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Chris Irvine trotted down the hall of the arena, one goal on his mind.

He wanted to speak with Lilian Garcia...

Ever since he'd overheard Torrie Wilson in the hallway - the trashy blonde telling another trashy blonde - Reno Mero - about the tiny ring announcer's fate - he'd wanted only to find Lilian.

Irvine and the beautiful, shy songstress were friends - not the kind who hung out together every free moment they had, but friends nonetheless. And Chris had grown quite fond of Lilian in the last four years since meeting her.

He stopped in front of the women's locker room, hesitating for the briefest moment only because he was reluctant to run into Torrie and Rena. Those were the two divas he did not like that were employed by the WWE - and he was certain he'd hear more crap rolling from Torrie's lips.

Screw it... Chris thought, and he knocked. A few seconds later, the door was opened, and Jacqueline stood before him.

"Hey, sugar..." the African-American woman greeted with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

Irvine smiled. Jackie was one of the women on the roster he liked. She was tough, attractive, and smart as a whip. Plus, she took no B.S. from anyone, but she had a sense of humor and liked to shoot the shit with him now and then.

"Hey, Jack...I'm looking for Lilian, actually..."

"She's not here...I think she went for a meeting with Mr. McMahon..."

Shit! Chris thought. He wondered what their slimy pig of a boss was up to..."

"You know, she, Lisa, Amy and Nora all went to meet with him earlier," Jacqueline continued, and Chris perked up, shifting his clear blue eyes to her dark brown ones.

"Really?"

"Yeah...Actually, Nora looked pretty upset when she got back here...Whatever happened, Lisa must be takin' it all in stride. I haven't see Lilian or Red since that meeting..."

Chris was a bit distracted as he wondered exactly what the details of this 'meeting' were. Then, "Thanks a lot, brown sugar..."

"No sweat!" the diva called after him as the blond man turned and marched the opposite way down the hall. He'd decided he was going to intrude on Mr. McMahon's 'meeting...'

*

"Mr. McMahon...please...!"

The petite blonde woman was nearly in tears as she circled the boss' desk in a mad dash.

Vince had pretty much gone ballistic in the last couple of minutes. He'd been speaking to her very inappropriately, describing lewd sexual acts he wanted to perform on and with her... Lilian had been reduced to running away from the pervert.

All she wanted was to get out of the damned office... But when she'd made a move for the door, Mr. McMahon had dodged her, nearly catching her... Damn her high-heeled shoes. She'd give anything for a pair of sneakers.

Lilian nearly screamed as Vince suddenly caught her, his hand going up over her mouth, muffling her voice.

"Now, Lilian..." the man spoke. "We can do this the easy way...or we can do this the hard way..."

The blonde's eyes widened as she began to cry at the sick, perverse pleasure in her boss' voice.

All of a sudden, the door was smashed open. She saw a blur rush past her - and she was free. That blur pounced on Vince, beating the hell out of him.

It was Chris Irvine...