"They're finally here," he said to the others at the table at which he was sitting.  Stephanie, who was sitting beside him, glanced in the direction the man was staring.  Matt and Stacy, seated directly across from them, turned their heads and waved at their friends.

"Hey!" Jericho called as he stood up and waved them over.

Amy's gaze fixed momentarily on the brunette at Chris' right side.  "Oh, no," she murmured, and Adam, beside her, glanced at her questioningly.

"What's wrong?"

"Jeez...Stephanie is here," she said in a loud whisper, as there was music blasting throughout the place.  "I never thought of her..."

"So?"  The tall blond man shrugged.

"Umm...Does the name Joanie Laurer ring a bell?  Paul Levesque, perhaps?  Or the fact that Paul basically dumped Joanie for Stephanie?"  The redhead gazed up at him worriedly.

"Oh...oh, yeah," he replied.  "Oh, no..."

"God, this is going to be awkward," Amy said.  She'd already called the other woman's cell phone, giving her the directions Adam had mapped out for her.

"Why don't you call her back and tell her Stephanie's here?" the Canadian suggested.

"What's going on, you two?" Jay suddenly asked as he stopped in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder at them.  His right hand was gripping Trish's left tightly, and the petite blonde looked behind her at their friends as well.

"Nothing you have to worry about," Adam replied.  "But there might be a problem - Stephanie is here, and Joanie said she'd meet us all here later."

"Yikes," Trish said, making a face.

"Oh, boy..." the shorter of the two men muttered.

"Let's just go over there already," Amy said, putting her hands up in front of her.  "Chris is going nuts trying to get our attention."

"Shouldn't one of us say something to him about the potential dilemma?" the blonde diva asked.

"I guess so...I'll mention it to him," the redhead promised.

As they made their way to the table, they noticed Jeff dancing wildly on the dance floor with two girls.  Shane Helms, Shannon Moore and Drew were all at the bar.

"The center of attention as always," Matt said with a chuckle as he noticed them eyeing his sibling.  "That's Jeffrey Hardy, my little brother."

Amy glanced past Jericho over at the young woman next to him.

"Hi, Stephanie."

"Hi, Amy," she replied with a smile.

"I'm surprised you're even out tonight," Adam said to the brunette as he sat down beside the redhead.  "That was some Pedigree you took tonight!"

At the end of the main event match, Triple H had finally gotten Stephanie where he wanted her - she had entered the ring with a chair to attack her soon-to-be ex-husband, but the tables had turned.  With Jericho out of the way and out of the ring, The Game had grabbed The Billion Dollar Princess, and the woman got Pedigreed for her troubles.

"Yeah...well, I am a little bit sore, but...I didn't feel like staying in tonight.  Besides," the brunette admitted, "Paul and I had a fight."

The tall blond man and Amy exchanged glances, but beside Stephanie, Chris spoke up.

"You didn't tell me that."

She shrugged.  "I didn't want to spoil the fun evening."

"Well, it seems like every time you mention him lately, you guys have always had a fight," Jericho said, concern on his face.

"We have our ups and downs," Stephanie said.

"Chris," Amy said, "would you dance with me?"

Adam turned his head to gaze at her with disappointment.  He'd wanted the first dance with her - but then, he realized the diva was probably going to tell him about Joanie, which had to be why she wasn't wasting any time to dance with him.

"Sure."

The tallest blond man at the table watched them, his gaze following the redhead and Chris to the dance floor.  Then, he realized that Matt and Stacy and Jay and Trish had gotten up to dance as well.  Oddly, Adam felt as though he were in a deja-vu from a week earlier, when he and Stephanie had been the only two at the table in another club.

The brunette eyed him from over the glass she held in her left hand.  "You're really crazy about her, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?"  He turned his gaze sharply to the young woman.

Stephanie's lips curled into a knowing smile.  "Amy - you really are crazy for her."

"How...?"  The blond man cut his speech off, again feeling as though in a deja-vu, only this time, he was having this conversation with Stephanie McMahon rather than Chris Jericho.

"Oh, come on, Adam," she said.  "Give me a little credit.  She may be totally oblivious, but I'm not...I see things."  Her smile increased, blooming into a full-fledged grin.  "You're in love with her..."

Adam raked a hand through his long blond hair.  He didn't know how comfortable he felt talking to Stephanie about his feelings for the redhead, as he and the boss' daughter had never been what one could call good friends.  He also realized she was a little tipsy.

"What are you drinking?"

"Oh, this?"  She tilted the glass in her hand a bit, and the little liquid that was left nearly spilled out.  "Scotch on the rocks."

The tall blond arched a brow in surprise.  He'd never guessed Stephanie McMahon would drink hard liquor.

*

"Chris," Amy said as she looked him seriously in his crystal-blue eyes, "we may have a bit of a problem."

"What do you mean?"

The redhead proceeded to explain.  At first, Jericho reacted very favorably to the news that his old friend Joanie was in town, that he'd get to see her - but when he realized the bigger picture, his face fell.

"Oh, God...that could get ugly.  I mean, I know Joanie didn't do anything to Steph back then - even though she would have been justified for it, but...ouch!"

"I didn't know you were going to invite Stephanie out tonight," Amy said apologetically.

"It's okay, Ames...It's not your fault.  It's not mine, either, but...well..."  Chris looked away from her for a moment, his gaze falling on Stephanie before shifting over to the tall blond man seated across from her.  Then, a sly grin forming on his face, he decided to change the subject completely.  He was, after all, here to have fun.

"So...aside from your match tonight - anything new?"

"As a matter of fact - yes," the redhead replied, a small smile playing at her lips.  "I've got myself a secret admirer."

"Really?"

Amy nodded as she kept her eyes on Chris, searching for any signs.  For some reason, she thought he knew about this.  Something in his expression was nagging her so.

"Yeah."

"Cool.  So...what'd he give you?"

"A long-stemmed red rose and a box of Guliyan chocolates," she replied, cocking her head a bit.

"Hmm...you don't say," Jericho said.  "Interesting...so, did he leave you a note?"

"Of course.  In it, he just basically says how special I am to him, and that I'll be hearing from him again soon."

"Ahh..."  Chris glanced away for a beat before shifting his gaze back to her.  "Well, you know...it could be a woman..."

"Eww!  Chris, you're gross!"  She playfully punched him in the arm, but did so hard enough so that it actually hurt a tiny bit.

"Oh, come on, Ames!  That would be so cool, and you know it!"

"Yuk!  Stop it, you perv!" the redhead cried, wrinkling up her nose as she punched him again.

"Ow!  That hurt, you...skank!"

Amy gave him a feigned furious look, but she was giggling all at the same time.  She held her right hand up, balled in a fist as though threatening to hit him again.  "Hey!  Don't make me kick your ass, Junior!"

Jericho roared with laughter.  "Okay!  I surrender!"

She eyed him wordlessly for a moment, biting her lip before speaking again.  "Chris - you knew about this, didn't you?  You already knew about my secret admirer..."

"Huh?  What are you talking about?" the blond asked, looking at her as though what she'd just said was ridiculous.  He didn't want to blow it - after all, he'd made a promise...

"Come on, I can see it in your face.  You knew," the redhead stated, narrowing her hazel eyes a bit.

Chris was quiet for a beat, looking thoughtful.  After a brief debate with himself, he nodded.  "Okay, I'll level with you...No need to worry - I know for a fact that your secret admirer is definitely male."

Amy laughed.  "Oh, good.  Now we're getting somewhere!  So...who is it?" she asked, leaning a bit closer to him as though he would just blurt it out.

"Oh, no you don't," Jericho chastised.  "That's all you're getting out of me, so don't even try...after all, I was nice enough to put your mind at ease by letting you know the sex of this person, wasn't I?"

Amy rolled her eyes, a feeling of excitement running through her.  She almost felt like a kid again, as though she were twelve again and had just found out some boy in school had a crush on her.  Grinning, she said, "Okay, okay...Just answer one more question for me - pleeeease?!"

Chris smirked at his friend, amused by the way she was behaving.  She really was adorable.

"What do you want to know now?"

"Is it anyone who's here tonight?" she asked hopefully, biting her lip in anticipation of his answer.

Jericho's blue eyes took on a farawy look as he glanced up and to his right, as though really thinking about it.

"Err...maybe," he said vaguely.

"Oh, come on!" the young woman exclaimed.  She grabbed hold of his hand, practically jumping up and down at this point.  "Give me a yes or no!  Don't be like that!"

"Sorry, Ames."  He pulled his hand free of hers and held both arms out in a shrugging gesture.

"You're mean!" she cried, but she couldn't help the grin on her face.

"Hey, that's the way the ball bounces," Chris quipped.  "But don't worry - you'll find out who it is soon enough."

Amy glanced around the club, searching for her assortment of male friends that were present.  From Chris' response of the word 'maybe,' she knew her secret admirer was indeed here tonight.  There was no doubt in her mind about that.

She looked over toward their table, but was surprised to see that Adam was no longer there.  She soon after spotted him several feet away, dancing with Stephanie.

Amy's heart sank just a little as she stared at him - because he hadn't once looked over at her.  If he were her admirer, certainly he would have looked her way - right?

And then she glanced around some more, her gaze traveling to the bar.  Drew was gone, probably dancing with some girl by now, but Shane and Shannon were still standing there.  They were having a conversation, both men holding beers.  She noticed Shane happened to be staring her way, and he raised his beer to her as though to toast.

"Oh, no..."  Amy felt her heart sinking even more.  As she'd told Helms several months back, she loved him - but only as a friend.

While she was eyeing Shane, she failed to notice the bright emerald-green gaze that was fixed longingly and steadily on her.