Chapter XXIV: The Call of the Needy
Therese dropped down and swept his legs out from under him. Luckily for him, he fell backward onto the grass. Therese reached for her gun again but remembered it was laying somewhere in the darkness and she wouldn't be able to find it in time. The man grabbed her lowered arm and jerked her down on the ground. Instinct said to scream for help but he would run before she could get the ski mask off of his face. He struggled to pin her but she kept squirming out of his hold. He punched at her but she was able to jerk to the side and his fist met dirt. She wrapped a leg around him and pulled with all her might to upset his equilibrium and get him off of her. When she did, he wrapped an arm around her and they began to topple down another part of the slope, gaining speed as they went, unable to fight each other. They tumbled for a hundred yards down the hill where few people were gathered because of the steep incline. Those that saw them coming jumped out of the way instead of trying to stop them.
The pair hit the paved road at the bottom and rolled to the curb on the other side. Both were stunned and dizzy. Therese shook her head, trying to get her bearings back, and wobbily stood. She made a lunge for the stalker's ski mask but he jumped aside and she crashed into a parked car. Only seconds passed as the blonde righted herself from eating metal but it was enough time for the attacker to get a head start on her. She started running after him but he was too far off and too fast for her. No one was down the side street that she could call out to catch him.
As Therese made her way back to the bottom of the hill, several people gathered around and approached her. "Ma'am, are you okay?" a young man, a little taller than she, asked.
"Yeah. That idiot was trying to steal my purse," she covered.
"Did he get it?" an older woman asked and reached up with a damp handkerchief to wipe away a trickle of blood at her temple.
"No. I know who he was and I'll report him. Thanks for checking on me. I'm fine, really," she said the last part to the older woman and gently pushed away the lady's hand still dabbing at her with the white handkerchief. Therese raced up the steps leading up the side of the hill to the pavilion. Stephanie was still there, unconscious from the attacker's blow. Not even ten minutes had passed and the fireworks were still going strong and would act as a cover for her.
Therese needed to the find her gun just in case something else happened. If she turned on the pavilion lights, everyone would see Stephanie laid out. She crept away to find Kurt Angle on the edge of crowd. "Psst, Kurt."
"Therese? Yeah?"
"I need a favor. Stephanie's not feeling well and I want to take her back to the hotel but I need to borrow that little flashlight on your keys to get everything we need out of the pavilion."
"Yeah, sure," he answered and dug his keys out his pocket. "Steph gonna be okay?"
"I think it was just something she ate. Can you see that this place gets cleaned up? I'll owe you a big one," Therese explained as Kurt wound the flashlight ring through the others to get it off. She quickly took it from him, trying to not to show her impatience. "Thanks. I'll get it back to you next week."
"Don't worry about it," he said as she stood. "Just keep it. I'll take care of everything else." She nodded, thanked him, and hurried away.
Therese found the weapon and strapped it back on before hastening over to Stephanie. She shook the woman slightly and called her name. Stephanie's eyelids fluttered but she didn't move. Therese called her name a little louder and pinched her on the arm. Stephanie sat bolt right up but the pain in her head caused her to slide back down the table. "Talk to me. Are you alright?"
"What happened?" she muttered and put a hand to her forehead.
"You were attacked. But it's over. Are you okay?"
"Did you get him?" the GM asked and ran her palm around to the back of her head, wincing when her fingers found the bump that had already formed.
"Don't worry about that now. How do you feel?" Therese insistently asked.
"I'm hurting…bad," she said, sucking in her breath when her fingertips probed the knot. Her hand flew to her ribs. "Yeah, really bad."
"I'm taking you to the hospital. Come on," Therese responded and began tossing Stephanie's things into her straw hat. She helped Stephanie up and put an arm around her waist, half carrying her to the rental car.
The emergency room was crowded, taking almost a couple of hours for a doctor to see Stephanie. Even then, he ordered several tests run. Therese sat by the bed and occasionally reached over to squeeze her hand. The brunette never once complained. Finally, the conclusion was reached that Stephanie had bruised ribs and a mild concussion. The two had spent such an inordinate amount of time waiting that the physician felt Stephanie needed no more observation. However, he almost had to straddle Therese to take a look at the gash on the side of her forehead and the various scrapes.
Stephanie took the news well about the stalker getting away and said nothing harsh or condemning to Therese because he got away. Both agreed that this attack had to be by the writer of the letters, unlike the attack in the park being simply a mugger. The GM closed her eyes and bowed her head for a moment when Therese revealed that she could not identify the man. She patted the blonde on the arm and picked back up some work that she had set aside. She was not angry at Therese but only annoyed at the situation. The security specialist had done the best job possible and kept her safe from the assault. She herself had been the one to disregard the suggestion of not returning to pavilion. She had grown comfortable again with being out in the open and precaution had been the last thing on her mind. It would be no longer. Therese had possibly saved her life, definitely saved her from more bodily harm than she had sustained, and she was grateful. Maybe Stephanie would stop judging Therese and take notice of what she had done for her already. The woman told Shawn nothing of the incident while they talked almost every day, since it would be another week and a half before she saw him again.
Therese was aware of the change in Stephanie towards her as the injured woman took it easy for several days, per doctor's orders. She was beginning to feel protective, instead of having to be protective. She did what she could to help Stephanie out, feeling a little bad for her having to endure the match one day and an assault the next. She deserved for neither of those two incidents to happen to her and Therese thought that she might stop judging Stephanie and take notice of the selfless acts that she did commit.
The call to Pendleton was taken better than Therese expected. Aaron was grateful that Stephanie was fine and he was optimistic that it wouldn't be long before the stalker was caught, especially now that Therese had a general idea of the man's stature and definitely narrow down the suspects. The firm's owner took down as many details as the agent could give and pointed out some actions that Therese could take next, one suggestion being the attempt to draw out the stalker. She only said that she would run it by Stephanie.
The two women settled together on the GM's bed to watch RAW together. Therese laughed to herself, remembering the last few times they had watched it together were actually ignoring the presence of one another to watch that one desired tidbit. When Kevin jumped Test about picking on Trish, Stephanie muttered something about what could have provoked Kevin to stop him. Therese knew exactly why and explained that Test had come on to her and Nash threatened him. "Apparently, this is him getting Test for me. Not to mention, Test's been hurting women for weeks now. Remember when he got Stacy in that pumphandle slam last week?"
Stephanie nodded. "Sorry about Test bothering you. That's just not the Andrew I know. Yeah, I did him wrong and I should probably apologize. But if he did that to you and Mae and Stacy, there's no point in saying 'I'm sorry' now."
"I don't think he deserves it after what he's done." Stephanie agreed and the two cheered on Kevin.
"Happy Birthday, babe," Therese exclaimed as Kevin answered his cell phone Wednesday morning. "The big forty-four."
"You just wait to 'til you hit forty. I'll never let you live it down," he grumbled.
"'Thank you for the birthday wishes, sweetie,'" she mocked, attempting to mimic his deep voice. "Stephanie wants to say something, here," she said and passed off the phone.
"Happy Birthday, big man."
"Thanks, Steph."
"I've got a birthday surprise for both you and Shawn at the party," she teased.
"Knowing you, I'm sure I can't wait," he sarcastically replied.
"Here's Therese back."
"Did you open the present yet?" the blonde asked him.
"Of course not. You said I couldn't until you called."
"Go ahead," she encouraged, hardly able to wait and see what he thought.
She could hear him popping open the box and the rip of wrapping paper. "How did you find this?" he asked, staring down at a trading card sporting his individual picture from the last year he played basketball with the University of Tennessee. He flipped it over to see his stats on the other side.
"Evan…" she started but caught herself and tacked on an 's.' "…is an Internet genius. He found someone willing to trade for it."
"How did you know I can't find one of these?" he asked in disbelief.
"You said so on our first date," she replied as if it was nothing.
"I can't believe you remembered. Tell Mark I said 'thanks' and give that boy a big hug."
"No problem. So, what are you doing tonight to celebrate?" Therese asked, curious to know what he was getting into for the evening.
"Shawn's taking me out."
"Don't let him spend too much on lap dances for you."
"Would that bother you if he did?" Kevin suggestively asked.
"I'm sorry, Steph, what did you say?" Therese called out, avoiding the question. "No, I'll get it later," she said, waving Stephanie away when she appeared at the door. She screwed her face up in confusion but the blonde waved her off again. "What were you saying, Kevin?"
"Nothing," he replied and the conversation turned to how their weeks were going.
When Therese ended the call, Stephanie floated back into the room. "What was that all about?"
"I needed a distraction, so I created one," she answered, shrugging her shoulders because she didn't want to explain the truth. "Didn't you ever have your mom do that kind of stuff when some boy called that you didn't wanna talk to?"
Stephanie laughed. "Yeah, mine was that I'd run outside the house and Mom would tell them I wasn't home. Why'd you need a distraction? Come on, you can tell me." Therese related the conversation and Stephanie stifled a giggle. "What?" the blonde asked, wondering why Stephanie was laughing at her predicament.
"So what did you want to say?" Stephanie prodded.
"I don't know."
"Yeah, you do, but you don't want to admit it."
"Admit what?" Therese asked and began picking at her work on the table.
"You love him. Look at what you went through to get him that card," Stephanie answered, following her to the table and standing in front of her.
"Evan found it—"
"Don't lie to me. You can't hide things like that as well as you think you can. I know."
"Okay, so I have strong feelings for him," Therese replied, tossing up her hands.
"You've had strong feelings for him for some time now," Stephanie clarified and put her hands on her hips.
"Do you not understand that I can't get that involved with him?"
"If you love him and he loves you, then it doesn't matter that you're a bodyguard instead of my personal assistant," Stephanie answered, picking up some of the papers and waving them at her.
"Security specialist," Therese corrected.
"Sorry. Do you not see where I'm going with this?"
"Yeah," the specialist sighed in response, thinking about Kevin's comment of returning the birthday wishes when she was forty. Does he want me for that long? she thought. "I'll think about it."
By the time the next edition of SmackDown! rolled around, Stephanie was feeling much better. Her head and ribs still hurt if she exerted too much energy, but she wasn't getting as tired anymore. The GM delegated as many of her tasks as possible and balked when Therese insisted that she go on her rounds anyway so that Therese could scope out the staff again. Stephanie hadn't felt terrified about going out in weeks but now it seemed to be creeping back in. Therese had explained that they couldn't catch the stalker if he didn't make himself known. By her holing up, he would never come out. Thinking about that, she agreed but was never a few inches away Therese.
However, after the show started, something snapped in her when Vince McMahon interrupted Zach Gowen's contract signing in the ring and, since Zach technically worked for him, the teenager would be competing in his first match against none other than the Chairman of WWE. Stephanie couldn't believe the man had the guts to put Zach in that match but was shocked out of her stunned reverie when the clipboard holding the guy's contract connected with her face, sending her down to the red carpeted mat. The headache she had been battling for a week suddenly came back but the physical pain hardly matched the overwhelming anger that was building up in her.
Therese knew 'pissed' didn't even begin to describe how Stephanie was feeling when the woman marched herself back to her office, popped a few pain killers, and said nothing as she attacked her work as if it was Sable. Usually, Stephanie had to let off steam in the form of verbal tirades, but this silence said so much more. However, Therese didn't know that the GM was angry enough to hunt the troublemaker down.
The brunette scrawled her name across a paper, slammed the pen down, and stood up. "I'm going after Sable now. I know your job is to protect me from the stalker and not Sable. I do not want you to interfere. Just make sure I get there and back safe." Therese blinked at her in surprise and nodded. She said nothing as she followed the GM through the backstage area.
When Stephanie was able to confirm that Sable was in McMahon's office, she shook back her ponytail and threw open the door without knocking. Therese was amazed at how the woman was able to dash across the office in those heels, but the GM did, letting out a war cry, and speared Sable across the couch in the room. Stephanie was a wild woman, unleashing her fury on Sable and attempting to choke her. Vince dragged Stephanie off the blonde and shoved her at Therese. The agent caught her and decided it best to hold her back while McMahon yelled at her.
"You wanna fight? I got an idea. It won't just be me and Zach at Vengeance. No, you know what? You're gonna fight Sable!" That was good enough for Stephanie at the present and allowed Therese to pull her away from Vince's office. She straightened her posture and attempted to walk calmly back to her own office. Her hands were shaking and her knees were barely holding up as she continued to see red.
"Steph?" Therese said and the brunette stopped as she was about to sit down in her chair. "You've got one those black feathers from Sable's dress in your hair." She reached up a hand and smoothed it over her ponytail, her nail catching the feather. She pulled it out and snickered. Therese let out a giggle, walked over to take the feather from her, and threw it out the door instead of dropping it in the garbage can. Before the two knew it, they were laughing uncontrollably. Each time they were almost able to contain themselves, one of them would snort and the laughter would start all over again.
Finally, Stephanie choked out between laughs, "This hurts my ribs too much. We have to quit." Therese poured them each a glass of water and they forced themselves to drink it, effectively ended the insanity. "What were we laughing about anyhow?"
"You know, I don't know."
Stephanie stifled a giggle and replied, "I don't either."
Therese glanced down at her watch. "It's almost time to go. Are you ready?" she asked and worked her tired jaw around to loosen it up from laughing so hard. Stephanie rubbed her cheeks as she gathered her things together.
Most of the RAW roster present had gathered in the parking lot and a few were dictating who was riding with whom to Shawn and Kevin's birthday party. Many thought it ironic that the two best friends had birthdays less than two weeks apart, but they didn't care. After the so many problems with Stone Cold and Bischoff and Kane setting fire to Jim Ross, the RAW roster needed an outlet. It had been forever since the Shawn and Kevin were together anywhere near their birthdays and any party thrown for those two was bound to be the event of the year. Stephanie had been able to find a friend of a friend willing to host the affair on their nine acre property on the outskirts of town. The only way the police would be called was if someone there called.
Therese wanted to cancel the party, or at least cancel her and Stephanie's presence, because of the attack. The place would be an opportune time for the stalker to carry out his wishes. But, they had been planning this before the assault and she wouldn't dare disappoint the guys. Not to mention that she had plans to present Kevin with another birthday gift. However, she had to keep Stephanie safe during the party and when they would be separated later in the night.
It wasn't long before the music was blaring, the younger wrestlers were dancing, the bonfire was roaring, and the alcohol was being passed freely. Kevin dragged Therese around to meet everyone but it wasn't quite the same with Stephanie. She felt as if everyone was staring her down since she was of the SmackDown! persuasion, thinking that she was there to get dirt on RAW. That wasn't mentioning that this was Stephanie's and Shawn's first public appearance together. She began to relax a little as people came by with birthday wishes for Shawn and she was treated as one of them by most.
The party was not so much a gift as the coming of something—or someone—else. When the look-out came running, Stephanie pulled the two of the guys together while Therese went out to meet the new arrival. "It's finally good to meet you after all of our phone conversations," she said, shaking his hand. "They have no clue. Come on." She led the way through the house while everyone in their path turned to watch them go by. Peeking out the backdoor to see Kevin and Shawn standing side by side with their eyes closed, Therese led the man outside.
"Okay, guys, you can open them now," Stephanie said.
"Scott!" they both shouted and rushed Scott Hall for a hug.
Therese winked at Stephanie and mouthed, "Good idea." Before the two women realized it, they were swept up in a hug of gratitude. Stephanie waved the guys off, telling them to hang out with Scott. The three stood beside the bonfire and caught up with each other for a while. The women left them alone to check on the drinks, ice, and whatnot.
Therese avoided drinking until Kevin insisted he bring her something. She finally agreed and asked for a beer. He laughed to himself, wondering how this woman could have possibly come to be best friends with the classy priss Stephanie McMahon…not that there was anything wrong with Stephanie. He handed it to her and settled down beside her on a couch that had been taken from the house and set outside. Shawn and Scott clicked their bottles against Kevin's fresh one and the taller man put an arm around Therese and pulled her closer.
"Thanks so much for getting Scott here."
"You're so welcome," she replied and kissed him. "I'm just glad that he can stay for a few days, especially since we can't."
He took a swig from his bottle and asked, "Having a good time?"
"Yeah. You?"
"It's my party, of course. Albeit, it's a little more toned down than usual. I guess that has to do with Scott staying sober this time."
"Not that you're getting too old for this, huh?" she baited him.
He tickled her in the side and her beer spilled across her jeans. "Damn," she muttered, attempting to wipe away the liquid that hadn't seeped into her clothes.
"We'll have to get you out of those," he suggestively said.
"I don't have anything here and your party's not over."
"It won't be over until dawn," Kevin laughed.
"Well, I guess I should go back to the hotel and change. Do you need to come with me?" Therese asked with a sexy smile.
The surprised look on his face was golden. "Um, okay, yeah."
"Let me tell Stephanie 'goodbye.'" The brunette was cuddled up with Shawn on a patio loveseat beside them on the lawn. Therese waved off HBK and scooted across the couch while Kevin was talking to Scott on the other side of them. "I'm leaving," she said with a wink.
"I don't want you to go," Stephanie pleaded, attempting not to whine.
"Stephanie, we agreed that I'd get some time alone with Kevin."
"I know, but I don't want to be left alone here."
"You've got Shawn and you've still got my .38." Therese paused and added, "You still have my gun, right?"
"Yeah," the brunette replied and patted the purse slung across her shoulders.
"If I don't get time with Kevin, you don't get time with Shawn. I am supposed to be at your side every waking hour."
"Okay," the GM sighed.
"My door will be shut in case you need to bring anyone back to your room," Therese hinted with a smile and squeezed Stephanie's hand before standing up.
The ride back to the hotel was quiet, both alone with their thoughts of how to make the first move. Kevin reached over the cab of the truck to hold her hand. She shivered at the thought of what they could be doing tonight. She didn't want to seem too needy but she wanted to take the opportunity that was being afforded.
Kevin shut the door behind them and tossed his keys on the dresser. "I stink like beer. I'm going to get a shower before I change," she stated, leaving the ball in his court. He nodded and she pushed the bathroom door to without latching it. The necessary washing was quickly taken care of and she wrapped the towel around her before stepping out in her room. He had taken his tennis shoes off and was lounged out on the bed, flipping through her hockey edition of Sports Illustrated. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to find her.
Therese padded across the room, leaving behind a trail of freesia. Kevin didn't have a clue what the scent was but it was always on her. He glanced up to see her pulling open a drawer, the towel slipping a little, and her hair pinned up with tiny tendrils around her neck that were damp. He felt himself harden just at the sight and he slipped off the bed. "You've taken the fun out of things."
"What's that?" she asked, trying to sound innocent, but knew full well that she had set him up for this.
"There's nothing for me to do," he replied and deftly whipped the towel from her body. Goosebumps rose up over every bit of her skin.
"There's still plenty for you to do," she smiled and pulled his head down to kiss him. He pulled the clip from her hair and ran his fingers through the tresses as they fell to just above her shoulder blades. His hands began to roam across her back and shoulders as she refused to release his lips. Finally they drew apart to catch their breath and Kevin scooped her up in his arms to carry her the few paces to the bed. He carefully laid her down before quickly divesting himself of all of his clothes but his briefs. She wagged a finger at him when he placed one knee on the bed to come back to her. She raised up and tugged at the underwear, helping him remove them.
Therese's eyes raked over him and it was as if her own golden-haired, golden-eyed Adonis had stepped out of the history of mythology just for her. He pushed her back on the pillow and hungrily took in every bit of her nakedness. He had wanted this for so long and, now that he had her, he forced himself to slow down. Therese couldn't stand the waiting and pushed him down to the bed. Her hands explored every inch of his body, followed by her lips and tongue. She smiled against his skin each time he would moan. His hands had a death grip on the sheets and she uncurled them from the cloth to twine their hands together. He pulled her to him to capture her mouth in a deep kiss that left her panting. But the panting didn't stop there as he pinned her to the bed and returned the favor.
He lavished careful attention on each breast, so much so that they ached for his return when his hot mouth trailed down her stomach. She bit into her lip and tasted blood as Kevin's tongue found that one spot at the apex of her thighs. The desire building up in her was more than she could take and she whimpered his name, reaching for him. He came back up to her and smothered her face and neck in kisses as he nudged a knee between her thighs. She held her breath in anticipation and exhaled a moan as he carefully slid in. She matched his rhythm with a needful one of her own. Each thrust brought them closer and closer and they couldn't get enough of each other. Finally, the waves crashed down around them and they lay together satiated. She snuggled on her side against him, her head on his shoulder and her leg wrapped around his. His fingers absentmindedly played in his hair and he whispered in her ear, "I love you."
"Is that pillow talk for great sex or do you really mean…" she trailed off, raising up to look at him.
"No, I mean it. I love you."
"I love you, too," she replied. He grinned a smile of relief and pulled her down for a kiss.
On the other side of the door, Shawn and Stephanie were stripping off clothes and tossing them aside so fast that it looked like a tornado had come through. Foreplay wasn't a concern as both of them had been thinking only about this moment all day. They had been ready since Stephanie's plane touched down that morning and planned to use every second of fulfilling the fantasies that they had built up in the two and a half weeks that they had been apart.
TBC…