“I’m just warning you, Camille,” Stephanie McMahon paused on the steps leading up to the entrance of the sprawling McMahon mansion, “that Dad and Shane will be home for the next week or so. The federation have a couple of shows near here, so we’ll be staying here for about a week.”
 
 “Great,” I said dryly. “Shane and I have a lot of catching up to do.” I had known Shane and Stephanie McMahon since high school. We had all attended the same expensive prep school, although Shane was in a higher form than Stephanie and I. I spent most holidays with the McMahons, at their home in Greenwich, Connecticut. I disliked going to my house during holidays, because it seemed so cold and empty – it was the same in every one of my family’s four holiday homes around the world. They were all large, luxurious and beautiful, but they were so far removed from the lifestyle I wanted. The houses were more suited to my parents, who lived the high society, posh, snobby lifestyle. The fact that my parents were never in the same house together didn’t help either. I prefer not to choose between them, so instead I stayed with the McMahons, back when I was at school.
 
 The McMahons were more of a family to me than my own anyway. Stephanie had been my best friend all through school, and I thought of Linda as a mother. I was slightly intimidated by Vince, but he was hardly ever home, and when he was he was always kind and fatherly to me. Shane was another story however. He had always acted like an older brother to me, and treated me exactly the way he treated Stephanie. He suffocated and controlled both of us. During high school he and his group of followers, sorry, ‘friends’ had done everything in their power to keep Stephanie and me away from ‘unsuitable’ friends and boyfriends. To Shane, unsuitable meant anyone who was worse off than us. And as my father was one of the richest men in the US, and I’m the sole heir to his fortune, this stipulation of Shane’s was a hard one to live by. There were few in the posh school, let alone outside it, who lived up to Shane’s expectations. If Stephanie and I did go against Shane’s wishes, Shane and his friends would beat up the offending boy, as was usually the case.
 
 It got better once Shane finished school and went to work with his father in their company, the World Wrestling Federation. When he started working he didn’t have time to keep such a close eye on Stephanie and my affairs, as the family business took up most of his time. Vince, Linda, Shane and Stephanie all own an equal share of the company, and one day Shane and Stephanie will both own half. Initially Shane started off working at the WWF headquarters, in an office. He soon became bored of that however, and decided he wanted to take a more hands on approach. So about a year ago he started training to become a wrestler. The problem was he didn’t have the natural ability that he expected to just appear. He didn’t have the patience to complete the training course, and therefore he wasn’t nearly as skilled as the other wrestlers. Not that it really mattered, seeing as Shane hardly ever wrestled, and when he did he relied on the help of his friends. As it had been at school, Shane was all talk, and used his friends to do his dirty work.
 
 But now it was different from being at school. Shane’s peers are now a whole lot bigger and more physically powerful than he is. Most of the wrestlers had taken a dislike to Shane from the start. He was just a little upstart who had never worked a day for anything in his whole life.
 
 That’s how they would see me, I thought to myself. I know that I had been spoilt as a child, and given everything that I had wanted or demanded. I realise that however, and Shane doesn’t. Stephanie and I are different to Shane in that we see the error of our ways, and are willing to change our attitudes. I had worked hard after I left school, and I was now one of the top catwalk models in the world. Of course, the fact that my dad is who he is didn’t hinder my success, as I had been in the spotlight my whole life. But it wasn’t as though my modelling career had been handed to me, as Shane’s wrestling career had been to him. Nothing anyone said could stop Shane. His wrestling personality was so similar to his real personality; it was easy to see why he was a ‘heel’, or a bad guy within the Federation. The times when I occasionally switched on to see the program, the crowd was always booing him. Now I know it might just be that Stephanie and I might be bad judges of character, but it’s unlikely that the millions…and millions of the WWF fans could be wrong. Ah the Rock, I thought to myself. He was my favourite character in the WWF, he managed to be so funny but still take himself so seriously. And best of all, he seemed to enjoy making fun of Shane McMahon more than anyone, even if it was only in the script.
 
 
 “Hello? Anyone here?” Stephanie called out as they walked into the entrance hall. A maid scurried out.
 
 “Mr and Mrs McMahon have gone to the country house for the weekend,” the maid told Stephanie.
 
 “You see the communication breakdown here?” Stephanie said to me. “I go away to see a friend for one day, tell them to stay here, wait until I get back because I have a surprise for them, and what do they do? Run off to the country!”
 
 “I’m sure your Dad needed a rest. I’ll see them when they get back,” I said.
 
 “Well did Shane go with them?” Stephanie asked the maid.
 
 “No, he didn’t,” a voice came from the top of the large circular staircase. I knew instantly, even after a blissful year of not seeing him, that it was Shane’s voice. I looked up to see him give me a friendly smile. “I thought I’d wait to see what the surprise was. Hello Camille.”
 
 “Hi Shane. How are you?” I smiled sweetly. Two can play at this game, I thought. If he was going to be nice and sweet, I’d be nicer, and sweeter.
 
 “I’m great. I haven’t seen you in so long. We’ve missed you. Stephanie has been so lonely without you. So have I,” he said, walking down the stairs. He missed me? Missed what, beating up my boyfriends? But it was true, I missed the McMahon family too while I was away overseas without Stephanie. Stephanie had decided to take a similar path to Shane’s, and became involved with the WWF.

  “It’s good to see you again,” I said cautiously. He stepped off the bottom stair and walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me in a brotherly bear hug. I hugged back. Maybe I had judged him too soon, on how he used to be. Maybe he had changed?

  “Take the bags up to Camille’s old room,” Stephanie ordered the chauffeur. She turned around to look at Shane and I, and laughed as I made a face at her over his shoulder. She knew exactly what the face meant – what happened to him?
 
 “Come one, Cam, I’ll take you up to your old room. It’s just like you left it, the one next to mine. I’ll show you where it is, just in case you’ve forgotten after so long,” she said, smilingly trying to stifle her laughter at her older brother’s change of character and my amazement at it. She grabbed my hand and took off up the stairs at a run, dragging me behind her.
 
 “Camille!” Shane called. I stopped and turned around at the curve of the stairs.

    “Yes?”
    “How long are you staying?”
    “I don’t know. As long as you’ll have me,” I smiled, as Stephanie tugged at my hand and we flew up the stairs.

 
“What was that?” I asked her as we flopped on my bed, laughing.

  “Looks as though Shane has started noticing that you’re not his little sister, but his little sister’s gorgeous friend!” Stephanie teased. I made a face at her and we both broke into giggles again.
 
 “I guess I should have warned you about him. None have us have seen you for so long though! Except of course in magazines and on television,” Stephanie said. I laughed.
 
 “That’s where I’ve seen all of you, as well. Why do you need to warn me about Shane? What’s he done this time?” I sighed.
 “It’s really quite hilarious,” Stephanie started laughing, “but I think Shane has finally realised what a stunner you are. Took him long enough. While all the guys at school were drooling over you, he went out of his way to not notice you as a female, but merely a possession, a little sister. Now that the whole world is in love with you, I’m afraid he might be as well.”
 
  I stared at Stephanie, a look of amused amazement dancing on my face. She burst out laughing at my shock. “Shane likes me? That’s ridiculous! All through school I looked up to him, I even had a little crush on him! And he made my life hell! And now, he’s in love with me? You have GOT to be JOKING!” I pretended to be disgusted, but failed as the hilarity of the situation took over, and I started giggling.
 
“I’m not,” Stephanie gasped, “he talks about you all the time to his friends, and to the wrestlers. He acts as if you two were best friends in high school or something!”
 
“It’s cute though, you’ve got to admit,” I told her.
 
 “You’ve forgotten what he was like, haven’t you? Then again, you’ve always had a crush on him! I guess I’ll just have to re-educate you,” Stephanie said.
 
“It’s your fault I’m so clueless in the ways of Shane though, you didn’t reply to my letters!” I told her jokingly. I didn’t really mind, I knew she was as busy as I was. I at least had time to write during fashion shows while getting my hair and makeup done.
 
“What letters? I never got any letters from you! Only this last one, when I wrote back inviting you here to stay,” Stephanie said, confused.
 
 “I wonder what happened to them all? I wrote to you once a month. I hope no one else got them! I had some very naughty gossip in there about all the supermodels… and also stuff about your program,” I told her. Stephanie’s brow furrowed.
 
 “I wonder what could’ve happened to them?” she said.
 
 “It doesn’t really matter, I’m here now,” I smiled. She leaned over and hugged me.
 
“What do you want to do tonight?” she asked.
 
“Haven’t you got a taping to do? I’ve seen you on RAW a couple of times,” I poked her.
 
“You have time to watch little old me on TV in your hectic supermodel schedule? Well I have a taping tomorrow if you want to come along. I’m sure all the guys would love a visit from the famous Camille,” she teased back.
 
 “I’d love to. And of course I have time for you – you’re my best friend, I’ll never be too busy for you! And of course, I couldn’t help but notice some of those guys are really cute!”
 
 “Aren’t they? Most of them are really nice as well. At the moment I’m working on an angle with Andrew Martin – he plays Test. He’s so sweet,” she said, with a strange little smile. I could tell she had fallen hard for this one.
 
“Sweet, eh? I’m guessing he’s more than just sweet, from that dopey look on your face!” I told her. “He’s that tall blond one isn’t he?”
 
“Yes, he’s gorgeous, I admit it. And I get to spend a lot of time with him, you know, to practise and stuff,” she smiled secretly.
 
 “Practise and stuff? What stuff?” I asked suspiciously, knowing exactly what ‘stuff’. Stephanie got off the bed and peered around the door, making sure that no one was outside to overhear. Then she closed the door and locked it.
 
“It’s exactly like in the angle on RAW. Except no one knows but Andrew, me and now you. We’re meeting in secret. Well, except when we can see each other in public, when we’re doing a spot for the show. He’s the nicest guy I’ve met in so long. But I know Shane would be so childish about it all, just the way he used to be at school. I’m sure Dad wouldn’t mind. He’d probably see it as a promotion for his storyline. You’ll meet him tomorrow, then you’ll see what I mean,” she said gleefully.
 
“I’ve never seen you so silly over a guy before! He must be really amazing,” I shook my head at her, smiling.
 
“Oh he is! But hands off, Miss Supermodel-I-only-need-one-name! He’s mine, I saw him first!” she teased. It was true, I had dropped my parent’s last name, and my professional name was simply Camille. But it wasn’t for pretentious reasons, simply because I didn’t want to live under the shadow of my family’s fame.
 
“Stephanie, you know I wouldn’t touch him! It’s the golden rule of girlfriends.”
 
“I know you wouldn’t. I just hope he can keep his hands off you!” she said, slightly more seriously.
 
“It sounds as if you two have something really good going. I’m sure he wouldn’t give up something real and true for something like me, an illusion. You’re more part of his world, being in the WWF and all, than I ever will be. If he doesn’t realise that, I’ll help you beat him good!”
 
 “So that’s why they call you guys SUPERmodels! As in superman? I’ve always wondered about that,” she laughed.
 
 “Oh, ha ha ha! That’s what I get for being a good friend! Get out of here, and let me get settled,” I laughed.
 
 “Alright, get changed and we’ll go out to dinner and go clubbing or something. I’ll send a maid up soon to unpack your clothes,” she said as she smiled, closing the door. I fell back on to the bed, bouncing gently, my long, thick dark brown hair fanning out around my head. Phew, I thought, Stephanie really could wear a person out!
 
 After new clothes and fresh make-up however, I was feeling refreshed and ready to party. I walked out to Stephanie’s room and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, I pushed her door open. On her bed was a note telling me she was in the kitchen. We always left each other notes like this, as it was impossible to find each other in the huge house without exact locations. The house that had been used on RAW when one of the wrestlers had ‘abducted’ Stephanie was not the McMahon’s real house, of course. Their real house was much larger and more extravagant.
 
 It was already 6pm when I walked down the stairs, smoothing the creases from my recently packed clothes. I could have asked the maid to iron them, but I didn’t really see the point. We were only going clubbing, and I had chosen a rather staid outfit. The knee-length light blue skirt and low-cut light blue midriff top wouldn’t stay creased for long anyway, as they were tight fitting and clung to my curves.
 
 “Steph?” I said as I entered the kitchen.
 
 “I’m here,” she called from inside the walk-in pantry. She walked out carrying packets upon packets of microwave popcorn.
 
“What’s that for? I thought we were going out,” I asked her.
 
 “We are. Shane however is not, and he’s having friends around. It’s the cook’s weekend off, and Shane asked if I would do something about snacks…and the only thing I know how to make is microwave popcorn, so…” Stephanie shrugged and dumped the packets on the bench.
 
 “And they say the rich are privileged! Luckily, I like to think of myself as a good cook, so I will take it upon myself to try and provide you with some skills,” I smiled graciously, then laughed.
 
“Where did you learn to cook?” Stephanie asked curiously.
 
“Um, Paris, of all places! Lucky me, my boyfriend was talented in the kitchen in more ways than one!” I winked at her.
 
 “And what talent would that be?” Shane asked, entering the kitchen.
 
“Oh you know, cooking…” I said sweetly, turning around to greet him.
 
“Cam’s going to teach me how to cook,” Stephanie told Shane.
 
“Great,” said Shane, “now maybe we can eat something other than popcorn on Cook’s day off.”
 
“You may as well learn too, Shane,” I touched his arm, teasingly. “We can’t have this household becoming too male-dominant now, can we?”
 
“Alright, what are we going to make?” Shane asked, surprisingly agreeable for once. I turned to Stephanie and raised an eyebrow behind Shane’s back. She laughed quietly.
 
“What do you want to make? It’s you and your friends who will have to eat it,” I told him.
 
“What do you suggest?” he asked me.
 
“Let’s make tarts – they’re fun and yummy,” I suggested.
 
“Ok, what do we do?” Stephanie asked.
 
“Well first, put all these popcorn packets away, would you!”

 By the time we finished cooking an array of lemon, strawberry and pecan pies, it was 9pm, and time for Shane’s friends to start arriving. The cooking session was largely uneventful, other than Stephanie being absolutely hopeless at cooking and Shane being the exact opposite: he was impressive to say the least. Throughout the duration of the cooking Shane was constantly finding a way to brush hands with me, or to slide narrowly past me in the large kitchen. I didn’t really mind at all. It was my teen fantasy, for god’s sake!
 
 At exactly ten past nine on the dot, Shane’s friends started arriving. His ‘real’ friends, that is the ones who weren’t part of his ‘Mean Street Posse’ on RAW, arrived first. Stephanie and I went upstairs as soon as the doorbell started ringing, on Stephanie’s insistence. She explained that she had some not so favourable ‘history’ with one of Shane’s friends, an old school friend in fact, and preferred to keep out of his way.
 
“Now that’s one of the storylines on RAW,” Stephanie told me. “Dad seems to include our personal lives constantly in WWF angles. I guess it does make them more realistic, and it’s the price we pay for fame, but it’s such an invasion.”
 
I nodded sympathetically as we watched Shane’s friends stream in. Stephanie pointed out and named all of them for me. There were 12 in total, all young, rich and male. It was most definitely a ‘boy’s club’.
 
There were seven young men who went to school with Shane, and now worked in their family’s companies, making tens of millions each year. Then there was Pete Gas, Rodney and Joey Abs of Shane’s WWF Mean Street Posse, and lastly two famous basketball players who Shane had befriended when they were invited backstage at RAW.
 
I didn’t particularly want to meet any of them, and Stephanie didn’t want to run the risk of maybe bumping into Harvey Lane, the young man who she used to be involved with, so we decided to wait a while before venturing downstairs to go out.
We used our time in the bathroom, touching up our makeup and fixing our hair. Stephanie was wearing a pair of black capri pants and a square neck low-cut red singlet with red straps on each hip, holding the front and back of the singlet together. Her shoes were killers, the same red as her top, with high, high heels. I convinced her to wear her hair up, and she looked stunning. I decided to stick with the same light blue outfit as before, and added a choker made of light blue gemstones threaded haphazardly onto two strands of silver wire to top the outfit off. I left my long hair down, so it swayed when I walked, brushing against the bare skin at the small of my back. My shoes were light blue, with a cute kitten heel.
 
 “Do you think it’s safe to escape yet?” I whispered as we slowly and quietly descended the stairs.
 
“Sure, they’ll be in the cinema by now, yelling and cursing at whatever sport they are watching tonight,” she whispered back.
 
“Then why are we whispering?”
 
“I don’t know. Let’s go have some pie before we go. That way we can just go straight to the club,” she suggested. We chose a lemon pie, and had a slice each. Just as Stephanie was dumping the plates in the sink, Shane entered the kitchen with a friend whom I was sure I recognised.
 
“Stephanie, Camille. I’m glad you’re still here,” Shane smiled.
 
“Hey Stephanie,” Shane’s friend smiled, turning to me and holding out his hand. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure. Daniel Klein.”
 
 There it was, Daniel Klein. That was the name that was on the tip of my tongue. He had been in Shane’s form at school, his class captain. “Camille,” I smiled dazzlingly. He hadn’t known I was alive at high school, now he was slobbering all over my hand. There were down sides to fame, but nothing compared to the upsides.
 
“We should really get going, Cam, it’s 10pm already,” Stephanie excused us.
 
 “You aren’t going to stay?” Daniel looked crushed. “I might see you round then?”
 
“Maybe…” I said vaguely to his hopeful face. “Byebye.”
 
“See you later Shane,” Stephanie called over her shoulder as we exited.

 “Oww,” I groaned as the clouds in my brain cleared and my eyes blinked open. I sat up slowly in the over-sized bed. It didn’t usually take me long to get over hangovers. With the crowd I usually hung out with, that was just as well.
 
 I pushed the sheets back with my legs and crawled over to the side of the bed closest to the bathroom. Slowly standing up, blackness clouded my vision temporarily as I staggered into my adjoining bathroom with waves of nausea invading my stomach. I took an aspirin, turned the shower on and sat underneath it until my head had cleared and the nausea was gone.
 
Stephanie and I had just experienced the wildest night we had had together in a long time. The night began at a small club called Henry’s, where we had a competition to find out who could knock back the most shot glasses of bourbon. Stephanie won, by a small margin, because I decided that we shouldn’t get too trashed if we wanted to last out the rest of the night. After Henry’s we moved onto another cooler, younger club called Metro. It was there we danced the night away, well at least until 2am, being picked up by all sorts of men (all of whom we refused, as per an agreement we made to stick together at the beginning of the night). We didn’t however refuse the drinks that were bought for us. By the time we got to the third club, a quieter, more relaxed joint called Shadows, Stephanie was barely standing, intelligible, and for me the world was spinning. However, we entered the club and I found a couch on which to put Stephanie. I went to the bar to get her a glass of water and myself another drink, and when I got back there was a man sitting with her, talking. He was about the same height as me, six foot, with shoulder length brown hair and cute puppy dog eyes. It looked as if she knew him.
 
“Camille,” she slurred, “this is Seanie…he works for Daddy.”
 
“Sean,” he smiled, extending his hand for me to shake. I smiled back and shook it. His grip was strong
 
“So you’re a wrestler?” I asked, sitting on the other side of Stephanie, propping her up.
 
“Yep. And you’re a supermodel. I’ve seen you in magazines,” he smiled. I never knew what to say to something like that. So I smiled and nodded politely.
 
“So you’re staying with the McMahon’s for a while?”
 
“Yes, I’m not sure how long. As long as they’ll have me. I just need a break from my life for a while,” I told him. It was the truth. I couldn’t handle the cattiness, the gossip or the bitching of my world any longer, and I needed a rest.
 
 “I know how that feels. I could do with a break myself.”
 
“I guess your business is worse than mine in that respect, with the physical strain and the danger of being injured all the time,” I said. At that Stephanie murmured her agreement, and her head lolled to the side almost comically.
 
“What have you done to her?” he asked.
 
“I guess she’s just not used to partying as hard as I am,” I smiled wickedly at him. “I should probably take her home, or Shane will kill me.”
 
“Here, let me help you,” he said, picking her up gently and carrying her out to the limo. He placed her inside as the driver opened the door.
 
“Nice to meet you, Sean. I might see you tomorrow,” I smiled.
 
“You’re coming to the taping?”
 
“Yes, it sounds like fun. I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to meet all the other wrestlers. If they’re all as nice as you it should be a great day,” I said.
 
“I’m sure they can’t wait to meet you either. Well, they won’t be able to when I tell them. But I think you’ll be disappointed. I’m afraid I’m just about the nicest guy you’ll meet at the WWF,” he said jokingly.
 
 “See you tomorrow Sean,” I took his hand as he helped me into the limo.
 
 I got out of the shower and blow-dried my long thick hair. It was the first thing I did every morning after my shower, and it usually took a little less than forty-five minutes. But it was the price I paid for beauty. I usually went fresh-faced during the day, unless I was doing a show, because it was my job to wear makeup. When I wasn’t working, I didn’t see the point. I simply applied sunscreen and colourless lip-gloss, and curled my eyelashes.
 
 By the time I had finished my morning beauty routine, I felt refreshed and ready to start the day. I couldn’t wait to meet all the wrestlers I’d seen on television in person. I decided to go very casual for the day, and wore very short white shorts, a white halter-top and sandshoes. I felt sporty and summery, to say the least. To complete the outfit I put my hair in two long plaits with a daisy on the end of each, and a spray of Charlie Red perfume.
 
 Now to see if my partner in crime was still alive. We arrived home last night to find Shane still up. I suspected he had been waiting for us, and told him so, but he had denied it vehemently. Stephanie was well and truly unconscious by this time, so it was lucky Shane was up, because I didn’t think the old driver would have made it up the stairs. Shane carried Stephanie up to bed, and after making sure she was ok, left her in my care. He didn’t say anything to me about it, but the look on his face was more than enough. He was clearly amused. This was a change in attitude! If we had done that a year ago, we would have had to endure a lecture from him. But no, he just smiled and hugged me.
 
 “I glad you’re back, Cam,” he said, and kissed the top of my head, “Goodnight.”
 
Relieved and also captivated by this new Shane, I put Stephanie in her pyjamas and tucked her in. She mumbled something intelligible, and went straight to sleep.
 
 “Night, Steph,” I smiled.

 “Stephanie? Rise and shine, sunshine!” I said brightly, walking into her room and drawing the heavy curtains to reveal the blinding sunlight.
 
 “Meh,” she mumbled. “Go away.”
 
“Honey, it’s ten am already! Didn’t you say we had to be at the arena by eleven?”
 
“Mmm,” she nodded, pulling the sheets over her head to block the sunlight.
 
“Get up!” I got hold of an arm that was poking out from under the sheet and pulled her out of bed and on to the floor.
 
“Please,” she moaned. “My head is killing me. I cannot go out today. I can’t do anything today. Please don’t make me!”
 
“Get in the shower. You’ll feel so much better. I’m going downstairs to make breakfast, it’ll be ready by the time you are. And I’ll mix you up a sure-fire hangover cure,” I told her, taking charge. She groaned and somehow managed to crawl into her ensuite bathroom. I waited until I heard the shower running and then went down to the kitchen.
 
The kitchen was spotlessly clean. The McMahons obviously had very good help, because when we left last night it was one giant mess. And it would have gotten worse as the night wore on, with Shane and his friends coming in and out. Thankful I didn’t have to do any cleaning up, as I had become accustomed to doing in my own apartment in Paris, I opened the large fridge. Eggs, milk. Then to the pantry. Flour. I started mixing up the ingredients for crepes.
 
“Morning. How are you this morning?” Shane smiled wickedly.
 
“Better than Stephanie,” I laughed. He approached the bench where I had placed the bowl of ingredients. “Do you know where the mixer is?”
 
“Umm…no,” he admitted, and started searching the cupboards. “What are you making?”
 
“Crepes. Ah, here it is,” I said, triumphantly pulling the mixer out of a low cupboard. “I’m sorry if we kept you up last night.”
 
 “You didn’t, really. My last guest left only fifteen minutes before you two fell in the door,” he laughed. “How is Stephanie anyway?”
 
“She’ll live. Just,” I smiled at him across the bench.
 
“So you’re coming to the run-through today?” he asked.
 
“Yes, if that’s alright.”
 
“Of course. And you’ll stay for the taping tonight? There’s only half an hour between the run through and the taping, so you may as well stay,” he told me.
 
“Great.”
 
 “And then we can go out for a drink afterwards,” he said, waiting for a response.
 
“You mean with the Stephanie, and the wrestlers?” I asked, knowing full well that that wasn’t what he meant.
 
“No, I mean me and you. Just me and you.”
 
 “Like, a date?” I smiled, making it painful for him.
 
“Yeah, a date,” he laughed, realising what I was doing.
 
 “Ok, why not. What time does the taping finish?” I asked.
 
 “About 11pm. Bring a change of clothes,” he told me. “You can get changed in Stephanie’s dressing room.”
 
 “Where are we going?”
 
 “It’s a surprise. But wear something formal,” he said.
 
“Ok. Could you set the table for me please?” I said, changing the topic smoothly. “And could you check that there is maple syrup in the pantry?”
 
 I heated the pan as he went about fulfilling my orders obediently. While I waited for the pan to heat, I went to the bottom of the stairs and called for Stephanie.
 
 “Stephanie! Hurry up!”
 
 “I’m here, it’s alright,” she smiled dazzlingly from the top of the stairs. But then straightaway frowned, as her hand went to her head. “Ouch.”
 
 “I’m going to take my Jag,” Shane said, “if you two want to come with me.”
 
 “That’s alright, we’ll take the limo” I said, answering for both of us. I gave my bag packed with a change of clothes to the driver and pulled Stephanie into the limo before she could question the bag.
 
 “What’s the bag for,” she asked, as I had anticipated. I gave her an evil smile.
 
 “Guess who has a date tonight after the taping,” I teased.
 
 “With who? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
 
 “None other than your older brother,” I told her, “and he only just asked me before breakfast.”
 
 “Wow. You’re dating Shane? That’s just bizarre,” she shook her head, smiling.
 
 “Oh shut up! He’s cute. And he seems to have changed for the better, since I last saw him,” I told her, playfully punching her gently on the arm.
 
 “Hey watchout, I’m the big wrestling star remember! Which reminds me, I’m going out with Andrew after the taping too. That’s lucky, now you can keep Shane busy for me,” she poked me back.
 
 “Let’s hope so,” I smiled and raised my eyebrow seductively.