Chapter 14

Thursday – mid afternoon

Linda was in her office, going over some of the current Superstars contracts, the board wanted to see whether or not they could cut any unnecessary costs, such as Superstars who were being paid thousands and were not actually as good as they were first perceived to be.

A knock at her door awoke her from her deep concentration.

"Come in," she said as she removed her glasses, she smiled when she saw Vince come in.

"Hi Linda," Vince said, sitting down opposite her. "You going over them already?" He asked surprised, the idea had only arisen earlier that same morning.

"No point putting it off, the sooner we can cut some costs the better. It's just unfortunate that'll have to be at the expense of a guy who's probably dreamed of wrestling his whole life." She hated doing this sort of thing and hated cutting jobs but she knew it had to be done.

Vince smiled grimly at her, "I know, telling them they're out of the job isn't exactly a barrel of laughs either."

"So what did you want then?" Linda asked changing the subject.

"Well, I just wanted to know if you were planning to work late again tonight, if you were perhaps we could have supper together in the canteen, because I'm getting bored of eating on my own at nine o'clock at night." He said leaning back in the chair. "And as you've been working late too, what's the point in both of us being on our own. After all, we did say we'd still be friends."

"Ah," Linda said, not sure if she should tell him what she had planned for that night. After a few seconds of silence she decided to be honest with him. "I would love too but I'm actually not planning on working late tonight, I'm going out to dinner with a friend."

"Oh," said Vince surprised. "Well, no big deal, but when you are working late perhaps we could?" He sighed, trying to keep the disappointment from his voice. "So are you going out on the town again with the girls?" He had heard about Linda's new social life and was happy for her but at the same time trying to deal with the fact that she was not as broken hearted as he was over their separation.

Linda shook her head, "No, it's not that. I'm actually going with my neighbour who lives across the hall from me."

Vince raised his eyebrows, not sure if her neighbour was male or female, as his heart began to pound. "Oh so how long have you known her then?" Vince asked.

"I've known him for about three months." She said slowly, she didn't want Vince to get the wrong impression.

"Him?" Vince nodded, trying to sound casual, when actually he was insanely jealous and about ready to explode. "That'll be nice."

Linda sighed, "Vince it's not what you think. He is a friend and my neighbour, nothing more. It's not a date or anything like that; I've actually been out with him to lunch a couple of times. He is just a friend and to be quite honest, I'm insulted that you think it's anything more. I'm not ready for anyone else yet and don't think I will be for a long time." She said calmly.

Vince nodded. "Sorry," he said quietly. Silently he was thinking that whether Linda knew it or not, this man who was taking her out probably wanted a lot more form her than just dinner but he kept his mouth shut because he didn't want to upset her, they had been getting along very well in recent months. "Well I better get back to work then," he said getting up from his chair. "Don't work to hard," he smiled at her and resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment about her dinner date that night.

"Hey!" Linda said as he opened the door, Vince looked back at her, "Another night when we're both working insanely late, I'd love to have supper with you." She smiled.

Vince nodded. "Ok, seeya."

"Bye," she said as he walked out of her office and closed the door behind him. She sighed as she hoped Vince hadn't gotten the wrong idea about tonight but then again, she didn't know what he thought anymore.