She had offered to go back to the hotel with her, but the redhead had declined, saying she wanted to just get out of the arena as soon as possible - and Stephanie had let her.
The brunette looked up at the knocking on the door. Setting aside the ream of documents in her hand, she called, "Come in!"
Chris Benoit strode in, his face looking morose as he neared her desk.
"Stephanie," he began, without waiting for her to question him, "I need to know everything you and Amy Dumas talked about earlier..."
Stephanie's brows rose before setting back down as she frowned at him. "Look, Chris...I don't know what you're talking about...but if there is anything you need to know about Amy, I suggest you ask her yourself." She wasn't about to violate the other woman's privacy.
"Cut the crap!" the man bellowed as he brought both hands down hard on her desk. The brunette flinched, jumping in her seat slightly at the unexpectedly violent action. "Read my lips - it is imperative that you tell me everything she said!" he yelled angrily.
Stephanie felt her own temper rising. Bolting out of her chair, she gestured wildly as she shouted back at the man. "Benoit, I don't know who the hell you think you are, waltzing into my office like this - but you are not - read my lips - not going to push me around! I am the boss, and I give out the orders around here! And I am not going to give out personal information about anyone to you or anyone else! Now, get out of my office!" She pointed to the door.
The Canadian man glared at her ferociously, his blue eyes glittering as he ignored her demand and stayed rooted to the spot upon which he stood. For a moment, Stephanie feared he was going to try to hit her, but then he suddenly calmed down.
"I'm sorry..." Chris said. He looked down guiltily for a beat. "You're right, Stephanie...I had no right to barge in here like this..."
"You're damn right you didn't!"
"It's just that...I'm worried about Amy..." He looked up to meet the brunette's blue eyes. "You see, I know she's pregnant...And she...she's my half-sister, so I'm really worried."
Stephanie's eyes widened in shocked surprised at the man's revelation. "She's...Chris, why didn't you or Amy ever tell anyone?"
"Two reasons..." the Crippler replied. "...she never wanted to 'ride my coattails,' as some would say, when she got into this business, and two, she didn't want people to know about her - our father."
"What...what do you mean?" the young woman asked as she came around her desk to move closer to Benoit. She gazed into his face curiously, and with concerned anticipation.
Chris sat down in one of the chairs by the desk and took a deep breath as he began explaining.
*
Both Amy's cell phone and hotel room extensions rang and rang off the hook from the moment she returned to her room. She knew all these calls were coming from people who cared about her - quick glances at her cell phone's caller ID had shown that Jeff, Trish, Matt, Chris Jericho, Nora and Stacy had called. She was certain her mom had as well, but after awhile, she'd stopped checking her phone.
She'd gotten tired of the incessant notes of Bach's "Badinerie" sounding off every couple of minutes, and so she had finally turned her cell phone off. The only thing she could do about her hotel room phone was turn the ringer off, but she decided not to do that in case of an emergency. You never knew when there could suddenly be a fire or something.
She lay on her hotel room bed, staring up at the ceiling, her heart pounding as she reflected over the events of that evening.
Although it had been so difficult for her, she had to admit it felt somewhat better after she had talked to Stephanie. Getting it off her chest, finally telling someone about her pregnancy had been like a great weight lifted off her shoulders. And the brunette had been surprisingly compassionate.
She bit her lip as she thought about what to do - and she would have to come to a definite decision before it was too late to make a choice. Damn it, she didn't want her child to end up like her...
She had always known her father was a man who had his own other family in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Her mother had told her all about him from the time she was very young, as she'd decided not to hide the truth from her daughter.
Amy knew that she had been the result of a single night of passion between her mom, Elizabeth, and her father, Jack Benoit. Shortly after Jack had returned to Canada and his family, Elizabeth had discovered she was pregnant. Thereafter, she had tried to locate the man, and after she had done so, she'd called to let him know he was going to be a father.
Jack had wished her well and had never looked back - and Amy had never met him. She'd never had the chance - because when she'd tried to locate him when she was twenty-one, she'd found out he had passed away.
He had died three years earlier in an automobile wreck. The news had crushed Amy. But something good had come out of her search - she had discovered she had an older brother.
Chris Benoit had been happy to meet her. Eight years older than Amy, he had been surprised to learn he had a sister, but he had welcomed her into his life with open arms. And for the last seven years, he had been the best brother anyone could ever want.
However, the redhead didn't want her future son or daughter to grow up the way she had. Although she had a terrific stepfather she adored and who had always loved her like his own, she had been somewhat scarred living her life without having ever known her natural father.
She couldn't deal with this. She got up, retrieved her cell phone from the nightstand and left her hotel room. She had to search a local telephone book. She now knew what she must do.