As Paul made his way across the parking lot, still fuming with himself for how he had spoken to Laura he heard a man shout behind him across the parking lot somewhere, "Hey! Stop!" Assuming that it was directed at someone else he continued towards his car, more worried about the fact that driving was going to be painful with this latest setback to his knee injury.
The voice came again, closer this time, "Hey! I said stop!" Now thinking that it could be possible that he was indeed the person being shouted at Paul turned around and his eyes widened at what they saw. Stephanie McMahon was walking towards him across the parking lot but even closer to him was a guy, that guy! The guy that Paul had seen in her condo that day and completely forgotten about. The other man that had been with her and was now coming over to get in his face. This was going to be 'you got my girlfriend pregnant', Paul knew it for sure. "You got a problem, asshole?" He demanded of the still approaching man who had a look of thunder on his face. Amusing. This clown did not look like anything, he was shorter than Paul and nothing like as big.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" The man demanded furiously as he reached Paul and then got in his face before continuing to scream, "You fucking got her pregnant..."
There was no way Paul was going to have this dick yelling right in his face like that. Stephanie was now jogging over and yelling for the guy, Shane apparently, to back off. Paul decided to get him started on that with a violent shove in the chest which sent him reeling a few paces backwards as Paul warned, "Fuck off before I drop you."
Still not taking the hint the man, Shane, came charging back at him as he raged, "Fuck you! I'll..."
The threat was never completed as Paul swung his right fist but luckily for Shane he had quick reactions and he was able to sway out of the way of the punch and stagger backwards as Stephanie screamed his name again before finally arriving on the scene seconds later as Paul urged, "Let's go asshole. I'll put you in a fucking coma." Stephanie got in between them and pleaded with the man, "Shane back off. Back off please."
"What the fuck is your game, getting your boyfriend in my face?" Paul demanded of Stephanie and then addressed the mystery man once more, "You're fucking lucky that didn't connect."
The man growled back, "She's my sister you fucking prick. You got my sister pregnant and you're treating her like shit. You think no one is going to stand up for her?" Well damn, the guy was her brother. It probably would not be a good idea to put him in hospital. Suddenly Paul wondered what the hell he was doing for the second time in minutes. He had been incredibly rude and spiteful to Laura for no good reason and now had been an inch away from putting this guy's lights out which would have been assault and would have seen him get arrested and maybe even charged which in turn would likely have cost him his job, Triple H or not. On the many previous occasions recently that he had given himself advice he had gone on to ignore it and invariably it had been a bad decision as the advice had been right all along. Not this time, this time he would take his own advice. It was time to pull his head in a little as getting arrested was something that absolutely could not happen. He could not punch this guy. This situation needed to be brought under control.
"Nothing to say now? Huh?" Shane was still raging at him from the other side of Stephanie who was looking her brother in the eye and encouraging him to calm down, "Shane you promised me on the way down here. Don't do this, not this way. Calm down."
"She's right, let's calm down. A fight is not going to help either of us, least of all you." Paul placated as best he could, sounding much calmer than moments before. He was impressed with himself.
"Calm down? Calm down after how you've treated my sister?" Shane was still angry but he was no longer screaming. "Shane, calm down," Stephanie repeated once more and after a few seconds Shane held up his hands to signal that he was going to stop raging. "Okay. Okay." His attention turned to Paul again as Stephanie stepped aside, "But I came down here because I'm not standing for the way you're treating her. You got her pregnant damn it and you're not going to walk away like nothing's fucking happened. Our family situation is complicated and Stephanie will need help with the baby. You're the father and you're going to fucking act like it, am I clear on that?"
Still there was the incredible temptation for Paul to tell this guy to get fucked and ask who he hell he thought he was talking to but somehow he resisted it and he was impressed with himself at what he came up with instead. "Look, are we going to stand here arguing in the parking lot or shall we go somewhere? If we're going to talk let's do it like adults. I presume that's why you came down here?"
"Yes. Yes it is." It was Stephanie who had decided to answer, "Shall we go inside or something?"
Paul snorted, "No way. Molinaro is pissed at me, I was on my way home. Lets, I don't know, get coffee or something?" It felt incredibly awkward to even suggest sitting down over coffee with this woman who he barely knew, who was carrying his baby and with her brother who he had only just met and thrown a punch at. His life was starting to become a real disaster. What the hell had happened to him and his life over the last few months? How had he let things get this bad, this out of control? He needed to sort his shit out and stop acting like a fucking idiot and do it fast. It was one thing to make this realisation but that did not mean that he had any intention of being a father to a baby with a woman that he wanted nothing to do with, a woman who by her own admission hated him. He needed to make that perfectly clear to both of them. Realistically he had to face the fact that the child was his so he was going to have to make payments or something. He did not know how any of this worked at all but he imagined that if he refused Stephanie could get a court order or something to make him do it so what was the point fighting her on it? It was not as if he could not afford the money so why go through the hassle? A divorce was bad enough.
Shane and Stephanie agreed to follow him somewhere to get a coffee and talk this mess through and they separated and headed for their vehicles. Ten minutes later they were seated in a booth near the back of a coffee bar and had ordered drinks. Paul felt awkward to say the least and he could see that the two people opposite him felt the same way. No one seemed to know how to begin the conversation now that it was at hand. Deciding that he may as well be the first to make himself clear Paul took up the challenge. "Look Stephanie, let's be honest. I don't like you or want anything to do with you and by your own admission you hate me. This is a real mess. You're pregnant and it's mine, I get that and I know that I'll have to make, what would you call it? Financial contributions?"
It seemed that now that he was at least sitting down and talking with Stephanie Shane was going to keep quiet and let them discuss this between the two of them however Stephanie was not happy with his opening statement. "So that's it? Throw some money at me, at us, and we'll disappear? That's all you think of your child?"
His child. He just could not get his head around the fact that he was going to be the father of a child, active father or not, it was just crazy and Stephanie was not getting the message. "Do you really think I'm going to be a father to this kid? I'm not the kind of guy to be a father, I don't want to be a father and neither of us want to be around each other. If you don't want to bring a child up by yourself then you need to think again about abortion."
As it was delivered in a much more measured way than the first time this mention of abortion did not send Stephanie off the deep end, instead she turned to her brother for assistance or advice of some kind. "Shane?" A moment of silence went by before Shane responded, sounding reluctant, "He does make a good point Steph. If the two of you can't stand each other it's not really practical for you to be around each other, especially with a child in the picture is it? You're definitely decided against abortion?"
"I'm not killing my baby because he doesn't want it," Stephanie insisted vehemently as she gestured across the table at Paul. The drinks arrived at the table at that moment which gave everyone a few moments of thinking time. Paul sipped his drink despite how incredibly hot it was as he wondered who would speak next. He had nothing to add himself at this point.
Eventually it was Shane who spoke, and he addressed Paul, "You're not even willing to take the child at weekends? Or even every other weekend? Anything to give Steph a break? My wife and I will help out too." Paul was determined that no matter how much they tried to force him into it he was not going to get involved with this kid. He had never wanted kids and he did not want one now. If Stephanie insisted on keeping it that was her decision but she could not force him to take an interest or even worse to actually take the kid on at weekends. No way was that happening. "No. I don't want a kid. Stephanie if you want to keep it that's your decision but you can't make me get involved with it, neither of you can because that's my decision. I'll pay what I have to pay and that's it."
The two people opposite him did not attempt to hide their distaste from him but it did not really matter to him. What importance did the opinions of these two people really have? None. Stephanie had barely touched her drink but she now seemed keen to leave as she turned to Shane again, "I can't believe this. Let's just go."
In a way Paul had to respect Shane because although he must still be furious he was hiding it well and still trying to fight his sister's corner as best he could by keeping his voice calm, "Have you not thought about any of the positives of having a child? Sure this situation is a mess and no matter what it will be awkward but being a father I'm sure is an amazing thing in a lot of ways."
Although he was now getting tired of the this conversation as Paul drank some of his coffee he decided that it would be best if this discussion, if that was what it could be called, could end without another argument or fist fight so he kept his own voice calm as Shane had done. "I don't think we're getting anywhere with this. I've agreed to do whatever I'm required to in terms of financial support but I am not interested in being a part of this kid's life. I can't be any clearer. I never wanted a kid and I still don't want one. I'm going to get out of here."
Both people looked at him in disgust and Stephanie shook her head slightly as if in disbelief as he downed his coffee and slapped a twenty on the table. "These are on me." With that he stood and walked out of the coffee bar feeling pleased with himself at how well he thought he had dealt with the awkward situation. If he could deal with the other things that were making his life such a mess right now equally as well things would start to improve quickly.
As he got into his car he decided that he needed to contact Trish and tell her that he would not contest the divorce, it would be best just to cut her out of his life at this point, to let her go. He also needed to apologise to Laura for his distasteful remark earlier as it would have undoubtedly hurt her and she had not deserved it. Hell, she had been trying to give him useful advice at the time. He was not sure why, but she had. When both of those things were done he could focus on his creative work and on getting his knee fully healed. At least when all was said and done he would be the Head of Creative for WWE and would soon be back in the ring competing in main event matches too. He was the only one who could ruin that for himself and now he realised it.
Yes, his life was a wreck right now but he had at last realised what he needed to do to move forward so it could only improve from this point.