Here he was, at Raw, and he'd have to face them. He wasn't sure if he would
be able to do it. Trish and Christian, it just sounded so wrong to him,
Chris and Trish, now that sounded much better. Who needed that extra
"tian"? It was stupid. He wished that he had Stephanie's strength. She
was capable of doing anything, he was so sure of that. But he wasn't like
her, he knew it was going to hurt.
He walked down the hallway and it felt like everyone's eyes were on him. They couldn't possibly know that he had foolishly confessed his feelings for Trish. Trish wouldn't have blabbed that, would she? He was probably just being paranoid, nobody was looking at him, they were all just engrossed in their own conversation. He wondered what Stephanie was up to.
Stephanie sat at a desk with her parents. They were going over new talent. Well, her parents were, they barely noticed she was there, but she hadn't expected anything different. Her and her parents had never had the kind of relationship she thought parents should have. They were cold and business- like, and she was really outgoing and kind of "flippy" as Chris always told her. She didn't know what that meant, but she took it as a compliment.
They had never agreed with any of the choices she had made for herself. They hadn't wanted her to join the business, thinking that she would be more suited as someone's wife. She always thought that was just a thinly veiled insult for calling her stupid. She didn't let that get to her though and had worked hard for the company, proving her worth ten-fold. But her parents would always just see her as the girl who had been engaged and didn't get married like they wanted her to.
She had thought Hunter would be good for her, mostly because her parents loved him. Loved him, they adored him, they had hand selected him to date her. She had been mildly happy. Hunter was outgoing like she was and they had a good time, but he wasn't her one true love. She loved to believe in all that fate stuff, but it just wasn't there for her and Hunter...maybe it was the fact he had used her the entire time and had no less than five other women he had been sleeping with.
"Dad, I really think that we should pass on this guy," Stephanie said, looking once again at a tape of a new wrestler.
"Stephanie, he's a big guy and he's intimidating," Vince told her.
"Yeah, I know, but he barely knows how to run off the ropes, do you really want to spend time and money having to teach him to learn how to wrestle?" she argued.
"He has potential," Vince said, defending his stance.
"I don't think he does Dad."
"Well, my say goes, I am the president of the company."
Stephanie sighed; she shouldn't have expected anything else to come from her father's mouth. Her mother sent her a warning look, silently telling her to drop it. Whatever her father said did go, and she hated it. She frowned in defeat and leaned her chin in her hand. She was never going to change their minds.
"Is that what you wear to work?" Linda asked, looking Stephanie over for about the fiftieth time that evening. Stephanie knew it was only a matter of time before her mother started in on her; she had caught the looks.
"What's wrong with it?" Stephanie asked, looking down at her low-cut black cargo pants and belly-baring t-shirt.
"Don't you think you should project a more professional image? You are management and you should act like it. You don't see Shane walking around in shorts and tank tops do you?"
Stephanie groaned, "Shane has no life, no spark. Why should I aspire to be like him when all he does it sit in his office and work?"
"He's good at what he does," Linda told her, "All I'm saying is that you can benefit from a little makeover."
"Oh my God, you know, I've tried so hard to break free of this mold you want for me. I'm not your clone, I'm not a doll that you can dress up and make do whatever you want! I'm sorry I'm not the perfect kid you wanted, I'm sorry I'm not Shane, but jeez, give me a damn break every once in a while."
"Don't take that tone with us young lady," Vince said, his tone serious.
"I'm not taking any tone, every time I speak, I have a tone, every time I get dressed it's wrong, I'm sorry I'm not what you want me to be," she said, angry tears in her eyes.
Stephanie slammed her papers down on the desk and left the room. Every single time she had to deal with them, it ended the same way, with a fight. Most of the time it was her that stormed out, while her parents sat there stoically, looking as if they had expected this to happen because she wasn't exactly like them, snobby and upper-crust. She walked down the hallway to her office, trying to seek a little solace.
She walked inside and laughed at what she saw. Chris knew she had a meeting with her parents and he knew what went on at them, and how she always felt afterwards. Such were the benefits of having a best friend. The room was filled with balloons with little smiley faces drawn on them, and on her desk sat three large pizza boxes and soda. She walked to her desk and saw there was a note on top of one of the pizzas.
"Got three pizzas, one for me, one for you, and one to throw at your parents when they walk by, I'm sure your dad would throw a fit if he had a slice of pepperoni slide down his face. Oh, and I got ice cream cake! But it's at the hotel, we'll eat it later.
P.S. I'm right behind you."
Stephanie turned around and saw Chris there, with a huge grin on his face. She shook her head and opened one of the pizza boxes. She took a deep breath, the smell tantalizing. He knew her weakness was pizza. She took out a slice, it was still warm and the gooey cheese hung in strings from the sides as she took a big bite.
"Thanks," she said as she swallowed the bite.
"Hey, I know how it is," he said, sitting in her chair, "So what was it this time Stephers?"
"My clothes," she said, "My mom was telling me I need to dress more professionally. In a profession where the employees wear spandex and briefs."
"I think you look wonderful Stephers," Chris said getting up and touching her hair, "Curled tonight...hmm, this isn't your usual style, got a hot date tonight?"
"No," she said, blushing as he started to pull the hair clips holding her hair back, "What are you doing?"
"Let it flow freely," Chris said, "You look much better like that. So...who are you trying to impress?"
"Why you my dear friend, I've had these feelings for you for so long and I just couldn't deny them any longer."
"Wow, this is a surprise, so where should we fuck?"
She shoved him away, "Sick!"
"So really, who's the lucky boy?"
"Nobody," she said, blushing.
"Stephers has a crush, Stephers has a crush," Chris teased, lightly pulling on her hair.
"I do not, I just wanted to look nice," she said haughtily.
"Oh yes, for me perhaps? Because I've seen you while you've had the flu and were throwing up at all hours of the day, so it must be to make up for all those times you looked like shit around me, oh thanks Stephers!"
Chris embraced her and she just laughed and ate her pizza over his shoulder. Chris pulled away and pretended to wipe away pizza grease from off his shoulder. He grabbed a piece of pizza from his box and started eating. They ate in silence for a while, Stephanie taking bites from his food, but that wasn't unusual.
"So really, who's it for?" he asked, no mocking this time.
"You have to promise not to laugh, and I swear to God, if you laugh, I'm going to throw that third box at you."
"Ok, fine, but I reserve the right to snicker inappropriately."
Stephanie looked down for a moment, "Randy."
"NO!" Chris said loudly, her words shocking him, which was difficult with Stephanie, "When did this happen?"
"Nothing's happened," she said, "He just called me yesterday, when you were in the backyard with Sam. I was as shocked as you were, but you know, I thought about it, and Snooks, it's time to move on."
Chris was a little bit hurt that she hadn't told him about this as soon as it happened, "Why didn't you tell me he called?"
"And incur the wrath of Jericho? No thanks, besides, it was just a friendly call."
"Well, it was a little more than friendly obvious, since you actually got dressed up for him."
"You call this dressed up?" she asked, looking down at her outfit.
"Well, you did your hair up," he pointed out.
"So I want to look nice for a guy, it's not the end of the world Snooks," she said, patting his cheek, "But don't be jealous alright?"
"Stephers, the man is friends with Hunter."
"No, he's not," she said, "He has a storyline where he's friends with Hunter, he by no means is friends with Hunter. And now that that's settled, I want to eat my pizza before it gets cold."
"I just worry about you."
"Then worry while eating pizza, or else I'm going to eat both of them."
"Pig," he said.
"Oink oink," she retorted, shoving almost half a slice in her mouth.
"You disgust me."
She just smiled and continued eating. After he had finished a few slices he told her that he had to go get ready for the show and she shooed him out of the door, making him promise not to tell anyone anything about why she was looking slightly better than usual. After swearing on his life, she let him leave. He walked out of the room and started walking to his own room, feeling like going back to Stephanie the entire time. It was always more fun than her.
He passed by Randy in the hallway and gave the man a look. So this was the guy that his best friend wanted to date. He had his suspicions about him, but he wouldn't bother Stephanie with those unless Randy gave him something to worry about. He didn't want to be overprotective of Stephanie, but somebody had to be, her family surely didn't care about her.
"Hey Chris," Randy called out, "I've been wanting to talk to you."
"Me?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, you," he said, walking over, "Look, I called Stephanie last night, to talk."
"Alright."
"Now, I know you two have something going on--"
Chris sighed, everyone was always assuming things about his and Stephanie's relationship. They thought they were just sleeping together, or they were just friends, or they were dating, or they were using each other, or they were on the verge of marriage. It was always something with them, they had heard everything in the book. It didn't matter to them because they knew the real status of their relationship, but it did get tiresome having to explain to everyone what they were.
"There's nothing going on between us," Chris explained, "We're just friends."
"Oh great, because I've been wanting to ask her out, but I didn't want to step on any toes."
"Nope, no toes being stepped on."
"Good, then I was just wondering, um, some stuff about Stephanie, you know, cause I was going to ask her out."
"Oh, what do you want to know?"
"Well, I was wondering, what kind of food does she like? Like if I wanted to take her out, where would I take her."
Chris thought about telling him the wrong thing, just because he thought that Randy wasn't the right type for Stephanie. Stephanie needed someone who was more grounded, and able to put up with her. Despite everything, he knew that Stephanie was a mystery, and difficult to figure out. But he couldn't do that, Stephanie deserved to be happy, even if it was with this yuppy.
"She really likes Mexican, just don't put too many margaritas in front of her, she likes them, too much in fact," Chris said, "And if I find out you did give her too much too drink and you did do something to her, then I will personally make sure that you aren't able to touch a girl ever again."
"Dude, I just wanted to take her out," Randy said.
"I know, I'm just giving you fair warning, you date Stephanie, you have to get along with me."
"I figured that," Randy nodded, "Look, I'm not going to take advantage of her."
"You better not, I have ways of finding things out, and even if I didn't, Stephanie tells me everything there is to know anyways."
"That's good, I'm glad she has a good friend."
"The BEST friend," Chris corrected, "Just making sure that you know that. And this conversation never happened."
"Absolutely," Randy said, "Don't remember a thing."
Chris watched him walk off with a bit of trepidation. He knew that he was a little bit overboard just then, but he felt it was very warranted. Stephanie had been through too much with Hunter and now he was always looking out for her, it just came with the job he supposed.
He kept walking and was thankful that he hadn't seen Trish yet. He could only imagine how awkward their meeting would be. He had practically bared his soul to her and she had rejected him, that wasn't an easy thing to get over. Hopefully, the night wouldn't have him doing anything with Trish, he didn't think he could face the embarrassment right now.
He kept walking slowly, dragging his feet a little. His steps grew heavier as he thought about Trish and Christian. Why did Christian have to have such an active part in this storyline anyways? It should've just been him and Trish and nobody else. Then Christian and her wouldn't have realized they had any sort of feelings for each other and then Chris could've asked her out and then he'd be happy instead of walking dejectedly down the hallway.
Suddenly he felt someone jump on his back and he quickly recovered his balance before he completely fell face forward onto the floor. He knew the squeal well and simply put his arms under her legs and looked over his shoulder. Stephanie was standing there, red faced and out of breath.
"You will not believe what just happened!"
"Let me guess...you found a cure for the common cold!"
"Yup, you know, I was just in my laboratory," she joked, "Randy asked me out!"
"Congratulations Stephers."
"Isn't this great news Snooks? Aren't you happy for me?"
"Of course I'm happy for you, aren't I always happy for you?"
"Uh huh," she nodded emphatically.
"Of course, I know that it doesn't take a lot to make you happy, but I'm glad you're happy."
"Thanks," she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek, "So where are we going?"
"We're going to my dressing room."
"Ooh, fun, but my office has balloons, does your dressing room have balloons?"
"As a matter of fact," he said as he went to his dressing room, and opened the door to see balloons littering the floor, "I do, what fun is a day that doesn't include balloons?"
"No fun at all," Stephanie said with a grin and then looked forward, "Ooh, Snooks, blonde bombshell straight ahead."
Chris looked up, and there she was. Trish Stratus, the object of his affection, the woman of his dreams, the one he desired. She was staring back at him, and he was entranced by her. She looked so beautiful, in a black and white dress that accentuated her curves. It wasn't a fancy dress, but it was beautiful on her. He almost dropped Stephanie as he stared at Trish. Stephanie leaned down to his ear.
"Go talk to her Snooks, while you have the chance."
He walked down the hallway and it felt like everyone's eyes were on him. They couldn't possibly know that he had foolishly confessed his feelings for Trish. Trish wouldn't have blabbed that, would she? He was probably just being paranoid, nobody was looking at him, they were all just engrossed in their own conversation. He wondered what Stephanie was up to.
Stephanie sat at a desk with her parents. They were going over new talent. Well, her parents were, they barely noticed she was there, but she hadn't expected anything different. Her and her parents had never had the kind of relationship she thought parents should have. They were cold and business- like, and she was really outgoing and kind of "flippy" as Chris always told her. She didn't know what that meant, but she took it as a compliment.
They had never agreed with any of the choices she had made for herself. They hadn't wanted her to join the business, thinking that she would be more suited as someone's wife. She always thought that was just a thinly veiled insult for calling her stupid. She didn't let that get to her though and had worked hard for the company, proving her worth ten-fold. But her parents would always just see her as the girl who had been engaged and didn't get married like they wanted her to.
She had thought Hunter would be good for her, mostly because her parents loved him. Loved him, they adored him, they had hand selected him to date her. She had been mildly happy. Hunter was outgoing like she was and they had a good time, but he wasn't her one true love. She loved to believe in all that fate stuff, but it just wasn't there for her and Hunter...maybe it was the fact he had used her the entire time and had no less than five other women he had been sleeping with.
"Dad, I really think that we should pass on this guy," Stephanie said, looking once again at a tape of a new wrestler.
"Stephanie, he's a big guy and he's intimidating," Vince told her.
"Yeah, I know, but he barely knows how to run off the ropes, do you really want to spend time and money having to teach him to learn how to wrestle?" she argued.
"He has potential," Vince said, defending his stance.
"I don't think he does Dad."
"Well, my say goes, I am the president of the company."
Stephanie sighed; she shouldn't have expected anything else to come from her father's mouth. Her mother sent her a warning look, silently telling her to drop it. Whatever her father said did go, and she hated it. She frowned in defeat and leaned her chin in her hand. She was never going to change their minds.
"Is that what you wear to work?" Linda asked, looking Stephanie over for about the fiftieth time that evening. Stephanie knew it was only a matter of time before her mother started in on her; she had caught the looks.
"What's wrong with it?" Stephanie asked, looking down at her low-cut black cargo pants and belly-baring t-shirt.
"Don't you think you should project a more professional image? You are management and you should act like it. You don't see Shane walking around in shorts and tank tops do you?"
Stephanie groaned, "Shane has no life, no spark. Why should I aspire to be like him when all he does it sit in his office and work?"
"He's good at what he does," Linda told her, "All I'm saying is that you can benefit from a little makeover."
"Oh my God, you know, I've tried so hard to break free of this mold you want for me. I'm not your clone, I'm not a doll that you can dress up and make do whatever you want! I'm sorry I'm not the perfect kid you wanted, I'm sorry I'm not Shane, but jeez, give me a damn break every once in a while."
"Don't take that tone with us young lady," Vince said, his tone serious.
"I'm not taking any tone, every time I speak, I have a tone, every time I get dressed it's wrong, I'm sorry I'm not what you want me to be," she said, angry tears in her eyes.
Stephanie slammed her papers down on the desk and left the room. Every single time she had to deal with them, it ended the same way, with a fight. Most of the time it was her that stormed out, while her parents sat there stoically, looking as if they had expected this to happen because she wasn't exactly like them, snobby and upper-crust. She walked down the hallway to her office, trying to seek a little solace.
She walked inside and laughed at what she saw. Chris knew she had a meeting with her parents and he knew what went on at them, and how she always felt afterwards. Such were the benefits of having a best friend. The room was filled with balloons with little smiley faces drawn on them, and on her desk sat three large pizza boxes and soda. She walked to her desk and saw there was a note on top of one of the pizzas.
"Got three pizzas, one for me, one for you, and one to throw at your parents when they walk by, I'm sure your dad would throw a fit if he had a slice of pepperoni slide down his face. Oh, and I got ice cream cake! But it's at the hotel, we'll eat it later.
P.S. I'm right behind you."
Stephanie turned around and saw Chris there, with a huge grin on his face. She shook her head and opened one of the pizza boxes. She took a deep breath, the smell tantalizing. He knew her weakness was pizza. She took out a slice, it was still warm and the gooey cheese hung in strings from the sides as she took a big bite.
"Thanks," she said as she swallowed the bite.
"Hey, I know how it is," he said, sitting in her chair, "So what was it this time Stephers?"
"My clothes," she said, "My mom was telling me I need to dress more professionally. In a profession where the employees wear spandex and briefs."
"I think you look wonderful Stephers," Chris said getting up and touching her hair, "Curled tonight...hmm, this isn't your usual style, got a hot date tonight?"
"No," she said, blushing as he started to pull the hair clips holding her hair back, "What are you doing?"
"Let it flow freely," Chris said, "You look much better like that. So...who are you trying to impress?"
"Why you my dear friend, I've had these feelings for you for so long and I just couldn't deny them any longer."
"Wow, this is a surprise, so where should we fuck?"
She shoved him away, "Sick!"
"So really, who's the lucky boy?"
"Nobody," she said, blushing.
"Stephers has a crush, Stephers has a crush," Chris teased, lightly pulling on her hair.
"I do not, I just wanted to look nice," she said haughtily.
"Oh yes, for me perhaps? Because I've seen you while you've had the flu and were throwing up at all hours of the day, so it must be to make up for all those times you looked like shit around me, oh thanks Stephers!"
Chris embraced her and she just laughed and ate her pizza over his shoulder. Chris pulled away and pretended to wipe away pizza grease from off his shoulder. He grabbed a piece of pizza from his box and started eating. They ate in silence for a while, Stephanie taking bites from his food, but that wasn't unusual.
"So really, who's it for?" he asked, no mocking this time.
"You have to promise not to laugh, and I swear to God, if you laugh, I'm going to throw that third box at you."
"Ok, fine, but I reserve the right to snicker inappropriately."
Stephanie looked down for a moment, "Randy."
"NO!" Chris said loudly, her words shocking him, which was difficult with Stephanie, "When did this happen?"
"Nothing's happened," she said, "He just called me yesterday, when you were in the backyard with Sam. I was as shocked as you were, but you know, I thought about it, and Snooks, it's time to move on."
Chris was a little bit hurt that she hadn't told him about this as soon as it happened, "Why didn't you tell me he called?"
"And incur the wrath of Jericho? No thanks, besides, it was just a friendly call."
"Well, it was a little more than friendly obvious, since you actually got dressed up for him."
"You call this dressed up?" she asked, looking down at her outfit.
"Well, you did your hair up," he pointed out.
"So I want to look nice for a guy, it's not the end of the world Snooks," she said, patting his cheek, "But don't be jealous alright?"
"Stephers, the man is friends with Hunter."
"No, he's not," she said, "He has a storyline where he's friends with Hunter, he by no means is friends with Hunter. And now that that's settled, I want to eat my pizza before it gets cold."
"I just worry about you."
"Then worry while eating pizza, or else I'm going to eat both of them."
"Pig," he said.
"Oink oink," she retorted, shoving almost half a slice in her mouth.
"You disgust me."
She just smiled and continued eating. After he had finished a few slices he told her that he had to go get ready for the show and she shooed him out of the door, making him promise not to tell anyone anything about why she was looking slightly better than usual. After swearing on his life, she let him leave. He walked out of the room and started walking to his own room, feeling like going back to Stephanie the entire time. It was always more fun than her.
He passed by Randy in the hallway and gave the man a look. So this was the guy that his best friend wanted to date. He had his suspicions about him, but he wouldn't bother Stephanie with those unless Randy gave him something to worry about. He didn't want to be overprotective of Stephanie, but somebody had to be, her family surely didn't care about her.
"Hey Chris," Randy called out, "I've been wanting to talk to you."
"Me?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, you," he said, walking over, "Look, I called Stephanie last night, to talk."
"Alright."
"Now, I know you two have something going on--"
Chris sighed, everyone was always assuming things about his and Stephanie's relationship. They thought they were just sleeping together, or they were just friends, or they were dating, or they were using each other, or they were on the verge of marriage. It was always something with them, they had heard everything in the book. It didn't matter to them because they knew the real status of their relationship, but it did get tiresome having to explain to everyone what they were.
"There's nothing going on between us," Chris explained, "We're just friends."
"Oh great, because I've been wanting to ask her out, but I didn't want to step on any toes."
"Nope, no toes being stepped on."
"Good, then I was just wondering, um, some stuff about Stephanie, you know, cause I was going to ask her out."
"Oh, what do you want to know?"
"Well, I was wondering, what kind of food does she like? Like if I wanted to take her out, where would I take her."
Chris thought about telling him the wrong thing, just because he thought that Randy wasn't the right type for Stephanie. Stephanie needed someone who was more grounded, and able to put up with her. Despite everything, he knew that Stephanie was a mystery, and difficult to figure out. But he couldn't do that, Stephanie deserved to be happy, even if it was with this yuppy.
"She really likes Mexican, just don't put too many margaritas in front of her, she likes them, too much in fact," Chris said, "And if I find out you did give her too much too drink and you did do something to her, then I will personally make sure that you aren't able to touch a girl ever again."
"Dude, I just wanted to take her out," Randy said.
"I know, I'm just giving you fair warning, you date Stephanie, you have to get along with me."
"I figured that," Randy nodded, "Look, I'm not going to take advantage of her."
"You better not, I have ways of finding things out, and even if I didn't, Stephanie tells me everything there is to know anyways."
"That's good, I'm glad she has a good friend."
"The BEST friend," Chris corrected, "Just making sure that you know that. And this conversation never happened."
"Absolutely," Randy said, "Don't remember a thing."
Chris watched him walk off with a bit of trepidation. He knew that he was a little bit overboard just then, but he felt it was very warranted. Stephanie had been through too much with Hunter and now he was always looking out for her, it just came with the job he supposed.
He kept walking and was thankful that he hadn't seen Trish yet. He could only imagine how awkward their meeting would be. He had practically bared his soul to her and she had rejected him, that wasn't an easy thing to get over. Hopefully, the night wouldn't have him doing anything with Trish, he didn't think he could face the embarrassment right now.
He kept walking slowly, dragging his feet a little. His steps grew heavier as he thought about Trish and Christian. Why did Christian have to have such an active part in this storyline anyways? It should've just been him and Trish and nobody else. Then Christian and her wouldn't have realized they had any sort of feelings for each other and then Chris could've asked her out and then he'd be happy instead of walking dejectedly down the hallway.
Suddenly he felt someone jump on his back and he quickly recovered his balance before he completely fell face forward onto the floor. He knew the squeal well and simply put his arms under her legs and looked over his shoulder. Stephanie was standing there, red faced and out of breath.
"You will not believe what just happened!"
"Let me guess...you found a cure for the common cold!"
"Yup, you know, I was just in my laboratory," she joked, "Randy asked me out!"
"Congratulations Stephers."
"Isn't this great news Snooks? Aren't you happy for me?"
"Of course I'm happy for you, aren't I always happy for you?"
"Uh huh," she nodded emphatically.
"Of course, I know that it doesn't take a lot to make you happy, but I'm glad you're happy."
"Thanks," she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek, "So where are we going?"
"We're going to my dressing room."
"Ooh, fun, but my office has balloons, does your dressing room have balloons?"
"As a matter of fact," he said as he went to his dressing room, and opened the door to see balloons littering the floor, "I do, what fun is a day that doesn't include balloons?"
"No fun at all," Stephanie said with a grin and then looked forward, "Ooh, Snooks, blonde bombshell straight ahead."
Chris looked up, and there she was. Trish Stratus, the object of his affection, the woman of his dreams, the one he desired. She was staring back at him, and he was entranced by her. She looked so beautiful, in a black and white dress that accentuated her curves. It wasn't a fancy dress, but it was beautiful on her. He almost dropped Stephanie as he stared at Trish. Stephanie leaned down to his ear.
"Go talk to her Snooks, while you have the chance."