Author's Notes: Sorry this has taken so long! In three weeks, I had two tests to take, two papers to write, a fat-honking history book to read, the stomach flu to get over, and FF.net to finally let me in!! ARGGHHH!
Chapter XVII: The Actresses of Wrestling: Jamie Lee and Julia
Stephanie would have preferred to stay in bed all Friday morning but she wanted to be on the phone first thing to change flight plans. She was so excited to be staying at Shawn's house, even if her worst friend, and "baggage," would be there. Actually, she was starting to like Evan, and, if circumstances were different, she thought he would make a great little brother to have around all the time. Cradling a mug of coffee, the brunette finalized the flights to correspond with Shawn and Kevin's. She closed the cellphone and set it down as Therese knocked on the door and stumbled through, her hair sticking out in a thousand directions and her robe hanging open to reveal her usual PJ's.
"Who are you talking to this early in the morning?" the blonde yawned.
"I wanted to be sure we all had seats to San Antonio."
"But we're not leaving until Tuesday."
"Shawn invited us to stay with him and it would be rude to turn him down," Stephanie responded with a shrug.
"I never agreed to that," Therese said, sitting down on the other woman's bed.
"Well, I guess you just did because I just changed our tickets."
"Change them back!" Therese exclaimed, her eyes finally widening beyond the usual morning sleep.
"Not with how much it costs every time you change them."
"Then I'll pay for it!"
"Let's talk through this rationally," Stephanie replied, holding her hands out in a calming manner.
"Are you saying I'm not being rational?" Therese asked, her voice still a pitch higher.
"Listen to the tone of your voice."
"Alright, you've got five minutes to convince me why we should stay with Shawn for the next week," she said, crossing her arms.
Stephanie talked non-stop without taking a breath to persuade Therese. Halfway through, the blonde already decided to not argue about it. In all reality, Stephanie was her boss and what she demanded went. Whatever Stephanie did, it was Therese's job to make sure that she was safe doing so. Therese wasn't about to remind her of that. Stephanie had a lot of making up to do about the match she had put her in with Sable.
Therese sighed and stood up. "When do we leave?"
"I got us on this afternoon's flight," Stephanie answered with a smug look.
"Really?"
"It was either that or wait for two more days."
"I'll tell the guys when they get up, which won't be for, oh," Therese glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand, "a couple more hours, which is good because we need to talk." Stephanie patted the extra chair at the table and Therese settled down. "I need you to make me a list of everyone you remember being at the funeral."
"Why?" she asked, her voice verging on hysterics.
"You don't really want to know," the agent responded, shaking her head.
"I think I need to this time."
"Quite possibly, the stalker was there. I also need you to ask Shane to get his hands on a copy of the guest registry because he might have signed the book. We'll compare the two lists and maybe we'll have this narrowed down further."
Stephanie's spirits were dampened by the news, but she nodded her head. "I'll call Shane now. I'll even ask him to make a list of who he remembers."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Stephanie and Therese ended up sitting together on the plane while Evan was banished to the rear by the airline and Shawn and Kevin enjoyed bulkhead. It was a prime opportunity to discuss some of the problems that this situation would pose. However, Therese was more worried about what a second week with Kevin Nash was going to do to her resolve to not get heavily involved with him.
The GM had a limo waiting for them but Shawn's home was not far from the airport. Therese took in every detail, forming security strategies and emergency plans in her head. The two-story, spacious house sat on over ten acres of land and couldn't be seen from the road. Stephanie was impressed with the place since it wasn't much smaller than her own. Dropping all their luggage in the foyer, Shawn gave them the grand tour of four bedrooms, three baths and the office, den, dining room, kitchen, weight room, and—
"A pool!" Evan shouted and dashed out through the patio doors. He was too far gone before Therese could grab him.
"That boy should have been a fish," she muttered to herself.
Shawn stuck his head out of the glass doors and yelled at him to be careful and not fall in. "I'm sure you gals would like to freshen up before we find dinner," he said, heading back to the foyer and picking up luggage. Kevin followed suit and the ladies trailed behind them up the stairs. "I'm willing to give up my room—the master bedroom," he said grandly, turning around to look at them, "to whichever of you lovely ladies want it."
Stephanie purred, "Oh, Shawn, thank you."
"I don't think so," Therese said and dropped her carry-on bag. She drew her fists up at Stephanie. "Bring it on."
The brunette's eyes grew wide and she slowly backed up. "I, uh, whoa, um, now, Therese."
Therese straightened back with a smile, dropping her fists. "That's okay. I don't want it anyhow."
"You—" Stephanie started but couldn't find the appropriate curse. Shawn thought about watching the two of them argue over it but continued on to the bedroom with Stephanie stomping behind.
"You're a bad person, you know that?" Kevin said with a smile.
"Yeah, isn't it beautiful? She's going to think twice about putting me in a match again," Therese replied, returning his smile.
Kevin laughed lightly. "I'm staying in the one by Shawn's room. Where do you want me to put your luggage?"
"Let's think about the logistics of this. Four bedrooms, five people. I'll just take the fold-out couch in the living room."
"No, no," Shawn said, coming back into the hall. "I'm going to do that."
"But, you can't. You need a decent bed. I'll take it or Mark can," she protested.
"Mark can do what?" Evan said, bounding up the steps.
"Sleep on the couch or in one of the guest rooms," his sister answered.
"Do the guest rooms have a TV?" he asked.
"Unfortunately, no," Shawn answered.
"Then I'll take the couch."
"We'll put his luggage in my room. So, I guess, I'll take that room," Therese said, pointing at the one beside Stephanie's and across from Kevin's.
"Shawn, can I go swimming?" the dark-haired boy asked.
"Honey, it's late. I don't think—" Therese started.
"Are you Shawn?" he said with a sly smile and turned back to Michaels.
"I think you need to listen to her. Okay, buddy?"
"Yeah," he muttered and went to retrieve his suitcase.
By the time the ladies had freshened up and changed, Shawn and Kevin had steaks sizzling in the kitchen. Stephanie pulled a stool up to the bar, folded her hands beneath her chin, and casually watched. Therese dove in and began helping with the salad.
"How are we going to work out this next week?" Stephanie said, twirling a dishtowel.
"Houston's about three and a half hours away. So, we should leave sometime early afternoon. I haven't figured out RAW yet," Shawn stated.
Therese glanced at Stephanie. "I don't know if it's a good idea for us to go to Houston."
"We'll sneak you in. Don't worry about it," Kevin added.
"And RAW too?" the blonde woman asked.
"Why not?" Nash asked.
"You're not getting into SmackDown! no matter how many RAW events you sneak us into," she replied.
"Since it's here, I guess we'll get over it," Shawn responded as he prodded the meat.
"So, what are we doing about RAW?" Stephanie asked, brining them back on track.
"We either stay in Houston over night and drive to Dallas and save four hours or we just come back here and then drive the four and half hours to Dallas and not have to worry about luggage and hotel reservations," Michaels explained.
"That's a tough one," Stephanie said. "What were you planning on doing before we were coming?'
"Staying in a hotel," Kevin answered as he peeled a tomato.
"I guess that's what we'll do. Problem solved," Stephanie replied, tossing the dishtowel aside.
"Where did Mark go?" Therese asked, suddenly realizing he was nowhere in sight or within earshot.
"Playing video games in the den," Kevin answered.
"Oh," she said softly, "well, I guess it's better he stay occupied doing that. The pool is the one thing you don't need to have around him. Not to bring up going to Houston and Dallas again, but are you sure it's okay that he go? Stephanie and me are gonna be enough trouble being there."
"Mark'll be easier than the two of y'all to get in. Nobody there knows him, but they sure know y'all," Shawn answered.
"I just feel so bad about you putting us up in your house and taking us to the pay-per-view and RAW."
"No trouble at all. It's really given us a break from the monotony. Quit worrying. I don't want to hear anymore about it," Shawn replied, stepping away from the stove to give her a stern look.
"Yes, sir," she sarcastically replied with a mock salute.
After dinner, Stephanie offered to clean up, much to Therese's surprise. She also offered, thinking it beneath the guys to do so with women in the house and them having cooked most of the meal. Before Therese could pick up a dish, Shawn pushed her out of the kitchen. "It's late. I know where everything goes. Go, get Mark in bed."
Therese obliged and disappeared with Kevin following shortly on her heels. They said little as they rinsed dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher and replaced all the condiments. The other three in the living room discussing something about the Internet but neither was truly listening. "We're almost alone," Stephanie whispered and propped her elbows up on the bar.
"I don't think they can hear us," Shawn replied with a smile and leaned against the island, throwing a dishtowel over his shoulder. He was itching to kiss her, so bad that he almost couldn't stand it. Since their "in-hotel" date, they hadn't had a chance to be alone. Maybe that was why he felt such a strong urge to take her into his arms and kiss her senseless. "I'm really glad you decided to stay here this week."
"Really?" she replied, drawing him in.
"Yeah. It's great all of you are here. Mark's a lot of fun and...Therese and Kevin are together," he said, raising his eyebrows several times.
Stephanie quietly laughed. "And me and you—"
"Hey, guys," Therese said, appearing in the doorway. "Mark's settled and I preface that with he's on the couch in his PJ's with the remote control in his hand. He won't be any trouble. We're going to bed—I mean, I'm going to bed and he's coming too—Wait, no, you know what I mean."
She and Kevin walked on by and then Shawn called out. "Therese, there's not a lock on your bedroom door. You might want to bar it with the dresser."
She quickly reappeared in the door way. "What?"
"I'm just kidding. You're so easy," Shawn laughed.
"Thank you, but I do have some scruples," she replied, furrowing her brow.
"No, I mean that it's easy to tease you."
"I'm kidding too. You're just as easy." Therese evilly grinned and disappeared.
Stephanie giggled and Shawn turned back to her. "You think I'm easy too, huh?"
"I'm just a sexy boy," Stephanie sang, coming from around the bar and dancing. "I'm not your boy toy." She gyrated a couple of times and dropped into his pose. When he didn't smile or laugh, she quickly stood back up. "I'm sorry, did I—"
Shawn pulled her into his arms, then smiled. "You're easy too."
His lips were moving but she didn't hear the words. He watched her eyes drop to his mouth and was thinking the exact thing she was. "Hmm…" she replied and licked her lips. Shawn couldn't stand it anymore and descended on her mouth. She returned the kiss as fervently, teasing his tongue with hers and eliciting a low groan from him. She leaned in closer and pulled the band from his ponytail. Her fingers ran through his hair as his hands ran up and down her back. They finally pulled away breathless.
"Wow," she whispered. "At least now I know it wasn't the wine talking last time."
"Mmm…" he replied and nibbled at her bottom lip before softly kissing her. "I think…we better…stop," he said, punctuating each word with a kiss.
"Why?" she heavily breathed.
"Because we might end up in a compromising situation in the kitchen."
"Who cares," she said, pulling him back down and running her tongue across his bottom lip. He quickly devoured her mouth again, letting one hand drift down to cup her butt. She slightly moaned and the kiss grew more fiery. Her hands trailed over his chest and then back into his long curls. When air was needed, they pulled apart again.
"That compromising situation might involve us being naked."
Her mouth made a small 'o' and her hands dropped to his arms. "It'll be difficult but alright."
He dropped a kiss on her nose. "Go to bed, princess. I'll see you in the morning unless you need me for something."
"Goodnight," she sighed and headed out of the kitchen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Therese stopped before her bedroom door and glanced up at Kevin to tell him 'goodnight' but he spoke first. "So, are we dating?"
"According to the Internet, yeah," she said with a laugh, thinking about what Evan had just shown them. One of the wrestling news websites had posted the rumor of them dating, citing them being at the Anaheim/New Jersey game and holding hands after the funeral. The website was thorough about her—hailing from Atlanta, '95 graduate of Boston, etc.—and she was relieved that her cover was good enough to fool the websites.
"And what is the answer according to you?"
She sighed. "Call it dating if you like, but I don't how much dating we can do when I'm so busy and we travel with the different brands. I'm on one side of the country and you're on the other."
"But we both live in Atlanta and there's the times the brands cross," he said, propping up against the wall.
"We are both rarely at home together and we're just lucky right now that we're in Texas together," she replied, leaning against the threshold of her door.
"So, you don't want to date me?"
"Oh, that is far from the truth," she replied before she'd realized it had come out of her mouth.
"Same here," he huskily responded and closed the distance between them. Oh, what the hell, she thought and wrapped her arms around his neck anyway as he stared into her eyes. She held her breath, just waiting for him to kiss her. He ran his hands around her waist and then raised one to cup the back of her head. Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips softly took in hers. "Goodnight," he whispered against her mouth and let her go after another soft, but quick, kiss. "If you need anything," he said, wiggling his eyebrows, "you know exactly where I'm at." She laughed and disappeared into the bedroom. Her knees almost gave out and she flopped down on the bed with a sigh. So, are we dating?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Guys, are you not ready to quit?" Stephanie slightly whined as she paced the ringside again for the hundredth time at Shawn's training facility. "Mark's hungry."
"Don't use him," Therese whispered in her ear.
Evan tugged Therese's shirt and she turned to find him there when seconds ago he had been acting tough on one of the weight machines. "I was embarrassed to say something, so Steph promised she would say something for me."
"Steph?" Therese echoed Evan.
"Yeah, that woman right there," her little brother said, pointing at the other woman.
"When did you start calling her that?"
"When she said I could." Therese just rolled her eyes and Evan mocked her by rolling his.
An extremely sweaty Shawn rolled out of the ring and tried to hug Stephanie. "Eww," she squealed and dashed away but Shawn pursued her.
"I'll save you," Evan yelled and took off after them, finally catching up and jumping on Shawn's back.
Kevin came up behind Therese as she watched and dropped a kiss on her neck. With a shiver, she turned around and held up her hands. "You don't plan on doing that too, do you? We can act like civilized adults, right?"
"I guess," he replied with downcast eyes. "When are we gonna get in the ring?"
"Not now, that's for sure. Please tell me you're showering here."
"It's so hard being around women," he said with a sigh and walked off to the showers.
Evan and Stephanie had Shawn done on the floor, mercilessly tickling him. Therese bodily picked him up and dragged him away. "I thought you were hungry," she grunted out.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "Let's go, HBK." Shawn laughed and followed in Nash's footsteps.
The party headed off for dinner and ended up with a movie for the evening. Before they all knew it, the night was over. Kisses were stolen and 'goodnights' were said. For the second time in a row, Stephanie and Therese slept well into the morning. Maybe it was being in actual beds instead of a hotel's or all the exhaustion and excitement caught up with them. Any way it went, the guys were up earlier and teased them to no end.
There wasn't much time to waste and they had to be off in time to reach Houston for the pay-per-view. The guys went ahead to the arena and the ladies stopped to retrieve supper as part of their way of "sneaking in." They had dressed in jeans and t-shirts, pulling their hair back in ponytails and wearing baseball caps. Stephanie hated it but understood that she would be less recognized in sneakers versus heels. She slipped on a pair of sunglasses and gathered up food while Therese followed suit but with a pair of fashion glasses without any grade that they had found at a gas station. They waited for a distraction at the gate but a security guard saw them out of the corner of his eye and stopped them.
"This is a delivery for Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash," Therese stated and started to walk by.
"I don't think so," the man replied and put a hand out.
"Then let me sign in for it and we'll take it to them."
"What if it isn't wanted? I've seen all the ploys you women go through to get to these guys. I'll take it to them." He reached for the bags and she pulled away.
"How about you call them and see what they think? I have Mr. Michaels number right here. Here, here's my cell phone," Therese responded, sticking her butt out at him where the phone was in her back pocket.
The security guard declined and stepped away, his eyes still burning holes in them. He pulled out his walkie-talkie and mumbled where they couldn't hear him. Stephanie leaned close to Therese and asked, "This isn't going like we planned. Are you sure we can pull this off?"
"We're fine. I still have some things up I'm sleeve. Remember, I work security," she answered and shushed her as the guard came back.
"Mr. Michaels is coming to get it."
"Therese," Stephanie agitatedly whispered.
"Don't worry," she replied and set the food down on a crate, indicating Stephanie should do the same. The guard never moved and continued to eye them in an unapproving manner. Shawn shortly showed up and asked them to help him carry the bags back. The security guard nervously agreed but made them sign in. Therese quickly scribbled out two fake names.
Finally in the private dressing, Stephanie let out a nervous laugh. "We made it."
"Now, the key is to stay here. Just in case, guys, I signed Stephanie in as 'Julia Curtis' and myself as 'Jamie Lee Roberts.' It's the first names that came to mind," she replied with a shrug as they rolled their eyes at the choices.
Since Evan not been able to attend a RAW event yet, Shawn and Kevin took him around to meet everyone. Therese protested, reminding Kevin of his Hell in a Cell match. His reply was that he could use the socializing to relax. Once they were outside the door, Stephanie insisted that she wanted to look at the card.
"Why can't you have the guys do it for you?" Therese protested.
"Maybe I want to 'accidentally' run into Bischoff," Stephanie matter-of-factly replied.
"I thought that was why we were 'sneaking' into the arena."
"Nobody will see us but Bischoff. Just to his office."
Therese sighed. "There and back. That's it."
Stephanie and Therese edged through the halls, still clad in their caps and glasses. "There's Mae Young," Stephanie gasped and plastered herself to the wall. "When Austin's out of the way, I've got to find out why she's here." Therese kept peaking around the corner until Stone Cold ended his conversation with the original diva of wrestling and she gave Stephanie the all-clear.
"Pssst," she whispered and beckoned Mae Young to her.
"Stephanie!" Mae called and held her arms out for a hug.
"Shhh! I'm not supposed to be here," she replied and embraced the elderly woman.
"Then what are you doing here? Is it that HBK character? He's a handsome catch," the other woman said with a wink.
"Mae," Stephanie chided. "We're here because Therese wants to see Kevin wrestle."
"Oh, yes, dear," Mae turned to Therese. "If I was only younger, I might make a go at him myself." Therese blushed. "Do me a favor, sweetie. Wipe the mat with Sable next week."
"I will do my best," she responded, honored that this first lady of wrestling would even know about her.
"What were you and Steve Austin talking about?" Stephanie asked.
"You know that pie-eating contest that he's got Bischoff into. I'm the pie," Mae answered with a laugh. "I'm gonna give him a bronco buster and watch him blush."
"A bronco buster, huh?" Mae nodded. "I have an idea. Find the most disgusting thing you can and put in the front of your, um, what are you wearing?"
"Black lingerie," she evilly grinned.
"Send someone after anchovies or something. There's a grocery store two blocks away."
"Anchovies? My dear, there is a reason you are the general manager of SmackDown! Brilliant." Mae patted her on the cheek. "Don't pass up your chance with that handsome devil. I have work to do. Enjoy the show." With that, possibly the greatest woman of wrestling disappeared down the hall to hatch Stephanie's plan.
The two ladies began their return to the dressing room. Therese held the door open for Stephanie and started to step in when another security guard stopped her. With a nod to Stephanie, she let the door fall shut before the GM was noticed. "Ma'am, I don't see any identification on you. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC…