Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! I'm sorry if it was a bit confusing at first. This first part of the chapter is set a few months before the promo, so I've included dates at the top to help out. Enjoy!

May 18, 2011

Zoe Winters could not contain her excitement. That was a complete contrast to the nerves in her stomach that were building. Being offered a job with the WWE Creative department was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Zoe knew she had to take it no matter what. They had pretty much indicated to her on the phone that she had the job in the bag, but this was the final interview and she would be told exactly what her new job would entail. Tapping her fingers against the chair, she gazed at the pictures adorning the walls of the WWE office that was based in Connecticut. The pictures were taken through out the years, highlighting championship wins or epic moments in the history of the WWE. She bit her lip smiling, knowing one day she could possibly be a part of that moment. For a few years now, she had been a journalist in a local community paper in New York. One day, she had spied the ad for a creative writer online, and knew immediately that was her calling. She had been an avid fan of wrestling for years, and was beyond excited when they accepted her resume and was granted an interview.

A noise to her left caught her attention and she looked over at the reception desk to see a dark haired man speaking to the receptionist. The receptionist pointed to the chairs, and the man rolled his eyes, dragging himself over to the chairs near Zoe. Zoe's eyes widened when she realised who was sitting opposite her. She hadn't meant to stare, but finally the man caught her looking and a wry smile formed on his face.

"Can I help you?"

Zoe bit her lip, a deep red staining her cheeks, "Sorry! I didn't mean to-"

The man raised his hand, chuckling, "It's fine. I have that effect on people."

She rolled her eyes, a small laugh escaping her lips, "I'm sure."

As she tapped her fingers nervously on the armrest of the chair, he leant back in the chair, watching her curiously. He then leant forward, extending his arm to her, "Punk."

Zoe was startled from her thoughts, before leaning forward to shake his hand, "Zoe." She let out a nervous laugh, "You really don't need to introduce yourself. I know who you are."

"I thought it was the polite thing to do." He noticed her folder on the chair next to her, "Diva?"

A scoff left the lips of the dark haired woman, "Hardly. I'm here to get a job as part of Creative." She remembered his unhappy expression when he had arrived, "What are you here for?"

"The creative position." At her arched eyebrow, he smirked, "Contract negotiations."

Zoe's mouth dropped, "You don't look so happy."

Punk ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, "It's complicated." The young woman watched his face change back to the unhappy expression he arrived with, and bit her lip. Clearly, one of her favourite superstars was not happy with his position in the WWE. She didn't want to pry, but she always wondered if it was the happy working environment that they tried to portray. By the look on Punk's face, something wasn't right. She was startled from her thoughts, when he continued to speak, "You better have some good ideas."

Zoe's laugh echoed through the waiting area, "I highly doubt they are going to listen to the newbie. I'm just a fan really. I don't even care what they plan on giving me, or if they'll even let me write huge storylines. Just being a part of it is all I want."

Punk watched her face light up as she talked about being part of the WWE, and he couldn't help but smile. Once upon a time, he had that same starry look in his eyes when he started with the company. Right now, it was a different story, and he had no idea what he wanted anymore. The door next to them opened, and an older woman entered the waiting area with a smile, "Zoe, we are ready for you now."

The woman left the room, and Zoe stood up, grabbing her belongings. She offered a smile to Punk, "It was nice to meet you. I hope you're still here when I start working." Punk smiled at her and nodded, while Zoe turned around to open the door the other woman had gone through. Her hand stilled over the doorknob when she heard his voice.

"I just want to wrestle. No matter what they offer me, at the end of the day, I'm gonna wrestle in front of those people. Just like no matter what they offer you, you know you're gonna take the job so you can write and show everyone who you are. We're pretty much the same."

June 28, 2011

"Stop looking like I'm dragging you against your will."

Zoe Winters glared pointedly at the man currently gripping her arm and pulling her towards the hotel restaurant. "You are dragging me against my will."

John Cena rolled his eyes, pulling her through the restaurant. He spotted a booth with a few Superstars already seated and waved at them. He knew that they would cheer Zoe up. Ever since she had started with the company, she had made friends with a few of the Superstars while working with them on their respective storylines. John knew that she was going to have a rough few days and he was making it his mission to keep her motivated. He pushed Zoe forward into the booth first, before sliding himself in. He grinned at the occupants of the booth, "Morning ladies." He paused, eyeing the other male with a look of mock disdain, "Mizzypoo."

The Miz stuck his finger up at his friend and coworker, before pouring the two newcomers some coffee, "You ok Zo'?"

Zoe struggled to keep her eyes open, and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yeah, just an all nighter."

"I helped," beamed John, proudly.

The Miz snorted, "I'm sure you were oodles of help."

Maryse wrapped an arm around Zoe, ignoring the two males slapping each other, "You'll be fine, I'm sure they realise it's not your fault."

"Not really," mused Mike, taking a bite from his waffles, "Vince looked ready to kill last ni.. I'm going to stop talking." He turned his eyes downwards, avoiding the withering glares that Maryse and Eve were giving him.

Eve sipped her orange juice, "In all honesty, Zoe, what happened last night?"

Zoe shook her head, tiredly, "I have no idea. Everything was worked out. He was supposed to rant about John, that was it. And he just went nuts, and they didn't turn off the microphone until they realised it wasn't the script." She groaned, running a hand through her hair, "My god, live television sucks."

Eve smiled, reassuringly at her friend, "You'll be fine. Like we said, it's not your fault and hopefully Vince realises that."

Zoe smiled at Eve, lifting her glass to take a sip before she stalled. Shakily, she put the cup down, and went to move from her seat. "John, move please."

John furrowed his eyebrow, shuffling out of the booth to let Zoe pass, before he realised where she was going, "Zo'!"

She swatted his reaching arm away, heading towards the table in the centre of the restaurant. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

CM Punk raised an eyebrow at the glaring woman standing before his table, "Well, hello to you-"

"Do you think I'm bad at my job? Did I disappoint you with the ideas that I had for your character?" She arched an eyebrow, leaning forward to rest her palms on the table, "Because the normal thing to do would be to tell me, and we could sit down and work on something different. I'm a reasonable person." Her voice started to raise, attracting the attention of more wrestlers dining in the restaurant, "What you don't do, is use live television to get what you want, and in turn humiliate me in front of thousands of people and this company."

Punk smirked at her, "I love how you've turned this around to make it all about you."

"Isn't that what you did?" She snapped, smacking her hand on the table, "You are so selfish."

Punk rolled his eyes, "So you've told me, and to be quite honest, I don't really care." He pointed his finger at her, accusingly, and his voice got louder. "And for all your high and mighty speech about not telling you, I did tell you, remember? I told you everything that was wrong but you wanted to be safe. You didn't want to upset the suits at all. Instead of making me and the fans happy, you made them happy. So don't come around preaching to me about being the shoulder to cry on, because you're not. You're just as selfish as I am, because it was your first shot at being in charge and you wanted it to work to how you wanted, not everyone else."

Zoe's face tightened into a scowl, her eyes brimming with tears. She remembered the day that Punk and her had sat on her hotel balcony, a bottle of Pepsi between the two of them, and Punk had confessed everything he felt about the WWE. How he didn't feel like he was getting the opportunities he deserved. And how he really felt about the people in charge. "You were going to take it too far."

"You didn't want me to win."

Her eyebrows furrowed together, and it dawned on her what this really was about. "Is this your revenge? Because I didn't give you the title, that you had to go risk BOTH our jobs?" She shook her head, "I wanted to give you the title!"

"Yeah, well, the end of the Money in the Bank booking sheet clearly says 'John Cena remains champion'," snapped Punk. He leant back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest, "What's done now is done. You're going to change the storyline to make it better and I'm going to get what I want." A smirk formed on his face, "It's a win-win situation here."

Zoe shook her head, sadly. Her quiet voice could barely be heard by the Straight-Edge Superstar, "I hope your collector cups, your programs and your title make you happy, Punk. You used to be my hero, as sad as that sounds now. Now, you're nothing more than a glory hunter." She stood up, sighing, "At the end of the day Punk, you were going to wrestle in front of those people. I thought that's what meant the most to you."

As Zoe turned to walk back to the table where her friends were sitting, only John Cena noticed the smirk fade from Punk's face. He shook his head at his long time friend, while he opened his arms up to Zoe, who scooted into the booth next to him, clutching his shirt tightly. He rubbed her back while she calmed her breathing down. The other wrestlers on their table watched sadly as Zoe struggled to calm down. She shakily took the glass of water that Maryse handed to her, and took a gulp of water.

"I thought I was your hero?"

Maryse rolled her eyes, smacking Miz on the head, "Not now, Michael!"

Zoe smiled, brushing a lone tear that had fallen down her cheek, "You are, Mike." She took another sip of water, "I need to get back to doing the scripts." She turned to John, "Help?"

John Cena nodded, gripping her hand tightly, and pushing her out of the booth. They waved goodbye to the others before heading to the elevator. Eve watched them, before shaking her head, and taking a bite from her pancakes, "You guys agree with everything Punk said last night, don't you?"

The other two superstars didn't need to answer her. The looks on their faces said it all.

CM Punk wasn't the only one that felt that way.

A/N: Review please :) More details shall emerge in the next chapter of how Zoe got so caught up in these Superstar's lives! And also, she finally has a meeting with the WWE suits!