Hunter's POV
"OMG is that what I think it is?!? Awesome!"
"Shawn put that down please."
"No way! This is sooo cool. $2,000 bottle champagne on a private jet is a luxury I don't wanna take for granted, not one bit buddy. I love flying on the corporate dime of the WWE. Night travel is even better. So many city lights illuminating the earth below us. It's so beautiful...and quite romantic."
"Yeah well don't get use to it. These flights on the corporate jet and its many perks might not last much longer for us..."
"You...you mean--?"
"I don't know."
"Oh..."
The second I said that I knew Shawn's heart would flutter like the beating wings of a hummingbird, only to have his hopes shatter with my inability to take action. He knew of my situation and the dilemma I was faced with; It was my fault after all. I put us into this position and I absolutely hated myself for it. It didn't have to be this way, but I allowed it to go on for so long that I've gotten so use to the 'status-quo'.
This isn't how I wanted to live my life with Shawn, all secretive and 'in the closet', but in my mind I didn't have a choice. Back in 2003 I made the absolute worst mistake of my life, I married Stephanie McMahon. She isn't a bad person; quite the opposite, however my heart didn't belong to her, it belonged to Shawn. I married her for all the wrong reasons; money, power, and to spite Shawn for what I thought he'd done to me.
One thing led to another after that fated night and now Steph and I have 3 beautiful girls, one of who is almost a year old. That's the only thing about our union I don't regret, and a big factor in why I haven't divorce Stephanie. I hate the idea of breaking up our family, but I can't keep doing this to Shawn either. Something is going to have to give and in my eyes it's a lose-lose situation any way it's sliced. God I'm such an idiot!
"Hunter? Hunt? H-ello???" I tried ignoring him but I didn't want to give him another reason to be upset with me right now. I practically dragged him kicking and screaming out of our lush hotel room in Greenwich to go back to Los Angeles. He cares about Randy & Rey just as much as I do, however he really was looking forward to spending some alone time with me.
Stephanie was in New York on business and the girls were with their grandparents. It was risky going back to Greenwich for a few days with be with Shawn, especially since I told the wife and in-laws I would be in L.A. I always did risky things like that. Once Steph and I had a small gathering at our estate and Shawn was there. I hadn't seen him in 3 weeks and I couldn't wait to be intimate with him again. While Steph and the guest were downstairs having some intelligent discussion, Shawn and I fooled around, in the bed I shared with Stephanie. Secretly I was hoping she would walk in and catch us in the act, sparing me the uncomfortable task of having to break the news to her on my own.
When Shawn and I got to the airport he calmed down and was understanding about the situation, but I think he's just suppressing his anger, which will no doubt end up erupting later on, sooner rather than later.
"Hunt? Hu-nt?!?"
"Sure. Maybe we'll do that later, go hunting." I smiled.
"You trying to change the subject buddy? How rich, like the owner of this sweet jet, which I'm sure will be yours one day if 'you-know-what' continues." He rolled his eyes annoyingly at me, to which I cringed. I knew he was referring to the fact that if I kept up this illusion to Stephanie and Vince that I loved her and was committed to the marriage, then one day I would be running the WWE. While I do dream of taking over the reigns of the company from Vince one day, There was nothing I wanted more than to be with Shawn out in the open. He sacrificed everything for me, why couldn't I do the same for him?
"We'll be in Los Angeles soon. Just calm down until then OK?"
"I drank 3 Red Bulls from the vending machines in the airport earlier. There's no calming me down buddy. Forget about that shit."
"Fine. I'm going to go talk to the Pilot."
"WHY?!? Is there something going on? Bad weather? Low fuel? Terrorist attack?"
"Shawn! Stop it!"
"Sorry! Geez."
Shawn doesn't like to ride airplanes most of the time. He gets very stressed out about the whole ordeal. In fact, I'm surprised he's just now freaking out. Usually he has to be soothed over before we even get in the car to drive to the airport, after that flying is usually a stitch until something small sets him off, like me talking to the pilot or looking out the window all of a sudden. I think his main concern at the moment is getting to L.A. to see Randy & Rey and anything else, including his fear of flying was on the back burner.
"Look Shawn I--"
Shawn's HBK theme song ranged loudly from inside my coat pocket. Shawn began to give me the widest grin I've seen on him in months.
"Oh?"
"It's...it's my cellphone." I replied nervously, already knowing who was on the other end of the soon-to-be answered, and unwanted call.
"With my wrestling theme song playing as a ringtone. Ooooooooooh?"
"Shush you." I chuckled lightly and fished out my WWE-funded iPhone and cringed when I saw the name displayed on the small, brightly-lit LED screen, as if expecting it to be someone else other than the person I knew it was. I only used that ring tone for one person and one person only...
I took a deep breath and answered the call.
"Yeah?"
["Where are you?"]
The voice on the other end was slightly irritated and annoyed. I didn't speak much to her lately these days. I wanted to just it to end already and put everyone out of their misery but I was too scared.
"I'm headed back to Los Angeles to see Ran--"
["Heading back?!? I thought you were already there?"]
"Shit." I mumbled under my breath. I forgot that I had told her I was still in L.A. while I really was with Shawn celebrating our anniversary in Greenwich.
"Yeah um...I left briefly to deal with some stuff and--"
["Whatever Hunter. I just wanted to call and let you know I'm bringing up the girls to stay with me in New York 'til I get back."]
"Yeah sure that's fine. No problem."
["Anything else you failed to tell me?"]
"No..."
After that she hung up the phone abruptly. She was pissed at me for some reason, becoming very passive-aggressive over the last few months. Maybe she was catching on to what's been happening behind her back. Stephanie was a smart girl, but she was completely oblivious to what Shawn and I have been doing for the past few years, or at least she hasn't said anything about it. I looked at my phone before putting it back in my pocket. I looked up at Shawn who's silly grin had been replaced with a look of confusion.
"It was Stephanie." I said quietly, more to myself.
"How odd..." Shawn replied.
"Why?"
"Because. When your phone ranged earlier, your standard ringtone played, you know that old boring english telephone ringer, but when Stephanie called...my theme song played. Do...do you have that ringtone play specifically for her calls?"
"Yes..." I nodded.
"WHY?"
"To remind me of you whenever she calls."
"I'm confused."
"You know, I--I just want you to be on my mind when I'm talking to her on the phone, to remind me that I love you and not her. That's all."
"OK...That's weird, but acceptable. So, what did she want?"
"She just called to tell me she's gonna bring the girls up to New York with her."
"Oh OK."
"I'm sure they'll be happy about that. They love their Grandma Linda but too much of her takes its toll on people."
"Yeah, I'm sure that's why the Connecticut public rejected her ass for the Senate seat she desperately wanted."
"Shawn..."
"Please. You were thinking the same thing."
"Maybe..."
######## Shawn's POV
Hunter shuffled back to his seat and began looking out of the window. I hated seeing him upset over his marriage to Stephanie. I knew he was between a rock and a hard place, but part of me wasn't buying his act of wanting to divorce her and be with me. I knew he loved me, but I also knew he loved his job. We both know that when the McMahon's feel scorned, they will be out for blood. Stephanie was a nice girl, but if you crossed her, god wouldn't help you because he'd be too scared to.
"So..." I said playfully twiddling my callous thumbs. I sure Hunter didn't like the way I constantly pushed him about the situation, trying to encourage him to break things off with her, but I'd given up my own marriage to be with him years ago. He was supposed to do the same, but choked at the last minute.
Sometimes I blame myself for what happened. He married her to hurt me. He thought I was sleeping around behind his back, which I wasn't but at the time that's what he believed. He was so upset and angry he sought out Steph for comfort, and revenge, revenge she was unknowingly more than willing to help him dish out.
Stephanie had a huge crush on Hunter and certainly wasn't silent about it. She practically threw herself at him every chance she got. It was very desperate and quite sad actually, how Hunter had time and time again rejected her and yet she still kept coming for him.
When I found out they'd gotten married at some drive-thru chapel in Vegas in 2003 shortly after Hunter and I had a huge fight I was devastated. How could he do that to me? How could he think I would cheat on him?
"Hunter?"
"I don't feel like talking right now Shawn."
"It's not about you or Stephanie Hunter. I get it, you won't divorce her."
"That's not true Shawn." He kept his eyes glued to the neat-looking red carpet on the floor, avoiding any visual contact with me at all cost.
"Well it seems like that to me." I was becoming heated. I tried to suppress my anguish over the situation, but it's been 4 years since he'd promise to divorce her and I quite frankly have had enough of the empty promises that went unfulfilled.
"Shawn--"
"You know what Hunter, just stop." I jumped up from my seat, more so because the plane had hit a bit of turbulence. "I'm sick and tired of all of this. I gave up everything for you, my family, my career, everything and what have you done? Absolutely nothing. We had a few weeks to ourselves, something that doesn't happen that often and instead of spending it with me, you went to L.A. It was our anniversary and you spent most of it away from me. You even drag me from our hotel to come with you to Los Angeles."
"Randy and Rey need me."
"No they don't. They were OK without you and they will be OK without you. You don't have to cuddle them all the time."
"How can you say that Shawn? After what that monster put them through they need all the support we can give them. They are falling apart. I thought you cared about them."
"I DO! That doesn't mean we have to hold their hand every step of the way. Their grown men, they can take care of themselves. They will be fine. Let them take control of their own situation. Instead of worrying so much about their issues, why don't you focus on ours for a fucking change. I can't...I just can't keep doing this."
"What are you saying?" Hunter said, getting out of his seat and walking over to me nervously. He was a strong man who usually kept his feelings bottled up, except when it came to me. He was such a blubbering mess when he and I were alone. I thought it was cute.
"I'm saying...You need to make a choice and you need to make it soon. You either want to stay married to Steph so you can claw your way to the top of the WWE, or you want to divorce her and be with me."
"This isn't about wanting to claw my way up to the top of the corporate ladder of the WWE."
"I don't believe you. You've always had your eye on always being the best at everything. When you got into the WWF, you were always gunning for that #1 spot and when you married Steph, that's when you set your sights for Vince's position. You'd do anything to keep that path the way it is right now, including stringing me along for the ride. I mean that has to be the reason...unless you really are in love with Steph. Is that it Hunter? Are you in love with her?"
"NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING!"
"Well that's what it feels like. Use our time in L.A. to get your shit together Hunter, cause after all this is over if you still can't take action one way or the other, I'm done."
I stared at his hurt eyes for a few seconds before walking to a separate section of the plane to gain some much needed privacy. My intentions weren't to hurt him, but I need to give him a sense of urgency to make a decision. 4 years is long enough to sit on your hands. He might not be willing to take action, but I guess the bigger question is, Will I be able to take action if he doesn't? And what action would that be? I could either leave him...or tell Stephanie the truth.
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