| Part VII |
The next morning Jericho�s phone rang. �Wake up ugly!� Alex sang. �You�re off my Christmas card list.� Chris mumbled. �Whatever. The show doesn�t start �til 4,but I have some appearances to approve. I�ll be up in about 30 minutes. Get your butt out of bed!� Alex yelled jokingly. Alex finished off her email to her sister, then gathered her things to take to Chris� room. When she got to Chris� room, she heard voices. She knocked lightly as she entered the room. Chris and Paul seem to be having an argument. Alex stopped and smiled. She had noticed Paul and Chris were starting to travel together. They also tended to disagree about everything. �Good! An objective opinion.� Paul exclaimed. �No way. Okay wait, she doesn�t like you anyway. So she�ll be on my side.� Chris decided. Alex smiled and put her stuff down on the table. �Whatever it is, I don�t want to know. Leave me out of it.� Alex laughed. �No, No, No. I think we definitely need a woman�s opinion.� Chris stated, he took Alex hand and pulled her toward him. �No influencing the judges.� Paul griped. Taking Alex other hand and pulling her. �Okay, now I know I don�t want any part of this.� Alex laughed again, pulling both her hands away. She caught Paul�s eyes; he held her stare and as he held on to her hand a little longer, he brushed his thumb over her knuckles. Alex blushed slightly, and looked at the floor. Alex and Chris went about working on his schedule. Chris and Paul debating various points, and well, just being guys. ~~*~~ On the way downstairs, they ran into everyone else. Kane fell into step beside her. Alex squeezed his forearm in �hello�, and left it there. The hotel had arranged for them to have a van to transport everyone at the same time. When they got to the arena everyone got their sheet and went to their dressing rooms. Jericho discovered he would be going against Paul. Alex smiled, and said jokingly, �That�s what you two get for arguing all day. Now you�re going to get your butt kicked.� Chris looked wounded, �Thanks for the confidence.� Alex left Chris to get ready for his match. As she wandered around the arena, she found Kane talking with Tori. �Hi.� she said as she came to stand next to Kane; he was standing with his hands on his hips, and didn�t look happy. Alex felt decidedly angry, but couldn�t figure out why. Tori looked upset at being interrupted as she quickly pasted a smile on her face. �We were just discussing tonight�s match. I was telling him no one is going to believe he�s my boyfriend, if he doesn�t start touching me.� Alex could feel Kane�s discomfort and understood why. The thought of Kane touching this person had Alex uncomfortable. She didn�t know her very well, but in a sixth sense sort of way, Alex didn�t trust Tori. Alex was silent for a minute trying to think of a tactful way of conveying this. �To be honest Tori,� Alex started, �I don�t know where the writer's got this idea from, but I think it takes away from Kane�s persona. He�s always been a loner. I think his fans like it that way.� Tori looked from Alex to Kane and responded hautily, �Well this is the angle we have, and I�m determined to make it work.� She turned and walked away in a huff. Alex imitated her as she walked off; �And I�m determined to make it work.� she squeaked. Kane looked at her tiling his head. �Sorry, I didn�t mean to make her mad. She�s going to be hard to work with tonight.� Kane put his hand around Alex�s shoulders, �Doesn�t matter, she�s been getting pushier and pushier. The male fans like her . . .for obvious reasons.� He said with distaste. �But you�re right, a lot of the feed back for this angle is not good.� �That�s cause she keeps costing you matches!� Alex declared defensively. Kane looked down at her, and she could see the smile in his eyes. Kane rubbed Alex shoulder; �We�re just going to have to see where this thing plays out.� Alex leaned toward Kane and hugged him. Off to the side, neither saw Paul staring at them. Although he couldn�t exactly figure out why, Paul felt a pang of jealousy. Alex had shown no sign that she was interested. Paul couldn�t even get close enough, thanks to 'Taker and Kane, to even ask her out. The backstage manager told Paul it was time for his match. ~~*~~ �Man! What crawled up your butt!! You almost killed me out there.� Chris exclaimed. �Wimp! You�ve gotten soft.� Paul countered. �Soft? 3 choke-slams?! What�s got you pissed off?� Chris asked. �Nothing!� Paul snapped, throwing clothes around the room. �The hell nothing. What�s up with you?� Paul stops throwing clothes around, sat down and looked at Chris. He briefly told him what he had seen before the match. Chris crossed his arms and sat back. �So that�s why you�ve been hanging around.� Chris started, �All this time I thought it was my sparking personality. I can�t believe you�d use our friendship like that.� Chris replied sounding hurt. Paul looked around sheepishly, then looked at Chris to see him trying to hide a grin. �Shut up!� Paul said, throwing a towel at him. Paul quickly explained the situation, and Kane�s interference. �So have you even asked her out?� Chris asked. �No.� �So how do you know her and Kane are going out? Wait, I thought Kane had a girlfriend?� �He does. I think he�s just doing what 'Taker told him to. But 'Taker never treated Alex like a woman, just like a sister. That�s what�s confusing.� �If you�re traveling with me, you�ll get to spend a lot of time around Alex, so that may help.� Chris paused, thinking for a minute. �Just don�t expect any influence from me. Personally I think she could do a lot better.� He added with a smile, ducking another towel. �Maybe Kane will see that I�m not going to hurt her, and he�ll ease up a bit.� Paul hoped. Just as they finished Alex walked in the door. �Why are you guys sitting around? We need to go.� Alex scolded. �Yes ma�am.� Chris replied. In a kill-two-bird-with-one-stone sort of move, Chris moved to grab Alex�s hand and dipped her. �You�re all sweaty! Get off me!� Alex yelled, laughing. �Care to help me wash it off?� Chris asked wiggling his eyebrows. Alex pushed him, as she straightens up. �Don�t make me ill.� she responded crossing her eyes, and sticking out her tongue. Alex turned her back to him, to pack her things. She couldn�t see the daggers Paul was staring at Chris, who had a shit-eating grin on his face as he headed for the shower. |