I was traumatized of what just occurred in the office with Ryan and Vince. I figured most superstars and divas would be arriving soon, which made me even more nervous. Sure, I had met some of them over the years, and others at NXT, but I was anxious to see if they were critical of me in their locker room. I cautiously opened the door to the locker room and saw Trinity, know on TV as Naomi, Nattie, Summer Rae, and The Bella Twins.
"Aubree, hey!" Summer greeted me. Summer and I had trained together for years at NXT, so we knew each other well. I hugged Summer and said hello to the other girls. Once I got to Nikki and Brie, they seemingly shrugged me off. I had heard rumors of them shutting out new divas before, because of jealousy, but it still stung a bit.
"So, let me guess your daddy got you the big call up so you can hang with the celebrities now," Nikki taunted.
I honestly had no idea what to say. I knew I was going to get this a lot, but I wasn't expecting it to be so soon.
"Nikki, take it easy," Nattie said, coming to the rescue. Nikki instantly backed off, letting it be known she was annoyed that Nattie stepped up.
"So what're they having you do?" Brie asked, I know she asked out of curiosity, and because she wanted to make sure I wouldn't be taking any of her TV time.
"I get the pleasure of valeting RyBack," I huffed. Instantly the locker room was full of laughter.
"Girl, I am so sorry you have to deal with that asshole. He only cares about himself, so good luck," Trinity said sympathetically.
Throughout the day the other divas came in and out of the locker room. Mostly introducing themselves to me, none being as hostile as Nikki was. I was beginning to feel more comfortable in the locker room, joking around and making small talk with some of the other divas. AJ Lee, who had been a valet for multiple superstars previously gave me great advice about what to do. We also made small talk about normal girl stuff, finding we had a lot in common.
"You will be great!" AJ assured me. "Let's go grab a bite to eat in catering." I followed her down the hall, in awe of how much respect co-workers and the crew had for her. Practically every superstar said hello to her, then she introduced them to me.
"AUBREE!" I heard a female voice yell, startling me. I turned and saw Emma standing there. Emma had recently made her main roster debut, which made me extremely happy. Emma and I worked many matches in NXT; she was one of my favorite opponents, but also one of my closest friends. "I'm so glad you're finally here!"
"Me too!" I said, giving her a huge hug. We hadn't seen each other in weeks, because of her traveling with the main roster all the time.
"So, ready for your big debut?"
I couldn't help but laugh, "Not really. Ryan is who I have to valet, which is probably the worst case scenario. He didn't seem thrilled when we met earlier." Emma grimaced at that comment. I was sure she had encountered him at some point backstage before.
"Hey, Aubs, I saved you a seat!" I heard AJ call over, "Emma there's a seat for you too!" she added. I smiled. I definitely felt comfortable now.
_
9:00 came around way quicker than I expected. I had gone to hair and make-up at 7:30, so I was ready, physically at least. I left the locker room and slowly made my way to gorilla. I could hear the crowd from back here, which made my stomach flip.
"You ready for this, kiddo?" my dad said appearing behind me.
"Not at all, dad. I'm terrified. If this doesn't go over well, I'm screwed."
"You'll be fine sweetheart, trust me. You wouldn't have been called up if anyone on the
executive team doubted your ability," he told me.
Before I knew it I was standing in gorilla, with TV monitors surrounding us. I looked around and saw Vince, Stephanie, Hunter, some other executive producers, Dolph Ziggler, who was fighting RyBack, and then glaring at me from the other corner, Ryan.
"Hey, I'm Dolph, nice to meet ya!" Dolph extended his hand to me. God, he was dreamy. Suddenly I hear his music start playing, I'm here to show the world, I'm here to show the world come on, bring it on! And before I knew it, he was gone and the crowd erupted. My heart was beating faster and faster as I stepped closer to Ryan, wrapping our arms together. I could tell he tensed up immensely.
"Have fun and good luck!" I heard Stephanie yell right before I heard RyBack's music. I followed Ryan's lead out to the ramp, still holding his arm. I always liked being a heel, I found it more fun, but this was painful. Being a heel was great, but pretending to like RyBack was repulsive to me.
"Making his way to the ring, from Sin City, Las Vegas, and being accompanied to the ring by Aubree, RYBACK!" Justin Robert's voice boomed over the music. I strutted to the ring and stood ringside during the match. I knew there would be questions to come as to why I was accompanying him, how we were connected, etc. As much as the thought of having to be around Ryan bothered me, the feeling I got from that live crowd was indescribable and I wouldn't change it for the world.