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Trish Stratus raised her eyes heavenward, an exasperated sigh escaping her as she saw the man approaching her.

The little blonde wanted nothing more than to just disappear, as the man was an ex-boyfriend of hers - and things had not ended well between them.

"Hello there..."

She reluctantly looked up into the Rock's face, no trace of amusement of any kind on her own as he smiled at her.  In fact, despite his handsome countenance and humorous facade, he downright disgusted her.

"What do you want?" the Canadian diva demanded, deliberately concentrating more on adjusting her elbow pads than on looking at him.

"Oh, it's more a matter of what you want, Trish," Rock said while he regarded her.  "The Rock's seen the way you still look at him..."

"Yeah?  Well, take a better look," Trish snapped.  The man's usage of the third person when referring to himself had amused, even charmed her at one point, but now it only annoyed her.  Why couldn't he speak like a normal person?  Oh, wait - that's right - he was now a huge movie star, so why would he want to be normal like the rest of the mere mortals around here?

"Oh, come on..." the swarthy, good-looking man said with a grin.  "The Rock's seen the way you check him out with those pretty brown eyes of yours.  You still want the Rock."  Then, hooking his thumbs in the belthooks of his black leather pants, he swayed his hips for a beat.  "Easy, big fella!" he cried, and Trish rolled her eyes at his nickname for his favorite part of his anatomy.  "You see, Trish - the Rock knows you want a nice, big piece of his strudel!"  With those words, he arched an eyebrow at her, as if that would impress the petite blonde.

It didn't.

"Look, Rock..." Trish said, her patience worn thin.  "I don't have the time or energy for this...I just had a grueling match against Jazz, and I'm really tired."

Even that didn't sway him, as the young man reached out and grasped her arm.  "Why don't we go somewhere private, and the Rock will make you forget all about being tired... Come on, baby."  He actually started to pull her away with him, and Trish cried out in anger and a little bit of pain.

"No!  Let me go, Rock!"

He seemed completely oblivious of her protests.

"You heard the lady..." a male voice suddenly spoke in a southern accent.  "Let her go!"

The Rock and the little blonde looked up simultaneously, both surprised to see Jeff Hardy standing not five feet away.  And when her former boyfriend still didn't release her, the colorful-haired young man stepped closer to them.

"Let her go!" he reiterated in a louder voice, his normally placid face furious.

The Hollywood star did as he was ordered, but he didn't appear the least intimidated by the younger Hardy brother.

"What are you gonna do, Jabroni?  Kick the Rock's ass?" came the sarcastic taunt.

Jeff stepped around the former people's champion, positioning himself protectively in front of Trish.

"Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do..."

The remark actually elicited a laugh from the Rock.  "You want to go one-on-one with the Great One?  And while we're on the subject - who in the blue hell are you?"

The young man opened his mouth as though to reply, but the other wrestler interrupted him.  "It doesn't matter who you are!  All that matters is that you, my boy, are gonna get a grade-A ass-whipping by the Rock.  And when the Rock's through with your candy ass, he's gonna have himself some pie..."  The Rock stared meaningfully at Trish, who scowled at him and shook her head.  Ever since she'd broken it off with him two months earlier, he seemed obsessed with her.

The petite blonde recalled how it had come down to her breaking up with the Rock.  In all the time he'd been gone filming his movie, she'd seen him only a handful of times.  And he certainly was no longer the man she'd fallen in love with back in late 2001 - gone was the white knight Rock who'd saved her from having to join Vince McMahon's 'Kiss My Ass' club.  This Rock was someone so consumed by power and fame that he's stopped caring about everyone else but himself - he no longer cared about the fans or about the people in the back who were friends...or about her.

"Are you okay, Trish?"

The Canadian woman came back from her reverie as Jeff spoke the question, and, with relief, she realized the Rock had left.

She nodded as she met his kind green eyes squarely.  "Yeah, I'm fine.  Just a little annoyed."

"I don't blame you," the young man said.  "It's like he's been stalking you ever since you dumped him."

Trish nodded, her gaze traveling to the area of the hallway where the Rock had disappeared.

"That's exactly what it's like..."