Chapter One: Hello, My Old Friend
((chapter title taken from the song by Elo))
Here I am, sitting in the lobby of WWE headquarters in Stamford Conneticut with my purse on my lap in my best Sunday dress waiting for the secretary to let me go on back to meet my new boss. He said that I should be here and that he was going to have one of his superstars join us at one point so that I could meet the man who came to him about giving me the job. The door to his office opens and a young platinum blonde girl with honey brown eyes and the swagger of confidence. She's cursing in what I think is French, I wouldn't know since I only speak a little bit of German. She looks at me and sneers, looking over my outfit before pushing the button on the elevator to go down to probably leave the building. A few minutes later my new boss walks out of his office. He's an older gentleman with graying hair wearing a gray suit. He looks distinguished and I stand up, my dress swishing when I do.
"You must be Kirstie Monroe," he smiles, extending his hand. "Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Nice to finally meet you."
I shake his hand, smiling. "It's nice to meet you to Mr. McMahon. I'd say that I dreamed of working here my entire life but...well...I haven't. I only thought about working here when you sent me the e-mail."
He smiles, "Well, I'm glad you chose here to work. Now, would you mind stepping into my office?"
I smile, "Not at all." We walk into his office and I sit down on the chair opposite his plush chair. "When will the man who helped me to get hired be here?"
"He should be here any minute now." Vince nods before sitting down. "Could I get you a coffee or some water?"
"Some water will be fine. I tend not to drink coffee, it stains your teeth," I smile. And it's true. I have never been one for much coffee. He hands me a glass of water and I take it in my hand, "Thank you."
I hear the door open behind me and a familiar voice, though a bit deeper than I remember, says, "You wanted to see me Vince?" I turn my head to see Jake standing there at the door. He's definitly bulked up since I saw him last, but his hair is still blonde and spiked like he use to do it. His eyes are still soulful and blue, full of a sweetness to them. He's wearing a button up blue shirt that has the first few buttons undone and black slacks with black buckle shoes. He looks like he's ready for business but at the same time I can see that he's itching to get out of those nice clothes and into something more comfortable. His eyes rest on me and I can see them light up, "Kirstie! You accepted the job!"
I get out of the chair and hug him, throwing my arms around his neck. "Oh Jake, I've missed you so much! So you're the one who talked to Vince about giving me this job!"
He breaks the hug and nods, "Yeah, I heard from mom who heard from your mom that you were looking for a job. I knew you went to school for broadcast journalism and knew we needed another announcer on Smackdown since they moved Matt Striker to NXT." He looks at Vince, "So, you wanted to see me?"
Vince laughs, "This is the only reason I wanted to see you in my office Jake."
Jake smiles at me and then at Vince, "To show me you had hired my best friend. Thanks Vince. This means the world to me. Well, I guess I'm going to be the one to show her the ropes?"
"Yes," Vince looks at me, "Miss Monroe, Jake will be showing you around backstage for the first few days you're here. If you have any questions he can't answer, go to Josh Matthews. If Josh can't answer them, come to me."
I nod, "Thank you again, Mr. McMahon, for giving me this job. I really appreciate it."
"Don't sweat it. I just hope that you are ready for this company," he smiles.
Jake and I walk out of the office and I look at him, "Guess I owe you a bit of thanks too, huh?"
He shakes his head, "Nah. I did it because you're my friend. So, tell me, how was college? I haven't seen you in so long!"
I laugh, "Isn't that the truth. Well, where to start...college was a blast. I joined the Delta Gamma sorority and was a cheerleader. Other than that, the usual. You know how college work is, broadcasting was not walk in the park. Well, compared to finance it probably was. Never really had a good boyfriend, was much to busy working on graduating."
He smiles, "Same old Kirstie. Well, I was a collegiate wrestler and football player. A two time All American to be exact. Had a girlfriend before I came here, she broke up with me." I can see a sadness in his eyes.
"Sorry to hear that," I say, patting his massive bicep soothingly. "If it helps, I know a guy like you won't stay single for long."
He looks down at me, "You really are the same teenager you were growing up in Perry aren't you?"
I smile, "I guess I am aren't I? Anyways, you'll be showing me around, huh? I bet it's fascinating. How'd you get your job here?"
"Well, as you know I've been wrestling since we were little. It's a passion of mine. I just love it and during college, I did some of the training at a wrestling school as well as being on the team. I sent out an application to the WWE and they hired me. Been doing it for about a year now," Jack smiles as the elevator gets down to the lobby. "You drive here?"
I nod and point to my little blue Volkswagon, "Right there."
He laughs, "I never would have pegged you as driving a beetle."
"Oh? And what do you drive?" I ask as we walk towards my car.
He points at a red ford probe, "That's Shelia?"
"You named your car Shelia?" I laugh, "Wasn't that your high school girlfriends name?"
He smirks, "Sometimes when you're out on the road late at night, driving to your next city, you get lonely. Having something to talk to makes it a bit less lonely. So I call my car Shelia."
I look over at him, "You'll lead me to the arena right?"
He nods, "Yeah, yeah I'll lead you to the arena." He opens my car door for me and I get in. Jake was always such a sweetheart. And I can't deny that...now we're a little older maybe I see something attractive. But, c'mon, he's still like a brother to me. There is nothing you could do to get me with him.
Nothing.
