CHAPTER THREE: MEETING THE PEOPLE



For those that hadn't seen Eve's debut, word quickly spread about the new girl and her dynamic submission hold. Several wrestlers loitered in the hallways by the dressing rooms, waiting for Eve the emerge so that they could meet her.

Linda had given Eve some privacy so that she could shower and change, promising to return later to show her around and introduce her to the other wrestlers. That was more for their sake than hers, since she knew all the wrestlers from watching the shows.

The wrestlers Eve met welcomed her to the company and the ones that had seen her fight Trish commented on her submission hold


The Snakesplitter was only two years old and might not have come into being if Eve hadn't taken yoga classes when she was younger. It had increased her flexibility greatly, enabling her to do the splits with no problems. Then just over two years ago she'd seen the movie, "Bloodsport," starring Jean-Claude Van Damme (who looked an awful lot like Rob Van Dam). In one of his fights, Van Damme had dropped into the splits and punched his opponent in a very delicate area. Something in Eve's mind had clicked then and she'd said, "Hmm." Working out the rest of the motions to the Snakesplitter had taken about two weeks. Once it was worked out in her head, she'd begun to use it on practise partners, doing so for a month before she figured she was ready to use it in competition. Naming the move had been the easy part.

Since developing the Snakesplitter, she rarely won by pinning an opponent anymore. The pain of having hard heels digging into a person's abdomen along with the agony of having their body bent backward - which forced the abdomen and heels harder together - usually made a person tap out quickly.

Not all the wrestlers in the company were there. Some had finished their matches and had gone back to the hotel early, a few that didn't have matches that night hadn't come to the arena.

She'd meet them tomorrow, Linda had said. Tomorrow afternoon everyone would be flying on the company jet to where the next Smackdown would be held. The wrestlers would have nearly two days before they had to be at work again.



The next day when Eve got the call that it would soon be time to leave, she gave a quick once-over of the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything and double-checked the locks on Houdini's cage - he was named Houdini for a very good reason. The cage had been meant for transporting a medium-sized dog, but Eve had converted it into a portable home for Houdini. When the bell boy arrived to carry down her bags, she was ready to go.

The elevator went down three floors before it stopped to admit another passenger, the Rock. He actually did a double-take when he looked at her face, stopping short just inside the doors. "Eve, right?"

"Right."

They shook hands.

"I caught your match last night. Good work."

"Thanks," Eve smiled. "I was so nervous, though. Right up until the fight began, I felt like I was ready to run all the way back to Arizona."

"Couldn't tell it by looking."


The elevator reached the ground floor and the doors opened with a ping. Eve leaned down to grab the handle of the carry cage but Rock gently brushed her hand away and said, "Let me get that for you."


Eve let him carry Houdini for her, though her first reaction had been to tell him not to bother. Instead, she managed to stop herself and smile and thank him. Rock was just trying to be a gentleman. Besides, she could remain true to her vow to make her own reputation and still have friends. Alienating her coworkers would only make things tougher for her in the long run.

There were several wrestlers in the lobby and Eve noticed Jeff Hardy watching her from the corner of her eye. He'd a good one to avoid, she could tell, judging by the way her stomach dropped to her knees just by having the man in the same room. Jeff Hardy definitely meant trouble for her.

In another part of the lobby, Edge and Christian stood eyeing the black-haired woman standing next to the Rock. "That must be the new girl, Eve," Christian said to Edge.

"Girl?" Edge returned. "Christian, she looks all woman to me."

"You got that right, bro. Man, what I wouldn't give for some ring time with her - a private ring, that is."

"I hear ya, man, I hear ya."

Both eyed Eve through the whole narrative. She wore tight black jeans, a white t-shirt, her black leather jacket, and lavender-tinted sunglasses. Her raven black hair was partially swept up into a high ponytail at the back with a few stray wisps pulled out to frame her face.

"Let's go introduce ourselves."




Eve shared a limo with Edge, Christian, and the Rock on the way to the WWF jet. Edge had beaten the other two out for the honour of sitting next to her. Rock had opened the door for her and now sat across from her. Houdini's case was on the floor by her feet. Thankfully, none of these men were freaked out by the presence of her snake. She'd known quite a few men in her career who'd professed to be as brave as these three men here, yet had run screaming like little girls after just meeting Houdini.

When they arrived at the airport, Rock got out first and offered his hand to Eve, then leaned in to grab Houdini's case. Houdini would be placed with the luggage in the cargo hold, a fact which worried Eve, considering how well she knew her snake. Houdini only ever broke out of his cage when no one was watching him, leaving Eve to wonder for years how he managed to escape from every enclosure he'd ever inhabited. Trying to catch him with a video camera never worked. It was like he knew he was being watched and, like the man he was named for, would not reveal his secrets.

One the plane, Eve met the last few wrestlers she'd missed the night before and reacquainted with others she had already met.

Jeff Hardy approached her and she managed to remain polite and no more friendly than she had been with any of the others, managing to hide the flare of desire that had ignited each time they'd been within sight of each other. Jeff went away in puzzlement.

Matt and Lita, who had been monitoring the exchange, shared another look that spoke volumes. Was Eve's attraction to Jeff a fleeting thing, they both wondered?