Chapter 13
Vince and Shane were sitting at a table away from everyone else as they waited on Stephanie. Vince was looking at the menu. He closed it and set it aside.
"Guess I'll go for the buffet. Makes it a lot easier. We have a ton of work ahead of us today", he said.
"No thanks to Stephanie", Shane replied and set aside his own menu. "You're taking this pretty well, though, Dad. I'm really surprised. If I did what she did, I'd be disowned".
"You wouldn't be disowned, Shane. Legal will straighten this out".
"You don't think that Triple H won't want his part of her claim to the company?"
"I've seen a change in Hunter in the past couple of months. He's a broken man. He won't want anything to do with her part of the company. I believe he wants to wash his hands of this whole situation".
"He's ruthless, Dad. We both know this. He's not going to let go of that".
"We'll see, won't we?"
"Maybe we could turn this into an angle", Shane said and chuckled.
Vince shrugged, "you never know. Now where is your sister?" He looked toward the elevators but no sign of Stephanie yet. He sighed.
"She probably got sidetracked with Orton".
Vince gave him a warning look, "you're not funny".
At a table on the other end of the room, Reggie and John were having a sugar packet fight.
"All right, truce" she said as she picked up a packet from the floor.
"For now", said John. "How was your run this morning?"
"Just wonderful. I love getting up at the butt crack of dawn. It's my favorite time of the day".
"The dark circles under your eyes say otherwise", he laughed. Reggie tossed a sugar packet his way. "You said truce!"
"You deserved that".
John just grinned. "There's my wife. And, look, she brought you a present". Reggie turned around to see Hunter and Ivy headed their way.
"Oh nice. The soon to be ex father and brother in law are in the corner at the opposite end of the room. This should make for an interesting breakfast".
"Jerry, Jerry, Jerry", John started chanting. Reggie kicked him under the table just as Ivy and Hunter showed up.
"Damn!" John rubbed his leg, "me thinks the lady doth protest too much. And kicks like a mule!"
"Are you all right, honey?" Ivy asked John as she sat down next to him.
"Just fine", he was still rubbing his leg as he scowled at Reggie who just kind of looked away innocently as Hunter sat down next to her.
"A little bird told me you had a wild night last night, Hunter", Reggie said.
"Yeah the little bird was right. In fact she's still pecking at me", he looked at Ivy.
"A good greasy breakfast is great for a hangover", Ivy said nonchalantly.
"Hopefully it'll be gone by tonight". Hunter looked around and spotted Stephanie walking up to her father's table. "I think my headache just got worse". Stephanie glanced over at Hunter and gave him a weak smile. He just turned his attention back to his table. Stephanie sat down next to Shane.
"So my husband is sitting with the Cenas and Reggie Love. Nice", she said.
"You mean, your soon to be ex husband", Shane corrected her.
"Dad, what is Shane doing here anyway?"
"Don't start, both of you. We've got a lot to cover this morning".
Stephanie's text message alert went off on her phone. She checked it, smiled and started to return the little love note.
"Stephanie, you can do that later. I need you to focus right now".
She rolled her eyes and put her phone away. "I can't focus on an empty stomach. I'm heading to the breakfast buffet. Follow me and we can talk". She got up and left the table.
"Well she's not heading for the buffet", Shane said, watching her.
"What?" Vince followed Shane's eye line. Stephanie was making her way to where Hunter was. Vince sighed heavily, "she's as stubborn as her mother".
"Hey, guys", Stephanie said to the four. "How's everything going?" She smiled sweetly.
"Just fine, Stephanie", said Ivy.
"You know, I'm so glad I saw you. Especially you two ladies. Expect a big push tonight at the pay per view. It's about time you two get what's coming to you. You've been working so hard the past couple of months".
"Well we appreciate the recognition", said Reggie.
"Don't mention it, just be at the arena an hour before you need to be and I'll give you the details then. I'll see you two later". She walked away to the buffet.
Reggie and Ivy looked at each other.
"Well that was unexpected", said Ivy.
"Too unexpected", Hunter got up and followed Stephanie.
Stephanie was loading her plate with some fruit when Hunter got to her.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting some breakfast", she said and moved down the line.
"You know what I mean, Steph".
"You know, you and Reggie look really cute together. You might have something there. Maybe we could work out a storyline for you too. I've always wondered what to do with her. Now I know".
"Drop the innocent act, please".
"Hunter, look, I'm doing my job as the head of the creative department. I'm not trying to screw anyone over".
"It's a little too late for that, isn't it? Besides, Reggie and I are just friends. Which is way more than I can say for you and Orton". He walked away and headed back to where John, Ivy and Reggie were.
"Sorry, guys, I've gotta go", he told them.
"Well, before you do, the server brought this by for you", Reggie handed him some folded papers. He opened them and read them over.
"This is great", he said.
"What is it?" asked Ivy.
"Divorce papers", he tapped them on his hand. "Abe faxed them over. This is perfect". He grinned. "I'm not leaving yet. I'll be right back and then we're gonna sit down and enjoy breakfast". He walked away, heading for Vince's table where Stephanie just sat down.
"You know maybe we should all get under the table and take cover", said John.
"Wait, I want to see what happens", said Ivy with a smile on her face.
"I don't know what game you two are playing, Stephanie, but I don't want it played here. There's too many people around", Vince warned.
"There's no game, Daddy", said Stephanie as Hunter approached them.
He smiled, "hey guys, how's everything going? These are for you, Steph". He tossed the papers next to her.
"What's this?" she asked as she picked them up.
"Read them and find out", said Hunter.
She opened them and scanned them. "They're divorce papers".
He grinned, "that's right. Everything's pretty cut and dry".
"Let me see those", Vince said as he took his glasses out of his pocket.
"Wow", Stephanie said and handed them to Vince. "I'm impressed, Hunter, that was fast".
"Well, I'm sure you and Randy want to get on with your lives as soon as possible, right?"
"Are you sure this is what you want, Hunter?" asked Vince.
"Absolutely. It's all there in black and white".
"What do you think, Stephanie? Should I have Legal look at them?"
"Like Hunter said, Daddy, it's all there in black and white. Abe covered everything".
"Just so the both of you know, once these are signed, that's it", said Vince.
"Just give me your pen, Daddy", she held out her hand to Vince. He handed his pen over to his daughter. She signed the papers.
"That was easy", she said.
"What? Were you really expecting me to put up a fight, Princess? Whatever you want you always get, right? So I figured I did you a favor and you did me a favor by signing the papers without a temper tantrum and now I'm a free man and you get to keep your precious portion of Daddy's company. Guess I'll see you later at the arena". He picked up the papers and left them. All three McMahons were looking at each other confused.
"I thought for sure he'd want half of everything", said Stephanie, dumbfounded.
"Was there any fine print on those papers?" asked Shane.
"No", said Stephanie, simply.
"Well, that cuts our day just about in half really. We still need to rework the pay per view a little bit", said Vince.
"Sure. Right", Stephanie agreed. She kind of shook her head to clear it. "Let's get right to that".