Scout spent about forty-five minutes in the women's locker room. She was surprised by the amount of books she signed and selfies she was asked to take.
The women's roster was full of different personalities, looks and backgrounds…it intrigued her that the current champion was a practicing dentist. It all added so much dimension to what she thought she knew about professional wrestling, which Scout would admit that she had been incredibly wrong about.
When she had mentioned her nephew being with her that night, many of the women told they would find him after the show to sign autographs. When Brandi appeared to lead Scout to her seat, she had been talking to Britt, Ruby and Melissa—also known as Thunder Rosa, about attending award shows and how bizarre and outside her comfort zone it truly was.
After saying her farewells, Scout followed Brandi out of the locker room and towards the arena and gave her a curious look, "What did you think?"
Scout smiled lightly, "They seem pretty incredible. I think the duality of the self and the wrestling persona is fascinating."
Brandi nodded and smiled, "It is."
When Scout made it to ringside, Jeremy and Trenton were already there, and her nephew had a whole bag of swag and a poster full of autographs to show her. He truly was on cloud nine.
As the arena filled, a few people came over to shake her hand or ask for a selfie. Jeremy just chuckled every-time, knowing the introvert his sister truly was despite her warm and at ease demeanor. Scout would probably stay inside alone at home all day the next day to make up for it. She called it "recharging."
When the show started, she was taken by the reactions of the crowd—cheering, chanting, singing along…sometimes even booing. She was also astounded by the hits and falls the talent took with their bodies.
Trent and Jeremy went full throttle, whooping and hollering that she couldn't help but smile. She hadn't been home a lot in the past two years, and she felt she had missed a lot.
Suddenly, her face appeared on the big screens along with the words Scout Coopersmith, Award Winning Norfolk Native while the ring announcer called attention, "Please welcome our very special guest at ringside—Scoooouuuttt Coooooppeerrrrsmithhh!"
The arena became very loud, with cheers and excitement that she was in attendance. Scout spun in a circle and waved with a huge smile on her face, knowing this was exactly what Kenny Omega had meant by "pop".
Kenny stood backstage watching the monitor in his ring gear when Scout was put on screen. He knew she would get a good reception, but he underestimated just how much people liked her.
Matt and Nick appeared beside him and Matt commented incredulously, "Jesus. It's like Britt in Pittsburgh."
Kenny was struck with inspiration, partially wanting to capitalize on Scout's popularity and also wanting to show the crowd a good time. He waved over one of the production assistants and told him to go to her during the commercial break and tell her a message.
"Tell her I'm going to try something and to play along…and to trust me."
The production assistant ran towards the floor of the arena and Nick shot Kenny a look, "Up to something?"
He shrugged, "Just an idea. Let's call it an experiment."
When his music hit, he made his entrance to a thunderous ovation. Kenny walked down the ramp to the ring as he always did, but when he hit the end he stopped and looked toward Scout, knowing that the camera wasn't far behind him.
Immediately she looked up, a faint smile on her lips. Kenny pointed at her and feigning shock she pointed back at herself. He merely nodded, a cocky smile on his face, and walked closer to her and beckoned her closer to the barricade with the same finger he pointed at her.
Scout walked over, confusion awash on her face. He smirked again, knowing that some of the confusion was probably pretty authentic. Kenny leaned in and whispered to her, his lips close to her ear, "Let's show these people a good time and see where this goes."
He lifted his right hand to cover his lips so no one could make out what he was saying, "I need you to nod, look curious."
Scout gamely nodded and her hand traveled to rest near her collarbone, her eyes widened.
"Good. I'm going to step back and shrug. You nod…I'll circle back when the match is over. Just keep playing along."
Kenny stepped back, looked at her and shrugged. Scout nodded and never broke eye contact with him. He flashed her a wicked grin and retreated to the ring. The cameras were still on Scout, who had pink speckled across her cheeks.
The crowd erupted at excitement with their interaction and it spilled over to his match with Hangman.
Jeremy kept looking at his sister like she had lost her mind, whereas Trenton was thrilled. Scout had been surprised when the production assistant approached her and said calmly, "Mr. Omega said he had an idea. Play along. Trust him."
The whole thing had thrilled her. The cheers had thrilled her. She wasn't an actress, but had learned a little about show business in the past two years. She'd made appearances on tv shows and found that she enjoyed it. It was fun.
Her eyes had been glued to him the whole match. Scout didn't know where all of this would lead, but she knew there were wrestling blogs and podcasts because of her brother…and well, she was just famous enough that it would make various news outlets and gossip sites.
After how the press played in with the demise of her and Sean's relationship…she honestly liked messing with them. After the break-up, it all started with the Oscars. She took the lead actress of the movie she wrote as her date and wore a tailored tuxedo with the shirt beneath unbuttoned to show a little skin.
Her message was clear; I wear the pants. I am in control.
When Kenny emerged victorious from the match, he exited the ring and walked past her and then backtracked to pointedly look at her once more, winked, and made his way up the ramp to end the show.
Trenton grabbed her hand while he jumped up and down, "Aunt Scout! Aunt Scout! Did you know that was going to happen?"
She turned to her nephew and shook her head with a smile, "Not really. But it was fun!"
Jeremy had been scrolling through his phone and turned it around to face her, "Well you are trending on Twitter. You're gonna be all over the dirt sheets."
Scout saw the picture someone took of her tv— she was looking at Kenny intently and he in turn looking like he might eat her alive.
She thought it was great…and unexpected.
Suddenly, the same production assistant appeared again, "Ms. Coopersmith, Mr. Khan asked me to escort you all backstage."
Jeremy hissed in surprise, "Jesus."
Scout didn't know what most of it meant and nodded while security opened the barricade for them to get out. She followed him and Jeremy and Trenton were at her heels.
As soon as she reached the backstage area, all eyes were on her. A handsome, dark haired man in a suit introduced himself to her, "Ms. Coopersmith, I'm Tony Khan, Chief Executive Officer of AEW. Would you mind following me? Cody is going to be by to take your brother and nephew around while we talk."
Scout nodded and turned to Jeremy, who waved her off gently, telling her to go.
She fell into step with Mr. Khan, feeling like she was being taken to the principal's office.
"Kenny went a little rogue tonight. But he has good instincts for this kind of thing. You are all over the Internet, and being the businessman I am, I have to try."
He opened a door to a office, that was clearly temporary, and she saw Kenny sitting in a chair inside. Scout's eyebrow raised, "Have to try what?"
Mr. Khan pointed at the chair next to Kenny, gestured for her to sit and walked behind his desk. Scout looked a Kenny, who was glistening in sweat and still shirtless and then back to the man behind the desk.
"I understand you are working with Brandi and Cody on a potential project. We'd like to offer you unlimited access to talent, but to do this…we'd like you to sign a short term contract with us. See where this storyline we entered into goes."
Scout shook her head, "Storyline? And I'm sure you both know this…I'm not a wrestler."
Kenny sat forward and looked at her intently, "I can make anyone look good in the ring, but we were hoping for more of a valet or manager role."
She wanted to laugh, "This is insane."
"Yeah, but it's fun isn't it? Out there. I could see it all over you. You were game."
Kenny had her there. It was fun.
He continued, "The way I see it, you come out with us for a month. Learn the ropes and work with Brandi on the script. I think it will help with your project. And honestly, you'd be good for business. You're a star."
Scout looked at Mr. Khan and he nodded, "He's right. That little stunt out there has legs. You all had heat."
Her eyes went wide with the use of that word and she tried to pull herself together, "A month? And full access? Will I be able to have input on whatever…this…storyline is?"
Kenny straightened in his chair and laughed, "Well. You're a storyteller. I don't see why not."
Scout took a minute and looked at her hands, "Can I sleep on it?"
Kenny and Mr. Khan looked at each other and the latter nodded, "Sure. I'll have the paperwork drawn up and sent to you and your agent. Kenny can hang back for a day and we can fly you all out if you think it is something you want to do."
It was just random and different enough to pique her interest.
Scout nodded and stood, "I really appreciate the offer…and the time to think about it. I will be in touch."
After exiting the office, Scout posted up against the wall in the hallway and tried to get her nerves under control. She saw Kenny walk out of the office and in her direction. This man had just met her three hours ago and had pulled her down a rabbit hole.
He smiled and walked up to her and smiled stood beside her, "I won't let you get physically hurt, if that is what you are worried about."
Scout's eyes widened, "I honestly hadn't thought about that 'til just now…What I'm actually worried about is writing my second book I've put off. And maybe getting ahead of myself with all of…this. I'm not even really sure what this is?"
Kenny leaned his into the wall beside her, "It's an opportunity. And if every night is like it was tonight, it's going to be the most fun you've ever had."
Scout turned to look at him, and saw the normally cocksure smile on his face had diminished. Instead his features had softened and he was awash with sincerity.
Scout nodded, "There's one thing I can't argue. It was a lot of fun. I'm kind of a sucker for applause."
A smile crept up on his lips, "So am I. Just think, you barely even did anything tonight. Do you have your phone on you?"
Scout nodded and fished it out from her jumpsuit pocket and handed it to him. She watched as he put his number and name in and saved it before handing it back to her, "You think it over. If you decide to join us, text me. I will send a car for you and we will catch a flight together."
She nodded and he flashed her a warm smile before walking toward the locker room. Scout looked at her phone and saw he just put himself under "Omega."
Scout thought for a minute about how it had felt to be out there under the lights and on camera. It was just for a month. She could get real time inspiration for the spec script and maybe for her next book.
And it would be a lie to say that she didn't want more applause. She liked it, even fed off of it.
Once she felt calm, Scout stood up from the wall and went in search of Jeremy and Trenton. They were not going to believe what she had to tell them.
A/N: If you've read this far, thanks for reading! I'm enjoying writing this story! A special thank you to Karlylove18 for leaving me my first review! 3
