Disclaimer: I do not stake any claim in the characters I'm about to portray. Nor do I think the WWE is really cracking down on any fan fictions. Just saying.
"Just breath. Just take it one day at a time. It'll be fine, don't you worry." She softly told herself.
Karla finished packing the last of her tiny apartment in Syracuse, NY's medical district. She'd lived here for the last six years since graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in Media Communications. She'd spent the last year getting her bearings on the local newscast, doing everything from assisting in planning out the daily segments to fetching coffee for the anchors. She loved working at the news station but at this point, that's all there would be. Planning out the same inane segments and fetching coffee. And the pay would never reach over forty grand, something Karla was alright with, but you could always use more. She would miss her co-workers, she would miss the daily grind she's become so accustomed to, but that's all it ever would be. The daily grind. At this point, Karla could do it in her sleep. She'd been quietly sending out resumes anywhere for the last year and finally got a hit. Well, actually her brother Anthony had gotten a hit. He'd sensed Karla's frustration and sent some resumes out for her. And the WWE had answered. She hardly knew anything about wrestling other than Ant loved it and he had dragged them as a family to about six shows growing up. Karla could obviously have just said no thank you to the offer, but it was quite a raise. Six figures of a raise in fact, and she'd be leading her own team. But the real deal breaker had been the fact that she could relocate to Stamford, Connecticut with the option of having NYC her primary office.
For the past six years, Karla had doubted her decision to work in Syracuse, having grown up in Liverpool, NY and then going to Syracuse University. Where all her high school and college friends had gone off jet setting and seeing the world, Karla had stuck to the familiar. Some of it had to do with Ant, who she'd practically raised. He was ten years her junior and had just graduated high school. She couldn't imagine having left him alone in Syracuse, even though everything would have been taken care of for him. But he was off to Boston University now to pursue a medical degree and she knew it was now or never. If she stayed she'd always be Karla Torricelli, coffee girl.
"Hey Kar, are you almost done packing? I wanna get down there in time for the game." Anthony called from the living room/kitchen in the tiny studio apartment they shared. Figures, Ant never missed a sporting event. No matter what it was.
"Yes, you big baby, I'm all ready to go. Just have to bring these last few boxes down." Karla called from her loft bedroom. Ant had taken the futon in the living room. He'd really been a trooper living here the past ten years. Her parents would have been proud of him, stepping up to the plate and never complaining. You see, Karla and Ant had grown up in Liverpool. They'd lived like everyone else they knew, in a comfy ranch house in a tight knit development. Mom was a real estate agent part time and Dad worked at the local Carrier location. But the night of Karlas High School graduation the most unthinkable had happened. Her parents had driven separately, giving Karla the freedom of going out with her friends. She never knew it'd be the last time she'd see them. They'd been hit that night by a driver who just lost control. The only consolation anyone had given her was, at least it had been quick. At least they hadn't suffered, and at least Karla was older. "Think of poor Anthony. You have to be strong for him, you don't have time to cry. Your all he has now." Karla replayed those words in her head every time she felt herself sinking. But she'd gotten through it. She hadn't even cried once since her parents had died. Instead she picked up the pieces, found a place for her and Ant to live and started over. Sure they could have stayed in the house, but the mortgage was just too much for Karla to handle with school. Her parents had planned a little bit, and of course had college accounts set up for their kids, but even with that it was tough. Karla did her best, bringing home food snuck out of the college dining halls to feed Ant after school. But all in all she'd done a pretty good job bringing him up. Studying was always number one and by the time he was apply to college he pretty much had his pick of schools with scholarships, plus the money she'd been saving from their parents for him. He'd be all set to go off to Boston and start living his life.
"Well let's get a move on then, I wanna get all settled in and see this place they got you living in. I bet it's pretty sweet." Anthony called, grabbing the last boxes and heading out the door. Karla grabbed her purse and her duffle with the last few things she'd thrown in and stared into the empty space. She had no reason to ever come back to Syracuse now. Anthony would come to Connecticut for breaks, and they'd be closer to their Paternal , and only, grandparents who lived in a Senior housing facility on Long Island. They'd start over and finally start living. She'd start living.
The tour busses pulled into their maintenance facility outside the headquarters in Stamford Connecticut. Stephen was the last one left. Pretty much everyone else had flown back home to be with their families on this break, but having to go back to Ireland for one week, proved to be impossible with the flight times. Plus he didn't have anyone waiting for him back in St. Augustine besides a hermit crab which was about the only pet that could fend for itself as much as he was on the road. Plus being in Stamford would give him some extra practice time in the ring.
Gathering all his things he headed into the building he'd grown accustomed to since coming here so many years ago. He nodded hello to the attendants at the door who at this point didn't even check his ID. Everyone here knew who he was, and even if they hadn't met, they knew him from the program.
He made his way to the locker rooms and immediately suited up for a long gym session. "Man, come home with me, Kristen can make some nice home cooked meals, and just relax for a while ya know?" He heard the words again that his good friend Ted had said before they parted in Memphis. Nah, I'm alright, was his response. It's true that sometimes he did work too hard, too much. But this was what he wanted right? To be the best, to beat everyone in the game. To make his mark. And why would you stop at just beating everyone and claiming every title? Claim them all and then keep them. He wanted to be the first to hold simultaneous titles. Sure he might be alone in the few weeks that they had breaks, but the other 300 days or so a year he was surrounded by his fans and his fellow wrestlers. He was doing what he loved and how many people could honestly say that?
Karla pulled into the apartment complex she'd be living in. She had been told to go to the lobby and fetch her key, everything would be all set. Already it looked amazing. It was a cool summer day but there was already a few people out by the pool. They looked like models even at this distance. The apartments were housed in what looked like a fancy hotel, and the headquarters stood in the background. Karla had chosen to be put up in the WWE's own apartment complex where they housed some staff from the Stamford offices and also where they temporarily housed wrestlers that were in town training or meeting for business. Karla's building thankfully was in the employee's with family one. She could have elected to stay in what was no doubt the rowdier section of apartments, but she wanted to keep things family oriented for Ant, even though he may have preferred to live with up and coming wrestlers.
"Ahh, Ms. Torricelli. I've been expecting you", announced a small girl behind the counter of the main desk. She looked about 5'2", much smaller than Karla's own 5'9". She wore her bleach blond hair in waves cascading down her back. She was toned to say the least and wore short shorts and a small tight tank top. Wow, Karla though to herself, is this the kind of girl I'm going to be working with? She wasn't too bad looking herself, but Karla had always prided herself in less is more, and looking professional. She frowned down at her black leggings, and oversize tan short sleeve sweater dress. The only thing chic about her was her coach flats and oversize Chanel sunglasses.
"Now, they have you in the family section, which is actually a little bare at the moment, the only other Apartment filled there is one of our lighting guys who's two year old daughter occasionally visits, so it'll be real quiet for you if that's what you like." If that's what you like, Karla thought. That stung, she wasn't boring she was thinking of Ant. But I guess he wasn't that eight year old boy she had to look after anymore. He was a grown man now, and could take care of himself. Still, the quiet would be good for her to work in, the new position held a lot more responsibility.
"Now, here's your keys, there's two for you, but if you ever lock yourself out, I have a master here. The pool outside is seasonal and open all the time. It's swim at your own risk obviously, and it's on the side with the wrestlers apartments so you won't hear splashing at all hours of the night. The indoor pool is down the hall here with the sauna and hot tub, and that does close at eleven pm and opens again at five am. The gym is downstairs next to the laundry, there aren't any hours for that and there are lockers available. There is also a pantry down there with anything you might need that you don't have time to run out and get, all free of charge of course. So your room is down that hall to the left and up the stairs, room 203. And Vince actually gave you 205 as well, they adjoin with a door, but have their own main entrances, he didn't think your brother would want to share with you" The small blond spilled out in about five minutes. Karla looked at her confused, two rooms? She didn't need all that, even with the raise these rooms cost over a grand a month.
"But I…" Karla started to say. "Oh honey don't worry, Vince said it's a single rate for the two. Since no body is hardly on that side anyway, it's not like your taking rooms away from anyone. It would just be empty. Now run along, Vince wanted to stop by and see how you were getting along around five so that gives you a good three hours to settle in" The girl said before turning with a smile to head back to whatever she was doing before.
Alright then Karla thought to herself. They made their way to the room, Anthony going on about how hot that girl had been, how he wouldn't want to leave for Boston with girls like that walking around, but Karla tuned him out. She just wanted to get everything into the room and start unpacking.
The keys were like old hotel keys and it didn't take her long to realize that this had been an old hotel, the company must have purchased it and just turned it into apartments. Sliding the key into the slot of room 203 Karla took a short breath and then pushed the heavy metal door open. What she found herself in was nothing short of amazing. The room opened up to a large living room complete with a huge sectional couch. There was a giant flat screen hanging from the wall and a gorgeous wooden carved coffee table in the center. To the left was the kitchen, which was bright and airy with all the appliances included, even a dishwasher. Off of the living room was her bedroom, with a giant king size bed and dresser already in it. Wow, I'll have to get rid of some of my stuff, she though, remembering the tattered twin bed and old futon waiting out in the U-Haul.
"Holy crap Kar, this is sick!" Anthony called from his room. Upon inspection it appeared that whoever prepared these rooms had done their research. Anthony's room was set up like any eighteen year old boy would love. Sports posters were everywhere along with Boston College paraphernalia. His room was also equipped with an XBOX, Wii, PS3, and every wrestling game you could imagine. Karla was completely taken aback. This was more than her new employer needed to do, who knew if she was even going to be a good worker? What if they had made a giant mistake and they'd send her backing back to Syracuse with a huge bill for all the stuff.
Brushing her doubts aside she began setting things up, and getting acquainted with it all. Two hours later and she was about done emptying all the things she would keep here, the furniture and appliances she'd brought would have to be shipped back to her parent's storage unit in Liverpool. She'd kept their personal things locked up after they passed so as not to have to think about it as much and to shelter Ant growing up. The twenty dollars a month it cost to keep the unit was worth the peace of mind that they wouldn't be constantly reminded of what they'd lost.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door, shaking her from her thoughts about the past. She strode toward the door wondering if Anthony ever thought about their parents the way she did. He'd been so young; he'd had time to grow into an outgoing fun kid. With his whole young adult life in front of him, he could do anything. She however had made the sacrifices; she'd grown up fast and lost her young life. It was almost as if she'd died that night in the wreck with her parents. But when she thought of it that she was always washed over with guilt. Listen to you Karla, there was no one to take Anthony. If you hadn't taken him he'd have ended up in some foster home and at eight years old who knew where he would have ended up. Your parents would have been proud; to see what a strong young man he is now. She brushed her own selfish thoughts aside, as long as Anthony was happy, that's what mattered. At least you had those eighteen years with mom and all that time with dad. What did Ant have? Memories that faded more and more each day, she would be pleased with just that thought alone. She'd do what she could to make sure he was alright. Once he was, she'd work on her own demons, but until then Ant came first.
Opening the door Karla found herself face to face with a tall brunette, incredibly muscular yet slender, dressed in casual business attire holding a clipboard and some files.
"Hey, I'm Stephanie McMahon, my father was detained on business so I'm just here to go over what you'll be jumping into tomorrow" She said moving swiftly into the room. She immediately went for the table in the kitchen and Karla followed.
"Hi, I'm Karla Torricelli." She spoke meekly. She silently wished she'd changed, she already had the face of a twelve year old, and she didn't need to look twelve.
"Oh Sweetie I know who you are, and lets just skip the awkward openings and go right to being fast friends. Now these are your cases for the week, just to get your toes wet, we'll have you in Stamford for the week then you will open up your office in New York. It's a short commute on the train so I think Dad wants you to set times you'll be there, but work mostly out of Stamford, it's just easier, maybe three days there, three days here? Sundays are always closed days, but we mostly work Saturdays." Stephanie drained on pulling out disclaimers and things for Karla to sign.
"Now most of these are just for our protection, everyone signs them. Just that no employees will fraternize with the talent on a more than professional level, that you won't divulge any trade secrets to the media, so on and so forth." Stephanie explained handing Karla a pen and some forms.
"Wow", Karla thought to herself. No fraternizing with the talent? That ought to be easy, Karla couldn't remember the last time she'd had a date. She was beginning to think she was actually asexual. Stephanie pulled out some more forms and Karla signed away without really reading them, she knew they were the same disclaimers she'd made countless new employees in Syracuse sign whenever they started. They were hardly ever an issue with anyone.
After Stephanie left Karla decided to look over the folders. Anthony had gone down to the gym and do some laundry, and probably try to get to know some of the girls that were here. He'd promised to be back by seven so they could go out to dinner.
The first file was filled with marketing strategy ideas from her new team. It was odd jumping into a group where all they did was think of ideas for a program she knew little about, and now she was to be their boss.
There were six employees on this team, and their ideas all sounded amazing. Well when you don't know anything about the company any idea seems great, Karla thought to herself.
A few ideas could be thrown out the window immediately. A revival of old legends vs new superstars?, Karla was pretty sure they'd done that before, plus she knew from doing a bit in Syracuse with Seniors Olympics, that insuring the elderly was a lot harder than what the ratings were worth. But there were some great romantic storylines going on, very days of our lives-esque.
She read through the proposals for a little while longer and then decided to watch some of the tapes Stephanie had left. That way she could maybe know which wrestlers were who without bumping into them in the hall and feeling embarrassed. She called Anthony on his cell to see if he wanted to meet for pizza at the room and watch the tapes.
"Yeah I'm just on my way back up to shower, you can order a pizza from the facility kitchen you know, they have a whole menu of stuff you can get." Ant explained.
"That's great, let's do that then, why don't you order it now, get whatever you want. I'm going to shower quickly and get ready to lounge around all night with my favorite little brother" Karla said laughing at the last part.
Stephen finished at the gym and took a long shower. The place had been empty today, with mostly everyone away with their families. He knew there were some new divas training, but he'd noticed they were out by the pool. Typical, he thought. At least he always was allowed to stay in the family side of the condos that the WWE owned and rented out to staff and talent that wanted or needed it. Mostly everyone stayed there temporarily while training and so the talent side was usually full with either trainees or staff that was young and wanted to get to know everyone. It was just too much of a dorm setting over there though, with everyone running to each other's rooms all night. Stephen preferred the quiet of the family side, what with only Joey as the occupant over there. He was one of the main lighting guys that stayed on the road with them, but when he had a break he came home so he could be with his daughter, that was a stipulation of her being able to visit him. But as for the rest of the staff and talent with children, they either had their own homes close by or chose to stay elsewhere; it wasn't common to see a family move in permanently to the family rooms. Usually that side ended up being a place for business partners to stay while in town for a meeting.