Chapter 10
"Wow. Someone's glowing today," Vince McMahon said, observing his daughter as she entered his office. "You're in a much better mood than you were yesterday."
"You're the second person who's said that," Stephanie said, sitting down in a chair. "I do look good today, don't I?"
"Cocky, cocky Steph," he said with a smile, shaking his head.
"I get it from my dad," she countered. "Damn those McMahon genes!"
He laughed at her joke, then got serious. "The reason I wanted to see you was to see if you were really ok with this new storyline," he said. "Because we can still scrap it right now."
"And deprive the fans of the natural onscreen chemistry between Hunter and Trish?" she asked sarcastically. "Now why would we want to do that?"
"Well, because," he said, choosing to ignore her sarcasm. "You're not the only who was upset about this storyline. Chris Jericho wasn't very pleased with it when I talked to him yesterday."
"Chris?" She smiled at the mention of her lover's name, because that's what he had become. That's what she now considered him: her lover. "I don't think he'll be worrying about that right now. I'm sure he doesn't even care."
"How would you know?" he asked curiously. "From what I saw and heard yesterday, you two aren't friends. Hell, you're barely even acquaintances."
We're lovers, she thought, smiling again. And he's so good...
"Steph?"
"Oh, sorry, Daddy, I was thinking about something," she said, looking at him and trying not to think of all the things she and Chris had done together. "But like I said before, I'm sure Chris doesn't even care about it right now."
"What don't I care about?" Chris asked, stepping into the room. He walked over and sat down in the chair next to Stephanie's chair. He looked over and locked eyes with her. "Hey, Steph," he said in a low voice.
She smiled at him. "Hi, Chris," she said shyly. "How are you today?"
"I'm feeling wonderful today, better than I've felt in months, actually," he answered. "And how are you feeling today?"
"The only word I can think of today to describe how I feel is beautiful," she said honestly.
"Good. You are beautiful today. Everyday, but moreso today," he answered.
"I was just telling her how much she was glowing today," Vince said, wanting to be a part of the conversation. "Women are so beautiful when they're glowing."
"I agree," Chris said, looking at Stephanie. "Beautiful."
Stephanie looked down and blushed. It felt good to be told that she was beautiful. It felt good to share a passionate night with a man like Chris. And it felt good to be looked at the way Chris was looking at her...
"Well I'm glad you're both here," Vince said finally, breaking the silence that had overtaken the room. "Now we can make the official decision."
"What official decision?" Chris asked, tearing his eyes away from Stephanie. It was a hard thing for him to do, because she looked absolutely beautiful, and he loved knowing that he was the reason why.
"Yeah, Daddy, what official decision?" Stephanie echoed.
"I thought about what you both said yesterday about how this storyline could affect each of your relationships," Vince began. "And I came to a decision. I'm leaving it up to you two to decide if we go through with this storyline. Ultimately, it comes down to what you two say."
"I don't care anymore," Stephanie said honestly. She looked at Chris. "I've found something else to occupy my mind and my time."
"And honestly, Vince, Trish and Hunter do have chemistry onscreen, just like you said. Why not capitalize on it?" Chris asked.
Vince eyed them both suspiciously. "I don't understand," he said, looking at them both. "Yesterday you were both very upset, and now it's like neither of you care."
"We still care," Stephanie said, still looking at Chris. "But we realized that it's selfish of us to protest against something that could benefit the company so much."
Vince smiled, obviously satisfied with her explanation. "I'm glad you're both team players. Now, unless there's anything else you two would like to discuss, you're free to go."
"If that's the case, then Steph, mind if I have a word with you?" Chris asked, standing up.
"Sure thing," Stephanie replied, standing up as well. "I'll meet you outside... I need to talk to Daddy for a minute."
"I'll wait outside for you," Chris said. He resisted the urge to touch her, instead turning on his heel and heading for the door. Once outside, he leaned against the wall next to the door and closed his eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about what they had done a few hours before. He found it kind of ironic how they hadn't even been friends on the day before, and yet they had shared something so passionate and beautiful...
"There you are, Chris!" Trish exclaimed, walking up to him. "We need to talk."
"About what?" he asked, blushing because of what he had been thinking about.
"About what you walked in on back at the hotel," she said. "It's not what you think it was, baby. There's nothing going on between Hunter and me that isn't business-related."
"Um, ok, that's great," he said absently, hearing Stephanie's voice grow louder. That could only mean that Stephanie was getting closer to the door, and that meant that Trish needed to go. Now. "Why don't you meet me in my locker room or something?"
"What's so important that we can't talk now?" she demanded.
"I have to talk to Stephanie, ok? So just go wait for me somewhere else!" he said in a harsh voice. Her eyes widened at the tone of his voice, and surprisingly, she looked hurt. "Look, I didn't mean to be rude, but I really do need to talk to Stephanie. I'm sure you understand."
"Perfectly," she said shortly. "I'll see you whenever you decide I'm important enough to see you." He grunted impatiently in reply and looked away, and she took the hint and walked away.
As soon as Trish disappeared down the hall, the door opened and Stephanie stepped out of the office smiling. "So what's up?" she asked him. "What did you want to talk about?"
He looked at her for a minute, just taking in all of her beauty. He hadn't seen her smile like that in months. Of course, if she had been smiling like that anytime during the last six months, he wouldn't have noticed,. He had been too caught up in all of the pain and anger left over from Trish's betrayal...
"Chris?" she said, one eyebrow raised. He seemed to be lost in thought again. She observed him and couldn't help but think that he looked absolutely gorgeous when he was deep in thought that way. He had that faraway look in his beautiful blue eyes, and he was biting his lip. Why hadn't she noticed how truly handsome he was before?
"Sorry about that," he said, shaking his head. "I was just thinking."
"It's ok," she replied. "I get that way, too... But what did you want to talk about?"
"I want to talk about what happened between us," he said in a low voice. "But not here. Somewhere else where we can be alone."
"Alone," she repeated. That was really one of the only words from his sentence that had registered in her brain. He wanted to be somewhere alone with her... The possibilities were virtually endless, and she knew that she wouldn't want to just talk if they ended up alone again.
"Yes, alone," he confirmed. "I don't think anyone else should know about what happened, you know?"
"I have the perfect place in mind," she said, licking her lips lightly as they locked eyes once again. "How about you follow me?"
He nodded, and she turned around and started walking down the hallway with him following. He lagged a good one or two feet behind, and he was obviously looking at her butt. She could feel his gaze burning her, and she welcomed it, adding an extra swing to her hips for him. She stopped in front of a deserted locker room and opened the door for him, indicating that he should enter first.
"Ladies first," he said, holding the door for her instead.
She smiled and stepped into the dark locker room. He came inside and shut the door, then locked it just to be safe. After locking the door, he turned to look at her, and she met and held his gaze. "So you want to talk about what happened with us," she said in a low voice. He nodded. "So...what?"
"How did you feel about it?" he asked. "I mean, I know you liked it, but there's more to it than that, right?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," she said, nodding her head. She tried to appear as though she was cool, calm, and collected, but she didn't think it was working very well. When had this happened? Why was she wanting him again already?
"Something wrong?" he asked, stepping a little closer to her and looking at her, apparently concerned. He touched her cheek softly. "You look kind of flushed..."
"It's nothing," she said, licking her lips. "I'm just... I keep thinking about what we did... It's been on my mind for hours now, and..." Her voice trailed off as she stared into his eyes. "Well, have you been thinking about it, too?"
"How could I not think about it?" he asked, smiling lightly at her. "I was waiting for you outside your dad's office, and Trish came up, and I was thinking about what we did..."
She smiled at that. "Did she come trying to clear her good name, saying that nothing's going on with her and Hunter?"
"Yeah, but I was kind of rude. I sent her away," he said. "Why, did Hunter do the same thing?"
"Yep, but I just forgave him," she said, shrugging.
"Forgave him? Just like that?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
"I just needed to get out of the room and away from him, and that was the only way I could," she explained. "And you had me in such a ridiculously good mood..."
"Did I?" he asked, stepping closer to her again. He wanted to touch her again, but he didn't know if she wanted what they'd done to be a one-time deal or not.
"Yes, you did," she said, breathing a little faster as he closed the distance between them and they stood face to face. When he didn't move, she took the iniative and put her arms around him. "So are you going to kiss me or not?"
He smirked at her as he pulled her body close against his. "I am..."
"Good. You had me worried," she said, and then she waited for him to kiss her.
He kissed her gently, just taking it slow. He didn't want to rush things with her... What was he thinking? They'd slept together, wasn't that rushing things? Before they knew it, he had her pressed against the door, practically kissing the life out of her.
"God, Chris, did anyone ever tell you that you're an awesome kisser?" she whispered breathlessly when she pulled away.
"I'm the King of the World... I already knew," he teased, capturing her lips again.
They kissed for what seemed like forever before she pulled away and looked into his eyes. "I want you, Chris...again."
He smiled at her. "I thought you'd never ask..."
A/N: So this chapter was really difficult to write. I didn't know where to go with it! Hopefully you guys didn't get too confused with it. Next time it'll be better!
