Paul was burning mad as he marched down the arena hallway. The very fresh memory of what he'd seen mere moments ago was forever etched in his mind. And he knew that if he didn't do something about it, and immediately, there was no way he would be able to perform like a normal person for the rest of that night.
Returning to his locker room, the enraged man snatched his cell phone. Thinking of what to do for a moment first, he flipped it open and dialed a number he'd committed to memory - his own as well as his phone's.
He waited for a few minutes as it rang. The person he was calling was at the arena that night, but he was way at the other end of the building. It wasn't that he was lazy, but Levesque simply didn't have the patience at the moment to walk all the way down there.
*
Vince looked up at the sound of the sudden ringing of his cell phone. He assumed that either Linda or someone from Headquarters, or perhaps even an injured superstar were ringing him. Reaching across his desk for the device, he caught a glimpse of the caller ID on the display... and he couldn't help rolling his eyes. He sighed and flipped the cell phone open to answer the call.
"What is it now, Paul?" It seemed to be getting to be a regular routine for the man to vent to him, so he had to assume there was yet another 'problem' with Stephanie and O'Haire.
"Vince," Paul barked in response, "you are not gonna believe what I just saw - with my own two eyes!"
For a few seconds, the WWE Chairman was confused. What was this all about? If Paul was interrupting his work just for some stupid, immature gossip...
"What are you talking about?"
Levesque frowned as he continued.
"Your daughter," he said bitterly, and it was then that Mr. McMahon realized the other man was indeed angry.
"So? Paul, where are you going with this?" Vince demanded. "I've got a lot of work to do, so now is not the time for suspense. Just spit it out already!"
There was a beat of silence on the other end save for the very audible breathing of the younger man.
"I just saw Stephanie and O'Haire kissing!"
*
Stephanie tensed up a bit as she pulled back to quickly glance over her shoulder. She turned back to face Sean, her expression considerably different than it had been a moment or so prior.
"Did you just hear something?" she asked, concerned.
O'Haire couldn't refrain from touching her as he held onto both of her hands in his much larger ones. He shook his head raising their clasped hands to kiss the backs of hers in turn.
"No... What did you hear?"
"Footsteps," the brunette replied. "Like someone was right outside the room but hurried away... Like they'd been spying on us."
O'Haire shrugged.
"I honestly didn't notice," he stated. He shrugged again, then went on as a possible explanation came. "Maybe someone wanted to speak to you but saw us and decided to leave us to our privacy." He winked.
"Maybe," Stephanie vaguely agreed. But she couldn't be sure.
"Anyway," Sean said, deciding to change the subject in a hurry, "about us... What do you want to do after the show? I can take you out for a late dinner... Our first date?"
The brunette locked her gaze on his dark blue eyes and felt a smile touching her lips. She couldn't help it, never could when it came to the man before her. She nodded and put her arms around his neck.
"That sounds perfect." She gazed deeply into his shining eyes as she moved her face toward his once again. His mouth on hers, his kiss, left her absolutely breathless.
For the first time in years, Stephanie found herself feeling truly happy. Things were looking bright for her after a long time of being lonely and stuck in a proverbial dark, dismal tunnel. Sean was back in her life, and he loved her... truly loved and cherished her like she'd been loving him for the past two years.
Of course, she had no idea that certain obstacles were just around the bend - and hellbent on making their lives
miserable.