"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" Hunter Helmsley asked loudly. His request quickly brought silence to the catering area.
Even though she was standing beside one of the most important people in WWE, Katie Marshall saw that most of the eyes in the room had settled on her, at least for a moment. Everyone on the Raw roster was wondering who the unfamiliar woman was who had entered the room with the boss, bringing a travel case with her. An explanation as to why they had all been instructed to assemble in catering, apparently to be introduced to her, was also in order.
One person in the room already knew the answer to the first of those questions, and would have easily been able to figure out the second. Katie saw his blue eyes looking at her below his mop of messy hair. Damn, he still looked as good as he had all those years ago, if not better. That fact made her angry. The little smile on his face told her that he was surprised to see her again. He could hardly have expected to do so, after how it had ended between them. The bastard.
"Allow me to introduce you all to Katie Marshall," Hunter said, gesturing to the almost six feet tall blonde woman who was standing next to him with a nervous smile on her face. "She's just been signed to WWE as a referee. She will be starting out by working house shows, before eventually being assigned to either Raw or Smackdown."
Katie saw positive reactions to the news on most of the faces. Thankfully, they seemed to like the idea of a woman getting the opportunity to referee for WWE. After all, it was the logical next step in what they were calling the women's revelation. The members of the women's roster in particular seemed happy, sending smiles her way as they whispered to each other about what they had just heard. Katie was glad they seemed to like what they saw, as first impressions could be key. Being the first person to do anything meant there was as much a chance of being a failure as a success, and she was intelligent enough to know she needed the wrestlers on her side to help her make sure she turned out to be the latter rather than the former.
Hunter had continued with his little speech, asking everyone to do their best to make her feel welcome, and for one of the women to show her to their locker room.
"I'll do it," Bayley said, getting up, coffee cup in hand, and walking over to Katie.
With that, most of the rest of the room returned to their previous conversations, but Katie saw that the blue eyes were still looking at her and the smile was still in place. He probably thought he had gotten lucky that she was here. It would be so typical of him to look at it that way.
"Hi, I'm Bayley," the popular star said, extending her hand.
"Katie. I guess you already knew that," the new referee said as they shook hands, feeling very awkward.
She must have looked as bad as she felt because Bayley quietly said, "Relax, we're a friendly group of girls. You'll be feeling at home in our locker room before you know it. Come on, I'll show you where we are."
It was an easy thing to say, but Katie actually believed it. It was the way the words had been spoken as much as anything that had been convincing. "Thanks, Bayley," she said as they walked out of the catering area. At least she was over the worst part, standing there under scrutiny from all of the people who were now her work colleagues. Well, not quite the worst part. The worst part would be whenever she inevitably had to speak to Dean fucking Ambrose for the first time in seven years.
"So, how long have you been in the business?" Bayley asked conversationally.
"About eight years, working for various Indy companies," Katie said. "Actually, I worked shows you were at a couple of times, but I never refereed you," she revealed.
"Really? That's awesome," Bayley said, not wanting to admit that she couldn't remember having seen her. That wouldn't have been very polite. "I think it's great that we might get a female ref on Raw, or Smackdown for that matter."
"Thanks. I hope I can make that happen," Katie smiled. "Being the first will, or should I say would, be awesome. It's a lot of pressure, but I like that in some ways."
"I know what you mean," Bayley said. "This is our locker room here." She stopped at a door and held it open for Katie to enter. "Take any of the empty lockers."
"Thanks. I'm saying that a lot," Katie realised.
"It's just nerves," Bayley said kindly. "You're going to be meeting a lot of new people in a short space of time; it's only natural. I know exactly how you feel, trust me. Again, I'm sure you'll be fine, but if you need anything, I'm happy to help."
"I really appreciate that," Katie said genuinely.
"No problem. Come find me back in catering when you've got yourself sorted. We can have a coffee."
Katie nodded. "Will do."
After Bayley left her to it, Katie spent several minutes changing into her referee attire and making sure she was happy with her appearance. She wasn't there to be a star of the show by any means, but she still needed to look the part before she went to the ring. Surveying herself in the locker room's full length mirror, she got to see herself in a referee's shirt with a WWE logo on it for only the second time - the first being the day before when her attire had been delivered to her apartment.
Once she had put her long hair up into a ponytail, she decided she was happy with the way she looked. She knew she was not white people might call beautiful, but she was not bad looking either. Her striking blue eyes were the asset she was most proud of, and she knew that her height was also a blessing. For whatever reason, guys liked a tall girl. It was probably the long legs. That was certainly what Dean had told her.
"Stop thinking about the prick," she snapped at the reflection in the mirror.
Irritated with herself, she decided to take Bayley up on her offer and go for the cup of coffee. Sitting down and talking with some of the other girls probably would make her first day on the job a more pleasant experience. She walked out of the locker room and there he was, leaning against the wall with that same smile on his face, waiting for her.
"Go away, Dean," Katie hissed at him. "I told you that night I never wanted to see you again. I meant it then, and I still mean it."
"Why'd you come here then?" he asked nonchalantly, still leaning against the wall.
That comment angered Katie even further. "What, I'm just supposed to give up on the idea of working for the best wrestling company in the world because you happened to get there first?" she demanded. "Not a chance."
"You know we were good together," he replied, matter of fact.
"Yeah, we were, until you I walked in on you fucking that ring rat," Katie spat at him. "You're a piece of shit, Dean. I'm glad I found out when I did."
"People change," Dean pointed out. "It's been a lot of years."
Katie grunted a laugh. "Yeah, right. I don't care how many years it's been. You still look the same, you still dress the same, you still talk the same. You've not changed at all, so I'll tell you now, don't even try coming with that 'people change' garbage like we're going to fix what you ruined, because we're not. There will be no apologies, no second chances, no reconciliation. I'll work with you if and when I have to, but that's all. We are never getting back together."
With that, Katie stormed away, leaving Dean to watch her, still with a grin on his face. "I always did like a challenge," he said to himself.