Disclaimer: I do not own any of the WWF/E characters in this story. Josie and any other characters you don't recognise do, however, belong to me. I have rated this story PG, just in case 'cause I'm new to the whole disclaimer/rating thing. If I've missed anything, just let me know. ;o)
Note: I wrote this story quite some time ago, so it includes past storylines and can be a bit unrealistic at times. But hey, that's why they call it Fan-Fiction...you can do whatever you damn well want! hehehe
Hope you enjoy! Please read and review. I like reviews, especially constructive critisism. (Unless is has to do with English Vs American spelling...Do. Not. Go. There! lol)
Josephine Bolton looked around and took in her surroundings.
The World Wrestling Federation.
She still couldn't believe that she was so close to making her debut. After so long! She had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't a dream.
Walking to the office that Mr. and Mrs. McMahon shared Josephine kept her head down, hoping that no one would recognise her. A few minutes later she slowly came to a stop outside the office, quickly looked around and knocked on the door.
"Come in." A female voice called pleasantly from inside and Josephine nearly jumped out of her skin.
'Get over it. This isn't going to kill you, for christ's sake!' She silently berated herself for her nervousness as she opened the door and forced what she hoped was a confident smile to appear on her face.
"Josephine, we've been expecting you." Linda smiled as Josie entered the room.
"I'm not late am I?" Josephine asked with a frown, then nearly kicked herself for letting her insecurity show.
"No, not at all." Mr. McMahon was quick to try and put her at ease. "Just take a seat while we wait for Shane to arrive. He'll explain your character and storyline in more detail. Would you like a drink?"
"No, thank you Sir." She took a seat in front of the large desk that Mr. McMahon sat behind.
"As you know, since you've met us both before, my name is Vince and my lovely wife is Linda. We all work very closely together in this company and not many people care for formalities." Josie nodded with relief and smiled sincerely for the first time since she'd arrived.
"Well, in that case, please call me Josie." Vince nodded with a smile and began looking around for something on his desk.
After a few moments of shuffling papers Vince opened his mouth to speak again. "So," he said in a conversational tone. "I hear that you have family ties with our competition down south." The colour drained from Josie's face and she took a deep breath, wondering how the hell he knew about that.
Linda jumped in before the flustered girl could reply. "Josie, you don't have to answer that. It's a private matter, my paranoid husband is a bit worried that you'll either jump ship at the first chance you get or give them inside information."
Josie had regained a bit of her composure and forced a laugh, "It's alright Linda, I understand." She took a deep breath and looked Vince in the eye. "You have nothing to worry about from me. I can guarantee it. If you want more than a guarantee, get me to sign something official. I have no plans to ever go to WCW, I never have. My goals were always ECW or here. I have no desire whatsoever to work in my Father's shadow."
Vince sat studied the young girl's face, considering what she had just said. He noticed the flash of pain that appeared in her eyes when he'd mentioned her Father and realised that she was telling the truth. She resembled him a little bit. She had the same determined presence about her that her father had had when Vince first met him. As for her work in the ring, Jim Ross had given Vince a great report about the girl; apparently she had worked amazingly in OVW. He said that her work ethic was terrific and she was very tough, not at all afraid of taking bumps. She'd actually come up with a lot of ways to make everyone, not just the fans, fear for her safety. The only problem was that even when she was told not to do something dangerous, she'd do it anyway just for the thrill of it. It was something that Vince intended putting a stop to.
He decided silently to give her a go. He thought that she could probably be a great asset to the company if she was handled in the right way.
"Fine. I'll get you to sign something in the morning, I do believe you, but I just don't like to take any chances with the company." Josie grinned widely and nodded her head enthusiastically. "But I want you to remember," he began to speak seriously and leaned forward to look her closely in the eye, "even though you've signed a contract, I can release you from that at any time I feel that this isn't working out. So if the trainers think a move is too dangerous for you to perform, I'd like you to listen to them. For your own good." Josie gave him a sheepish grin and nodded in the affirmative. Vince smiled back at her, then looked at his watch and back up at Linda.
"Where the hell is that son of ours? He was supposed to be here ten minutes ago." Vince asked as he stood up with a frustrated look on his face. Linda rolled her eyes and bit back a laugh.
"You know Shane, he's a perfectionist, just like you, always rushing around trying to do ten things at once. He'll be here."
"Well, I don't have time to wait. If I see him, I'll send him over. I hate to be rude Josie, but I have a million things to do today and if I don't start now, I'll never get them done in time for Raw. Good luck with your debut next week. Although, I expect I'll be seeing you a bit later on tonight." He said, shaking her hand.
"Thank you very much. I appreciate the chance you're giving me. I won't let you down." She replied, knowing he must have heard it hundreds of times before, but she couldn't help herself. Once Vince had exited the room, Josie looked a bit nervous again; He'd looked like he was on the warpath. "Is everything going to be alright?" Josie asked concerned and Linda just laughed.
"Yes, of course. Things are always hectic on these nights, plus, Vince overreacts when he's stressed." Josie nodded. Linda looked at the young girl. There was some sort of familiarity about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
"So Josie, when did you become interested in the wrestling business?" Linda asked curiously.
Josie was about to answer when a flustered looking Shane McMahon burst into the room followed by an annoyed looking Jim Ross. "Sorry I'm late. Hi, you must be Josephine, I'm Shane and you already know Jim?" He said putting his folders down and reaching out to take her hand. She stood up and smiled, holding out her hand to shake his. "Yes I am, it's nice to meet you and I do know Jim."
"Yes and from what I remember you are one heck of a talented young lady." Jim said making Josie blush and she smiled shyly at them. "The only thing we have to work on is that confidence of yours."
"I know, I know. It's always been an issue." She sighed apologetically.
"OK, let's just go over your character." He said sitting down with a folder open, "Her name is...was a name decided on?"
"Yes, Jezebel."
"Okay, Jezebel is the Undertaker and Kane's troubled younger sister. She is rough on the outer, like her brothers, but unlike them has a very soft and kind heart. She has some sort of connection with Edge and Christian, mainly with Christian which brings his darker side back out...what do you think so far?"
Josie couldn't contain her grin, it was no secret that she had been a big fan of the Brood, since she always wore one of their older shirts when she was working at OVW.
"That sounds great. It's going to take a while for all of this to happen, right? I mean, when she first arrives, you don't see her soft side, but it slowly starts to show over time?"
"That's right. You first appear at Wrestlemania next week when Edge and Christian are defending the titles against the Hardyz in a cage match. Kane and 'Taker are still angry at Edge and Christian for what will happen here tonight, which is them getting beat up by Rikishi and Haku when they are about to beat Edge and Christian and capture the Tag Titles. On SmackDown 'Taker and Kane warn Edge and Christian to watch their backs at Wrestlemania, which makes them very nervous, of course. On the night of Wrestlemania, Kane and 'Taker introduce you, Christian nearly collapses with shock as 'Taker and Kane leave you at ringside with Lita to create a distraction. Lita will then turn on the Hardyz to join Edge and Christian." He continued, noting Josie's shock and curiosity with amusement, "We're yet to figure out the details of that, we really need you, Amy, Matt, Jeff, Adam and Jason to come up with some ideas that you're all comfortable with. Have you met them yet?" Jim finally took a breath and looked back up at the excited young girl waiting for a reply.
"Only Amy." Josie answered quickly, eager to find out more.
"OK, I'll get Joanie to introduce you tonight."
"No problem." Josie knew Joanie really well, she actually knew all of DX through Shawn Michaels, so that was an advantage to her.
"That's really all I can go through right now. Would you be available for a meeting later in the week, preferably Friday, so I can get more details together?"
"Of course, anytime! It's not an issue for me." Josie was as anxious as anyone to get things straightened out. This all seemed like a dream and she was anxious to make it a reality.
"Great, how about I get in contact with you tomorrow and organise a time then? I have to talk to the others first. Could you try to sit down with all of them either tonight or tomorrow to come up with some plans for the match."
"I can try. I'll ask Amy."
"Good, and I know you don't have a problem taking bumps, so as long as it's not too extreme we'd like you and Amy to organise a little spot for Sunday. That should lead to a feud. I think that you'll get a title shot, but it probably wouldn't be wise to give you the title just yet. We need to wait and see how the fans react to you."
Josie nodded with a massive grin on her face, she couldn't wait until Wrestlemania...she couldn't believe she was debuting at Wrestlemania, it was all she could do not to jump up and down screaming there and then.
"Oh dear." Jim sighed, giving Shane, who was laughing, a dirty look.
"I think you've created a monster!" Linda said looking worried.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Josie assured them vaguely, her mind working a million miles an hour.
"I don't know about that, I've seen some of the bumps you've taken and they weren't all that pretty. But you and Amy combined..." Jim left that hanging.
"Well, I lived to fight another day didn't I?" She asked, slightly offended that he might not think her up to the task.
"Barely." He muttered.
She rolled her eyes. "I promise, I won't make it too extreme."
"I'll hold you to that." He promised, rising from his seat. "I have to get going now. Shane, can you take her to find Joanie please?"
"Yeah sure, but I don't have much time spare, I'm running late and Dad is already out for my blood."
"OK, then make it quick." Jim replied, standing up. "It was a pleasure doing business with you Jezebel." Being called her character's name made Josie laugh, startled. She got up and started walking out with Shane, but before she walked through the door, she turned back to face the others.
"Thank you Jim, and you too Linda. You don't know how much this means to me. Getting to the WWF is all I've dreamt of for years. I'll do my best to make you all glad you hired me."
"I understand, and I'm sure you will." Linda replied, looking up from her laptop and smiling at the girl.
Josie walked out of the room, her nervousness almost, but not completely, disappearing.