Amy was not surprised when she was called into Stephanie McMahon's office regarding her actions.  She recalled the meeting as she reflected on the entire mess...

"Amy...Thank you for coming so soon," Stephanie said.  "I heard about your 'little disagreement' with Miss Torrie Wilson the other day...would you care to tell me about it?"

The redhead rolled her eyes heavenward, sighed and said, "She slapped me, so I hit her back - it's as simple as that."

Stephanie crossed her arms under her breasts as she regarded the other woman.  "Yes, that is what I've heard...Look, Amy," the brunette continued, "in the interest of fairness, I decided to hear from you first - I know you - you're a sensible person, well-liked around here, and you don't go starting fights.  I trust you...would you please tell me what this fight was all about?  Why did Torrie slap you in the first place?"

"It all started when I heard her saying awful things about one of my closest friends - Adam," Amy explained.

Stephanie perked up a bit, her right eyebrow raising with this interesting piece of news.

"...and when I told her I'd heard everything she'd said, she got really obnoxious...The next thing I knew, she was up in my face, and that's when she slapped me."

"Okay," the boss' daughter said with a nod.  "I understand why you hit her then.  But please, Amy...the next time something like this happens, come to me or my dad or Shane first..."

Whoa, not Shane! the redhead thought.  Everyone knew that Stephanie's brother was absolutely smitted with Torrie - even though she'd dropped him like yesterday's garbage after only a month of dating him.

"...one of us will then speak to Torrie, and she will end up justly punished," Stephanie continued.

"All right...I understand.  I'll keep that in mind," Amy replied.

"Good...Thank you again for meeting with me...You're free to go now."

Amy was surprised as she started to leave.  Then, turning back to the brunette, she asked, "That's it?  I mean...I'm not going to be punished for my actions or anything?"

"No, you won't," Stephanie promised.  "You were in the right.  But Torrie Wilson - oh, believe me when I say she will be."

The redhead nodded, arching an eyebrow.  "Okay...Thanks, Steph."

"No problem...again, thank you."

Amy stepped out of the room and made her way down the hallway.  She wondered what kind of consequences Torrie would be made to suffer.

*

Although Adam was fine, he was supposed to be out of the spotlight for two weeks.  The idea was that, after Christian's unexpected attack on him on RAW, Edge was out of commission, injured by the one-man conchairto to the head.  He would return to attack his little brother two weeks to the day on RAW, when Christian would be facing Tajiri - whom, incidentally, now had Torrie Wilson in his corner.

Although he didn't have a match scheduled for another week yet, Adam was still on hand.  He stayed in the locker room and watched his friend's matches.

Of course, he too had heard about Amy's fight with Torrie.  Although he'd known the redhead didn't like the other woman, he wondered about that.  He knew Amy so well - despite her fiery nature, she was not the type of person to pick fights - not even with someone she loathed as much as Torrie.  He figured either one of two things had happened - Torrie hit her first, or else she'd said or done something to provoke Amy.

He hadn't seen or even spoken to her much the previous week, as his schedule had him doing one appearance after another while he was not wrestling.  He and Amy had spoken a handful of times on the phone, but the conversations never got too far.  He decided to go seek her out now, knowing they both had time to kill at the very moment.

Adam left the deserted room and walked down the hall to the locker room he knew Amy was sharing with Trish and Stacy.  He stood just outside the door for a brief moment, noting how quiet it sounded, then knocked.

Within the room, Amy looked up from the magazine through which she'd been skimming.  "It's open!"

As Adam stepped into the room, the redhead put the magazine down, her eyes locked on his.

"Hi..."

"Hi, Amy..."  He easily saw that she was alone, Trish and Stacy nowhere in sight.  He slid beside her on the small couch on which she sat.  He decided to just take the plunge rather than beat around the bush.  "...I heard about you and Torrie."

"Oh..."  Amy blushed and nervously shoved some of her red hair behind one ear.  By now, this subject embarrassed her, but she was not sorry for punching Torrie out.  She glanced away from the blond's eyes.

"Did you get into trouble over it?" Adam asked, wanting more than anything to grab hold of her hand.  He could see how ashamed she seemed to be of the incident.

"No...I lucked out in that I was summoned to see Stephanie," the diva replied.  "If it had been Vince, I probably would have been fined or suspended."

The tall Canadian nodded his agreement.  After a moment of silence, he spoke again.  "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course..."

"What was that fight all about?"

Amy looked up, instantly meeting his eyes.  She bit her lip, then looked away in her further embarrassment.  "Actually, it was about you..."

Adam was dumbfounded.  "Me?"

"Yeah," Amy said as she turned back to face him.  "She was talking to Billy Kidman in a very loud voice about how happy she was that Jay hit you with that chair on RAW last week..."  She gestured wildly with both hands, becoming extremely animated as she relayed the news to him.

Adam's eyebrows quirked upward as she continued.

"...and she even said you must be gay for rejecting her..."  That brought them to another embarrassing topic, but this time it was Adam's turn to blush.

"Great...just great," he muttered.

"Anyway, I got fed up with the bitch and told her to shut up - because you're my friend..."

Adam looked up and met her eyes upon that last word.  There it was again.

"...and then, she slapped me!  That was the last straw!" the redhead exclaimed.

"So, that's why I keep hearing everyone say she has a black eye."

"Right - I gave it to her..."  After a moment, Amy studied him intently, then asked, "Did Torrie really do what she said she did?  Get into your room when you weren't there and...offer herself to you?"

Adam sighed and ran a hand through his long hair.  Amy was the last person whom he would ever want to know about this.

"Yeah," he admitted reluctantly.  "It was the night of SummerSlam, when I won the Intercontinental title...I walked into my hotel room and found her in my bed, wearing nothing but really cheesy lingerie and that cheesy smile of hers.  And she had a bottle of champagne, too - to 'celebrate.'"

Amy pondered this for a moment, thoughtfully chewing on the inside of her cheek, her eyes downcast.  "So, she did try to seduce you..."

"Yes, she did...but it didn't work.  It could never work," the blond man stated firmly.  "There is nothing about that woman that I like - and as I told you not too long ago, Ames, I literally want no part of her..."

The redhead was silent for another moment as she absorbed his words.  Then, "That's good to know..."  She gazed at him without adding anymore to that statement.

Adam stared into Amy's beautiful hazel eyes, wondering exactly what she meant by her last words - or whether they did contain a hidden or not-so-hidden meaning.  He considered questioning her about it right then-

But they were both startled as Stacy and Trish suddenly entered the room, laughing noisily.  From what he gathered in their playful, girlish banter, they apparently had just come back from visiting Ivory - Lisa Moretti - and the older diva had told them a hilarious story.

"Oh...hi, Adam," Trish said when she suddenly realized he was there.

"Hi," Stacy quipped.

"Hey, ladies," he said with a small smile, though he was actually disappointed they had chosen that moment to return to their locker room.

"Well, I'd better get ready for my match," Trish said.  "Sorry, Amy - but I'm gonna have to kick Adam out for now."

"That's okay," Adam said as Amy simply gazed at him.  He stood up and faced her again for a beat.  "We'll talk more later."

"Okay," the redhead replied softly, a gentle expression on her lovely face.

After the blond man was gone, Amy sighed unhappily.  Trish and Stacy laughed and talked, but she didn't pay any attention to them.  Her thoughts were too focused on her tall Canadian friend.

"Amy...are you okay?"

The redhead looked up to see Stacy looking down at her with concern.  The tall blonde placed one hand on her shoulder as she met her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Stace..."  As much as she liked Stacy Keibler, as sweet as she was, and as good as she was for Matt, Amy found the girl a little clueless.  She glanced over at Trish, who had just finished dressing in her in-ring gear.

"Ames, you haven't been yourself lately," the petite blonde said with concern.  "It's Adam, isn't it?"

One thing about Trish Stratus was that she was extremely intelligent and very perceptive.  "Well...you can say that," she admitted.  Although Trish and Stacy were her friends, she didn't quite feel comfortable talking to them about this.  Maybe she should go look for Chris.  He was the easiest to talk to - she thought it might be because of the conversation they'd had back in the summer, when she'd confessed her feelings of anger and jealousy whenever she spotted Torrie Wilson with Adam.

Amy stood up, wanting to run out of the room.  "I...well, you guys know how I feel about Torrie Wilson...We were just discussing that when you walked in.  That's all," she said quickly.

Trish arched an eyebrow.  "Oh...I thought maybe there was more to it than that."

"No...guys, I'll be back.  I want to go talk to Chris."

After the two blondes bid her "see you laters," Amy slipped out into the hall and walked to the blond man's locker room.

"Hi," she said a moment later, as he held the door open and looked out.  "I need to talk to you..."

*

After fifteen minutes, Chris Jericho nodded, a serious expression on his face as he listened to his friend continue her admissions.

"So...I don't see what the problem is, Ames...why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

Amy winced and threw her hands up.  "Because...because I'm scared, Chris...there, I admit it.  I'm scared to death that he'll reject me.  Let's face it, I'm not exactly the kind of girl guys fall head over heels for.  I know I'm attractive, but I've always been a tomboy - not exactly the type you guys dream about.  To all of you, I'm just one of the guys...And with his looks and personality, he can have any woman he wants.  Why would he ever want me?"  She felt like crying as she banged a hand on the leather couch upon which she sat.

Chris stared at Amy.  Was she really that insecure?  He felt skeptical about it, yet here she was, pouring out all of her fears to him.  He thought she was dead wrong - she was beautiful, and she was the kind of girl men fell for - at the drop of a hat.  One glimpse of her smile and a peek into her sunny nature could melt any guy's heart.  In fact, when they'd first met, he had considered asking her out, but he'd thought she would reject him.  Later on, he realized that the two of them would be better off as only friends anyway.  Besides, Chris knew early on that the redhead's heart was elsewhere.  He'd seen the way she looked at Adam - when the tall blond was around, it was as if no one else was in the room.

"Amy, listen to me," Chris said as he sat beside his worried friend.  He turned her face so that she was looking directly into his eyes.  Hazel met crystal blue, and he said, "Didn't I tell you back in July that you were in love with Adam?"

"Y-yes..."

"You have nothing to lose, Ames...talk to him.  Swallow your fears and talk to him."

The redhead swallowed hard, her eyes welling up slightly with tears.  Her vision blurred as she continued to look into Chris' face.  How wrong he was - she had everything to lose - because Adam's friendship was everything to her.