Chapter 2
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"Check it out, It's Mary." Hawkins said to Ryder.
"Oh yeah, the new girl." Ryder said upon seeing who Hawkins was talking about. "Hey, Mary full of grace!"
It was Arianne, and she came in with a couple of the seamstresses that she'd made friends with. Ryder and Hawkins have been calling her that for as long as she can remember while working there. So when she heard them call her Mary, she shot them a sharp look and rolled her eyes at them and went on her way.
They were in a restaurant they, along with all the Superstars and crew frequently stop at after a show before driving or flying to the next city. It was a Supershow, meaning all three brands—Raw, Smackdown, and ECW, where there and usually, they close out the whole restaurant to everyone else. It was already late anyway, so there won't be that many customers coming in.
On the table next to Ryder and Hawkins were the motley crew of John Cena, Kennedy, Santino, and Randy Orton. They overheard what they were saying.
"I thought her name is Arianne Carter?" Santino said. "I didn't know the writers have to change their names also."
They laughed at him, thinking he was joking.
"I swear Santino, sometimes I don't know whether you're being funny or you're serious." John said.
"But I am serious." He said.
They paused for a while, trying to see if he really was serious. When they realized he was, they laughed even more until Edge came.
"What's funny?"
"Santino doesn't know why your clones are calling the new girl Mary." John told Edge.
"Seriously?" Edge said. "Dude, who are you riding with and why do you not know this?"
"I ride with Orton." Santino said, "He doesn't talk much, he just laughs at me."
"Oh, I see!" Edge said, patting Randy at the back. "I see why he didn't tell you."
John got what Edge was saying. "Randy here was the best in the game…until he got married."
Randy just gave a bored smile and shook his head, and continued eating.
"What game is that?"Santino asked. "And I still don't understand why they are calling her Mary instead of Arianne."
Kennedy went and explained. "Okay, listen, they're calling her Mary because she's new."
"Fresh meat." Edge completed, to drive the point more directly. "From the Virgin Mary…you know, untouched, unmarked, so that's why it's Mary."
"I see." Santino said, "So they call her Mary because she's virgin!"
John laughed, "No! We don't know that, do we?" He said, "It's just a name."
"I still don't understand." Santino said, "So what is the game?"
"You don't have to know, it's not important." Randy said. "Just forget about it."
"Oh, come on! Just because you're out of the game doesn't mean no one else can play it!" Kennedy said. "Randy here is a Hall of Famer when it comes to the game." He told Santino. "Too bad he's lost his touch."
"Lost my touch?" Randy said irritably. "I haven't lost my touch. I'm still better than all of you. Combined!"
"Ooh! Strong words!"Edge said, laughing. "So what are you saying?"
"Yeah, man?" Kennedy said, "You wanna play or what? Prove you're not all talk."
Randy looked at Kennedy seriously, considering what his answer will be. Behind him he could see Arianne. He looked at her up and down and he likes what he sees.
She has that demure thing going, but with the secret wild side quality about her that just whets his appetite…or maybe it's something else that's getting whet.
She's not bad at all. He thought. I'd tap that if I wasn't married.He licked his lips.
"It's on." He said to Kennedy.
"You sure you wanna do this, man?" John asked.
"It's just a game." Randy said, "I just gotta make her fall, right?"
"That's right." Kennedy said. "How about you Edge?"
"Can't. I'm on Smackdown. I'll never get enough shot." Edge said. "John?"
"Nah. I'm through with that." John said, "I'm engaged!"
"Guess we're gonna have to look for competition in the locker room." Kennedy said.
"What do you mean?" Randy asked.
"We can't play the game with just the two of us." Kennedy said, "I'm calling a hit."
Randy didn't like the idea of getting everyone in the roster involved. The more people know the more chances things are going to get out of proportion, not to mention idiots like Ryder, Hawkins and God forbid, the Miz is going to get in the game.
But it was too late now. He's taken the bait and the challenge had been issued to him. He's too proud to back out of it.
"So what is this game again?" Santino asked.
Edge laughed, "It's called Rite of Passage, dude. Just sit back and enjoy."
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"Which part of NO, do you not understand?" Arianne asked.
"Come on, Mary!" Hawkins said, "It's just a date."
He and Ryder have been following Arianne around, dogging her to pick one of them to go on a date with.
"Yeah, come on, Mary!" Ryder said, "Just pick one!"
"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" She asked, annoyed.
"No." The two answered at the same time.
She rolled her eyes and sighed, and continued walking down the hall.
"It's not like you can get much better dates than Curt and I, and you know it!"
She stopped walking turned around to face them. "Okay, first of all, stop calling me Mary! I have a name and it's A-ri-anne! Second, I can't pick one because you look alike and you're both idiots! And third, even if you don't look alike I still won't pick one of you because you're both not my type and you'd both still be idiots! Now. Leave. Me. Alone!"
"You heard the lady." A familiar voice from behind her said.
It was Randy, coming out of his dressing room. He leaned on the wall with his head down.
"Leave her alone." He said as he shot a look at Ryder and Hawkins.
It was one of those looks he makes in the ring when trying to intimidate his opponents. And it definitely intimidated Zack and Curt.
"O-okay, Randy…" Curt said. "W-we were just gonna do that."
"Right!" Zack said, "Bye, Mary…I mean, Arianne."
When they were out of earshot, Randy chuckled. "Works every damn time." He said.
Arianne turned around and looked at him with no expression whatsoever. He was expecting a thank you from her, but she didn't seem like she was going to say it. Actually, he can't read what she was thinking.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine." She said, her expression changing from blank to ticked off in a matter of seconds. "Although I don't really think I needed your help. I was handling the situation perfectly well, thank you very much."
And with that, she walked off. Randy was taken aback by her actions. He's never met anyone, especially not a girl, who's acted like that in front of him. He had to wonder why she would be mad at him, if she was.
So he followed her.
"Wait a minute!" He called after her.
He's a big man so he got to her in just a few quick steps. When he was right behind her, she stopped walking and turned around. They were suddenly just inches apart, but neither of them took a step back get more space. They were toe-to-toe and not one of them flinched.
"What was that all about?" Randy asked, "I just helped you out. Why are you so mad at me?"
You're the reason my parents are dead and my brother can't walk.She thought of saying.
"Don't think I don't know about the game." She said instead. "I know you're in on it. So stop playing nice. We both know you're not."
Then she walked off again. This time, he didn't follow. He knows he's screwed, there's no way he can win now unless he manages somehow to salvage the situation.
He thought about who could've let her in on it. She wasn't supposed to know about it especially being the target and all. He's starting to respect her though.
She's quite a woman. He thought, curling his lips. She's got some balls.
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"I'm doing the best I can, Joseph." Arianne said.
She's on the phone with her brother Joseph, and he's been haranguing her about the progress of their plan. She told him what has happened so far, including about being the target of the little game the guys play.
"Well, obviously it's not enough!" Joseph said on the other end. "You're not trying hard enough! You could've used that chance to get close to him, but no, you didn't do it! You didn't do anything!"
"What was I supposed to do?" She asked, goaded."Be chummy with the guy you blame for what happened to you and our parents?"
"Myparents!" Joseph yelled. "Until you've done what I told you to do, you don't have the right to call them your parents!" Then he dropped the call.
"Hello? Joseph? Hello?" Arianne said, until she heard the dial tone.
She was so mad she wanted to throw her phone to the wall and cry at the same time. But she controlled herself. If Joseph's taught him anything in this, it's to be cold and unfeeling. She figured that helps a lot with the situation.
Then suddenly, somebody grabbed at her shoulder.
"You okay there?"
"Cody!" She said, relieved when she turned around and saw him. "You scared me!"
"Sorry." He said, "I was passing by when I saw you, I thought you looked distraught. So…"
"Distraught? Hmm…well, that wasn't the look I was going for." She sighed. "I'm okay. Thanks."
"Oh, by the way…" He reached into his bag and pulled out a Harry Potter book. "I was going to return this to you."
She lend it to him while they were waiting at the airport two weeks ago because he was bored.
"You can keep it." She said, "I don't really read books twice."
"Really? Cool." He said. He put the book back in his bag. "Oh, by the way…I heard you had an argument with Randy."
She shook her head and smiled. "Argument? That was barely and argument. I just basically told him I know about the game and that he's in on it."
"You didn't tell him I told you about it, did you?" Cody asked.
"No, of course not." She smiled, amused. Cody really looks up to Randy like a brother; that much she figured. "You're like…my only friend here…aside from the seamstresses."
He laughed, "You know, I don't get that." He said, "You're nice, how come you don't have more friends? I mean, the seamstresses are nice, but they're like…old. And you don't hang out with the other writers."
"I don't know…I guess we're weird on each our own way." She said.
Then she saw Stephanie come in, and head to her office.
"Hey, Cody, I'll talk to you later. I gotta talk to Ms. McMahon about something."
"All right." Cody said. But she was already walking off before he could finish what he was saying. "I need to change into…my gear anyway…right."
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"Mark didn't give me anything." Stephanie said.
"But I gave it to him last week, as you requested." Arianne said. "That's why I was waiting for your response."
Arianne came to see her regarding the proposal she wrote for the storyline involving Randy with the McMahons, leading all the way to Wrestlemania as she requested.
Stephanie received her rough draft for it from her father and she liked the idea, that's why she asked for a more detailed version. Also, she wanted to see if Arianne was the real thing.
She was impressed by her qualifications and she thought there might be something special there.
"Arianne, I hate to be the one to tell you this." She said, "But it's a tough world out there, especially for us women. It's always a competition. That's just how the politics work around here. Sometimes the guy you think is going to help you ends up the guy you shouldn't trust."
She looked at Stephanie, realizing what she was saying. "Are you saying Mark's sabotaging me?"
"I don't know that." Stephanie said. "But he did give me this. And we're going with it."
She brought out a folder from her files and handed it to Arianne. She opened it and easily recognized it was her work. But she looked at the cover again and it has Mark's name on it as the writer.
"This is mine." She said, astounded. "I swear Ms. McMahon, I wrote this!"
"I know." Stephanie said, sternly. "It's your style of writing. I guess you're just gonna have to prove it to everyone else."
Stephanie stood up and walked to the door, opening it, signaling their little talk was over. Arianne stood up and followed her. Before she went out of the door though, Stephanie said something to her.
"I'm sure you'll find some creativeway to prove it." She said. "You know…I don't like Mark either."
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Randy went out of his dressing room to get something to eat from the buffet table, when he heard voices inside one of the rooms. He thought the voices sounded familiar, and they sound like they were arguing.
And then he heard his name mentioned, so he decided to eavesdrop.
"You and I both know that I made that proposal, Mark." Said the female voice.
"That's right. Only you and I know it." Mark said. "No one's going to believe you if I tell them otherwise."
Randy couldn't believe his ears when he heard who the guy is. He sounded different. More confident. More sure of himself. More evil. Not like the fumbling idiot he sounds like when he's talking with him.
"So you're just gonna live off my work and pass it off as your own?" The woman said. "You don't think anyone would suspect you?"
"No one's going to suspect me." He said, "They think I'm as clean as a whistle. Hell, I've been doing this to people like you for three years and they never found out. There's nothing you can do about it, Arianne. This is a man's world you got into. We eat your kind here. Alive."
When Randy heard her name, he got more interested. He figured their argument has something to do with his storyline with the McMahons. He's read it before, but he doesn't really meddle with how the politics in the creative team works.
Nonetheless, he was getting ready to go in there had the need arise.
"Wrong." Arianne said, calmly, which puzzled both Mark and Randy. "I can do something about it, and you'regoing to help me."
Mark chuckled, amused. "I'm going to help you? Are you crazy?" He said, mockingly. "What makes you think I'm going to help you? You think I'm going to march into Mr. McMahons office and confess to him?"
"You're going to confess, all right!" Arianne said. "And you're also going to recommend me to take over your position."
"You've cracked!" Mark laughed. "I'm not going to do that."
"Well…I didn't say you were going to do it voluntarily." Arianne said.
She brought out something in her pocket. A small recorder, and played its content for Mark to hear himself confess to all his wrongdoings. When she finished playing the recording, she had a wry smile on her face.
"Didn't think I'd come here unarmed, did you, Mark?"
"Give that to me." Mark said, darkly. "Give it to me!"
"You scared, Mark?" She asked. "Screaming, especially in this situation, indicates fear. You scared of me now, Mark?"
"I said give it to me, bitch!"
"The only way you're going to get this is if you do as I say, and resign." Arianne said, "No one has to know, if you cooperate. You can work somewhere else. I want your job, Mark. And I'm going to take it. With or without your cooperation. Your choice."
She stood up and was about to leave when Mark suddenly tossed the table aside and went after her, screaming mad.
Suddenly, Randy popped in out of nowhere and held off Mark before he could get to Arianne.
"Security! Get in here!" He yelled.
In seconds, the room was filled with security and they escorted Mark out of there. It was strange because Mark suddenly reverted back to his old fumbling self as he was being escorted. Arianne on the other hand was still in shock at how close she was at getting attacked by Mark.
"Hey, are you okay?" Randy asked, as he approached to check up on her, rubbing her arms and shoulders. "It's gonna be fine. I heard everything. I'll back you up on this."
She looked at him, still with shock in her eyes. "You have a habit of sneaking up on people like that?" She asked.
The question was so nonconforming of her situation, that's why he was puzzled more than anything.
"I can handle it myself. I don't need your backup."
And then she walked away, nervously still, as far as he can tell.
Within the week, Mark was fired and his position was left unoccupied. But that was soon going to change.
"I really think she should take the job." Randy told Hunter. "You've seen her work, she got it down to the very last detail. I mean she even root it back to Evolution."
They were in the gym, running on the treadmill.
"Okay, I admit it's very impressive." Hunter said, "But you know the politics here, there are other people with longer tenure than her vying for the job."
"I'm pretty sure she can handle it." Randy laughed, "Dare I say it was 'cerebral'. She was awesome."
"Why are pushing so hard to get her the job?" Hunter asked, curiously.
"I'm just really impressed with this girl." Randy said, "You said it yourself, her work's impressive. I think she has a lot of potential, and I want to tap into that."
Hunter laughed impishly, "You want to tap into that?" He ribbed. "Or you want to tap that?"
Randy rolled his eyes, "It's not like that."
"Are you sure?" Hunter asked, "C'mon Randy, I've know you for what? Like six years? I've never seen you push so hard for anyone. Unless…you're not still playing the game, are you?"
"You know about that?" Randy asked.
"Of course, I know about it." Hunter said, "Why do you think it's called the game? I originated it…along with Shawn."
"Wow." Randy said, nodding in amazement. "I never knew of this."
"Yeah, well…I stopped playing a long time ago." Hunter said. He started to slow down on the treadmill.
"Heh…yeah, I don't think Steph's gonna be happy if you're still playing."
"No, she won't." Hunter said, "and neither will your wife if you're still playing." He added before getting off the machine.
Randy was quiet for a while. He really wasn't playing anymore. His chances were all gone either way, since Arianne clearly knows about it.
Besides, he only really did agree to play because he needed the distraction more than anything else. Other than that, he was kind of challenged when Kennedy said he'd lost his touch.
Then again, it helped make his decision to take it on a lot easier that Arianne very attractive. And then it turns out she's not only pretty, she's smart too which really made her even more attractive.
December 29, 2008 Monday
"You wanted to see me?"
Arianne was summoned to Stephanie's office before the show started.
"Arianne! Come in, take a seat." Stephanie said. "I'll call you back later dad." She said on the phone before putting it down.
"Thank you." She said, as she sat down. "What did you want to talk me about?"
"Nothing, really. I just want to congratulate you." Stephanie said, smiling. "I just got off the phone with the chairman and it's done. You've been promoted! You're taking over Mark's job!"
"Are you serious?" Arianne said, shocked.
She only really wanted the job because of Joseph's plan, so she hadn't expected to feel so happy about getting it. She didn't expect to feel that sense of having accomplished something. But then again, she did put a lot of heart and hard work in it.
"I'm serious." Stephanie stood up from her seat and walked over to her. Arianne stood up too. "You got the job. I really think you have the talent."
"Thank you! I don't know what to say…it's…wow." Arianne said.
And she was sincere about it too. She really was speechless.
"You don't have to say anything." Stephanie said, putting her hands over Arianne's shoulder. "Just prove to me that I made the right choice in you. I'm sure you've heard it a lot of times already in this business. It's a man's world. And there's only a few of us women who succeed."
Arianne looked at Stephanie and saw that little spark in her eyes.
"You have to be tough, tougher than all of them." Stephanie said, "Make it your world. I believe you can do it. I believe in you."
She didn't realize it then, but something was stirred inside of herm, giving her confidence she'd never knew. At that moment, it wasn't about Joseph's thirst for revenge anymore. It was about her and her desire to make it in the business that was awakened.
"I won't fail you." She said, "I will do my best, I'm not going to let you down."
"I know you won't." Stephanie said.
"Thank you! Thank you so much." Arianne smiled.
"You're welcome. Now go get 'em." Stephanie said, steering her to the door. "By the way, there's someone else you should thank."
"Who?"
"Randy." Stephanie said, as she opened the door. "He pushed so hard to get you the job. He was more persistent than I was."
"Oh?"
"Yes! He made calls to everybody he can, trying to convince them about you." Stephanie said, "Guess he really want you to write for him."
"I guess." Arianne said.
That night's episode of RAW, Randy issued a challenge to his cohorts that they have to win their respective matches or they were out of Legacy. Cody won his match against CM Punk via count out. Sim Snuka won his match against Charlie Haas. And Manu lost to Matt Hardy.
Randy also lost in a four-way match against JBL, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho.
It was also the night it was revealed that it was Randy Orton that Kelly Kelly was protecting from Kane.
After the show…
"Come on, give me a break!" Randy said, gritting his teeth. "It's just a storyline!"
He's trying so hard not to scream, but it's sapping the energy out of him especially when he's already tired to begin with.
"There's nothing going on with me and Kelly, okay?" He said, "It's just a storyline!" He paused as perhaps the person he was talking to was speaking. "I didn't even get the script 'til tonight before the show! How was I supposes to run it over to you?"
He cocked his head in frustration as he listened to the person on the other end. "You know what, Sam? Let's just talk when I get home, alright? I'm tired and I'm getting pissed…YES! I'M GETTING F***ING PISSED!" He screamed when he couldn't control himself anymore.
But then he realized he did and tried to regain his composure.
"Let's just…talk about this…when I get home. I'm putting the phone down now."
He didn't really wait for a response anymore and just cut the call. He paced back and forth, with each step aggravating him. He wanted to throw the phone and he almost did, but he just settled with kicking the folding chair, before sitting down on the bench.
Outside, Arianne had her ear on the door and heard all he said. She thought he must have been on the phone with his wife, and they were arguing about something that happened in the show. Most likely, the segment he had with Kelly Kelly, putting him in a storyline of some sort of an affair.
When she heard the chair crash on the wall, she squealed a little but it was loud enough for Randy to hear. He stood up and opened the door and found her sneaking away.
"Hold it!" Randy said.