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Somehow, Stephanie managed not to cry as she sorted through various papers on her desk.
She couldn't help but recall what had happened earlier with her father. As she'd feared, he refused to help her - *again*.
She sniffled as she grabbed her pen to sign some things, refusing to give in to her deep, true emotions.
It was quite late, and she noted the time on her watch. She'd had to stay later than usual and had asked Sean to wait for her after the show. At the moment, the dark-haired man was probably still in his locker room or in the catering room.
Stephanie sighed as she recalled her earlier talk with her father. Vince McMahon had never been an easy person to call 'Daddy,' and she wondered why she'd even bothered to try to appeal to him.
"Damn it!" She flung her right arm out, and in a flash, several of the papers on her desk flew to the floor in an instant. She was stuck, trapped. And if she or Sean didn't come up with something quick, it was only going to get worse - *tenfold* worse.
Anger taking over, Stephanie rose from her desk to pace over to the door and back. Her hands were at her hips as she thought furiously. There *had* to be *something* she could do to get herself out of the madness in which she was embedded. She simply couldn't go through with the wedding. In fact, the more she thought about walking down the aisle to marry Paul Levesque, the queasier she felt.
The brunette sighed as though in resignation and turned back toward her desk, stopping in her tracks. Then, slowly, she bent over to pick up each and every sheet of paper from the floor. She still cared about her work backstage, behind the scenes. And because of that, she didn't want to take her feelings out on it.
Once she had all the documents back on her desk, the brunette placed everything neatly into the folders she'd kept them in, gathering everything up in an orderly fashion. She placed it all inside her briefcase, sighing dejectedly as she prepared to leave for the night. According to the time, Sean should be here to meet her by now.
Stephanie gathered her belongings, her coat over her left arm as she headed for the door. As she stepped out into the hallway, she felt a small smile touching her lips despite herself, as O'Haire was indeed there, waiting for her.
"Hi," he said with a smile of his own. "Ready?"
She nodded and took his arm, which he offered to her.
"The place seemed to be deserted as they began to make their way down the hall to leave. Then, suddenly, all the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, but she didn't know why...
... Until there was a sharp whack sound in the air, and Sean went down like a ton of bricks.
Stephanie whirled around in horror, a scream building in the back of her throat as she came face-to-face with Paul Levesque. The man had a maniacal grin on his face, his amber eyes cruel as he stared at her. Her blue eyes grew wide as she realized he held a gun in his hand - apparently the butt with which he'd struck O'Haire in the back of the head. And Sean wasn't moving... Dear God, he was unconscious!
"No..." she whimpered, her voice tiny and weak as she began to back away from Paul. She wanted to run, but her feet ceased to work. Besides, she didn't want to leave O'Haire.
"Correction - *yes*..." Levesque's amused expression vanished, only to be replaced by a look of fury as he grabbed quick hold of Stephanie's upper arm. She winced and cried out at the pain of it.
"Shut up!" he shouted, ignoring her pleas and the fallen man by their feet. "Now *move*!"