Chris rolled his eyes as he walked away. Here he'd been having a nice conversation with Stephanie, only for Hunter to stick his nose in where it didn't belong. Maybe he wasn't being rational, he knew this, but he didn't exactly appreciate Hunter practically showing off that Stephanie was his right in front of him. What she saw in that man, he would never know.

He walked into his locker room, going and sitting down heavily on the sofa. He pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open, before closing it. Open, and closed. Open, and closed. He sighed, before opening it and dialing his wife's cell phone number. Part of him wondered what was the point? She hadn't even spoken a word to him that morning before he'd left for the show…

After a few rings, she answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Hey Chris."

He looked down a bit. "Still mad at me?"

She sighed. "Well, there's nothing I can say that's going to make you see things differently…"

"It won't be that bad, Jess, think of it like this… actors sometimes have to do things with other women that aren't their wives, right? This is exactly the same thing," he said, hoping he was finally getting through to her.

"I know, but it's just…"

"Just trust me… it's just business, babe, just business."

"Yeah, I know," she said with another sigh. "I still don't like it though."

"I already told you, it's not going to mean anything," he said with a frown.

"And you're sure that there's no way around it?"

"No, Stephanie told me tonight that Vince approved it, so we're all on board…" he paused for a moment. "Look Jessica, it's like this… I've got you, and Stephanie's got Hunter, okay? And trust me, for her to stick with a guy like that, she has to really care about him."

"And is he okay with this?" she asked curiously.

"Of course not," he answered, somewhat bitterly. "I think he'd prefer to lock Stephanie into a safe or something, because God forbid another man even glance at her, he'd have a heart attack or something."

"See? He doesn't like it either, so why --"

"Jess, baby, he doesn't like it because it's me," he said with a sigh. "You know his thing he has against me… I'm surprised he's not pulling strings for me to lose against Rock at the Rumble, just so he doesn't have to headline Wrestlemania with me."

"Maybe he just doesn't want to see his girlfriend making out with someone else," she reasoned, even though he picked up on the bitter edge in her tone.

"Yeah, maybe, but you know what? At least he's giving this a chance."

"So now it's my fault because I don't want to see this storyline happen? You just said it yourself, Hunter isn't even happy about this." He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "Chris, why can't you just see it from my view for a change?"

"Because you're being unreasonable," he argued, suddenly wishing he hadn't called. "I'm telling you that it's not going to mean anything, and you're acting like it will… it's like you don't even trust me," he said, hating the tinge of hurt he felt as those words left him.

"I didn't say that."

"Maybe you don't have to."

"Is that what you think? That I don't trust you?"

"Well what else am I supposed to think?" he snapped. "If you believed me and trusted me, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"I do trust you, Chris…"

"Then what the hell is the problem?"

"I just don't want to see my husband making out with some other girl on my TV screen! Why is that not registering with you? Would you enjoy seeing me with some other guy, pretending to have an affair of all things?"

"First of all, it's not some other girl… it's Stephanie, Stephanie McMahon," he said as he emphasized her name. "She was born into this business, she knows what's good and she's a professional through and through, she's not some random actress we picked up off the street to play this role with me."

"Whatever… I'm done talking about it."

"Fine, whatever," he said with a sigh. "It's obvious we're not going to see eye to eye on this."

"Yeah, I guess we're not," she mumbled, and there was an awkward silence for a moment.

"Alright, well, I should start getting my stuff together so I can get out of here, so I'm gonna let you go," he said absent-mindedly.

"Are you gonna call later?" she asked in a hopeful tone.

"Yeah," he finally answered. "I'll call you later tonight when I get to the hotel."

"Okay… talk to you later then."

"Yeah, bye Jess," he said before flipping his cell phone closed. He held it in his hand for a moment, shaking his head as he did. Why was it so hard for her to see that it was just work for him? He sighed as he stood up, before starting to get his things together.

Around twenty minutes or so later, he was walking down the hallway towards the parking lot, his duffel bag slung around one shoulder. He walked past someone's locker room, and Stephanie's voice somehow drifted over to him as she barked orders at someone. He couldn't help the smile that came to his face at the sound of her voice as he remembered their earlier conversation. Working with her was going to be fun, he could already tell.

But then again, they had always had a blast working together… there were very few people he enjoyed working with more than Stephanie McMahon, and that was a fact.

That was also probably a big reason why he was keeping his problems with Jessica away from Stephanie. He knew that if he mentioned how badly his wife was taking to this storyline, Stephanie would want to scratch it, and he didn't want that. This was his first main event spot at Wrestlemania, and he wanted it to be perfect. For all he knew, this could probably be his one and only shot to main event the biggest show of the year, and he was not about to blow it just because his wife was insecure about a storyline of all things.

Suddenly, a hand grasped his arm and he was yanked into a side hallway before he knew what was happening. He turned in surprise to see who had unceremoniously interrupted his train of thought, and found himself looking at Hunter. He sucked at his teeth a bit, willing his temper to stay in check as he looked up at the older man.

"Something I can help you with, Trips?" he said in a cool tone, readjusting his duffel bag a bit.

"I think we should talk," Hunter said, folding his arms in front of him. Chris sighed.

"About what?" he questioned, although he had a good feeling he knew where this was going.

"About this affair storyline you proposed," Hunter answered evenly. Chris nodded slowly.

"It's been approved… what is there to talk about? Oh man, it is between me and Steph, right?" he asked, feigning concern. "Because if you had it switched to me and you, well, I might have to raise a red flag out of concern…"

"Cut the crap, Jericho," Hunter cut in, and the Canadian tensed a bit. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm gonna keep a close eye on you with Stephanie."

"Is that a fact?" Chris asked, tilting his head a bit. "And does Stephanie know that you're going to be our official babysitter?"

"Boy, you have a great sense of humor, don't you?" Hunter asked dryly.

"So I'm told," Chris answered with a shrug.

"Look man… I don't see how this is going to get us more heat for our match than any other ways we could have gone about it," he said, and raised his hand just as Chris was about to open his mouth to comment. "But, it's been approved, I'm not an idiot and I get it."

"Could've fooled me," Chris mumbled, and Hunter scowled at that.

"What'd you say?"

"Good for me," he said in a louder voice. He maintained his ground as Hunter leaned in a bit closer to him, and he instinctively clenched his fists.

"Consider this… a friendly warning," Hunter said in a low tone as Chris raised his chin a bit. "You do this storyline, and do what you have to do to get by… but you better remember that at the end of the day, she's my girl, and she comes home with me."

"You don't say!" Chris exclaimed, his eyes widening. "You and Steph together! Since when?" Hunter exhaled angrily, making the Canadian snicker. "Seriously Trips, if you don't relax, you're going to give yourself a stroke and then who am I going to main event with at Wrestlemania?"

"You should just be happy that you're even set to main event," Hunter said evenly, and Chris nodded.

"I am, trust me, with someone like you backing me up, I don't have much of a choice now do I?" Chris asked sarcastically. "Now do you have a point? Because if you don't, I really should start making my way over to my hotel."

"Yeah, I have a point."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"Take it easy, man, we're just talking," Hunter said, looking at Chris curiously. "You look tense, that's not good… you need to ease up a bit."

Chris took a deep, dramatic breath, before exhaling slowly. "There, I feel better now, so what's your point?" he demanded, and Hunter attempted to wrap an arm casually around his shoulders, but he was having none of it and backed out of the attempt. "Get to the point, Hunter," he repeated, wishing he would just get it out so he could leave.

"Alright, fine, since you don't want me to be friendly about it, I'll get to the point," Hunter said, a frown on his face as he smacked on his gum.

"While I'm young, please," Chris sneered.

"It's like this, Jericho… Stephanie's my girlfriend, and I love her…"

"Touching…"

"So you better be careful with what you do and where you put your hands on her, you get what I'm saying?" Hunter asked, poking Chris in the chest.

"Are you threatening me?" Chris asked as his eyes narrowed. "Is this your way of threatening me, Hunter? Because I don't take kindly to threats."

"Why would you take it that way?" he asked smugly. "Is there something you feel I should threaten you about?"

"I don't know," Chris said with a shrug. "Is there something you feel that you should be scared of with us doing this storyline? Do you think I'm going to start putting the moves on your girl behind your back? Does this mean nothing to you?" he said as he raised his left hand which showed off his wedding ring.

"I find it hard to believe that your wife is okay with all of this," Hunter said with a scowl, and Chris laughed.

"Trust me, she is," he lied smoothly. Hunter was the absolute last person he would ever open up to about Jessica's feelings regarding this storyline. It would give him more than enough reason and perhaps justification to try and get the storyline changed, and he wasn't having it. He could deal with his wife, and sooner or later, she'd come around. He was sure of it.

"Again, hard to believe."

"No one's asking you to believe it," Chris snapped as he lowered his hand. "Does Stephanie know about this little meeting we're having right now?"

"No, she doesn't, and I suggest you keep it that way."

"Again with the threats?"

"It's not a threat, it's a suggestion," Hunter said as he stepped up towards Chris. "I can give you a threat, if that's what you want."

"Look," Chris said in a low tone as the two stared each other down. "You don't like me, okay, I get it. I don't get what the fuck your problem is with me, but I'm done caring. We're gonna do this, okay, we're gonna go through with this storyline whether you like it or not. And quite frankly, you're acting like a little bitch right now," he added, and Hunter's eyes darkened at this.

"Oh really?" he said dangerously, but Chris just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm married Hunter, what else do you want? You love Stephanie and that's fine, and wouldn't you know it? I love my wife. This is business, pure and simple, nothing but business. I'm not trying to pull one over you, I'm not trying to steal Stephanie from under your nose, so you need to just deal with it. And you also need to back the hell up from me," he said, not liking the way Hunter was coming off to him. He wasn't intimidated by Hunter, not in the slightest. His training with the Hart family had more than prepared him to deal with anyone, so he knew that if he had to, he could bring Hunter down in no time.

"I don't think I like your tone, Jericho…"

"Deal with it," Chris challenged, his fists clenched and ready for action in case Hunter wanted to go right there.

Hunter scowled and was about to say something when his cell phone started ringing. He looked at the name and put it the phone on silence, not bothering to answer.

"Now, if that was Stephanie, then you're not really showing how much you love her by not answering her calls, you know?"

"For your information, it was Stephanie, but I'm not exactly done here," Hunter said with that same scowl on his face.

"No, that's where you're wrong… we are done, there's nothing left to say," Chris said snidely. "And you better call her back, before she sees you the way I see you and leaves you hanging high and dry."

"Never gonna happen."

"We're done here," Chris said, turning around to leave before Hunter grabbed him by the arm. Chris groaned loudly. "What now?" he demanded, his back to Hunter. The man was infuriating to him, absolutely infuriating.

"Remember what I said," Hunter warned as Chris pulled his arm free.

"Whatever, I don't know what she sees in you anyways," Chris mumbled under his breath as he walked away. His mood had taken a downturn after his conversation with Jessica, but Hunter had just managed to kill his mood entirely. And he wasn't lying when he said he didn't see what Stephanie saw in him. She was such a genuinely nice person, and he had always gotten along really well with her. She was smart, she had a great sense of humor, and she was just fun to talk to. Thinking about her brought a small smile to his face.

At least he had Stephanie on his side.