Email: darkmooneternal23@home.com
It was Thursday night at the Hyperion Hotel and luckily Cordelia Chase was alone. Gunn, Fred and Wesley had ganged up on Angel and forced him to go with them to Caritas in an attempt to cheer him up. Cordelia herself didn't think it seemed likely to work, but it got him out of the hotel so she wasn't about to argue.
He'd been brooding a lot lately, ever since the whole theater incident. She sighed, remembering; *God, that man had sinful hands...* something which she knew she shouldn't think about.
At any rate, the boys and Fred were all gone leaving her alone, excluding adorable little Connor, with the television she'd brought into the lobby. She settled onto the extremely comfortable squared couch, leaning against the raised center, in front of the television which sat on a stand a few feet in front of her. Cordelia had found early on that it was a lot more fun when she had a lot of room to get up and move around and scream at the show without interference. Just as she turned on the TV, she heard "Beautiful People" playing and saw pictures of various superstars posing fly across the screen. A moment later she heard Michael Cole's voice over the sound of the cheering fans the cameras were currently showing.
"What is the meaning of that cryptic harrowing message from Mr. McMahon to Ric Flair, and could we find out tonight, on SmackDown? We're sold out at the Coliseum here in historic South Carolina and tonight we'll find out which two men qualify for a chance to meet Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Title at No Way Out."
Cordelia watched as MC and The King went on to introduce the main events of Stone Cold vs. Booker T and The Rock vs. Kurt Angle as the qualifying matches. As they finished talking, music blasted and RVD came out. After he posed and the cheers died down, William Regal came out to boos. Michael went on to review what happened on Raw when Edge nearly won his championship back from the British asshole.
At the King's "illegal use of brass knuckles" comment, Cordy growled under breath. *Illegal use, my ass. You weren't complaining when BritBoy used them,* she thought snidely.
Just as the first match started to get under way the phone rang. Cordy sighed, looking at RVD one last time before getting up and walking over to the front desk to pick up the phone.
"Angel Investigations. We help the helpless," she said as brightly as possible.
"Cordy," the female voice greeted warmly, "I thought you'd dropped that 'helpless' line."
Cordelia's eyes widened in surprise, a smile coming across her features. She quickly grabbed the phone and carried it over to her previous place on the couch, all the while praising herself on making Angel get an extra long cord.
Once settled, she returned her attention to the voice on the other end of the line. "Stephy! It's so great to hear from you."
Across the country in Charleston, Stephanie McMahon smiled as well, leaning back on the black leather couch in her room at the back of the Coliseum. "Sorry it's been so long, Cor, but you know how it is."
Cordelia laughed before replying, "Oh, I definitely know how it is. You remember the whole Pylea fiasco last year?"
"I certainly do," Stephanie told her mock angrily, a grin on her face. "I was scared to death when I couldn't get a hold of you for so long. We usually talk every other day or so, and I hadn't heard from you..."
The other girl rolled her eyes briefly before watching RVD pick up the win over Regal. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've apologized already. About a million times. It's ancient history. I'm still fine. Angel's another story, but I digress."
"Brooding about the whole haunted opera house thing still, huh?" Stephanie asked.
"Exactly. Gunn, Fred and Wesley took him to Caritas to visit Lorne and try to cheer him up. Not likely, but it got them out of my hair. So what's going on with you? I wasn't expecting a call tonight, what with the show and all."
Stephanie waved her free hand in a dismissive manner even though she new Cordelia couldn't see it. "No problems. I'm not on the show 'til later, and I'm not doing much. Just a little bitch act with Lillian and another fight with Hunter. You know they're finally gonna do the big break up soon."
"Yeah, everyone pretty much saw it coming. What are you doing after the split?" Cordy questioned.
Shrug in her voice, Steph answered, "We're not sure. Mom's been talking with the other execs, and she says that they've been giving hints of having us split by me helping out someone else."
"Someone else? As in someone against Triple H? Wouldn't that be..." Cordelia trailed off in surprise.
"Yes, that would be." Stephanie laughed. "But don't get your hopes up. You know Mom and I have been trying to convince them for awhile."
Cordelia grinned. "Still, that would be great, wouldn't it?"
"It would," she agreed. "I told everyone there was a chance, and we had a mini celebration. Not just for that, but to celebrate the Hardyz and Lita's return as well. It was fun."
"How is everyone, by the way? No one's hurt too bad or anything? No more emotional trauma?"
Stephanie looked up as the door opened, smiling at the three who entered before returning to her conversation. "No. No more 'emotional trauma' since Lita started seeing Rocky. I still can't believe they liked each other for two years and never said anything."
Cordy snorted. "I seem to remember two other people who did about the same thing."
"Really? I have no idea who you're referring to."
Glancing around the lobby as the show went to commercial, Cordelia agreed unconvincingly, "Right. Uh huh."
"Yeah, well, the phrase 'pot calling the kettle black' comes to mind for some reason. I wonder why, Miss 'I've-had-a-thing-for-my-boss-since-the-moment-I-laid-eyes-on-him-about-six-years-ago'," Stephanie shot back.
"I have no idea what you're referring to," Cordelia claimed, throwing back the brunette's earlier words.
"Anyway," Stephanie continued, changing topics with a smug grin, "we have a show in L. A. on Monday night. I was wondering if you wanted to come and hang out with me for the day, then we can head to the show together."
Cordelia straightened, a large smile coming to her face. "Are you serious? You're finally going to let me meet everyone?"
"Yes. I don't think you would have let me get away with it for much longer anyway. You can bring Angel and the others, too, if you want. Well, obviously, Angel couldn't come with us during the day, but he could come to the show. Oh, and I guess Lorne couldn't really come either, could he?" Stephanie drew her eyebrows together as she thought it out.
"No. Not really," Cordy answered her last question, "but you could come meet him at Caritas after the show. You'd get to see all sorts of different demons and things, too. In a non-violent atmosphere, that is."
Stephanie's eyes widened almost comically. "Really? Oh, wow. That would be great! But first things first. So you'll come?"
"You bet your ass I'll come," Cordelia answered immediately.
"Okay. So how many should I expect?" Stephanie asked.
"Well... me, of course. For the day I'd say Wesley, Gunn and Fred, and once it gets dark just add Angel in."
The door to Stephanie's room opened again and a technical supervisor stuck his head in. "Your spot with Lillian is in five, Ms. McMahon."
Putting her hand to the phone, she nodded at him and he scurried away closing the door behind him. Stephanie turned back to the phone. "That'll be fine, Cor. Now I do have to go. My first spot is in a few minutes. Sorry for cutting this short."
Cordelia shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Steph. I understand completely. Heck, I've done it to you more than once."
"Too true. Well since we're staying at a hotel, one with actual paying customers that is, could we meet at the Hyperion? Decide what to do from there?"
"Definitely. It's all been pretty boring around here recently. Well, since the whole thing with Connor, anyway, so it's not likely a demon will attack or anything. I'll just make sure to hide away the weapons and demon books before you guys get here. You haven't told them about... well, everything, have you?" Cordy asked suddenly.
Stephanie answered quickly, "No, I haven't, just like I promised. Have you told the others about me?"
"Nope. I can't wait to see Gunn's face. He's a wrestling fanatic, totally adores Lita. She's his role model or something. Thinks it's awesome that a regular woman, as in someone not the size of your larger male wrestlers, goes out there and takes on the guys. He watches every Raw, SmackDown, Axxess, Heat and pay-per-view. If we have to fight a demon or something, he always manages to tape it somehow, though I'll never figure out how. He wasn't happy about having to miss the show tonight, but he made me promise to tape it. I complained and made him beg for the whole day before I finally showed mercy and agreed to have the 'stupid barbaric act' on the television," Cordelia explained with a grin.
On the other end, Stephanie laughed. "You are so cruel, Cor. So, we'll see you on Monday morning... about 9 'o clock?"
"Okay," Cordelia agreed. "I'll let you go now. Great talking to you, Steph, and thanks."
Stephanie smiled. "No problem, Cor. Later."
Both women hung up the phone.
At the Hyperion Hotel in L.A. Cordelia walked the phone back to the check in desk then returned to finish watching SmackDown. Steph had said she'd be on in a few minutes and she didn't want to miss her.
At the Coliseum arena in South Carolina, Stephanie turned to the three people waiting for her and smiled at them again. "Sorry 'bout that, guys. I was talking to Cordelia. What's up?"
Lita shrugged before saying, "Don't worry about it. We just stopped in to say hi."
"Yeah," Jeff agreed. "Since we don't have anything to do tonight, and we've been at home way too much recently, we figured we'd annoy you for the night."
Stephanie rolled her eyes as she stood, giving Jeff a playful punch on the shoulder as she passed him. As she reached the door, she turned back and said sarcastically, "Thanks for thinking of me in your hour of need."
Matt sunk onto the couch she had just occupied as he said, "Ignore Jeff. He's being an idiot as usual."
"Hey!" Jeff cried out indignantly, moving over to sit beside Matt so he could slap him upside the head.
Ignoring the brothers who were now fighting like five year olds on the couch, Stephanie turned to Lita. "I'll be back in a few minutes; I've got my spot with Lillian to do right now. Try and stop them from killing each other, huh?"
Lita rolled her eyes at her best friends' antics, telling Stephanie solemnly, "At the very least I'll make sure they don't get any blood on the couch."
Stephanie smiled and waved before walking out the door, leaving Lita to try and separate the two Hardy brothers.
"Hey! Matt, let go of Jeff's hair! Jeff, stop choking your brother!"
[ email author ]