A/N: Thank you for the reviews. They always make me smile and I love it when someone likes what I write. Its difficult as not everyone has the same opinion as the author on how things should go. I think I've almost overcome my writers block, which I am ecstatic about, so enjoy the chapter. XxX
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with the WWE and I also do not maintain that I have the knowledge of any of the wrestlers personal lives and views and relationships portrayed in this fic are mainly for that one purpose: The Story. Thank You!
CHAPTER FOUR
I flicked my side bangs away from eyes as I got out the truck and locked it up, walking slowly across the parking lot. I'd left my hair down, unruly and wild with the ends touching half way down my back. I was nervous about today, Stephanie said she had something to speak to me about, so could I stop by the arena. We'd moved to the next city for a house show and Paul had lent me his truck while he stayed back at the hotel.
I entered the building, showing security my backstage pass before heading through and finding my way around the maze of corridors.
After getting lost one too many times, I'd almost started to give up hope when I heard a familiar voice. I turned the corner to see John chatting away on his mobile. He spotted me and I smiled, hanging back to keep out of earshot of his phonecall. He quickly ended it and tucked his phone into his jeans before turning back to me.
"S'up? What are you doing here?" he smiled standing next to me. I looked up towards him and shrugged
"Steph wants to talk to me but I'm finding myself a tad lost in this maze. Care to give a girl a helping hand?" I smiled hopefully.
"Sure" he turned his back and bent down a little and I stared at the back of his head a little confused "Hop on then Pres". I let out a small laugh before wrapping my arms around his neck and jumping on his back. My bag slid down my shoulder and rested against his back as he grasped onto my jean clad legs and began walking down the corridor. I placed my chin on his shoulder and laughed at how stupid we must have looked.
He deposited me outside of Steph's office and I thanked him. He tipped his hat and gave a shaky bow before promptly disappearing down the corridor, leaving me laughing at his retreating form. I shook my head with a smile and knocked on the door once before going in.
Steph was buried in a pile of papers at her desk, her hair hanging down over her face as she wrote frantically with a red pen, scribbling all over the page. I was tempted to leave again without saying anything but she looked up and smiled at me, sitting back and taking a deep breath.
"Well, I'm so glad you're here, I could use a break from this". She put her pen down and pinched the bridge of her nose while closing her eyes with a sigh. Opening her eyes once more, she ran her fingers through her hair as I stepped up to the desk.
"Script rewrites huh?" I asked rhetorically. She nodded and I added "Well, if you need any help, I'll gladly lend my advice".
"Would you really? Well, adding on that, its partly what I wanted to talk to you about".
"Really?" I asked my voice rising an octave or two "What do you want to know?"
"Well, you've been here for a few days now and I was wondering how long you were planning on staying for? You've not mentioned it to anybody yet".
I shrugged and stepped away from the desk, walking around the office slowly, looking at the pictures on her walls. Some were of her in the ring, some with Paul and some on her own or with other Superstars and others were family pictures. She cleared her throat and I turned back towards her.
"I...well...I haven't really decided yet. I suppose a few weeks....."
"And then you plan on going back home?" she asked enthusiastically.
"Are you trying to get rid of me Steph?" I asked a little hurt, my eyebrows crinkling in confusion. Her eyes widened and she stood up, coming towards me and giving me a hug. She pulled back and shook her head
"Quite the opposite Preston. I wanted to give you a job in fact".
I tilted my head to the side "You want to give me a job?" I asked back.
"Yeah, I've read some of your work, you know the few things you've sent me from college. I think you're an amazing writer and the creative team needs someone refreshing like you, to spice things up a little. I thought perhaps, if you weren't going back home to Atlanta, well you'd consider taking a job here?" she walked back towards her desk and piled some of the papers up. She put her pen back in the holder and grabbed her bag before ushering me out of her office "Let's head down to catering and we can talk more about it".
I nodded and walked with her, laughing and joking about some of the things we'd gotten up to as kids. Even though Steph was a quite a few years older than me, I remembered some of the things that we did. I could remember times when she'd looked after me and I gotten her into so much trouble. And then there were the times when we'd not seen each other in years and those were the worst times. We'd grown apart, as I grew up and got interested in different things and developed friendships with other people. And when we'd finally got back in contact we weren't the same people any more. Steph was a married woman with a child and I was just becoming an adult and wanted to make all my own decisions even if it meant I would get myself into trouble.
We'd clashed quite a few times until we found a happy-medium between us. And then I'd chosen to go to college while Stephanie went back to work, touring the country with the shows as the 'Head of Creative Development and Operations'.
I'd visited her as frequently as I could, even taking time away from college when Murphy was born. But it was stressful with the tension between my Uncle Vince and myself.
And for that main reason, I'd stopped visiting not long after Murphy was born and kept my distance, only writing to and phoning Steph to find out how her and Paul and the kids were.
We arrived at catering and I looked around, spotting a few Superstars including John, Paul Wight, Carlito and Primo, who were sitting together and having a rather heated discussion in Spanish, Kelly Kelly, Eve and Gail Kim were all sitting at one table near the windows and then I spotted Mike as well. He took a seat with Paul Wight and the two began an animated conversation, laughing and joking about a few things. He looked up, his eyes meeting mine for a few seconds before I looked away and trailed after Steph who had moved away a few moments before.
She was lining up at the sandwich cabinet, mulling over what to have. I grabbed a wholemeal chicken breast sandwich and then got a diet coke, paid for my food and then went and got a table. As I keep telling myself, it was only by coincidence that I took a seat at the table directly behind The Miz.
I stared at the back of his head and dropped my eyes to my sandwich packet as Paul looked down at me over Mike's head, flashing a smile at me. Not many of the superstars knew who I was yet, as I'd only been around for a few days. I fiddled with the packet, cursing under my breath as it wouldn't open. Eventually it tore and I all but managed to save my sandwich from hitting the floor.
I could feel a blush rise to my cheeks and I kept my eyes fixed on my tray only looking up as I heard Steph approach the table. She stopped by Paul Wight and began a conversation with him about tonight's house show.
"Who's the girl?" I heard Paul ask. I looked up and met Stephanie's warm eyes before she turned back to him and replied
"That's my cousin, Preston Carmichael. Mike here's already met her, haven't you?" she smiled turning to him. He grunted in acknowledgement before returning to his lunch. Paul smiled at me.
"I'm Paul, it's nice to meet you" he spoke in his gruff voice. Albeit he really was very big and looked quite intimidating, with the warm greeting he gave me, he made me feel a lot less nervous.
"It's nice to meet you too", I rubbed my lips together and wiped my palms on my knees as before taking a bite of my sandwich.
"Why don't the both of you join us instead of sitting yourselves?" Paul offered. Stephanie looked to me with her eyesbrows raised and I shook my head.
"Oh, its a nice offer, but the two of us have quite a few things to talk about. No really, its okay".
"I insist" he spoke through his teeth with a smile. I breathed out deeply before standing from the table, grasping my bag and walking towards there's. Stephanie had already sat down at the left side of the table, leaving me to take a seat near Mike on the right side. I sat down, dumping my tray on the table followed by my bag on the floor.
Sitting down, I just happened to kick Mike in the shin, by accident.
"Ouch, fucking hell, lady".
"Oops, sorry Michael" I apologised insincerely "I see it still hasn't gotten into that thick skull of yours that I actually have a name".
"Yeah sure it has. Heiress". I gritted my teeth and turned away, going back to my lunch and keeping my head down as Stephanie conversed with the both of them. My head shot up a little as I heard a laugh from my left-hand side. I stared at the side of Mike's face, watching it light up as he laughed quite heartily. His eyes crinkled slightly at the sides and his full pink lips turned up at the sides, while his chest and stomach shook. I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw Stephanie looking at me with a smile.
"What did I miss?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Just you staring at me as if I'm some god like creature" Mike joked and laughed with Paul. This time I could tell my face had turned quite red as I blushed, realising I'd been caught staring.
"Yeah, like that would ever happen. Excuse me" I pushed my chair away from the table and stormed out of catering, ignoring Stephanie as she called my name. I walked down the corridors, turning this way and that way, not even realising where I was going.
"Hey, hey!!" I heard a voice calling behind me, but I kept walking, looking at the signs on the doors as I walked "Wait. Preston!!" As soon as my name was called I spun around, my hair flying in all directions to find myself almost nose to nose with Mike Mizanin. I stepped back a little and folded my arms.
"What do you want? Isn't it enough, that you've treated me like crap since I came here a few days ago? And now you had to embarrass me just to get some kicks because you thought I was staring at you. Which I really wasn't by the way. I was just surprised to hear you laughing. It makes a change. I didn't know you knew how to laugh. So what the hell do you want now? Got something else you want to say to embarrass me?" I snapped at him, popping a hip to the side as I stood there.
"I...ummm...you forgot your bag. Here" he held my black leather bag out from the tips of his fingers. I felt all the air leave my body and I reached out, subconsciously and took the bag from him, his warm fingertips brushing against mine. I pulled back as I felt a jolt shoot up my arm and dropped the bag by my side.
"Mike...I...uhhh...I'm sorry. I just..."
"It's cool. I'm over it. Whatever" he shrugged with his palms face up, moving them slowly out to his sides, similar to the way he does in his entrance video before walking away down the hall. I wanted to call him back and tell him I meant the apology, but I felt myself frozen to the spot, before slumping back against the wall and sliding down, wrapping my arms around my knees as I pulled them to my chest.
I buried my face in my arms and shook my head, thinking about what I had said.
STEPHANIE'S POV
"Did you find her?" I asked bumping into Mike on the way out of catering. He shrugged and moved to walk past me "Well either you did or you didn't Miz. Which one is it?"
"I found her. Gave her her bag. Left her alone. Happy?" he snapped before walking into catering. I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose before disappearing down the hall, heading for my dad's office, just hoping Preston would be able to find her way about the arena.
I knocked on my dad's office door and went inside when he called. I closed the door behind me and went over, bending to press a kiss to his cheek, asking him how his paperwork was going. He was in the process of hiring some new talent from Ring Of Honor and superstars who used to wrestle on TNA as well as dealing with some contracts for the new show WWE:NXT.
I sat down with a sigh as he continued to write on multiple sheets of paper.
"Where's Preston?" he asked absentmindedly as he scribbled away.
"I lost her. She stormed out of catering after she had a run in with Mike".
"Mizanin?" he asked and gave an 'Mhmmm' in reply "What kind of run in?"
"He picked her up at the airport when Paul couldn't make it. They didn't mesh very well and they don't seem to like each other. Which is very strange because both of them are really likeable people. I suppose it took us a while to crack Mike's shell but once he opened up, he made fast friends with almost everyone in the business. And Pres...well....we know she can be tough and guarded but I just find it weird how they don't get on" I mused, checking my nails and removing a bit of dirt from under one of them.
"Maybe they do like one another? Perhaps in another way?" he asked, looking through his reading glasses at me, as they perched on the end of his nose.
"Yeah, I think that highly unlikely Dad. I mean...well..." I thought about it "I guess you could say...well now that I think about it. Anyway, there was a reason that I bothered you".
"And what would that be Princess?" my dad asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
"I want to give Preston a job. I think she's really smart and she's part of the family. She deserves to know about the company". I watched my dad drop his pen and lean forward on the desk. He was quiet for a few moments before he spoke in a clear, low and dictating tone.
"Look, this company was built on honour, pride, family. I don't want it being messed up by some idiotic girl"
"She's your niece. C'mon dad".
"Niece? That's just semantics. You can't choose your family Stephanie".
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Does that mean, if you could, none of us would be in your life?" I demanded, standing up and perching my hands on the end of his desk.
"Princess...."
"No, don't. Look Preston needs our help. She wants to learn about this business. All she's ever wanted to do was make you accept her. Cut her some slack. I've read some of the stuff she's wrote and its good. I think 'Creative' would be a good place for her. And I'm not asking this time Dad!!" I snapped before walking out of the room, a frown etched on my lips, ignoring my dad calling my name.
I stormed down the hall towards my own office and threw the door open almost foaming at the mouth. How dare he speak to me like that? You can't choose your family? How dare he? I've helped make this business as successful as it is. Without his family, he would have nothing. NOTHING!!
I walked into the office and slammed the door shut, looking up as I heard Preston's voice.
"Thank god, you didn't get lost?" I asked now in a calmer mood.
"Actually, I did. But I managed to find a techie to bring me back. Thank goodness. So what made you so angry?"
"My dad. He's being an asshole. I've decided to give you a job in 'Creative' so I ran it by him. As you can guess, he wasn't all that pleased. He thinks he's the head in this business and he makes all the decisions. He forgets what I've done for the WWE. He forgets that I'm the bloody neck. I support the head and I can turn it anyway I fucking want to...."
"Calm down Steph" she smiled sweetly and sat down on the sofa, near where I was pacing. I took a deep breath a shook my arms and neck out before going over and sitting down next to her.
"So do you want to work here then?"
"I would love that more than anything" she smiled and leaned over to give me a tight hug "Thank you so much".
"We'll need to go shopping and get you some suits and some nice dresses to wear to work".
"Dresses?" she groaned and I nodded.
"You need to look smart. C'mon, we'll go just now and get started".
"Okay, but dresses?" she groaned as I pulled her out of my office with a small laugh.
END OF CHAPTER