New chapter, slightly shorter. I hope I caught all of my mistakes.
I do not own anything or anyone affiliated with the WWE. I own Charlotte so don't steal her.
June 2010
The hallway was mostly silent as Charlotte McNeal made her way backstage, the clicking of her blue peep-toe pumps breaking the silence. She nodded to the few crew members that crossed her path but kept moving forward, looking for the man that had turned her life upside down over the course of the past month and a half. She clutched the match schedule tighter as she thought about how much her life had changed since Mr. McMahon had told her that she would be managing the one and only Randy Orton. What had started out as a very rocky business relationship was slowly starting to smooth out. At least, Charlotte thought it was. Who knew that yelling at him would get him to back off. He wasn't ignoring her existence like he tried to before and he had finally stopped sneering at her. That was an improvement, right?
Charlotte continued to walk down hallway after hallway, slightly exasperated that she couldn't find the Viper. Sure they weren't BBFs but couldn't he at least have the common decency to not disappear after he asked her to get something? She finally caved in and started asking various members of the backstage crew where Randy Orton had gone. They all seemed to agree that he was seen walking toward catering, not but two minutes before. Thanking the crew, Charlotte readjusted her course and picked up her speed, not wanting to miss him and have to chase the man all over the arena.
As Charlotte got closer to the catering area, she began hearing raised voices. Being nosey was always a bad habit of hers, so naturally she went to investigate, momentarily forgetting about her chase to give Randy the schedule. As she neared the confrontation, she could pick out two very distinct voices trading barbs back and forth. Maryse's French-Canadian accent was always easy to pick out of a crowd, coupled with the fact that Charlotte thought it was one of the most annoying sounds in the world along with nails on a chalkboard and Vickie Guerrero's "Excuse Me!". The other woman turned out to be Eve Torres, a woman who had been the first Diva on RAW to befriend Charlotte after her move from working behind the scenes on Smackdown!. Charlotte rolled her eyes as she heard Maryse practically screech that she would regain her title at the next pay-per-view, Fatal 4-Way, and that Eve was a fluke champion. Blah blah blah. If Charlotte got a nickel, well, you know the saying.
Charlotte sidled up to the two women, stopping by Eve's side and turning to face the blonde beauty. "Is there a problem here?" she asked, the question directed at Maryse, feigning sincerity. Under normal circumstance, Charlotte would not inject herself into an argument, especially against a woman who could probably beat her in a fight, but lately, circumstances had not been normal. On one hand, she was still riding high from taking an angry Randy Orton down a notch, something that very few people got away with. On the other hand, Charlotte disliked Maryse. A lot.
When Charlotte first began working in the WWE, she was surprised by how many of the Superstars and Divas were actually like the "characters" they portray on TV. Many of the heels were actually rude and treated those that they deemed as being below them like crap. Maybe it was toned down backstage, but their egos definitely ran high. On the flip side, most of the baby faces were nice guys and girls. Maryse and Eve proved to be no different. Charlotte had had her first encounter with Maryse one week after she had moved to RAW, and she had not been impressed. Maryse was rude, loud, and had a bad case of self-entitlement. The first thing that popped into Charlotte's mind was spoiled witch. She was a bully and had no problem throwing a temper tantrum to get what she wanted.
Charlotte was pulled out of her thoughts by the blonde's scoff. "Excuse me," she began, her overpowering accent grating on Charlotte's ears, "but I was not talking to you. You have no business butting in to this conversation."
Charlotte put her hands up in a sign of surrender but a small smirk graced her pink lips. "Sorry, no need to get defensive. I was just checking to make sure everything was alright with you two. I mean, when the whole building can hear your 'discussion', it kind of becomes everybody's business. You and I both know how fast rumors travel around this place and I just thought that I would take it upon myself to make sure you don't embarrass yourself any further by getting into a fight with Eve". Maryse let out a humorless laugh. "Ha ha, you think you are so witty. It's cute, really. Before you came to RAW you were just a nameless face on Smackdown!, and now you think can come over and act like you run this place! Non. Being affiliated with Randy Orton has not changed your status. You are still just some errand girl, and that's all you will ever be". Maryse paused for a beat before continuing on, her accented voice beginning to rise. "I, on the other hand, will continue to dominate the Diva's division and I will regain that title."
"Whoa whoa whoa! Clam down!" Charlotte cut in, stopping Maryse's tirade. She turned her head towards Eve. "Did she just cut a promo on me?" she asked in a loud whisper. The other woman just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Looking back at Maryse with a serious expression, Charlotte began again. "With all honesty though, you really need to back off. Sure we don't get along but you don't have to go all 'high school bitch' on me". Maryse's nostrils flared at Charlotte's description. Charlotte continued on. "I know I may be slightly biased against you but you have got to deflate your ego. You are getting yourself more enemies every day with you rants and temper tantrums and quite frankly, I don't think you would be able to defend yourself if you get called out by the other Divas. I don't doubt your skill in the ring but a lot of these ladies are just as good as you, if not better, and if they decide they've had enough of you and your mouth, you're gone."
Maryse stood silently, slightly dumbfounded at the words that had come out of the shorter woman's mouth. Charlotte was not known as someone to speak her mind outright. Sure she had her opinions but she hardly voiced them, and certainly never voiced them in such an assertive manner. Narrowing her eyes, the blonde finally started to speak. "Don't you ever suggest that I am not better than these other so-called Divas," she spit out, glaring at both women before her. "I am the best Diva that the WWE has ever had—"
"No you are not!" Charlotte let out, her voice echoing in through the hallways. The small crowd of backstage workers, Superstars, and Divas that had slowly gathered looked at each other with wide eyes. It was the first time that they had heard Charlotte raise her voice at someone, not knowing of her argument with Randy the week before. "You are not the best woman that has ever passed through those ropes. Women like Chyna, Trish Stratus, Lita, Molly Holly; they all had more skill than you and certainly more class than you! You are not the best and you won't be until you stop strutting around and get control of your inflated head. Once you do that, then you can improve and maybe, just maybe, you can one day be added to that list of women, but until you do, you will be nothing but a self-centered bitch!"
Before Charlotte, could take a breath, Maryse shot towards her, yelling and cursing in French to the red-head's face. Eve tried to pull Maryse back but was not making any progress as the French-Canadian kept propelling herself forward. Charlotte turned her face away, feeling the other woman's breath on her cheek, before taking a step back and leveling her with a cold glare. Once Maryse stopped her shouting, Charlotte spoke in a dangerously low voice. "Don't you ever insult me in another language again. Call me ignorant or whatever other word you want, but I will not tolerate that. If you want to insult me and call me every derogatory name in the book, then have the guts to do it in English".
Maryse just watched her, breathing heavily from shouting and trying to fight off Eve's attempts to hold her back. She finally stood up straight and disentangled her arm from Eve's grasp. With a final hard shove on Charlotte's chest, she turned her heel and stalked away. The hallway was quiet, no one seeming to breathe. Finally, one by one, the other people dispersed, making their way to tell those who had not been there about Charlotte McNeal verbally taking down Maryse.
Eve helped Charlotte regain her balance, and then faced the young manager. "Are you ok? That was amazing. I didn't know you had it in you. Well I thought you did, but I sure wasn't expecting that". Charlotte was brought out of her daze by the other woman's ramblings. "I'm fine," she said. "Just a little shaken up. I'll be ok. Go get ready for your match, don't worry about me." Eve nodded. "Alright then. I'll see you after the show." She turned and left in the opposite direction of Maryse, heading towards the locker rooms.
Charlotte took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, only to be startled by a deep voice from behind her. "I see I'm not the only one to incur the wrath of Charlotte". Charlotte spun around, her eyes landing on the smirking face of Randy Orton. She let out a shaky laugh. "I especially liked part about only being able to improve if you check your ego. Very inspiring words. I'll have to keep that in mind when I want to improve" he said, his smirk turning into a hint of a smile. "Shut up," she said, a small smile of her own growing on her lips. He cocked an eyebrow and gestured to the now crumpled paper in her hands. "I see you got the schedule". Charlotte looked down, blushing, fingering the piece of paper. Randy walked towards her, putting a hand between her shoulder blades, steering her towards catering. "Come on. Let's go get you some food and get you calmed down. You'll need your head back by the time word of this little chat gets around". And would she ever.
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