Unfaithful

Trish Stratus couldn’t help but smile to herself as she drove to her hotel. Things couldn’t be better, she was the champion; the maid of honor at her best friend, Amy’s upcoming wedding; and she had Jeff. Good sweet Jeff, she loved him so much. They had been together for a little more than two years now and Trish couldn’t think of anyone else she’d rather spend the rest of her life with.

Trish was still glowing when she got to the parking lot of the hotel. Jeff would be up in their room no doubt with something romantic planned. He always did this after she had a successful match. She nearly squealed in anticipation as she entered the elevator, she wondered what he had planned for tonight. Like an excited child at Christmas, Trish pulled out her key card and ran down the hall to her door. Taking a deep breath Trish inserted the card into the door and opened the door slowly not at all ready for what she was about to see.

Lying completely naked on the bed was her dear sweet Jeff with none other than Torrie Wilson on top of him in a very compromising position. Apparently neither of them realized Trish was standing shocked in the doorway because the two just kept going at it.

“Oh yes Torrie!” Jeff moaned.

“Tell me Trish has never made you feel this good. Tell me baby.” Torrie commanded.

“Yes Jeff,” Trish said making her presence known, “tell her.”

“Trish!” Jeff yelled in shock pushing Torrie off of him. “Trish honey, sweetie, baby this isn’t what it looks like. I...I...”

“How could you? How could you with that tramp! After everything she put Amy through? After everything we’ve been through? Jeff how could you?” Trish yelled through tears as Torrie lay on the floor with a satisfied smirk.

“Trish, honey I can explain.” Jeff said quickly.

“You know, I thought I wanted you to explain but right now I can’t stand to be near you!” Trish grabbed her bag and in a flash she was gone. Running back down the hall to the elevator where she promptly began to sob once the doors closed. She didn’t know where she was going but all she knew was that she had to get out. The elevator doors opened and she blindly began to run out of the building barely stopping when she ran strait into Jason Reso.

“Trish, Trish honey what’s wrong why are you crying?” He asked trying to get her to look him in the face.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said stepping out of his grasp. “I have to go now.” And without so much as another word Trish took off for the door.

“Trish wait!” He said deciding to go after her. She appeared to be in no condition to drive. He went out of the hotel and began to look for which direction she ran in when he heard an ear-piercing scream followed by a gun shot. Jay’s face turned white as he ran in the direction of the shot praying he was wrong.

Running down the rows of cars he found what he was looking for. Laying there on the cold cement in a pool of her own blood was the WWE Women’s Champion, Trish Stratus.

Gossip and Angels


“Trish Stratus was a very special woman,” said a teary-eyed Amy to the solemn crowd. It had been one week since Trish had been murdered in that hotel parking lot and here Amy stood clad in all back giving her best friend’s eulogy as she clung to Adam’s hand for support. “I doubt the world will ever see such as special soul as hers again. She was kind, loving, gifted, and extremely giving. Trish never let what people would say about her get to her. She would strive to prove them wrong and in the process became a strong athlete to be reckoned with. Trish was my best friend and she was loved by everyone whose lives she touched. She will be greatly missed. Goodbye Trish, things down here just won’t be the same without you.”

Amy sat back down and Adam gave her a tissue for her tears as he held her close. He just felt an overwhelming need to be close to her. Something about this funeral just made him think of how he almost lost Amy just a year and a half earlier. Or for that matter, how he almost lost his own life, saving hers. He kissed her forehead as they stood to join the long line of friends and family who wished to pay their last respects to Trish and to place a flower on her coffin.

“That was a beautiful eulogy Amy,” Chris said giving her a brotherly hug as he joined the line behind them.

“He’s right,” Jay said from in front of them turning to hug Amy, “I don’t think any of us could have said it as beautifully as you did.”

“I only wish someone would catch the dead beats that did this,” Chris said though gritted teeth.

“We all do man, we all do.” Adam said looking to the front of the line where Jeff Hardy was next to give a flower to Trish. He stopped, looked at the closed coffin for a moment, threw his flower down carelessly missing the coffin, and then walked away meeting Torrie. She pulled him into a deep embrace and sensually kissed his neck as they walked off.

“What I want to know is what the hell is wrong with Jeff?” Adam asked sending a glare the multi-color haired boy’s way.

“I know man,” Chris added, “he hasn’t so much as frowned since the shooting.”

“And now he’s hanging out with Whorrie,” Amy rolled her eyes as she turned away from the offensive woman who broke up her last relationship.

“Well, when I saw Trish before she ran out of the hotel she was crying. Maybe it had something to do with that?” Jay asked curiously.

“You guys haven’t been listening to the gossip have you?” Stacy said turning from in front of Jay.

“Well, no,” Chris shrugged, “what do you know Leggs?”

“Well,” Stacy said, the five of them huddling closer. “The day after Trish was murdered Torrie was in the locker room bragging about how she’s going to get Trish’s spot on Raw but more importantly about how she and Jeff had been sleeping together for the last six months and that Trish had walked in on them right before she got shot.”

“That worthless no good two timing tramp,” Amy yelled before quickly regaining her composure.

“Wow Amy, I couldn’t have said that better myself,” Chris said with a smile.

“I just can’t believe Jeff would do that,” Jason shook his head, “I guess the brothers are more alike than we thought.”

“I just don’t think this is fair. She was murdered, and the man she thought loved her turned out to be a no good cheating slime bag.” Adam said in disgust. “But for someone as good as Trish to die like that just isn’t right.”

“You’re right Adam,” Amy said sadly, “but too bad there aren’t exceptions to the rules.”

“Yeah, too bad,” Adam said. If they made an exception for Amy when she was hit by that car then why couldn’t they make one for Trish, he thought. If anyone other than Amy deserved a second chance at life and love it would be Trish. “I hope you’re watching Lionel,” he whispered as he gently placed his rose on the coffin.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jason got to his room and angrily threw his tie over the dresser. This shouldn’t have happened, he thought, I should have been quicker. I should have stopped her. I should have done something.

“Sorry to say there wasn’t anything you could have done to stop this from happening.” A man said from the chair in a dark corner.

“Who the hell are you? And how the hell did you get into my room?” Jay asked defensively.

“Whoa whoa calm down.” The man said slowly standing up. “I’m not going to hurt you I’m here to help you.”

“Help me? How are you going to help me?” Jay asked as he started to move towards the phone.

“Look I agree with you guys, it wasn’t right for Trish to die like that. A special lady like her, dying with such heartache; it’s not fair. So, I’m going to help with that. I’m Lionel by the way.”

“Not to sound cruel, but Trish is dead. There is nothing you can do to change the way she died or how she felt when she did.” Jay was getting angry now. He had been through so much in the last week and now all he wanted to do was to get away. “Now if you don’t mind, it has been a very long day and all I want to do is get some sleep.”

“Fine, I’ll leave but not before I tell you this. Tomorrow morning you will wake and it will be exactly three months from the day Trish was murdered. We don’t normally give that much time but seeing how she was murdered in cold blood we’re making an exception. Now once those three months start you can do whatever you want with them. You can tell Trish about Jeff, you can do nothing, but know this, at the end of those three months at the same time Trish will meet the same fate. But how she feels when it happens should be your concern.”

“We?” Jay asked

“We, the angels,” Lionel said with a smile. “Go to sleep Jay, just remember what I said.” And with that Lionel disappeared leaving Jay in confusion but feeling suddenly sleepy. Without much of another though, Jay got ready for bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Deja-Vu


Jay woke up that morning feeling oddly refreshed. Since the shooting, he had been waking up numerous times throughout the night from nightmares of Trish lying in that parking lot dead. Every night he relived the pretty blonde’s murder and in the last week he hadn’t gotten much sleep, and now it felt good to sleep through the night.

Deciding he couldn’t put off getting up any longer, he opened his eyes and stretched when he noticed something was wrong. This wasn’t the room he had fallen asleep in. Panicking, Jay looked around the room trying to find something to tell him where he was or how he got there. After investigating the room he found his things, but they were not the clothes he had originally packed and his suit from the funeral was no where to be found. Slowly, Jay walked over tot eh window and pulled back the curtain to see the unmistakable New York City skyline.

“New York,” he said to himself, “but I haven’t been here for about three months.” Jay sat on the bed trying to figure out how he could get halfway across the country in one night when it suddenly came to him. “That guy, Lionel.” And with those words he ran to his door, flung it open and grabbed the complementary issue of the New York Times that was sitting there.

“Impossible,” Jay finally said. “I couldn’t have gone back in time. But if I did then...” With not another word spoken, Jay grabbed his key card and ran downstairs to find someone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Well look who finally decided to join us,” Chris laughed as a very disheveled looking Jay ran over to their table. “Alarm not work or something?”

“Yeah, where’s Trish?” He asked bluntly.

“She’s not here man,” Adam said with his mouth full.

“Oh,” Jay tried to hide his obvious disappointment as he sat down.

“Lighten up Jay,” Adam gave his a friendly pat on the back, “she should be here soon.”

“What?” Jay looked at his friend in shock.

“Yeah,” Adam said resuming stuffing his face, “she and Amy wanted to get some early shopping in.”

“Come on Jay, you know those chicks love to spend every free minute in the city shopping,” Chris said.

“We heard that,” a familiar voice said from behind. Jay turned around to come face to face with the woman he thought he’d never see again and her best friend. Overwhelmed with sheer happiness for just seeing his friend alive, Jay shot out of the booth and quickly wrapped Trish in a tight hug.

“You’re alright, thank God you’re alright,” he whispered as he held her.

“Of course she’s alright Jay,” Amy said prying him off Trish, “the city isn’t that dangerous.”

“Yeah Jay, what’s up?” Chris asked.

“Nothing, must have been a bad dream, that’s all,” he said nonchalantly not noticing how is best friend was watching him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After his emotional reunion with Trish, Jay politely excused himself and went upstairs to his room to try and make sense of what was happening. He had just gotten out of the shower and was half dressed when he heard a knock at the door. He opened the door to reveal Adam standing on the other side.

“I think we need to talk,” he said as Jay let him into the room.

“About what?”

“About what happened down at breakfast,” Adam said scanning the room for another person.

”I told you, I had a really bad dream and I must have just thought it was real,” Jay said attempting to cover up. “The same thing happened to you the day you finally asked Amy out, remember?”

“I know and that’s why I’m here,” Adam got up and kept looking around the room, “I know you’re here, come out!”

“Adam, you’re acting like a crazy person,” Jay said backing away from his friend.

”I won’t let him take her again. You hear that, you can’t have her!” Adam yelled.

“Adam I...”

“I’m not here for Amy Adam,” Lionel said suddenly appearing from the bathroom. “She’s happy, you’re happy, and you both are going to have a very happy long life together.”

“Then why are you here?” Adam asked.

“You called for me at her funeral, I agreed with you, she didn’t have to die like that so I’m here to change it,” Lionel explained.

“You can see him too?” A stunned Jay finally managed to get out. “And why did you think he’s here for Amy?”

“What funeral?” Adam asked the angel while ignoring Jay’s rambling.

“Trish’s,” Lionel simply said.

“What, no, what’s going to happen?” Adam asked.

“She’s going to be murdered,” Jay said speaking up, “She’s going to be shot in a hotel parking lot in three months.”

“Three months! I only got three days! Why does he get longer?” Adam demanded.

“The circumstances are different,” Lionel started to explain, “Amy’s death was supposed to be an accident. Trish was murdered in cold blood and by no accident. This will take more time to change before she will meet her fate.”

“Amy’s death?” Jay said in shock. “When did Amy die?”

“I see you two have a lot of talking to do. Maybe you can point him in the right direction Adam.” And as quickly as he came, Lionel left leaving Adam and Jay together with a lot to discuss.

“Amy died?”

“About a year and three months ago,” Adam said raking his hand through his hair thinking of the painful memories of that day. “We were on our way to the airport and she was hit by a car and she died.”

“No, you got hit by that car,” Jay said trying to understand what happened.

“Yeah, after Lionel gave me three days to show Amy that she was loved. In the end, I ran and pushed her out of the way of that car,” Adam sighed as he told the next part. “I died on the operating table that day, but somehow I came back to life. But I don’t understand why Trish would need this chance. I mean, she was murdered, but she’s loved and she knows it.”

“Not really. Before she ran out of the hotel Trish walked in on Jeff with Torrie Wilson. He’d been cheating on her for the last six months and nobody had a clue.”

“That tramp!”

“That’s what Amy said when she found out,” Jay said with a chuckle remembering the red head’s outburst.

“Well if it was six months three months in the future, then Hardy’s screwing her now!” Adam shook his head in disgust at what the seemingly faithful mad had done. “You’ve got to tell her.”

“I know, but how do you tell someone something like that without proof?” Jay asked.

“Well then we need proof,” Adam said standing up, “How did you find out about the affair?”

“From Stacy, how else?”

“Then let’s go pay Stacy a visit and see if she can help.” The two men nodded as they left the room to find the leggy blonde.

Truth


Stacy Kielber had just gotten back from a very exciting morning of shopping and was admiring her new possessions when she heard a knock at the door. Putting the new sun dress she bought down on the bed, Stacy went to over to the door to open it only to be surprised by two blonde Canadians.

“Jason, Adam, to what do I owe this pleasure?” She asked letting them into her room.

“Well, we were trying to find some information on someone,” Adam started, “and figured you would know all of the best dirt.”

“Then you came to the right place. Can I get you guys some coffee?” She asked going over to the counter as they both nodded. “So who do you want the dirt on?”

“Two people actually. First, know anything about Torrie Wilson?” Jay asked.

“I know plenty, what did you need to know?”

“Who’s she’s seeing right now I guess.” Jay shrugged.

“Seeing? Torrie Wilson doesn’t see people. She sleeps with them, destroys their relationships, and then moves on.” Stacy laughed. “But last I heard she’s been screwing Matt, Shane McMahon, Kidman, and some mystery guy in a supposed miserable relationship.”

“Okay, so what do you know about Jeff Hardy?” Adam asked.

“Jeff? Well, he’s with Trish and happy apparently. He keeps buying her these lavish romantic things. Can I ask you guys what’s going on?” Stacy asked bringing the coffee over and sitting down on the bed.

“Well you see...we ummmm,” Jay started.

“We have a hunch that Jeff might be cheating on Trish,” Adam said cutting his friend off.

“Wow, that’s a hefty accusations you’ve got there,” she said taking a long sip of her coffee. “Do you have any proof?”

“That’s what were hoping you would have for us,” Jay said.

“Well I’m sorry I don’t have more for you guys,” Stacy took a deep breath before continuing, “but how sure are you about this?”

“Never been more sure of anything,” Jay said confidently.

“Then I’m going to help you guys. I’ll talk to Torrie, get some information and call you two. I couldn’t bare it if this was true and we didn’t do something about it.”

“Thank you Stacy!” Jay said jumping up to give her a hug.

“Don’t mention it,” she smiled. “Now I’ll call you later when I know something.”

“That’s great, thank you Stacy.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Later that night*

Jay sat alone in his room staring at the TV but not really paying attention. He was looking blankly at the screen trying to process everything he had found out that day. He had gone back in time to somehow help Trish. Amy died, but is alive now. Adam died, but is alive now. This was getting too confusing for him and Jay was about to go down to the hotel bar for a nice drink when then phone rang. Putting his keys and wallet back down he picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Jay, it’s Stacy. Look I talked to Torrie and I’ve got a lot to tell you.” Stacy said sounding slightly disgusted.

“Really, do you want to meet somewhere?” he asked.

“Yeah, the hotel bar in twenty minutes. Spending that much time with Torrie leaves me feeling like I really really need a shower.” Stacy laughed.

“I don’t blame you. But I’ll meet you down there in twenty minutes.”

“Great bye,” and with that they both hung up the phone. Grabbing his keys and wallet again Jay left his room and went down to Adam’s room. He was about to knock when he heard a loud moan from inside. Smiling, he backed away from the door and went down to the bar to meet Stacy. He sat at a secluded booth in a corner and ordered a beer. He hadn’t had but one sip of his beer when the leggy blonde came to join him. They said their hellos and Stacy ordered a daiquiri and they got down to business.

“Well I confronted Torrie and told her I knew about her little mystery man and before I could say his name she spilled everything,” Stacy sighed as she continued. “You’re right, it is Jeff Hardy. They’ve been going at it for the last three months. According to Torrie he’s so miserable with Trish and it’s her job to make that better. It make sense though, all of those gifts he’s been giving Trish are just guilt gifts. I just don’t know what to do next, poor Trish.”

“You have no idea,” Jay said under his breath. “Torrie didn’t happen to say when they’d be getting together next did she?”

“She did,” Stacy nodded. “She said later tonight Trish and Amy were going to go do something and that’s when they’d get together.”

“Then Trish is going to find out tonight.” Jay sighed.

“I feel so bad for her. How could Jeff do this?” Stacy asked in frustration. Just then Trish entered the room and walked over to the bar to order a drink.

“Well here goes nothing.” Jay took a deep breath and a long gulp of his beer a he got up.

“Good luck,” Stacy whispered as she too got up before leaving the bar. Jay ran his fingers though his short hair in frustration as he thought of how to tell Trish. He needed more time he thought, but then he remembered what Amy and Adam appeared to be doing earlier and smiled realizing he had at least another fifteen minutes. Slowly he walked over to the petite blonde and sat down next to her.

“Hiya blondie,” he said forcing a smile.

“Hey Jay what’s up?” She looked over at him with a bright smile as she sipped at her drink.

“So where’s that man of yours?” Jay asked nonchalantly.

“Tired,” she answered, “he’s upstairs in our room asleep. I’m just waiting on Amy. We’re supposed to go out tonight.”

“Sounds like fun,” Jay said looking at his watch. “But don’t you need a coat? It’s supposed to rain, wouldn’t want you to get sick.”

“That’s sweet Jay but I didn’t know it was supposed to rain tonight.”

“Oh yeah, I just saw the forecast,” Jay lied.

“Well, a coat would be good I guess,” she shrugged.

“Come on, I’ll walk you up. I was planning on heading to bed soon anyways.” Jay smiled as he offered his arm to Trish playfully and she accepted. The two left the bar and went to the elevator and up to their floor.

“Well, this is me,” Trish said stopping at her door. “Thanks for warning me about the rain. See ya!”

“Yeah, have fun.” Jay walked down to his room and sadly looked down as Trish opened her door and screamed as it shut behind her. Jay shook his head sadly as he opened his own door. He slowly changed into his pajamas and turned on the TV. He was about to lie down in is bed when he heard a soft knock at the door. He opened to door and was truly surprised by who was on the other side.

“Hi Jay,” a teary-eyed Trish sniffed, “do you think I could come in?”

Jay just nodded as he picked up her bags with one hand and put his other arm around Trish and he led her into his room and closed the door.

Tears of Sorrow


“Hi Jay, do you think I could come in?” Trish sniffed just moments before he ushered her and her luggage into his room. Jay knew very well why she was so upset, and he also knew why Trish was standing in the hallway with her bags. But what he didn’t know was why of all the rooms, of all the people in the hotel, why did Trish choose him?

“I know you must be wondering why I’m here,” she started with a quivering voice as she wiped a tear from her eye. “It’s just...ah...when I got to my room I remembered hearing the forecast earlier this afternoon and the weather guy said it wasn’t going to rain until this weekend. And I guess I was just wanting to know, how long have you known?” Instantly knowing what she was asking about, Jay sighed as he prepared to answer her.

“I’ve had a hunch for about a week now, but I didn’t know for sure until today.”

“Oh, I see,” Trish sighed pulling a well manicured hand through her blonde hair. “How could I have been so stupid? How didn’t I see? How could he do this to me? I thought we were happy. I thought he was happy. I am so stupid!”

“No, no, no,” Jay said quickly rushing to her side and putting an arm around her. “He’s the stupid one, not you. Jeff is an idiot for what he did to you and someday he’s going to see exactly what he did to you and someday he’s going to see exactly what he lost and he’ll be kicking himself for the rest of his life.”

“He couldn’t think he lost too much,” Trish whispered through tears, “he was smiling and kissing that whore the whole time I was in there! Maybe Torrie Wilson is just better than me.”

“Don’t you ever say that,” Jay wiped a tear from her cheek. “You are one hundred times the woman that Whorrie Wilson will ever be. You are a beautiful, smart, funny, and talented woman that any guy would die to be with; and if Jeff Hard would rather have some cheap tramp over you, then he never deserved you in the first place.”

“If I’m so much better than Torrie, then why does she have the man I thought loved me and I am alone?” Trish cried.

“I don’t know,” Jay sighed, “but what I do know is that you will find someone better and that someone will know just how special you are; and that man will never let you go.”

“Thank you Jay,” Trish sniffed as she collapsed into a teary hug with her friend. “The world would be a better place if there were more guys like you out there.”

“That’s what I’ve been told,” Jay said letting her go. “Now how about you lie down and get some rest?”

“But I can’t stay here...” Trish started before Jay cut her off.

“All of the rooms in the hotel are booked and I’ve got a very comfortable chair over there. You’ve had a rough night and you need somewhere to sleep.”

“Are you sure,” Trish asked nervously. “I’d feel really bad if I were putting you out.”

“You’re not putting me out,” Jay said as he turned the covers down for her, “in fact, I insist you stay.” Trish just smiled softly as she nodded and slid under the sheets. Jay quietly went over to the closet and pulled out the extra blanket and pillow and walked over to his chair. He got comfortable in his make-shift bed and looked over at Trish. She had her back turned to him laying on her side and Jay was fairly certain she was crying. It broke his heart to see Trish so depressed and he felt a sudden urge to go beat Jeff Hardy to within an inch of his life or to do something, anything to stop those tears from falling.

“Thank you Jay,” Trish whispered in a shaky voice as he turned out the light. It was then that Jay decided he would do anything to make those tears go away.

Desperation


Jay woke the next morning with a rather large pain in his neck and an even larger pain in his lower back. Of course, that’s what he got for sleeping in this once comfortable chair, but Trish needed the bed. He wondered how the blonde was doing as he stretched and opened his eyes when he realized that something was amiss.

Trish wasn’t there. Her bags were gone and the bed appeared to be neatly made. Curious if she was just in the shower, Jay rushed to the closed bathroom door and pressed an ear to it. There was no sound; he slowly opened the door only to have his suspicions confirmed that no one was there. Raking a hand through his hair he walked over to the bed and sat down. Upon putting his hand on the pillow he felt something, a piece of paper. After further investigation he realized it was a letter from Trish.

Jay,
Thanks for letting me stay with you last night, I really appreciate it. I’m sorry for leaving like this, but I couldn’t sleep and I decided to head home a little early. Sorry if I worried you. Anyways, thanks again for the bed and I’ll see you in a few days.
Trish

He sighed in relief knowing that his friend was okay. Just then there was a knock at the door.

“Hey man!” Adam said as Amy waved with a smile. “What’s going on?”

“Not much, I just got up. Come on in,” Jay said motioning them into his room.

“What’s with the blankets and pillow on the chair,” Amy asked pointing to Jay’s makeshift bed. “You didn’t sleep there did you?”

“Uh yeah, I did.” Jay said hoping she wouldn’t press the subject. “So what did you guys do last night?”

“Nothing, Amy was supposed to meet Trish to go out last night but she never showed.” Adam shrugged.

“Yeah and I just went by her and Jeff’s room and there was no answer.” Amy sighed. “I’m actually starting to get worried. But why did you sleep in the chair?”

“Because Trish needed the bed,” Jay mumbled.

“Speak up dude,” Adam laughed, “I thought you just said Trish needed the bed.”

“She did,” Jay said as Amy cocked an eyebrow at him. “She and Jeff broke up last night and she needed a place to stay.”

“She and Jeff what,” Amy stuttered.

“Trish found out then?” Adam asked.

“Found out what?” a shocked Amy demanded.

“Found out that Jeff was cheating on her with Torrie Wilson,” Jay sighed, “and yeah she knows.”

“So why did she go to you instead of me?” Amy pondered out loud.

“Because Jay’s the one that probably arranged for Hard to get caught and she probably thought he’d be best to go to for some answers,” Adam explained.

“So how did you know?” Amy asked Adam.

“Jay found out somehow and was asking me for advice. I’m assuming Stacy came through with that proof?”

“She is the gossip queen of the WWE,” Jay laughed.

“So where is Trish now?” Amy asked looking around the room.

“She went home early,” Jay answered. “She left way before I woke up that’s for sure.”

“Do you think she’s okay to be alone right now?” she asked.

“I think she needs sometime alone right now to gather herself before next week’s tour.”

“I guess you’re right,” Amy sighed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*Later at Trish’s house*~

Trish took a long swig from the vodka bottle and let it’s soothing warmth wash over her. She walked down the hall and stopped at an antique end table that held several framed photos. Pictures of her from odd angles because Jeff had been holding the camera, pictures of her friends and her and Jeff standing happily in front of some European monument; pictures of her and Jeff ice skating, wrestling, skiing, horseback riding, and the pictures of her and Jeff from the photo booth on their first date.

They looked so happy in the pictures. So in love, but they were lies. All of them were lies. He was never happy. He didn’t love her. He lied to her. It meant nothing to him, none of it did and now it meant nothing to her. She took another long gulp of the vodka and decided that she didn’t need any of this. She took the picture from their first date and threw it as hard as she could sending glass everywhere. Enraged, Trish started throwing and ripping every picture frame and picture she saw that had Jeff Hardy in it. The hallway looked as if a tornado had just torn through it and taking a deep breath, Trish stood and came face to face with a mirror.

Drinking more of the vodka she inspected her reflection. What was wrong with her? Why didn’t he love her? Wasn’t she pretty enough for him? Wasn’t she good enough for him? Obviously not, he cheated on her with Torrie. Maybe she was just incapable of being loved by someone. That was it; she was incapable of being loved. Sobbing now, she continued to look in the mirror, realizing her faults in comparison to Torrie. She didn’t have her smile, her eyes, and her tall body. She didn’t have any of it. She was ugly. Ugly and incapable of being loved. Overwhelmed with emotion and liquor, Trish put the bottle down and with both fists she smashed the mirror.

Sobbing, she looked down at the blood streaming down her arms and panicked. She grabbed her vodka, took a quick drink and ran to the bathroom. Getting blood all over the medicine cabinet she pulled it open and began to pull things out frantically looking for bandages, but came across some prescription pain medication. Stopping what she was doing, Trish gazed deeply at the bottle and knew this was what she needed. Trish desperately wanted...no needed the pain to go away so she opened the bottle and shoved four in her mouth washing them down with vodka.

It shouldn’t be too long now, she thought, no more pain. Getting overly excited she dropped the pills and quickly went to the floor to recover them. Once she was sure she had all of the pills in the bottle she stood up. Upon standing she felt a sudden rush to her head and the room started to spin. She dropped her precious vodka to the floor and then everything went black as Trish fell onto the shards of glass and the vodka soaked floor.

Savior

Jay got off the plane at the Toronto International Airport and grabbed his luggage. His mother had called just after Amy and Adam had left his hotel room and asked him if he wouldn’t mind dropping by to help her with fixing a few things around the house. Naturally, he didn’t mind and if he remembered correctly, she just needed a couple screens replaced in the upstairs windows and a new ceiling fan installed no big deal. He smiled as he thought of seeing his family as he grabbed his luggage and went to get a taxi to take him home. Walking out of the airport he saw a taxi waiting right in front of him and without hesitation he ran up to it and got in.
“I’m going to…it’s you!” Jay said as he recognized the driver as his angelic friend, Lionel. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping you,” he replied as he drove out of the airport at a tremendous speed. “Trish needs you right now, she’s taking what Jeff did to her a lot harder than we all thought she would and if you don’t get there soon, we might loose her.”

“Loose her? You said she was supposed to live for the next three months!” Jay yelled.

“Yes, but we didn’t foresee her taking this so badly. We can only moderately see into the future and last time since Trish was killed shortly after she caught Jeff and Torrie we never got to see exactly how she was going to react.” Lionel explained. “And believe me, right now she’s in a very dark place and you have got to help her.”

“But what can I do?” Jay asked in frustration.

“You can get to her house and see what’s happened to your friend and try to help her as best as you can. She needs someone to care for her right now, and you need to be that person.”

“What’s happened to her?” Jay asked.

“We’re almost to her house, you can see for yourself.” Lionel said power-sliding down another street. Jay suddenly realized he wasn’t wearing a safety belt and quickly pulled it around him. Angel driving the car or not, he was still afraid of the man’s driving.

“Well,” Lionel said taking one last sharp turn, “we’re here. Take care of her Jason. Remember, she needs you.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Jay said scrambling out of the car with his bags looking up at Trish’s large house. He walked up to the door and knocked twice. No one answered. He rang the bell. Once again, no answer. He continued to ring the bell six more time, and still there was no answer. Jason was starting to get worried. He looked around the front porch…there was a turtle or frog somewhere with an extra key under it. Bunny, that was it, Jason thought as he lifted the porcelain rabbit and indeed found the key he was looking for. Forgetting his luggage on the porch he rushed through the now unlocked door and began frantically searching the house for Trish.

“Trish! Trish if you’re here answer me!” he yelled running through the living room and kitchen. He went back to the stairs; maybe she was somewhere up there. Jay slowly went up the stairs and he then came to a huge mess in the hallway. Glass, wood, ripped pictures, everywhere scattered amongst the hallway. He then came to the antique table and noticed the shattered mirror and the blood covering it. “Trish! Trish answer me now! Trish!”

Jay followed the drips of blood down the remainder of the hallway and through her bedroom where he saw a blood smeared door. Taking a deep breath he opened the door and saw his friend laying bloody on the floor covered in blood and vodka with pills laying all over the floor.

“Trish what have you done?” Jay whispered as he put two fingers to her neck to take her pulse, thank God it was there. She appeared to be breathing too. He picked up her head and placed it on top of a soft towel as he started to try and wake her. “Trish, Trish honey wake up. Please wake up Trish; you’re not supposed to go like this. Wake up.”

“Jay,” she grumbled lowly, “I don’t feel so good.”

“You’re awake…good, come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” Jay said gently lifting her to a sitting position against the tub, being careful of the glass on the floor. “What happened here?”

“I didn’t want to see him, I didn’t want to think of him but everywhere I turned there he was. I tried to get rid of him, then I though of why he got rid of me. I’m ugly…I’m nothing compared to Torrie, I know it now. But then I got upset seeing my ugly reflection in the mirror, so I broke it. And that hurt, it all hurt so bad; so bad. I just wanted it to go away so I found the pain pills and they worked,” Trish explained, “but not anymore, I ache.”

“I know and I’m going to help you, but you’ve got to promise not to hit anymore mirrors for me.”

Jay called his parents later that day to explain that he wouldn’t be able to make it. He had planned to spend the rest of his time off before the next tour with Trish, making sure she was going to be alright. He had gotten some food and a lot of coffee into her system and after what must have seemed like the hangover from hell Trish was almost physically better. Of course her hands and arms had been badly cut up by the mirror, but Jay had been very careful to bandage them and keep some antibacterial ointment on the cuts, thankfully she didn’t need stitches. He carefully cleaned the hallway; throwing away all of the damaged pictures she had ruined in her fit of rage and also cleaned her bedroom and bathroom of the blood and vodka. Looking around the house you could hardly tell what had happened just a day earlier.

“Would you like some lunch now?” Jay asked getting up from his chair which he stationed next to her bed. He had become very accustomed to sleeping in chairs.

“Why are you doing this?” Trish asked as she somberly rolled over.

“Because I care about you and I want to take care of you. I’m here for you and right now I’m going to go make lunch, what would you like?” Jay said with a smile as he got up.

“You don’t care about me, you feel bad for me, you’re doing this out of pity.” She grumbled as she turned away from him. “No one could care for me…”

“Trish you’re wrong, plenty of people care for you, and I’m one of them. We’re friends, and these are the things you do when a friend is in need.” Jay explained. “People care about you; I just wish you could see it.”

“What you see is pity,” Trish spat, “people feeling bad for me. No one really cares for me.”

“Trish I would not be here right now if I didn’t care for you.” Jay said getting upset. “And no one has a reason to feel bad for you, no one knows what happened between you and Jeff except me, Adam, Amy, and Stacy and they wouldn’t tell a soul because they are your friends and you know that.”

“I don’t know much of anything anymore it appears.” Trish said, her voice trailing off.

“You know you’re wrong Trish, I’m going to go make lunch,” he said getting up leaving the room. Trish sat alone in her room looking up at the ceiling thinking about what Jay had just said to her. Perhaps he was right, Jeff was a jerk and that had nothing to do with her friends. She pulled back the covers and slowly stood looking into the now clean bathroom, thinking of what could have happened to her there had it not been for Jay. She should be grateful instead of wallowing in her own self-pity. She knew what she had to do and she walked out to the hallway, noticing it was clean of the debris of her rage and knew that Jay had done that too. Carefully descending the stairs, Trish went to the kitchen where Jay stood making two sandwiches.

“Jay…” she said quietly.

“Hey, I didn’t know if you’d want turkey or salami so I made both, whichever you don’t want I’ll take.” Jay said. Suddenly the tears broke free and Trish ran into Jay’s arms and sobbed against his chest. “I take it you like my idea?”

“Thank you, thank you so much,” she cried into his chest. “Thank you.”

Pained Expressions


It had been one month since Trish’s breakdown and one month since she had caught Jeff and Torrie together in bed and to Jay, Trish seemed to be doing much better. The day after Trish broke into tears and ruined the sandwiches he had made; Jay made a call to Vince McMahon and requested a small vacation for both him and Trish. Naturally since secrets don’t stay secrets very long in the company, Vince quickly agreed hoping the blonde diva would soon be her normal cheerful self again.

The two took a week and just stayed at Trish’s house, talking and becoming close friends and by the end of the week, Trish had nearly forgotten about Jeff and the pain he had caused, but then they had to go back to work, back to the stares, back to the apologetic looks, back to the gossip, and back to a place where she would have to see Jeff everyday. It was hard at first for Trish; Jeff made his newfound freedom with Torrie a mystery to no one and it caused her to nearly break once again. But fortunately, this time instead of running to the booze and pills, Trish ran to Jay for comfort and help, and he couldn’t help but smile when he thought of how much the Diva trusted him.

“You’re doing it again,” Adam said poking Jay drawing him from his thoughts.

“Doing what?” Jay asked in his attempt to cover up.

“Thinking,” Adam said stating the obvious.

“No Adam, when he thinks he gets this really pained look on his face kinda like this,” Chris said scrunching his face in what he thought was a ‘pained expression’.

“Not thinking like that Chris, thinking as in thinking about someone,” Adam clarified.

“Ooooh, does Jason have a little crush on someone?” Chris teased.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jay said rolling his eyes at his two friends.

“Oh admit it Jay, you were thinking about Trish again,” Adam laughed.

“So he has a crush on Trish,” Chris said with a wink, “perhaps that is why you’ve been spending so much time with her.”

“That’s not it at all!” Jay said defensively. “I’ve been spending time with her because she is in a pretty bad place right now with what happened with Jeff and that whore and she needs someone to talk to. I just happen to be the one she calls up.”

“The one she calls up more than Amy,” Adam pointed out.

“I’m sure she does not call me more than…” just then Jay’s phone started playing the theme to ‘MacGyver’. “Hey, what’s going on…yeah I’m with Adam and Chris right now…nothing much, they’re just being their annoying selves…yeah, sure…no problem…okay, I’ll see you then…alright bye.” Jay then hung up his cell phone and looked at his two friends. “What? Never seen a man take a call before?”

“I do believe that call just proved my point,” Adam laughed.

“So what did blondie want?” Chris asked.

“Nothing, just if I wanted to meet for coffee later tonight, no big deal.”

“She’s got you whipped and you don’t get any of the benefits of being in a relationship,” Chris laughed getting up, “I’m going to go grab a drink, want anything?” Both men shook their heads and Chris walked off.

“You really should be careful you know,” Adam said in a serious tone.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Adam.” Jay said getting defensive once again.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, but in case Chris has rubbed off on you I’ll spell it out for you,” Adam started, “You know what’s going to happen, in two months actually Trish is going to get shot and trust me there is nothing you can do to stop what is going to happen. You don’t need to be getting so attached to her, especially only to loose her in a little while. Jay I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Adam I know what I’m doing,”

“Do you really, because I’m beginning to think you’re loosing sight of what you’re supposed to be doing. She’s going to die Jason and you…” Adam was cut off.

“Look Adam, I know what I’m doing and I would think that if anyone would be supportive of me, or help me it would be you. Not only because you’re my best friend but because you had to go through something similar. But you know what, you and Amy came out of it alive so maybe there’s some sort of chance for Trish, so if you don’t mind spare me the lecture, I’ve got to go.” And with that Jay got up and left the small poll hall he and his friends were in leaving Adam sitting dumbfounded.

“Hey man where did Jay go?” Chris said looking clueless as usual.

Nothing Right Today


Jay walked the quiet streets of the small city they were in silently contemplating what had happened earlier. He could count the number of times he had truly ever yelled at Adam on one hand, and none of those were ever about a woman. He’d always listened to Adam and taken his advice as a brother, but something about this time it just...it struck something with him.

Jay knew that Adam was speaking as someone who cared about him, but why didn’t he want to help him help Trish? That was all he was doing after all, helping Trish. This had nothing to do with the way her smile seemed to light up a room; or how even after everything that happened she was still one of the most self-less and caring people he knew; or how every time Jay thought about what would soon happen to Trish it left him with an odd hollow feeling. He just wanted to help Trish get though this whole thing, that’s all he was supposed to do right?

“That and to make the rest of her days happy ones,’ a voice suddenly said from beside him. Startled, Jay jumped slightly and looked at the man next to him, the angel, Lionel.

“You guys can read minds?” Jay asked as the two walked.

“It’s one of the gifts we angels have.”

“So what brings you here now?” Jay asked.

“Nothing much, I’m just checking up on Trish and you really. Making sure everything is running smoothly.” Lionel said with a shrug. “She appears to be doing much better.”

“Yeah, I think she’s finally getting over Jeff,” Jay smiled.

“And you’re just lending a helping hand when needed?” Lionel asked glancing at Jay carefully. “You’re not getting too attached to her are you?”

“So you spoke with Adam I presume.” Jay rolled his eyes.

“As a matter or fact, yes, he’s worried about you.”

“Well there’s nothing to worry about,” Jay assured, “I’m just helping a friend.”

“Jason, I shouldn’t need to point this out, but you know the future. In just two months time you know what will and what must happen to Trish. No one wants to see you get terribly hurt when fate takes its course.”

“Look, I don’t know what you and Adam are talking about. I am not getting too attached.” Jay argued. “And when what happens happens, I will be hurt and upset, but so will every other friend she has because that is what we are, friends.”

“If you believe that,” Lionel sighed, “then I guess this is where you’re meeting someone.” Jay looked behind him at the coffee shop he was meeting Trish at and saw the blonde diva smiling and waving through the window. He looked back behind him to Lionel, but no one was there.

“I hate it when he does that,” Jay mumbled as he went inside to meet Trish.

“Hey Jay,” Trish said throwing her arms around him. “I already ordered for you, café mocha right? Anyways, I grabbed us a table over there.” Jay couldn’t help but smile as Trish pulled him over to the little table in the corner.

“So,” Jay said taking a sip of his warm coffee, “what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, it’s been a month since all the nonsense with Jeff and Whorrie started and I think I’ve spent too much time dwelling on it. I mean you’re right Jay, I am a beautiful woman and any guy would be lucky to have me,” Trish said with a smile.

“I’m glad you can see that.”

“Well I wouldn’t be able to if it wasn’t for you.” Trish smiled and put her hand over Jay’s and shots of electricity shot up and down his arm. “But I think now I’m ready to move on, you know, start dating again.”

“Really, start dating?” A shocked Jay said as his heart sank. Gulping he continued. “So soon?”

“Yeah, Randy asked me out.” Trish beamed.

“Randy?” Jay said nearly spitting his coffee out. “Randy Orton, you’re going out with him?”

“Yep, isn’t he great,” she squealed.

“Trish you can’t go out with Orton.” Jay said quickly.

“And why not?”

“He’s...he’s...he’s just not right for you.” Jay stammered.

“Not right for me? He’s gorgeous and interested, and believe it or not, but that doesn’t happen for me very often.” Trish argued.

“I’m sure it happens for you Trish more than you know,” Jay sighed, “but he’s a jerk. Trust me; he’s not good enough for you.”

“You know what Jay; I’ll be the judge of who is good enough for me,” Trish said standing up. “I thought you would be happy for me, but instead, you ruined this. Thanks Jay.” And with that, Trish stormed out of the little coffee shop.

“Can I do nothing right today?” Jay sighed raking a hand through his hair.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next night

Jay sat alone in his hotel room watching TV. True, it was Friday night and he should be off doing something with his friends, but seeing how he wasn’t speaking to Adam and Trish wasn’t speaking to him that left his list of people to hang out with pretty short. It was just about 10:30 and Jay was now realizing that there was nothing on television. He had decided to go to bed when suddenly there was a very soft knock at the door.

Groaning as he got out of bed, Jay walked over to the door only to be surprised by who was standing on the other side. Tears rolling down her face and shirt ripped, Trish Stratus stood at his door. Without words, Trish collapsed into his chest and sobbed as he pulled her into his room.

Swearing Off


Jay woke up and started attempting to ease the pain in his neck. You’d think he would be use to sleeping in chairs by now, but it still hurt. He looked over to the bed where Trish was still sleeping peacefully and remembered the events of last night.

~*~*~*~*~

With Trish sobbing in his arms, Jay pulled her further into his room and shut the door. He stood there holding her until her sobs grew softer, and then he asked the inevitable question.

“Trish,” he started as he took a step back to look into the blonde’s bloodshot eyes, “honey what happened?”

“I had my date with Randy tonight. And everything was going okay, not great but okay. But we got back to the hotel and he asked if I wanted to have a cup of coffee with him in his room. But before he even started the pot, he was trying to shove his tongue down my throat. Oh Jay you were right!” Trish cried.

“What happened after that?” Jay asked attempting to stay calm and not fly down the hall to beat Randy senseless for causing Trish the slightest bit of pain.

“I told him to slow down, that I wasn’t ready for what he wanted,” Trish sniffed as she continued; “He said that I wouldn’t know if I was ready until I tried a little more. That’s when I said no and I told him I was going to go back to my room. But then he grabbed my arm and told me that no one says no to Randy Orton and then he...he...”

“Did he hurt you? I swear Trish, I’ll kill him if he did,” Jay growled.

“No, he didn’t hurt me, not really.”

“So what happened to your shirt?” Jay asked pointing to the torn fabric.

“Randy started kissing me again and he tried to get my shirt off and it ripped. That’s when I kicked him.” Trish smiled slightly at this thought.

“You kicked him?” Jay nearly laughed. “Dare I ask where?”

“Use your imagination,” she answered as Jay chuckled. “But when he was down, I ran and got halfway down the hallway before I realized I was so scared I was crying, and then I remembered what you told me earlier and our fight and I felt so bad. I should have listened to you, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok Trish, it’s ok,” Jay said soothingly as he pulled her into a hug.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Good morning,” a soft voice said shaking Jay from his thoughts.

“Morning,” he said with a smile, “did you sleep alright.”

“Best night’s sleep I’ve had in a while,” Trish said sitting up, “for some reason I think I sleep better when you’re around.”

“Good to know I can help with something. Do you want some breakfast? I can run downstairs and grab some if you’d like.” Jay offered.

“Actually, how about I go change and get cleaned up and I take you out for breakfast?”

“Trish, you don’t...” Jay started before she cut him off.

“I do. Sometimes I feel with everything you do for me, I don’t do enough for you. So please, Jay, let me take you out for breakfast.” Trish gave Jay her best ‘puppy-dog’ look and he quickly caved. “Great, I’ll pick you up in thirty minutes.” And with that Trish left for her room to get ready.

1 hour later

“Now see, why can’t there be more guys like you out there?” Trish asked as she sipped at her coffee. “Sweet as can be, great conversationalist, funny...”

“Don’t forget charismatic,” Jay threw in.

“Very funny,” Trish continued, “But what happened to all of these guys, why are they such jerks?”

“Well, some of them are naturally jerks, others get driven to it by women like Torrie. They get hurt and burned so much they figure what’s the point?” Jay explained.

“Well then why aren’t you a jerk?”

“It’s never been in my nature to be a jerk,” he shrugged. “Don’t worry though, you’ll find your good-guy soon enough.”

“It’s good one of us believes that, because I don’t. You know what, I think I’m just going to swear off men and dating. It doesn’t seem to be doing much good for me so why bother right?” Trish said.

“Yeah, but you don’t want to be single forever do you,” Jay asked, his heart slowly sinking.

“It’s better than going through everything I’ve been through in the last month,” she shrugged.

Jay just nodded, not sure of what to say but knowing he had to do something to show her there was a great guy for her...but how?

Lies and Clowns

Jay walked through the arena halls the next day with a happy smile. He had been up all night thinking about Trish and what she had said and he thought he had come up with a pretty good solution to Trish’s problems. By time Jay was done, Trish’s faith in men and love should be right back where it belongs.

Smiling brightly as he walked to the catering room, Jay didn’t think anything could bring his mood down. He was just about to sit down to enjoy his ham and cheese sandwich when he heard something that made his blood boil.

“I can’t believe you got to go all the way with Trish on the first date!” Dave Batista said congratulating his friend as a high school teenage would.

“Well what can I say, no one can say no to Randy Orton.” Randy said with a cocky smile.

“So how was she,” Dave winked.

“You know I don’t normally kiss and tell, but that skank was so loose she was begging...”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you,” Jay growled as he cut Randy off.

“What’s the matter Reso? Upset that Trish went for a real man instead of a scrawny little wimp like you?” Randy chuckled.

“Well, I sure as hell don’t see a real man in front of me,” Jay quipped, “all I see is a stuck up bastard who’s mad that he didn’t get what he wanted last night so he’s making up a bunch of lies.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about Jason so back the hell off!” Randy growled.

“I think I do know what I’m talking about considering she came to me with her shirt ripped crying about what you tried with her.” Jay argued.

“You did what?” Dave said shocked.

“Hey I didn’t do anything that bitch didn’t want me to do!” Randy said defensively. “Besides, she likes it rough, she told me so. That girl is...” Randy was then cut off by a hard punch from Jay right to his eye.

“Come near her again and I’ll make you regret it.” Jay then turned, grabbed his sandwich, took a bite, and left.

“Why didn’t you stop that punk Dave?” Randy asked holding his eye.

“What you did was no cool and you deserved it,” he shrugged as he left Randy alone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Jay, Jay come quick,” Trish squealed as she grabbed Jay by the arm and drug him in the women’s locker room.

“Trish what are you doing?” Jay asked with his hand covering his eyes, almost afraid to look around.

“Jay take your hand down.”

“Well is everyone decent? Amy drug me in here once and I got an eye full of Nora.” Jay said peeking through is fingers.

“We’re the only ones in here Jay,” she giggled.

“Okay,” Jason released a sigh of relief as he removed his hand from his eyes. “Now why did you bring me in here?”

“To see this,” Trish pointed to a small stuffed bear dressed as a clown holding an array of sunflowers and daisies.

“Awwww, that’s so cute. Who sent it?”

“I don’t know, all the card says is ‘such a beautiful face should never be dampened with a frown. Here’s to cheering up.” Trish showed him the colorful card that came with her flowers.

“Well whoever sent you these is pretty sweet.” Jay laughed.

“Who do you think sent them?” she asked excitedly

“I don’t know Trish,” Jay said with a grin, “looks like you have a secret admirer.”

A Plan

Jay was sitting in the catering area a week after Trish discovered that she had a secret after Trish discovered that she had a secret admirer eating a sandwich and ignoring pretty much everything Chris was rambling on about. He couldn’t help but smile as the still bruised Randy Orton sent him a murderous look. Thanks to that bruise, and news of what he had tried with Trish, Orton hadn’t had a date and couldn’t get even get the time of day from any of the Diva’s. That alone could be the reason for Jay’s good mood as of late, but when you combined that with the fact that his ‘secret admirer’ plan was going off without a hitch Jay couldn’t be happier.

“So then I tried to explain to Shelton that proper head banging is all in the hair and that was why he looked so dumb when he did it, but the kid still didn’t get it!” Chris laughed. “Hey Jay, dude, you listening?”

“Huh, oh yeah Shelton trying to head bang,” Jay said quickly trying to pretend as if he were paying attention to Chris.

“Well what did I say about...” Chris started before he was cut off by a loud squeal.

“Jay!” Trish squealed as she ran over to where the two men were sitting. “Jay you’ll never believe what just happened!”

“Really,” Jay said trying to sound surprised, “what happened?”

“Oh hey Trish, how are you? Me, oh well I’m just peachy. Thanks for asking. You’re so sweet and...”

“Hello Chris,” Trish laughed cutting off the man’s rambling. “Anyways, my secret admirer struck again!”

“You have a secret admirer?” a voice asked from behind.

“Yes Adam I do! Don’t you tell him anything Amy?” Trish giggled.

“I tell him, he just opts not to listen,” Amy said with a smile, “so what did he get you this time?”

“Yeah, come on girl spill,” Chris said imitating a valley girl.

“He sent me the most beautiful lilies and this set of candles and lotion that I swear was discontinued years ago.” Trish said with a bright smile holding her arm out for Amy to smell.

“Grapefruit rosemary?” she asked as Trish nodded, “that was discontinued about three years ago. This guy is good.”

“I know, come on Amy you have to see these flowers!” Trish pulled Amy from her seat and pulled her down the hall.

“Hey, I’ve got to find Shelton and Benoit to talk about our match tonight,” Chris said getting up, “see you guys later.”

“So Trish has a secret admirer?” Adam said looking at Jay knowingly.

“It sure looks like it,” Jay said.

“Seems this guy knows her pretty well to know that scent, would have had to have known her for quite some time too to know that.” Adam speculated.

“So it appears.”

“Jay what are you thinking!” Adam said in a hushed tone, “You know what’s going to happen, you can’t do this.”

“Adam, you haven’t seen how sad she’s been. I do know what’s going to happen, but I don’t want her to be just as heartbroken when it happens.” Jay explained. “Besides, she never has to know that I’m the one sending the gifts. Everything will be fine.”

“Jay, I’m just worried about you. I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Adam said.

“Look, if you don’t want to see me get hurt then why don’t you help me find out who’s going to do this to her?” Jay asked.

“Trust me when I say it won’t do you any good.” Adam sighed pulling a hand through is hair.

“It has to!” Jay said hitting the table. “I can’t just let this happen again knowing there’s someway I could stop it.”

“Jay listen to me there is no,” Adam paused as he saw the pleading look in his best friend’s eyes “no reason we can’t try.”

“Great!” Jay said standing up. “Look, I’ve got to go get ready but want to meet later to figure out how we’re going to do this?”

“Sure man, after the show.” Adam nodded.

“Great, hey you’re not going to say anything to Amy or Trish about me being the secret admirer?” Jay asked.

“Course not, “Adam smiled as the two left the catering area unaware of the smile on Randy Orton’s face.

Betrayal

Later that night Jay and Adam were alone in Jay’s hotel room getting ready to form a plan to find out who Trish’s soon to be murderer was. Both Trish and Amy were off scouring their books of the WWE roster to find out who this secret admirer was giving the two men time to talk.

“So where do we start?” Jay asked as he sat down at the desk, “It’s not like I’ve ever tried to catch a murderer before.”

“Well, I guess we have to pinpoint the where and when this happened, or is going to happen, you know what I mean,” Adam sighed. “You’re the only one who knows what happened so what do you know?”

“She was shot at 11:30 on June 8th in the parking lot of the Hilton in Cleveland. She was standing right next to her car when it happened. The police said there was no sign of a struggle and the shooter didn’t try to take her car or purse after they shot so they ruled out a possible mugging and said it was a homicide.” Jay took a deep breath before continuing. “As of the day of her funeral the police had no leads and they couldn’t find the gun.”

“So that puts us right back at square one.”

“Sure does,” Jay nodded, “but they did say that if it was a homicide then the shooter must have been waiting for her. Almost like they knew she’d be there.”

“That means it could be someone who knows her. But that still doesn’t narrow down the list.” Adam pulled a hand through his hair in frustration as he continued. “But who knows Trish that would want to kill her?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Hey Torrie,” Randy called running to catch up with the blonde woman.

“Hey Randy,” she smiled, “what can I do for you?”

“Help me.”

“With what?”

“A little payback for Trish Stratus.” With the mention of the smaller blonde’s name Torrie’s eyes lit up as the two went somewhere a little more private to talk.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*~Later that day~*

Trish smiled as she piled some food on her plate in the catering area. Her secret admirer had done it again. Today, he surprised her with an amazing breakfast sent up to her room complete with flowers, pancakes, fresh fruit, Canadian bacon, Canadian maple syrup, and a steaming pot of coffee. It really was a wonderful way to start a day off.

She grabbed a soda and sat down trying to ignore the fact that Torrie Wilson and Randy Orton had just walked in together. Trish thanked her lucky stars when they seemingly didn’t notice her and was about to enjoy her meal when something they said caught her attention.

“Shut up! You do not know who her secret admirer is!” Torrie squealed.

“Yes I do, I heard him talking about it just yesterday,” Randy said taking a bite of a carrot.

“Well don’t keep a girl in suspense,” Torrie said stealthily checking to make sure Trish was listening, “who is he?”

“You’re never going to believe this but it’s Jason Reso.”

“No way!”

“Yes way. I overheard Jason and Adam talking about it. Seems with all of the man problems Trish has been having, not to mention the other issues she’s had, Jay took pity on her and decided to do this whole secret admirer thing hoping that it would take her mind off her pathetic little life for a while.” Randy explained with a cocky smile on his face. He even had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as the ever distraught Trish got up from her chair and ran out of the room with tears in her eyes.

Trish ran down the hall not caring about who saw her tears as she made her way to a certain locker room. When she reached the door, she didn’t even bother to knock but instead stormed inside and immediately started screaming at the man inside.

“How could you?” she accused, “How could you let me sit there and act like a grinning giggling fool when none of it was real!”

“Trish, what’s wrong? What are you talking about?” Jay asked approaching the obviously emotional woman and attempting to put a calming hand on her shoulder before it was quickly slapped away.

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed taking a step away from him. “You felt sorry for me? You took pity on me? Didn’t think I could get a man, wanted to take my mind off my pathetic little life, how could you! I thought you were my friend but I guess I was wrong, that must just be your pity too.”

“Trish I don’t know what you’re...”

“The bear, the flowers, the candles, everything was some big joke to you!” She yelled as a look of realization finally crossed Jay’s face.

“No Trish, it was nothing like that. You’ve got to understand, you’ve got to listen to me!”

“You know, what Randy did to me was bad, and Jeff...that hurt so much, but this...This is worse.” Trish said in a shaky voice. “I trusted you. I thought you were my friend, my best friend, and all along you’ve just been taking pity on me and I will never forgive you for hurting me like this.” Trish then turned to leave but was stopped when Jay called out to her.

“If I ever was your friend, your best friend, don’t you think I deserve a chance to tell you the truth?” Jay looked at her with pleading eyes hoping for the best.

“Give me one reason I should listen to anything you say,” she said coldly as she turned around.

“Because I love you.”

At Long Last

“What did you say?” Trish stammered staring at her friend in shock.

“I love you,” Jay repeated. “You might not believe it, but I do. From the moment I saw you for the very first time I knew in my heart that you were special. Then I got to know you, I saw how caring you are, how funny you could be. I saw the amazing woman that you are and I couldn’t help it, I fell. But I was intimidated by you and I didn’t think you would ever give a guy like me a second glance. Then you started seeing Jeff and I was heartbroken and angry that I didn’t make a move first. So I thought I’d back off our friendship a little to move on but then these past two months happened. But when you said you lost all faith in men and love, I had to do something, anything, to change your mind and make you smile again. Believe me Trish, none of this was about pity.”

Jay took a deep breath after his speech and looked at Trish waiting for her to say anything, and praying that she wouldn’t walk out that door. What happened next, Jay never expected...she kissed him. Trish Stratus kissed Jason Reso, and not a friendly little peck on the lips, but a lengthy passionate kiss full of the love and emotion that Jay thought he would never feel from those lips. The kiss was dizzying and as it ended both found themselves breathing slightly heavier. Jay was speechless and found that the only thing he could do was look into the sparkling eyes and smiling face of Trish.

“Jay I love you too,” and with those words, Jason Reso now knew what heaven felt like. The two moved in to kiss again but were interrupted by an opening door.

“Hey Jay we need help finding...oh found her!” Chris said with a smile seemingly oblivious to what he just walked in on. He turned and stuck his head out the door and shouted down the hall. “Adam, dude! Found her! Told you she’d be with Jay!”

“What’s going on Chris?” Trish asked seeing as Jay was still speechless from that kiss. “Why were you looking for me?”

“Well apparently Miss Whorrie was so happy that she did something that was so funny she just had to go talk to Leggs.” Chris started as Adam walked into the locker room.

“Apparently she and Randy did something to make you miserable and hate Jay.” Adam said before Chris jumped in.

“Which obviously didn’t work cause these two were about to kiss when I came in,” Chris said oblivious to the look Adam was giving Jay. “Whorrie said you ran out of the catering room crying, good to see you took care of that Jay my man!” Chris winked at Jay and playfully elbowed Trish as they both turned bright pink.

“Anyways, Stacy told Amy who told us, which reminds me, Amy’s still looking,” Adam sighed.

“Oh, I’ll go find her!” Trish said. “I really really need to talk to her anyways.”

“Wonder what they’re going to talk about, eh Jay?” Chris joked causing the smaller man to turn even redder.

“I’ll see you before your match Jay,” Trish said as she left the room.

“Dude you finally told her!” Chris said punching Jay in the arm.

“Told her what?” Jay said rubbing his arm.

“Told her you love her,” Chris said as if stating the very obvious. “Come on, everybody knew...well...everyone but Trish. But she knows now!” Chris went to punch Jay’s arm again but Jay quickly turned causing Chris to miss and slightly lose his balance. Just then the locker room door opened again to reveal Shelton Benjamin.

“Hey Chris let’s rock and roll!” He stuck his tongue out and held his hand up in the sign language sign for ‘I love you’ in what he thought was a rock and roll pose.

“Shelton, Shelton, how many times do I have to tell you that’s not how you do it.” Chris shook his head and left the room with his young friend.

“She never has to know that it’s you sending her the gifts,” Adam said sitting down on the couch with his friend, “don’t have feelings for her anymore. You were just doing all of that to make her happy again. What a load of bullshit! Damn it Jason you know what’s going to happen!”

“I know Adam but I love her!” Jay argued. “I have waited years for this and you know it! And who knows, if we figure out who the shooter is then she won’t get shot and everything will be fine!”

“You don’t understand Jay, finding the shooter will not stop this! Nothing can, at that same exact time in that same exact space she’ll get shot. There is nothing you can do to stop it!” Adam explained in frustration.

“That’s bull and you know it Adam! Amy’s alive so there’s obviously a way to stop it!” Jay pointed out. “So please, tell me how to save her.”

“I wouldn’t tell him Adam,” a voice said from behind. The two men turned around to notice Lionel standing in the room. “What happened with Amy was special exception.”

“Then make an exception for Trish!” Jay yelled on the brink of tears. “I can’t lose her, not now.”

“Jason, you getting this time with Trish at all is a miracle, but she will meet her fate, I don’t make the rules. I’m sorry.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? Just let her go off and die?” Jay asked.

“My advice to you is to concentrate on Miss Stratus living, not dying.”

Oh What a Night!

Jay sat in his hotel room on the floor surrounded by papers and pictures. Papers that said everything he could remember about Trish’s shooting, pictures of everyone he thought had a motive and more papers that said why they simply couldn’t have done the job. He pulled a hand through his short blonde hair in frustration as someone knocked at the door.

“Come in,” he groaned knowing who was at his door, a person he wasn’t too happy with at the moment, Adam Copeland.

“Jay give it a rest, you heard what Lionel said, there’s nothing you can do to stop this.” Adam said looking at his distressed friend. “You’re wasting your time with this; you should be with Trish enjoying what little time you have left.”

“I refuse to believe that there is nothing I can do to stop this and I won’t stop looking until I figure out how to save her,” Jay said looking through his papers. “Besides, Trish and I are going on our first date tonight and she’s getting ready.”

“Well then let’s go do something, I mean we’re in Orlando, we could be hanging with Mickey!” Adam said sounding strangely like Chris.

“How can you act so lightly about this?” Jay asked getting angry, “If this were about Amy I’m sure you’d be doing the exact same thing!”

“Actually when it was Amy about to die we went to Chuck-E-Cheese.” Adam pointed out.

“But Amy, apparently, is an exception, and Trish is not so forgive me if I don’t want to ride the Flying Dumbo’s right now.” Jay snapped.

“But you love the Flying Dumbo’s Jay,” Adam said attempting to get his friend out of his room.

“Not as much as I love Trish,” Jay said looking between two photos. “Now if only I could figure out who would want to hurt Trish.”

“Why don’t you ask Stacy,” Adam blurted out without thinking, “she seems to know everything like that.”

“Adam you’re a genius!” Jay said getting up and scrambling for his cell phone.

“Hello.”

“Stacy, its Jay, I need your help.”

“What can I do for you? Plan a romantic evening for you and your new girlfriend?” Stacy teased.

“Nah, I’ve got that covered but I need some information from you again.” Jay said getting serious.

“Ok, what kind of information?” Stacy asked.

“I have another hunch that someone wants to hurt Trish, bad. I need help finding out who it could be.” Jay said hoping Stacy would help him.

“Is this a hunch like Jeff cheating on her?”

“Yeah.”

“Well Jay I can’t think of anyone who would want to do anything to hurt Trish, but you were right last time so I’ll do some looking and call you back.”

“Stacy, you’re an angel!”

“I know, I know. I’ll call you if I find anything, bye!” And with that Stacy hung up and Jay couldn’t help but smile.

“So now can we go see Mickey?” Adam whined.

“Only if we ride the Flying Dumbo’s first!” Jay said as the two left his room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*~Later that night~*

Jason knocked nervously at Trish’s hotel room door trying to keep the bouquet of flowers he bought stealthily hidden behind his back. Within no time at all the door opened to reveal the stunning Trish Stratus clad in a pink dress and tan heels. Her hair was left down flowing down her back and she wore just a tiny bit of make-up to give her that natural look. Jay took in the sight that she was and honestly didn’t thing he had ever seen a woman so beautiful.

“Hey Jay,” she said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, “you ready to go?”

“Uh hi....these are for you,” he said nervously handing Trish the flowers.

“Oh they’re beautiful,” Trish squealed holding them up to her face to take in their aroma. “Let me get some water for these. So what are we doing tonight?”

“Uh, well I had a plan but you’ll have to wait until we get here to see.” Jay smiled as he watched Trish move around the room arranging the flowers just perfectly in a vase. When she was finished she grabbed her purse and looked to Jay.

“All ready!” She smiled and Jay extended his arm to her and escorted her to the car.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“This place is beautiful,” Trish said taking in the scene all around her. “How did you know about it?”

“The Disney brochure,” he joked. The two were sitting on the back patio of the restaurant Bongo at Downtown Disney over looking the lagoon. There were lights strung up all around them and Latin music filled the air as the two enjoyed their exotic dinner. “Really, that brochure tells you anything you could possibly want to know.”

“Including where to go on a first date? Wow, they think of everything.” Trish laughed as she sipped at her wine. “Thank you Jay.”

“For what?”

“For tonight, for those gifts, for the last couple of months; I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Trish explained.

“Trish, you don’t have to thank me, just know that I love you and I’ll always be there for you.” Jay smiled and squeezed Trish’s hand. “So now that dinner’s done, shall we take a walk by the lagoon?”

“That sounds great,” Trish said as the two left their little table and headed out into the romantically lit streets of Downtown Disney. They walked hand in hand through the street, Trish eager to look into every shop window they came across as Jay just watched her amazed by her beauty. They walked through to Pleasure Island where a 80’s cover band was playing on the West End Stage and the two stopped to watch.

“Look, some fireworks!” Trish squealed pointing off in the distance.

“Illuminations, at EPCOT,” Jay said watching. “Those are my favorite to watch; too bad we’re only here for one night.”

“Well, we’ll just have to go see them next time we’re in town,” Trish said laying her head on Jay’s shoulder. The band suddenly started playing a slow power ballad and Trish looked up. “Oh it’s Always by Bon Jovi, I love this song!”

“Then would you like to dance?” Trish eagerly nodded and the two of them danced close as the song played in the background. Just at the end of the song, Jay leaned down and kissed Trish softly as the last of the fireworks exploded above them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*~At the hotel~*

“Jay, I think that was the most amazing first date in the history of first dates.” Trish said with a smile as they reached her hotel room door.

“I’m glad you had fun, I guess we’ll have to do it again sometime,” Jay joked.

“Definitely,” Trish giggled. “So...um...do you want to come in?”

“Uh Trish...I...”

“Please, I always, um, sleep better with you with me, and tonight, I could really use a good night’s sleep,” Trish said seductively as she played with the collar of Jay’s shirt.

“Trish are you sure about this,” Jay asked cautiously.

“Never been more sure of anything in my life,” she said, “now come on, let’s go in.” With that Jay gave in and spent the rest of the night making love to Trish.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning Trish woke up and stretched, last night had been amazing. She then turned over hoping to see Jay, but had no such luck. He was gone. Trish suddenly sat strait up holding the sheet to her chest and looked around. His clothes were gone and so were his shoes. How could he leave her like this after everything they had been through? She was on the verge of tears when the door suddenly opened and a smiling Jay came walking in with a tray full of food.

“Hey you’re up!” Jay said coming over to the bed with the food. He sat the food down and gave Trish a lengthy kiss. “I just went downstairs to grab breakfast. I don’t really know what you like to eat for breakfast so I got a little bit of everything, bacon, sausage, ham, some fruit, pancakes, waffles, muffins...”

“Coffee?” she said shocked.

“That was the one thing I knew you wanted so here you are, fresh, caffeinated, coffee.” Trish looked at the steaming mug and then to Jay and she gave him a kiss before indulging in the large breakfast. When finished eating, Trish politely excused herself to take a shower. She hadn’t been in there for but a few minutes before Jay’s cell phone rang.

“Hey Stacy, what’s up?” Jay asked.

“Jay, I think I found something.”

Dead End

Adam sat down at the table Jay was already at and looked at his distressed friend who was on his second beer.

“So what did Stacy find out?” Adam asked curious to find out what Jay now knows.

“She talked to practically everyone in the locker room. She even had Dawn help her and between the two of them they only found one person who apparently hates Trish and wants to hurt her.” Jay said taking a long swig of his beer.

“Well, that’s a good thing isn’t it?” Adam said. “Not that it’s going to do much good for Trish but at least they’ll be caught his time.”

“No they won’t...” Jay said shooting a glare at Adam.

“Jay you know you can’t stop this and knowing who’s going to shoot her is going to do nothing more than provide justice for what they did...or will do.” Adam explained.

”I know I can’t stop it okay, but the person couldn’t have shot her. It’s impossible,” Jay sighed.

“Well, who is it?”

“Torrie Wilson,” Jay said simply.

“Torrie,” Adam said shocked, “but she couldn’t have. She was...you know...with Jeff.”

“I know.”

“But why would Torrie want to hurt Trish?” Adam asked. “She has Jeff, what else does she want?”

“To be the top ranked Diva in the WWE.” Jay said rolling his eyes. “She keeps doing all of that crap with Playboy, and she’s trying to sleep with every man she can who might help her career, but Trish is still a favorite and more popular than her in the locker room, with the crowds, and with Vince.”

“Are we in high school? She wants to kill Trish because of popularity?” Adam looked at his friend in shock as Jay nodded.

“She wants to be the ‘number one Diva’ in everyone’s eyes and she’ll do anything to get on top.” Jay sighed as he pulled a hand through his hair. “But it doesn’t matter because it’s not like she could have shot Trish. The bitch has an alibi. Looks like I’m at a dead end.”

“Well there’s got to be someone else then,” Adam said.

“Stacy and Dawn checked and double checked there’s no one else.” Jay hit the table in frustration. “I guess you and Lionel were right. There’s nothing I can do to stop this from happening. In three weeks I just have to sit back and let the woman I love go off and get murdered. It’s not fair.”

“I know man, but maybe you need to go spend the rest of this time you have with Trish and take Lionel’s advice.” Adam took a swig of his beer wishing there was more he could do to help his friend.

“And what advice is that?” Jay asked bitterly.

“To concentrate on Trish living, not dying.”

Running Out of Time

It was 3:30 in the morning and Jason Reso lay in bed wide awake. He looked over the beautiful form of his peacefully sleeping girlfriend and though back on the last three weeks. They were the best three weeks of his life and he didn’t want it to end. But today...today was the day that it was all going to end, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. It killed him to think that just after their show tonight Trish would be out of his life forever.

He couldn’t let it happen. He would do something, anything, to stop Trish from going out to her car to meet her fate. If he had to tie her to a chair and lock the doors, he would. Trish wasn’t going to die tonight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Tonight baby, I want it done tonight,” a female voice said sternly.

“But, how will I get her alone? That Reso bastard won’t leave her side.” A male voice pointed out. “Are you sure we have to do this? Can’t we just injure the bitch? Killing her just doesn’t seem right.”

“Don’t question me,” the woman yelled slapping her accomplice. “If we don’t kill her then you’d get caught and I want you to be with me when I finally get what I deserve. And don’t worry about Jason; I’ll make sure they’re separate.”

“Fine, but I still don’t feel right about this.”

“Oh but baby remember what I said will happen when you finish the job? You want that don’t you? You want it to be just you and me, none of these other guys. I’ll be forever yours and only yours. You do want that, don’t you baby?” The man just nodded. “Good then make sure I get what I want, and I’ll make sure you get what you want.” The woman smiled sadistically and pulled the man closer to her and kissed him passionately.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*Later that night*

Jay walked down the arena hallway and knocked softly on the door of the women’s locker room. Within no time Trish came to the door carrying her gym bag and purse and smiled at her boyfriend.

“You ready to go back to the hotel?” Jay asked though that hotel was the last place on Earth he wanted to be.

“Uh no, I’ve got to go talk to Vince,” Trish pouted. “He wants to go over the next pay per view with me and what’s going to happen to me on TV in the future.”

“Oh, well that’s okay, I’ll wait.” Jay said escorting her down the hallway.

“You don’t have to do that.” Trish shrugged. “We drove separate remember?”

“But I want to, really...”

“But I want you to go back to the hotel, chill some wine, get that really big Jacuzzi tub filled up, and wait for me,” Trish said seductively. “Please, I shouldn’t be too long and I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get there.”

“Fine,” Jay sighed, “I’ll see you up at our room.”

“Great!” Trish said giving him a quick kiss. “I’ll see you soon and don’t forget about that Jacuzzi tub!” Trish kissed him once more then took off down the hall to speak with the boss. When she turned the corner and was out of sight, Jay punched the wall in frustration.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*At the hotel*

Jay had done everything Trish had asked him to, but where as in any other circumstance he would normally already be undressed waiting for Trish’s return to give her a...warm welcome, he was dressed in some track pants, one of his shirts, and some running shoes. In ten minutes Trish’s shooting would be taking place and he was prepared to do all he could to stop her from going out to that parking lot.

“You can’t stop this Jason, how many times do I have to say that?” Lionel said appearing suddenly behind him.

“I can’t just stand by and let her go out there to get shot!” Jay yelled.

“You don’t have a choice! I told you when all of this started what would eventually have to happen to Miss Stratus and that time has now come.” Lionel explained. “Now stand aside and let fate take its course. You’ve already done all you can for her.”

“No! I won’t let her go!”

“Jay...” Trish said on the other side of the door. “Jay are you there?”

“Trish! Trish honey stay there!” Jay yelled trying to get towards the door.

“Jay...are you there? I left my card out in the car by accident; I need you to let me in...Are you there?” It was as if she couldn’t hear Jay on the other side of the door as he yelled and tried to run towards the door. As he ran he was suddenly stopped by some unseen force as Lionel stood there and watched.

“Trish I’ll be right there! Don’t go to your car! Please, just don’t go to your car!” Jay yelled still trying to move. “Let me go to her!”

“Jay...damn it you’re not here...” Trish then turned and walked down the hallway.

“Trish no!”

“You can’t stop this Jason; just let fate take its course.”

“I can’t let her die, I love her. Please, I’ll do anything!” Jay pleaded.

“Anything,” Lionel repeated as the realization finally clicked in Jason’s head. How Adam saved Amy and his only way to save Trish. Suddenly the force that held him was released and the door opened. Jason bolted down the hallway and the stairs. He got to the hotel lobby and ran as quick as he could dodging the people in the hallway. He ran instinctively through the parking lot’s maze to where he remembered Trish had parked her car.

One more lane to go; then he saw her as the shooter came out of the shadows. Running faster, he saw the man pull out a gun. He pulled the trigger just as Jason got there to push Trish out of the way of the speeding bullet just before it tore through his own flesh. He laid on the ground bleeding and in the most pain he had experienced in his entire life and he caught a good look at the shooter’s face before he ran away then he saw Trish’s crying face.

“I love you,” he whispered through pain then everything went black.

Worth Fighting For

Trish sat with her head in her hands in the waiting room of the hospital praying she could just be left alone, but she had no such luck.

“Miss Stratus,” a deep voice said standing above her. “Miss Stratus, I know you might not want to do this right now, but I need to ask you a few questions about what happened tonight.”

“You’re right, I really don’t want to do this right now,” Trish said, her voice sounding raw from crying.

“I know Miss Stratus, but Mr. Reso is in surgery and we won’t know anything for a while on his condition, and I know you want to help us find who did this.” The officer said. Trish looked up with her tear stained face and nodded. “Ok, I need you to tell me everything that happened.”

“I had gone up to our room, Jay was supposed to be up there, but he wasn’t, and I left my key card in my car by accident. So I went back downstairs and out to my car. I had just gotten my key card out of the car and I shut the door and that’s when I noticed him. He said he was sorry, and that he had to do it. He had to kill me so Torrie would be the number one Diva in the WWE and so the two of them could be together. Then he pulled out the gun and pulled the trigger and that’s when...” Trish’s voice broke as the tears started to fall again. “That’s when Jay came running and pushed me out of the way. But he got shot. And now we’re here and I just need to know he’ll be okay.”

“Miss Stratus, I need to know if you know who the shooter was.” The officer placed a calming hand on Trish’s shoulder and waited for her to respond.

“Billy Kidman,” she sniffed, “the shooter, the man who tried to kill me, the man who shot Jay, it was Billy Kidman.” Just then the swinging doors of the emergency ward opened and a doctor in blue scrubs walked towards Trish and the officer.

“Excuse me, Miss Stratus, may I have a word?” The doctor asked.

“Of course, we’re all done here,” the officer said standing, “Miss Stratus I will be in touch with you if we find anything.” The officer then left and Trish took a deep breath waiting for the words of the doctor.

“Miss Stratus, when Jason was shot the bullet managed to puncture his lung. He’s lost a lot of blood and his heart rate and blood pressure are slipping, I’m afraid he might not have much time left.” The doctor looked down as Trish gasped in shock.

“But, isn’t there something you can do?” Trish cried as the tears threatened to break again.

“I’m afraid without putting him on life support and other resuscitative machines there is nothing more we can do for him. And even then there is a good chance he would not be able to live off the machines. Mr. Reso has a living will that states he wishes not to be placed on such devices to live.” The doctor explained slowly. “I’m sorry Miss Stratus. If you want, I can take you to see him.”

“I’d really like that,” Trish whispered. She then followed the doctor back through the doors and down the hospital halls. In a trance-like state, Trish followed the doctor until they reached the operating room where Jay lay still and cold, slowly fading away on the table. The doctor opened the door for her and let her walk Jay before she closed the door and left. She found a stool and pulled it up next to the table and sat down taking his hand. In a quivering voice she spoke.

“Jay, Jason, can you hear me? I know you can’t answer but I think you can hear me so I’ve got something I have to say to you.” Trish took a deep breath before continuing. “Why did you do that? Why did you jump in front of that gun? I need you, and I don’t know what I’d ever do without you. I can’t lose you. Who’s going to help me through this? Who’s going to hold me and tell me that everything is going to be ok? Jason I can’t get through this without you! Why did you have to push me out of the way like that? It should be me on this table, it should be me...I need you Jason...I love you.” Trish laid her head on Jay’s chest and softly cried unable to speak any longer.

Lionel stood at the door to the room and watched the two. He was slightly confused, Jason should have been gone by now, he should have died once that bullet hit him, that’s what fate had planned. But for some reason he was still alive...barely, but alive none the less. He was fighting fate and at this point he was still alive so that had to say something. Jason wasn’t going to give up; he was going to fight until he could come back to his love. A man that was that determined to stay with the woman he loves, does not deserve the fate that most certainly stood before him. Taking a deep breath he made his decision.

Trish still lay on Jason’s chest sobbing when suddenly she felt something; a hand running through her hair and an arm wrapping around her body tightly.

“Shhh,” Jay whispered, “everything’s going to be okay. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I love you.” Jay kissed her gently on the forehead and held her close, he survived and he was never going to leave her again.

Promise

Within hours of the shooting, Billy Kidman went to the police, and turned himself in knowing that it was only a matter of time before they came looking for him. He sat with them, and told the police everything about the shooting and how Torrie told him to do it and set up the murder. Naturally he was hauled off to prison and charged with two counts of attempted homicide.

Torrie on the other hand, had a warrant out for her arrest shortly after Billy went to the cops. She was quickly caught and charged with conspiracy to commit murder then sentenced to eight to ten years in prison, without parole.

And as for Trish and Jason...well, you’ll see...

3 months later

“You ready for this man?” Jay asked as he helped his best friend adjust his bow tie.

“Never been more ready for anything in my life,” Adam said with a smile. “How about you, ready?”

“Hey, the best man’s not supposed to nervous, that’s the groom’s job.” Jay joked.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Adam said knowingly.

“I know what you meant, and let’s just say, I’m ready.” Jay smiled. Just then someone opened the door to their room.

“Hey, guys,” Chris said, “it’s show time!” The two friends nodded to Chris and followed him outside.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The wedding march started and slowly Christy Hemme made her way down the aisle followed soon by Trish both in classic pink bridesmaid dresses. The two reached their place at the alter and then everyone stood and turned to the back to see a vision in white that was Amy as she walked down the aisle, her smile as beautiful as ever. She reached the alter and with a shaking hand reached out and took Adam’s. The two smiled and looked into each other’s eyes as the preacher started to speak.

Soon the prayers were said, blessings were made, and the happy couple was now repeating the traditional wedding vows but the only thing Jason seemed to notice was how beautiful Trish’s hair looked in the sunset. Trish turned her gaze from Amy and Adam and looked to her boyfriend, her amazing boyfriend, who had saved her life, who was looking at her with the utmost love and adoration.

Silently, Jay mouthed the words I love you to Trish who giggled slightly and mouthed them back. Before either of them realized it, the preacher announced that Adam and Amy were now husband and wife and Jay eagerly escorted her back down the aisle. Upon passing the last row of seats, Jay couldn’t help noticing the man that sat there smiling happily, the angel, Lionel, clapping for the new married couple.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alright ladies,” the DJ said loudly, “get ready; it’s time for the bouquet toss!” Within seconds all of the single women in the room were gathered in a crowd in front of Amy. Trish was in the middle, with Christy, Lisa, Stacy, Jackie, and Dawn on all sides of her and behind her.

“Ok, here it comes,” Amy smiled and turned her back to the crowd of women and tossed the bouquet over her head. Suddenly the Diva’s around Trish took a step back and held the rest of the single women back as the bouquet sailed into Trish’s arms.

“What, hey you guys rigged it!” Trish said looking at her friends who feigned innocence. Then Adam came over and gently slipped his hand up Amy’s dress to her upper thigh and removed the garter. He smiled playfully as he twirled it around his fingers once or twice before throwing it to the group of men who assembled. As the garter flew through the air the group of men stood back leaving only Jay on the floor to catch it.

Trish blushed as she was ushered to a chair to sit in as Jason got on one knee and slid the garter up Trish’s leg until it was settled high on her thigh. The two kissed and then Jay pulled back, not moving from where he kneeled.

“So, I guess this means we’re next?” Jay asked playfully.

“Yeah, I guess it does,” Trish laughed. Jay then took her hand and reached in his pocket for something.

“Well why don’t we make it official then, would you be my wife?” He asked as the crowd around them cheered. Trish fell speechless as she nodded and Jay slipped the ring on her finger. This was truly her happy ending.