Training Stephanie

Stephanie vs. Saphirra (Part 1)

After they finished packing and locking everything safely up in their home, the next morning, Stephanie and Mark drove the hour plus drive back to George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Although Stephanie was with her husband and loved being in his company, she was going to miss both Zeus and April very much while she and Mark were away.

They had all just become a family and already they were being separated. She hated leaving her four-legged babies behind, even if it was only for a few days or so.

For the purpose of fulfilling his contractual obligations with the company, along with keeping up the ruse that he was actually holding Stephanie against her will, Mark was scheduled to participate in several live events in California, so unfortunately, their beloved fur babies had to stay behind.

One thing that did help to ease her mind a bit was the fact that Mark's estate manager would feed and groom their two pups, collect any mail, and answer their phone calls that they would undoubtedly miss while the pair were in California. While Stephanie wasn't particularly too worried about this, what did concern her was the constant fear of going to Raw and pretending as if she truly hated her husband, when that couldn't be any further from the truth.

Though Stephanie still wondered why he did certain things, she had never harbored any real resentment towards Mark. Maybe this was reason why she had fallen in love with him so quickly...

After arriving at the airport with plenty of time to spare, Stephanie and Mark had to begin their game earlier than expected. Though Mark usually kept a very low profile, fans always still recognized him. So in order to protect their image, Mark continued his charade, by playing the role of the domineering husband, while Stephanie resumed her role as the abused housewife.

And it worked.

Several fans did recognize them, though the majority of them were far too awe-struck to actually confront them. Initially, all of the attention that they were receiving did make Stephanie nervous, but this only added to the illusion.

She looked petrified.

The time finally came for the pair to board their flight, and with Mark knowing just how much of a show that the fans were looking forward to, he quickly grabbed Stephanie about the arm and yanked her through the terminal. And when they were finally out of sight of the overzealous crowd, Mark looked down at Stephanie to make sure that the two of them were still on the same page, with Stephanie actually beginning to giggle. She was amused at what they were able to pull off.

Sensing that this preliminary warm-up could actually make Stephanie into a better actress, Mark looked down at her and said deviously, "I told you so." Smiling still, Stephanie asked innocently, "Told me what?" Chuckling underneath his breath, since he knew exactly what Stephanie could be once every single drop of innocence had been squeezed out of her, Mark replied lowly, "You'll see."

After boarding their flight, Stephanie was surprised when she and Mark were actually escorted to first class. Once seated, while quickly noticing just how much this particular level of service far surpassed their former accommodations, Stephanie suddenly found herself punching her husband in his arm. Turning his head towards her slowly, with a bright sparkle in his eyes, Mark watched amusedly as Stephanie asked in bewilderment, "How is it that — with a sore behind — we were seated in coach? But now, I'm perfectly fine, and now we're in first class?"

As Mark shrugged innocently, Stephanie found herself hitting him once again, while he on the other hand playfully reminded, "You do know that domestic violence works both ways, right? I'd hate to inform one of these nice flight attendants that my wife is abusing me."

Pursing her lips in skepticism, clearly not buying his phony threat, Stephanie stared a hole straight through him until Mark finally came clean.

"Well, if you must know, Chyna: I have a first class traveling clause in my contract. The only reason why we got moved to coach last time was because the original flight got cancelled and they couldn't accommodate us. So, I took the coach seat instead. Feel better now?"