A/N: It is freaking like an impossible mission keeping these two apart. I don't know who it's more tortuous for, me or them. Anyways, enjoy, leave a review if you want. :)

Day 72

"You look gorgeous."

Stephanie laughed and blushed a little bit. "Thank you, that's really sweet of you," she said to the man she was currently about to have dinner with. She hesitated to call it a date even though that's what it was. She was out on a date, she was out on a first date for the first time in nine years. She wasn't even sure she knew how to do this anymore. One of her friends saw fit to set her up with a guy from her work. She said they would probably hit it off, but she wondered if any of her friends actually knew what her type was.

Actually, now that she thought about it, did she still have a type? She'd been with Chris for so long that she wasn't sure there was a type anymore, and when she thought about it, wouldn't her type have changed at some point over the last nine years? She wasn't the same person so why would she want what she wanted back then? And what did she even want back then? She didn't think Chris was her type, but she ended up with him, so maybe there was just no such thing as types.

"Just telling you the truth," he said, "I mean, seriously, you are way more beautiful than Abby even said you were. Like, you're kind of hard to look at you're so pretty."

She laughed because she wasn't sure if he was being serious or just trying to impress her. Either way, it wasn't impressing her all that much, and she kind of found it slightly uncomfortable to have so many compliments piled on her so quickly. She just smiled politely as they were seated, and she lifted the menu to look at what she wanted. She put her menu down to ask Blaine a question, but found him just staring at her, which meant he was staring at her staring at her menu.

"When Abby said you were pretty, I mean, I believed her, but I didn't know you would be this pretty, I mean, there's pretty, and there's you."

Now it was just weird, "Thank you, again, but well, I think we've established that you think I'm pretty," she joked, hoping he would laugh and move on. He didn't laugh, just looked at her for a moment longer, and she was afraid he was going to start telling her how pretty she was again. "So, what are you getting?"

"Oh, um, probably the roasted chicken," he said, "you can get whatever you want, money is no object tonight."

"Okay," she said, "so, you work in advertising, that sounds kind of fun. I've come into contact with advertising people before, and they're very clever, do you come up with slogans and stuff like that."

"Yeah, occasionally I bust out with some really great idea, not that I'm going to brag or anything, but I do have a hand in a couple national campaigns right now, no big deal or anything. I'm not exactly like a top guy or anything."

"That's still really cool," Stephanie said, "I like hearing about other facets of business."

"Abby wasn't totally clear on what you do. She just said that you work for your father's company."

"Well, yes, that's true, but that sounds a little more mom and pop than what I actually do," Stephanie explained, "I'm the Executive Vice President of Creative for World Wrestling Entertainment. Basically, I oversee all the storyline aspects of the show."

"Oh…wow," he said, "that's…really, really impressive."

"It's fun, it's not as scary as it seems," she told him, but could tell that he was now intimidated. That wasn't something she was used to, at least not personally. Professionally, she could strike a bolt of fear into any male when she asserted herself and her position. But personally, she never thought she was all that scary, but she really only had Chris to compare that too. She rose into her position while with him, and he was never intimidated by her or that she had more power and wealth that she did.

Chris was really good with money, and he was really good at making money and saving it. They'd maintained separate bank accounts obviously, and separate savings accounts, though they had a joint bank account to take care of bills and things, something they both put money in. They also had their own investments and interests, and on the whole, in terms of net worth, she was only worth about seven million more than he was. There was never a time in their lives where she felt like he was with her because of her money.

"Well, that's good," he said, but he lifted his menu. "Maybe I want something to start with, a salad or something."

Stephanie sighed and went back to looking at her menu. This was a bust, she could tell already, and now she was going to have to suffer through an entire meal with that thought looming over her head. She wished she could just cut and run, but that would be rude, and the last thing she wanted to be was rude. Why was this so hard? Was it always going to be this difficult? Was dating this hard before? She couldn't even remember.

That was her problem, she just didn't remember how to this went. Being with Chris was so natural, there was almost no transition from being friends to being more than that. It was just like it was supposed to happen that way. Before that, she'd had a few boyfriends, but she felt immature then, like her life was just starting, but now she was settled, and she had an established life, and how do you just invite someone into that. How do you have your routines, your habits, your life down then let a completely stranger into it?

She just didn't know how anymore.

"Oh my God, everything looks so delicious," Stephanie said, putting her menu down and looking over at Chris. "How did you know I felt like Italian tonight?"

"I have psychic abilities," he told her with a smile, "but it was probably because I felt like Italian, remembered I asked you out on a date then just said to myself that hey, I'll just drag her along."

"Then we're completely meant to be."

"Don't you think that's a little early to say on our second date, actually, this should be our first date because I don't want to tell our future grandchildren that our first date was at a Denny's after a show and you got a really bad stomachache because of the food."

"That's a great story!" she protested. "That's the kind of story you tell with pride. Maybe not the logistics of the stomachache, I didn't even share that with you, maybe when the first kid arrives."

"Okay, by then, we'll have been in tons of gross situations," he told her, and she laughed, her nose crinkling. He laughed too, reaching out and grabbing her hand. "I will tell them that I should have asked you out a lot sooner."

"Oh, don't get sappy on me now, Irvine," Stephanie shook her head. "I'm having a great time though, and this is a much nicer place than Denny's, not that sometimes Denny's isn't exactly what I'm craving, but tonight, this is nice."

"I know, that's why I picked it," he told her. "So what are you getting?"

"I don't know, there's at least three things I want to get," she told him, glancing down at her open menu. "I hate when I go out to eat while on the road because then it's like, if I like the restaurant, it's not easy to come back to, it's not like I'm going to fly to Phoenix just because I want some Mexican food or something, you know what I mean. Then if I do like it, I have to write down the name so I can come back when we are here again. So of course I want to try everything."

"Easy solution, get it all," he told her, "I'm not even sure what I want, I'm up for anything, so we order all three things you want, whatever appetizers we want, whatever desserts we want, and we just eat a little bit of everything then we take whatever we don't eat back to the hotel, we have fridges, and tomorrow, we have an awesome lunch before we go home."

"First, 'we go home,' that makes it sound like we live together—"

"Hey, if we're eventually going to have grandchildren, we should probably live together at some point."

"Touché," she said, "and second of all, that sounds like a fantastic idea. Why did I never think of that before?"

"Because you're with me now, and I clearly kind of complete you."

"Where have you been all my life?" she joked.

Chris just stared at her for a moment, and it made her feel warm all over. She didn't want to start blushing, but she just might at any second. She knew she and Chris were great friends. She knew that because they were, but so far, and she knew they were only a few days into this, but so far, just being around him was making her life better, and she didn't want to jump ahead of herself, but the thought of having children and grandchildren with him didn't seem like such a bad prospect. She could certainly do worse.

"You've just been with the wrong guys, apparently."

"And you're the right one?"

"I should hope so since you're out with me, and this is our second date, and I'm already planning the third."

"You certainly are ambitious."

"You better believe it," he told her, "I like to go at things really hard."

"Really hard?"

"Yup," he winked at her. "I like you, Stephanie McMahon, if I haven't told you yet."

"I like you too."

Stephanie saw that Blaine was about to get out of the car, presumably to walk her to her front door. She held up her hand, "It's okay, I got it from here. I'm glad I met you, Blaine, but I think we could both tell that tonight wasn't exactly the ideal date."

"I'm glad one of us had the guts to say it," he breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was really nice meeting you though," she stuck her hand out and he reached out to shake it.

"You too, Stephanie, good luck out there."

"Thanks, you too," she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek before she got out of the car and went up to the house. She went up to her bedroom, divesting herself of her dress and getting into some comfy pajamas before she sat down on her bed, grabbing her phone and unlocking it as she went through her contacts until she got to his number. She only hesitated for a second before she hit the call button.

It only took two rings, "Why do you still have this number?"

"I can't bear to part with it," she told him, already smiling.

"What's up?"

"I went on a date tonight."

"Oh yeah?" She could tell he was trying to be casual, and she could also tell he was anything but casual. She could picture him in her mind, sitting up straighter, listening a little more intently. "And?"

"Disaster. It was the first one since…well, since, and it was horrible, and how do we do this, Chris?" she asked. "How do we move on? I'm not even sure what's out there, what I want, I don't know any of it."

"I went out too, there was a girl there, she obviously wanted to sleep with me, made her intent very, very clear."

"The panties in the pocket trick?" Stephanie asked, not letting the increasing jealousy rise into her throat like bile. This man was not hers, he could do as he pleased, he could do anyone he wanted to do. Just because that person wasn't her didn't mean she wanted to punch whoever it was in the face.

"Sitting on my lap and acting coy trick," he told her, and yes, Stephanie would punch them in the face. "They weren't you though."

Okay, she was brightening up a little now. "They weren't me? I don't sit on laps."

"I know, that's why it bugged me," he said, "Stephanie, I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"What are we going to do?"

"Can you come see me?" she took a shot in the dark. It wasn't working. It had been three months, and it just wasn't working apart, at least not for her. It just didn't feel right, and it felt wrong to be with another man right now.

"I'll be there tomorrow."