Chapter Four
Tangled in Angles

Before we knew it, through grueling autograph signings and various appearances with Trish, Monday was here. She and I kept up appearances for the crowd and hardly spoke as we traveled, mainly because I didn't allow it. Trish tried to initiate some conversation using the small-talk tactic I had, but it didn't work. Sure, it seemed immature but it was the most professional decision I've had to make so far. Hell, no one outside the company caught on, which was fine. I didn't quite know what I was waiting for, but it hadn't come yet. Silence, it was.

We were headed for Detroit next. Dad checked us into the hotel and we were four to a room since a Star Trek convention was in town and we stayed at nearest Holiday Inn. I didn't mind rooming with my dad, it was actually quite an adventure when it was the two of us. Since we were in a rush, I just threw on a pair of jeans and a Y2J Jericho-holic shirt as soon as I dropped my bag in our room and we drove down to the arena. I got out and hauled everything to the locker room, waving to Eddie Guererro who was passing by.

"Hey what's up, chica?" He greeted, with that ever-so-cheery smile on his face.

"Hey, Eddie." I smiled.

"Vince is lookin' for ya, he's down the hall. Told him I'd let you know if I saw you." He informed me.

Thanking him with a half-hug, I nodded and waved as we parted ways. "Sure thing. Thanks Eddie!" Moving a bit closer to the room Eddie pointed at, I gently knocked on the door and slowly turned the knob, peeking in to make sure I hadn't stumbled across someone's locker room. My eyes scanned the room until they found the figure of Vince, standing across the way. "Vince?"

"Afternoon, Kaylin!" he smiled, setting down his glasses in his paperwork. He was randomly jolly; it was something that anyone and everyone should be wary.

"Hey. Eddie said you wanted to see me?" I gestured back towards the door that I just walked through, seeing if that would spark conversation. "I'm guessing its about the storyline I'm working with? 'Cause I wanted to let you know that I don't really want to work with T&A anymore." The original plan was to have me and Trish fight over ownership of T&A or even have a dual managerial duty with her but I simply couldn't handle that anymore. Vince probably already knew the details, so I didn't bother revealing any of them to him.

"Well," he gave a deep sigh, clearly exasperated over the ordeal. "I did talk with your father earlier today and he did tell me about his surgery date as of now and even though I never mix personal showdowns with business -as it gives off a lot of backstage drama- I've actually arranged for you be the new valet for Adam and Jason since they've just lost their former valet--"

"Yes yes – " I rolled my hands to move the conversation along. "I'm aware that Damia--their sister backstabbed them and went with the Hardy's..."

"Mm-hmm," he nodded with a half-smile, amused with my summary, "We're having a meeting later anyway and I wanted to tell you there but going to discuss everyone's angles for the next few weeks since there will be major changes in the scripts. You have quite a while before taping time to talk this over with your dad and get a little bit more acquainted with Jason and Adam if you haven't, already."

"Sure thing. I'll stick around and wait to chat with them, no problem. Is that all you needed, though?" I walked towards the door and waited for any more comments from "The Man".
"Nope, that's it…But no late walk-ins!!"

I laughed as the door shut behind me. Keeping in mind that it was set for all of the women, I was surprised to see it empty, save for one figure in the room. My dad! I jumped. "God!! You scared me!" I reached at my heart to see if it had leapt out of place. "How long have you been sitting here?"

My dad raised his shoulders in a shrug. "Dunno. About ten minutes?"

I shook my head. "As long as you weren't sitting in here waiting for the other girls to change," I teased, taking a seat under his arm and slightly hitting him on the knee. "Cause I won't have any of that."

All I saw was a pair of blushing cheeks, with a smile to match as my dad just shook his head. I couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't an unusual topic for me and my dad to talk about his way with the ladies – it was actually pretty funny. He was a young guy, and I'm sure that if he found the right one (who could get past our profession and his angle), it'd be for the best. "Well, it's a good thing I found you. Vince just talked to me and told me we needed to talk to the boys about –"

He raised his hand, cutting me off almost instantly. "Actually I just came down to see if you were ok. I know we haven't really talked about what happened last night, with that Andrew –" he began, knowing that a horrible threat was soon to follow.

Damn. I was so close.

"What about him?" I cocked an eyebrow. I was used to the concern from my dad, by now – even though I was already an adult. He was just making up for what he missed in my teenage life: the drama, the make ups, break ups… the drama. It was more flattering than annoying, I thought, but I really wanted to just cut to the chase and talk about the angle. I was really just thinking about Jason.

"I was just going to say that I saw what happened between you two. Paul was trying to stop you and he had a little bit of a chat with Andrew after you left and he decided to fill me in at the pool – and, obviously I didn't pull the brute-dad card and punk him the first chance I got. I wanted to see if you were alright first, since everyone was worried about you."

I leaned my head to the side, and placed my head on his shoulder. "Yeah I'm fine. It's just a major misunderstanding, I'm not even sure I understand what's going on. As far as I'm concerned, with him – it just doesn't matter anymore. He looks pretty content and I'll have to deal with it. So much for saying men weren't the same, though." It was true. I was lost for words and didn't even know what to think of the situation. Andrew and I weren't even dating, he was the one who made things weird and now it was a big mess. "Well…doesn't look like we have time before the show to talk to Adam and Jason – but how about we head over to the meeting before Vince yells at both of us?" As I stood up from where I was sitting, I held my hand out to him.

He nodded and eagerly took the open palm and we marched down the hall together to the meeting. These were bi-weekly, if at all, meetings to get everyone into the flow of current happenings and things to come, as the writers see it. Some came willingly, and others reluctantly, as not to face the consequence of missing a vital piece of their storyline being announced…and Vince's scolding. I took a seat in the middle part of the room, towards the back, just within eyeshot of the group I sought to "hang with" a bit more often. I was actually still a little embarrassed that I stormed off so early without saying thanks or whatnot to Adam…I just hoped they weren't mad.

Chris Irvine, better known as Chris Jericho, took a seat beside me, which made my father keep close watch. It was such a school-girl crush I used to have on Chris – but something my dad liked to keep watchful eye on, in case there was anything new he could pick up, and tease me about. He knew I was probably swooning and savoring my moment right now. "Hey, how are you doing?" he flashed his pearly whites at me, eyeing at (what looked like) my chest. "LOVE your shirt, by the way."

I breathed out, (phew) "Well hey there, stranger. Haha, you know that I'm totally a 110 Jericho-holic!" I couldn't help but laugh. My entire wardrobe consisted of shirts and memorabilia supporting the company. Besides, most of it was stylish and comfortable…and almost always free.

Enter: Andrew and Trish.
I quickly looked away, trying not to act awkward in front of Chris, that is, if he hadn't already figured out the situation by now. "Ohhh good." I rolled my eyes, slumping down into my chair.

"What?" Chris' blond eyebrow raised a bit as he shifted his position to see what I was "Oh Good"-ing about. "Andrew?"

Throwing my hands up into the air for a brief moment, I scoffed. "Jesus, does everyone know?!" I donned an artificial surprised look. "But if it means anything to you, yes." I couldn't bear to look at either of them. Word had it that Trish was actually asking around about me, wondering why I wasn't rooming with her anymore. God. Density, in some people!

All Chris could do at that point was nod, like he was taking a mental note of some sort. His eyes reverted from me to the podium, however, where Vince and the Head of Writing stood before us. I quickly followed suit. My attention span must've been that of a six-year-old since I'd turn to look back and check the clock real quick. I'd noticed that Mercy and her group had taken over the back rows and had started their own conversations going just before Vince called for silence.

Reading glasses were retrieved from the coat pocket, and placed on the tip of his nose. Vince cleared his throat and soon began his opening speech. "Alright, glad that everyone's here, finally. I'm gonna keep this short so you can all disperse and get ready for the show tonight. We've got some updates to the roster and a few changes in angles. All of you need to, as per usual, look over your lines, cues and take practice time as most of these will unfold throughout the next few weeks. I'm actually going to hand it over to the masters behind this mayhem--Please give them your undivided attention." He stepped down and I watched carefully, trying not to fall asleep on Chris' shoulder.

It was soon after that the Head Writer's voice droned out and as Chris shifted to slightly shake me, I sat up and quickly came into focus, only to nudge him violently.

"...His alliance with Lita and Essa Rios who are set to be neutrals to heels in upcoming episodes. He's a friend of our own Amy Dumas from their old wrestling school..."
I heard a quiet groan and turned halfway to notice Mercy slumped down in her chair. "…So please, let's all welcome David Shepard aboard our fine team of World Wrestling Federations Superstars."

Clapping soon erupted, killing the silence as the outburst cut the air. Heads turned and eyes befell a young man standing up near Amy on the other side of the room. His eyes were eerily familiar, giving me goosebumps.

"Jason and Adam: You will keep the status set Thursday. Mercy will no longer be your valet. Your new valet has been set and she's been valet before so you won't have to worry about breaking in any one new. Thursday will be the day you officially team up. Tonight is just a preview trial run. So tonight, during your tag team match against DX, Kaylin will accompany Glen to the ring as he sabotages them and they'll make an attempt for revenge over losing to you two..."

Eyes then moved over my way and my nerves started to get to me. My hands became like ice and my face flushed a bit as mutterings spilled across the meeting room hall. I couldn't care if the comments were negative…I was actually extremely excited to hear that I was going to valet two of the valued Canadian Blondies in the WWF…or so I called them.

Then the writer continued, "After Glen is knocked down you two will swoop in as the saviors, making her your new valet, allowing us to release Glen with ease for his surgery under the guise he has been beaten to a pulp. More about that later."

The mere mentioning of my dad's surgery started to make my head spin, however. I lightly gulped and folded my arms, trying to rub the goose bumps off of my skin. It made me sick to think something would happen to my dad...but the surgery was for his shoulder, nothing more. I was just praying inside that he was going to be ok.

"I'll be okay." Chris whispered to me. I couldn't help but smile. Any support, at this point, was welcome.

I sat through more explanations: The main event storyline, Mercy's new angle with the Hardy Boys, and Luis, the new persona that David was going to take on. I wasn't going to let Mercy's groan go untouched, however. She must have known him too – she must have something against him, too…those eyes were a lot less than friendly, that was for sure.

The meeting soon adjourned and we were left to our own devices until the show started. Standing up, I stretched, and soon parted from Chris. But, oh, the reluctance. Letting out a slight yawn, I heard Brian and Sean heading my way, as well as my Father.

"Alright, so, Adam and Jay are on the ground outside the ring, when BOOM! Fireworks light and here comes Glen down the ramp with Kay for a run-in, Terri will stay out of the way." Brian commentated, talking about choreographing their moves for the night.

I wanted to stay and hear the whole lot of things to be discussed, but I remembered the piece of advice Vince had given me, just before I left his office: I had to talk to Adam and Jay. Lo and behold, they were just a few feet away, starting to retreat towards their locker room. "Oh, guys, I'll be right back." I excused myself politely, quickly scuttling to following them.

"Yeah...you better!" Brian replied, raising his voice a little to make sure I heard him.

I was about to head out the door, when Sean stopped me. "Kay--You're gonna be bronco busted, babe." he chuckled, in passing.

Great. Just when I got rid of the last headache he gave me. "Oh--I can't wait!!!" Giving him a sarcastic thumbs up, I let out a chuckle and passed him and Terri, in attempts to reach the boys without any more interruptions.