Jayde stood backstage. Vince McMahon was in the centre of the ring, a grey desk beside him. He was talking, as always. Everyone knows he loves the sound of his own voice, but he's forgiven by the fans and employees alike because if it weren't for him the WWE wouldn't exist.
Jayde let out a nervous breath and looked down at her outfit. Her Dr. Martens were on properly – she didn't want to trip on live TV – her high-waisted cut-offs were fitted to her shape to show off her long legs and beige skin. Paired with her rock tee that hugged her body in all the right places and cropped leather jacket, she was ready to go.
She looked up at the monitor as she waited anxiously, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. She was rubbing her hands together in a nervous gesture.
'You can do this.' She thought, giving herself an internal pep-talk. 'You've done it before; it's just an extra 10 000 people this time.'
As much as she tried to psych herself up for her big introduction, when Vince began, it was ultimately useless.
"And now, the winner of the WWE Diva Search, our newest Diva…" Vince held a long pause for dramatic effect. "Jayde Lewis!"
"Oh shit." Jayde muttered to herself as she felt her heart leap into her throat.
She heard the starting chords of Kevin Rudolph's 'You Make the Rain Fall' and plastered on a bright smile.
"You're up." The tech guy said. She nodded and began to strut down to the ring.
The crowd erupted into cheers as she walked out onto the stage. She had her Queen Bitch smirk on her lips and was swinging her hips to the music. The audience roared when she waved. She walked along the edges and high-fived the people by the barricades.
As she walked up the steel steps another tech guy passed her a mic. She stepped through the middle rope and into the ring. After giving one more wave to the crowd, Jayde turned to come fact-to-face – well more like face-to-chest in her case – with none other than Mr. Vince McMahon himself.
"Jayde." He said in greeting. He held out his hand, which Jayde shook politely. Vince then brought up her hand to his lips. She smiled at him and choked down the urge to protest; he was her boss now, after all.
"Hey Vince," She said with a cheery voice and a wave with her free hand. "Thank you so much for giving me this amazing opportunity."
"Well, you're very welcome. Just sign here." He said and pointed to the papers on the desk. She picked up the pen and, in shaky script, signed the dotted line.
Her heart was beating at one hundred miles per hour. This was it; she'd been dreaming of this since she was a little girl watching the wrestling on TV with her older brother and his friends; they said she'd never be able to do it, that she was too girly, but here she was – she was officially, a WWE Diva.
Vince picked up the contract and slid it under his arm, keeping it safe. Jayde looked up at him; she was in this now. Why did she feel like she just sold her soul to the devil?
The chairman shot her a smile that, for a reason she couldn't explain, made her feel uneasy.
"Welcome to the WWE." He said before passing his mic back and exiting the ring.
Such a small, simple sentence gave Jayde an eerie feeling of foreboding.
"It's great to be here." Jayde said to herself quietly, her mic hanging by her side. Taking a deep breath, she brought the microphone up to her lips and smiled. "What's up, Montreal?"
The arena erupted in loud cheers, claps and hoots. The reaction of the crowd brought out her first genuine smile of the night.
"Good, good." She said, nodding. "Are you all pumped for tonight's matches?"
More cheers.
"Well, I for one am looking forward to-"
Montreal didn't get to find out what she was looking forward to as she was interrupted by upbeat music that started to play. She recognised the music; the approaching Diva was one that Jayde greatly admired. A short tanned girl with brown hair came bounding down the aisle. Mickie James. The Diva grabbed a mic from the tech guy and jumped into the ring.
"Hi." She said to Jayde through the microphone, and then waved to the crowd. The crowd became louder and rowdier. "I'm Mickie James, and I wanted to welcome you personally and on behalf of the Divas and the WWE universe. So, welcome." She said cheerfully.
"Thanks Mickie." Jayde said with a smile. Turning back to the audience, she continued. "And thanks to all of you guys! I wouldn't be here without you!"
After waving goodbye and blowing a few kisses, the Divas passed back their mics and left the ring when You Make the Rain Fall began playing once again.
Jayde didn't feel like she could breathe properly again until she and Mickie were deep back stage. With a hand on her chest, the new Diva let out a long sigh.
"It's pretty nerve-wracking, huh?" Mickie sympathised; she knows more than anyone how hard this business can be.
"Oh yeah." Jayde replied.
"It gets easier," Mickie told her. "It's always scary, for me anyway, but it definitely gets better."
"Thanks." the new girl smiled. For a brief moment, she thought back to the times she saw Mickie James on pay-per-view or TV and thought of what it would be like to meet her. Now, here she was telling Jayde that life in the WWE won't always be hard.
"Want me to show you around?" Mickie held out her arm like a prince would do to a princess in a fairytale. Jayde grinned and linked her arm around Mickie's.
"Lead the way." The darker haired Diva said.
Mickie thought that the first place she should show the new girl was the Diva's locker room.
Back in the Diva's locker room, Jayde was met with a lot of hellos and even a few hugs. she was introduced to so many people - both WWE Divas and regular WWE employees (makeup artists, costume designers, cleaners, medics, etc.) that she was having trouble keeping up with them all. Despite feeling so lost, the new Diva couldn't have been happier with her life at the moment. At least, that was until Michelle McCool and Layla El walked in.
"Oh look," Michelle said "Piggy James has made a friend. Did you share your cake with her or something?"
"Shut it McCool." Mickie said.
Jayde looked between them. She had heard about, and seen on TV, the storyline between LayCool and Mickie James, but the Diva Search winner thought it had been just that - a storyline. As she took note of the disgusted look on Michelle's face and the unadulterated hate in Mickie's eyes, Jayde got the feeling that this rivalry stemmed deeper than what the WWE Creative Team had cooked up.
"You shut it Piggy." Layla spat.
"Dude, what's your problem?" Jayde snapped, she felt the need to stick up for Mickie. The other brunette was the first Superstar or Diva to show her any sense of kinship, and for that, Jayde felt that she owed it to Mickie to stand by her side. Not only that, but really, what right did anyone have to talk to someone else like that? In Jayde's opinion, none.
"Our problem?" McCool laughed. "Sweetie, you're the one with the problem. You look like you just finished a Twinkie binge. Tell me; are you a stress eater? Were you scared of the big bad crowd?"
Jayde fell silent, resorting to shooting the blonde a hard glare. No, she wasn't a stress eater but yes, she was terrified of having to go out there in front of so many people. She was trying not to let Michelle into her head but if she continued making comments like that, knowing exactly how to rile Jayde up, the new Diva was going to lose it.
"Maybe you should lay off the snacks, Heifer Barbie?" Layla said with a nod that gestured to Jayde's short and solid build that closely matched Mickie's.
"Barbie? Seriously? I'm not even blonde." Jayde deadpanned.
Layla snarled at Jayde, along with a comment of "Like that hair colour doesn't come from a bottle," - to which Jayde just rolled her eyes.
"You know what, just forget them; they aren't even worth it." Mickie said and dragged Jayde out of the locker room.
One she felt they were far enough away, Jayde spoke up.
"Well that was…interesting, at best. What exactly is up with those two?"
"They think I'm fat and they will do anything to humiliate me." Mickie said, shrugging as though it didn't get to her. She would never admit that it hurt her more every time.
"I thought it was just a storyline, though? Isn't all the drama usually fake?" Jayde questioned. She had a lot of questions, being new to the company and all, but she didn't want to pester Mickie. She knew she would get all her answers over time.
"Usually," Mickie agreed with a small nod, walking towards somewhere Jayde was unsure of (yet the darker haired Diva followed anyway) "but every now and then there's a real rivalry or disagreement or whatever, and Vince will use it in a storyline. He says it gives the WWE a bit more credibility while letting the employees work out their issues in a healthy manner. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."
"And I suppose this time it isn't working so well?"
Mickie smirked. "How'd you guess? Really, was it the insults or the glares that gave it away?"
"Well, at least now you aren't alone," the darker-haired Diva nudged the former Divas Champion with her shoulder. "You've got 'Heifer Barbie' to endure it with you."
Mickie laughed, leading Jayde to the next stop on her grand tour. Jayde smiled, looking beside her at the other Diva, and thought that maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so scary after all.