Where Loyalty Lies has undergonea major overhaul since its initial posting. I hope you will find the writing and storyline improved. Gin
Where Loyalty Lies
By Disco Inferno1
Summary: Samia Carlsen accidentally falls into her dream job—WWE valet—with Rob Van Dam. The nWo (Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, X-Pac, the Big Show, and Triple H) pursues her due to a personal vendetta against RVD and for personal gain and she falls into their "trap" through the charm of Shawn Michaels. Will she realize her mistake or is it a mistake at all? Pairings: RVDxOFC and HBKxOFC.
Original characters of Samia Carlsen, Adrienne Bradley, Margaret Salley, and any other original characters are copyright of Disco Inferno1, 2002.
Rating: T or PG-13 for mild swearing, in-ring/arena violence; non-graphic m/f consensual sex.
Disclaimer: I do not in any way lay claim to any name or character in the WWE. This is not-for-profit fiction. The only profit received is pure entertainment.
Author's Note: This piece of fiction is written from the standpoint that wrestling is real in every way. Poetic license has been taken with character personas and factions (i.e. Triple H in the nWo).
The beginning is set in 2002 after the Vince McMahon vs. Ric Flair for complete ownership and before the introduction of general managers Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon, which is treated as never happening. Knowledge of television canon at this time is not required.
Chapter I: Someone in Mind?
"Good evenin', Mr. Nash. I'm Samia Carlsen. May I escort you to your dressing room?" A blonde haired lady in her late twenties and dressed in a burgundy business suit extended a hand to the wrestler getting out of the limo.
"Yeah, sure," he responded, shaking her hand in return. She offered to take his smaller bag but he declined. He was already in his attire for the night's show—black jeans, his nWo shirt, but accompanied by a black leather jacket against an uncharacteristic summer night's chill.
"This way, sir," she said and pointed down a hall. Turning to go down the corridor, she clenched her hands where Kevin Nash couldn't see them and then let her fists relax, reminding herself to just breathe, not think about the incredibly sexy wrestler walking behind her, and and keep up the professionalism she hoped to establish in her introduction. The woman quickly stopped and waited for him to gain her side before pointing down another hallway. "Two doors down on the right is Mr. McMahon's office."
"Hopefully I won't have to visit that room tonight," he replied with a laugh.
"Really?"
"Yeah, that's the bad part of the job," Nash answered, shaking his head and glaring at the office door.
"My whole job is the bad part," she muttered as they continued to walk, not meaning for him to hear her.
"What do you do?" Nash asked, catching her off guard.
"Right now I'm a paralegal. Long story short, I could be a lawyer but I have more ethics than my previous employers wanted. So, outside of that, being a paralegal is really all I'm qualified to do and it's good money…" Samia abruptly stopped, realizing that she was close to getting on her soapbox with a stranger. "I'm sorry. Here I am going on about myself as if you're interested."
"No, that's alright. I asked." He patted her on the back. She sucked in her breath and reminded herself to breathe…again.
"Down that hall is the common area. Have you had dinner?" Samia asked as she stopped at the hall entrance.
"Yeah."
"Good, but they have any munchies you might want and drinks. Also, you will need to pass through there to get to the arena entrance. Your dressing room is right around the corner." A few more doors down and she stopped before one with the nWo sign on it. "The biggest for the best."
"An nWo fan?"
"Are you kidding? I've been following the nWo since the formation of the Kliq. I mean, technically, the nWo is the Kliq made over, right? Especially since Triple H jumped ship from SmackDown!"
"It's true, it's true," Nash replied, mocking Kurt Angle.
"That can get you in trouble, you know."
"Thanks, Ms. Carlsen," he said, turning the doorknob.
"You can call me 'Samia.' I mean, that is if you see me again. Call me if you need me," she replied with the nod of her head, stepping away and wondering if she could babble on any more incoherently.
Samia couldn't believe she had the luck of being on event staff for WWE Raw. She still wasn't sure how she ended up backstage working with the wrestlers instead of being an usher. As a part-time employee with the arena, she had often done everything from that to ticket taker and more for all types of events. This was a first for wrestling and she was beyond grateful since she was a diehard fan. Kevin Nash was the first wrestler she had the privilege of showing to his dressing room.
The woman returned to the entrance to see what her next task would be. Before the first hour of Raw was over, she had escorted Matt Hardy, Lita, Bradshaw, Chris Benoit, and Rob Van Dam to their dressing rooms. She next found herself in the common area running errands for hospitality. In between trips, she would quietly sit back and watch her favorite wrestlers drift by and on occasion make small talk with them. She really thought this could be the greatest night of her life. If only she really knew…
"Sammy, I need the keys to room 105. Will you head down to the office and bring them back to me?"
"Sure," she replied, rolling her eyes when she was out of the director's sight. My name is Sa-mia, not Sammy, she thought as she rounded the corner that led by Vince McMahon's office. He was definitely not a favorite on her list. Her heels clicked faster as she began hurrying by. Five steps from his office, the door swung open and Rob Van Dam stalked out. She turned tail and began backtracking.
"Why not?" he shouted.
McMahon stepped to the door. "Because I said so. We've already been over this," he forcefully replied.
"You know I deserve it," RVD spat out but then stopped, the wheels turning in his head. "Can I at least have a valet?'
"Now, I can accommodate that. Who?" Vince asked, folding his arms across his chest.
RVD couldn't believe McMahon had agreed and could hardly keep his mouth from dropping open. "What do you mean 'who'?"
"If you want a valet, you must have some woman in mind. Who?"
This was not going exactly the way he had planned and he glanced around him, searching his mind for a solution and catching sight of Samia waiting at the end of the hall to pass through. He remembered her escorting him. Knowing how capricious McMahon could be, RVD responded quickly to keep the man from changing his mind if he waited any longer. "Samia." Her name was too easy to remember. He couldn't believe the luck he was having in McMahon's agreement and this lady being near by. He would just explain the situation to her, hope she took it well, and quickly find someone else he knew. He didn't know her from the man in the moon but, to him, the risk that she wouldn't understand was better than not having a valet.
Samia couldn't help but overhear part of the conversation and was surprised to her hear name. Shocked, she turned to see McMahon and RVD staring at her. Van Dam waved her over and she tentatively stepped forward. "Yes?" she said as confidently as possible and smiled at them to try to keep her cool.
RVD glanced at her name tag. "Vince, this is Samia Carlsen."
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Carlsen," McMahon said with suspicion in his voice and held out his hand.
"Likewise," she replied, returning his firm handshake as best as her trembling hands would allow since his commanding presence face-to-face made her feel so overshadowed and intimidated.
"Rob, call my offices first thing tomorrow morning and we'll get everything worked out. If I don't hear from you then, I'll assume you changed your mind," McMahon dryly said and disappeared inside his room.
"May I now ask what just happened?" Samia asked of Van Dam when the door closed.
"You've been hired by the WWE as my valet in Vince McMahon's mind. I'm sorry I had to do that. With McMahon, you've gotta run with things as they happen, you know," RVD explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "But it's not exactly that way. Um, come back to my dressing room and we'll talk about this."
Samia was too shocked to move. Then retrieving the keys for the director popped into her head. "I have some errands to run. I'll drop by in a few minutes. Is that fine?"
"See you then," he replied with a nod and walked off to his room.
Samia slowly wondered down to the offices trying to sort what had just happened. There is no way she would turn down the job. She may have to tend to RVD's every need on the road but she would be in the middle of what she loved the most. Shivers ran up and down her spine at that thought. She never wanted to really wrestle. Her dream was to accompany wrestlers to the ring, wondering if he would let her do that as well. This could be her big chance. She was at a loss as to why she was so lucky but she definitely wasn't questioning it. It was probably somebody's sick joke on her, even though it was nowhere near April Fool's Day, and she wondered who would be so cruel, trying to figure out who she had pissed off to that extent. The blonde was at a loss as to who or why but at least she gave the moment the benefit of the doubt while trying not to get her hopes up.
Samia brought the keys back to the director, made up an excuse, and disappeared down to the hall to see RVD. She drew in her breath and knocked on the door.
"Come in. Have a seat," RVD invited and pointed to a seat before taking the chair opposite her. He had showered and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. He left his hair down, which made him look quite handsome. "Let's talk," he began and she nodded. "I didn't mean to do that to you. I've been trying to niggle more money out of McMahon for my contract renewal. When he wouldn't agree to a salary raise and a title shot, I threw out the next best thing I could think of, something to totally waste his money—a valet."
Samia wasn't sure that she liked the idea of how he felt about a valet and he was getting her employed as one out of the blue. She waited while he paused to pull the hairband from his wrist and start pulling his long locks back into a ponytail as he continued. "I really didn't have anybody in mind but, like I said, I was afraid to not take the opportunity, you know, carpe diaz or something like that."
"Carpe diem," she corrected.
"Exactly," he replied, pointing at her. "So, I saw you standing there and remembered your name, so I just took a chance. If I hadn't, I would've still been empty-handed. Anyhow…" He paused, seeming to search for words. "I don't how else to put it but I kinda used you to get me a valet. I'm really sorry. I hope you don't mind."
Samia stared at him for a moment and blinked before realizing what had just happened. She had thought she had just been hired by the WWE but it wasn't exactly like that. Then the woman remembered him saying that—'It's not exactly that way.' She hoped she hid her disappointment well as she sucked in her breath. "Um, yeah," she replied and lowered her eyes to hide her embarrassment.
"I guess you really thought you were gonna be my valet?" he asked sympathetically.
"I…uh, no," Samia replied with a bit of nervous laughter. "So, who's the lucky girl? Mr. McMahon did say you had to call him in the morning. I know some very trustworthy women that, uh, would maybe…" she trailed off, her stomach turning from the embarrassment and slightly constricting her throat.
RVD couldn't believe what he was about to do. He didn't have an inkling who he would have chosen in the first place, having hoped that WWE would have chosen the girl. But Samia was right, he did have until the morning. What the hell, he thought. "Aren't you trustworthy?"
"But you said…"
"Let's be honest. I need somebody before in the morning. Do you want the job? I'll need you to accompany me on the road, help me in any capacity that I'll need—helping with accommodations, clothes, et cetera, et cetera. It's not a big job. It's just a lot of time spent on the road. I can let you know everything as we go along instead of explaining it all now, unless you need me to…" She shook her head. "I assume since you thought that—well…" he trailed, sensing her embarrassment. "…that you're available. Can you do it?" RVD hoped this was a good idea, worried that, if she screwed up, McMahon wouldn't let him have anyone else.
Samia couldn't believe what she was hearing. This offer was like a roller coaster ride, first the high of thinking she was hired and then the low of finding out she had assumed wrong. Now, the train was back at the top of hill and she hoped it was a long plateau. Beyond the initial embarrassment, there was no way she wouldn't agree. "This is my dream come true. I'm a hard worker and I won't let you down." He smiled at her enthusiasm. "Why me? I mean, why me now?"
RVD shrugged his shoulders. "I need someone by in the morning and that's less than twelve hours. You look professional and talk like you're smart. Plus, you got a cute accent. I guess we should have done some job interview."
"Yeah, I could be some axe-murderer for all you know," she replied with a laugh. RVD stopped and stared at her for a moment. "What? I didn't mean it."
His face tinted a slight shade of pink. "I kinda thought that when I offered the job."
Samia could help but laugh and he joined her. "So, let's do the job interview and, if you want, you can change your mind," she proposed, hoping that he wouldn't.
"Then, uh, tell me about yourself since we could be working closely for awhile."
"Well, I could be an ex-paralegal, if that's how you want to put it." They chuckled again and she talked about her education and employment.
When she finished, RVD said, "You know, we can start with a trial-run, see how everything goes, and take it from there."
"I take that to mean I'm hired?" Samia asked with a smile and Van Dam nodded. "I want you to know that I'm deeply honored. What do I do first?"
"Well, nothing for now. We have to be in Macon next Monday. Can you get to the Coliseum?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Meet me there about seven. Now, we talk. I know you're smarter than me but do you have any jealous boyfriends I have to worry? Bratty sisters? Oh," he said suddenly, "do you have any allergies I should know about?"
"So, you want to know who I really am?" she asked with a crooked grin.
"Yeah, something like that."
Samia laughed to herself, definitely looking forward to working with him, before divulging the personal information he wanted and then asking the same of him. Reporting back to her supervisor was the last thing on her mind, having told the woman RVD needed her before she first came to his dressing and leaving it at that. She now no longer had to report back to her former boss, whether or not the woman knew that.
TBC…