Chapter Five
"Don't you feel so much better getting out?" Torrie asked Stephanie as they strolled together in a New Hampshire park.
"Paul and I used to walk in this park in the evenings sometimes…" Stephanie said, clasping at his wedding band that she wore around her neck on a gold chain.
It was a beautiful spring day. Torrie really hoped that a walk in a park would brighten Stephanie's spirit, since she had been cooped up in the house for weeks.
"You know Stephanie…" Torrie began, putting her arm around her best friend. "I think it'd be best if you'd go stay with your parents in Connecticut. There's too many memories in that house. You can't possibly move on with your life if you are constantly being reminded of Paul and Adriana."
Stephanie turned to Torrie. Her face wore the look of devastation. Torrie knew at once that she had said something wrong as she saw Stephanie begin to nervously force her wedding ring up and down her finger with her thumb.
"Move on! Torrie, why does everyone want me to move on! Am I supposed to just pretend that I never had a husband and a daughter! Is two months too long to be grieving for the two most precious people in my life! Huh!" Stephanie hollered at her friend. She was beginning to get upset.
"No! Steph, I never said that! I-I didn't mean you should forget about them…All I'm saying is, you are only making yourself suffer. Having to be reminded of Paul and Adriana everyday isn't allowing you to function. You know Paul would have wanted you to succeed and continue to mold and shape WWE. Are you going to be able to make him proud by lying in bed all day?" Torrie asked her friend, handing her a tissue from her purse.
"No…" Stephanie muttered, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"And if you think you're the only one with problems, you should have heard what happened to Kurt Angle."
Torrie decided to switch topics. She had gotten her point across to Stephanie. There was no reason to continue to pursue the topic.
"What happened to Kurt?" Stephanie asked, her face of genuine concern for her friend.
"Karen's trying to get sole custody of Kyra. She's trying to convince the judge that Kurt's an unfit father."
"Kurt's a great father. I've seen him with Kyra…She-she's his life." Stephanie said before blowing her nose into the tissue.
Stephanie had always admired how great Kurt was with his daughter Kyra. There was never a doubt in her mind if Kurt was a capable parent. Why would Karen do such a thing? As if cheating on Kurt wasn't enough.
"Yeah, Kurt is really sweet. Your mom told me he's been coming over every weekend to check on you. That is so sweet. Especially from a guy who's wife is single handedly dismantling his life. Poor guy." Torrie commented enjoying the picturesque scenery that New Hampshire had to offer.
"Maybe I do need to get away, Torrie." Stephanie muttered, looking down at the paved walkway was they strolled in the park.
"Yeah, for a month or two, you know." Torrie added, agreeing with Stephanie.
"I can stay with Mom and Dad. They already invited me to stay with them." Steph said, now looking in the distance as they continued to walk.
"Parents are such a blessing. I remember when I was going through my problem with an eating disorder. My mom and dad were there for me every step of the way. I couldn't have worked through the eating disorder without them." Torrie explained.
"Yeah, my mom has been great. Dad's been really busy with work, but Mom's been taking such good care of me….Kurt is too. He wanted to feed me breakfast. I told him that I could feed myself." Stephanie chuckled as she brushed her hair behind her ears.
"Oh my God, are you serious. Wow, Kurt Angle has to be the sweetest guy in the world."
"Torr, what time is it? I forgot my watch and Dad is coming over at six to fix the garbage disposal."
"Ooo, ten till six." Torrie said looking at her watch.
Stephanie arrived home just in time to see her father pull up in a jet black limo. He wore his usual business suit. He had just flown in on his jet straight from Pennsylvania where SmackDown had been taped.
"Dad, are you sure you want to fix the garbage disposal in your suit?" Steph asked following her father into the kitchen.
"Yeah, it's no big deal, Steph." Vince said pulling off his coat and setting it on the counter. He rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. "So what's wrong with the disposal?"
"It won't turn on, I think it's clogged or something." Stephanie said, flicking on the switch to show her father that it wasn't working.
"Alright, shut it off, and I'll go under the sink and open it up. It is probably clogged."
Steph flicked the switch into the off position and then sat in one of her kitchen chairs to watch her father work.
Paul was always the handyman around the house...With Stephanie's supervision of course. In Paul's absence, Vince had been helping Stephanie fix things around the house for the past month. He figured it was the least he could do. Most of the time, Vince was preoccupied with running the company. Stephanie's brother, Shane, would sometimes help out, though he had enough on his plate, juggling work and his wife and two kids.
"Something's stuck in the pipe." Vince stated. He lay on the kitchen floor, both hands under the kitchen sink. "See if you can get something to poke into the drain. We may be able to poke it loose."
Stephanie got up and grabbed a screw driver from the tool kit that was sitting on the countertop. She stood over the kitchen sink, using her right hand to brace herself. She began to wedge the screwdriver deep inside the drain.
"Just a little further in Steph, I think you're knocking it loose." Vince said after peering up with a flashlight where the drain pipe connected to the disposal.
"Ouch!" Stephanie yelped as she quickly instinctively drew her hand from the drain. A small clanking was heard coming from the drain pipe only for a second or two.
"What happen? What was that coming down the pipe?" Vince asked trying to shine light down the pipe.
"I cut my finger on a blade and oh my God!" Stephanie yelled as Vince quickly got up off the floor.
"My ring! My wedding ring! It came off when I pulled my hand out of the drain! Find it Dad! We have to find it!" Stephanie screamed, she was starting to hyperventilate as she went to stick her other hand in the drain.
"Woah, no, take your hand out of there. Let me see if I can find it." Vince said, pulling Stephanie away from the kitchen sink.
Vince cautiously stuck his hand down the drain. He felt the screw driver handle and quickly removed the tool from the drain. Grabbing the flashlight, he shown the light into the drain pipe.
"I don't see it Steph. I think it went all the way down. The ring was probably heavy enough to unclog whatever was stuck in the drain. It's gone now." Vince said, in a some what matter of fact tone.
"We're taking this sink apart, I HAVE to have that ring…It's my wedding ring, Dad! Paul had it made just for me!" Stephanie began to sob as Vince had to restrain her for stuffing her bloodied left hand into the drain again.
"Steph! Steph! Stop this! I'll call the plumber to come out and see if he can retrieve it. Until then, come sit down so I can patch up your cut." Vince instructed, holding his daughter back.
"Daddy, I need that ring! I need my wedding ring!" Steph hollered, as she continued to sob while Vince began to apply some antiseptic to her cut.
"Let's keep our fingers crossed that they find it, okay?" Vince whispered, trying to comfort his daughter as he applied a band-aid to her finger.
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Stephanie stood motionless, watching intently as the plumber disassembled the kitchen sink and the pipe leading to the underground plumbing.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Levesque. The ring must have gone completely down the drain. My guess is it's on the way to the water treatment plant." The plumber said, looking up at Stephanie from the kitchen floor.
"This is all my fault! I should have taken the ring off before helping Dad!" Stephanie said as the tears began to flow. She slumped down to the floor, clasping Paul's wedding band around her neck.
"Come on, Steph. It's okay, honey. Let's pull ourselves together." Vince said helping his daughter to her feet.
"Thank you, please just leave the bill on the counter after you're done the reassembly." Vince told the plumber before leading Stephanie into the living room.
"Shhh, it's okay, sweetheart. We've done all we can. Why don't you go upstairs and take a nap, you'll feel better." Vince said before giving his daughter a kiss on the forehead.
Nothing could make her feel better. She had lost one of the most treasured items she owned. Steph had lost the very symbol of Paul's undying love for her; the very thing that made her feel like a married woman. Her left hand felt bare. She had grown so accustomed to wearing her wedding ring that her hand felt naked without it. The loss of the ring made Stephanie think back to the moment when Paul slipped he ring on her finger for the first time. The way her heart had fluttered looking into his hazel eyes as he said his wedding vows with confidence and certainty. How the exquisite diamonds sparkled in the clear blue waters of the Hawaiian Islands where they honeymooned.
"We can call the jewelers that Paul had bought the ring from. They probably still have his customization on file. They can make an exact duplicate." Vince whispered, trying to right the situation.
Stephanie looked into her father's eyes as she shook her head. She rubbed her bare left hand that was still somewhat sore from the cut.
"It's just not the same Daddy…" Stephanie said in a whimper. "I think it's time I came to live with you and mom back in Greenwich. I can't stay in this house anymore…It's killing me."
Vince pulled his little girl in for a hug. He was relieved to hear Stephanie say she was ready to stay with him and her mother. Both Linda and Vince had been trying to convince her of this since that terrible day they had arrived at the Levesque home to comfort their daughter. Vince ran his hand through Steph's long brown hair, much like he did when she was a little girl.
"Everything's going to be okay, Stephy. You just come home and everything will get better."