Chapter 4: Meeting the Enigma
"Don't you love it, Loz? Suits this little guy, I think I might get him the armbands..." He paid no mind to the two who were ignoring him, engrossed in their reading. That was until he came off his puppy-induced cloud and realised how childish he was being. "Uh guys, what are we looking at? Bet it's the new script, the one where you... oh." He looked from Adam to Laura, to his puppy and back.
"Thanks for warning me about that one, Nath. I tell you everything, couldn't you have told Steph that Adam and I were dating or something?"
"Tried it. She rambled on about her time against Paul and all that. Thinks you've got it easy, you're playing the Face character. At least you're not Heel, Loz. You suck at being evil, unlike certain others in the room," he tipped an imaginary hat in Adam's direction, who did his head waggle thing.
"Stress less about all this, babe. We're cool, Jeff's a decent guy and... oh cool, you get to wear face paint!" Adam was reading up on Laura's character, who was your basic valet: mimicked Jeff's moves, style and appearance.
"Have I got a name yet?"
"We'll be working on all that stuff at rehearsals, which we'll have Wednesday in New Orleans. I suggest you're there for the Smackdown taping tomorrow night though, I'll introduce you to everyone. We'll leave in the morning, assuming I can stay here tonight of course."
"Okay, but I'm warning you, I talk in my sleep," Laura replied absentmindedly. She'd only gotten home an hour ago, and she was leaving in the morning. She'd heard the girls complaining about the schedule, but it had never hit her until that moment. After Extreme Rules everything would go crazy. There'd be photo shoots, rehearsals, live events... somehow she was going to try and fit eating and sleeping in as well.
**
Lying in bed, Adam snoring next to her, Laura realised how different her life was becoming. She was physically at her best, and everything else seemed to be falling into place. Friends, love, life in general. So what if she had to sacrifice staying at home for her life goals? It would be worth it in the end, she knew that.
One other thing was on her mind, of course. She was anticipating her first meeting with Jeff Hardy. As if Nathan's near-shrine in his room to the man wasn't enough, she'd been following his career as long as she could remember. Her brothers used to tease her, cheering for HHH and The Rock while she supported 'that freaky Hardy kid'. They thought she just cheered for the 'hot' guys and was a typical wrestling fangirl, so the day she got a job in Creative was a big wake-up call for them. She'd have to email them in the morning, make sure they were watching on Sunday. No one in her family knew about her new role as a Diva.
But if she was dating Adam, and Jeff hated him... would he hate her too? That wouldn't really work out too well, not with the storyline. It'd be pretty unfair too. It wasn't her fault Adam's past wasn't squeaky clean. But he'd changed, she knew that.
Of course he'd changed. He'd never do that to her.
Needless to say she didn't get much sleep that night.
**
Grabbing her already packed suitcase and laptop, she didn't have any hands left for breakfast. Nathan put a piece of toast in her mouth and she grunted her thanks. He just grinned at her and pointed at the clock. She gasped: Adam said he would only wait in the cab until 10, and it was five past. She ran to the elevator, breathless and covered in crumbs. The blonde sight nearly had her drop her toast in relief.
"You idiot, of course I waited for you. Enjoying that?" Adam asked, gesturing to the butter-coated toast she was still half-chewing on. She nodded with as much sarcasm as she could muster, and he grabbed her suitcase and they went down to the cab and off to the airport.
Tuesday night tapings had gotten crazy since ECW had rejoined, but Laura and Adam were able to find everything pretty quickly. Adam was on first to cut a promo on his match with Punk, which was going to be announced as a TLC. He saw her off to the woman's locker room before making his way to wait for his cue.
"Hey Laura, come sit with us!" The always bubbly Maria had called her over to where she, Melina and one of the Bella twins were sitting. The three were already in their ring clothes and Melina was doing her stretches on the floor, naturally starting with the splits.
"Hi Maria, Mickie tell you to keep an eye on me?"
"Yup, and I'm sticking to those orders. Girls, meet Smackdown's newest Diva," She introduced each of them (it was Brie Bella) and they got to talking. Laura had to admit she was expecting vapid, self-obsessed clueless woman who had little to no interest in anything but themselves. Of course, she was pleasantly surprised to find them clever, funny and easy to get along with. Soon Adam was back and she felt slightly reluctant to leave her new friends.
"See ya tomorrow Loz? We'll keep you company during the title match carnage," Melina asked, grinning as she gave Laura a quick hug. They agreed to meet in Maria's hotel room before rehearsals to critique each other's outfits, and she waved goodbye.
"You made friends with some of the most stubborn Divas around here, you know that?" Adam said as he guided her to the men's locker room.
"Those guys? Never, they're so sweet and funny. Melina especially." Adam merely nodded his head and checked to make sure all the guys were decent.
"Gentlemen, meet Smackdown's newest Diva," Adam said proudly. I've gotta get them to stop calling me that, Laura thought with reluctant pride. She was a Diva. A Diva good enough to take out a grown man.
Hands were shook, names learned and people Laura knew to avoid from now on. Some were too sleazy, some just plain rude. The worst of the lot was John Morrison who seemed to think that everyone in the world was in his debt. Others, like Chris Jericho and CM Punk seemed very nice, and Punk even complimented her shoes. They were the craziest assortment of colours, and she loved them for being the Converse imitations that they were. And at last she finally set her eyes on the man she was anxious to meet: Jeff Hardy.
"Oi Jeff, get over here and meet your new bitch! I mean partner, I'm only joking Lauren," she glared at Jericho, who just gave her a winning smile. Even being a jerk she couldn't hate that guy.
"Ah, so this is the girl who's getting me the title. Nice to meet you," he walked up to her and shook her hand, close enough for her to smell his very earthy but delicious scent.
"Laura Benson. Nice to meet you too Jeff, should be a lot of fun working together," she was trying not to stare, honestly. He was just so much more... amazing in real life. Not cute, or with the perfect body or anything like that. There was just something about him, something so very attractive. Reminding herself of her boyfriend, who was just next to her, she grabbed Adam's hand. That seemed to alleviate some of the feelings she was having, which was good enough for her.
Jeff noticed the joined hands but didn't comment on it. "Any idea on a ring name? The two of us need to decide, apparently, and soon."
"Not a clue, but if we both think long and hard overnight we're sure to have a good idea between us."
"Sure thing. Anyway I'm out of here, last night with Beth before everything gets all hectic again. Better make it worth it." he winked at Chris who snorted. Clearly the two of them got on pretty well. And with that he left, carefully avoiding eye contact with Adam. It was far too careful to be polite.
If she was going to feel like this every time she was around him, she'd better get a transfer.
End A/N: I'm going to ask you guys for help. I have no idea for a ring name for Laura. Have an idea? Post a review, PM me or whatever. Next chapter will have her finally make her WWE debut, so I'd like to know by then. If no one has any ideas, it'll probably end up being Violet or something enigma-related. I'm lacking creativity. Also, did you notice I added Beth? That makes things a little more interesting, doesn't it?
