Later that Day:
Belle sat on the couch in Steph's office with her pen and small notepad in her lap and scribbled down all the information she had learned both first hand and by what she had overheard during her little "walkabouts" around backstage. She learned there had in fact been a small meeting between a few of the writers earlier in the morning where some upcoming plans had been discussed, but she also discovered they were lazy about where they left their devices and printouts.
Some left them on tables whilst in catering and walked off to get their food, they left both their phone and papers marked "confidential" on production boxes whilst they carried out conversations with others. Belle lost count the amount of times she saw people who walked past and had the opportunity to photograph everything with ease.
"How in the World could anyone be so stupid?" She thought to herself. "I wonder if Steph knows about these lapses in security?"
She read over her notes and added in little side areas that needed to be looked into further when voices outside caught her attention. Belle silently moved her legs up onto the couch and hid her body as best she could behind the huge decorative potted plant beside her.
"Did you see those photos this morning! Oh my God how embarrassing. I would die if someone did that to me." Giggled a woman.
"I have no idea why he keeps picking these women. At what point do you have to lay all the blame on him?" Replied another woman.
"No, I feel sorry for him, but I'm not sorry about the happy dreams I'm going to have tonight."
Belle rolled her eyes. Sure gossip paid the bills but it didn't mean she enjoyed it.
The two women continued their "conversation" outside before she heard Steph's voice and the two women stopped and they all exchanged pleasantries. Belle moved her legs down and focused on her notepad as the boss walked in. "I can imagine what they were talking about." She smirked and sat down at her desk.
"I know what I do for a living, but there's only so much mud I'm willing to traipse through on a daily basis."
Steph couldn't help but to burst out laughing at the disgusted look on Belle's face. "You don't have to tell me, this place is a petri dish sometimes. I try my best to block it out."
Belle chuckled and closed her notepad. "So is there anything you would like for me to do today?"
"Yes actually. Paul and I were thinking about ways on how to get you fully emersed in everything, and we're having a small meeting with the writers, and we were wondering how you would feel about coming along?"
"Count me in. So you guys introduce me and I can bring with me some files or something to keep up appearances?"
Steph smiled and nodded. "Absolutely. I'll introduce you as my assistant like we went over previously, and I like the file idea. I'll say something like why don't you take a seat to the side or the back and take notes sort of thing."
"Perfect."
"Alright let me get my things here and we can go down." Steph collected her bag, files and phone and walked to the door with Belle behind her. The ladies walked out and Stephanie made sure she stuck to the path which had been set out for Belle. "How have you found it so far?"
"Fast. I'm finding way though, even with my friend." Belle replied.
Steph grinned, "Is everything okay in regards to your friend?"
"Yes, thank you again for everything, I honestly appreciate it. I've become efficient at navigating my way through...mostly." Belle replied with a hint of pride and sadness.
"I know it's been an adjustment considering everything, but I have to say I think you're handling things really well; and no matter what you should feel proud for stepping back out."
"Thank you." Belle said with a genuine smile. She was truly touched by her bosses kind words.
All eyes were on them as they walked down towards the meeting room. Steph shook her a head a little when she noticed the stares and people huddled in to whisper and made more than a few mental notes. "Don't even think about crying about your match tonight."
Sure, Stephanie had been in the limelight for over two decades and knew the routine, but the situation with Belle was different and to say she was disappointed was an understatement. But once again to Belle's credit she kept a smile on her face and moved forward as if it didn't bother her. Another positive tick in the bosses eyes.
"Okay, here we are." Steph said and opened the door for them both. "Alright everyone let's at least act professional please." She teased as they entered.
Belle quietly followed and found at least ten people seated around the room. Some she recognised from earlier others not so much. She got her usual reaction of smiles, nods, and the quick succession of glances from her to her cane, back to her and then anywhere else in the room. It was the new norm. "Okay, everyone listen up this is my new assistant Belle, she's me when I'm not here or unavailable...so be polite!"
Belle smiled as the others laughed and a few raised their hands in a half wave. "Hi everyone, pleasure to meet you all."
"Let's get started Paul's going to be a few minutes late but we can start without him. Belle why don't you take a seat down the back and take some notes for him." Steph said in her boss mode voice.
"Please let me." A kind voice said and pulled out a chair for her. Belle looked up at the man and smiled. He was in his early thirties with short cropped dirty blonde hair, clean shaved, deep blue eyes and a smile that sent little tingles up and down her spine. "Hi, I'm Sam."
"Thank you. It's nice to meet you Sam." Belle whispered and sat beside him. She took out her blackberry, notepad and pen from her purse and pressed record.
Belle huffed a little when she realised her pen had run out of ink when she tried to write. "Oh for the love of..." She said in her head when a blue pen appeared in front of her. She moved her head to get a better view and saw Sam with smile on his face. "Thank you." She whispered and he nodded his head.
She proceeded to jot a few things down in shorthand and sketched a rough outlay of where everyone was seated for future reference. A little under half way through a tall well dressed man in a dark blue suit and shaved head walked in. She knew from her previous research who it was not to mention the photos of him she saw in Steph's office. Paul took a seat beside his wife and when he noticed her he smiled.
She returned his polite smile and continued with her notes. "Now glasses guy closest to the door - Richard: left blackberry on table in cafeteria. Blondie on his right...shit no-name. Snotty, lacks focus... one of the voices outside office." Belle wrote when she heard her speak. She stopped and honed in on her, "We can't put her over - the girl hasn't been here for very long. People won't like her winning..."
A few other voices spoke up and argued against the so called "logic." Belle mentally shook her head, "What a crock of shit."
The meeting progressed as one person after another shared their ideas and added onto others. It reminded her of her days at the paper when people would shout out their ideas like they were on the floor of the NYSE. "What are we doing about Colby's situation?"
Belle's eyes flashed up as she scanned around to see who had made the off-handed comment. Mousy brown hair woman with the shit eating grin. "I mean we should bring it up and make it part of the show."
#1. T.O.S.L (TOP OF SHIT LIST.) Belle wrote in bold letters. She slightly narrowed her eyes and stared at her. "Who the hell does she think she is!"
"No." Paul said firmly.
Paul watched Belle intrigued by the former reporters actions in the writers meeting. To the naked eye she was like every other assistant he and Steph had employed over the years. She sat quietly in the back with a notepad in front of her, she looked up as each person spoke and jotted down what one assumed were ideas he and Steph could take a closer look at afterwards. But when you actually studied her, a totally different scene appeared before you.
She looked at each person, listened to them and at the same time jotted something down and once they were finished she moved her pen around in small strokes and wrote more. Then the next person spoke and she did the same thing. Belle never broke eye contact whilst her pen moved initially, what was the woman doing? Paul's eyes remained on her until he heard Colby's name and saw Belle's eyes snap up and she moved her body slightly towards where the voice had come from. He internally groaned. "Sarah."
He darted his attention to the brunette woman and shook his head. "No."
"What do you mean no? It could add another level to his current storyline bring a bit of reality to the mix." She replied, curtly.
"We're not including anything about this morning into any of our storylines period." Paul said annoyed. "Do you have any other ideas to put forward?"
She slightly raised her hands off of the table in a show of defeat and lowered her gaze.
Paul nodded and then closed the meeting and thanked everyone for their attendance. "Let's iron out a few of these ideas and we'll talk with Vince. Until then keep writing.
And with that people started to pack up their things and filed out of the room. Belle wrote a few more notes down and pressed stop on the her blackberry. "Do you have any lunch plans Belle?"
"I'm supposed to meet up with Thomas after his meetings, but please come and join us." Belle smiled and looked over at Sam.
"Cool, let me give you my number and you can message me when you're ready." He replied happily.
Belle handed him over her phone and watched as he typed in his details. They said their goodbyes and she couldn't help but grin when she noticed he saved his name as "PenPal." She repacked her bag and stood up as Steph had finished her brief conversation with the last couple of writers.
"Hey Belle, great to see you again." Paul said loud enough to make it sound like they had met before. The last thing he wanted was for word to get out the two had never actually met and have more curious eyes on them. "How's your morning been so far?" He said and extended his hand out.
"Hey Paul good to see you too. Busy, boss here has been putting me to work since I got here." Belle laughed.
They all heard the door closed and smiled. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Belle. I meant to find you earlier but you can imagine."
Belle smiled. "It's nice to meet you and I fully understand. Is everything okay with all of that; just in case I happen to be asked?"
Steph and Paul grinned, "Oh we have no doubt they'll ask you, but everything is good. Please try to shut it all down and we all appreciate what you did for him and us this morning."
"No worries at all. Like I was telling Steph earlier we have strict policies and safe-guards in place; which apparently are a lot more effective than IG's." Belle quipped.
Paul sighed, "I hate social media and yet we need it."
"Tell me about it." Belle smirked as they all walked out and back down towards Steph's office.
"How did you go in there, was it alright?" Steph asked and leaned in.
"Not a problem." Belle smiled and nodded.
An hour later Thomas arrived at the office for his lunch with Belle. He knocked on the half open door and found Belle on the couch. "Hey there, you ready for Lunch?" He smiled.
"Absolutely. I'm starving." Belle replied. She stood up and unfolded her cane. "I hope you don't mind but I invited Sam from the writing team to join us?"
"Nah, not at all, he's actually a cool guy." Thomas quipped. "So, how's it all going I have a fairly open schedule until T.V tonight I can show you around some more if you have the time?"
"Thank you. Steph doesn't need me until later on anyway. She and Paul are going over some notes and whatnot." Belle explained. "So what do you recommend?"
Thomas grinned, "Everything! You've never seen anything like this before, it's an experience."
Belle laughed, "Lead the way."
They walked into the catering area and Thomas lead them over to a table off to the side but made sure Belle had a clear path back and forth. "How's this one, is it alright?"
"Perfect." Belle said and they sat down. "I'll message Sam and see if he still wants to join us."
They chatted whilst they waited and Belle tried her best to ignore the stares and chatter around her. For his part Thomas kept up the conversation about little things and she couldn't have been more thankful.
"Hey there." Sam said as he approached. "Thanks again for the invite. So you both ready to order?" He asked and placed his jacket on the back of the chair next to Belle's. "Gotta save your seats around here." He grinned.
"Thanks for the heads up."
The men walked Belle over to the ordering section and talked her through the process. She appreciated their kindness. In the beginning she had the mindset that most people didn't realise doing everything for her was a little patronising; they just assumed when they saw her cane she was completely incompetent, but over the years she learned that it wasn't always the case and there were genuinely kind people out there.
She said hello to the woman behind the counter and ordered a small chicken salad sandwich and a bottle of water. She didn't want to completely gorge on her first day and the sandwich called to her. They guys ordered their hot lunches and Sam kindly offered to grab her tray for her. "Thank you Sam." Belle said, touched by his gentlemanly manners.
"How did you find your first writers meeting?" Thomas asked as he took a bite of his roast beef.
"Interesting. A lot of cool ideas and some not so much."
Sam chuckled. "That would have to be the nicest description I've heard about us."
Belle and Thomas laughed. "Wait until we're closer to the show and we have fifteen minutes for a total re-write."
"That happens?"
"Belle, you have no idea. Just when you think you've got the green light, suddenly it turns red and the whole system is shut down." Sam replied and shook his head.
"That must be stressful."
"Welcome to the life of a WWE writer."
"So Belle, what brings you to the WWE?" Thomas asked.
"I found a listing online and thought what the hell, you only live once why not apply." She replied with a playful shrug. "I went through the entire process and got asked to come over and meet with Steph and the rest is history so to speak."
"Where in Australia are you from?" Sam asked.
"Melbourne, born and raised."
"Oh wow, I love Melbourne. I got to visit on our last tour, the city is beautiful." Sam smiled.
"I love it. I miss home but I'm slowly getting used to being over here." Belle said and took a small sip of her water. "Though getting used to all this snow especially when it's Summer back home is crazy."
The guys laughed and nodded their heads. "Yeah, you guys have some hot as hell summers down there." Thomas said. "A friend of mine visited a few years ago and I don't think he left the hotel pool."
"Sounds about right." Belle said. "Our summers can be crazy but we're used to it. The top half of the country is under water from all the cyclones and rain whilst the bottom half from the east coast to the west are on fire...only in Australia."
Meanwhile:
Renee and Pam were seated on the other side of the cafeteria and noticed as soon as Belle and Thomas walked in. They watched curious as to who the new woman was as she and Thomas sat down and she folded up her vision cane. "Who's the new girl?" Renee whispered.
"No idea." Pam replied and shook her head. "I've heard a few people talk about her today but this is the first time I've seen her. She's pretty."
"She's gorgeous. I wonder what her job is?"
"Samara thought she could be a wrestler but I highly doubt it." Pam snickered and turned her attention back to her lunch. "She can't move around the ring with that thing."
Renee burst out laughing. "Yeah that would be a sight. Oh look there's Sam."
Pam turned her head and stared as the tall handsome writer walked in. "Is she a writer? He doesn't usually sit with anyone." A hint of jealousy in her voice.
"He's probably just being polite, I wouldn't put too much into it."
"Who are you talking about?" Lina asked and sat down next to Pam.
Renee jutted her chin out. "Looks like Sam's made a new friend."
Lina slowly turned her head. "Ahh, yeah she's Steph's new assistant, she's an Aussie I think I heard."
"What?" Pam and Renee said at the same time.
"I saw her walking out of the writers meeting with Steph and Paul and I asked Rich who she was." Lina replied and turned back around.
"Well that's one mystery solved." Renee smirked. "We heard she might be a new wrestler." She continued when Lina shot her a confused look.
Lina burst out laughing. "How would that work?"
Pam playfully smacked her friends arm and told her to keep her voice down. "I need to find new friends to sit with."
"Oh please bitch, you'd be lost without us." Renee sighed and rolled her eyes.
Belle turned her gaze away as the three women continued to laugh. "Don't give them a second thought." Sam whispered.
"It's alright I'm used to it." Belle replied with a small smile.
"They're gossips especially Renee - the blonde one. She could make a killing on the Gossip Diva blog, she's on it all the time." Thomas added with a sigh.
"Oh yeah?" Belle asked.
"Most of them are, you should hear them I wouldn't be surprised if one of them was behind it." Thomas replied.
"I've never heard of it, I'll have to check it out." Belle smiled. She glanced back over, wicked thoughts circled in her head ..."Let's have some fun...game on Blondie."