Being that we didn't have any showering and changing to do nor do we have to take down the ring or move equipment, Jessie and I were one of the first people to arrive at Denny's for dinner. It was during this time of quiet that will undoubtedly be cut off once other wrestlers and crew members arrive, that I asked Jessie about how I should act around people.

"Act like yourself," she said simply. "We pretty much treat everyone like family. Save for the first couple of days or so when it seems like everyone wants to play twenty questions with you," she joked.

We had a short laugh at that, knowing that being the new kid coming into a close-knit group would entice a round of getting to know each other time. She then went on to tell me about the different personalities backstage and their humor. It was fun finding out that Joe, one of the bigger, scarier guys happens to have one of the greatest senses of humor. Jessie actually referred to him as a teddy bear.

"But don't tell him I said that," she quickly followed. "No matter how light-hearted that man may be, I still don't wanna get caught in his kokina clutch or a muscle buster."

That roused another round of laughter from the both of us. She proceeded to tell me about how Alistair Ralphs or A1 has the type of dry humor that she could only define to be an acquired taste. Otherwise, you're likely to be offended by some of the things that come out of his mouth. She also told me about how random Patrick can be. She went on to tell me this story about he was making whining noises similar to that made by a hungry puppy during one of the production meetings. She also told me of how much found could ensue once the guys playing the characters of Sabin, Lethal and Dutt got together. Apparently their friendship wasn't just some angle put in front of a national audience to help promote the movie Jackass 2. They really do act that way.

After she told me that, we took notice of some crewmembers and wrestlers that just arrived. I was introduced to some of the people I have not yet met while the others whose acquaintance I already had the privilege of having earlier asked how my first day on the job went. I told them the same thing I told Jeff that it was hectic but I could handle it.

One of the crewmembers was looking at me oddly so I looked back at him with a questioning one. He gave a small smile and what I could tell was a slight blush as he looked away from me. After he got his bearings back, he proceeded to ask me a question.

"Magic? That's an odd name for a person, much less a girl," he commented.

"My parents were two percent hippies," I said, giving the same joke I was used to giving to everyone that asks about my name. "My full name's Mage Isabel-Croix Cortez. It's too much of a mouthful to say so they stuck me with Magic," I explained further.

"That is a mouthful," said Valerie Wyndham, otherwise known as So Cal Val. Everyone had a small chuckle at the small joke and her statement.

Before I could proceed to ask everyone else about the inner workings of TNA, the bulk of the wrestlers and crew arrived which pretty much signified the start of the party. I was introduced to practically everyone on the roster and staff, having them ask the same question pertaining to my name, and only missed to have met a select few that had to catch flights out to make other appearances for other companies.

I don't get the fascination with my name. I think it's pretty normal. True that it's a bit odd for a girl to have since the only notable person to have carried it is a basketball legend, but I don't think it's weird. Then again, I've had the name for my whole life, so I'm used to it.

I was looking around the room doing one of my favorite things – people watching. I saw Josh, Tesh and Jamar, otherwise known as Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal hanging out with the likes of Petey Williams and Patrick. It was quite a laugh trip to see them chucking pieces of fries into each other's mouths and bursting out in raucous laughter. Jessie was right about them being a fun group. It eases my mind that I could still be the twenty three year old female that I am around some of these guys – just bordering on maturity but still knowing how to let loose.

Turning my head to look at other people, I could see the guys of America's Most Wanted hanging out with the Naturals having a more subdued conversation as compared to the first group that caught my eye. They strike me as the type of people that you could talk serious matters with but have fun with at the same time. I just had to reach that assumption after having James Storm throw me a wide grin and making his eyebrows bounce up and down. This action prompted the others to look my way and they all waved and gave small smiles. Embarrassed at being caught, I had no other thing left to do but wave back at them.

Recovering from that little mishap, I continued to people watch taking notice of the closeness that staff and roster alike shared. It was most interesting to see the likes of Chris Parks, or Abyss, an otherwise frightening monster standing at six-foot eight inches, act like such a gentle giant while talking to his smaller friend Bob Ryder. The camaraderie was clear and distinct. It was more like all of them were as Jeff and Jessie described – a family more than colleagues.

I could feel a small smile form on my face. I knew from here on that I made a wise move to work for this company. After leaving California to study college and only being able to visit every so often, I need to be around people that could treat me like I never left home. It should make the job easier as well.

As soon as I formed that thought however, I felt as if someone was staring a hole through me. And once I turned my head, my feelings proved to be right. There he was, sitting beside the members of LAX, staring straight at me. It wasn't the same stare that I directed at everyone else as I was watching them. It wasn't the same stare that James returned to me. There was no cheesy grin, not even a small smile. All there was to it was a blank look in his eyes and a stoic expression on his face. It was a stark contrast to his environment that provided a fun-filled and loose background.

I broke the stare that I had on him and looked back down at my half-eaten food. I could still feel his eyes on me and it began to unnerve me. I looked at the shiny napkin dispenser, trying to see if I had some odd stuff on my face that had him staring at me like that, but there was nothing there. Still feeling his eyes on me, I turned toward Jessie and asked her a question that I was dying to know about him and everyone else.

"So you talked about everyone's humor, you talked about relationships, do you think you could tell me about who to stay away from?" I asked.

"Who to stay away from?" she asked back confused.

"Yeah. You can't honestly tell me that having a backstage filled with this many people, actually get along very well at all times. Even now, I can see some cliques amongst people," I explained. "Don't get me wrong though. I'm not saying that some of these guys are jackasses. I just want to know who I need to watch out for. Knowing how to act around people and knowing who to avoid are things that, I believe, serve as keys to survival."

"Well, it's not so much as having to stay away from some people but rather staying away from certain situations," she started. "If you see Jeff Jarrett and Ron Killings, run the other way. It's common knowledge that those two don't get along. With Joe, just stay clear after he had a rough match. He's known to carry a lot of adrenaline that follows him throughout the night. A lot of people have intense attitudes; you just have to know how to deal with them and learn to not be easily offended."

"Intense huh?" I asked. That was how I could describe the look I was given. Looking up for a second makes me want to rephrase that. Intense was how I would describe the look that I was still being given.

"What about Senshi?" I asked.

"Brandon Silvestry?" Jessie looked to me for confirmation. Seeing me give a slight nod of the head, she too started to look around to see him still eyeing me.

"Steer clear of the guy if you can," she said mysteriously.

I raised my eyebrows in question of that statement. I could tell that the guy held a great intensity about him but was that intensity really enough to warrant that type of warning? Wanting further explanation on it, I asked Jessie that same thought.

"You've heard about how he likes to stay in character waaaaaaaay before coming into the ring and well after coming out right?" she asked back. "And then there's that incident with Tammy Sytch and his infamous temper."

Somehow, that short explanation still couldn't quench my curiosity about the guy but it seems that it was all the explanation that Jessie had to offer.

"Trust me Magic. If you want to be able to do your job and stay on your job without dealing with much drama or troubles, stay away from Brandon Silvestry."

AN: There you go with chapter two. I might not update this as frequent as I do with A Lot of Moxie but please don't hate me for that. Do remember that this story was meant to be nothing more than a oneshot and I am just doing this by request. True, that the request made me develop a couple of ideas but those haven't developed fully yet. So please be patient with the coming along of this one.

A huge thanks goes out to Phoenix and DarkGirlX for giving solid reviews to all of my writing. Good to know that you two really do appreciate it all.

Thanks also goes out to LycanQueen54, Takerslady and foolishangel87 for reviewing the first chapter.

Kudos to you all. Please read and review once again, leave comments on the writing and what you may want to see next. No guarantee that it's going to come up but it doesn't hurt to try. ;)

- Nef