Rolling her eyes at Trish she was starting to think she was a parrot, "so is that your new catchphrase or something?"
Smirking Trish nodded her head, "absolutely it is, well with you."
Stephanie shook her head at Trish and turned to look at Mikey who was laying down on the couch cuddling his two monkeys closely, "he's absolutely worn out."
Looking at Mikey as his eyes drifted close and then flew open again as he tried to fight it, "I'm sorry, we didn't mean to wear him out but he was having so much fun playing wrestlers with Hunter that I couldn't bring myself to stop them."
Shrugging her shoulders Stephanie went over to Mikey and covered him in a blanket before she bent down and kissed the top of his head, "go to sleep, you need it."
Sitting on the arm of the couch she brushed her hand over his head and waited until he gave in to the tiredness and fell asleep. Once she knew he was asleep Stephanie stood back up and went over to Trish, "so why are you using your new catchphrase today?"
Deciding to not pull any punches Trish blurted it out, "were you the woman that Hunter went out on a date with on Friday night?"
Pretending to be shocked and vaguely offended Stephanie looked at Trish oddly, "why would you think that?"
Shrugging her shoulders there really was no rhyme or reason to why she thought it, "because Hunter was on a date and because Mikey said that you were out with a man last week too."
"Sure, because Hunter is the only man left on this planet right? I couldn't have possibly been out with another man could I?"
Looking at Stephanie strangely she couldn't work out why she was so defensive, "well there was no need to be like that, you only had to say that you were out to dinner with another man and it was just a coincidence that you and Hunter were both on dates on the same night."
No matter how much Trish pushed her there was no way Stephanie was going to admit to being on a date with Hunter as that was their first and last date, "why do you care if I was on a date with Hunter anyway? Do you want to be the first person in the locker room to name his mystery woman?"
Taking a step back Trish wasn't used to Stephanie being this defensive, "actually no. Even if I knew who his mystery woman was I wouldn't name her because that is Hunter's business, well him and the woman he dated. Over the weekend he clearly didn't want to name her and wanted to keep their date between them so why should I out him if I found out the truth?"
Raising her eyebrow Stephanie didn't really believe Trish when she said that she wouldn't tell anyone, "why would you keep it a secret? What's in it for you?"
"There is nothing in it for me Stephanie. Unlike some people I am happy when other people are happy and I can keep secrets when they need to be kept. Just so you know, I only want you to be happy and I would keep any and every secret you asked me to keep."
Smiling softly Stephanie was lucky to have a friend like Trish but she still wasn't going to tell her the truth, "thank you Trish, I really do appreciate it. I want to be happy one day too but I don't believe Hunter is the man to make me happy long term."
Trish was disappointed to hear that, "I'm sorry. Are you going to give him a chance or are you just shutting the door on that chapter of your life?"
"I'm just shutting the door on that part of my life. We ended for a reason, we shouldn't go back on it and try to change it because I have Mikey to think of now."
Not wanting to push her opinion on Stephanie she just nodded her head, "I can understand that Steph. I'd better let you get back to work though, call me if you need anything."
Smiling Stephanie nodded her head, "I will, thank you."
Leaving the room Trish was glad to get some space and get away from Stephanie but something was seriously off with her and she wanted to get some expert advice. Turning right out of Stephanie's office she made her way to the exit of the arena so she could get some peace and quiet.
Exiting the arena she immediately made her way over to a quiet corner of the parking lot and took a seat on the curb. Scrolling through her contact list she hated breaking Stephanie's trust like this but she had to do what she had to do for Mikey's future. Calling the number she lifted the phone to her ear hoping she was doing the right thing.
Linda was up to her eyeballs in work for the campaign but was also incredibly concerned for Stephanie, there was something about how she was when she left that felt really off and she hadn't been able to put a finger on it. When her cell phone started to ring her attention was drawn to it, when she saw Trish's name she immediately panicked immediately answering it, "Trish?! Is everything okay?"
Sighing softly Trish felt bad, "sorry for panicking you Linda. Stephanie and Mikey are fine, sort of. There is nothing physically wrong with Stephanie but I am concerned for her emotional well-being."
Getting up from her seat Linda walked out of the room and into another room where she could be alone and she shut the door behind her, "well that would sort of make two of us. What exactly is going on that has you concerned for her?"
"Hunter went on a date on Friday night and Stephanie's reaction has been weird and bizarre. I spoke to her about what she was going to do about Hunter and she said that she's shutting the door on that part of her life."
Linda's eyes widened, "wait, you need to rewind a little. How do you know that Hunter was on a date on Friday?"
Scuffing her feet on the floor Trish sighed, "I overheard him talking to some of the boys on Saturday because they were ribbing him about being happy and he was saying that he was on a date the night before. I told Stephanie because I thought she should know but she's just been weird about it and now she just wants to forget about him."
"That girl is going to be the death of me, she confuses me more and more by the day. Do you know anything about Hunter's date?"
Laughing Trish shook her head, "not a thing, he's keeping it very close to his chest. All I do know is that he's been talking to Jericho about it and Jericho told me that Hunter really has it bad for her and he's been trying to text the date and getting no response. Why do you want to know about Hunter's date?"
Linda had no plans to share with Trish what she knew as it wasn't her place, "I was just curious. I'm so out of the loop these days that I don't know who is dating who. Do you really think that Stephanie is not handling things well?"
"Absolutely positively. Her reactions, her eyes, her entire demeanour makes me concerned for her and if she knew what Mikey said to Hunter today then I would bet my entire job on her losing it completely."
Nervous about exactly what Mikey had said Linda was wary about asking, "what did Mikey say to Hunter?"
Pulling her knees to her chest Trish looked towards the arena door to make sure nobody was around, "he told Hunter that he loved him."
Gripping the table Linda was shocked, "oh dear. Between you and I there should be a lot of hesitation in mentioning it around Stephanie, she is already deathly afraid of what is going to happen and I think this would kill her."
Trish already had a feeling that Stephanie was afraid of what was going to happen if and when Hunter found out the truth so she had no desire to tell her the truth, "don't worry, I have no plans to tell her anyway. What can I do with Stephanie though? I'm really concerned about her."
Hearing a knock at the door Linda knew she didn't have much longer to talk, "don't worry about her, I will try and work on her this week to see what I can get out of her. I've got to get going though, please don't worry or tell Stephanie that we've spoken and thank you for calling me."
Standing up Trish just wanted what was best for Stephanie, "you're welcome and thank you Linda, I appreciate it."
"No worries. Goodbye Trish."
"Bye Linda."
Hanging up the phone Linda was right to be concerned about Stephanie, she knew she wasn't being straight with them at the weekend and this conversation had proved it. She was just going to sit back and wait for Stephanie to come to her so she can talk to her and find out what was going on in her head.