Disclaimer: I own not

Spoilers: Pffft, no. A/U all the way.

Eventual Pairings: Lita/Christian, Trish/Edge, Victoria/Hunter, Dawn/Jericho … mentions of and appearances by many, many others.

Summary: All is fair in love, business and coveted corner offices.

Notes: If you've read Strictly Business, this is kind of like that story, but not entirely like that one. This one will have differences, of course.

-x-X-x-

8:30 am, New York City, NY

While most residents of the city were en route to work, business started early for some of the employees of Kings Inc. Adam Copeland the financial wizard, Jay Reso the renowned corporate lawyer and Chris Irvine the advertising genius. Of course, their respective business cards didn't exactly read quite like that but, that was the reputation they had garnered throughout the business world. At least on the East Coast of the country, they were the best of the best, matched only by a trio of women on the West Coast. A trio of women that they would be working with in two months when Kings Inc. and Lee Corp. officially began their merger process to form an unmatched conglomerate in the business world. For the past year it had merely been speculation and then the McMahon siblings, also the owners of the two companies, had finally set their differences aside and honoured their father's dying wish. After five years of their companies separately, Kingsley Inc. would finally be reformed and poised to reclaim its dominance. That was the general theory anyway, every employee from the blue collar office worker to the top executives in management realising full well that it could backfire. But they weren't exactly accustomed to failure and they didn't want to experience it anytime soon and with the trio of blonde men, affectionately dubbed the Devils in Armani by their rivals; they wouldn't fail.

Jay Reso checked his watch as he looked over the most recent stack of legal documents; his required cup of morning coffee was five seconds late. "Always on a Monday," the blonde man muttered under his breath. "Of all days to be late, why on a Monday…"

Chris Irvine didn't bother to knock, the double doors leading to Jay's office opened without much ado as he strode inside. "Working already?"

Jay smiled dryly, "some of us do have deadlines to meet, Irvine. Unlike you, I can't afford to sit at my desk playing Halo 3 all day."

Chris grinned, "Well I have to put that expensive internet connection to use somehow, right? And I can't help it if the peons beneath me can't work as fast as me."

Adam Copeland shook his head as he invited himself into the coveted corner office, "insulting people already? A bit too early for that, don't you think?"

Chris snorted softly, "I can't have them being compliant, because when they become compliant they get lazy. And if they get lazy—"

"I am so sorry I'm late," Allen Jones, unofficial corporate lackey to the three, practically ran into the office. "There was a new barista today and she messed up the order twice."

"Just set it over there," Jay motioned to a spot on his desk, far away from the important stack of documents. "Has the conference room been prepared yet? I have a board meeting to sit it on; some of the stock holders want to make sure that they're set once the companies merge."

Allen frowned, the cardboard carrying tray still in his hands. "Leticia said that meeting was for tomorrow."

Jay arched an eyebrow, "I have it on my calendar for today at 10:00. Leticia's information is wrong, as usual. Or she's just ignoring all of the important memos that Shane sends out. Typical," he said and then pinched the bridge of his nose, "make sure that the conference room is sufficiently prepared this time. This meeting is important."

Adam's forehead etched in confusion, "why wasn't I informed about this supposedly important meeting?"

"You were," Jay reminded him tersely, "everyone was reminded about it. The three of us need to be present for it because it's the final board meeting of Kings Inc."

Chris seated himself on the edge of Jay's pristine desk, "and did you manage to find out anything about Lee Corp.? Aside from what we know already."

Jay shook his head, "Stephanie has kept Lee Corp. under wraps since Kingsley Inc. split. From what I have seen of their public listing, they deal in beauty products and holistic health."

Adam made a face, "so you mean to tell me … Kings Inc. a company that specialises in techno gadgets, video games and athletic equipment is merging with a new age, Zen freak company?"

"They're based in California," Jay replied as if that explained everything, "apparently Linda McMahon cashed in on the market there in the late 90's and Lee Corp. has been successful ever since."

"And Lee Corp. is run by women?"

"Mostly, that is correct," Jay set aside his cup of coffee aside, "they cater to women, and they're run by women. Modern success story in a manner of speaking."

Adam nodded shortly, "so with Kings Inc. catering to the man's world, Lee Corp. catering to the women's world … it's the best of both worlds when the two companies merge again." He paused for a moment, "why did they split in the first place?"

Jay offered a slight shrug of his shoulders, "I never asked, I just deal with the legal end of it… and speaking of that, I need to get back to this paperwork."

Chris waved it off, "just do it later this week."

Adam rolled his eyes, "I'm going to guess that you already forgot that we're heading to Los Angeles this week? Big important meeting with the executives and employees of Lee Corp., remember?"

Chris rolled his eyes right back, "just because I forgot about that one meeting last year, doesn't mean I'm going to forget about all meetings. Of course I remembered, I just don't see why Mr. Slave to the Grindstone can't put off his paperwork for once. Seriously, Reso, the only time I don't see you working is when your kids are here."

Jay adjusted the framed photograph on his desk at that mention, "they really aren't kids anymore Chris, they're turning thirteen on their next birthday. And that's the other reason I want to get this paperwork taken care of now. I've already booked tickets for a Kings game when we head to California." A pause, "don't you two have work to do?"

Adam and Chris rolled their eyes in near unison, finally leaving the office so Jay could get some work done. But before he did that, he set the picture frame back down on his desk, an uncharacteristic sigh escaping as he did so. While the blonde man had claimed he didn't know much about Lee Corp. in reality, he did. For one thing he knew that the executive team in Lee Corp. was the best on the West Coast and he also knew that the corporate lawyer for Lee Corp. was one of the best in the country. That woman also happened to be the mother of his children and his ex-wife, a woman that he hadn't really spoken with since their divorce … their conversations over the past two years limited to their twin children. They had only been in their second year of college when Amy found out she was pregnant, married in a small ceremony two months before the twins were born. And it wasn't until after they'd finished law school and passed the bar exam that their marriage started to crumble. They still loved each other, they just couldn't live with each other anymore … their divorce proceeding as amiably as possible, custody split reasonably enough. And now, five years later, they would be working together … the first time he would actually see his ex-wife since the divorce was made official. And admittedly, Jay didn't have any doubts that Kingsley Inc. would be successful … it was just meant to be successful. He did doubt, however, that all employees would be able to coexist, especially if Amy was still the same as he remembered.