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Adam eyed his wife with concern as she brushed and styled her hair. It was a little before nine in the morning, and they were due to meet with Stephanie and her lawyer, along with Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler.
The redhead had remained mostly silent all morning as she'd gotten ready for the upcoming meeting. She seemed to be focused on whsatever was going through her mind, and Adam knew she had to be fearful of what would happen later.
"Amy? Are you all right?"
The diva turned, looking up from her chore of applying her makeup.
"Yeah," she admitted. "I'm okay."
The Canadian slowly approached her, putting his hand on one of hers as he stared deeply into her hazel eyes.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to..." he said calmly.
Amy stared into his eyes with an intensity that was no surprise to her husband, as he'd gotten to realize how very strong she truly was a long time ago.
"I have to do this...and I also want to..."
As Adam continued to stare into her eyes, she continued.
"There's no choice...I absolutely have to do this...they haven't given me a choice."
The tall blond man nearly winced at the intensity of her words, the look in her eye. He was actually very proud of her, but he wasn't so sure about her being on the witness stand. The idea of her being cross-examined by Vince McMahon's leech of a lawyer enraged him.
He knew that person, whether a man or a woman, would grill Amy and the other two divas as though they were somehow at fault - like they had asked for the sexual advances and harassment from their abusers.
Adam was only glad that Vince hadn't subjected Amy to the same treatment at his own hands that he'd dealt to Trish and Stacy. He knew it was going to be pure hell for the blonde women.
"Okay," he finally said as he gave his wife's hand a gentle, loving squeeze. "As long as you're okay with it, so am I..."
"I love you," the redhead said softly, the tiniest trace of a smile touching her lips.
"I love you, too," Adam replied, lowering his head to kiss her. He was only going for a little peck, but Amy reached up with one hand and held his head steady, allowing her lips to linger on his for a moment.
Afterward, the blond gazed at her, feeling more love and respect than ever toward the woman.
"Hurry up," he said softly, giving her a smile of encouragement. "Stephanie is waiting for us."
*
Stephanie glanced at her watch impatiently - nearly ten minutes to ten. Too restless to stay seated, she stood up and began to pace the length of her hotel suite.
Her attorney was in the next room, going over the papers from previous meetings with her. She, on the other hand, was out in the sitting room, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the others.
She knew she shouldn't be this nervous now, as it was only a preliminary meeting. It wasn't as though this were the trial.
The brunette jumped as a knock sounded at the door. She rushed over and yanked on the knob, pulling it open quickly. Stacy and Trish stood together, each diva with her own response to the events at hand. Trish, always confident and optimistic, had a firm look of determination on her face. Stacy, the younger and shyer of the two, looked clearly nervous and uncertain.
"Get in here, you two!" Stephanie cried, reaching out and pulling the taller blonde in by the wrist.
"We got here as soon as we could, Steph," Trish said apologetically.
"That's okay," the brunette said. "Besides, you two are on time. This meeting isn't supposed to officially start until ten." Despite all that, she was anxious nonetheless. This was her first lawsuit, and against her father, of all people - never mind the fact that Stephanie preferred meeting people early rather than late or even on time.
"Amy and Adam aren't here yet?" Trish questioned as she seated herself on the loveseat near where the brunette stood.
"No, they're not."
Stacy, who had remained silent thus far, sat down beside her, envying the smaller blonde for her calmness and wondered how she did it. She herself was a nervous wreck, and although she hadn't paced back and forth like Stephanie was doing, she guessed that she was the most nervous of the three of them.
The three women looked up as a knock sounded at the door, and Steph rushed to answer it.
"Thank God!" she cried as she saw Adam and Amy in the doorway.
The tall blond man eyed his watch before looking back at her. "What's wrong, Stephanie? We're on time."
"I know, it's just...oh, I just tend to get nervous, that's all," she said. She turned to Amy, exchanging a friendly hug with the redhead.
"You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied. Then, she and her husband exchanged greetings with the two blondes.
"Have a seat," Stephanie instructed. "I'll go get Miles, and I'll be right back." She strode across the room and stepped into one of the others.
The four occupants of the sitting room exchanged glances. Trish appeared to be the most at ease, and she spoke first.
"I hope this case goes smoothly..."
Stacy nodded, surprised. Maybe the petite Canadian wasn't quite so confident as she'd thought. "So do I...I am so nervous about being up on the witness stand," she admitted.
"So am I," Adam concurred. "Well, not for myself, but for Amy..." He reached out and grabbed hold of her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Before anyone else could speak again, Stephanie returned with a wiry, mousy-looking man who appeared to be in his early- to mid-forties. He had thin brown hair, a long nose, and wore wire-framed glasses, behind which sat bright blue eyes that studied everything and everyone very carefully.
"Everyone, this is my attorney, Miles Prescott...Miles, this is Stacy Keibler, Trish Stratus, and Adam and Amy Copeland." She gestured to each of them in turn with her left hand.
"Very good to meet you all," Miles said with a nod and small, friendly smile as he shook hands with each of the divas and Adam.
The lawyer and Stephanie each sat down on chairs near the others to begin.
"All right, then," Prescott began as he opened a folder he held before him. "Stephanie has informed me of everything that's been going on except for the most specific details - which have to come from each one of you." He eyed the person nearest to him. "Shall we start with you, Miss Keibler?"
"Okay..." the tall young woman said. Although she still felt nervous, it wasn't as bad as it had been. Miles Prescott made her feel relatively calmer with his gentle, soft-spoken demeanor. She cleared her throat as she began to recount her story.
*
The entire meeting had lasted roughly three hours, and after Prescott had left, Stephanie invited the four people who would serve as her witnesses to lunch. Everyone agreed to the gracious offer.
"Great," the brunette said, clasping her hands together as she stood up. "Before we go, I have to make a quick phone call to invite one more person to lunch..."
"Who might that be?" Amy asked her friend.
"Jay," came the answer.
The redhead
turned to meet her husband's eyes, and she and Adam exchanged secret, knowing
smiles. This might turn out to be an interesting development,
Amy thought. They both watched Stephanie as she picked up her cell
phone from the coffee table, flipped it open and made the call.