Meant to Be: Chapter One
… If you'd just open your eyes.

WWE Offices, Stamford Connecticut

She eyed the day-by-day calendar on her desk. Officially, she had been working with the WWE for one year, three months and two days as a sub creative producer. Before that, six months unofficially as an intern assisting Stephanie McMahon and the creative team. The time it'd taken her to calculate these figures was a lot faster than she'd originally anticipated.

She was desperately trying to find more activities to sidetrack her from the large piles of files sat on her desk taunting her. She'd let her own work stack up by helping one of her colleagues with one of their own projects. She was cursing her good nature as she stared at the folders; she was even struggling with the thought of making a start on the mass of production releases.

She was a sub creative producer. The title held more flare than what the job actually entailed. She had her own office, as did most of the creative team. It was one of the perks of being part of the WWE. But the reality involved pushing papers from one side of her desk to the other. If the creative producer on either brand requested to film outside the arena with several Kawasaki's in tow. Secure a permit for a parked ambulance or simply arrange for more lights then Ella was your woman. It was her job to make sure they had the correct paperwork and release forms, signed stamped and sent out before the cameras started rolling.

Ella stretched her arms across her desk and winced when she heard her elbow click. She eyed up the piles of paper in front of her again. Thinking that maybe if she stared at them long enough they would disappear.

No luck.

With a sigh she closed her eyes and buried her face in her now folded arms. Hoping that when she opened them they would have disappeared the second time around? But the sight that greeted her once she opened them proved far more exciting than the stack of paper that was precariously balanced at the edge of the desk.

"Not sleeping on the job already are you?"

Ella smiled broadly at the woman sat opposite her. She hadn't heard her come through the door and couldn't understand why. She only had to look up and realize that she'd left her door propped open. The air conditioner had packed in first thing that morning and she'd propped the door open with a box of Wrestlemania DVD's. They'd been delivered to her desk by mistake three weeks ago. She still hadn't got round to finding their correct owner.

"Me? Steph? It wouldn't even cross my mind." Ella laughed as she leant back on her chair. "What's happening?"

"Not much." Stephanie replied stretching her arms up above her head. "I was on my way to the creative meeting and I thought I'd pick you up on the way."

"Shit! I forgot about that!" Ella jumped out of her seat and dashed around her office trying to scoop up the papers she hoped were needed for the meeting. All the while trying to pull on her jacket on at the same time. She only stopped once she heard Stephanie's laughter from behind her.

Hand on hip she glared at her, "What's so funny?"

She'd started as an intern assisting Stephanie McMahon. A task she found all too intimidating before evening meeting the woman. Especially after being filled in by her wrestling educated brothers, that via their sources she wasn't a walk in the park. But it couldn't have been further from the truth.

Of course she had a temper. Ella had been a bystander on several occasions when those who dared pushed Stephanie's patience past its limit. After witnessing it on more than one occasion in the short time she'd been there, she never wanted to find herself of the receiving end. Ella soon came to realize that working for Stephanie was an invaluable experience. Not one to throw away or take lightly.

When the position for sub creative producer became available, just two weeks before Ella was due to finish her internship. Steph had put her forward for the permanent position, bypassing an interview stages. Ella had already been doing the job for the last four months of her internship without any cause for concern. Even though Ella believed she was grossly under qualified for the job, she wasn't going to dispute the contract that was presented to her three days before she was due to finish.

"Oh nothing. Apart from the fact that the meeting is in, oh about, ten minutes." Steph announced taking a look at her watch. "You've got plenty of time honey." Steph stood and helped Ella with the rest of her papers. She stopped to scoop up Ella's satchel, studying the red leather bag before slinging it over her shoulder. "This is nice! Where'd you get it?"

Ella looked up from the filing cabinet, squinting she tried to focus on the bag hanging from Steph's shoulder. "Umm, from that small shop down the street. I got bored on my lunch hour the other day. "

"It's nice. Come on, I'll carry it for you."

"Don't be getting any ideas Steph, I'm watching!"

The pair chatted between themselves as they walked the brief distance to the boardroom at the end of the hallway. The rest of the creative team was already seated at the large conference table. Ella took her seat with the team, while Steph walked to the head of the table to meet her father. Who was currently in hushed talks with someone Ella didn't recognize. She knew they could only be one of two people, someone new or someone who worked on the road. She graciously accepted the bound minutes of the previous meeting and the bullet points for today's conference. She listened to Vince's request for silence, signaling the meeting was now beginning.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She'd only been sat for no more than twenty minutes, and already her mind was starting to wander. She knew she'd be up at least half the night trying to catch up on the paperwork that sat on her desk. Despite her silent protests with herself all day that she wouldn't take it home. But at least she it would be from the comfort of her own bed, and in her pajamas no less.

Ella continued to doodle on the copy of the previous meetings minutes and was happy to continue scribbling while the voices around her were tuned out. She knew all too well that none of what was being said was related to her. She allowed her mind to think of what would be waiting for her at home. She pictured herself curled up on the sofa eating the last of the Ben and Jerry's while watching 'I Love Lucy' reruns. Then at her feet would be a pile of completed paperwork. Neatly stacked, organized and slotted in their paper wallets on her coffee table.

"Ella Lewis. Ella? ELLA!"

Ella nearly fell out of her chair, Vince McMahon's voice boomed from the head of the table cutting through her daze. Quickly running a hand through her hair she pulled her chair to the table. Trying in vain to ignore the stifled laughter around the room and hoped that the heat on her cheeks was not making itself visible. Tucking her hair behind her ear she turned and smiled brightly at Vince, praying that he wouldn't choose today as a time to set an example of her.

"Yes Mr. McMahon?" She meekly responded. She clasped her hands together in a pitiful attempt to convince him she had some shred of professionalism in her.

"Glad to see you're with us Miss. Lewis." Ella cringed again once he looked away. Vince soon continued. "As I was saying, Miss. Lewis." Ella noticed Steph's smirk and glared before Vince caught her eye. The pointed look he gave her was a less than subtle warning to pay attention to what he was about to say.

"With all the cuts we've had to make, we're having to temporarily double up jobs within the company. We've run a fine comb through the creative team to find a candidate to replace our field director/producer. Someone to over see our live promos, events and anything else that might come their way. Someone who's also already well versed in the practices." He continued.

Ella's eyes widened. Nick was the one who usually oversaw these things, and then she remembered. Last week's events came back to her in quick succession of sharp blows that formed knots in her stomach. Nick storming through the building as he came out of Steph's office. It didn't click then but now it was painfully obvious, Ella was the only creative producer of sorts at the Stamford offices, and the only one employed by the WWE left.

She knew what was coming next.

"Crap." She muttered under her breath. Times like this she wished she actually listened to what was being said when she was agreeing to taking on extra work.

"So we're pleased to announce that Ella Lewis will be taking over Nicks job out on the road along with Steph. Of course she'll be mainly on Raw. Andy oversees pretty much everything on Smackdown now." He spoke, referring to the head director of the entire Smackdown production. "So I'd like to congratulate Ella on her new position."

There was a ripple of applause around the table and Ella smiled bashfully. It felt like she'd cheated on her math homework and was being applauded for the A she'd got out of it. How could she accept thanks when she didn't even know she'd applied for the job, let alone got it? She didn't enjoy being the centre of attention much and was glad when the focus turned to the current storylines. Steph smiled giving her a thumbs up in a vote of confidence; something Ella sadly didn't share.

Not only did she now have two jobs, but also one of which required her to travel to two hundred and fifty shows a year. This wasn't going to be an easy task, and not one she could easily get herself out of either.

She could only prepare herself for the worst, close her eyes and hope for the best.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No sooner had Vince announced the meeting to a close, Ella was out the door. Only stopping to give a polite wave and smile to those who offered their congratulations, which was fine with Ella as there weren't that many from the resentful creative team. Her fast walk tuned into a sprint to her office. She closed the door behind her, despite the recent breakdown of air conditioning. Closing the door meant the heat soon rose and she had to shrug off her jacket.

Ella began to pace as she tried desperately to remember as to how she had managed to end up in the position she was in. All she could remember was Steph coming into her office two weeks ago. She'd been ranting about how she didn't need the stress that was now coming in daily courtesy of Nick. Who at the time was out on the road, moaning about how live productions weren't working and that he needed, no demanded, a bigger budget.

She'd only suggested a few ideas, and they weren't exactly fantastic. Then when Steph stormed in, she'd barely spoken a word. She'd come in so quickly and started the rant the second she'd stepped foot through the door. Ella had been proof reading some paperwork; so she had really only been half paying attention. With Steph's rant going at twenty to the dozen, Ella really only had chance to nod her head in an agreement at what she hoped were the right times.

Then she remembered discussing some ideas she had for the live production budget. Going over various figures, plotlines and drafting ideas. To which Steph vaguely muttered something about the upcoming budget cuts and how things were in need of a shake up. Then with a smile and clap of her hands, Steph was gone.

Only once Steph had paused long enough to allow Ella to talk had she offered to help with the extra work Nick was creating.

It was paperwork she agreed to, wasn't it?

Throwing herself into her chair and spinning herself around a few times, hoping it would clear her mind. But with no such luck, but she did get a kick out of making herself dizzy. Resigning herself to the fact that she would never get out of the arrangement. Vince's word was an ironclad deal. He'd already given his stamp of approval. Once he spoke he was not one to be easily challenged.

Ella knew what would happen should she walk into his office; announce there had been some sort of mistake. The only options she would hear from him would be first, pack your bags and get on the road. Or second, pack your bags you're fired; there was no way she could afford to do that.

Kicking her feet up onto her desk, she closed her eyes pinching the bridge of her nose. A desperate attempt to stop the pressure she felt across her forehead turning into a headache. She opened one eye when she heard the small tap at her door. Steph poked her head through the now open door.

"Is it alright to come in?" She called out. Ella nodded and she walked in, making sure to close the door behind her. She took the seat she'd sat in only an hour before, this time the mood in the room had taken an awfully large beating. "You disappeared real quickly out there."

"Yeah, umm… sorry." Ella tried to think of an excuse. "I had to come back to sort something out."

Steph raised a questioning eyebrow. "It sorted?"

"Yeah," Ella said rather sadly, despite slapping a smile on her face. "It's sorted."

"You sure you're alright about this?" Steph said sensing Ella's discomfort.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" She said a little too brightly. Ella knew she was lying, "I'm really excited!" Now that was a flat out lie.

Luckily it worked.

"Good! You should be excited El! You get to go out on the road! See things for what they really are! See the world!" Steph stood and leant on the back of the chair she was just sat in. "Like you said, you wanted to experience more challenges. You did say you were getting fed up of the paperwork side of production." She added reminding her of one of their most recent conversations.

"What better way to get back to your roots and go out and oversee the production of the live shows." Steph made her way back to the door she'd come through. "I'm going to leave you now. You should get yourself sorted; we're going to need you out on the road as soon as possible, we'll discuss travel arrangements tomorrow. I'll catch you later."

Steph walked out leaving Ella with the stark realization of how she'd ended up in the predicament.

It was the week before, a Tuesday to be exact. It was a rare occasion for Steph not to be out on the road, as Smackdown was taped on a Tuesday. Both she and Ella had gone for a quick drink after work. After drinking a bottle of wine together Steph had asked her, 'friend to friend' of course, what she thought of her new job. Thanks to the alcohol and Ella's recent frustration with the current state of affairs she had been alarmingly truthful. Naively believing it wouldn't have gone further than the bar they were drinking at. She'd been truthful as at the time Ella knew nothing about the issues with Nick. Knowing nothing could have been done to change her situation she'd continued.

So she'd saw no harm in telling Steph that there were days where she found the office environment and stacks of paperwork tedious. There were times where she wished there would be some creative part to her work. She missed the creative control, she hated that the rest of the creative team were hesitant to work with her still. They didn't like that someone of little experience had secured such a high position. Of course the fact that she got on with her boss also riled a lot of people. But it didn't stop them from dropping their work on her desk to complete.

But before she became too negative, she told Steph about the things she loved. Despite everything she loved her job. She was working with an extremely high profile company at a young age. At twenty-six Ella had all the doors open for her. There were so many departments she couldn't wait to see the inside of. There were people in the art department whom she'd grown friendly with. And then there was the fact that even though she wasn't at the live events she was helping by contributing to them.

Ella sighed; she knew Steph had her best interests at heart. It was that she stupidly thought what she had said to Steph at the bar wouldn't go any further than just two friends talking work. But it was never going to be like that with Steph. Stephanie McMahon was her boss at the end of the day. It was Ella's naivety that had got the better of her.

She took some comfort from knowing Steph wouldn't have put her forward for the job if she didn't think her capable. Ella knew she'd agreed to help Steph out, she just didn't know what kind of help Steph needed at the time. She definitely didn't know at the time what kind of trouble Nick had really been causing.

There was no backing out; Ella wasn't one to back down no matter how uncomfortable she was with a situation. She had to go and do her job, no matter how much the thought of being away from a normal routine and her bed. Being uprooted from something she'd known for over a year spooked her. It'd taken her that long to get on speaking terms with half the creative team. It just felt as if the rug was being pulled out from under her feet.

The idea of being out at the live shows, filming promos and directing the WWE superstars was thrilling. She couldn't deny that. She'd have been lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to it. She just wished it were happening under different circumstances.

There was no doubt in her mind; she knew she had one hell of a ride ahead of her.