Hey all you guys and girls, what's shaking? This story was written and finished a long time ago (like 2 years) and it's been posted before but then I took it down. I'm in the process of going through and changing most everything around, so I guess it's almost like a new story.

This takes place in January of 2002. Let me set the scene for you: Triple H just returned from his knee injury, Stephanie was squabbling to get back into the company, thus pretending to be pregnant andaligning herself with one Chris Jericho. The Hardy Boys were split up after a PPV match in which Lita was the referee between the two brothers. With Matt out of the picture, the Undertaker attacked Jeff and Lita and topped it off by throwing them both off of the stage. Christian was stuck in a rut and throwing temper tantrums when he was taken under the wing of DDP. In February of 2002, Vince McMahon led a full scale invasion on the WWF (yes, the 'f' was still in) by bringing in the NWO (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall).

Bring ya up to speed enough? If I left anything important out, let me know! And enjoy the story.

-RAW-January 2002-

Kurt Angle began walking back up the ramp when he looked behind him and saw Stephanie McMahon and Triple H hugging in the ring. Nobody wants to see that, he thought to himself in disgust as he stalked back to the ring. They were both so engrossed with the other that they didn't notice Kurt until it was too late. He shoved Triple H from behind, causing him to fall right on top of Stephanie. He slid out of the ring and headed back up the ramp with a satisfied smile on his face.

That was too perfect.

"What can I do for you today?" The grey-haired receptionist behind the desk asked the brunette standing confidently in front of her.

Serena MacKenzie set her multi-colored Christian Dior purse down and smiled. "I just wanted to sign in. I have an appointment with Jim Ross at 2 o' clock."

"Of course," she said, pushing the sign in sheet towards the girl. "You must be Serena then. He should be with you shortly." She turned her gaze back to the computer and then looked back up at the girl. "You do know what they're going to expect you to do, right?"

Serena pursed her lips. "Of course I do. My dad was obsessed with wrestling and my mom couldn't stand it, so naturally I got into it too," she shrugged. "And here I am."

The receptionist laughed. "Well I'm glad you know. You wouldn't believe how many young people come here and don't know what they're getting into. I believe one boy walked right out of Mr. Ross' office when he was shown some videos of what they expected," she paused as the phone rang, checked the ID and picked it up. "Yes Mr. Ross, how may I help you? Of course, I'll send her right in." She hung up and looked at Serena, who was looking around the lobby. "He's ready for you. Take this first elevator to the sixth floor, turn left and his office is going to be the third one on the right. You can't miss it."

Serena nodded and pulled down on the hemline of her short khaki skirt. She walked into the elevator, swiped her temporary pass card in the lock and then waited as it rose steadily to the sixth floor. She showed a security guard her pass as she stepped off and turned to her left.

"Ross, Ross," Serena muttered to herself, looking at the names on the doors. She stopped in front of the dark mahogany door with 'Jim Ross' etched into the glass and knocked lightly.

"Come in," a not-so-commanding voice called from inside.

"Hello Serena," Jim Ross said as she entered the room. He shook her hand and motioned for her to take a seat.

She sat down across from him and smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

JR smiled tightly after taking in her appearance. "Let me ask you something Miss MacKenzie." She looked at him expectantly. "Did you really feel that outfit was appropriate for a meeting with your potential employer?" Her smile faltered. "While we are admittedly laid back here at the WWF, I feel that you could've put a little bit more consideration into your choice of clothing."

Serena was wearing her khaki miniskirt paired with a sleeveless black chiffon scarf top and black stilettos that wrapped around her ankles.

"I was just trying to look nice," she admitted, her voice wavering and JR remained unmoved

"That may be the way some of our ladies dress in the ring," he said. "But outside we wish for our employees to look as professional as possible."

"I just blew my chance, didn't I?" Serena asked and felt tears beginning to prick in the corners of her eyes.

JR took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He seemed like he had had a very tough day already and it was only 2. "I wouldn't say completely blew your chance." He reached down and pulled a file from his drawer and laid it on top of his desk. "The one reason I called to meet you was because of your talent, not your apparel. When I talked with Carter he told me that out of all of the females and some of the males in OVW, you made quite an impression on him."

"Oh," was all Serena could say. She didn't want to get her hopes up especially after the clothing fiasco.

"At our last meeting your name came up," he said. "And it was met with some very positive reaction. You remember that match you had with Nidia a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, I was really surprised when they told me about that match," Serena replied honestly.

He smiled. "Well that was your audition. And everybody was exceedingly impressed."

Serena clutched her purse tightly, willing herself not to get prematurely excited.

JR pulled a few pieces of paper from the file and a pen from his desk and pushed the pile over to her.

"Is that, is that my, my—"

"Your contract," JR supplied gently. "We want to sign you with the WWF before somebody else snatches you up." Serena knew he was talking specifically about the up and coming TNA promotion.

She picked up the pen and took a deep breath before signing her name next to all of the 'sign here' stickers.

JR stood up and held out his hand, which she shook gratefully. "Welcome to the WWF."

Read and review because you're beautiful. Updates will come frequently (if you want them, of course). And in closing, I shall see you next chapter!

Manda