Heartbreaker
Winter of 1996

She took a deep breath. It was time.

She was waiting in her car, in the parking lot of the Raw arena. It was her first day in the big leagues. She had been eagerly awaiting an oppurtunity to prove herself, to prove that she was the best female wrestler of her
generation. But now that it had come, she couldn't even bring herself to get out of her damn car.

She pushed out of her car and into the cold February wind. All the stalling hadn't cost her at all, since she arrived at the arena and hour before she even needed to be. She'd wanted a chance to break in, to review how things worked with Vince. She wasn't even booked for the show tonight, but sooner or later, she would be. Sooner or later, she would be the WWF Women's Champion, and if it was up to her, that day couldn't come soon enough.

She trudged her way into the arena, her curly, brown hair blowing in the breeze. It was her time. After fighting and clawing her way up, she was finally here, and no one could stop her.

Shoving her way through the heavy doors, she looked around, taking it all in. Finally.

"Hey, kid, you can't be in here."

Kelly turned to see a bulky security guard cautiously approaching her. Yeah, like she was a real threat against the Hulk meets Arnold. She sighed, preparing herself to explain the first of what would certainly be many explanations about who exactly she was, and what exactly she was doing in a WWF arena.

"It's okay, Bill. She's talent."

Kelly and Bill turn in unison to see who this mystery speaker granting some girl off the streets permission to enter the famed Raw arena was. The aged face, white hair, and kind expression of legend Pat Patterson smiled back. Kelly's mouth turned upward in a smile of her own.

Pat had been present when Vince had signed her, and they'd gotten along wonderfully. She had so much respect for him, and considered it an honor to even be in the

same room as the man.

Bill nodded his head stiffly and stepped back and Pat guided Kelly along the corrider. "We're really excited to have you here, Ms. Saturn. We've heard great things about you, and your highlight package was very impressive," Pat was telling her. She smiled in gratitude, but her attention was elsewhere.

They'd made it back to the main corriders, and Kelly was surprised to see the amount of wrestlers at the arena this early. She saw the Brooklyn Brawler lacing his boots. And there was Chris "Skip" Candido with his girlfriend, Tammy "Sunny" Sytch.

Kelly's nose wrinkled. She hoped Vince and the Federation wouldn't give her a ridiculous name like that. She snapped out of it as Pat apparently asked her a question.

"Huh?" she stuttered, her heart sinking as she saw Pat frown. Great. Her first day in the World Wrestling Federation and she'd already zoned out on Pat Patterson and made him frown.

Pat was about to repeat himself when the locker room doors flung open, and Shawn Michaels, one of the company's top stars bursts out. Kelly blinked. She'd watched basically every WWF event since she was 7, so she'd obviously seen HBK before, but she was not prepared for this. His face, scowl and all, was incredibly handsome. His hair was probably better than hers, and his attitude screamed confidence. She looked
away quickly, pulling herself together. He's just a man. How hard could he be to resist?

You'd be surprised.

To her surprise, Shawn marched right over to her. No, not her-to Pat. He was looked Pat Patterson square in the face, and he wasn't even batting an eyelash.

"I'm tired of this, Pat. These imbeciles in the back don't know their right foot from their left. I'm sick and tired of them running to the dirt sheets, trying to put themselves over. None of them know shit! I'm tired of Bret's wolfpack, and I'm tired of the so-called tradionalists, and I'm tired of the allienation..."

Pat listened calmly to Shawn's rant as if he'd heard it all before. To her disbelief, Shawn never once acknowledged her presence. She felt her cheeks flush in humiliation. Then, praise the Lord, at the last second, those
gorgeous eyes flitted to hers. Her insides screamed. She was looking Shawn Michaels dead in his eyes. And, even better, she was holding his gaze!

"Who are you?" Shawn asked after a moment of the staredown.

Kelly told him her name. And then she lunged into his arms and passionately kissed him. And then she snapped back to reality.

"I-I'm Kelly. I'm starting today. Well, I'm not actually on the card, so I guess I haven't really started yet, but today is my first official day in the company, and-"

She was rambling. Her words died in her mouth, and she looked at the ground, mortified. Damn it, Kelly, she cursed herself. Why was she always such a dim lightbulb? One of the biggest stars in the company she'd dreamed about being a part of for years, not to mention, the freaking Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels, and she couldn't even allow herself a breath in between words. She should just leave now. She should just turn around and walk out of Shawn Michaels' life forever.

He was laughing. Oh, dear God, he was laughing.

Kelly's heart jumped as Shawn laid a hand on her arm. "Relax. It's alright," Shawn said reassuringly. "We all get nervous, on our first night." And then he winked at her.

And then he turned and strutted away.

Kelly blinked. Whoa. It was like someone had just pulled the veil from over her head. She could think clearly again. And clearly thinking, she would run herself over with a car right now, if she could. Pat, bless his heart, was placing a hand on her back, leading her away from the wrestlers, towards the back, to Vince's office. He was explaining something about the business to her, and she knew that she should probably listen, but all she could
think about was Shawn Michaels.

She was a fool, an absolute fool, and she was screwed.

Because she knew she hadn't had her last encounter with the Heartbreak Kid.