A/N - I used to write a lot, but since stumbling across this thanks to eyeliner princess, I got inspired to write again and this is what I came up with.
This is a rewrite of the first chapter I had written under the title It All Ended Before It Had The Chance to Begin, which I spent all day at uni on Friday rewriting instead of doing coursework.
Summary - Katrina had everything she wanted on Raw. A job she loved doing, backstage out of the way, a friend in Stephanie McMahon but after seven years, the revelation of an affair forced her to jump onto the other brand just as things are starting to heat up in the Hardy's and Edge storyline. Will she continue to stay out of the limelight? Will she mend her broken heart? Who is behind the attack's on Jeff? Why did Matt attack his brother at the Rumble? What is Vickie so smug about it?
Chapter One - In The Business Of Misery.
The WWE had turned into quite a miserable place lately. At least that's how I felt. Between the HBK storyline and the Hardy's fighting, it just felt that there was no one for the fans to really get behind and root for anymore. I knew the writer's probably knew what they were doing, but it just felt to me as though the spark, the electricity that had made me want to get into the business in the first place had gone.
I had noticed it more since my move from Raw to Smackdown. A move I didn't want to make, but that was the only option after all that had happened.
I worked closely with Stephanie behind the scenes, and getting close with one of the writers was bound to get messy, especially when a talk of me moving to a more on-screen role. I wanted to get there on my own merit, not just because of who I was sleeping with. A move to Smackdown seemed the right thing to do, no matter how much further back in the pegging order I was, it was much easier to be invisible and fall out of love than be in the spotlight.
I had to content myself with paperwork and getting to know the Divas on the roster. I was pretty much their bitch for the next few weeks, just to get myself settled, so Stephanie said anyway. I missed Raw, and the odd babysitting job I got left to do, instead of my more frequent role of general assistant to anyone that needed it. There was a feeling of everyone maybe knowing what had happened though, rumours travel fast in the locker-room, whether or not they are fuelled by a fictional storyline or if it was fact.
First day, thought I should make an effort, so I was in early to gather up my paperwork for the day. It was nothing I hadn't seen before, so it didn't take long. Maybe I didn't need to get up as early.
It was late afternoon before the majority of superstars had arrived, I had left all my stuff in my makeshift office and wandered around the arena, hands stuffed in as far as my hoody pockets as they would go. I may had come into work early, but I wasn't dressed for business. I was dressed as though I had just gotten out of bed: a pair of old baggy jeans hanging from my hips and a plain gray zip up hoody. I could worry about my hair later, as currently I was hiding beneath my bright orange hat - okay, so maybe I wasn't keeping as low a profile as I wanted to, but it was cold.
As more of the superstars arrived, I decided it was probably a good idea to get myself sorted. Change clothes, sort hair, make myself look remotely presentable before I checked on the girls. I knew a couple of them from when they were on Raw, so I was looking forward to seeing a few familiar faces, other than Vickie. But we didn't exactly get on.
It was nearly time for the taping, the girls were sorted with everything they needed and their cars were booked for getting them to the airport and their connections to the various places they were going were organised. All I had to do now was check over the script and make sure that everyone I had been left in charge of was where they needed to be.
I grabbed the latest draft of the script, which was still bound to change at least twice before things kicked off and was on the hunt for a drinks machine. It was a pre-show ritual I had started on my first day, the read-through with a can of Pepsi in the parking lot. Classy, huh?
As I approached the machine I spotted Jeff Hardy, definitely one of the perks of working on Smackdown. His hair was darker than usual, still a variety of colours, but dull. Presumably due to his storyline. I hadn't seen him in this sombre state before. He got to the machine just as I did, and I gestured for him to use it first, thinking he probably had somewhere to be. He shook is head and stood his ground, waiting for me to go first, "Hey, have I seen you around before?"
I made my selection from the machine, "Maybe, I used to kick around Raw running after Steph, but now I'm here running after Vickie, and everyone else…"
"Katrina, there you are! I need to speak to you about the changes in tonight's script!" Vickie called from a doorway I hadn't even noticed. I shook the script I had in my hand,
"Just getting to reading it now." I glanced over at her, the look in her eyes was telling me to move. Fast. "Okay, I guess that's my cue…" I trailed off, following after her. Ignoring the thought that Jeff had jus mumbled something to me as I walked away.
Vickie paced the floor in her office, "And what did Jeff want?"
"Nothing," I sighed, running my hands through my now perfectly straightened hair - how I loved getting the stylist to do it for me - "We just both went to the drinks machine."
"Well, it's not a good idea for you to get involved with him…We can't have you influencing the writers, can we?" Either that was a really bad joke and a coincidence, or she was warning me off having a repeat of my fling at Raw.
"Firstly, you aren't my mother. Secondly, even if you were, we barely said two words to each other and suddenly we're involved?" I flicked through the script, still unread, wondering what was so urgent that she had wanted to talk to me about in the first place. Especially since she had spent the past ten minutes berating me about Jeff Hardy. "I'm going to go read this, without you hovering over me." I glanced down at my watch, "There's two hours til the taping starts, meet back here in half an hour?" I tried to sound almost friendly, I didn't want to make things unnecessarily tense. I slipped out of the room before Vickie had the chance to reply, plus I was still intrigued to see what the changes were that had got her so riled in the first place.
I sat in the parking lot, listening to my mp3player to block out any of the noise so I was not disturbed. I did a quick scan of the matches. No changes. The night was still going to end with Edge and Matt defeating Swagger and Jeff, thanks to Vickie - of course. All the promo's that were going to be cut were still in there…
I was disturbed by a hand being placed on my shoulder. Instinctively, I jumped, "Kat, what the hell are you doing here?" Kat. No one had called me that in years, which meant one thing. Danny.
I removed my headphones whilst standing up and hugged him, "Danny. I had hoped you would still be on the circuit." Finally, a familiar face that I could actually talk to about anything. "Should you not be working?"
"Yep, I'm cutting promo with Matt and Jeff. What happened with Raw? Steph get bored of you?" He seemed surprised that I didn't laugh with him. Well, at least he hadn't heard. Or maybe he just being nice. Danny was probably the nicest guy on the planet. This fact compelled me to tell him the reason behind my move to Smackdown.
"Something like that…" I trailed off, considering whether now was the time or place to be telling him. I hadn't seen the guy in over a year, so I had no reason not to trust him. "You got a minute?" I asked, glancing around me to see if there was anyone lurking around to here what I was about to say. "Stephanie was doing me a favour."
"Yeah, I can see working with Vickie being a real thrill…" Classic Danny. Always wanting to make a joke out of something to try and take my mind off the serious matter.
"I let things to get messy, I let my heart rule my head for a little while. And when I came to my senses, it was too late," I sighed "And I know news travels fast around here, but Steph's managed to keep it quiet. You won't say anything, will you?"
"Course not. But whoever it was, they were an idiot to let you go…" he trailed off, putting his free arm around me. "I better go, but find me later though?" I nodded as he rushed off to work, I thumbed through the pages, and spotting my name at the top of one of them, read much more carefully.
