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*Monday, October 31, 2005*
She felt numb... Every once of her entire being felt just positively, completely numb, as though not wanting to believe the truth. Yet, at the same time, she felt a gaping emptiness that reached all the way down into her very core.
Trish Stratus shook her head at the words her friend had just spoken to her through her cell phone moments earlier. Amy Dumas had phoned her to tell her the news, not wanting her to go online on her computer and find out *that* way. The redhead's words echoed and reverberated through her head.
'Jay is quitting... He's leaving the WWE after Taboo Tuesday. Adam just told me about it.' Amy had gone on, explaining how Jay Reso had told Adam Copeland, her boyfriend and his best friend, how he was fed up with the WWE burying him, how they wanted to cut his salary in half.
Trish was astonished. Why would the company she loved to work for treat such a talented, loyal employee that way? Her brain simply couldn't comprehend it all. Jay deserved better. He deserved *far* better. His character of Christian had been on a major losing streak ever since he'd been drafted to SmackDown back in June. In fact, to the little blonde's recollection, he'd won a grand total of one match, against Booker T. And while the short-haired Canadian had been briefly feuding with the former five-time WCW Champion, the company had flirted with the idea of having Booker's wife, Sharmell, turn on her husband to go with Christian. Trish was beyond glad that had never happened, as she had to admit, she'd been jealous. However, now that looked like it would have been a good idea... Maybe it would have kept Jay from being buried, and prevented him from making the decision to leave.
She didn't want to see him go. In general, she didn't *want* him to go. They had a past together, as they'd dated for about a year and a half, until they'd broken up - ironically, shortly after their onscreen personas had.
Although it had pretty much been a mutual breakup, it had hit Trish so hard. She loved Jay Reso - only she'd been scared to actually *say* it. She hated herself for that. Toward the end of their relationship, he'd told her he loved her for the very first time. Her response had been to merely grin like an idiot, then grow serious facially and go speechless. It had been truly mortifying, and the little blonde knew Jay had been feeling humiliated. Then, approximately two and a half weeks later, it was over. And she'd felt like the ultimate fool.
Coming back to reality, Trish bit her lip as she stared down at the cell phone she still held in her hand. She wanted in the worst way to call him... He couldn't leave without knowing. She wouldn't *allow* herself to let him leave, walk out of her life forever without saying anything. And damn it, Jason Reso *deserved* to hear those words from her - even if they were no longer a couple.
Hastily, Trish pushed buttons on the phone to bring Jay's number up on the display. She stared at it for a moment, her heart thumping loudly in her ears. All she had to do was press the "call" button and she'd reach him, hear his wonderful voice.
But she didn't do it. She didn't make that call. Instead, she decided she had to do this in person.
She would wait until the next night, at the Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view.