Like Old Times
Chapter 26
Six months, two feuds and nineteen weeks as WWE tag team champions later, Paul had to admit, he was having the best year of his career... Sans the whole Vince trying to ruin the lives of the people closest to him... Particularly Shawn.
And Paul didn't take kindly to people who messed with Shawn.
It took six months, but Paul was finally at peace with himself when it came to everything that happened during the previous year. Linda was a wonderful chairwoman, Shane was a phenomenal C.E.O., Bret was a huge help both on television and behind the scenes, and, thankfully, Stephanie was forgiven and working hard to make up for her months of doing her fathers bidding when it came to the Creative Department.
Everyone was working hard in their new positions in the company... Even Paul and Shawn were twice as busy as they usually were. Linda had them working closely with her, Shane and Bret since things started changing six months ago. Paul didn't mind it, especially since Linda was his mother-in-law, but he felt like he needed a nap about 86% of the time.
However, after six months of things running the way they were, the World Wrestling Entertainment was operating better than it had in years, and Paul decided the lack of sleep was completely worth it.
His thoughts were interrupted by Shawn and Shane entering the room. Both men looked better than Paul had ever seen them - and Shawn's hair was eerily short, as both members of D-X had to cut their hair to look more professional on the corporate side of things. Shane, on the other hand, now sported a crew cut and had lost weight since assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer. Paul had to admit he was impressed with the slightly younger man, especially when he just so happened to beat Randy, Paul and Shawn in a race around the arena.
"Zoning out again?" Shawn asked, slapping Paul on the back.
"Nah." Paul replied, although it wasn't convincing.
"If you say so," Shawn started, then sighed. "What's on the agenda for tonight?" He asked, making Paul raise a confused eyebrow.
"Raw..? Please tell me you aren't going senile..." Shane stated.
Right. Today's Monday.
"Not at all! Time flies when you barely sleep." Paul replied.
Shane scoffed. "Please. I've been awake since Saturday morning."
"And what the hell have you been doing?" Shawn asked.
"Business stuff... I'm still the Vice President of Global Media, you know."
"Sweet Jesus." Paul stated.
D-X watched as Shane pulled the script for the show out of nowhere. "Now," He stated, then started skimming through the pages. "Um... You guys are competing against Jacobs and Copeland."
"That's the weirdest tag team ever." Paul commented.
"Yeah, well, a lot of people thought the same way when creative first put the two of you together..." Shane retorted.
"Touché."
The room went silent for a moment, allowing Bret Hart the opportunity to make a ridiculously overdramatic entrance, complete with the door slamming against the wall. "Guys. You would not believe what just happened."
"Hey. These two got haircuts. Try me." Shane replied, making Bret snicker as the members of D-X glared at Shane.
"Asshole." Paul mumbled.
"Seriously, though. It was so funny... Some security guard tripped over his own foot and fell on his face in front of like twenty people, including Tom, the head of security. He literally stared at him and asked him if he had a nice trip, so the guard said no, it was terrible and Tom said 'so is your face' and walked away without another word. It was hilarious!"
Shane snorted in amusement, Paul cracked a smile and chuckled, whereas Shawn burst into hysterics.
"Good God, I remember when we used to be the source of the comedy genius..."
"Things change," Bret stated with a sigh. "So how's everyone today?"
"Dandy." Paul replied.
"Can't complain." Shane responded.
"Peachy. How're you, Bret?" Shawn asked.
"Great, thanks. Has anyone ever told you you're like an overexcited puppy?"
"Yes, actually." Shawn replied with a quirked eyebrow.
"Good. It suits you."
"Hah!" Paul shouted.
The room went silent once again, this time the silence was broken by Shane's cellphone.
"Sweet mother of," Shane shouted, then looked down at his phone. "Oh, it actually is my mother," He answered the phone, ignoring the chuckles from D-X, and put the phone on speaker. "Hiya, mom. What's up?"
"Get to the security office now."
"Not even a please?"
"Shane Brandon!"
"Alright, fine. Jeez, mom, you don't have to get so sassy. Be there in a few."
"Wow."
Shane hung up his phone and pocketed it, then turned to look at Paul. "What?"
"If I knew that all I had to do if I wanted something from you was to refer to you by your whole name, I would've started doing it years ago." Paul stated.
Shane blinked at him. "You look and sound nothing like my mother, so it definitely won't work for you."
"Awh, shucks..."
"Maybe you should meet up with your mom before she finds you and kills you." Shawn offered.
"Good idea. Be back in a bit."
By the time Shane got to the security office, Linda was pacing outside the door waiting for him.
"Hiya!"
Linda whirled around to face him. "What took you so long?!"
"Well, I was with D-X..."
"Figures."
"Mom... Seriously, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Something has to be wrong if you're snapping at me this much." Shane stated.
"Fine. Look inside the office, don't make a noise, and let me know if I have a reason to be angry."
Shane raised a confused eyebrow, then did as Linda told him. He closed the door, face twisting in anger and desperately tried to maintain his composure.
"What... The hell..?!"
"Shhhhhhhhh! Listen... Go gather everyone. D-X, Bret, Randy, Jay and your sister. Conference room in ten minutes. Snap, snap."
Shane stormed down the hall grumbling angrily to himself as he made his way around the arena. Really?! Tonight of all nights!? Why, after so much time of clearly not giving a damn? Shane looked down at his phone and sent a mass text to the six people Linda asked him to gather.
Everyone got to the conference room in no time at all, making Linda a very happy person. She cleared her throat as she looked around the room at everyone... She admired how each of them matured and grew over the last six months. She was pleased at how hard they were working to keep things running smoothly.
But she had to ruin their day, if only for a short period of time.
"I've asked Shane to gather you all here for an emergency meeting... Only very few of us are going to find out about this, so I need you to act as you normally would and get on with your schedules for tonight. Understood?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Okay..," Linda paused and walked over to the door and knocked on it once. "Let him in."
Everyone in the room, sans for Linda and Shane, were shocked as all living hell when none other than Vince McMahon walked into the room.
"Oh hell no." Paul growled.
"What the fuck is going on?!" Jay shouted.
"Language, Reso," Linda stated, making the man bow his head in a silent apology. "Now... Mr. McMahon dropped by today to see how things are going and to say something very important to each and every one of you."
"What if I don't want to hear anything he has to say?" Jay asked.
"Then you have my permission to excuse yourself and leave." Linda replied.
"Alright, then... I would like to..," Jay paused and looked around at everyone seated at the table. He sighed, then looked back at Linda. "Scratch that, Mrs. McMahon... I'm going to stay."
"Good to hear, Mr. Reso," Linda turned to look at Vince again. "The floor is yours, Mr. McMahon."
"You can call me 'Vince,' you know."
"I would rather refer to you as 'Mr. McMahon' in front of my employees."
Vince narrowed his eyes at Linda. "Right," He commented, then turned to look at the people sitting around the table. Paul, Shawn and Bret were seated to his left, Shane, Randy and Jay were seated to his right and Stephanie was sitting at the opposite end of the table. Paul was glaring at him with enough hatred for everyone in the arena, whereas everyone else either had their eyes cast down or were looking at the chairwoman for guidance. "I guess it's been awhile since you guys have seen me..."
"Six months is too short of a gap, if you ask me." Paul retorted.
"Well... I've changed in those six months."
"Yeah... Sure you have." Shane mumbled, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"People can change, you know. I'm here to apologize for the hell I put each and every one of you through last year. It was a stupid thing for me to do. I know I should have realized it then, but I didn't, and that made me damage my relationships with all of you. I know you're angry with me for not doing the right thing when it should have been done, but I'm truly sorry for what I did and I hope that, in time, each and every one of you can find it in your hearts to forgive me."
The room was silent for several long moments, save for Paul snapping his gum every so often. Suddenly, Shane stood up from his chair fast enough to knock it over.
"I don't believe a damn word that comes out of your mouth." He stated, then turned and started leaving the room.
"Don't you dare turn your back-"
"You don't understand, do you," Shane shouted as he whirled around to face his father once again. "You did more than ruin your relationships with everyone in this room. You proved to the world how much of an asshole you can be. And yeah, I know that's wrong for me to say. But... After what you did to me... I don't have it in my heart to even refer to you as my father anymore," Shane paused and watched Vince's face drop ever so slightly. He once again started heading for the door, then stopped and turned around. "You know... You were right about one thing... You didn't do the right thing. Not by a long shot. I don't care who you are. Sorry isn't good enough."
Nearly everyone in the room winced when Shane left and slammed the door behind him.
"Anyone else have anything to say? The floor is open." Vince stated, although it was unclear how certain he was of what he had just said.
"I think Shane pretty much covered it." Randy stated.
"Although he did forget to throw in a nice 'fuck you' for good measure." Jay commented.
"Mr. Reso!" Linda shouted.
"He said the floor was open, Mrs. McMahon. I apologize."
Linda tutted in annoyance, but said nothing.
"Nobody else wants to say anything?" Vince asked, clearly surprised.
"What the hell do you want us to say, exactly? I'm unclear of that right now... You should understand that none of us are interested in listening to your shitty excuses for your piss poor behavior last year! We don't care if you're sorry because six months of being away from the company taught you that you were wrong. You're the boss. You're supposed to know the difference between right and wrong from moment one, especially when it comes to the health and welfare of one of your employees. I guess the truth is we just aren't interested in hearing you, Vince."
"So I assume Bret and Shane are speaking for everyone?"
"Assume away, you're an ass no matter which way you look at it." Paul replied.
"Fine. I'll see all of you another time."
"Never is too soon!" Shawn shouted as the door was closing behind Vince.
It took a few moments for Shane to re-enter the room, pick up his chair and sit back down.
"Feel better?" Randy asked.
"No."
"Why would you make us sit through that, mom? You know how we feel about him being here." Stephanie stated.
Linda looked at everyone and shrugged her shoulders. "I know you guys don't want anything to do with him... But he wanted to come here and he wouldn't leave until he got to apologize to each and every one of you... Don't ask me why he suddenly took an interest in taking responsibility for his actions and apologizing for them..."
"Personally, I think it's because he thought we were going to accept his apology and welcome him back with open arms."
"Surely he's on drugs if he thinks such a thing is possible." Linda replied, making everyone chuckle.
"I don't know, mom. I mean... Why after all this time? The Board was pretty harsh when it came to taking everything away from him... Why bother coming here at all? They didn't give him permission." Shane stated.
"How about we do this," Everyone turned to look at Paul when he spoke. "We ignore what shit-for-brains wants to tell us and we continue doing things the way we've been doing them for the last six months?"
"That seems like the only logical answer to our current problem." Bret stated.
"Good, because I really hate thinking of things."
"I doubt the legitimacy of that."
Paul looked at Bret and narrowed his eyes. "Jerk."
"Bitch."
"Gentlemen," Paul and Bret turned to look at Linda, who was clearly trying to hide her amusement. "Okay... So... We made it through six months with the new standards and everyone working in different positions. I'd like to thank all of you for your hard work. It will not go unnoticed, believe me. Since everything is still running smoothly after six months, the upcoming months will run perfectly, as well. You're all dismissed from this meeting... Please get ready for the show."
Everyone got up and left the room. Bret, Stephanie, Jay and Randy walked down the hall, whereas Paul, Shawn and Shane hung around in the hallway.
"You two are up to something." Shane stated.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Paul asked.
"I don't know... Something about the two of you... Seems like you're up to something."
"In what sense?" Shawn asked, raising a confused eyebrow.
"I don't need a 'sense' to clarify my concern right now... Believe me... You two are up to something, I just know it."
Paul and Shawn looked at one another, then back at Shane. "We put a gallon of paint..."
Before Paul could finish his sentence, a loud series of banging could be heard from a room down the hall. After a few moments of silence, a man emerged from the room covered in green and black paint.
"Goddamn D-X!"
A/N: Annnnnnnd just like that... That's the end of Like Old Times. I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read and review this story. I hope you enjoyed the nine year old adventure as much as I did!
I'll be taking time to edit this fic in the next couple of months, but this is most definitely the end of the road.
If you have any fic requests, please feel free to send them my way. I'm working on a couple of fics right now, but I'll most likely be done with two of them by mid-June.
I'm also always available to give advice for anything, so please don't hesitate to ask me anything!
Once again, thank you so much for your reviews and checking out this story in general. It means the world to me.
Also, if you're a fan of 'Dark Reflections,' you're going to be in for a real treat within the next twenty four hours.