"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," the SmackDown General Manager replied with a cordial smile for the woman, as well as Adam, who stood just behind her.  Stephanie arched an eyebrow in amusement as she sensed the two of them were soon going to be much closer than they currently were.  She knew they'd always been good friends, but something in the tall Canadian blond man's eyes told the brunette that he cared far more for Amy than as merely a friend.  On the same token, Stephanie could see something nearly identical in the redhead's eyes whenever she laid them on Adam.

"You're in, Amy," the brunette said, reaching an arm out to shake hands with the other woman.

"I am?"  The diva turned toward Adam for a brief moment, her face excited.  She immediately turned back to Stephanie and shook her hand.  "Oh, this is great!"

The GM gave her a nearly conspiratorial wink.  "Bischoff wasn't too thrilled about losing you, but I promised to let him have Scott Steiner without a fight."  Big Poppa Pump would be joining the WWE within the next month or so, and for the sake of the storyline, Stephanie would agree to a script in which Steiner would refuse to sign a contract to be on SmackDown - because she wouldn't give him the kind of "favors" she promised - and end up on RAW instead.  In all truth, the brunette could care less that the obviously 'roided up man was not going to be on her show.  She'd heard a lot of nasty rumors about him dating from back in his WCW days, including a story about how the man had stalked and terrorized some of the Nitro Girls.

Amy turned toward Adam.  "I'm in!" she cried happily.

"All right!" the tall, handsome blond said, putting his hand out to her for a high-five, which the redhead instantly gave him.  As he continued to gaze at her, his face was full of enthusiasm.  "This is going to be great, Amy..."  He swept her up into his arms, just lifting her off her feet.  He'd wanted her in his corner for as long as he could remember, even back when Edge and Christian were a tag team.  Originally, back when Lita was being split from Essa Rios, the writers had toyed with the idea of putting her with the Canadian blonds.  But because Rios had turned on the redhead, the script called for Lita being made face, and Edge and Christian were heels, so that idea was scrapped, as it was decided it wouldn't work.  Therefore, the most logical team to put the high-flying daredevil of a diva with were the Hardy Boyz.

Amy let out an excited girlish squeal as she wrapped her arms around the blond's neck, hugging him tightly.  After a beat, she pulled back and found herself gazing directly into his emerald eyes, which were trained on her lovely face.

Stephanie suddenly cleared her throat, interrupting the two and reminding them of where they were - and of the fact that they weren't alone.  She watched them with amusement, a small, almost sly smile on her face.

Adam set the redhead back on her feet, his face reddening just a bit.  Amy also looked bashful as she turned toward the brunette.  "Sorry..."

"No problem," the GM said, thinking how cute the two of them were - and noticing how cute a couple they would make.  They were so obviously smitten with each other.  Stephanie wondered why they hadn't gotten together - and how Amy had ended up with Matt Hardy instead of Adam.  She'd never once noticed the North Carolinian's face light up like the blond man's did when he looked at the redhead.

A moment later, they stepped out into the hall.  Amy regarded Adam with a soft smile.  "I'm looking forward to us working together."

"So am I," the Canadian admitted.  "Wow...this will actually be the first time we're working together instead of against each other."

The redhead walked him to his locker room, which, for the night, he was sharing with Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman.  Before he stepped inside, she reached out to touch him on the shoulder.  "Adam, can I ask you something?"

"Sure..."  He gazed at her with a gentle, expectant expression on his face, as he placed one hand casually against the wall.

"Why did you ask Stephanie to put me with you?"

The slow smile spread across the blond man's face.  "Well...to be honest - I always thought it would be cool to have you accompany me to the ring - or to be put in a mixed tag match or two with you as my partner."  Although this was true, he was only speaking half the truth.  Are you kidding? he thought.  I love you, and I want you near me...that's why I did it.

Amy smiled softly as she continued to gaze at Adam.  He seemed suddenly a bit shy.  She wanted nothing more than to just move closer to him, reach up and caress his cheek.  But then, a loud, obnoxious voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Well, isn't this sweet?"

Amy's hazel eyes narrowed at the sound of the voice she knew so well - Matt.  She quickly glanced surveyed Adam's reaction to the intrusion and noticed the hard expression that formed on his face.

Not surprisingly, the dark-haired man had Torrie Wilson at his side, the platinum blonde's hand in his.  "So, Adam..." Matt snapped, deliberately ignoring his ex-girlfriend.  "...what's this I hear about you teaming up with this bitch?"

"Shut up and get lost," the tall blond spat between clenched teeth.  His hands flexed at his sides.  He could not wait to get his hands on his former friend - in or out of the ring.

"Now, now, Adam...it's a free hallway."  Matt laughed as he glanced at Torrie, whose face looked worried.  It seemed to Adam that the tall diva felt nothing but anxiety whenever she was with the Hardy Boy.

Amy glared at her ex-boyfriend with disgust.  It was hard to believe what Matt had become over the last few months, what he was now.  He was a jerk, plain and simple - a bitter, cheating, no good rotten jerk.  The redhead couldn't help but wonder what would have happened had she not suffered her neck injury.  Then, as quickly as that thought occurred to her, she discarded it - there was no point in wondering what might have been - and besides, Matt had been copping a bit of an attitude even before she'd gotten hurt.  She remembered how annoyed he'd been when she'd announced to him that she was going to be on an episode of Dark Angel.  While she'd been thrilled, he'd been completely the opposite, and even disapproving.  Oh, sure, he'd accepted it pretty fast, but that was because he hadn't had a choice in the matter.

The redhead reached out to tug on Adam's arm.  "Come on, let's get away from the trash."

"On the contrary, Amy...if anyone is trash, it's you," Matt said calmly, a nasty smirk playing at his lips.

Amy could feel the tall blond man's arms tense under her hand, and she knew he wanted to break free of her and pound Matt senseless.  Glancing up at him, she held up a hand as if to pause his would-be actions, and then, as Adam watched, she strode closer to her ex.

Matt's face still wore the smug, satisfied expression, and the redhead had the uncontrollable urge to make it disappear.  Without even really thinking about it, she rose her hand and smacked him as hard as she could.  The blonde diva on his arm had seen the blow coming, and with a gasp, she released the man and instinctively moved a few steps back.

"You bastard!" Amy spat as she glared daggers into the Hardy brother, glad when she noted the redness of his cheek where she'd pretty much slapped the taste out of his mouth.  "I can't believe you're related to someone as fine and sweet and kind as Jeff Hardy!  I don't know what I ever saw in you!"

After another second or two in which she also glared at Torrie, who appeared to be cowering behind Matt, the redhead turned and stalked back to Adam.  The tall Canadian man added a glare of his own at the other man as he put an arm around the diva's shoulders.  With that, she stepped into the locker room, leaving the pathetic pair out in the hallway.