After Stephanie said this, CJ didn't realize for a bit how tightly he was holding on to her.
"Please let me go," she whispered then, her tears subsiding. Stephanie gently pushed at him to bring him back to reality.
"Sorry."
"I shouldn't have told you all this, you know."
"I know. I appreciate what you've done, Stephie."
"I really need to go." She broke away from him and went to the door.
"Stephie, wait."
She sighed, not bothering to turn around. "What?"
"Are you mad at me?" The way he said this suddenly reminded him of childhood, standing over a broken glass and looking up at his mother. Funny, really.
He could have sworn he heard a faint laugh as she faced him with a little smile, very understandably slight under the circumstances. "I'm completely pissed at you for keeping me here so late and forcing me to tell you something I was going to keep to myself as long as I could..if that's what you were looking for, then yes."
"Will you still talk to me? I don't want you to be upset with me." And he really didn't. He liked this girl, her cooperation, the way she cared, the way her perfume smelled on her hair, even. He couldn't stand for this little ball of firey emotion to be angry at him.
"Goodnight, Chris." The smile broadened a little, and she turned and walked away, closing the door behind her and leaving him there in the dark.
He got what he wanted though. He knew what it was that Joanie and company were after now, and this was the first step in fighting back. The way CJ looked at it, they wanted power. And not just power, but respect from those that were powerful. Helluva way to get it by blackmailing him. But that was okay..he could push that aside and forget for a little while.
He'd be damned if he would forgive though. And now it was time to talk a little more with the boy wonder about this situation. He wondered if Joanie had done the exact same thing with Shane...lured him into what seemed like a good friendship and then turn on him completely later on, just for the hell of it. CJ took a moment to think about the brief cameraderie he shared with Joanie. He did have to respect her acting skills. Hell, she really had him thinking that she gave a damn about him, and on top of that she had him falling in love with her.
To think that that big-nosed bastard Paul Levesque was pulling the strings behind all this angered Our Hero to the point of wanting to strangle him and all his toady little buddies. Fuck them. Fuck them all. As he lay there, bruised and battered, CJ plotted and planned for Unforgiven...chee...the symbolic meaning behind that PPV name got him *every* time...
The Initiated - 33 "Heart to Heart"
CJ walked into Titan Towers with a purpose. It was Thursday then, only a few days after the last beating, and the bruises were still there. A few were fading, but the pain was still fresh in his mind, as well as Stephanie's words. He heard it so clearly although she spoke so softly..he remembered everything. He remembered asking that one question one more time...who else had these people screwed around with? He remembered her tearful answer.
The "clique" of friends had done it. They had done their little games with Shane McMahon. Now that he had time to think about it, none of this shocked him at all. He and Shane weren't so different. Both had a lot of say-so. Both of them were Vince's "boys," although Our Hero bore no direct relation.
What made CJ *really* angry was the fact that he was problably a prototype. Joanie had problably done this whole schpiel with Shane..the hotel, the sex, the "I love you and I'm leaving Paul." Damn, what a liar. CJ decided he wasn't going to let this go untouched. That's why he was here this morning. That's why he wanted to see Shane.
"I'm sorry, but Mr. McMahon is on the telephone right now," said the mousy little woman seated behind the New Media switchboard, looking up at CJ through coke-bottle lenses. Geez, where did they hire these people?
"It's awfully important," he answered, trying to turn on the charm. "Are you sure I just can't go in? I can sit and wait. I don't want to interrupt him..you know, I wouldn't have even come around if it wasn't this important." He put a topper on it with that little grin of his. Boyish good looks get you everywhere.
Well thank God it worked, for she looked nervously around for a second and then back at him. "I-I guess I can let you go sit inside until he gets off of the telephone. I really shouldn't be doing this, but.."
"Thank you so much," he said with a little too much vigor. "I'll make sure you won't get in trouble. Shane and I are tight, you know. I won't get you fired or anything." Ok, now he was talking too much and obviously scaring the shit out of this girl. She blinked twice, looked around again even though no one was in the waiting area, and then back at him, trembling a little from perhaps too much caffeine and too much time working in this place.
"Just..go in please."
"Thanks." CJ went past her and into the Other Inner Sanctum, or the New Media office of the Vice President of WWF Entertainment. The Other Big Man. Shane. The same guy that got fucked over so badly by the same people. Huh, I guess no one is above reproach, he thought as he looked at the half-open door with Shane's name emblazoned on it. With a ballsy air about him, he stepped in.
Shane sat behind a mahogany desk not unlike his father's, talking low and quiet on the phone to someone. As CJ entered, he grinned and held up his hand for CJ to wait a second. Chris took a seat as Shane finished the conversation.
"Yeah. Give me a few minutes, I got someone important just walked in. Ok. See ya." He hung up and put on a big bright Boy Wonder smile for CJ. "How's it goin'?"
"Honestly?" CJ gave him a "you-REALLY-should-know-better" look, shutting up all pretenses.
"That bad, huh?" Shane shrugged. "What can I do?"
"You can start by telling me what went on between you and Joanie."
Shane did that funny little pause again, like he did at the hotel. "Me and Joanie." He tested the words in his mouth as if he were testing some flavor of ice cream. Me and Joanie. Rocky Road. *VERY* Rocky Road. "What brought this on?"
"I talked to Stephanie. She told me that they screwed with your head like they're screwing with me."
Shane chuckled. "Let's just say maybe they wouldn't have screwed with me if I hadn't screwed with her."
"Oh come on, Shane," CJ said, incredulously. "You know as well as I do you couldn't resist her."
"Well, no. At the time, I couldn't. I could now, I know that much."
"What was going on with you?"
Shane leaned back in his chair, his eyes glazing over a little with a faraway look. After a moment, he spoke. "Marisa and I had our first big 'for-real' fight. Over..something stupid, I forget what it was. It doesn't matter now. Lasted for a few days, she went back to her folks and I stayed in the house alone." He looked at CJ. "Not a good thing, is it? Being alone."
"Nope."
"Sure. So anyway, like I say, I was by myself. Depressed, mad as hell that she was gone and that I was so stubborn. A guy starts thinking and after a while he needs something." Shane looked at CJ knowingly. "That something..or some*one*, rather, was Joanie."
"So she knew your situation."
"Everyone did, it spread like wildfire. You know how news gets around. So she did what she did and I did what I did."
"How long did it last?" CJ was intrigued. Joanie Lee Laurer, serial-seducer.
"Not long. After Marisa and I apologized, I really didn't want to be caught in an affair. So I went to Joanie to break it off, but here she was with all this bullshit sob story about how Paul.."
CJ interrupted. "..was ignoring her."
"Right. So here I was, caught. I believed her at the time and my heart went out to her, so I told her I wanted her to keep in close touch with me. She says no, that's not good enough. She wants to quit and run away with me somewhere, and...well..." Shane glanced around his grandiose office. "That wouldn't sit well with a lot of people. So I broke it off for good."
"Then it hit the fan."
"Damn straight. Not a week later Mari comes to me all upset asking how I could try to hurt one of the workers. Of course I was like you were, I was like, what the fuck? I was in deep shit either way so I confessed to her everything that happened."
"How pissed was she?"
"Very. She threatened me with all sorts of things, divorce, lawsuits, all the good trimmings. Funny thing was, Chris, she blamed *me*. I mean, sure, she's calmed down since, but she still blames me for all of this, deep down."
"Why didn't you just get these people the hell out of here?"
Shane looked at CJ for a moment, an expression of shock on his face. Then he chuckled. Then laughed.
"Chris...there is no getting rid of...'these people.' They're a cancer. They're dirty. But they bring in box office. You can't get rid of them no matter how hard you try."
CJ kinda-sorta knew what Shane meant. When you have a damn expensive Lexus, you don't throw it away just because of a broken spring. Of course, then again, you'd try to fix the Lexus, wouldn't you?
"So you can't get rid of them. What did you do?" CJ was most interested in this part. Hey, maybe it'd give him a clue of how to deal with his own situation.
"I pretty much took it on the chin. There Joanie was telling everyone what a perv I was, and by then she'd made some pretty good friends. My wife...my sister...they all eventually 'forgave' me but I never thought they fully believed me. Of course my folks did, but that's just my folks. The rest of everyone was pretty mixed about it. Kinda like they are with you. Some people respect you just for being able to get in Joanie's pants." Shane smiled at the memory. "But anyway, in the meantime, there Paul was trying to beat the holy shit out of me each chance he got."
"What'd you do then?"
Shane smiled a little, noting CJ's interest. "Well, what do you think I did? Nothing left to say, so I did what I had to do." With a little pause for surprise, Shane intimated to CJ proudly, "I kicked his ass."
"Do tell? Really." CJ was admittedly a little surprised at this. Shane McMahon kicking Paul Levesque's ass?
"Hell yes. You'd be surprised at what you can do when you're motivated enough. There's only so much bullshit you can take. So one day after a show he started screwing around with me and so I said fuck it. I got him alone and beat the fuck out of him."
"He shut up after that?"
Shane shook his head. "Not really. He was real pissed for a few days and so was Joanie. They threatened to quit but I knew they weren't going anywhere. But you know what? Even if they did, it wouldn't have mattered. Because when I beat that big bastard all bloody, I got his respect."
"Respect, huh."
"That's what you need from them. Until you do the deed, there's no way they're gonna respect you. You'll just be the office's 'good boy'."
CJ nodded, then thought. "So how come you didn't tell me all this at the hotel when I came to you about it the first time?"
"I didn't think you'd go to Stephanie so soon. And I never thought she'd tell, really. Maybe she believes me now, huh?"
That changed the subject. Sweet, pretty Stephanie.
"She didn't want to tell me. I kept her around until she did."
"Mmmm." Shane sat back up in his chair. "What do you think of Steph?"
"What do I think of her? She's..she's great. Nice girl." CJ really didn't want to admit that he thought much more of her than this, but that could wait.
"I can tell you this..don't get her too involved. I know you're out for her respect, and maybe you got it since she told you this much, but really. She's good friends with Joanie, you know. They take care of her. I really don't want her all up in this mess."
"I understand."
Shane shook his head. "No..I don't think you do, Chris." He leaned forward, looking a lot like Vince all of a sudden. "I'm telling you that I don't want you going to my sister about this any more. I mean, I don't care if you date her, I don't care if you fuck her, but do NOT get her involved in this thing between you and them."
C.J. wasn't intimidated. "Not to disrespect you, but I'm curious. Why is she so off-limits to this?"
Shane shrugged a little, trying to make it appear as the situation didn't bother him as much as he let on. "They're her friends. Steph loves her friends. I don't want her to see the...hmm..the bad side of them. And there's a definite bad side to these people. You're gonna see it. I don't want her to see it."
"You got it."
"Good man." Shane stood up, signaling it was time to go. "It's been good talking to you."
CJ stood as well, trying not to wince at the pain shooting through his knee. "Yeah it has. I'll see you around, Shane."
"Of course."
As Our Hero left, he noticed that Shane had gone back to the telephone, switching back into that hearty-fake voice as if nothing had happened at all. Damn, that takes balls.
The Initiated - 34 "Disruptive Behavior"
The drive from Stamford, CT to New York City took little to no time at all. However, it was plenty of time for a certain party host to think up what he was going to say and do when he got to his destination. Funny..all he was doing was making a delivery and he was acting as if he were about to go in front of a live crowd. Well, that's nervous condition for you.
And he was indeed nervous. Not because of what Shane said earlier, no. But instead over what he'd say to Stephanie when he got there. CJ wasn't afraid of Shane's admonition {or was it a threat?} to "keep Stephanie out of this," but he was certainly afraid of other things pertaining to the Princess.
Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie. It was all CJ could think of during the short little drive. This crazy little thing called "rebound" had him falling for everything and anything with a vagina, or at least it seemed. This whole thing with Joanie was really making him seem actually...well...sex-starved. But then, Stephanie was different from Joanie. He didn't know what it was, if it was just the fact that Stephie was classier, more tactful, or if it was just the fact that her breasts were real. But whatever it was, he liked it. And he intended to pursue this relationship.
For the second time that day, Our Hero was attempting to enter an Inner Sanctum. This time the guard of the fortress wasn't a mousy little lady with coke bottle glasses, but a gentleman. A pretty-boy receptionist. Hm. This would problably be slightly more difficult to do.
The receptionist noticed CJ walk in. He knew him, and also made note of the half-dozen roses CJ carried in nicely arranged crepe paper and ribbon. Had Chris not been carrying this little bundle of joy, he may have been taken more nicely.
"May I help you, sir?" Receptionist Man stared at Chris a little coldly. His tone wasn't very receptive.
"Ahhh, yeeah?" Chris answered this more question-like than statement. "I'm here to see Stepha...er...Ms. McMahon, is she in?"
Receptionist Man stared at CJ for a moment, then gave something that could have passed as a smile. "I'm sorry, you'll have to come back at another time. She's with some prospective advertising clients."
Chee, this sadistic bastard was enjoying giving Chris the blowoff. Eh well, CJ would just have to ruin his day.
"Really. Well..thanks for the information." CJ went past the desk and, mentally taking balls in hand, stepped in front of the door that, this time, was emblazoned with Stephanie's name.
"Um..I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Receptionist Man said this with a hint of a squeak in his voice although he was attempting to sound bold. Aheh, yeah, right.
CJ didn't so much as acknowledge him as, roses in one hand and doorknob in the other, he entered Stephanie's inner sanctum. Invading her space. All up in her office. All up in her area. How symbolic is THAT?
Next he knew, he was in. He was inside her office and, well, she'd noticed him, as well as the older lady and gentleman sitting across from Stephanie's desk. Stephanie was obviously shocked, and the two prospective advertising clients were understandably confused.
"Um..." Stephanie looked wide-eyed at CJ, who stood right at the door smiling, a half-dozen roses wrapped in nicely arranged crepe paper and ribbon in his hand.
"Hi." CJ came to life after a moment. "Sorry to interrupt but I wanted to do this now, I don't think I could get the courage up again."
A slight chuckle came from the older female prospective. "Well, this is highly unusual, I..."
"I know, I don't usually do this, don't get me wrong, please." CJ walked across the office as Stephanie began to turn a very appealing shade of red. He handed her the roses. "For you."
"Uh.." Stephanie took them as if she were two dimensions away and very preoccupied.
"Would you go to dinner with me tonight, please?" CJ was glad he was asking now that he had her on the ropes. Maybe she'd say yes while in this confused state...?
Stephanie seemed to snap back into it after he asked the question. "I...wait, no! No, no, no. Chris, you can't just burst in here and..."
"Well, I told you, I don't think I could get the courage up again."
Stephanie wasn't listening, just sighing harriedly. "I'm so sorry for this, you all. Obviously this is one of our more spirited WWF talent, and.."
"No problem at all!" The lady client chuckled a little louder this time. "I'm actually enjoying it. I don't know if this was part of your plan to get us hooked, but I like this drama!"
"Me too," said the gentleman client, who beforehand looked half-dead at the prospect of another minute of pondering over paperwork and contracts. "What's your answer?"
Whew, he had *them* at least. He looked down at Stephanie now that he had them "on his side," so to speak. She looked at them, mouth open and ready to attack before, yet now turning into a slight smile.
"I...um..." She looked down at the roses in her hands and then looked up at Chris, who was beaming happily. She then looked over at the clients, who were smiling as well. Hey, anything to make the company look good.
"Errr...sure! Aheheheheh..." She tried a convincing grin.
"Sweet, I'" said Our Hero, silently praising God that they had an audience for this. Otherwise he would have been in the arms of two very unapproving security guards by now.
"Oh well that's just adorable," said the lady client, clapping as if this were all an intricate plan to garner business. Hell, it was working so far.
"So tonight at around 9 maybe?" CJ had her in his hands like putty now.
"S-Sure..." Stephanie looked at him with a good "I'll-Kill-You-For-This-Later" stare even though she was smiling.
"Good then. See you at 9. Sorry to interrupt you guys." CJ gave that schoolboy grin and waved a good-bye from the door.
As he exited, Receptionist Man was in his face right outside the door. "You had NO right to do that. I'm calling security right now, and.."
"Thanks, I need an escort back to my car." CJ brushed past the little stick figure of a pretty-boy and left the sales office with a big smirk on his face and ten times more confidence than he came in with.
The Initiated - 35 "The Chase Is On"
Stephanie had planned to "swerve" CJ. She didn't leave the office some nights until way after 10, and the Princess planned on making tonight one of those nights. Maybe if she stayed up here past 9, Our Hero Chris would get the point and realize that she really didn't want to go to dinner with him.
Sure was funny though, the way he set the whole thing up. Walking into Stephie's office unannounced during a meeting, handing her half a dozen roses and then asking if she'd have dinner with him. Steph couldn't help but laugh at the clients that thought this was all part of her plan to get their advertising. She was just as shocked as *they* were.
Steph didn't know what it was CJ wanted, really. They'd only had a few conversations, what more did he want? She believed his story now. It hurt bad enough to find that her friends were really the deceptive and cruel types that many of the boys in the back had painted them out to be. It stung even worse to know that she had believed Good Friend Joanie's story over her own brother Shane's story not so long ago.
It had been a few days since she'd even spoken to Joanie or Paul, thanks to Chris' little talk with her, complete with illustrations. She shivered a little, remembering the darkened bruises all over him and the obvious pain that he was going through.
Stephanie still couldn't believe her good, sweet pal could be capable of hurting a fly. She couldn't believe Joanie would send a whole calvary of friends out just to put CJ through hell.
Well, Chris brought it on himself, hadn't he? He was the one who was morally weak enough to take Joanie up on her offers..if he'd just said no and walked away...well..
Stephanie thought about this, then gave a tired sigh. There was no justifying this. Even if Chris had spurned Joanie's advances, they still would have found another way to get at him. She then felt a little sorry for him, really. Poor guy, just trying to make a living..
She didn't feel sorry enough to want to go to dinner with him though. Stephanie tried her best to immerse herself in her paperwork and forget about Our Hero. However, he had other plans.
CJ stayed close to the building all day. He didn't have much else to do, so he remained there. If Stephanie left early, he would know. If she left when everyone else did, he'd know. If she stayed late, he'd know. She was *going* to dinner with him. She'd said yes, after all, hadn't she?
Was Our Hero obsessed much? Nah. It was the principle of the thing. She said yes and now it was a binding contract between Chris Irvine and Stephanie McMahon to HAVE THAT DAMN DINNER together.
The Princess had Our Hero pegged as a guy that would never be more than a minute late. She was pretty much correct in this assumption. So when 9:00 finally rolled around, then 9:05, then 9:10, Stephanie noticed the time and smiled a little. She'd won. He'd problably either figured he'd lost her in the early-evening rush hour or came to his senses and realized she actually didn't want to go out, and so he'd left. Good, now she could leave. Stephanie hated to be such a bitch about the situation but that's just the way she had to be with some of the "talent."
As she left the office and locked her door behind her, she stepped out into the dimly-lit reception area, only illuminated by picture windows and the light from outside. Per usual, every employee had deserted the WWF sales office for home, family, dinner, what have you. Numerous nights Stephanie had been the last to leave, so she was used to making her way out of the building in dim or no lighting. She exited the sales office and made her way towards the elevator when she heard a sound of slight footsteps and then felt a slight wave of panic. It settled a little when she realized it was problably the janitor she'd always waved goodnight to right before going out to her car on late nights like this. He'd just started on her floor tonight, is all.
The familiar sound of mopcart wheels didn't come from around the corner, however. She felt the little flutter of panic in her chest again as she heard the steps come nearer. Who *was* that?
Well, Stephanie wasn't stupid. She wasn't going to stick around like the ditzy little girls in horror flicks and ask who it was before getting chopped up by a butcher knife into a million pieces. She quickened her pace to the elevator and punched the "down" button, hoping the door would open as soon as she called for it. To her relief, it did. She quickly stepped in and the doors closed. Whew. Safe. Still, Stephanie could have sworn she heard a muffled "Damn!" coming from somewhere as the doors closed and she started down. Imagination's a funny thing.
Stephanie took a deep breath as the elevator slowed to a halt and it's familiar "ding" sounded that the ride was done. The doors opened, and a bolt of horror shook Stephanie as she saw Our Hero Chris Jericho panting uncontrollably there in front of her, his face flushing bright red and looking absolutely ridiculous contrasting with his now-tousled blonde locks.
"DAMN you're hard to catch up with," he said breathlessly between gasps of air. He hadn't noticed Stephanie's look of shock and then moments later her look of complete and total disbelief and defeat. He won.
The Initiated - 36 "I Want You To Want Me"
Where the hell were they going, anyway?
A rainy NYC night, around 9 PM, a billion restaurants in this town and no reservations made anywhere. CJ had planned everything...everything...except for where he was going to actually take this little millionaire heiress when she accepted his offer. He really didn't think McDonald's would fit the bill.
So they drove in the rain for a little while...around and around, in and out of traffic. Very silent. The only real communication was between the windshield wipers splip-splopping to one another. Stephanie was keeping quiet, trying desperately to prove that she really didn't want to talk to him. CJ really couldn't blame her. After all, Our Hero was the guy that all Stephanie's good buddies hated. He didn't expect her to follow suit but maybe she would, and not talking to him was her way of proving it.
So he started the conversation, trying to at least pry some words out of her, good or bad. "You really don't want to do this, do you?"
She remained quiet for a moment, then spoke. "Not really."
"Can I ask why?"
Well, that was stupid. As soon as he said it he realized what she would say. She'd go off on him, saying what an ass he's making of himself trying to get her to be a little ally in his game. She'd tell him how he should have quit while he was ahead, she believed his story over her own longtime pals but now he was trying to make some big deal of it. Go ahead, he thought. I can take it.
No response. Uh-oh, now she was really pissed.
"Nobody's ever done that for me, you know." She quietly said this finally, not daring to look over at him.
"Huh?"
"No one's ever interrupted a meeting just to bring me roses and ask me to dinner."
CJ silently thanked God she didn't verbally rip him a new asshole right then and there. He only wanted her approval, really. Out of everything, when all this was said and done, he just really wanted someone's approval..someone out of this whole Godforsaken company that wouldn't see him as a big cash sign, a self-loving prick, or a target.
Taken off guard, Our Hero stammered. "Well, I-I just wanted..to prove something, I guess." Silky smooth, baby.
She looked over at him. "Prove what?"
"That..well, that you're someone important."
She settled back in her seat and folded her arms. "Someone important to your cause, you mean."
"I don't follow you." Actually he did, he just had to hear her say it.
"Well, I'm not stupid, Chris." Stephanie's voice was firm, yet not angry. "I know I'm so important to you right now because you need someone like me in your corner at this point. Now that I believe everything you say, you want me to back you and not my friends." She looked over at him again. "Am I not right?"
He didn't answer, and was glad he didn't, because she wasn't done and he wasn't going to interrupt her while she was on a roll. Stephanie continued.
"After all this is said and done and you shut them up about you finally, I won't mean so much to you anymore, will I?"
He spoke up then. All she'd been saying was true, but he didn't want her to think *that* way about him. "You don't know that."
She chuckled. "I think I've been down this road enough to know where it leads, Chris. You're not the first guy that's wanted me on your side for whatever case. That's why I don't..." She trailed off. They were quiet for a moment, listening to the windshield wipers splip-splop to one another.
"Don't what?"
She sighed. "That's why I don't date talent."
Ohh well now, did he have a comeback for that! "What about Andrew Martin?" Whuh-oh. He knew that was problably taboo, but what did he have to lose right now?
Stephanie didn't answer and he didn't dare prod her about it. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."
"I understand." Silence again. Well, so far the dinner date was going wonderfully. They'd circled around for a while with no dinner yet and no chance of being seated anywhere at this time of evening.
"So where are we going?" Stephanie said this as if she was reading his mind. Fair enough question.
"Where do you want to go?" A-duhhhhh.
Pause. Slight gasp. "You mean you didn't make a reservation anywhere?" Stephanie looked at him increduously, then laughed when he didn't answer. "Oh God, Chris, it just goes from bad to worse!"
"Don't laugh at me," he mumbled as she sat in the other seat hooting her pretty little head off.
"I'm sorry, it's just so funny..."
"Well where do you want to go anyway?" He could tell he was burning red from embarassment by now. Funny how little things like this could embarrass him when his whole career was based around him being so damned goofy.
"Seeing as there's no chance of us being accepted anywhere now, I'll settle for anything. I'm starved." Eh well, the thoughts of a romantic dinner alone somewhere were pretty much washed away like the rain now. McDonalds, here we come.
Actually he would enjoy her company if they were frozen stiff in the ninth circle of hell, but he'd settle for a little corner booth with flourescent lighting overhead.
So she likes fries without ketchup, he thought as he watched her push all the little packets to his side of the table. He didn't give her his own supersized fries, though. It was, after all, only the first date.
"I didn't want that much ketchup," she said after she scooted the last packed over on his side, making them into a nice, neat little pile. It really didn't matter that he was already done, he was gonna get all that ketchup, by God. "Do you like ketchup? I don't." Geez, now that she found he was paying for dinner she was a little chatterbox.
He watched her for a moment, absorbed in her cuteness. She went on. "My family thinks I'm so weird because I go through condiment phases. I know that sounds scientific but it's not."
"Condiment phases," he repeated with a smile.
"Mmmhm. I used to love ketchup sooo much, then I stopped. Then I started putting mustard on everything and then I stopped that. Then mayo for a little bit..God I can't stand the sight of it now, then for like a week or two it was honey and now...well, now I just don't put anything on my fries."
"Thanks for the ketchup." CJ fiddled with a packet of it.
"You know when you never want ketchup they always give it to you?"
"Hmmhmm." He stared at her as if he was a puppy and she was the master. Finally she was talking. Really talking, even if it was only about silly little things like condiments and saltshakers. She went on into some little story about how she and Shane used to play with the salt-and-pepper shakers as if they were a little couple. CJ listened halfway, just taking in her smile and big blue eyes. Her eyes were *really* pretty. Real pretty. So pretty. Damn, her eyes were pretty.
"You have really pretty eyes." Uh-oh, did he just say that out loud? Oh damn.
"And I..." She paused, then smiled with a little confusion. "Thanks."
"I uh..mean it." Nice save.
"Were you listening to me?" She gave him a mock-angry smile. Damn, that's cute. Everything about her is cute.
"Yes." Rebound, rebound, rebound. Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie. His brain was almost numb as it automatically tried to force any thoughts of Joanie Laurer and Miss Cynthia of Orlando out of Our Hero's thoughts. Isn't it odd how our minds try to "replace" pain with something pleasant, only to find out later you've dug yourself a deeper hole and can't get out of it?
"Oh well good then. I thought you were a thousand miles away. Am I that boring?" She grinned. Mmm. Smile.
"You're not boring at all." He reached across the table and took her hand. Finally getting the message, Stephanie went quiet.
"You..ah...want to get out of here, don't you?" She shifted in her seat a little, uncomfortable.
"Hmmhmm." Nod. Smile. Yes, yes, YES! He was getting pretty good at this 'getting-some-on-the-first-meeting' thing lately. Jericho shoots, Jericho SCORES! And the crowd goes wild!!!
Not tonight, ace. Stephanie's pretty smile faded and she pulled her hand away. "Take me back, please."
Duhhhwha? CJ fell about 10 stories off of his cloud and landed hard. "Back?"
"Back to the office. My car is there. It's time for me to go home." With that, she picked up her purse and walked outside the little McDonalds into the pouring rain outside, leaving him literally high and dry inside with nothing.
Other than a small pile of ketchup packets.
Well, fuck.