Chapter 4
The next night found Paul standing in the hotel room, staring out a window.
The rain drizzled from the grey sky outside, matching his mood exactly. He
was lost in his thoughts, which was a normal thing for him lately. He
didn't think he'd done this much serious thinking in the last year, let alone
the last couple of days. Shaking himself lightly out of his thoughts, he
grabbed for the Tylenol. I can't believe I drank that much. This
damn hangover is killing me, he thought, vowing to himself not to get that
drunk again for a long time. The whole night was a blur to him. When
he had woken up and seen Trish lying in bed next to him, he had freaked.
He couldn't remember what had happened, if anything. That had given him
quite a scare. He hadn't wanted to talk to Trish about it, afraid of what
she might say. It had been hell for him through the day, as well; he had
counted himself lucky that they were recording Smackdown in the same city and he
didn't have to travel. There was no way he'd have been able to travel, and
definitely no way anyone would have wanted to go with him. He had barely
made it to the arena as it was, and somehow managed to get through the show in
one piece. Afterwards, Vince had begrudgingly let Paul have the rest of
the week off so he wouldn't have to go to the house shows in his condition.
So now here he was, trying to decide where to go for the rest of the week.
Suddenly, he heard the door to the room
open and Trish walk in. "Hey Paul, I brought donuts up from Room
Service. Get em while they're... relatively warm," she said with a
chuckle.
Paul turned around and laughed a little as
he walked over and said, "Thanks, Trish, I was getting a little
hungry."
She smiled warmly at him, handing him a
donut. "Well, I came just in time then," she replied.
"Besides, you're staying in my room, I have to take care of my
guests." She smirked a little at that, and Paul had to chuckle
himself.
"Thank you again for letting me stay
here last night. I must have been a total mess, I barely remember anything
after my sixth beer," he trailed off and thought now was the best time to
ask what he had to ask. "Trish... uh... Last night... did we...
you know?" and he raised his eyebrows, not bringing himself to ask
outright.
She stared up at him and chuckled slightly,
a sound lightly laced with what seemed like sarcasm. "No, nothing
happened last night. I helped you to the room and you passed out on the
bed as soon as we got inside. Don't worry, you weren't that
drunk," she said reassuringly, but with what sounded to him almost like
disappointment in her voice.
Paul breathed a sigh of relief, silently
thanking God. That was the last thing he needed right now, especially with
what just happened with Gabrielle. Gabrielle. He had tried to push
her out of his head during the day, but it was hitting him full force now and he
couldn't avoid it. The pain he was feeling was like nothing he'd felt
before; it burned him from inside. He had finally fallen in love with a
woman he could see himself spending forever with... and she did this to him.
He sat down on the bed with a sigh and put his hands to his face.
Trish looked at him in concern.
"Hey... are you OK?"
"I... I'll be fine," he replied
without looking up, but it wasn't very convincing. The pain in his voice
was evident.
She sat on the bed next to him and gently
stroked the back of his head. "It's alright. You've been hurt.
You need time," she said as her hand slowly moved down to rub his back.
Paul just sat there, not moving or
speaking. Finally he dropped his hands and stared at the floor.
"You're right. I need to get out of here. I already talked to
Vince and he's letting me off the house show circuit for the week."
A smile appeared for a second on Trish's
face. "I know," she said, "I had a little talk with Vince
myself. 'The Emperor' granted me the week off as well. I explained
to him that I was worried about you and since you're his top heel and all, he
agreed that I could watch out for you."
Paul looked up at her and said, "You
don't have to do that Trish, you'll be losing out on some money. I'll be
OK, really. I'll just go home..." He didn't get a chance to finish
his sentence because she interrupted him.
"Go home and do what?? Look at
all your memories and wallow in your misery?? I can't let you do that.
I care about you too much." She flashed a dazzling smile at him.
"We're friends, right?"
He forced a weak smile. "Yeah,
we're friends. You've really helped me out the last couple of days."
"Well that's what friends are
for," she said, "We have to take care of each other in the hard times.
We have to... be there for each other." She smiled at him again with
a slight glint in her eyes that he couldn't really interpret.
Paul thought about it for a few seconds. He was really starting to trust
her as a friend, and he needed that support right now, more than ever.
"OK," he said after a minute, "but where should we go??"
The smile on Trish's face broadened as she
replied, "I was hoping you'd ask me that. There's a beautiful place
my family owns. It's a gorgeous cabin by a lake up in Ontario. It's
very secluded; the closest town is about a half-hour's drive. I figured we
could stock up some supplies and spend the next few days there. Just us.
You really need some time away from everything to clear your head."
"I can't let you go to that much
trouble just for me, Trish. I mean, that place belongs to your
family."
"It's no trouble at all! No
one's used it in years."
"Well... it does sound nice," he
said, almost reluctantly, "I guess a few days out in the forest in the
peace and quiet will do me good."
"So we're going?"
Paul nodded with a slight smile.
"Sure, why not."
"Great!!" Trish exclaimed
enthusiastically as she got to her feet, "I'll call the caretaker now and
tell him to get it ready."
"OK, I'm going to get in the shower,
is that alright?"
"Go ahead, I'll be on the phone for
awhile. Paul, you won't regret this."
He just smiled faintly at her and went into
the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
As Trish picked up the phone, she grinned
and said quietly to herself,
"I guarantee you won't regret
it."
