calculated bastard, and now he'd gone and lost the best thing that he had going for him.
He knew that as a result of his actions everyone who was close to him, even Ric and Dave were pulling away. Dave was pissed at him as was Ric. They had come to think of Lorelei as family and he'd hurt her in the worst way possible, and was continuing to hurt her, but he couldn't chose. It was like putting one part of his family over another. He knew that Lorelei hadn't intended it that way. She never wanted to hurt anyone even him.
It was too complicated for him to think about right now. He had to find something to do so he began lifting weights again and turned the music up as loud as it would go not caring who he disturbed.
