Chapter 7
Jade walked inside the huge meeting room five minutes before it was to start, seeing a lot of the Superstars hadn't arrived yet. She seen Stephanie was there already and walked over, sitting down, having a notepad in hand just in case. She was always prepared and had no idea what the hell this meeting was about.
"How's Orton?" Paul sneered, walking in, causing Jade to roll her eyes. He still couldn't believe she burned him.
"How's your arm?"
Stephanie sighed. "Paul, knock it off and leave her alone."
If Paul fucked this up and Jade left, Stephanie was going to bury his career and the look she shot him told him that very clearly.
Clearing his throat, Paul dropped down into a seat.
Stephanie opened her mouth to say something, sighing when Legacy walked in.
Randy dropped down into a chair, Cody and Ted sitting on either side of him, his eyes focused on Jade before snapping to Paul, flashing a smile. "How's the arm?" He asked casually.
"You son-"
Jade put her head in her hands, shaking it slowly back and forth, wanting to grip her hair, but couldn't because it was up at the moment and she didn't want to mess with it.
"Randy, don't antagonize my husband." Stephanie ordered, blue eyes narrowing.
"Hey, it's not our fault he decided to attack Randy."
"Yeah, tell him to calm his temper down."
Jade was going to another place as she closed her eyes, knowing she would need aspirin after this meeting was over with.
Stephanie sighed and ignored them, seeing other Superstars shuffle in.
"Hey darlin'." Mark greeted, dropping a kiss on Stephanie's head, halting to shake Paul's hand before settling in next to Jade. All the other chairs quickly being taken. "Hi again." He greeted, smiling at her before his attention moving to Stephanie.
Randy coughed, just as Cody muttered 'cocksucker'. "Wow... maybe it's time to give up smoking." He grunted, laying his head on the table, trying not to laugh.
"Hi." She replied, looking up at him.
He was very good looking with emerald green eyes and long black hair. He actually was drop dead gorgeous, but Jade had her mind on another man at the moment. Her eyes left his and moved to Randy, raising an eyebrow and rolled her eyes when his shoulders started shaking. Whatever he was laughing about, she didn't want to know.
Paul was grinning from ear to ear, sitting beside his wife, and squeezed her hand gently as the rest of the Superstars filed in, the door closing.
"Jade, would you join me up here please?"
Raising an eyebrow, she stood up and faced the entire crowd, looking cool, calm and collected.
"Some of you haven't had the chance to meet our new lead script writer. She's my best friend and I've been trying to get her into the company for years now. I expect each and every one of you to treat her with the same respect as you would me and my family because, blood or not, she is a McMahon. Jade, welcome to the family."
"Thank you." She smiled, shaking Stephanie's hand and embraced her before going back to sit down after shaking a few hands.
"Sorry I'm late!" Shane panted as he rushed in, shaking his head. "Traffic was a bitch!"
"So is your wife when she's on her rag." Ted said under his breath, snorting when Randy gripped the edge of the table, trying not to laugh.
"You boys about done?" Mark drawled, the room shutting up instantly.
"In three to five days..."
Randy's entire face was beat red by now.
Disrespectful little bastards! Stephanie scowled as she nodded at her brother, waving him off, tapping her chin in thought. "There's been a change of plans for tonight's script. It will be Triple H and the Undertaker versus The Legacy."
Cody's eyes widened while Randy immediately stopped laughing.
"I'm not done." Stephanie was pissed as she gripped the table with her hands, glaring at Legacy with fire in her eyes. "They can choose a partner to make it an even six man tag team match. Now are you two through or do I have to make it a handicapped match by letting them choose TWO partners?"
Jade had her eyes on the table, knowing Stephanie was angry and couldn't believe how disrespectful Ted and Cody were being.
"You can't do that!"
"I just did." She turned to her brother, who took the floor. "You all know who Shane is. He will finish the meeting."
"Unless there was something else you three would like to add?" Shane asked politely, his eyes narrowed. What had happened to him and his father had been fine. What had happened to Stephanie wasn't.
Randy looked to Cody then to Ted. "You can speak now."
Cody snickered.
Mark leaned back with a sigh. Smackdown! was looking better and better by the minute. At least there the younger stars weren't complete jackasses.
"Anyway..." Shane turned his attention to the entire group, taking a deep breath. "Stephanie and I have been going over the company's financial situation matching it with ratings. While they're decent, we want great. This is why we've talked to Vince and Linda and have made the decision to get rid of the brand extension."
Jade's head snapped up while every Superstar's jaw dropped in the room, including Paul's.
Stephanie was beaming from ear to ear, though she didn't like the look Jade shot her, holding her hand up to let her know they would talk about this later on.
"Raw, Smackdown! and ECW are going to be remerged into one show again."
Damn right they were going too! Why the hell hadn't she told her about this sooner? Was this the reason why Jade had been hired? She could BARELY juggle Raw and now they were adding Smackdown! and ECW to the pile? Jade felt faint as she leaned back against her seat, staring at the table.
Mark frowned, clearing his throat.
"Aww hell, locker room leader is back on our asses." Glen spoke up from the chair he had been twirling in.
Chuckling, Shane gestured for Mark to say whatever was on his mind.
"Going to keep running all three shows then with everyone on one show?" When Shane nodded, Mark arched an eyebrow. "Mind explaining to us how that'll work out? Given how many Superstars you have?"
"No kidding, a lot of us barely see air time as it is."
"With this decision finalized, I'm afraid I don't have an answer at the moment. There will be cuts, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. Though our biggest stars will be on one show will draw a bigger audience, hereby allowing the ratings to skyrocket again." Shane explained, sighing when he heard groans, hating to be the one to deliver the news. Maybe taking over the family business was a bad idea after all.
"The important thing is to give the fans what they want. Not to mention it's about time the shows merge into one again." Stephanie added helpfully.
"I'm not finished with the news. Due to the merging, Raw will now be three hours long, Smackdown! will remain two hours and ECW will be no more. It will just be Raw and Smackdown! like it was before."
Stephanie knew the ECW stars were probably worried about their jobs, but they were going to do everything in their power to make sure everyone had air time.
Jade was rubbing her temples considering she was just hired and added to the payroll so to speak, really not wanting any problems. "So let me get this straight..." She finally spoke up. "I get hired after being told I'm going to be the lead script writer for the RAW brand only. Now you're telling me Smackdown! is going to be added?"
Stephanie smiled apologetically. "Jade, you can do this..."
"If I blow my head off, it's on your heads." She muttered, finally leaning back in her chair, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Fair enough Jade, now are there any other questions?"
"Uh yeah, so us clowns who are married to the boss's daughter or bringing in the fans by flicking a lizard tongue-"
"Fuck off, Jacobs."
"We're going to be basically stuck doing house shows with no air time?"
"TNA is hiring."
"Good point."
Shane's eyes narrowed, shrugging nonchalantly. "Go for it. TNA is going downhill and we're going to crush them. Look, this is the best decision for the company and sometimes, the decisions aren't always easy. So I'm sorry, but we're going to try to balance everything out."
Jade wanted to strangle Stephanie, then Shane, not believing the mess they had drug her in. She was happy at the Times, here all she had was headaches.
"If there's no other questions, then we're finished here." He stated, turning around to face his sister, who looked troubled about this decision. "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."
Paul walked out, shaking his head, not believing Stephanie had kept that information from him.
Jade stood up with everyone, needing a cigarette in the worst way.
"This is bullshit." Glen said, falling besides Mark as they walked out of the room. "You'll be fine. Paul will be fine, Cena is going to be bouncing around like a moron."
"You're a mainstay."
"BARELY!"
"Who cares, you suck anyway."
"No shit."
"Excuse me." Jade mumbled, walking past both Mark and Glen, heading outside for a cigarette.
She was going to KILL Stephanie! Jade arrived outside and immediately lit up, pacing back and forth, taking small, fast drags to try to calm down. She was BARELY making it with Raw, how the hell was she going to add Smackdown! to the mix, not to mention remember the Superstar's names? The Times was looking really promising right now as she finished one cigarette and lit up another, needing two at the moment. She was pissed.
"Guys, I don't know what'll happen!" Randy shouted over his shoulder, storming outside for a much needed cigarette. "Go bother Stephanie!"
"She'll bury us, you know this!"
"Oh well, so be it."
"Let's go kick Paul's ass." Ted suggested.
Nodding, Cody followed him inside, leaving Randy to his smoke.
"Oh that's real mature." Jade snorted as she shook her head, glaring at Cody and Ted, taking a long drag of her cigarette while pacing back and forth.
Her head was pounding, that aspirin not helping her headache in the slightest and neither was nicotine. WrestleMania was coming up and now she had two shows to work on, not to mention this upcoming concert with Randy. Jade's mind was spinning as she seen him light up, not stopping her pacing. It helped her think as she finished her second cigarette, screwing it, and lighting up another. She didn't do this often so her lungs could handle it, needing to clear her mind somehow.
Randy watched her thoughtfully. It was a bit odd how Jade's obvious anxiety over this situation seemed to calm him down. Maybe it was just her. He wasn't even all that worried about the upcoming tag match, knowing Paul and Mark would be looking to kill him. He had his bases covered.
"I doubt Stephanie is going to make you solely in charge of all of the writing." He said finally. "She'll probably hire someone to share your responsibilities."
"What?" Jade sighed as she looked up at Randy, yanking her hair band out and fluffed it a little as it pooled down her back in waves. "That's not the point, Randy. I was told when I was hired that it would be strictly Raw. Now she springs this on me and a MONTH before WrestleMania." The more Jade thought about it, the more pissed off she became until she finally deflated. "I should go home." She whispered, sinking down against the building, and put her head in her knees, her cigarette between her fingers, arm dangling between her legs. This job was very stressful and as much as Jade loved being on her toes, this was a little too much. "She won't hire anyone because I'm the "best"." She did the finger quotations. "She's out of her fucking mind."
"In this business, there is always someone better then the best out there, waiting to be found." Randy said flatly, sliding down beside her, taking a deep drag off his cigarette and sighed, smoke pouring from his mouth. "Fact of the matter is, she'll have to hire someone because no matter how good you are, Jade, this job is too big for you alone. And if you quit, I hope you have great lawyers because Vince is a dick." He spoke from personal experience, not knowing she knew the entire family.
"Vince sue me?" Jade actually started laughing, feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders in comfort and took another drag of her cigarette. "I've known those people since I was in diapers, Randy. They won't sue me, plus I have a stipulation in my contract that if things don't work out, I can leave with no strings attached. I'm here because I want to travel and get my juices flowing for my new book. I'm here for an adventure. Though you are right, I'm not the best. Hell, I can barely handle Raw so I hope the lead script writer on Smackdown! can tolerate me." She sighed heavily, raking a hand through her hair and gripped it, flicking ash away.
"I didn't say you weren't the best." Randy corrected lightly, squeezing her shoulders gently. "It's a little saying around here. People get replaced all the time by someone who does it better, know what I'm saying? You're doing fine and after WrestleMania, everything will calm down and you'll probably be bored out of your mind." He sighed, momentarily resting his head against hers. "Do you write out the ideas yourself?"
"I know what you're saying and yeah I do." This felt nice as Jade closed her eyes, taking another drag of her cigarette, slowly letting the smoke flow out of her mouth and nose, knowing he was trying to calm her down, to comfort her. Normally she would've told an average person to get lost, but Randy was different. She liked him, a lot, and felt drawn to him in ways she couldn't understand or even begin to explain. "I doubt I'll be bored, but there's a lot of pressure with WrestleMania." That was the biggest event of the year for them and Stephanie just HAD to hire her right smack dab in the middle of it all. Talk about wrong timing. "I'm sorry, you have your own problems to deal with. I'll be alright. I'm just freaking out and not giving myself enough credit."
"Actually, you're not delegating like you should." Randy said thoughtfully, glancing down at her. "Don't get me wrong, Jade. You're doing a great job and I'm not trying to come off as a know-it-all or anything. But you're the lead writer, you can't take on all the work. That's what your staff is for. You tell THEM your ideas and let them work around it, then you go over and kick their asses when they get it wrong, be happy when they share your vision, make sense?"
