Disclaimer: As much as I want to, I don't own Randy or anyone familiar in this chapter. Thanks to my 2 reviewers; you're my favorite people.
"I beg your pardon?" Leigh asked, her throat suddenly going dry.
"I said that's no way for a lady to talk," he repeated with a grin.
"I must not have seen that chapter in Emily Post's Guide to Getting a Man. Silly me," Leigh replied. She gathered up the pages of the file and tried to put them back into some semblance of order. It was proving to be maddeningly difficult since her hands were shaking due to the close proximity of the handsome young man. "Would you mind picking up the pen behind you, please?"
"No problem. I must say, you were quite graceful on your little jaunt there," he laughed. She noticed that his dark blue eyes sparkled when he did so. Sparkled? Christ, Leigh, get a grip, she thought.
"Glad to know those four ballet lessons I took when I was six proved useful," Leigh said as she stood up.
"I'm Randy, by the way." He was trying to look her in the eyes and was shocked by her beauty when at last he did so. The black-framed glasses she was wearing did nothing to hide her beautiful hazel eyes; her cheeks were flushed from bending over to retrieve her pages. She had a thick knot of honey colored hair at the base of her neck which was held in place with two silver knitting needles.
"I know who you are, Mr. Orton." Leigh answered.
"Well, it's great to meet a fan."
"I never said I was a fan; I just said I know who you are. Thanks for your help," Leigh replied, taking the pen from Randy and starting to walk away.
"Wait—I didn't catch your name," Randy called after her.
"That's because I didn't tell you," Leigh replied without turning around.
"Well, Randy, I think she was impressed with you," Paul smirked, walking up behind his protégé. He had seen the entire exchange between the two and loved seeing Randy at a loss for words. The most successful wrestling gimmicks had always been an amped-up version of the wrestler's actual personality, and Randy always used his cocky playboy image when first meeting new people. He was, in actuality, a very respectful and almost shy young man who knew he was talented, but had worked hard to become so. He was grateful for every opportunity that had come his way and had taken advantage of every angle that was presented to him.
"Hey, do you know her?" Randy asked without taking his eyes away from the retreating figure of the young woman.
"Yeah, that's Leigh Carter; Steph's new hire over on the Creative team. She's something, isn't she?" Paul said while taking a swig from his water bottle.
"To say the least. What do you know about her?"
"Not too much, actually," Paul replied as the two men began to walk to what would be Evolution's locker room for that evening's RAW broadcast. "She definitely knows the business, but she's never worked in any wrestling feds."
Randy looked at him as he opened the locker room door. "You know that's not what I meant," he said as he put his bag on the bench and began to change out of the business casual outfit that was now mandated for arrival and departure from the arenas.
Dave Batista was already in the room, dressed for the customary pre-show meeting and warm-up in the ring. "What're you guys talking about?"
"Randy was just blown off by the new girl in Creative," Paul laughed.
"Fresh meat, Orton?" Dave smirked as he raised his eyebrows, teasing the only single member of their little foursome.
"Actually, Dave, she's pretty if you have the whole librarian fantasy that our friend here does," Paul said as he hung up his suit jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Seriously, man, what else do you know about her?" Randy asked while tying the drawstrings on his workout pants.
"Honestly, she's not exactly forthcoming about what she did before getting the job. She's 27, from Texas… Houston, I think. She was born and raised there, left for school, and moved back after graduation. I think Steph said she did market research or something before taking this job. The two of them have actually been hanging out a lot lately, so don't worry, Randy; I'm sure you'll get another chance to sweep her off her feet."
The men finished changing while they talked about their plans for their time off during the week, then walked back to the catering room for the weekly meeting with Stephanie and the members of her creative team. Grabbing bottles of water, they quickly took their seats as the remainder of the roster filed in. Randy casually looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Leigh, finally spotting her in the corner talking to Stephanie in hushed tones.
"I'm sorry about this; I was hoping to have time to introduce you to everybody one-on-one, but with Adam not coming in until later tonight, we're going to have to spend most of this afternoon re-working some of the line-ups. I hope you don't mind," Stephanie apologized to her friend. Leigh had returned from Trish's locker room with the notion of just sitting in on this meeting with the talent and had obviously not expected the ambush that was awaiting her.
"Really, Steph, it's not a big deal. It's probably better this way, honestly; now I don't have to make small talk with 50 different people," Leigh said with a grin. She smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles in her crisp white oxford shirt and pushed up her glasses. "I won't have to say anything, will I?"
"No," Stephanie laughed and swatted at her friend. "I'll just introduce you and say that if anyone has any issues with tonight's show, to come see you, since you practically came up with the whole thing. How'd Trish take the promos, by the way?"
"I think she'll be fine. She went with the short one, which I kind of figured would happen. I think that's going to be the way to go for her until she gets more comfortable speaking on-camera. It'll come eventually; it's just going to take time. And a lot of effort on our part to come up with menacing, but short, promos for her," Leigh said with as an afterthought and smiled.
"Speaking of a lot of effort, I heard Marc's been asking you out," Steph said hopefully.
"You heard about that?"
"I hear about everything."
"Nice segway to the personal stuff"
"Thank you; now don't avoid the question."
Leigh sighed; she wasn't ready to deal with her absence of a dating life. "He's brought up the subject a couple of times, but I don't think I'm ready for that. And besides, he's not my type."
"He's a nice guy!"
"I know he is…"
"So, nice guys aren't your type?"
"Stephanie! Look, I'm just starting out here; I don't want to make any wrong moves just yet. I think dating co-workers falls into that category, don't you?"
"Randy will be heartbroken if he finds out you're dating someone already," Paul commented as he came up behind his wife and slipped his arms around her waist.
"Randy? Leigh, you little hooker—first Marc, now Randy?" Stephanie looked at her friend in amazement.
"We met briefly in the hallway," was all Leigh would say about the encounter and broke eye contact with the couple.
"Yeah, and she blew him off. I'm so proud," Paul looked at Leigh and winked. "Steph, you should get this started if we're going to stay on track."
"You're right, thanks," she said, kissed him and walked to the front of the room, motioning for Leigh to follow her as Paul went back to his seat.
"…and now I know she's not dating anyone," he said to Randy.
"Don't make a big deal out of this, Trips," Randy said, slipping into his wrestling persona. "I was curious about who she is and what her story was. That's all."
"That why you're giving her the creepy stalker glare, Orton?" Dave pitched in on the teasing.
"Okay, when did you two become 14 year-old girls about this whole thing?"
"Thanks for coming everybody," Stephanie said from the front of the room. The three present members of Evolution directed their attention to their boss's daughter. "While we're waiting for the last few stragglers to get here, I just have a quick staff announcement to make. I'd like to introduce Leigh Carter, the newest member of the creative team." Leigh smiled at the crowd realizing that many of the men were looking her over and making comments to one another. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her wide-legged black slacks and tried to portray an aura of casual indifference. "Some of you may have noticed that you're being involved in a lot of new angles recently; she's bringing a fresh pair of eyes to the RAW brand right now and I think has upped the performance of everyone on staff. Please make her feel welcome, but not in the usual ways. She's already made a difference, I want to keep her around and I won't be able to do that if you guys scare her off. So please, behave yourselves and play nice."
Leigh only half listened to Stephanie spouting off the line-ups and order of matches for the evening because she knew most would change anyway. She looked around the room and smiled at the men and women who were looking at her, and then her eyes came to rest on Randy Orton. She could have sworn she had seen him peeking at her even though his head was bent over. He was sitting low in his chair; his long legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles, with one elbow slung over the back of his own chair. That's casual indifference, Leigh thought. Randy raised his head to look at Stephanie again, and Leigh noticed him glance at her out of the corner of his eye before directing his attention back to the head writer. He's definitely pretty to look at, Leigh thought, but he could really be a problem down the line.
Leigh hadn't realized that Stephanie finished with her run-down and pep-talk until most of the roster stood up. Many of the wrestlers that were told would not be used tonight went back and picked up lunch for themselves while the rest went back to their locker rooms to await their turn in the ring. Leigh didn't know how long she had been looking at Randy until Stephanie came up to her. "Is he more your type?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Leigh replied with a shrug.
"OK, I'll let it go for now, but don't think you're getting out of this," Steph smirked. "So, I was thinking: do you want to go get a drink after the show? Since it's your first night on the road with us and all, I thought it might be good for you to get to meet some of the guys outside of work."
"Eh, I'm not really a club-hopper, Steph, but thanks."
"Forget about hopping.. or dancing for that matter; I just know I'm gonna want a beer. There's this little English pub right around here that we usually hit after the show. It's got a good jukebox and it's not too loud, unless the boys get drunk." Stephanie urged. "Actually, this isn't an offer; you're coming with us, no questions."
Leigh looked at her friend who was pleading with her eyes. She hadn't had a drink since before Jim… Well, since before Jim. Realizing, however, that this was an entirely new life she was embarking on, she found no reason that she shouldn't accompany her new coworkers for a happy hour after work. Making a mental note to slip her ring on once she had a chance to get to her bag, she nodded at her friend and smiled. "Sure, why not?"
"I beg your pardon?" Leigh asked, her throat suddenly going dry.
"I said that's no way for a lady to talk," he repeated with a grin.
"I must not have seen that chapter in Emily Post's Guide to Getting a Man. Silly me," Leigh replied. She gathered up the pages of the file and tried to put them back into some semblance of order. It was proving to be maddeningly difficult since her hands were shaking due to the close proximity of the handsome young man. "Would you mind picking up the pen behind you, please?"
"No problem. I must say, you were quite graceful on your little jaunt there," he laughed. She noticed that his dark blue eyes sparkled when he did so. Sparkled? Christ, Leigh, get a grip, she thought.
"Glad to know those four ballet lessons I took when I was six proved useful," Leigh said as she stood up.
"I'm Randy, by the way." He was trying to look her in the eyes and was shocked by her beauty when at last he did so. The black-framed glasses she was wearing did nothing to hide her beautiful hazel eyes; her cheeks were flushed from bending over to retrieve her pages. She had a thick knot of honey colored hair at the base of her neck which was held in place with two silver knitting needles.
"I know who you are, Mr. Orton." Leigh answered.
"Well, it's great to meet a fan."
"I never said I was a fan; I just said I know who you are. Thanks for your help," Leigh replied, taking the pen from Randy and starting to walk away.
"Wait—I didn't catch your name," Randy called after her.
"That's because I didn't tell you," Leigh replied without turning around.
"Well, Randy, I think she was impressed with you," Paul smirked, walking up behind his protégé. He had seen the entire exchange between the two and loved seeing Randy at a loss for words. The most successful wrestling gimmicks had always been an amped-up version of the wrestler's actual personality, and Randy always used his cocky playboy image when first meeting new people. He was, in actuality, a very respectful and almost shy young man who knew he was talented, but had worked hard to become so. He was grateful for every opportunity that had come his way and had taken advantage of every angle that was presented to him.
"Hey, do you know her?" Randy asked without taking his eyes away from the retreating figure of the young woman.
"Yeah, that's Leigh Carter; Steph's new hire over on the Creative team. She's something, isn't she?" Paul said while taking a swig from his water bottle.
"To say the least. What do you know about her?"
"Not too much, actually," Paul replied as the two men began to walk to what would be Evolution's locker room for that evening's RAW broadcast. "She definitely knows the business, but she's never worked in any wrestling feds."
Randy looked at him as he opened the locker room door. "You know that's not what I meant," he said as he put his bag on the bench and began to change out of the business casual outfit that was now mandated for arrival and departure from the arenas.
Dave Batista was already in the room, dressed for the customary pre-show meeting and warm-up in the ring. "What're you guys talking about?"
"Randy was just blown off by the new girl in Creative," Paul laughed.
"Fresh meat, Orton?" Dave smirked as he raised his eyebrows, teasing the only single member of their little foursome.
"Actually, Dave, she's pretty if you have the whole librarian fantasy that our friend here does," Paul said as he hung up his suit jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Seriously, man, what else do you know about her?" Randy asked while tying the drawstrings on his workout pants.
"Honestly, she's not exactly forthcoming about what she did before getting the job. She's 27, from Texas… Houston, I think. She was born and raised there, left for school, and moved back after graduation. I think Steph said she did market research or something before taking this job. The two of them have actually been hanging out a lot lately, so don't worry, Randy; I'm sure you'll get another chance to sweep her off her feet."
The men finished changing while they talked about their plans for their time off during the week, then walked back to the catering room for the weekly meeting with Stephanie and the members of her creative team. Grabbing bottles of water, they quickly took their seats as the remainder of the roster filed in. Randy casually looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Leigh, finally spotting her in the corner talking to Stephanie in hushed tones.
"I'm sorry about this; I was hoping to have time to introduce you to everybody one-on-one, but with Adam not coming in until later tonight, we're going to have to spend most of this afternoon re-working some of the line-ups. I hope you don't mind," Stephanie apologized to her friend. Leigh had returned from Trish's locker room with the notion of just sitting in on this meeting with the talent and had obviously not expected the ambush that was awaiting her.
"Really, Steph, it's not a big deal. It's probably better this way, honestly; now I don't have to make small talk with 50 different people," Leigh said with a grin. She smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles in her crisp white oxford shirt and pushed up her glasses. "I won't have to say anything, will I?"
"No," Stephanie laughed and swatted at her friend. "I'll just introduce you and say that if anyone has any issues with tonight's show, to come see you, since you practically came up with the whole thing. How'd Trish take the promos, by the way?"
"I think she'll be fine. She went with the short one, which I kind of figured would happen. I think that's going to be the way to go for her until she gets more comfortable speaking on-camera. It'll come eventually; it's just going to take time. And a lot of effort on our part to come up with menacing, but short, promos for her," Leigh said with as an afterthought and smiled.
"Speaking of a lot of effort, I heard Marc's been asking you out," Steph said hopefully.
"You heard about that?"
"I hear about everything."
"Nice segway to the personal stuff"
"Thank you; now don't avoid the question."
Leigh sighed; she wasn't ready to deal with her absence of a dating life. "He's brought up the subject a couple of times, but I don't think I'm ready for that. And besides, he's not my type."
"He's a nice guy!"
"I know he is…"
"So, nice guys aren't your type?"
"Stephanie! Look, I'm just starting out here; I don't want to make any wrong moves just yet. I think dating co-workers falls into that category, don't you?"
"Randy will be heartbroken if he finds out you're dating someone already," Paul commented as he came up behind his wife and slipped his arms around her waist.
"Randy? Leigh, you little hooker—first Marc, now Randy?" Stephanie looked at her friend in amazement.
"We met briefly in the hallway," was all Leigh would say about the encounter and broke eye contact with the couple.
"Yeah, and she blew him off. I'm so proud," Paul looked at Leigh and winked. "Steph, you should get this started if we're going to stay on track."
"You're right, thanks," she said, kissed him and walked to the front of the room, motioning for Leigh to follow her as Paul went back to his seat.
"…and now I know she's not dating anyone," he said to Randy.
"Don't make a big deal out of this, Trips," Randy said, slipping into his wrestling persona. "I was curious about who she is and what her story was. That's all."
"That why you're giving her the creepy stalker glare, Orton?" Dave pitched in on the teasing.
"Okay, when did you two become 14 year-old girls about this whole thing?"
"Thanks for coming everybody," Stephanie said from the front of the room. The three present members of Evolution directed their attention to their boss's daughter. "While we're waiting for the last few stragglers to get here, I just have a quick staff announcement to make. I'd like to introduce Leigh Carter, the newest member of the creative team." Leigh smiled at the crowd realizing that many of the men were looking her over and making comments to one another. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her wide-legged black slacks and tried to portray an aura of casual indifference. "Some of you may have noticed that you're being involved in a lot of new angles recently; she's bringing a fresh pair of eyes to the RAW brand right now and I think has upped the performance of everyone on staff. Please make her feel welcome, but not in the usual ways. She's already made a difference, I want to keep her around and I won't be able to do that if you guys scare her off. So please, behave yourselves and play nice."
Leigh only half listened to Stephanie spouting off the line-ups and order of matches for the evening because she knew most would change anyway. She looked around the room and smiled at the men and women who were looking at her, and then her eyes came to rest on Randy Orton. She could have sworn she had seen him peeking at her even though his head was bent over. He was sitting low in his chair; his long legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles, with one elbow slung over the back of his own chair. That's casual indifference, Leigh thought. Randy raised his head to look at Stephanie again, and Leigh noticed him glance at her out of the corner of his eye before directing his attention back to the head writer. He's definitely pretty to look at, Leigh thought, but he could really be a problem down the line.
Leigh hadn't realized that Stephanie finished with her run-down and pep-talk until most of the roster stood up. Many of the wrestlers that were told would not be used tonight went back and picked up lunch for themselves while the rest went back to their locker rooms to await their turn in the ring. Leigh didn't know how long she had been looking at Randy until Stephanie came up to her. "Is he more your type?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Leigh replied with a shrug.
"OK, I'll let it go for now, but don't think you're getting out of this," Steph smirked. "So, I was thinking: do you want to go get a drink after the show? Since it's your first night on the road with us and all, I thought it might be good for you to get to meet some of the guys outside of work."
"Eh, I'm not really a club-hopper, Steph, but thanks."
"Forget about hopping.. or dancing for that matter; I just know I'm gonna want a beer. There's this little English pub right around here that we usually hit after the show. It's got a good jukebox and it's not too loud, unless the boys get drunk." Stephanie urged. "Actually, this isn't an offer; you're coming with us, no questions."
Leigh looked at her friend who was pleading with her eyes. She hadn't had a drink since before Jim… Well, since before Jim. Realizing, however, that this was an entirely new life she was embarking on, she found no reason that she shouldn't accompany her new coworkers for a happy hour after work. Making a mental note to slip her ring on once she had a chance to get to her bag, she nodded at her friend and smiled. "Sure, why not?"