Of course word about Corey's outburst had made it's way to Shane McMahon, and the owner of the WWE was more than upset. He had immediately sent for Corey to come to his office, and Shane's booming voice could be heard through the whole arena.
When Corey finally exited the office Chris was waiting for him.
" Whoa, are you okay Kid?"
Corey nodded and exhaled deeply. " If anything similar happens again I'm gone."
" He'll fire you? Just like that?"
Corey nodded again.
" I can see your point Kid, I know it must be hell for you, but I also can see where Shane's coming from, and I can't even imagine what it's like to lead that company. Maybe you should just stay out of their ways."
" Hah. And how exactly am I going to do that? I have to work with Brandon, Chris, and there's no way of getting out of it."
Corey shook his head and left Chris standing in front of Shane's office.
Corey wndered through the hallways of the Cleveland arena, avoiding everyone who stopped to talk to him. He felt like being alone.
Finding himself at ringside again Corey slowly sat down in one of the many empty chairs and leaned his forehead against the barrier, and for the first time he doubted his decision to become a professional wrestler. He had known the business was hard, but he hadn't imagined how hard.
Corey jumped as a huge arm sneaked around his shoulders, and despite his mood he smiled. He'd recognize the smell of that cologne anywhere.
" Hey Hunt." Corey greeted.
" I tell ya what Kid. You think you're the only one getting chewed out by a McMahon? Then I got two words for ya."
Corey looked up to meet Hunter's sparkling hazel eyes. Somehow that man always managed to cheer you up, and Corey looked at him expactantly. If he would tell him now to suck it….
" Curtain Call. And if you had been there when Vince himself almost ripped my head off you would laugh about Shane's attempts to be intimidating. He wont fire you Kid, you're too important for him."
" But he said that.."
" Nonsense. Shane tries to be like his father, but he never will be. Vince was a ruthless son of a bitch when it came to the business, but Shane's not. He's too human, which is a good thing. Let me tell you what, half of the roster wouldn't have survived under Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Not even Brandon. It's hard to admit it, but it's the truth."
Corey was stunned. Hunter doubted the ability of his own son?
" Why?" he asked curiously.
" Well, you see, Brandon is a leader, he hates to take orders, he always has. You have no idea how I struggled with him when he was a teenager. And he likes to piss people off on purpose. Do you know how often he had me on the edge of killing him?"
Corey had to grin imagining Hunter fighting with his teenage son. " Wonder where he got that from." Corey grinned.
" See Kid you can already smile again. Oh yeah it's true, I'm just that damn good."
" In making people laugh?"
" Not only that, go ask my wife."
Corey blushed at Hunter's statement, and to hide his embarassment he changed the topic.
" So, what are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in Greenwich?"
" You wanna get rid of me?" Hunter asked grinning.
" No, just curious."
Hunter turned serious. " Haven't seen my daughter in a while, and since she's here.."
Corey shifted uncomfortably on his chair. But if now wasn't the chance to talk to him, then when?
" I know.." he said quietly and gained a raised eyebrow from Hunter.
" Know what?"
" I…why…that..she's..I mean… I know what happened."
Hunter exhaled deeply and stared at the ceiling.
" I..I..don't know if..it's..true..but.." Corey trailed off when he saw the pained expression on Hunter's face.
" You know everything?"
Corey nodded. " I..I don't believe it.Well, I didn't belive it when they told me.."
" It's true." Hunter said quietly, still staring into space.
Corey was shocked. Well, he had been shocked when Cameron had told him, but to hear it from Hunter was a lot harder.
" Wow…" Corey whispered, shaking his head.
" Don't think I'm proud of it, 'cause I'm not, believe me." Hunter said.
" But..why?"
" Honestly, I don't know. You know..she was there…and..I was there..that's it. Do you know that feeling when you think you have to proof something to yourself? I think that's it. I've been married for over 30 years now… you know" Hunter finished and looked at Corey.
" Do you regret it?" Corey asked.
" I sure as hell do, boy. That was some deep shit..whoa.. sometimes I still feel my wife's fist in my face..but I deserved it.."
" And..that..that girl?"
" You know, she was young, she was naive, she didn't know what she was doing, but I did. Put the blame on me."
Corey was about to say something, but was cut off by someone yelling 'GRANDPA', and before he knew it two small figures rushed past him and threw themselves at Hunter who was completely taken by surprise and almost got knocked out of his chair. The girls climbed on his lap and eagerly started telling stories about their flight and their Mommy and their dolls and God knows what.
Corey grinned at Hunter who rolled his eyes and laughed. " Kids."
" They're adorable." Corey smiled.
" Don't let these angelic looks fool you, they've given me more than one hell."
One of the girls placed her hands on each side of Hunter's face it turned him to face her. " Grandpa? When can we come visit you and Grandma?"
" Whenever you want, angel, but you have to ask your Mommy first okay? "
" Okay." The girls said in union and jumped off his lap to go and find their mother.
" You really don't see them very often, do you?" Corey asked hesitantly.
" No, but..you know why..and believe it or not..I can't blame my daughter, she was devastated.."
Corey nodded and was about to respond, but he was cut off by the menacing voice of Jordan Waltman. " Girls, go back to your Dad."
" But Mommy, we wanna stay with Grandpa." The twins conplained.
" Later, now go." She said, pointing to the curtain. The girls pouted, but obeyed.
When they were gone, she bent down to Hunter and hissed " I don't want them near him." She whispered, but loud enough for Corey to hear.
" Could we discuss this later, alone." Hunter hissed back.
Jordan shot Corey a cold glare, but nodded and returned to wherever she came from.
Corey looked down on the floor, now she even wants her children to avoid him, he thought sadly.
" Sorry 'bout that.." Hunter said, his gaze settled on his hands.
Corey's sadness turned to anger, after what he had heard he was convinced Hunter knew more than he did.
" I don't need your pity." He shouted and jumped up. " And I don't want your pity, I just want to be left alone." And with that said he stomped off, leaving Hunter alone at ringside shaking his head and asking himself how to make his three children get along with each other.
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Hey folks, long time no see. I know I haven't updated for some time, but my godchild is baptized on Saturday and I really had a lot of other stuff to do. But here's the new chapter, a short one, I know, but I'll update another chapter as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!