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"Miss Mcmahon, I have that file you requested from the writers"
"Oh thanks, put it on my desk"
Stephanie smiled at the assistant who quickly dropped the paper filled file on the desk and exited with barely a backward glance.
"Whatever happened to hello and goodbye?" wondered Stephanie aloud as she reached for the file
As she picked it up still looking at the empty doorway, its contents spewed out all over the floor and the desk. Cursing quietly under her breath, she bent down and began picking up the paper. Her evening had not gone well. Being head of the writing team was a lot of hard work. People expected you to know exactly what was going on where and to have all the answers. Add to the fact that she portrayed Smackdown's General Manager on screen and that she was the bosses' daughter in real life and everyone thinks you know everything there is to know about the show. It had been giving her a headache at every taping for as long as she could remember. When Vince had asked her to be on TV again, she'd jumped at the chance. She loved performing for the cameras especially as a heel which was what she specialised in. She didn't know it was gonna bring such damning work and headaches.
The main cause of her headache was the talent. They'd done nothing wrong. They worked hard and made even the mediocre stories work well because they knew they had to. They were just a little too polite to her. They treated her like the boss, the person they didn't tell the inside joke to or were nice to all the time. It had been like that since she became the GM. Didn't they know it was just an angle? She felt like an outsider, being pushed to the sidelines because she didn't work in the ring like the rest of them. To be honest, it was frustrating her beyond belief since most of them didn't even realise they were doing it. They treated Vince and Linda the same way but not Shane. Shane was one of the boys. He took crazy bumps and made everything work. He was part of the roster almost, their friend. But not Stephanie. To them, she would always be the princess.
"Need some help with that?"
The voice startled her so much that she dropped the collection of papers all over the floor. Embarrassed by her girlish reaction, Stephanie looked up to see a young guy staring down at her. He looked kinda young to be working backstage but was dressing like the crew; jeans, baggy t-shirt, tough old sneakers. He'd probably come in for some instructions of some kind though he made no move to ask any questions as he stood there
"Um...no I think I'm ok" she replied at last, beginning to hastily grab for the papers again
The guy smiled and handed her a few stray sheets without a word. Stephanie gave an embarrassed smile back before lowering her head and continuing to pick up the papers. It was rare that any of the crew saw her so flustered and highly strung. She usually put up a façade of perfectly styled professionalism at all times. Maybe that was the problem. They probably thought of her as fire and ice; fire on screen and ice off it.
"The show was good tonight" the guy said at last, his hands shoved deep in his pockets
"Did you think so?" Stephanie was surprised to find she was eager to know his opinion, despite the fact she hardly knew him at all
"Yeah there was some good development of characters and stuff like that" the guy shrugged a little "its all beyond me"
Stephanie smiled at his words. The accent was British but different to William Regal's. Regal's was refined as stiff upper class but this one was looser, natural. He was being himself. He seemed at home in her office though his clothes didn't really fit in. Stephanie was too flustered to ask what he was doing. She could do with some company anyway. She missed Hunter
"When did you last see him?" the guy answered
Stephanie started and looked at him. How did he know she was thinking about Hunter? He pointed to the framed photo on her desk which she always brought with her out of habit. It showed her and Hunter together when they were out one night.
"We see each other a couple of times a week" she said, twisting the engagement ring on her finger "it sounds like a lot but...it's not really"
"You miss him a lot" it was a statement not a question
Stephanie swallowed a little. It seemed to open up a hole in her, revealing the loneliness she felt inside. Hunter was not only her fiancé but a really good friend too.
"More than you know" she managed, turning away to hide her sudden glistening eyes
Frantically she wiped at her eyes, hoping her make up wouldn't smudge or run. She needed something to do with her hands, to calm her down. She quickly sat behind her desk, she was safe there. She began rearranging the papers she'd picked up back into the file they'd slipped out of. She didn't usually let herself think about Hunter otherwise she began to feel very very alone.
"You work hard for this show" the guy said at last
Stephanie looked up, surprised he was still there. She'd assumed he'd left; her turning away had made it pretty obvious, she thought, that she didn't want company. She folded her hands together and looked at him, ready to tell him to leave but before she could, he began speaking.
"You work very hard, I've seem all the crap you put up with and you're the bosses' daughter" he shook his head in amazement "you should be enjoying your Dad's money not taking the flak you do but it's your choice and that's what's important. You made the choice to be here and take the bumps, take the criticism, why stop now?"
"What are you saying?" Stephanie asked, intrigued more than she wanted to admit to
"I'm saying you should stop complaining" the guy said with a sharp frown "you should know you were going to get abuse here, you are the bosses' daughter after all which means people are going to say you've had it easy which you have by the way"
"Gee thanks" Stephanie said sarcastically, not so sure she liked where this was going
"I'm just telling you the truth" the guy replied "you work hard at this job so keep working hard, they're going to respect you for the effort you put in, not for the fancy engagement ring you have on your finger, or your fiancé, what did you call him? Hunter? Or who your father is, they're going to respect you for the work you put into your job"
"So basically, all my hard work will still be ignored, they'll still talk about me behind my back but hey, maybe one day they'll respect me" Stephanie said
"That's not what I..."
"You know what? I don't know who you are or why you're in here but I think you took a wrong turn on the way to the production truck so get the hell out of my office and let me do my work"
Stephanie turned away from him. The guy looked briefly to the ceiling with a sigh.
"I tried" he said quietly
When Stephanie turned around again to dismiss him a second time, she found he'd gone. The door hadn't opened, she was certain of that. A cold shiver coursed through her, chilling her to the bone. Who had that guy been?
The door opened and another assistant appeared with a sheet of paper in his hand
"Figures for last week" he said and dropped it on the desk before exiting without a second glance
Stephanie sighed, the ice in her veins melting. She had too much to do to wonder about a guy young enough to be her nephew spewing out lame Yoda advice. In her world it didn't fit in. In her world, she had too much work to do to even think about why she was doing it. She just did it.
"Miss Mcmahon, I have that file you requested from the writers"
"Oh thanks, put it on my desk"
Stephanie smiled at the assistant who quickly dropped the paper filled file on the desk and exited with barely a backward glance.
"Whatever happened to hello and goodbye?" wondered Stephanie aloud as she reached for the file
As she picked it up still looking at the empty doorway, its contents spewed out all over the floor and the desk. Cursing quietly under her breath, she bent down and began picking up the paper. Her evening had not gone well. Being head of the writing team was a lot of hard work. People expected you to know exactly what was going on where and to have all the answers. Add to the fact that she portrayed Smackdown's General Manager on screen and that she was the bosses' daughter in real life and everyone thinks you know everything there is to know about the show. It had been giving her a headache at every taping for as long as she could remember. When Vince had asked her to be on TV again, she'd jumped at the chance. She loved performing for the cameras especially as a heel which was what she specialised in. She didn't know it was gonna bring such damning work and headaches.
The main cause of her headache was the talent. They'd done nothing wrong. They worked hard and made even the mediocre stories work well because they knew they had to. They were just a little too polite to her. They treated her like the boss, the person they didn't tell the inside joke to or were nice to all the time. It had been like that since she became the GM. Didn't they know it was just an angle? She felt like an outsider, being pushed to the sidelines because she didn't work in the ring like the rest of them. To be honest, it was frustrating her beyond belief since most of them didn't even realise they were doing it. They treated Vince and Linda the same way but not Shane. Shane was one of the boys. He took crazy bumps and made everything work. He was part of the roster almost, their friend. But not Stephanie. To them, she would always be the princess.
"Need some help with that?"
The voice startled her so much that she dropped the collection of papers all over the floor. Embarrassed by her girlish reaction, Stephanie looked up to see a young guy staring down at her. He looked kinda young to be working backstage but was dressing like the crew; jeans, baggy t-shirt, tough old sneakers. He'd probably come in for some instructions of some kind though he made no move to ask any questions as he stood there
"Um...no I think I'm ok" she replied at last, beginning to hastily grab for the papers again
The guy smiled and handed her a few stray sheets without a word. Stephanie gave an embarrassed smile back before lowering her head and continuing to pick up the papers. It was rare that any of the crew saw her so flustered and highly strung. She usually put up a façade of perfectly styled professionalism at all times. Maybe that was the problem. They probably thought of her as fire and ice; fire on screen and ice off it.
"The show was good tonight" the guy said at last, his hands shoved deep in his pockets
"Did you think so?" Stephanie was surprised to find she was eager to know his opinion, despite the fact she hardly knew him at all
"Yeah there was some good development of characters and stuff like that" the guy shrugged a little "its all beyond me"
Stephanie smiled at his words. The accent was British but different to William Regal's. Regal's was refined as stiff upper class but this one was looser, natural. He was being himself. He seemed at home in her office though his clothes didn't really fit in. Stephanie was too flustered to ask what he was doing. She could do with some company anyway. She missed Hunter
"When did you last see him?" the guy answered
Stephanie started and looked at him. How did he know she was thinking about Hunter? He pointed to the framed photo on her desk which she always brought with her out of habit. It showed her and Hunter together when they were out one night.
"We see each other a couple of times a week" she said, twisting the engagement ring on her finger "it sounds like a lot but...it's not really"
"You miss him a lot" it was a statement not a question
Stephanie swallowed a little. It seemed to open up a hole in her, revealing the loneliness she felt inside. Hunter was not only her fiancé but a really good friend too.
"More than you know" she managed, turning away to hide her sudden glistening eyes
Frantically she wiped at her eyes, hoping her make up wouldn't smudge or run. She needed something to do with her hands, to calm her down. She quickly sat behind her desk, she was safe there. She began rearranging the papers she'd picked up back into the file they'd slipped out of. She didn't usually let herself think about Hunter otherwise she began to feel very very alone.
"You work hard for this show" the guy said at last
Stephanie looked up, surprised he was still there. She'd assumed he'd left; her turning away had made it pretty obvious, she thought, that she didn't want company. She folded her hands together and looked at him, ready to tell him to leave but before she could, he began speaking.
"You work very hard, I've seem all the crap you put up with and you're the bosses' daughter" he shook his head in amazement "you should be enjoying your Dad's money not taking the flak you do but it's your choice and that's what's important. You made the choice to be here and take the bumps, take the criticism, why stop now?"
"What are you saying?" Stephanie asked, intrigued more than she wanted to admit to
"I'm saying you should stop complaining" the guy said with a sharp frown "you should know you were going to get abuse here, you are the bosses' daughter after all which means people are going to say you've had it easy which you have by the way"
"Gee thanks" Stephanie said sarcastically, not so sure she liked where this was going
"I'm just telling you the truth" the guy replied "you work hard at this job so keep working hard, they're going to respect you for the effort you put in, not for the fancy engagement ring you have on your finger, or your fiancé, what did you call him? Hunter? Or who your father is, they're going to respect you for the work you put into your job"
"So basically, all my hard work will still be ignored, they'll still talk about me behind my back but hey, maybe one day they'll respect me" Stephanie said
"That's not what I..."
"You know what? I don't know who you are or why you're in here but I think you took a wrong turn on the way to the production truck so get the hell out of my office and let me do my work"
Stephanie turned away from him. The guy looked briefly to the ceiling with a sigh.
"I tried" he said quietly
When Stephanie turned around again to dismiss him a second time, she found he'd gone. The door hadn't opened, she was certain of that. A cold shiver coursed through her, chilling her to the bone. Who had that guy been?
The door opened and another assistant appeared with a sheet of paper in his hand
"Figures for last week" he said and dropped it on the desk before exiting without a second glance
Stephanie sighed, the ice in her veins melting. She had too much to do to wonder about a guy young enough to be her nephew spewing out lame Yoda advice. In her world it didn't fit in. In her world, she had too much work to do to even think about why she was doing it. She just did it.