Stephanie looked at the card again and smirked. Tonight's going to be a good show, she thought happily. As Stephanie sat it back down in the desk, she felt strong arms wrap around her waist as he kissed her neck. "Whatcha doing?"
"Work," Stephanie beamed.
"The show doesn't start for another half hour," Paul reminded her. "Can't you put that aside for now?"
She turned around towards him and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I can think of a few good reasons too," she said softly, grinning from ear to ear.
Paul giggled and kissed her tenderly slipping his hand under her shirt as they heard a knock on her office door and then someone grimacing. "Oh! Jeez," Cena said, shielding his eyes as Paul and Stephanie pulled apart reluctantly, both annoyed. "Haven't you two heard of locks?"
"What is it, John?" Stephanie asked irritated.
John flashed her a cocky grin. "Aw, did I interrupt?" Paul glared at Cena and folded his arms across his chest. John noticed his stance, but only returned the defiant stare towards him. If it weren't for Stephanie, John would've hit him right then and there, knocking his ass out. The temptation to ask Paul about his little 'meeting' with Melina was crawling to the surface. John shook off the urge and stepped to the side, throwing his thumb behind him. "The guys are having problems with the pyro and sound effects, Steph," John told her, ignoring Paul.
Paul never took his eyes off John as Stephanie groaned and straightened her shirt as she walked to the door. "Alright, I'll take care of it."
As Stephanie walked out, John and Paul continued their staring contest until Paul spoke up, approaching Cena. "What's your problem, man?"
John snorted. "What's yours?" he threw back. Giving him his signature FU brush off, John followed Stephanie out, leaving Paul to stand in the office, alone and in astonishment.
"Hey Steph," John called jogging up to her. "Can I ask you a favor?"
"What?"
"Can you give me a match with Paul?"
Stephanie stopped walking and turned to face John, his face set and hard, his expression hard to read. "You're serious?" Stephanie asked in bewilderment. John nodded and Stephanie sighed, shaking her head. "John, I can't. You guys have a tag match tonight." John nodded again, clearly pissed and upset, but not arguing. Stephanie raised her eyebrows. "John, why do you want a match with my husband?"
He froze, unsure if he should tell the truth or not. The more he saw Stephanie and Paul together, the more he wanted to because he knew that Paul was hurting her, but Stephanie seemed so happy. And with a baby on the way…John knew she wouldn't react very well to the news. Besides that, John and Shane had no solid proof. Telling Stephanie flat out that Paul was cheating wouldn't be the smartest plan. John did what was natural to him. He flashed her a smile to reassure her everything was fine, turning on his charm. "No reason," he shrugged off.
Stephanie however knew John was hiding something; and that something had to do with Paul. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at John. "I want the truth."
John didn't back down but rather changed the subject. "Hey, congrats on the baby," he said pointing to her flat stomach. "I can see a little Paul or Steph running around here and running the show," he joked.
Stephanie was unfazed but rather getting pissed very quickly. John sensed this and sighed in relief as Shane walked over to them. "Hey guys," he greeted.
Stephanie never tore her eyes off of John, which made him uncomfortable, but spoke to Shane. "You wanna tell me what's wrong with, Cena?" she asked him.
John frowned at Stephanie using his last name. Damn, she knows I know something. Shane shrugged at his little sister. "No."
Stephanie nodded slightly and brushed past Shane. "I'll see you boys later," she said with one last glance at John.
When she was out of earshot, John sighed in liberation and removed his baseball cap, running a hand through his hair, and replacing it. "What the hell was that about?" Shane demanded.
"Steph's expecting."
Shane's eyes widened. "What? She's pregnant?" John nodded. "And she didn't tell me first?"
John shot Shane a look. "Don't you see the problem?" he asked crossly. "Paul's cheating and she's expecting," John whispered.
"Shit," Shane muttered.
"And she knows that I know something," John added.
"Well, how the fuck does she know?"
"'Cause I asked for a match against Paul."
Shane shook his head. "Why the fuck would you do that?" he asked angrily.
"Because I wanna tear him apart!" John replied furiously. "He's so fucking smug and he's treating Stephanie like that."
Shane raised his eyebrows. "Do you have a crush on my sister?"
John shook his head and started to walk away. "Fuck this. I don't need this shit."
"Where are you going?"
"To tell her!"
Shane ran up to John and grabbed his arm, stopping him, which caused John to growl at him. "You can't do that. You'll only hurt her."
"I'll hurt her?" he hissed.
Shane put up his hands. "Just…let it play out okay? We'll talk to Paul first."
John shook his head. "Nah, I'll kill him…"
"Okay, okay. I'll talk to him first, alright?" John nodded slowly. "For now, channel your anger at your opponents tonight."
Stephanie wanted to pull her hair out. Fucking stupid ass morons… The show started ten minutes late because the WWE crew couldn't figure out how to plug two plugs together. Her night was not off to a good start. I still have Mindy's and Matt's debut to look forward to, she thought, trying to calm herself. And we still have the tag match as the main event. Stephanie's breathing returned to normal just as she heard, "How come you didn't tell us?!?"
Stephanie froze right away and sighed, closing her eyes. The last thing she wanted to deal with was, bless their heart, her family. Stephanie prepared herself and turned around, to meet her mother's hurt eyes and her father's stern look. "Hey, Mom. Dad."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Linda asked again, almost on the verge of tears.
She's so overdramatic, Stephanie thought. "Tell you what?" she replied demurely.
"That you're pregnant!" Vince shouted.
Stephanie felt herself redden as several workers turned towards them. "Jeez, Dad…why don't you publish it?" she hissed.
"It already is!" he recoiled.
Stephanie blinked. "What?"
"That's how we found out," he said more serenely. "A fucking website posted it before your own parents knew."
Stephanie could feel her blood pressure rising as she brushed back her bangs. "I just found out," she said overwhelmed. "I was going to tell you guys the second I got a chance."
Both their faces softened as Linda hugged her. "Oh, Stephanie. You're going to have a little Stephy."
"Or Vince," her father said proudly. Both women turned and looked at him. Vince swallowed hard, realizing the way it sounded. "I meant, Paul," he quickly covered. Stephanie and Linda relaxed slightly as Vince added, "But you'll name him Vincent."
"Stephanie is going to kill you!" Amy shouted.
"Well stop shouting it!" Trish yelled back.
Adam giggled as he un-taped his hands. Amy shot him a glare as he stopped and cast his eyes downward. She turned back to Trish. "Do you realize how Stephanie will react to this?" Amy demanded. "Especially because she's pregnant."
"I know! Trish said quickly. "That's why I need your advice."
"Why do you want my advice?" Amy asked taken aback.
Trish shrugged. "I asked John…"
Adam held up his hand. "Wait, you asked Cena?" he asked astonished. "What am I? Chop liver?"
Trish rolled her eyes. "John is closer with Stephanie…"
"But I've known her longer," he protested.
"…And John can help me convince Stephanie to see that this is a good thing for me," she continued, ignoring Adam. He rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.
Amy shook her head and rolled her eyes watching her childish boyfriend. "You know that no matter what, Stephanie won't see it that way. Not for a while."
"She let Kurt go to TNA," Trish pouted.
Amy rolled her eyes again at Trish. "She didn't let him go to TNA. She wasn't even here."
"Yeah, I wouldn't mention him anyways," Adam added. Both women looked at him and he shrugged. "What?"
Trish scoffed as the locker room door opened. She gasped as she saw Matt Hardy walk in, oblivious to the conversation that the three were having together. Amy froze and Adam stood up as Matt stood at the door suddenly seeing who was in the room. A knife could cut the tension in the room as Trish shifted uneasily. Matt's eyes fell upon Amy and a secret and silent conversation was being held between them. Adam, sensing this, grabbed Amy's hand and his ring gear, preparing to leave. "Wait," Matt said, holding out his hand. Adam stopped and looked closely at him. "I, uh…just wanted to clear some things up…with Amy."
Adam and Trish looked at Amy apprehensive then at each other, each not wanting to leave Amy alone. Amy turned to her best friend and her boyfriend and nodded slowly. Regrettably, both did as she wished and left the locker room. As Adam closed the door, he stepped away from it and leaned against the wall. Trish raised her eyebrow. "You just going to stand there?"
Adam nodded. "I wanna be here in case…"
Trish nodded understanding the unspoken words that Adam was saying. In case he or she does anything they'll regret. Trish nodded and sat on a crate across from him. "I'll stay too." Adam smiled grateful at her.
"How are you?" Amy asked him, uneasy.
"How do you think?" There was no emotion in his voice, but it still hurt Amy to see him and hear him like that.
"Look…" she began.
"I don't want to hear it, Amy. You hurt me, worse than anyone ever has."
Amy nodded sadly. "I know. I wish it didn't happen like they did, but neither myself or Adam can change that."
"Do you love him?" he asked plainly.
Amy blinked. "What?"
"Do you love him?"
Amy nodded. "I think I might…yeah."
Matt sighed. "You loved me once."
"People change, Matt. You never understood that."
"I understand that you broke your promise." Amy didn't say anything or move. "I also understand that you embarrassed me publicly and got me fired."
Amy's eyes flashed. "That wasn't my fault! You broke character."
"And you were one to point that out, weren't you?" he sneered.
Amy took a threatening step towards him, shoving her finger in her chest. "Listen, asshole, I had nothing to do with you losing your job. Stephanie and her family were sitting backstage watching the whole fucking thing. You got yourself in that jam! Not me, not Adam. You!"
Matt moved his face into hers. "When I get in that ring tonight, Amy, I'm gonna kill him."
Amy scoffed. "I know that Stephanie warned you, Matt. You don't scare me."
"No?" he challenged. "You know that Vince and Shane think the same. You know that when they see me and your whore-man on the card they see dollar signs. Not you, Stephanie or Adam will stop me. And the great thing is that the fans are behind me! And they call you just like they should…slut!"
In one fluid motion, Matt swung the door open and stomped out. Amy couldn't stop as the tears stung her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. She didn't even notice that Trish and Adam stepped back inside. Adam grabbed her cheek gently as she sank to the bench in despair. "Baby, what happened?" Adam asked softly. When Amy only sobbed louder, burying her face into Adam's neck, he looked up at Trish worried and seething inside. I'm gonna kill that bastard…