Hi all! I've been wanting to do something set around NXT for ages now, and the only two characters currently interacting in WWE that have any believable romantic chemistry seemed like the best placeto start. So here's the first half of a loosely Halloween-themed Renee Young/Sami Zayn two-shot. Hope you enjoy, please read and review :)
Her heartbeat accelerated wildly, her clammy fingers almost slipped off of the door handle. She took as deep a breath as her tension would allow. She knew she had nothing to fear, she got on well with them, bar a couple of notable exceptions, and while they would no doubt show sympathy to her plight, she knew none of them would know quite what to say. Hearing them try and fail to understand would only make her feel worse, and possibly even lead to unwarranted lashing out in ways she'd come to regret. She'd always had trouble holding her tongue.
To think just a month prior, things could not have looked rosier for Renee Young; she'd been proverbially pinching herself on a constant basis as she traveled the world posing the pertinent questions to the men and women she'd grown up in awe of, the people that just a year earlier she'd been passing comment on from afar to a niche audience in a small studio in Toronto. She'd made history as the first woman to take up regular residence at a WWE commentary table on NXT. She bounded through the doors of the Full Sail Arena every week eagerly anticipating her next challenge, and rather ashamedly hoping said challenges involved crossing paths once again with a certain fellow Canadian.
During her year with the company she'd been required to point her microphone at some of the most arrogant, patronising, sleazy and downright crazy people she'd ever met. Though she took great pride in maintaining her professionalism and sticking to the task at hand in the presence of such characters, there were some interviews she couldn't wait to be over. But whenever she saw the name 'Sami Zayn' on her itinerary, she knew she was in for several minutes of unashamed warmth, friendly banter... and a good hour of swooning afterward. If anyone here had a right to an ego it was Sami; in Renee's humble opinion NXT's most talented and exciting prospect, but it was harder to imagine a more grounded, level-headed and good-humoured man. No one else always remembered to ask how she was, to them she was just a platform from which to unleash their ego. No one else complemented her appearance in a way that didn't make her skin crawl.
Gentlemen were few and far between in her experience, as were people she could genuinely trust, and they were never rarer than in this most cut-throat of businesses. He was an anchor of compassion and sanity in an environment that sometimes seemed almost completely devoid of morals and common sense. And maybe, just maybe there was more to his compliments and genial attitude toward her than mere cordiality. She simultaneously hoped he'd picked up on her rather obvious signs of infatuation whilst also being somewhat mortified by the idea. She considered them a perfect match and doubted she was in his league in equal measure. She hadn't known what to think. But now one thought overtook all others when it came to Sami Zayn. She missed him.
For a while NXT had been a safe haven from the rotten-to-the-core regime that had begun running roughshod over Raw and Smackdown, but that all changed the night John Bradshaw Layfield rode his long-horned limousine into town. To think that her broadcasting colleague, the man that welcomed her so warmly when she first set out on the road, the man that texted her with words of wisdom and encouragement when she first took her seat in the announcer's booth, had enlisted himself into the service of the exploitative, hypocritical powers-that-be emphasised just why no one here could be taken at face value.
And almost instantly, JBL had proven that his modus operandi would be no different from that of his superiors; nepotistic totalitarianism coated in a veneer of benevolent corporate bullshit. Sami was suspended for speaking his mind, and Renee had been insulted and patronised live on television by her new boss. And they were far from alone in being mistreated. Once bright and hopeful, the whole place now exuded a permanent air of fear and gloom. Circumstances had conspired to make her dream job a nightmare, appropriately enough given the time of year.
She opened the door to the women's locker room ever so slightly and leant toward the crack, hoping to glean who was inside and what they were talking about before she made her entrance. If she had chance to prepare then she'd be better able to generate a false aura of calm and sprightliness that would prevent any awkward questions.
"So I used the box that my dryer came in for the body, and the plastic tubing off my old vacuum cleaner for the legs, and lots and lots of foil. It's so much more fun when you make your own costumes!" she heard Bayley babble with her customary child-like glee. In all the upheaval she'd somehow forgotten about the Halloween party the following night; arranged by Dusty Rhodes shortly before his departure and grudgingly allowed to go ahead by JBL. Normally the chance to let her hair down (or up, or concealed behind a mask, whichever her costume dictated) would be one that Renee would jump at, but recent events had driven the lustre for any merriment far from her mind. She just wanted to hunker down, make the most of her snatched moments away from this circus and hope that everything soon blew over.
"You're going too, aren't you, Paige?" she heard Charlotte ask.
"Too bloody right I am! Favourite night of the year," came the reply in the unmistakable husky English tones of the 'Anti-Diva.'
"Why's that? Cos it's the only night of the year where everyone looks just as creepy as you?" Renee bristled and let out a breathy groan as the shrill, condescending squawk of NXT's self-proclaimed 'First Lady' Summer Rae interjected, in the process shattering any determination to enter the room that she had managed to build up. For whatever reason, as petty and pathetic as Summer's mean girl shtick was, her barbs always managed to stick in Renee's craw no matter how facile she found them.
"Paige, the only person on Earth who has to tan in order to pull off a convincing zombie," put in Sasha Banks, Summer's newly-recruited 'BFF', with all the odious eagerness and desperation of a dog trying to please its master. Cute and harmless though she had once been, Renee always knew Sasha was just the kind of weak-willed, malleable young sapling who could so easily be sucked into Summer's moronic orbit, offsetting her own obvious insecurities by putting others down.
"...And what are you, going as, Charlotte? If it's something involving a gross leathery mask you can ask your dad if you can borrow his face for the evening," Sasha went on.
"Two in a row! You're really getting the hang of this, Boss!" Summer cheered risibly.
"Well, I did learn from the best," Sasha sighed in reply, swiftly followed by the triumphant slap of a high five.
"I don't like it when we fight," Bayley murmured fretfully, inciting some hectoring laughter from Summer and Sasha. All of a sudden the door swung open and before Renee had time to react she was sent stumbling backwards, just managing to keep her feet by steadying herself on the far wall with her right arm.
"Oh, hey Renee! Didn't see you there," Sasha mewled. Renee gave her a wry grin in response. She might not have been feeling quite herself, but she was still fairly confident she could run rings round Summer's little lapdog.
"Nope, sorry, not happening. You're still about as intimidating as a three-legged chihuahua," she retorted calmly, as Sasha gave a frown and Renee watched the false confidence drain from the Bostonian's eyes. Time to go in for the kill.
"See, I know that beneath the three inches of foundation and the copiously padded bra you're still that sweet, shy little girl who desperately wants to go to that party as her favourite anime character and is going to feel awkward as fuck in the cheerleader outfit your BFF stuffs you in."
Sasha's expression transformed into one of doe-eyed panic, her lip trembling slightly. Maybe enough of these reminders of how wafer-thin this layer of belligerence was would cause her to realise that she was infinitely better the way she was before and that conforming to this tired stereotype in order to gain attention and approval was futile and just plain sad. However, before any sort of epiphany could occur, Summer inevitably leapt to her rescue.
"Ani-what?" she began, shooting Renee a look of withering disregard. Renee felt her fighting spirit begin to shrivel, and knew that no matter what she did, whatever superficial inanity Summer was about to spout was going to inexplicably leave a mark on her.
"Decided on your costume yet, Renee?"
At the crucial moment, as so often was the case, she found herself unable to order her words, and could only scowl and splutter.
"No? Hmm... maybe we can help. Any ideas, Sash?"
Knowing Summer had Renee firmly on the ropes, Sasha's bravado returned with a vengeance, her eyes aglow once again with vindictive relish as she sized her up.
"Let me see... well, for your sake, Renee... and ours... I'd avoid showing any stomach."
"Unless you're planning on painting a face on it and going as Jabba the Hutt," Summer put in, standing beside Renee with arms folded and leaning down into her ear.
"And I'd definitely steer clear of anything too tight around the butt," Sasha went on, craning her upper body behind Renee with a smirk.
"...Unless you're planning on going as a hippo," added Summer.
"A hippo! Where do you come up with this stuff?" Sasha cooed, clapping her hands together in puerile delight.
"It's... a gift," Summer shrugged nonchalantly.
"I'm not going to the stupid party," Renee pouted. It was if her entire adulthood had receded into inexistence and she was 16 again, and with an adolescence like hers that was entirely a bad thing.
"And why's that?" Sasha asked, cocking her head.
"I think I know why..." Summer began. Maybe if she didn't talk so slowly this wouldn't be half as painful. But then of course, that all part of her plan.
"It's because Sami isn't gonna be there."
"I... don't know what you're talking about," Renee muttered in vain, knowing that they weren't about to abort their mission of making her feel like utter crap regardless of what she said.
"Oh I've seen you fawning over him in those interviews like a lovesick teenager, it's pathetic," Summer spat.
"...Says the 30-year-old woman still acting and dressing like she's in high school," Renee shot back to Summer's evident surprise. At least she would be able to take some pride from this exchange.
"You think he's gonna be interested in you, when there's girls like us? He's a star..." Sasha said, tagging herself in while her cohort was temporarily stunned.
"...A Superstar. And Superstars date Divas. You're not a Diva, you're not really an announcer either, you're..." Summer leaned right into her face, a lop-sided sneer on her lips.
"...You're just Renee," she finished, her tone soft, icy and acidic. With that parting shot, Summer and Sasha trotted mirthfully away down the corridor.
And all Renee could do was silently seethe. Jabba the Hutt? A hippo? These people were idiots, their insults playground-level at best, and she with her intelligence, her vocabulary, and a career built upon being extroverted and outgoing and stepping out of her comfort zone had absolutely no defence against them. How did they do it? She knew she was better than them on every important level, yet she knew these words would be hurtling tauntingly around her head when she lay down to sleep that night. Alone.
And they were exactly right as far as Sami went. There was no way she was going to enjoy herself without him there. Not with things the way they were now. There was no way she was ever going to get what she wanted from him either. Not with the washboard-abbed, statuesque alternatives on offer. Actual wrestlers, not awestruck fans who'd gotten lucky. She'd gone from happily engaged but frustrated at the lack of upward trajectory in her career a year ago to landing her dream job but feeling painfully lonesome and completely alienated today. Had it really been worth it? She didn't know anymore.