Chapter 25
"I'm not lying to you, Chris. I feel fine now," Stephanie said, looking over at Chris, who was in the driver's seat of the rental. "Get that skeptical look off your face. I'm telling you the truth."
"You feel fine now," Chris said, looking at her, concerned. "But Steph, you've been getting sick every day for the past week or two, and you won't let me take you to the hospital..."
"Because it's just a little stomach bug," she insisted, reaching over to place a reassuring hand on his arm. "It'll pass. I know it will."
"Are you sure it's a mere stomach bug?" he asked, still skeptical. "Because you haven't been able to keep a lot of things on your stomach and that's not normal for you."
"Look at me, sweetie," she said in a gentle voice. "Do I look sick to you?"
"No," he said slowly. "But you were sick this morning, and yesterday morning, and the morning before that..."
"I know, but I feel fine now," she said, trying to persuade him. "However, I might not feel fine if I don't get in my office and get to work soon... If I'm not in there within the next ten minutes, my dad is going to split his wig!"
"Your dad wears a wig?" he gasped in mock wonder. "Man, I never knew that..."
"You know what I mean," she said, shoving him lightly. "Now come on, let's go in the building." She reached for the door handle, and he reached over and covered her hand with his. "What?" she asked.
"Let me open the door for you," he suggested in a soft voice.
"Ok," she answered, looking into his eyes and nodding. Looking into his eyes, she had a sudden feeling that she would probably agree to anything he suggested, just as long as she was looking into his eyes and he was speaking to her in that sexy low voice...
He kept his hand on hers for a minute, leaning over a little closer and smiling lightly at her. "Do you know how much I love you, woman?" he asked in a teasing voice, but he was serious.
"Oh, I don't know," she joked. "Why don't you tell me?"
"I love you so much, Stephanie," he whispered sincerely. "Too damn much."
"I love you, too," she whispered back. "Just as much as you love me."
"I'm glad you feel that way," he said, kissing her softly. "Because I'd be completely lost without you in my life right now."
"I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. I just can't see my life without you in it, Chris," she whispered, smiling back at him. She kissed him back for a minute, then grudgingly pulled away. "As much as I'd love to just have my way with you in this car, we can't do it right now... I really have to get to work now," she said, touching his face softly.
"You're right. We have work to do," he agreed, pulling away. He got out of the car and walked around to her side, opening the door for her. He helped her out, then offered her his arm. She slipped her arm through his and smiled at him, and they headed for the entrance to the building.
"So, here we are, in the building," Stephanie said a few short minutes later. She looked at Chris, then looked at their arms, which were still looped together.
"Oh, I guess that means we should...let go, huh?" Chris asked, looking kind of sad. He started to move his arm, but she only clutched him tighter in response.
"No," she said softly, gazing into his eyes. "I don't want you to let go, Chris, no matter what happens... Promise?"
"You're talking about more than just our arms, aren't you?" he asked knowingly.
"I love how you always know what I mean without me having to say it," she said, a happy sigh escaping her lips. "You know me so well."
They made their way to her office together, and she leaned against the closed door staring into his eyes yet again "We're here now," he said after a moment, although it was quite obvious that they were there.
"So, I guess this is goodbye for now..." Her voice trailed off.
"Remind me of the reason why you don't want me to come in there with you now," he said, leaning against the wall next to the door.
"Because I'd never get any work done," she answered, smirking a little. She went on in a lower voice, placing one hand on his hip to pull him closer to her. "I'd get you done, though..."
"I'm sure you would," he said, grinning at her. "And if you keep talking like that, I'm going to end up taking you in your office and..." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and his voice trailed off, leaving her free to draw her own conclusion about what he was going to say.
"You better go," she said, taking a shaky breath. "I need to get to work and you're distracting me..."
"How?" he asked, taking a step closer. "By...standing here? Like this?"
"Maybe," she said, and then, for reasons unknown, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly to her. "Thank you," she whispered to him.
"For what?" he asked, surprised, but not too surprised to put his arms around her and hold her. "What did I do?"
"More than you know," she said, still hugging him, reveling in the feelings she was getting from just being in his embrace.
They both fell silent as they hugged each other, both thinking of how perfect it felt to be that way... It was this scene that Hunter walked up on when he came down the hall in search of Stephanie. He could still remember what Trish had suggested to him nearly two weeks before, and he knew that she was right. He was going to have to end things with Stephanie, and soon...
"Hello, Stephanie," Hunter said stiffly, coming to a stop near the two embracing near the door. His gaze landed on the man who was currently hugging his wife. "Jericho."
"Hunter," Chris said curtly, slowly letting Stephanie go.
"Hi, Hunter," Stephanie said nervously. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Less than a minute," Hunter replied. He paused, thinking. Just tell her that you want to divorce her... He took a deep breath, then went on. "We... We need to talk..."
"I guess that's my cue to leave," Chris said, glaring at Hunter. He was pissed that Hunter had interrupted and ruined his moment with Stephanie, but he was determined not to let that anger show. Instead, he looked at Stephanie and smiled. "I'll be back to see you, Steph," he said quietly, reaching up to tuck a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. She looked at him with wide eyes as he leaned closer and closer towards her, like he was going to kiss her. He cupped her chin in his hand and moved closer...
"Chris," she whispered. "What are you-"
Chris turned his head at the last minute and kissed her on the cheek. He let his lips linger on her skin for a while, then pulled away. "Later, Steph," he said, running his fingertips across her cheek. He glared at Hunter one more time. He truly resented him for messing up their moment... Without another word, he smiled at Stephanie again, then turned and walked away, leaving both Hunter and Stephanie staring after him.
"He sure knows how to make an exit," Stephanie muttered to herself, but she couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face.
"What the hell was that?" Hunter exploded when Chris had disappeared from their view. His harsh tone of voice echoed down the hall, and Stephanie turned to look at him.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"Be honest with me. Is there something going on with you and Jericho?" he demanded.
"His name is Chris, you damn asshole!" she snapped, swaying suddenly on her feet. She was feeling dizzy...again...and she knew she needed to sit down. She opened the door to her office, went inside, and hurried over to the chair at her desk. She sat down and closed her eyes, willing both the dizziness and her husband to go away. Maybe if I just close my eyes, he'll get the hint and leave me alone, she thought wearily.
Hunter closed the office door, then made his way over to the desk. He whirled her chair around to face him and crouched down in front of her. "Steph," he said.
"What?" she asked, opening her eyes and feeling a little sick in her stomach from the motion in the chair... Or maybe she was sick because of the fact that he was so close in front of her. She wanted to scream at him for being so close, but she resisted those urges, putting one hand over her abdomen and waiting patiently for him to speak (if it was anything like his promos in the ring, she knew that she would be waiting all night-uh for him to finish-uh one sentence-uh).
"Steph, a lot has been going on...with me, and with you," he began. He exhaled deeply. "And-"
"Oh my God, Hunter, what are you chewing?" Stephanie interrupted, scrunching her face up.
"The usual. Orbit gum," he said, confused. "Why?"
"It's... Oh God!" She clamped a hand over her mouth. "Move!"
He looked bewildered, but he moved as she'd asked. He watched her run out of the room, and then he got up ad ran after her. He followed her all the way down the hall, but he stopped when she disappeared into the women's bathroom. He considered going in there just to see if she was ok, but he didn't know if any other women were currently occupying the bathroom and he didn't want to scare them...or embarrass himself...
"Hey... What are you doing here?" Trish asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "Did someone tell you that I was going to be heading for the bathroom about this time or what?"
"No. Steph is in there. I think she's sick," Hunter replied, sounding worried. "I was just talking to her and all of a sudden she... Trish?" He looked around, but Trish was nowhere to be found. Where the hell had she disappeared to?
Trish stepped into the bathroom and immediately heard Stephanie gagging. Trish didn't know why she was even in here now, checking on Stephanie of all people. Maybe it was because she was a different person now, now that she knew how it felt to truly and completely love someone... Or maybe it was because of the sudden overwhelming guilt she felt for sleeping with the woman's husband... It didn't matter what the reason was, though. Either way, she was in the bathroom, and her intentions were to help Stephanie, as unbelievable as that may seem.
"Stephanie?" Trish called timidly, making her way past the first two empty stalls and stopping at the third one. It was obviously the stall Stephanie was in. "Stephanie? Are you ok?"
"No, not really," Stephanie called back weakly. "I'm not... I'm not ok."
"I'm coming in, ok?" Trish asked. Without waiting for approval, Trish opened the door to the stall Stephanie was in and looked at her. "Wow. Looks like you just threw up everything you ate," she commented.
"I did," Stephanie replied with a sigh. "I've been sick like this for nearly two whole weeks... It's been two weeks of hell, off and on."
"Care to describe what this whole sickness of yours has been like?" Trish asked, leaning against the wall.
"Why would I tell you, Trish?" Stephanie asked, looking up at her. "You ruined my marriage. There's so much history between us that-"
"You're friends with Chris, right?" Trish interrupted.
Stephanie couldn't ignore how fast her heart started pounding at the mention of her lover's name. "Yeah, really good friends," she said, smiling a little despite the fact that she felt incredibly sick and weak.
"You do know that he and I broke up but we're still friends, right?" Trish asked.
"Yes, I know," Stephanie replied. "He told me the whole story... What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything. If Chris can be forgiving enough to leave the past in the past where it belongs, then don't you think you can, too? I mean, I know I did some bad stuff, Stephanie, but I'm changing, slowly but surely," Trish said in an almost pleading voice. "I'm not saying that you have to like me or be my friend or anything... But you were just in here throwing up and everything, and I'd like to help you out... What do you say?"
Stephanie didn't have the chance to reply as another wave of nausea hit her, and she leaned over the toilet again. This time, it was Trish who was holding her hair back so that it wouldn't fall into the toilet, and while it was all weird to her, she was grateful of the fact that Trish was willing to help her.
A few minutes later, Trish spoke again. "Want to tell me how your sickness has been?"
"I honestly think it came from this one huge burger I had about two weeks ago," Stephanie said, leaning against the wall. "The morning after I ate the burger, I woke up running for the toilet, and it's been like that ever since then."
"What makes you sick?" Trish asked.
"I don't know. It's like I'll smell something and all of a sudden, I'm about to throw up," Stephanie replied. "Take what happened just a few minutes ago. Hunter was talking to me and I got a whiff of the gum he'd been chewing... And the next thing I knew, I felt it all just rushing up and I made it here to the bathroom just in time..."
Trish listened to Stephanie explain the symptoms of her sickness, and when Stephanie was finished, Trish was silent for a moment. "Um, Stephanie?" she asked after a moment.
"Yeah?" Stephanie asked weakly.
"You know I wanted to be a doctor before I came here, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, what you just described to me... It sounds a lot like..." Trish's voice trailed off.
"Like what?" Stephanie persisted. "A stomach virus?"
Trish shook her head but said nothing.
"Then what?" Stephanie demanded.
"It sounds like morning sickness to me," Trish said finally. "I think you should take a pregnancy test."
A/N: I felt like updating... Two days in a row! I started writing this today in my Psychology class and it just took on a mind of its own. I had this whole story all planned out, but my outline had to be changed when Stephanie told Chris that she loved him for the first time back in Chapter 22... That wasn't supposed to happen! Now I think I can sort of revert back to my first outline with this sudden change of events... Ok, no, this was planned from the beginning... I'm talking too much! Leave me a review if you feel like it! Thanks!
