He moaned loudly as the sunlight burst through the window, casting its light into his eyes. He threw the covers over his head, knowing his alarm clock would be blaring through the quiet hotel room any minute. He didn't want to get up and travel after the night he had had. The arguments with his wife were taking more of a toll on him emotionally than they ever had before.
He was exactly upset about them, just the spiteful, ignorant things she said that shook him to his core; that made the hair on his neck stand up at end. He wasn't sure how much more he could take and yet, all he could think of was the innocent child they had brought into the world, who didn't ask for it. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him, by far and he didn't want to lose her anymore than the time he was away from her because of his profession.
He heard the knock on the door then and groaned again, knowing it was time to face the day and move on. He threw the covers from his bare chest and stepped into his sandals before making his way to the door. He yawned and rubbed his hand through his short, dark hair as he opened the door and leaned against it, his eyes half-open.
"Well, good morning, sunshine." came the cheerful voice.
He opened his eyes and stood up with everything he could muster within him and simply smiled at Amy's cheerfulness. She eyed his bare chest before clearing her throat and smiling.
"Yeah, good morning." he muttered, opening the door for her, allowing her to enter.
She stepped inside and stood at the foot of the bed as he closed the door and turned to face her. He noticed the velor track suit she was wearing and arched his brow slightly. She tightened her ponytail before looking around the tidy hotel room, obviously impressed with his cleanliness.
"Where you headed to?" he asked.
"Oh, I was going to go for a run before we headed to the arena. Wanna join me?" she offered.
"Yeah, alright. Let me just throw some clothes on." he said, heading for his suitcase before another knock came at the door. "You wanna get that while I get dressed?"
"Sure." she said, making her way to the door and opening it.
Her expression changed to pure shock as her mouth opened and her eyes widened. No words were able to escape then, as she stared at the man on the other side.
"Who is it?" Randy asked turning around. "Oh, hey Shawn. What's up?"
Shawn looked at Amy's expression before laughing and turning his attention to the younger man and smiling.
"Nothing, just the boss sent me over to get you and the new girl for a quick meeting at the arena." he said. "I'm hoping this is the new girl."
"Oh, yeah. Amy this is Shawn. Shawn, Amy." Randy said, getting through the introductions.
"It's really nice to meet you." she managed to get out, extending her hand.
"Likewise." Shawn said endearingly, excepting her hand and shaking it. "Well, I'm gonna get back to the room before I head to the arena. I'll catch you two later."
"See ya, man." Randy said, before looking at Amy and laughing lightly.
"I was totally not ready for that." she said, slapping her forehead and closing her eyes. "I acted like a total fan, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did." he said, patting her shoulder before heading into the bathroom, laughing.
"We have a slight change in plans. While we still wanna see you're storyline take place, we also wanna change to business up a little. We haven't had any factions in some years now and we wanted to center it around 'The Age of Orton'." Vince began, handing them each papers.
"Alright, but..." Randy began.
"Just hear me out. Think of the McMahon-Helmsley Era. It had power, it had ratings, it had heat. We want something similar to that, but with fresh faces, but ultimately with the same results. We figured out you'll feuding mainly against Cena, but if we could have another pairing like that, the ratings would soar. The fans would love to hate you guys."
"Sounds... interesting. How are we going to make this work?" Randy asked.
"Well, with her debut this Monday night, we figured we could have her enter the number one contender match for the Women's Championship. She'll be facing Mickie James and Mickie will put her over. From there, we'll do the script as it was printed, where you come out to ringside, watch the match, etc., etc., etc. We'll go on a week to week basis for now, to see how the fans respond."
"The Age of Orton? Where do I fit in?" Amy asked, finally speaking up.
"Well, I'm glad you asked. Randy had been mentioning 'The Age of Orton' in his promos in-rings before he returned from his injury and we thought we'd build from the concept. With the McMahon-Helmsley Era, there was Stephanie and Triple H at the helm of the WWE for well over a year. With 'The Age of Orton', there's Randy and Amy, or Ava, in character view. We'll be adding a couple people to the faction, but as of right now, we're focusing on you two. Eventually, we'll be putting the strap on both of you for the dominance factor." Vince said, smiling and leaning back proudly.
Randy looked at Amy before leaning back in his own chair and pondering the idea in his head. He hadn't thought there storyline was going to become the face of the WWE, but after hearing the idea and realizing it was good, he finally smiled and shook his head.
"I like it." Randy finally agreed.
"We figured you would. We're going to start out easy. We don't wanna shove this in anyone faces too fast. So, subtle and slow I think is the key. By the Rumble, things should be taking shape and by WrestleMania, the plan will be working full force, or at least we hope it will be." Vince said, looking at Amy.
"I'm game." Randy said, shaking Vince's hand. "Amy?"
Both men turned and looked at the female in the room. Randy realized she really had given her input on anything thus far and knew it was all probably overwhelming for her.
"Yeah, I mean, it's my job. I like the idea of it and where you want this to go." she said, smiling in Randy's direction.
"Alright, well, according to the layout, Ava will be the Women's Champion going into the Rumble. Randy, we're not too sure if we're giving you the belt at the Rumble or having you win the Rumble. We'll get back to you when we know." Vince said, standing up from behind the desk.
"Alright, sir. Thank you." Amy said, as she and Randy made their way out.
"So, are you cool with this?" Randy asked before heading down the hallway.
"Yeah, I mean, I didn't expect to be thrown into a major storyline straight out of the gate, but I have you to help me, right?" she asked hopeful.
"Yeah, sure. I know you're new and all. I remember what it felt like to be new backstage." Randy reassured her.
"Alright. I guess we've got our work cut out for us, huh?" she asked.
"Yeah, but we'll be alright, kid." he said, throwing his arm around her shoulder.
"Kid?" she shrieked, smiling and throwing his arm off her shoulder before placing her hands on her hips.
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry." he said, laughing.
"So, how 'bout that run?" she asked, sprinting in front of him.
"You're on." he said, racing past her.
