Chapter 2

Stephanie slammed the door to her office and stomped over to her desk. She sat down in her chair and turned around facing the window. She was confused and frustrated, but even more than that, she was angry. So very angry. At her dad, at Chris Jericho. At the past...

"Baby, you ok?" Hunter asked, coming into the room.

"No," she replied honestly. She closed her eyes. She'd been looking for him but hadn't had much luck in finding him. And now, here he was.

"So you heard about the new storyline I'm in, then?" he asked with a weary sigh.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out? I'm the head of the creative team!" she yelled. "What I don't understand is how they could develop a storyline like this right under my nose. I mean, it's nothing like what we usually do..."

"Maybe... Nah, never mind," he said, cutting himself off before he said too much and gave his secret away.

"The only explanation I can think of is that someone maybe suggested it to someone on the team," she mused. The wheels started to turn in her head as she began to put two and two together. "It didn't look like something my team would come up with. It's almost like someone else wrote it..."

He backed slowly towards the door. He had his hand on the doorknob and was gently beginning to ease it open when she whirled around in her chair to face him. There was an angry fire in her eyes, and it burned him internally as she glared at him. The fire of anger and realization in her eyes was scalding and frightening. When her eyes met his, that's when he knew that she knew.

"It was you, wasn't it?" she asked in a venomous voice, her hands slamming down on the desk.

"Me...what?" he asked, trying to act bewildered.

"You brought this storyline to the creative team and asked them not to tell me because you knew I wouldn't approve it, didn't you?" Her voice was low, calm, and tightly controlled. He knew that she was going to blow up at him soon. It was only a matter of time. "Well?" she said. "I'm waiting for an honest answer."

"Fine. Yes, it was me," he said, looking at the floor.

"Wrong answer," she said, and she turned her chair back around so she could face the window, thereby effectively turning her back on him. "Get out."

"Honey, let me explain," he pleaded.

"There's nothing to explain. You haven't changed a bit," she said. "Get out of my office. I don't even want to see you right now."

"Steph, you've got the wrong idea," he said desperately. He was grasping at straws here. "Me and Trish are good for business. It's all business, nothing more and nothing less."

"GET OUT!" she screeched.

He wasn't going to argue with her. "Ok, if that's what you want then so be it. If you don't want to hear me out, that's fine. I'll see you later."

"Maybe you will and maybe you won't," she muttered when she heard to door slam. He was gone, and now she could stop acting so brave. Her shoulders slumped, and the tears were sliding down her cheeks before she knew it. She did nothing to stop them.

A year ago, their marriage had been perfect, absolutely perfect. They had talked about having children, planning out their lives together. They were basically at a happy point in their marriage, perhaps the happiest point of their marriage. Stephanie had never been so happy, so content with her life.

Sixth months ago, Stephanie's happy, uncomplicated little world had shattered and collapsed around her. She could still remember the night she and Chris had discovered Hunter and Trish in the shower together, could still remember their grunts and moans, could still remember the wet, heartbreaking scene as if it had just happened. It replayed in her mind constantly, and although she and Hunter had somewhat made up, the pain was still fresh. This new storyline was like putting salt in her wounds.

"It's going to happen again," she whispered, covering her face with her hands.

"No, it's not," came a voice from behind her. Chris.

"What do you want?" she asked, quickly wiping the tears away. She was still angry at him for calling her a bitch earlier. Granted, she had slapped the hell out of him, but she was still pissed that he'd had the nerve to call her a bitch, and nothing he could say would change that.

"I came to apologize for earlier," he said. He walked over and stood near the window about two feet away from her. He leaned against the wall. "I didn't mean to call you a bitch."

"Yeah, well you did," she said, trying to feel numb, trying not to feel hurt about this whole situation with the new storyline. "But, um, just forget about it."

"You're on the creative team, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yep," she murmured. "I'm the head of the team."

"They're supposed to get you to approve all of the storylines they come up with, right?"

"In theory," she said with a sigh. She knew what he was getting at. "But-"

"And you let them go ahead with this new storyline?" He had a look of disbelief on his face. "Even after everything that happened?"

"Do you think I would actually approve something like that? Hell no!" she exclaimed, angry that he would accuse her of something like that. "Hunter knew I wouldn't approve it, so the rest of the team got Vince to approve it."

"Vince as in your dad Vince?"

"Yes, that Vince," she replied, getting angrier.

"Some dad he is, approving something like that when he knows you're still hurt about everything that happened."

"My sentiments exactly, but who says I'm hurt?" she asked.

"Hell, I'm still hurt by it," he said. "I know that if I'm still hurting, you must be hurting, too."

"I'm over it," she lied, holding her chin up high.

"Don't be foolish," he said. "You were just sitting here crying. Your biggest fear right now is that it's going to happen all over again and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

She had her mouth set ready to deny everything that he had just said, but then she thought, What's the use in denying it? He's right. Instead of denying it, she covered her face with her hands again as the tears gushed out...