Cracks in the Crystal

Four

Sunday passed similar to Saturday with Paul arriving to their home at some ungodly hour in the morning to be there before the girls woke up and then leaving soon after they were put to sleep. It was lucky really that none of the girls had woken during the night and sought comfort within their parents' bed. Stephanie knew it'd be a hard thing to explain to tired little girls in the middle of the night.

Now though it was Monday, which meant Monday Night Raw was that evening. Luckily for them it wasn't too far away, only in New York a short plane ride away, even shorter with the use of the company jet. Stephanie was apprehensive though, she knew they could keep things professional and discreet around everyone else but they were going to be in a confined space with only her father and she knew he'd be able to sense something was wrong.

Walking into the private terminal to board the jet she was surprised to see her father and Paul already waiting for her. It was only just after ten but she had been running late, apparently cutting it close to their departure time. She walked over smiling as her father beckoned her closer, giving him a quick hug and peck on the cheek in greeting. Turning, she was shocked to see Paul holding out a coffee for her, she hadn't been expecting it but apparently old habits died hard.

"Thanks," she said gratefully, leaning up to kiss his cheek as well. She sighed though when she felt him cringe away from her touch. She sincerely hoped her father hadn't noticed that, she was not up to incessant questioning from the elder McMahon.

She stood between them a little awkwardly for several moments before they were finally told the jet was ready to board. She sighed in relief, heading quickly for the plane, climbing on board gratefully. She settled down in a seat, her father choosing to sit across from her, no doubt planning to talk business while they flew.

It was his M.O. trapping her on the plane and then forcing her to have to listen to whatever it was he wanted to talk about just because he knew she couldn't get away. Any other day and she probably would have just dealt with it and paid attention but she knew this was not going to be one of those days. Not when Paul had chosen to sit as far away from her as possible, headphones securely covering his ears.

The jet took off and they were on their way, Vince trying to discuss changes he wanted to make to the final script for Raw that evening. Stephanie however was barely listening; her gaze kept falling to her husband…well, estranged husband now. He was tense, engrossed in whatever was flowing through his headphones; probably something loud and violent. He had barely slept, she could tell just by looking at him that that was the case. She knew her husband inside out and knew he was hurting, more than he'd ever hurt before and it killed her that she couldn't comfort him or take away his pain. No, she couldn't do that because she'd been the one to cause it in the first place.

She sighed, trying to stop the tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of what she'd done to her husband. Stephanie shook her head, turning back to look over at her father and was startled to see that he was staring intensely and curiously at her. Her brow furrowed as he continued to look at her curiously for another moment, making her feel slightly uncomfortable.

"What?" she asked a little impatiently.

"How's Paul?" he asked, gesturing slightly to the other man on the plane.

"He's fine, why?" she asked cautiously, trying to quell the internal panic that was creeping up on her at her dad's question.

"Just checking. You said he was ill on Friday night," Vince continued, leaning back slightly and crossing his arms. His daughter was lying; Paul may not have been ill but there was definitely something going on with him. Neither his daughter nor his son in law was as subtle as they'd like to think.

"Right," she nodded, "Well he's better now," she replied, faking a bright smile at her father, hoping this would be the end of it. Thankfully he seemed to drop it, instead choosing to work on some paperwork. Stephanie followed her father's lead, pulling out her own stack of paperwork, trying very hard to focus and not let her mind stray.

Time passed quickly then and before she knew it they were in New York and on the way to the arena. They were all in work mode now; mild talk of the night to come kept them from too many awkward silences. She and Paul spoke civilly to each other but she could sense the coldness between them and hoped her father didn't sense it too.

Getting to the arena they all got straight to work. Stephanie pushed aside all thoughts of her personal problems; if she let them fester in her mind while she tried to run a live televised show she was sure to make mistakes. It wasn't until they were in the production meeting, doing a quick run through of the script and schedule that they came to the forefront again.

She and Paul were meant to open the show as 'The Authority'. They were supposed to act affectionate and in love; usually that wouldn't be a problem for them at all. Now though, Stephanie cringed. How were they supposed to act blissfully in love and happy when turmoil was crashing down over them?

Even back when they'd first been together on screen they hadn't had to act too much. They had been attracted to each other almost right away and there'd always been chemistry. It was easy to let their true feelings shine through when they were supposed to be playing a happy and in love couple because, well they had been happy and in love back then.

Of course that didn't mean she wasn't in love with Paul now. She was, deeply but what had happened with Randy…she had let lust take over and now she was paying the price. She had never thought for a moment that she could or would fall in love with Randal, her heart belonged to Paul, and it always would. Randy had just gotten under her skin and made her feel things she hadn't meant to and somehow she couldn't seem to stop herself around him.

Still, Paul could barely touch her or look her in the eye for more than a few seconds at a time. The tension and the coldness were killing her but she was glad that they'd been so busy it wasn't noticeable to anyone at all. She was worried that if they had to go out live and act like everything was all peachy it'd be ridiculously obvious that something was wrong between them.

As the meeting finished she tried to shake the worry from her mind. They were professionals, they were husband and wife, and they could go out there and be convincing enough. Stepping out into the hallway she watched for a moment as Paul and her father made their way towards the production trucks before turning the opposite way and heading into the makeshift office she and Paul were to be sharing.

She'd only been in there five or so minutes, just starting to go over a few things on her laptop when a knock sounded on the door. "Come in," she called, still focused on what she was doing for a moment before looking up to see who'd stepped into the office.

She froze for a moment when she saw the one man she really shouldn't be left alone with standing in front of the closed office door. Her mind caught up with her then as she stood, sighing as she placed her glasses down by the laptop and moving around the table. She smiled tightly at the younger man, crossing her arms over her chest to keep herself from reaching out to touch him.

"Was there something you needed Randy?" she asked, keeping her tone professional.

She hadn't spoken to him since Raw the week before and since everything that had happened, she was unsure how to approach him. Stephanie hated to admit it but she hadn't planned on telling Paul that she'd been sleeping with Randy, but she knew that now Paul knew, what had been happening between her and the younger man couldn't continue.

The wrestler shrugged, "Yeah," he replied, a smirk crossing his face, "I needed to see you," he told her, looking her up and down none to conspicuously at all.

Stephanie shook her head, trying to clear her mind of his words and their meaning. She had a suspicion that his feelings for her were deeper than he was letting on and it made her feel guiltier than she had before. She was messing with both of them; leading Randy on, even when she was sure he knew she'd never leave her husband for him.

"Randy we can't do this, not here," she told him as he took a step closer to her. He was right in front of her now and she had to control the urge to reach out and touch him. That didn't stop her gaze however from traveling over his well-toned body, covered up by jeans and a shirt.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a hand coming up to touch her shoulder gently. She looked up at him, shaking her head as she thought about what she wanted to say. A hand moved to press her palm against his chest, intent on pushing him away, wanting to create some space between them. She was stopped however by a deep voice coming from the doorway.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Paul walked down the hallway from the production truck towards the makeshift office he and Stephanie were settled in for the night. It had hurt to be so close to his wife and yet be so far but that's the way it had to be right now. He made it to the door of their office, taking a deep breath before he went in, knowing it'd just be him and Stephanie alone.

Pushing open the door he doesn't look up straight away, wanting to avoid her for as long as possible. When he does though he freezes, hands clenching tightly as he takes in the scene before him. Stephanie and Randy fucking Orton standing closely, touching each other and he see's red, anger bursting inside of him.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," he growls, body practically vibrating with anger as he takes a step forward, completely inside the room now.

He watches as they both step apart quickly, Stephanie turning to look at him with wide terrified eyes and Randy hurriedly dropping his hand to his hip, as if he hadn't just been touching his wife. He looked between them for a moment, jaw clenching at the guilty look that crossed Stephanie's face before settling on the younger wrestler.

"Paul…uh, hey," he greeted, trying to be casual, trying to act as if he hadn't fucked his wife before.

That was all it took for Paul to lose his cool. He snapped, taking two long strides forward and swinging a clenched fist straight for the younger man's face. He connected with a smack, sending Randy stumbling backwards with surprise.

"Fuck," the other wrestler mumbled, dazed from the surprise assault.

Paul however wasn't finished as he grabbed Randy roughly by the shirt, pulling him up and punching him again. It didn't take long before the two started fighting properly, Paul completely unable to control himself as he laid blow after blow onto the younger man. Paul wasn't the only participant though, Randy managing to land a few punches of his own to his bosses body.

"Paul! Stop it!" he heard Stephanie cry out from behind him but he ignored her, continuing instead to hit at the other man angrily.

Stephanie watched panicked as they crashed into the wall, Paul holding Randy there as he hit at him blindly. "Stop Paul! Let him go," she pleaded frantically as she stepped forward, trying to pull the pair apart. She let out a shocked gasp however as she was pushed roughly away, the edge of the table colliding sharply with the small of her back.

By this point Paul had his arm pressed against Randy's throat tightly, holding him in place. "You stay the fuck away from her," he growled deeply, "Stay away from my wife. Do you understand you little cocksucker?" he practically yelled at him, wanting nothing more than to make him bleed even more than he already was.

"Enough!" he heard a voice yell, deeper than Stephanie's as he was pulled roughly away from the younger man.

He turned around, ready to hit whoever it was but stopped when he realized it was his father in law. The air felt thick in the room as he looked between the other occupants, yanking roughly at his tie as he glared at Stephanie and Randy before pushing passed Vince and storming angrily out of the room.

"Get to the trainers," Vince ordered Orton roughly, pushing the young Superstar out of the office before turning to look at his sobbing daughter. "What the hell is going on Stephanie?" Vince asked, turning to look at his distraught daughter.

AN: Hey there! Here is chapter four. Over 2k words for you guys considering the last chapter was on the smaller side. I've already started on the next chapter, so hopefully it won't take as long to update. I mean, I wrote this whole thing out in just a couple hours last night.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please review. :) LT.