Torment of Tantalus

Chapter 6

Stephanie McMahon felt like a giddy, rebellious teenager as she slipped out of the hotel bed that she had been sharing with Hunter. She paused briefly, listening to his steady breathing. In a fluid motion, she took off her bathrobe and tossed it in the bathroom, revealing a pair of jeans and a black stretchy shirt on her body. She snatched the keycard off of the television and headed for the door, gently twisting the handle and stepping out.

Alone in the empty hallways—and double-checking to make sure that her purse had the carrying can of pepper spray, just in case—Stephanie found herself thinking of the dinner she'd had with Hunter. It had been nice and peaceful. A hazy smile appeared on her face, and she laughed, the noise echoing around the hallways. No matter what anyone said, Hunter was a great guy that would make a perfect husband. He doted on her, always taking her to dinner when he had nothing else planned, going out of his way just so he could see her…

Though, she had to admit, he wasn't nearly that exciting.

'Stephanie,' she chided herself as she pressed the button to call the elevator to her floor, 'that isn't fair to him. And anyway, that's what friends are there for.' She smiled and wondered why Chris had told her to meet him in the lobby.

'I'll find out soon enough.'

Stephanie immediately recognized Chris in the lobby when she stepped in: it was hard not to. He was lounging on one of the couches, mindlessly flipping through a magazine, a few plastic bags at his feet. Approaching him, Stephanie resisted the urge to make a wisecrack about his leather jacket, complete with more zippers than Hot Topic had in their entire store…and then there were his sunglasses. Honestly, who wore sunglasses at night? And in fact, it reminded her of that hideous song… Well, there was that and the fact he was the only one in the lobby.

"Hey, Steph," the smile he gave her erased all of the smart comments that she had formed in her head.

"Hi," she replied as he stood up, grinning mischievously.

"What's in the bags?" Stephanie asked, curiosity overwhelming her.

He smiled. "You'll see." Chris grasped her wrist, pulling her out of the lobby and into the parking lot.

"What's going on?" Stephanie asked, allowing herself to be dragged. As the cool air hit her body, she stopped, pulling her hand back to her body. "What are we doing out here? Chris!" she demanded when he turned his back on her.

"Glad to have the old Stephanie back," he muttered with a smile, stooping down to retrieve something from one of the bags that he had dumped on the ground. He tossed something at Stephanie. She caught it out of instinct, and flipped it over in her hands.

"Huh? Glass paint? What do you want me to do with this?" Stephanie asked. Chris smirked, leaning up against the Camaro behind him. Realizing his plans, Stephanie's eyes widened. "No… Chris! This is somebody's car! Somebody in the WWE! We rented this entire hotel, if it gets out that we were out here and we get caught…" she trailed off, folding her arms across her chest.

"Stephanieeeeeeee," he whined, dragging out her name as she leaned against the back of a nearby SUV. She didn't budge. Chris was quiet for a moment until a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He pushed off of the Camaro and walked over to Stephanie, putting his hand on the SUV, his face inches from hers. His voice was low and quiet when he spoke. "Steph…"

"Yeah?"

He looked her dead in the eyes. "I double-dog dare you."

Chris and Stephanie looked at the 'next Mona Lisa', as Chris had proclaimed it, nearly twenty minutes later, admiring their work. Stephanie giggled, leaning into Chris for support as he brought up a camera to take a picture. "Chris!" she exclaimed, tugging at his arm. "Somebody will see!"

"Let them see," he scoffed. Stephanie rolled her eyes, but didn't object as Chris fiddled with the digital camera. In the silence, she looked at the car, and instantly felt bad for the owner. Boy, had they done a number. The two had been scrawling crude messages over the windshield and windows when Chris had suddenly shouted out, the lights coming on in the car. He proclaimed that the door just opened (he had actually swiped the keys earlier, but it was nothing Stephanie needed to know). She figured that the doors had been left unlocked, and left it at that. Despite Stephanie's not-so-firm commands to stop, Chris had taken the bug spray out of her purse and proceeded to spray the entire car with it.

Stephanie had to admit that what they had done was slightly overkill, but she'd been damned if it wasn't fun. Chris had opened the truck and dumped five bags of twenty beads that he'd bought at the stores inside, but only after drilling a new license onto the front of the car that read "Pansy Ass". While Stephanie wrapped the car in wrapping paper (after pouring lotion on the door handles, of course), Chris used an entire roll of duct tape to cover the two outside windows, the sticky side out.

Chris smiled to himself as he took the picture. His favorite part, he would have to say, were the gay pride window clings on the windshield. Not that he had anything against gay people… Chris was reminded of the look on the store owner's face when he bought the clings, and swallowed his chuckle, instead smirking. For all the fun the night had been, it also provided him with a one-up on Hunter. Kleenex boy couldn't possibly be as fun as he was. And then there was the car…but all he had to say was that it was a darn good thing that Stephanie didn't travel with Hunter…or else she would've recognized his red Camaro as the car they'd decorated.

Somehow Chris didn't think Hunter would find the new Mona Lisa as appealing as he did.

Author's Note: Hope you guys liked the chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed; please keep them coming!