AUTHOR'S NOTE: Has it been forever or is it just me...

Hi everyone and welcome back to my story. I'm back once again with a new exciting chapter. I missed you guys I do hope you all are strong and healthy. As usual I wanna thank everyone who has supported my story in the past and those who still continue to do so. Y'all are in my heart. Right here.

On with the story.

WARNING: This story may contain triggering scenes and strong language not meant for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. (I love to get that outta the way)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters except my OC Kendra and other OC's I might have forgotten to mention. This story is a pure work of fiction (hence its written on) and most of the events and facts are completely made up so... I guess that's it.

Chapter 17 - The Game Changer

"Please leave a message after the beep"

"Dammit! See what I've been talking about!" Shawn whined to Undertaker who looked like he couldn't care less as he took a sip out of his coffee. "Well... is she mad at me? I haven't seen or talked to her in almost a week. I even had to get her number from Sable but nothing. Is it normal to be this worried? Is she okay? Why isn't she saying anything!" Undertaker still gave him a blank stare as he continued sipping his coffee. "Okay, now I'm done"

"Great. Listen I'll deal with your shit later but now I'm tired as hell." Undertaker said walking away. Shawn sighed, dejected. Not that he could really blame Taker though. Their flights had all been delayed and staying too long at an airport was enough to make anyone cranky not to mention the deadman himself.

He couldn't help but feel something was going on with her but he couldn't ask anyone that was close to her. Curt was out injured and even if he wasn't, he was probably still angry with him after he knocked Kendra over that one time, Sable was cool but... yeah and Sunny, well he had just decided to keep a good distance from her. And something told him he couldn't ask any of her family members even though he was cool with Jim and Owen. He did laugh at the thought of asking Bret, but he wasn't in the mood to fight with anyone.

He sighed. Was he getting a bit obsessive or was it just natural to care so much for someone who wasn't even his girlfriend? The latter seemed to resonate more with the state he was in. He knew he hadn't gotten to the state of obsession...yet. And he prayed it would't get to that state but there had to be something he could do, right?

As he held on to that thought he noticed Vince Russo walking past him looking annoyed. A light bulb went off in his head as he quickly remembered he was kind of Kendra's boss. At least he would know what was going on with her. So without much thought Shawn approached the head of creative.

"What?! What is it!" Vince Russo asked in an annoyed tone before he looked up seeing the face of Shawn. His demeanor did a complete 180 as he grinned at Shawn. "Oh! If it isn't our WWF champion, such an honor to be in your presence. What can I do for you?"

""Yeah, hi" Shawn said fighting the urge to roll his eyes at Russo's kiss up attempt. The guy knew Shawn was Vince's favorite and as such had far more creative power than he did which was why he was relatively nicer to Shawn than the others.

"Any problem?" He asked still keeping that grin on his face.

"No, just wanted to ask a question about one of your uh... interns"

"Sure, whatever you need! Which one?" The older man said still grinning. Actually it was getting a bit creepy now.

"Ke...uh I mean... Bret's sister." Shawn said trying to sound coy as he didn't want to give off any emotion or anything. The less people know the better. Russo's grinning face changed to one of confusion.

"Kendra? Well what business do you have with her?" He asked letting out a little laugh though stopping abruptly when he noticed Shawn wasn't laughing along. "Right. Kendra. what about her?"

"I have something to discuss with her but I can't seem to find her anywhere." Shawn said noticing Vince Russo's raised eyebrow. "Uh... its about... it's about a storyline! Yeah that's what its about" He said trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"A storyline?!" Russo asked in a sudden loud voice startling Shawn who flinched. "I mean... oh a storyline, how uh... nice" He said grinning. Shawn narrowed his eyes at him as he took a few steps backward.

"Yeeeahhh" He dragged on a bit suspicious at the older man's reaction. "So, like do you know where she is?"

"Oh right. She went back home. She wasn't feeling so well so creative and I gave her the a few days off. Last thing we need now is a lawsuit am I right?" He asked with a laugh nudging Shawn in the arm who wasn't amused one bit. On the contrary he looked quite down.

"Oh. Is she okay?"

"Yeah she'll be fine. Heck she'll be back tomorrow on Raw" Vince replied. Shawn nodded. "And just know if there's any storyline you need to discuss, look no further than me okay? I'm experienced in the game, Kendra's still an intern. Food for thought"

"I'll keep that in mind"

"Alright then" He said giving that same creepy grin once more as Shawn. As he did so though, he couldn't help but feel something was not right but he decided to shake it off. Maybe it was the lack of sleep.

But when Shawn was out of walking distance, Vince Russo's creepy smile dropped as anger boiled in his veins.

"If that little minx thinks she's gonna swoop in and try to take my job, she's got another thing coming" He mumbled to himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The morning was cool, calm and peaceful topped with a nice and dreamless sleep. That was until someone woke Kendra up via the ring of the doorbell.

"...wakey, wakey sleepy head!" The warm voice of Sable rang out complete with a grin on her face.

Kendra was not amused.

"Seriously?" Kendra asked. Sable shrugged and made her way into Kendra's apartment. "Sure, come on in" She said sarcastically.

"I thought you'd never ask" The blonde said with a smile as she pranced into Kendra's apartment. "This place looks good and so do you" She complimented.

"Thanks, now why are you really here? I'm sure you didn't come here to tell state the obvious" Kendra said with a small smile.

"How modest" Sable said playfully rolling her eyes. "But yes you're right. But do you have to ask? I came to check up on you bitch! It's been like forever and you barely respond to any of my texts or calls. I was worried" Sable said genuinely. Kendra bit her lip. Perhaps it was a little selfish to cut everyone off during her little 'vacation'.

"I'm sorry' Kendra said with a sigh. Sable gave her a half smile and nodded. "So do you want anything? I haven't made breakfast yet, I actually just woke up like literally..."

"Breakfast? Kendy we need to get a move on like pronto. Raw's in Nashville remember?" Sable said. Kendra shrugged. "And we're in Memphis"

"Again, so? It won't take that long, we'll definitely make it in time even if we leave a little bit later. That being said I need to take a shower" She said with a yawn. "God, this is gonna be a long day"

"You said it. Well you go freshen up, I'm gonna find something to eat in that little kitchen of yours" Sable said skipping away without waiting for Kendra to give an answer.

"Sure" The brunette started, rolling her eyes. "Help yourself to whatever you find there, it's not like I'm spending money or anything." She said loudly walking to her bathroom. "I don't even get paid" She mumbled to herself as she stepped into her bathroom.

Within ten minutes she was done with her shower and had gone back to her room. She was still in the process of getting ready when she heard a buzzing sound from her phone meaning she'd gotten a text. And she had a pretty good idea who it was from.

I heard you weren't feeling so fine, that sucks. I hope you're feeling better. - Shawn.

Kendra sighed. He was persistent alright. As a matter of fact, he was the only one who texted her or called her besides the fact that she didn't respond to either one. She felt bad about it but the mental state she was in throughout the past week, she knew she had to put herself first, others second.

Still, she felt a pang of guilt each time she saw his texts or calls, and the guilt grew each time.

Thanks for checking up on me all this time. Sorry for not giving a response. I feel much better. See you tonight. :) - Kendra

And sent.

"So guess what I made... Pancakes!" Sable said. "Since you insist we must have breakfast, why not go all in right? I'm making bacon too!"

"Wow, thanks. You really know your way around MY kitchen. How did you find everything so fast though?"

"That's for me to know and for you you to guess. Now pipe down and get your ass on the chair. You need some meat on those bones" Sable said sounding like a mixture of a drill sergeant and an overbearing mother. With a touch of Bret.

"Yes sir" Kendra teased as she made her way to the dining table. Minutes later and a bit of small talk, the food was completely done and it was scrumptious. "Okay, don't see this as a compliment or anything but... this food tastes amazing"

"I know" She said with a smirk in a low tone. "So... how's your week been?"

"Great, I missed Memphis a lo..."

"Okay enough chit chat let me get straight to business. Kendra, what's going on with you?" Kendra remained silent knowing Sable was going to say something else. And she was right "You practically cut everyone off this week! And what's about coming back to your apartment, you never go home. What's wrong?"

"You know I've been sick Sabes" Kendra said adding a cough for good measure. Sable narrowed her eyes at the brunette. "What?" Kendra asked. Sable kept on glaring at her until she finally cracked. "Okay fine, it's about what happened with Sunny just stop glaring at me. I hate when people do that"

"I know you do" Sable said pausing for a moment as her demeanor became softer. "Are you still beating yourself up about it?"

"Yeah it's hard not to. I'm losing sleep Sabes" Kendra said and for the very first time that day Sable noticed the dark circles around her eyes. She realized that this was getting to Kendra much more than she thought.

"I know you feel guilty about unintentionally blabbing to Chris but Sunny had this coming. No cheater goes free. I still can't believe she did that to him." She said recoiling in disgust but almost immediately putting herself back together. "Anyways, it's not your fault so don't yourself up about it. And definitely don't keep yourself up at night because of it. Come back to work already"

"Actually, that is not what is bothering me. I got over that like the day after."

"Oh, then what?" Kendra bit her lip unsure of whether or not she should tell Sable this. Naturally she would discuss something like this with Curt but as luck would have it, Curt was out injured for a few weeks. Turns out that rib injury caused by Sid which Curt referred to as 'nothing serious' was actually quite serious and would actually take some time to heal.

"Please promise me this won't leave this place. Please?"

"You have my word. I could've easily blabbed this whole Sunny thing in the locker room an trust me I had the perfect opportunity..."

"Okay great." Kendra said taking in a deep breath. "When Chris and I were talking, he said something about Scott Hall telling him Sunny was or probably is having an affair with Davey. Well he didn't say affair but he said he caught them in a compromising position"

"What? Like Davey Davey? British Bulldog Davey?" Sable asked her voice flooding with confusion.

"Yes and my brother in law. I've been trying to ignore it since but knowing Sunny... I dunno should I confront Davey? Should I tell my sister? And there's no option like letting it go because I know I can't. I'm just so stressed." Kendra said burying her face in her hands.

"There, there" Sable said trying to calm her down. "Now that you've said all this, you feel better don't you?"

"A little bit" Kendra mumbled audibly.

"Good. Sometimes the best thing to do is just to let things out. Now I know you can't confront Sunny because she would know you snitched on her. So your only bet is Davey" Kendra frowned.

"I don't know, we're not exactly tight. And it would be a bit awkward. What if he's innocent? I'd look like a bitch and he definitely won't like me much after that. No. I think I'll take my chances with Sunny. I just need to come up with a believable story of how I heard it... or I could just get her drunk again"

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Sable asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This is my sister's marriage we are talking about"

"Fair point. Well we should get going though. The sooner the better"

"And I definitely need to talk to Shawn" Kendra mumbled under her breath.

"Huh? What was that?"

"Nothing!" She said quickly. "Just mumbo jumbo"

"O...K. Well get your baggage and meet me down in ten." Sable said making a switch back to drill sergeant mode.

"Aye, aye, captain" Kendra mocked.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"...'you'll get your title back Bret just job to Shawn once and before you say Vincent Kennedy McMahon you'll be champ again' fucking liars" Bret ranted on.

"So what are you gonna do? Go over to WCW or..." Owen started before getting cut off by his pissed off older brother.

"I don't know honestly. Vince said he'll meet up with me sometime this week to discuss it or something. Bull crap. For all I know, I think he's only interested in Austin and his stupid push..." Bret paused as his eyes flickered over to Austin who was standing right next to Owen. "...no offense Steve" Austin retorted with a middle finger as he continued drinking his beer. "I'll overlook that"

"You better" Steve said. "And about Vince, how about you just calm down and let Vince say whatever he wants to say. Or even better, tell Vince that Eric Bischoff offered you a contract. That'll make wheels turn in the old man's head won't it?"

"You know what that is an excellent suggestion." Bret said fully considering that idea. "What say you little brother?"

"You know what I think? I think..."

"OWEN!' A female voice screamed coming out of nowhere momentarily frightening the three wrestlers as they turned around to see the owner of that voice. None other than Kendra who basically flew into the open arms of her brother.

"Kendy! It's about time you came back" He said reciprocating the hug. "It's good to have my favorite little sister back, hope you're feeling much better" Kendra giggled.

"I'm your only sister but yeah, I'll take it and it feels good to be back I'm feeling much better" She said with a grin as she scanned the backstage. She turned over to Steve "Aren't you gonna say hello?"

"You're assuming that I missed you?"

"I know you did so drop the act" She said with a small smirk. Steve sighed and smirked right back at her ruffling her head a little bit. "Hey!

"It's good to see you again weird girl, now leave me alone" He said going back to his beer drinking.

"Yeah you missed me. I've gotta run off but I will definitely see you guys later. And Owen, we have to have a little chat very soon" She said and he nodded a bit confused on why she would emphasize on that. Kendra did a mock salute to Steve before skipping away.

Throughout all this Bret kept his hands crossed over his chest as he watched her greet Owen and Steve whilst completely ignoring him. He was not amused.

"Well,that was awkward I thought she was your sister. Well it sucks to be you Bret" Austin said as he finished his beer and threw it somewhere behind his back. "I'll catch you two later' He said walking away.

"Bitch" Bret mumbled under his breath. Owen glared at him. "What?"

"Was that really necessary?"

"I was talking about Austin" Bret said defensively but Owen wasn't convinced. "What? I was!"

"You know, she thinks you hate her" Owen said in softer voice.

"I know and it's probably for the best" Bret paused as she stared into space for a while. "I'm going to get ready for tonight, you should do the same" He said walking away before eve waiting for answer. Owen shook his head.

"Fucking Elijah" Owen cursed under his breath.

Meanwhile, after exchanging greetings with most of the production crew as well as a few wrestlers backstage, Kendra found herself at the door of the office of Vince Russo.

"Let's just get this over with" She mumbled to herself not ecstatic about talking to her so called 'boss'. She knocked on the door a few times but go no answer. She tried knocking a few more times but still got no answer. He wasn't in there. What a colossal waste of time.

While making up her mind on whether or not she should wait there or leave and come back there a while later, she got some company.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes" Shawn asked with an uncontrollable grin on his face. "It's about time you came back"

"Shawn!" She exclaimed. "How... how are you?" She asked feeling a sense of awkwardness. She did ignore all his calls and texts for a whole week after all.

"Good, good, you know hanging. And what about you? You were out sick, a cold?" He asked.

"Um no, I just had to deal with... stuff" She said. "I'm sorry for not responding but if it makes you feel any better, I really didn't talk to anyone else while I was at home. Please don't be offended"

"No of course not. Worried is what I was. And I really wanted to talk to you this week, you know about stuff"

"Yeah, stuff is so the thing to talk about nowadays" She said with a little laugh. Shawn laughed along a little too but he wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not. "If you're wondering I wasn't being sarcastic"

"That's very reassuring" He said. "So, how was Canada? Calgary right?" Shawn asked trying to remember Bret's hometown.

"I wouldn't know. I don't live there. I live in Tennessee, Memphis to be exact" She said.

"Wow, that's really great. Why?" She shrugged.

"I felt Memphis suited me more." She said willingly leaving out a few points. "So how's Sunny?" Shawn's mood immediately deflated as the blond haired man sighed.

"Well now I feel stressed once again." He said with a slight laugh.

"Stressed?" She asked in almost a whisper. It was then that her eyes scanned all over his face before resting on his eyes. He had dark circles around his eyes giving off the impression that he'd been lacking sleep. "Shawn, you look worn out. Don't tell me you were...?"

"Yes. When I say I was worried believe me." Shawn said with a weak smile.

"Shawn you shouldn't have. I mean, I... I'm sorry you... I didn't mean to..."

"It's alright" He said putting his hand on her shoulder. She flinched a little at his touch on the bare skin making him instantly withdraw "Sorry but anyways, like I said, I like you so trust me it was no biggie really it wasn't"

"Well that's greeaat" She said dragging on the great a bit as she noticed a figure standing behind Shawn. Shawn seemed to notice that she was no longer paying attention to him as he turned around to see what a now wide-eyed Kendra was looking at.

Or should he say who.

"Wow, what a surprise. Seeing you both. Here. Together. Talking" Vince Russo said flickering his eyes from Shawn to Kendra. "Hope I wasn't interrupting anything"

"Yes!"

"No!" Shawn and Kendra blurted out respectively. Russo raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, how interesting." He said his lips turning to an evil smirk. "I'm afraid you'll have to excuse us Shawn, I have to talk to my dear intern here." He said. Kendra narrowed her eyes at him wondering what he was gunning at.

"Okay, see you around Kends" Shawn said and soon he was out of sight. Russo gave out a deep chuckle which sounded kind of ominous as he unlocked the door. "After you" He said motioning for her to get in. She did so reluctantly and he shut the door behind her making his way to his seat. "Have a seat Miss. Hart"

"Uh thanks" She said biting her lip. Something wasn't right. She could feel it.

"How was your little break?" He asked.

"It was aright" She replied plainly with her eyes still narrowed at him.

"Good to know." He said. He was awkwardly quiet for a little while until he spoke up again. "So I'll just get straight to the point"

"Okay."

"So let me just brief you on something. Yesterday, Shawn Michaels, the WWF champion came up to me and asked me about you. Naturally I was puzzled. Like what business does and intern like you have with the face of the company. But nonetheless, I gave him a fair answer that you were out sick blah blah. I asked him what his business was with you and would you believe he said the most interesting thing."

"Look I can ex..."

"He said you were talking about storylines" If there was a worldwide competition for who have the purest look of confusion on their face it would go to Kendra hands down. "I was nearly as confused as you are right now. Because you definitely couldn't be talking about storylines with wrestlers behind my back right?!"

"I didn't..."

"Oh but this is where it gets interesting. Now I was ready to spit fire on you today until I saw or should I say heard something today. Everything made sense. You're not discussing with the wrestlers about storylines behind my back no"

"Well thank you but if you'd just let me talk..."

"No, you're doing something way more sinister. You're having a relationship with Shawn. Trying to sleep your way to the top eh? Shawn is Mr. McMahon's favorite so you think by getting to him you'll automatically have my job?" He said as he started laughing. Then he laughed more and more until Kendra began to question his sanity.

Kendra for the first time in a long while was utterly speechless. Suddenly everything made sense. No wonder Russo didn't like her from day one. No wonder he stole all her ideas. No wonder he tried to bully and manipulate her; He thought she was going to steal his job. It was almost sad really.

"I don't expect you to say anything. You're just a..."

"No now you're gonna listen to me. I don't think it's fair the way you treat me. So all this was because you're insecure about your job? Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?! That's not fair" She blasted.

"Believe me or not I'm saying the absolute truth. You wanna know what's fair? You don't deserve this job. You only got this internship because of who you're related to and you're trying to progress higher by being a tramp and getting into the pants of the WWF champion. I don't think so. Unlike you some of us actually worked hard to get to where we are and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let some spoiled brat who's not even been here for up to three months take that away from me"

"Wow. You're crazy. And how dare you say that to me? I worked my ass off to get here and I never used my family name to do anything. And furthermore there is nothing going on between Shawn and I"

"Sure" Russo said sarcastically.

"You know what I think you're scared. Scared that a girl like me is more talented and more deserving of this position than you'll ever be." Kendra said standing up and getting into his face. "And furthermore, I wasn't the least bit interested in your job before but now... I want it" She said meaning every word which came out of her mouth.

"You see, that's just not going to happen. You know why? Cause you're gonna quit this job" Russo said as Kendra who seemed to be fixing something with her pocket froze as she looked back up at him. "Oh yeah"

"And you think I'll do that because..."

"Oh I know you're gonna do that. You know you're gonna do that, Or else?"

"What?" Kendra asked with a slight laugh. "You're gonna tell make Billy Gunn sexually harass me again? Is that what you're gonna do?" She spat out. He laughed.

"That was just the tip of the iceberg. This time I'm gonna do everything possible to make sure that you get fired. Not only fired but I'll make sure you never work in this country as a writer ever again. Mark my words." He said. Kendra glared at him as she slid her hands into her pockets. "Am I clear?"

"Crystal" She mumbled. He smirked.

"Excellent. Now you may take your leave. Oh and also get me a cup of coffee thank you while you enjoy your last few days as a member of the WWF" He said. She sighed, giving him one final glare before turning around to make her leave. But not before...

"Oh and as an added bonus, if you don't quit before next week, not only am I gonna get you fired but as an added bonus I'm gonna inform your brother Bret about your little entanglement with Shawn. I'm sure he'll be very pleased you're playing around with his rival. Food for thought" He said. Kendra didn't even bother to give him a reaction as she got out of his office slamming the door shut.

She took a deep breath. And didn't do anything for a little while.

But suddenly a large grin grew on her face as she brought out a small silver voice recorder from her pocket. Jackpot.

"Vince Russo will not know what hit him. No one messes with me, not anymore" She said to herself as she made her way to find someone who she knew could help her with her goal in mind. And she found that person within a few minutes. "We need to talk"

Ho yeah! I missed this. Yes. I promised drama and I hope that I supplied enough drama to your satisfaction. Who was the person she went to? What will become of Vince Russo? Will Kendra eventually reciprocate Shawn's feelings? What will happen to Sunny? What will happen to Chris? What will happen to Davey Boy Smith? All will be answered in due time.

Thanks again to everyone for supporting my book. Sorry for not updating all this while, I've been really busy with school. I hope to update more in the nearest future. Please endeavor to follow and favorite the book if you haven't already done that. And don't frget to review. See you all next time on Chapter 18.

Stay Safe Homies. Our world will be cleansed of this virus very soon.