Back and Forth

Disclaimers, etc. on the first chapter.



Stephanie walked through the entrance and glanced at the neon clock : 5:10.

"Welcome to Denny's, is it only you?" The waitress smiled as she held a menu in her hand.

"Yep. Just me."

The blond girl ushered Stephanie off towards an area filled with booths, she didn't notice the people off to the side but they surely noticed her.

"Is that Stephanie?" Jericho questioned. His rainbow haired companion just sat there, mouth agape, shocked at the sight of Stephanie McMahon Helmsley sitting down in a Denny's. They watched as she nodded and said something about ice water.

"Where the hell are the cameras?" Chris looked around the restaurant. "This has GOT TO BE a joke." The two watched as she ordered from memory, she didn't look like Stephanie...but it was. The ho bag make up was gone, the hairspray and teasing comb hadn't attacked her hair and she was wearing jeans. Jeans! Jericho shouted in his mind.

They watched as she got up from her booth and headed to the bathrooms.

"Lita!" Jeff blurted out.

"What-Oh! She's in the bathroom. Oh man, what I wouldn't pay to see that."

"We have to respect the ladies, Jeffrey." Chris said seriously. Jeff nodded.

"That doesn't mean we have to go in, Chris, we can just listen outside..."

Chris smiled and they both dashed off to the bathroom.

+++++

Stephanie pushed open the ladies door, heading for the sink, she turned the cold water on. Cupping her hands, she collected the cool water and splashed her face with it. Sighing, she turned to the paper towel dispenser, pulling a few from it and drying her hands. She hated the reflection she saw staring back at her in the metal of the dispenser, she reared back her fist and slammed it into it, the dispenser popped open and napkins scattered on the floor.

"Ow! Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck!!"

She cradled her hand and heard something that completely caught her off guard.

"Stephanie?" Lita stepped out from a stall. She looked at the mess on the floor and back up at the billion dollar princess. "Why did you kill it?"

Stephanie blinked and then burst out in a fit of giggles. She had just come out of Eric Bischoff's hotel in the middle of the morning, only to meet Lita in the bathroom of a Denny's and it be Lita to make her feel much better.

"Bad day." Stephanie giggled. She really didn't have anything against the redhead but she never really got to know her all that well, they ran in different circles. Lita hung out with the wrestlers and Steph, well, upper management was her game.

"Huh." Lita walked over to the sink beside Stephanie and began to wash her hands. "Must be a really bad day for you to murder that poor thing. Did Daddy not give you the BMW you wanted?" She looked up into the mirror and noticed Stephanie's pout.

"I'm just kidding. Did Rikishi give you the stink bomb or better yet, knowing you, ya had to spend an hour alone with Eric Bischoff. I know you'd hate that..." As Lita reached for a stack of paper towels, she looked back up into the mirror and noticed the tears welling in Stephanie's eyes. Lita grabbed a handful of towels and quickly turned around.

"What's wrong? Was it something I said?" Lita handed Stephanie a paper towel and stood in shock as Stephanie began to cry.

"I... I did something really bad." She sniffled. "I shouldn't even be saying anything."

Stephanie sat down on a bench by the exit.

"I know that we don't really know each other but you can talk to me, it must be something really bad for you to start crying in front of a stranger."

"Was it Rikishi? Did he do something wrong?" Lita was friends with the 400 pounder and found it hard to believe that he'd do anything to make someone cry.

Stephanie shook her head as she threw the crumpled towel into the trash.

"Was it Eric?" Lita quietly prodded, handing her another towel. That sounded more likely. Eric did dislike Stephanie from what she saw of the two and took pleasure in making fun of her.

Stephanie barely nodded.

"What happened? Did he hurt you?"

"Something bad." Stephanie whispered, she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to feel secure but the mention of his name was enough to make the walls that she had tried to put back up, during the short walk from the hotel to here, come falling back down.

"It can't be bad, I don't see any bruises and I know you can take those verbal smackdowns he goes for. So, you guys didn't have a physical fight that only leads to... Eric hitting on you!" Lita smiled at the idea in her head, it seemed like a good idea to lighten Stephanie's mood, but her smile and happy idea quickly vanished as Stephanie winced. It could only mean...

"Whoa, he hit on you?!" She plopped down onto the bench beside the brown haired girl.

She shook her head.

"Okay, well, he didn't hit on you but the idea of anything between you seems cringe worthy to you so I have to ask. Did you two kiss?"

Stephanie nodded as she looked over at Stephanie. "Yes, we kissed."

Lita's lips curled up in disgust. She couldn't wrap her head around the idea of kissing Eric Bischoff. That man was a weasel. A slimy, slipp wea weasel. Before she could respond with anything, Stephanie dropped the bomb.

"But that's not all."

Lita jumped up from the bench as if she had been shot, she turned back to Stephanie.

"That's not all?" She said slowly. "Don't tell me, please god. Did you sleep with Eric?"

Stephanie nodded.

"Oh my god! You had sex with Eric Bischoff!? You hate each other! You can't stand to be next to each other for more than two minutes without wanting to kill each other." She stopped and clutched her chest, she didn't know what a heart attack felt like but this sure as hell seemed like one. "How?! Why?!" Lita exclaimed.

"I don't know!" Stephanie cried. "I've tried to ask myself that but I don't know. I was drunk. Hunter just gave me divorce papers and he was there and so nice to me. I thought it was a trick. I didn't have a room and he offered. Oh god."

Stephanie pushed herself off the bench and into a stall. Lita sat back down as the sounds of Stephanie's vomiting echoed off the tiled walls. Lita cringed inside, she d itd it wasn't her pushing that had gotten to Steph.

"Are you okay?" Lita asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." Stephanie quickly responded. "I just...it was too much and I felt sick."

She swallowed the bile back down and grabbed a few pieces of toilet paper. She had literally spilled her guts in front of Lita and she hadn't been laughed at... yet, it felt good to say it to someone. She composed herself and walked back out. Lita was sitting on the bench with her back flush against the wall.

"Um, I know you'll understand when I ask you to not say anything about this." Stephanie quietly spoke.

"Don't worry, your thing is safe with me." She smiled at Steph and was happily surprised when she received a smile back. "Well, I should go. My friends are waiting for me."

Stephanie nodded. "Thanks. It was good to talk to someone about it."

Lita got up from the bench and wrapped her hand around the metal knob of the door. She smiled at the girl who now seemed more human in Lita's eyes.

"No problem and since I work Smackdown, sometime we could talk about something not as painful and vomit inducing, kay?"

Stephanie laughed. "Okay."

She watched the redhead disappear past the door and she finally felt better. Talking to someone she didn't know too well had set her mind at ease for some odd reason. She wouldn't need the food though, she quickly washed her hands and rinsed out her mouth.

Stephanie walked out of the bathroom with much bounce in her step, the idea of a possible friend made her smile. It was starting off to be a good day.

As the door closed behind Stephanie, the door of the stall furthest from the exit opened and a laughing woman stepped out.

"Oh, this is unbelievable."

The buxom blonde adjusted her bra, allowing more cleavage to spill out from her shirt. As she fished out a tube of lipstick, she headed over to the mirror above the sinks.

Applying the pink color to her lips, she spoke to herself. "I think that I'm going to have to tattle on little Stephanie to hubby, maybe even to daddy."

Sable cackled as she shoved the tube back into her purse and slammed the door open. This was going to get interesting.

+++++

Lita sat back down on her side of the booth, what she first noticed was how flushed both Chris and Jeff looked and that they had switched seats.

As she dug into her pancakes, she mumbled. "I know you two were by the door, listening to a private conversation so stop trying to act cool and collected." She reached for her glass of juice and took a big gulp before speaking again.

"And I don't care what you heard, you won't repeat anything to anybody." She waved her fork at them like a tiny dagger. "Nobody."

Chris reached for his cup of coffee and sighed. "My question is 'Why?'" He shook his head as he took a sip. He didn't wanna say too much, all he knew is that Stephanie had bad taste in men, except for himself, of course.

"I don't know, people do all sorts of things when they're going through bad times. And she said she was drunk so..." She grabbed a piece of melon from her bowl and popped it in her mouth.

"That wasn't my question, I just wondered why she would tell you, you're not friends, but about that, you still realize that you're going to sleep with the devil. A bottle of vodka or whatever can't change that in your head." He set his cup down ist est enough time to see Stephanie leave the restroom area and walk towards the cashier. She nodded and smiled a bit before handing a few bills to the girl, she waited patiently, toying with the toothpick dispenser. They watched as she was handed a take out carton and left.

"So, why were you being all nice to Princess?" Jeff broke the silence as he lazily played with a wadded up napkin.

"I don't know, she just seemed so sad and you know, I'm a sucker for a crying."

"Don't forget babies."

"And puppies." Jeff added.

"Sweet, young, multicolored haired boys."

Lita giggled at Jericho's comment and the two men began to name off everything she loved. Caught up in their fun, they didn't notice the blonde leaving the restaurant with a hugile ile on her face.