Chapter 1
"LESLIE!" her boss hollered from his office. "Could you come in here for a moment?"
Fantastic, Leslie Van Buren thought, making her way back. Now what did this jackass want?
Not that she didn't like her boss; Lennie Caine was for the most part a great guy, and in spite of the current state of the economy, his wrestling school was still going strong. Leslie hadn't even minded when he had to cut her work week down to four days from six; it gave her more time to spend at home to get her own wrestling attire design business off the ground. Working as Lennie's secretary only financed some of the start up money in addition to paying her bills.
Never mind Lennie could be a pain in the ass some days calling her into his office for every little thing, and today had been one of those.
"What do you need this time, Lennie?" Leslie asked, sighing.
"Gee, don't be so enthusiastic, Les. Listen, I have to share something with someone and you're the closest person. I got someone coming in today to interview as an instructor."
"I thought you weren't hiring anyone else. What happened to cutting back?"
"I wasn't, but there's no way in hell I can pass this kid up. He'll bring business in here, Les; I'm sure of it. Record holding tag champion, former cruiserweight champion–"
"Whoa, hold on, Lennie. Just exactly who is this person?"
"Paul London."
"Who?"
"Jesus Christ, Leslie, have you lived under a bridge the last ten years? WWE just released the kid the past week. I'm going to grab him while the chance is out there."
"Don't they have ninety-day, no-compete clauses, though?" Leslie asked.
"He isn't exactly going to be competing here." Lennie had a gleam in his eye. "Listen, he may not be a future hall-of-famer or known as a great former champion, but he's young, a good talent, and I think these kids could learn some things from him. I'd rather have someone who has some talent and knows what the hell they're doing than some chump that is a big ass name who best at shoving out merchandise at teenybopper. Besides, this kid had an excellent track record in the independents before going to the big dance for five years."
Leslie had to smile. "Sounds like Mr. Caruso has been doing his research."
"And you should too, missy, or at least act like you know something. While you're at it, make some fresh coffee. He's due here in thirty minutes for an interview."
"This must be big," she laughed. "Since when do you want me to make coffee more than once a day?"
"Nice to see you still have your humor, Ms. Van Buren. Now get going; I want our potential new employee to have a good impression."