Chapter Six: Operation Embarrassment
Their afternoon fight regarding security for the evening, in which neither would budge, was finally over hours later when a compromise was found. The riff had left a bad taste in Therese's mouth, but nothing daunted Stephanie as she readied for the night. The morning had gone so well when Stephanie dragged Therese out to go shopping for a new outfit and had talked Therese into one for herself also. They had acted like schoolgirls as they tried on clothing and talked about their dates. After their fight, both were amazed that such a good morning had gone wrong.
Austen's book could not occupy Stephanie and the television had nothing to hold her attention, so slowly getting ready early was her only option. She was a nervous wreck and couldn't understand why. She ran across Shawn often but he never evoked this kind of feeling in her. Thinking about how it was her first date since the divorce, she explained it away, especially since she was going with someone who was not on her favorites list. Right now, she could use that not-so-favorite-person because she couldn't get her necklace clasped around her neck.
Therese had given up on zipping the back of her dress. As much as it killed her to do so, she stepped into Stephanie's room to ask for help. Stephanie was about to sling the necklace across the room because she was so frustrated with her trembling fingers. "Here, let me help," Therese said, noticing her aggravation. Stephanie said nothing as she handed off the diamond pendant. Once on, she stood and twirled, showing off the red sleeveless blouse and black leather pants. "Looks good. He'll definitely like it. I'll be finished if you don't mind zipping me up."
"Ready?" Stephanie asked, fitting the zipper of the sapphire sheath in place. "You're wearing your hair like that?" Therese couldn't believe that she had just said that about the ponytail pulled back at the nape of her neck. "You wear it like that all the time."
"I don't have time to redo it now. I really wanted to go get a drink at the bar before we left." Because I really need one, on the job or not, I need a little vodka. For heaven's sake, I'm going out with Kevin Nash. "It'll be fine. Let's go on down," she protested.
"Sit." Stephanie pointed at the vanity chair. For some odd reason, Therese relinquished and parked it in front of the mirror. She was amazed that, in minutes, Stephanie had her straight hair piled high in curls. "Alright. Now, we can go."
"Take a picture. My little brother will never believe I got this dressed up." Therese laughed, grabbing her lace wrap so the two of them could head down to the lobby.
Upon their entrance, Shawn let out a cat call that drew the attention of everyone in the great room. When everyone turned to give an approving look, Therese almost dragged Stephanie back to their room, for Stephanie's safety and for her own embarrassment. However, her thoughts quickly changed at the sight of the two.
Shawn looked like an Evolution protégé in a white dress shirt and navy blue pants. Stephanie was already debating if it was too much on the first date to play in his hair that he had left down. Therese hadn't gotten that far. She was just reminding herself to not lose track of Stephanie's protection and to breathe! Kevin had opted for a dark suit, his long hair falling across his broad shoulders. They both smiled at each other and mumbled a hello before looking down at their own shoes. Stephanie, however, had been grabbed up in a hug. Shawn set her down and she immediately began to wipe lipstick off his cheek from her welcoming peck.
"Let's go, ladies," Shawn said, taking Stephanie by the arm and waving for Kevin and Therese to go ahead. Therese automatically took a step towards the red corvette but Kevin kept going beyond it to a blue SUV. Shawn unlocked the vehicle by remote and Therese climbed in the back without thinking of waiting for Kevin to open her door.
As Shawn shut Stephanie's door, she turned around to Therese. "Let him open the door for you. It's okay." Therese blushed beet red as Kevin slid in beside her. Where is that drink I wanted?
"Blind dates suck, don't they?" Kevin leaned over and said to her quietly, which wasn't necessary since Shawn and Stephanie were chattering away about business and family, oblivious to those in the back seat.
"Well, yeah. But we know each other's names and faces. That doesn't count, does it?"
"So, you think this sucks so far?" Kevin asked with a smile.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean it that way. I'm just really nervous." Great, Kevin thought, another date with a woman more worried about my name and profession instead of me.
"Why?"
Why? Well, duh! There's Shawn Michaels in the front seat and here's Kevin Nash sitting beside me. Who in God's name wouldn't be nervous around these two icons?! Therese replied, "I don't know. I guess I have no reason to be, huh?"
"I'm not gonna powerbomb you or anything."
Yeah, but you might get too close. "Well, that fear's taken care of," she joked, nervously laughing. Nash broadly smiled at her joke, hoping the ice had been broken. Therese was searching for something else to say when Stephanie turned around and began to engage Kevin in her and Shawn's conversation. Therese listened, only adding a comment here and there.
When Shawn pulled up at the restaurant, he and Kevin filed out of the vehicle. Stephanie reached around to put a hand on Therese's knee before she opened her door. "I wasn't going to move," Therese muttered the lie through clenched teeth.
"Then why is your hand on the door handle?" Stephanie asked in a singsong voice. I'm not in the mood for you, Therese angrily thought.
The restaurant the two had chosen was fairly intimate and their table was somewhat secluded. They settled in and Shawn began immediately to find common ground for Kevin and Therese. "So, Therese, where are you from?"
"Atlanta." She had no more said it than she realized that Nash was from Atlanta also. How did I end up picking such a big city and it still being such a small world?
"Really?" Nash asked. "I'm from Kennesaw. What part of Atlanta?"
"Tucker."
"That's interesting." No, kidding, Therese thought. "You don't have a Southern accent. Have you lived there all your life?"
"No, I've moved around a lot my entire life. It's only since I graduated that I've been living in Atlanta."
"Speaking of graduation," Shawn popped in, "y'all two graduated together, huh?"
"Actually, no, I was a senior when she was a freshman. I picked her for my little sister in our sorority."
"Sorority girls, that's sweet," Shawn said, whistling.
"It was not like that and you know it, Shawn Michaels," Stephanie firmly interrupted.
"No, she was a good girl until I got hold of her," Therese laughed. Operation Embarrass Stephanie now in progress. "Let me tell you about the time she got stuck in the boys' dorm." Stephanie glared at her since she could do nothing else. "My boyfriend and I were resident directors, so we could get away with anything. This particular evening, I set Stephanie up with a friend of Mark's who lived on the same hall as Mark. She was supposed to come back to Mark's room before curfew so that I could get her out without getting in trouble. Guess who forgot?" They all turned to look at Stephanie. Her cheeks were growing red. "I knocked on Steve's door and, when nobody answered, I used Mark's master key to get in and found the two of them in a heavy lip-lock on the couch. They had no clue I was there, so I went back to get Mark." Therese started giggling. "So, Mark knocks on the door and calls out to Steve. Stephanie dives behind the couch and Steve answers the door. Mark asks for his roommate. Of course, he's not there. So Mark asks who was there since he could obviously hear someone else in the room. The look on Steve's face was priceless. So, Mark gets another of his buddies and they set up camp at the only exit to 'study.' Stephanie waits and waits and waits. Somewhere around six in the morning, she decides to go out the window, four stories up. She makes it down the trellis to the resident assistant's balcony but can't get anywhere else. By this time, a storm comes in full force and there is nowhere for her to hide. So, she tries to go through the railing and gets her head stuck in it. She can't get through it or get back on the balcony." By this time, Stephanie was so mad that she was twisting a napkin between her hands to keep from hauling off on Therese. "Stephanie had just gotten soaked when Mark called me to come and get her. The resident assistant threatened to turn the three of us in when we woke him up at seven a.m. Mark threw out some blackmail and we waltzed out of the guys' dorm with a clean record. However, half of the freshman class saw her on their way to breakfast," Therese finished and the three of them were laughing as Stephanie feigned a smile.
"At least I wasn't almost arrested," Stephanie said, narrowing her eyes in a glare.
"Arrested?" Kevin and Shawn asked in unison, turning to look at Therese.
Therese leaned back in her seat. "Let's hear it, Steph."
"Part of the seniors' prank was to put a barnyard animal in the dean's office and—"
"If you're gonna tell it, get it right. It was a bull in the President's office," Therese interrupted, trying to stay one up on her.
Stephanie glared back before continuing. "Anyway, Sherry talks the student worker into leaving the window unlocked that evening. Since Therese was so tall, they put her through the window. She gets all the doors unlocked that lead from the hall to the office. The guys are dragging the bull into the office with Therese leading the way, while the rest of them stand guard. Then the police sirens go off. Apparently, they tripped a silent alarm. Everyone scatters leaving Therese blocked in the office by the bull." Stephanie started laughing so hard she had to catch her breath to continue. "The bull won't move, so she has to go out the window. She's dangling out the window as the police bust into the office. She takes off running towards our dorm but she runs straight into a policeman. Assuming she's the one that broke into the office, he puts her down on the ground and gets her in handcuffs. The guy drags Therese into the secretary's office and then they listen to her story. She spills out some bull…no pun intended…about being in the guys' dorm past curfew and was trying to get back before anyone noticed she was gone. She demands they call Mark and ask him if she was with him. Well, Mark was the one who got the bull in the first place. He already knows he's in trouble for splitting on her, so there is no way he would lie. They kept her there until the President got there and they got the bull out of the office. She barely rolled into her morning class because it took so long." Stephanie was laughing so hard tears started forming in the corners of her eyes.
Therese was looking for something to come back with to embarrass her again but their food began to arrive. They turned to talking about business, obviously leaving out Nash's troubles with Triple H. The embarrassing stories seemed to have been forgotten by all parties involved and the two had quit glaring at each other. Even though the dinner was going so well, Therese was relieved to see the server bring the check. She could quit worrying about being out with Kevin and keeping an eye on everything in the room for Stephanie's safety.
As they headed to the car, Shawn whispered to Stephanie, asking her if she wanted to go to the local park. Stephanie gestured towards Kevin and Therese, who were discussing the highlights of Atlanta. Stephanie almost couldn't resist asking how Therese knew so much about the city. "Yeah, they're getting along well, don't you think?"
"Sure," she whispered back. "But, I don't want to just ditch them."
"I've got an idea."
"What?"
"It's nothing much. You'll see when we get there." Stephanie didn't reply, running the scenario through her mind of Shawn trying to ditch Kevin and Therese.
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TBC…