Chapter 50…

2 Weeks Later…Indianapolis

"Can we just take a moment to recognize that this is the best cape work in the history of movies?" Jordan marveled as Darth Vader walked onto the screen. She and Kofi were watching The Empire Strikes Back. "I mean seriously. It's amazing."

"I don't know Jo," Kofi shook his head.

Jordan whipped her head toward him. He was obviously losing his grip on reality. It probably had something to do with the fact that he hadn't slept at all on their long drive.

"I'm not saying it's not great," Kofi put his hands up. "I'm just saying, I could see the argument for Christopher Reeve in Superman."

"You are an insane person!" Jordan pointed. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm just saying there's competition," Kofi shrugged, eating a handful of popcorn.

"But there isn't," Jordan's tone was snotty. "Hence my calling you an insane person."

Kofi picked up his phone, "Let's ask Twitter."

"Twitter will side with me," Jordan said confidently.

"You two know Twitter isn't a person, right?"

Jordan smiled when Phil joined them. He'd fallen asleep in the back of the bus before they started the movie. He didn't look fully awake yet. He was also shirtless and for a moment, Jordan completely forgot about Kofi's ridiculous suggestion. Curse him for being so damn good looking.

He plopped down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close, "Why didn't you guys just ask me?"

"You already know how this goes," Kofi typed away on his phone. "When Jordan and I have a difference of opinion, we let the tweets decide."

"It really is the fairest solution," Jordan shrugged. "Although this time it isn't necessary because I'm one hundred percent right."

"We shall see," Kofi triumphantly posted his tweet.

"I'm gonna have to start keeping you away from my friends," Phil shook his head.

"Because they like me more?" she smirked, putting her feet up.

"Oh Kofi likes you but not more than me," Phil said confidently.

"He does provide me these lovely and comfortable road accommodations," Kofi agreed.

"Well look at that, you finally found a guy to pick you first," Jordan pinched Phil's cheek. "Congratulations."

"Poll is posted," Kofi smiled proudly, dropping his phone. "Prepare to be defeated."

In less than an hour, they were pulling into the lot at the arena and Jordan was triumphantly celebrating a crushing victory in their Twitter poll.

"I really should've put money on this," Jordan gloated as she danced.

"Anyone ever tell you you're not a gracious winner?" Kofi teased.

"Almost everyone who's ever lost to me," Jordan nodded. "It's a family trait. I can't help it."

"Next time don't try to beat her," Phil suggested, patting his friend on the shoulder before picking up his bag. "Now come on, let's get out of this thing. I need some air."

Jordan allowed Kofi out in front of her. She followed, jumping when she felt Phil give her a stiff pat on the ass.

"Hey, watch yourself," she chided, carefully moving down the steps.

"Don't look so good," he said. "You bring it on yourself."

Kofi was gone quickly, rushing to catch up to Claudio.

Jordan felt Phil's arm drape over her shoulders and she leaned into him, putting her arm around his waist as they walked at a leisurely pace toward the entrance. He used his arm to tilt her head toward him, kissing the top of her head and Jordan closed her eyes, feeling that fluttering in her stomach again. She allowed herself a moment to think back on her relationship with Dex. There were so many times that he reached for her and she pulled away. She said that she loved him because she thought she was supposed to. They'd been together for so long, she had to love him. Now she realized she hadn't been in love at all. What she had now, with Phil, this was love.

"You okay?" his voice drew her out of her thoughts. "You're strangely quiet."

"I am very much okay," she smiled.

Another bus pulling in caught her eye and she looked over, recognizing it as John's. She hadn't spent much time around her friend in the last couple of weeks. She was working so much they saw each other in passing but they'd barely had a conversation.

"I'm gonna go say 'hi'," she kissed Phil on the cheek.

"To who?"

"John," she pointed to the bus. "I'll see you inside."

"Babe, he just pulled in, maybe give him a few minutes," he suggested.

"He won't mind," Jordan shrugged confidently.

"Alright," he sighed, lifting her laptop bag from her shoulder. "I'll take this in for you."

"I won't take long," she assured him, giving him a quick kiss. "I love you."

"Damn right you do," he smiled against her lips. "I love you too."


"Just get it done," John sighed. He'd been on the phone with his lawyer for 15 minutes and he just wanted to be done with the conversation. The attorney was trying, once again, to convince him that he was making a mistake. He didn't care though. His mind was made up.

"Are you sure about this John?"

He heard the door to the bus open and he looked up to see Jordan walking up the stairs. She was wearing a bright red knit hat and she flashed him a bright smile and a silly wave. He smiled, waving back at her.

"I'm positive," John answered, holding up a finger to let Jordan know he was almost done. She winked exaggeratedly and he chuckled, "Listen I need to go. I'm working. Just send everything to me when it's ready and I'll do what I need to do."

This wasn't a conversation that Jordan needed to be present for. He just needed the papers finished so he didn't have to deal with any of this anymore.

"Alright. You're the boss. I'll have them for you within a few days."

"Thank you," John ended the call. When he was done, he put his phone in his pocket, "Sorry about that."

"No problem," she shrugged. "You sounded serious. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," he assured her. "Nothing to worry about."

"Good," she smiled. She looked around, shaking her head, "This thing is crazy."

"What? You should be used to this kind of travel by now," he laughed.

"Phil's bus is very nice and very comfortable," Jordan said. "This..is a land yacht."

"Does that mean you like it or hate it?" he asked.

"It means I need to make you watch To Wong Foo so next time I drop a reference, you catch it," she teased. "I can't say if I like it or not, I haven't really spent any time on it."

"Well you're welcome here any time," he assured her. "What brings you here anyway?"

She shrugged, "I just wanted to pop in and say hi. I was on my way inside."

Her expression told him that wasn't exactly true. She was biting the inside of her cheek which was as sure a sign as any that she had more on her mind.

He smiled, leaning against the counter next to him, "What's up?"

"Nothing," she picked at something on her sleeve.

"Jordan," he crossed his arms.

"We just haven't had much time to talk lately. And I was talking to Cel this morning and she mentioned that she hadn't heard from Maeve and I hadn't talked to you about her since you said you were considering breaking things off so…"

"So you want to know if I broke things off," he finished for her.

She smiled, shrugging her right shoulder.

"I tried to," he began. "I told her that we needed to talk. I said that I thought maybe we weren't on the same page and that we should just take a step back."

"And she didn't take it too well?" Jordan winced

That would be an understatement. Maeve went off on him. She called John every name in the book, accused him of using her, even threatened the safety of his manhood.

"There was some yelling," he simplified, put his hands in his pockets. "But she did say she's never gonna speak to me again so to answer your question, things are definitely broken off."

"I'm sorry she went crazy on you," she sympathized.

"Are you really?"

She thought about it for a moment before answering, "Like 50/50."

"Oh thanks," he rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'll grab my stuff and head in with you."

He got his bag together and made sure everything in the back was turned off. When he got back to her she was giggling as she typed something on her phone.

"What are you up to?" he questioned.

"Nothing," she smiled innocently as she stood. "Just checking Twitter. You need me to carry anything?"

"No I don't need you to carry anything," he made a face. "Weirdo."

"That is not very nice," she gave him a warning look over her shoulder.

When they got outside, John got a chill. It was colder than he expected and his body tensed.

"Are you kidding me?" she laughed, bumping his arm with hers.

"What?" he laughed. "It's cold."

"You are a baby," she laughed. "This is nothing. Come spend a few days in Chicago in winter."

"I grew up with cold winters," he reminded her. "I'm never going back."

"Oh come on, what's Christmas without snow?" she looked up at him.

"Warm," he answered. "And wonderful."

She rolled her eyes, looping her arm around his, "Don't worry, Cap. I'll protect you from the cold."

He looked down at her and smiled. Her cheek was close enough to brush against his sleeve.

He put his hand over hers, "Well now I feel very safe."

She smiled proudly, "You should."


Arden rested her chin on her hand as she reviewed the final edit of interviews that were filmed with AJ and Vickie Guerrero. They needed to be posted online but they needed her approval first. Once she got through it, she sent the video back to the editor with some timestamped notes. Cross one thing off of a list of about 50.

"Arden!"

Arden's head snapped up when she heard Stephanie's voice. Her list was assuredly about to get longer.

Stephanie approached with a warm smile and a stack of papers that Arden hoped weren't for her.

"There you are," Stephanie smiled. "How's your head?"

She really wished people would stop asking her that.

"It's fine, really," Arden insisted. "The headaches are gone. The bruising is gone. I'm fine."

"You'll let someone know if anything changes?" Stephanie asked.

"Of course," Arden assured her boss.

"I know I keep asking but I'm just concerned," Stephanie placed a comforting shoulder on her arm.

"I appreciate that, thank you," Arden said, casting a wary glance at the stack of papers Stephanie was hugging to her chest.

"Don't worry, these aren't for you," she chuckled.

"Oh thank God," Arden relaxed.

"I do need to talk to you about the show though," Stephanie looked around. "Where's Jordan?"

"She should be here shortly," Arden looked down at her watch. "They ran into some traffic."

"Well we can fill her in when she gets here," Stephanie said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Something about how wide and toothy her grin was made her look like an excited child. "I can't wait for you to look at these."

Stephanie grabbed a paper from the top of her stack and handed it over.

Arden pushed up her glasses, focusing on the small print. It was a ratings report for the first few episodes of All Axxess. Ratings reports were incredibly tedious to read. The show was broken down by each segment with analysis and numbers for each. The numbers did stand out to her though. Unless she was reading it incorrectly, the numbers for the most recent episode, the only ones Arden hadn't seen yet, were significantly higher than she expected.

"Are these correct? When did you get these?"

"About 15 minutes ago," Stephanie smiled. "And they are absolutely correct."

Arden felt her smile stretching to match Stephanie's. Every week was better than the week prior, which was promising. Wednesday's numbers, though, were almost double the week before. That was huge.

"This is crazy," Arden shook her head. "I can't believe it."

"Believe it. It's right there in black and white," Stephanie pointed at the paper. "I am so proud of you two."

"Thank you," Arden smiled, still staring at the paper.

"We're going to start talks with Hulu to host the show after it airs, the same deal we have with Raw," Stephanie informed her. "I'd like for you to be on those conference calls."

"Sure, of course," the redhead dutifully nodded.

"And we talked recently about you producing some pre-tapes at live shows," Stephanie said. "I'd like for you to do one tomorrow and we'll decide where to go from there. Does that work for you?"

"That sounds great to me," Arden said gratefully. "Thank you so much."

"Thank you," the brunette smiled. "Just wait for me to tell Jordan. I want to see her reaction."

"I can handle that," Arden nodded.

Stephanie told her she could keep that copy of the ratings report and made her exit when she caught her assistant trying to sneak by unnoticed.

Arden was still staring at the paper when she felt warm hands on her sides and then arms sliding around her, "Whatcha lookin' at gorgeous?"

"Job security," she joked, as he kissed the side of her head, she turned to look up at his blue eyes. "The show is getting great ratings. Stephanie wants to give me more to do. I'm so excited."

"That's awesome babe," he startled her by lifting her up, guiding her legs around his waist. She was glad she'd chosen to wear pants. "I'm so proud of you."

He kissed her and she tried to keep her wits about her and remember that they were at work, pulling away quickly, "You should probably put me down now."

"I disagree," he smiled.

"I have work to do," she told him, trying to keep her expression stern. It was hard not to smile when she looked at him.

"Alright, alright," he reluctantly put her down on the edge of the table. "Party pooper."

"I am not a party pooper," she laughed, slapping him on the arm. "I'm just busy. And you have a match tonight. Shouldn't you be getting ready for that?"

"Did you forget who you're talking to?" he smirked. "I'm always ready babe."


Joe couldn't seem to stop tapping his foot on the ground in front of him. He wouldn't admit it if anyone asked but he was full of nervous energy. Colby was too but anyone with eyes could see that. He'd been fidgety all day. Now they were sitting in a meeting with Hunter, Phil, and Ryan, discussing what would happen at the end of the main event. Their big debut. Joe was ready to get right to work. Hunter, who normally seemed like the coolest guy in the room, was obviously excited about what was to come. He had a lot of big plans and ideas for them going forward. As the meeting started to wind down, Phil started shifting in his chair and looking toward the door like he couldn't physically be contained in the room much longer. He'd seemed a little annoyed from the start but it was difficult to tell with him. Most of what Joe had heard about him was that he always seemed annoyed about one thing or another. Prickly reputation aside, Joe couldn't help but wonder if his new coworker's mood had anything to do with him. Colby had been the one to inform him that Punk pushed hard for Hero instead of him. He was sure it didn't help that Phil walked in to the locker room the other day to hear Joe talking about his girl's ass.

Hunter finished up his rundown and excused them all, reminding the new call-ups that they had to have a wardrobe fitting in an hour. Phil was up like someone fired off a shot. He was the first out the door despite being seated farthest from it. Joe got up quickly, following after him.

"Hey, wait up," he caught up to the other man.

Phil turned to him, looking more relaxed than he had moments earlier.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Joe requested.

"Yeah, of course," Phil stepped out of the way of some crew members pushing trunks. He waved for Joe to join him out of the way, closer to the wall. "What's up?"

"You didn't seem too happy in there," Joe observed.

"Listen, that has nothing to do with you," Phil assured him. "Hunter and I had a conversation earlier that didn't go the way I wanted."

"Look, I would understand if you were pissed about what you overheard the other day," Joe said. "I wanted to apologize again. I didn't mean any disrespect. We were just fucking around."

"I know, I figured," Phil shrugged. "It's really not a big deal."

"You're sure?" Joe asked. According to Hunter's plans, the group would be working with Punk for at least the next few weeks and Joe didn't there to be any problems.

"I'm sure," Phil chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. "Water under the bridge. Just don't let Jordan hear you talking about her like that. She's got more of a temper than I do."


Stephanie couldn't seem to stop smiling, a rarity on the day of a pay-per-view. She was riding high on the ratings report for All Axxess. Her father had practically showed her with compliments in their meeting that morning. It was actually only 2 or 3 things but that was gushing from Vince. He was really impressed with Jordan and Arden and their contributions, not only on their show but across the rest of the WWE product. They were both becoming assets and Stephanie really enjoyed being there to help develop them. Crowd noise drew her eye back up to the monitors in front of her. The pre-show was taping extra footage so that they wouldn't actually have to air the whole show live. Jordan was out in the parking lot with the fans waiting to get inside the arena.

"How's it going?"

She looked up, smiling when she saw her husband approaching with John in tow, clad in one of his new ridiculously bright shirts. Stephanie couldn't wait until they released something dark for him.

"It's going great," Stephanie smiled, waving them over. "Jordan's in-ear monitor went out so we lost communication with her but she's working through it. They're getting her a new one."

"Is that Paul George?" John looked at the monitor.

"And Danny Granger," Stephanie nodded. "Apparently they're big fans. Jordan arranged it. She got them to do Austin and Rock impressions earlier. It was great."

"She set that up on her own?" Hunter asked.

"She did," Stephanie confirmed.

John laughed as one of the fans in line who was apparently a big Pacers fan also, couldn't seem to find her words as Jordan and her guests tried to talk to her. She looked about 13 or 14 and her cheeks started to flush and she laughed nervously, looking like she might cry.

"Aww, honey, it's okay," Jordan smiled, putting an arm around her shoulders and bringing her a little closer, waving her parents to come behind her. She was wearing a John Cena shirt while her parents both wore Punk shirts. That must have been a fun household.

"What's your name?" Jordan asked.

The girl continued to turn red and laugh but she couldn't seem to say anything yet.

Her mother patted her on the shoulder and whispered to her and then she finally spoke, croaking out, "Alyssa."

"It's very nice to meet you Alyssa, I'm Jordan. And I get the feeling you might know who these guys are," Jordan pointed at the NBA standouts behind her.

Alyssa nodded vigorously.

"This is Danny and this is Paul," Jordan introduced.

Paul reached out to shake her hand and her eyes were as big as saucers and she giggled, "Oh my God!"

Eventually Jordan managed to get Alyssa to speak and then the Pacers stars offered her and her family tickets to a game. The camera angle changed as the excited young girl hugging Jordan tightly around her midsection while she laughed and tried to look like she wasn't having the life squeezed out of her. Stephanie knew what that was like. Excited children could have the strength of 10 men.

"They're gonna have to pry that kid off of her," Stephanie laughed.

She looked over at John, noticing that he was uncharacteristically quiet. The expression on his face spoke volumes to her. He was practically gazing. The screen was still on Jordan and she managed to politely untangle herself from Alyssa and she and the NBA players laughed and talked with her and her parents. Someone came in to switch out her in-ear and she did her best to continue talking to them while the production assistant worked. This wasn't the first time Stephanie noticed how fondly John looked at Jordan. Hunter was always telling her not to meddle and she didn't intend to but she had trouble ignoring what was right in front of her. She knew John very well and she was getting to know Jordan better every day. She couldn't be the only person who thought there was something there.

"She's great," Stephanie said, watching John. He didn't seem to know she was looking at him. "With the fans, I mean."

"Yeah, she really is," he agreed, nodding.

Stephanie elbowed Hunter in the side, pointing over at John.

"They're gonna move inside for the next shot, right?" Hunter ignored her elbow. "The doors are opening in a few minutes."

Stephanie stared at her husband, annoyed, "Yes. They're moving inside."

"Good," Hunter looked down at something on his phone and when she looked to John again, his expression had changed back to normal and he was looking at her.

"You wanted to talk to me about something, right?"

She certainly did want to talk to him about something. She had several questions for him but she knew he wouldn't answer the way she wanted him too.

"I just wanted to talk to you about the match tonight," she said, fighting off an eye roll. "We're going to have you come out first."


Jordan looked down at the bottle Phil had given her earlier, frowning deeply. She wanted a smoothie and he convinced her to let him make something for her instead of her usual strawberry, apples, and bananas with ginger. She didn't see what he put in it but the bright green color was incredibly unappealing to her. She'd been trying to improve her eating habits as of late but she just couldn't eat as healthy as he did. She loved pizza too much. And various other unhealthy treats. Fortunately, she had a fast metabolism and she actually enjoyed working out. She untwisted the top and closed one eye, looking down into the bottle, as though somehow limited vision would help her identify the contents. She held it close to her nose and when the smell hit her she shook her head, twisting the top back on. It smelled like celery, lime juice, and dirt.

"Nope," she shook her head. "Not happening."

She stood up, picking up her phone and her iPad. She was going to go dump out the smoothie and find some real food. Maybe she'd run into some masochist along the way and give it to them.

She stepped into her shoes and headed out of the room, promising herself she would eat a salad. That would make up for ditching the smoothie.

She'd almost made it to catering when she heard her name called just after she passed an open doorway. She was hungry enough to keep going and pretend she didn't hear it but the voice sounded like Hunter's so she couldn't ignore it. She turned, poking her head into the room, "You rang?"

She was expecting Hunter and Stephanie or maybe some of the writers but instead he was joined by Colby, Joe, and Jon. They were all dressed in riot-like gear, complete with giant shields and batons. Colby looked like he was itching to get out of the outfit. Joe was smoldering at her like he was having his photo taken for the cover of GQ. Jon was the only one who seemed unaffected. He had his shield hanging on one arm and his baton resting on his shoulder.

"What do you think of the look?" Hunter asked.

Hunter and Stephanie had been very inclusive with her lately, asking her opinions and keeping her abreast of creative plans and she really enjoyed feeling like the higher ups wanted her input but she happened to know, thanks to Stephanie, that Vince picked the outfits so she wasn't sure she wanted to answer this time.

She didn't hide her hesitance, raising an eyebrow, "Does it really matter what I think?"

"I wouldn't ask if it didn't matter," Hunter chuckled. "I want your objective opinion."

Hunter's assistant came in to ask him something and Jordan heard a rough, dry cough. She looked up to see Colby staring at her. His dark eyes were wide and effectively conveyed his misery as he looked down at the shields. His eyes met hers again and she smirked, understanding completely. They looked ridiculous; more silly and cartoonish than mysterious and intimidating.

When his assistant made a hasty exit, Hunter turned his attention back to Jordan just as Colby gave her one more, sharp look.

"So?" Hunter waited.

She considered keeping her opinion to herself but Colby was obviously reaching out for a little backup and, though they weren't exactly bosom buddies, he was a good friend of Phil's and she was probably going to be spending a lot of time around him now that he was on the road. This would be a good time to make sure they had a proper truce in place.

"I don't like it," Jordan winced. "Don't you think the accessories are a little much? How is anyone gonna know who they are if they're all covered up like this when they come out?"

"That's what I was starting to think," Hunter rubbed his chin. "Vince really wants the Shields though."

"I think they're just gonna get in the way," Jordan said. "Don't you guys think so?"

She met Colby's gaze, giving him a subtle wink.

"They definitely don't serve a purpose," Colby spoke quickly. "I mean if we're supposed to be all precise and tactical, why would we be carrying around these things we don't use?"

"The man has a great point," Jordan nodded. She patted Hunter on the arm, "I have to go get my makeup touched up. I'll leave you all to it."

"Thanks for the input," Hunter nodded.

"Anytime," she smiled. She turned, heading back to the door. When she glanced back over her shoulder, she found Colby watching her. He mouthed, I owe you.

She nodded, mouthing back, You do.


9:45PM

Jordan stood with her arms crossed and her eyes focused on the monitor in front of her. Hunter had invited she and Arden to watch the main event from gorilla and if she didn't think it would be frowned upon, Jordan would have had Arden pinch her to make sure it wasn't a dream. She was standing there, beside Vince McMahon of all people, watching a pay per view main event. She'd grown accustom to most aspects of her new job and didn't get overly excited about much but this was an extremely cool moment. She was terrified of screwing it up. She'd heard that story before about Vince hating sneezes and it seemed that every few minutes, she was fighting off a sneeze or holding her breath to make sure she wasn't doing anything that might annoy him.

Phil took a bump off of the ring apron and went down holding his knee, making Jordan's muscles tense. He was trying his best to hide it from her but she knew he was hurting a lot lately and it worried her. She'd noticed him limping and even avoiding lying on that side when he slept.

Arden seemed to notice her anxiety and she moved closer, tapping her shoulder against Jordan's.

When Jordan looked over at her friend she found Arden's kind green eyes giving her a warm, comforting look. Arden nodded at her and Jordan nodded back before turning back to the monitor. Phil tried to stand but he seemed to have trouble planting his foot at first.

This time Hunter glanced up at her but his gaze wasn't nearly as comforting. He seemed to be feeling the same anxiety that Jordan was.

Jordan tapped her fingertips against her lips, watching the action in front of her unfold. The Shield debut went off without a hitch. The troublesome parts of their outfits had been ditched and they actually looked pretty badass. The crowd was confused and excited and the show ended with Phil yelling about being the best in the world.

Jon, Joe, and Colby walked up the ramp and when they passed by, Jordan barely registered their presence as people around her congratulated them. She was too busy watching Phil on the monitor. Paul Heyman retrieved his belt for him and tried to offer support as he limped up the ramp but Phil waved him off. When he passed through the curtain, looking sweaty and tired, Stephanie moved out of the way to allow her to get to him.

"Great job out there," Hunter patted him on the shoulder.

Phil thanked Hunter and spoke to Vince for a moment. Jordan could see that he was trying his best to keep his expression neutral. She wanted to make him stop talking and get help but she didn't want to seem like the hysterical girlfriend so she waited patiently. He seemed to sense the tension coming off of her because he reached out, taking her hand as he spoke to the boss. He stroked his thumb over her palm and she noticed Vince's eyes briefly dart down to their hands before he looked back up to Phil's face.

"I'll let you go get cleaned up," Vince said, patting him on the arm. "Great show tonight."

Phil nodded and then turned to Jordan, "You okay?"

She looked at him incredulously, "Are you?"


12:00 AM

Jordan kept an arm around Phil's waist, attached to his side like a crutch despite the fact that he wasn't leaning on her. He seemed to be walking just fine now but she was still worried. He didn't argue with her, though, and she appreciated it. He draped his arm over her shoulder, kissed the top of her head, and allowed her to do what she wanted. They went straight to the arena before the show so they still needed to check in at the hotel. Kofi went ahead of them and Jordan turned in to him, resting her cheek on his shoulder.

"Jordan, I told you I'm okay," he hugged her close, putting his chin on her head.

"I know you did," she sighed. "This isn't about you. I'm just tired."

He chuckled at her joke, getting his wallet out of his pocket. Once Kofi was all finished, Jordan let Phil handle checking them in.

"You know you're gonna drive him crazy, right?" Kofi smirked as they moved away.

She gave him a curious look.

"You're right, he's hurting," Kofi said. "And he's not gonna admit it. That's not just him. It's just what we do. If you keep hovering, he's gonna take it out on you."

"I can't help it," Jordan shrugged, speaking quietly. "I'm worried."

"I know," Kofi patted her shoulder. "And he knows. Just relax a little."

She glared at him but she understood what he was saying.

"I'll try," she sighed. "Thanks Kof."

The elevators opened behind them and Jordan heard the rowdy crowd spilling out before she turned to see them. Stu, Daniel, Stephen, Claudio, Heath, and Drew walked out into the lobby.

Stu reached them first, pulling Jordan into a headlock, "We were looking for you lot. We're going out."

Jordan didn't try to get out of the headlock, accepting it as a strange hug instead. Being around so many guys most her adult life, she'd learned that struggling always made it worse.

"Where to?" Kofi asked.

"The place next door," Bryan answered. "Apparently tonight the beers are cheap. Jordan, wanna bring the ol' ball and chain?"

"Cheap beer sounds wonderful but I can't," Jordan shook her head. "I need to stay here."

Phil joined the group, shaking his head at Stu's arm around her neck, "What are we talking about?"

"Jordan is disappointing me greatly," Bryan shook his head. "Tell her you want to come out tonight."

"I do not. I'm beat," Phil chuckled. "But you can go babe. Have fun."

"There you have it," Stu let her go, clapping his hands together. "You're coming with us."

"I am not coming with you," Jordan shook her head. She turned to her boyfriend, "Don't you want me to stay and-"

"I will be fine," he insisted, pulling her close and placing a quick peck to her lips. "I'm just gonna shower and go to bed. I'm pretty sure I can do that on my own."

She narrowed her eyes, searching his expression. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to leave him but he did seem okay and she didn't want them to get into a fight due to her hovering.

"Danielson, you're in charge of her," Phil looked over her shoulder. "Make sure she has a good time."

"Okay, I do not need anyone to be in charge of me, thank you very much," she glared at him. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

"Positive," he took her head in his hands. "Go. Have fun. I love you."

He ended each sentence with a kiss and she sighed, giving in. He was pushing pretty hard so maybe he wanted a little time to himself.

"Fine," she agreed, hugging him. "You call me if you want me to come back."

"Deal," he patted her on the ass. "Stay out of trouble."

"You put the wrong person in charge if you wanted that to happen," Stu laughed.

"Well you did profess your love to her a few weeks ago so it couldn't be you," Phil smirked, giving Stu a hard pat on the back.

"I did that for you," Stu pointed at him. He smiled at Jordan, "But I did mean it. You are wonderful."

"I am very confused and I don't like the tone of this conversation anymore," Jordan shook her head. "Bryan, take me away from these people."

"Of course," Bryan offered her his elbow. "Beers are on me."


Joe sat back in his chair, finishing another beer while Colby and Jon talked. They were all on a high from their official debut on the main roster. It was less than 10 minutes of work but after all the work they'd put in to get there, it felt like they'd just set the world on fire. Being in front of a crowd like that, hearing them go crazy and seeing their wild eyed expressions as they tried to figure out what was going on, it was incredible. That electric feeling had the potential to be addictive. Sharing the experience with friends like Colby and Jon made it that much better. He knew he hadn't been the first choice for the group but they were all friendly and, in his humble opinion, the three of them would gel better than if Chris had gotten his spot.

"Here you are gentlemen," the waitress set three shots and a basket of fries down on the table. Jon ordered the fries earlier but none of them had ordered any shots after their first 2 rounds when they sat down. Regardless, Joe and Jon both picked up the shot glasses without a second thought. Colby was the only one to question it.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, we didn't order these," he smiled at her.

"Oh I know," she smiled back. She pointed over his shoulder. "They're from her."

Colby turned to look over his shoulder Joe followed suit, recognizing a table full of people he knew in the back corner. They couldn't have been there long. Jordan caught his eye in an instant. She was sitting between Stu and Bryan, giving Stu an amused roll of the eyes while Bryan raised his glass in the air. Jordan was the only woman at the table so the waitress must have been talking about her.

"Let me know if you need anything else," the pretty blonde smiled before heading off to another table.

"You're welcome boys," Joe smirked, lifting the whiskey shot.

"Come again?" Jon raised his eyebrow.

"So you did order them?" Colby asked.

"No. But Jordan obviously sent these over because of me," he half joked.

"I doubt she'd want to encourage you if she knew how obnoxious you were," Colby laughed, picking up his glass. He was surprised but he wasn't about to turn it down.

"How am I obnoxious?" Joe asked.

"So many ways," Jon laughed, shaking his head. "So many."

"I'm gonna remember that the next time one of you needs a wingman," he pointed.

"I have no use for wingmen," John put his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair. "I work alone."

"We know you do," Joe smirked. "Every night. That's why you need a wingman."

"Fuck you," Jon laughed, picking up a few fries and throwing one at Joe before eating the rest.

"Alright, enough yapping," Colby laughed. "To the first step in taking over this whole business."

"Here, here," they all tapped their glasses and downed the shots. It went down smoother than Joe expected. She must have bought top shelf.

"Damn that was good," Jon stacked up the glasses. "I'm ready for another."

"Give me a few minutes," Colby said. "I need to eat some more food first."

Joe's attention was drawn away when Jordan walked through his field of vision.

She had changed since he saw her at the arena. She was in white sweater that was falling off of one shoulder, a pair of tight jeans, ripped at both knees, and a very sexy pair of black stiletto heels. There was something about a woman in shoes like that, especially one who walked in them like they were as comfortable as a pair of sneakers. She went up to the bar and his eyes followed.

"Dude, didn't you say you apologized to Phil again earlier?" Colby asked.

"I did, and I meant what I said," Joe insisted. "But I can't help but look. She's fucking gorgeous. I can't just pretend not to notice. You just can't see it 'cause you don't like her."

"You do have a little bit of a bias there Lopez," Jon agreed.

"Hey, she did me a solid today," Colby said. "I'm gonna try to like her."

"Good," Joe smiled. "Why don't you start trying right now?"

When she turned to head back toward her table, Joe waved her over. For a moment she looked around like maybe he wasn't looking at her. He laughed, calling her name.

"Hey there," she walked over, flashing her smile.

Colby waved at her and Jon raised his beer.

"We just wanted to thank you for the shots," he smiled, leaning forward on his elbows.

"Much appreciated," Jon agreed. "That was good whiskey. You're a classy dame."

She laughed, "Well thank you for that but I actually didn't order them. Stu did, he just put them on my tab. Always keep your eye on that one when you have a tab going."

"Good to know," Joe chuckled. "Why don't you sit and have a drink with us? We owe you a drink whether you ordered it or not."

"I don't know. I should get back," she said. "I was sent to fetch napkins."

With fantastic timing, the waitress came over and Joe flashed her a smile, "Will you bring another round for everyone here, including the lady? And would you mind taking a stack of napkins over to that table?"

"Of course," the blonde smiled. "I'll be right back with those drinks."

As she scurried away, Joe smiled up at Jordan, "There you go. Problem solved."

She smiled but she didn't sit down right away. Her lips were coated in a dark berry color and when she caught her full bottom lip between her teeth as she decided what to do, Joe thought his eyes might pop out.

"Drink's already ordered, I don't think you have any choice," Jon said, shifting into the chair closest to Joe, leaving Jordan to sit between him and Colby.

"I guess one drink won't hurt," she shrugged, pulling out the chair. "Maybe I'll even buy you boys a shot for real."


That's all for today folks. Thoughts?

In the next update:

Jordan has a surprise for Phil

John makes an announcement