No Mercy
Sean entered the arena with a definite purpose and full of anticipation. He would be competing in his first pay-per-view match since rejoining the company, and he greatly looked forward to it.
His opponent for the evening was Ric Flair. It was ironic that the older man was the last of the onetime members of Triple H's most recent faction, Evolution.
O'Haire wondered what the large-nosed man thought about the fact that he had a match with Flair. After all, it couldn't have gotten much closer to actually fighting with him, given their onscreen relationship.
Sean bitterly recalled his last encounter with Paul Levesque. He'd apparently arrived just in time to rescue Stephanie. The blonde had sounded and looked so angry, as her former fiance had been interrogating her.
"Aha... There he is," a voice rang out, interrupting his thoughts.
Sean looked up to see none other than the boss, Vince McMahon himself, approaching. The man was smiling, and he put an arm around his shoulder when he reached him.
"Hello, Mr. McMahon." Unlike when he was with the man's daughter, he felt somewhat unnerved around Vince. Of course, the boss had always been kind to him, but he still felt slightly ill at ease. Maybe it was because, even if it hadn't been Vince's idea to release him nearly two years earlier, he'd done nothing to stop it, either.
"I'd like to have a word with you if you have a little time."
O'Haire stared at the older man as he released him. What could he want to discuss with him? It seemed that since he'd come back, the only person who'd spoken to him about his career was Stephanie. The blonde always had these great ideas for his character and had even been the one to draw up his contract. Why was Vince suddenly taking an interest in him? Although wary, he was also incredibly curious.
"Sure, sir," he said. "I have time."
"Very well," the Chairman said with a curt nod. "Go on to your locker room to leave your bag and then stop by my office."
Sean nodded before trotting off to do as the man suggested. Naturally, along the way, he just had to run into Levesque.
The other man glared at him with undisguised hatred. Being the bigger person, O'Haire ignored him, but he could sense the guy's beady eyes on his back as he continued walking down the hallway.
Much to his pleasant surprise, he met someone else on the way as well.
"Sean!" Stephanie smiled. "I was just looking for you. Do you... have a minute?" She gave a slight shrug of one shoulder, a movement he found incredibly cute.
"Your hair... Steph."
The young woman raised a hand to her head and smiled again.
"Yeah, I went back to my natural color," she explained. "I kind of missed it."
He eyed her appreciatively in silence for a beat. While he'd thought she was beautiful with her hair dyed blonde, she looked that much more so with her natural brunette shade.
"So, can you...?"
"Sorry, can't right now," he said. "I've got a meeting with your father."
"Dad?"
He nodded.
"Yeah, we just bumped into each other a minute ago, and he said he wanted to talk to me. I was just dropping my stuff off and heading over to meet him."
"Oh, I see," the brunette replied, her mouth scrunching up slightly in her thoughtfulness. She wondered why her father had summoned Sean but knew she could find out later - from either man.
"Anyway," O'Haire said as the young woman stared at him, "I'll meet up with you later, in any event."
"Okay," Stephanie agreed, brightening. They definitely had a lot to talk about. While a part of her was dreading it out of nervousness, she was mostly looking forward to it.
She watched as he hurried past her and down the hallway, waving as a tiny smile graced her lips.
However, the moment she turned to face forward again, her mood completely fell. It was just her luck that Paul should be standing before her. His unattractive face wore a smile that, to her, appeared completely sarcastic.
"Well, if it isn't the Princess herself," he muttered.
She rolled her eyes, doing nothing to hide the gesture.
"Well, if it isn't the king of crap," she retorted. She couldn't help but curse herself for actually having a past with the man. What the hell had she been thinking? What had she ever seen in him? It all seemed a big mystery to her now.
Levesque's smile faded, and a deep frown replaced it. The more he thought about it, he'd really grown to despise the woman over the last year or longer. She was a cold, callous, unfeeling bitch. In a way, it was difficult to fathom that she was Vince McMahon's daughter. At least the old man was friendly. His ire increased as a satisfied smirk came to her face at his reaction.
"You bitch... I oughta slap that smile right off your face."
"Do that and I'll make sure you'll be fired," Stephanie spat, no traces of amusement left on her face or in her demeanor. She was dead serious, too.
Paul knew this as well, without question. Glaring his hatred right into her, he clamped his mouth shut and
stalked away.