A/N: I only own Marley.
It was Tuesday afternoon and Marley had her first official day as a member of the NXT roster under her belt.
They had her attending promo class with the rest of the roster and they even let her mock interview a few people. One of those people being Tyler Breeze. She was having a difficult time keeping a straight face with that one.
She would ask him basic questions like, "If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?" He then proceeded to go on a long tangent about how he'd go to dinner with himself because he was the only one worthy of being in the presence of someone so gorgeous and that if she did something with her wardrobe and hair, she might be able to join him.
Luckily for her, his wrestling persona was just his personality turned up to a thousand and he didn't act like this all the time. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle him if he was like this on a daily basis.
She did a few more mock interviews with a few others who needed interview practice and then they called it a day.
Marley was going to come in tomorrow and practice interviewing more people. They were going to let Devin Taylor have a break and let Marley do the backstage interviews for the NXT tapings on Thursday, and she wanted to make sure she was completely prepared.
After they were done for the day, Charlotte and Sasha had invited Marley over to their apartment to hangout. The girls thought it was a great idea and would help them bond with Marley better. She was thankful that everyone had welcomed her into their little family so quickly.
"The only thing that sucks about this week is that we're going to have to see Renee on Thursday." Sasha spoke as Charlotte nodded in agreement.
"Do you guys not like her or something?" Marley sat down with the girls on their couch.
"We tolerate her. I can't wait for you take her place though. You're way cooler than she is and you're making a name for yourself the right way." Charlotte declared.
Sasha cracked open a bottle of wine and poured everyone a glass. They all sat there gossiping while Clueless played on the TV on front of them. They had planned on having movie marathon, but gossiping and getting to know Marley had become their main concern.
"Wait. What do you mean by I'm making a name for myself the right way?" Marley asked. She hadn't really heard anything bad about Renee, besides what Nattie had told her. And even that wasn't bad, it was just unprofessional.
"You didn't hear this from us, but apparently Renee sleeps around to get ahead. Which, that's not any of our business or anything. The girl can get ahead anyway she sees fit, but when she starts acting like she's better than everyone down here, then we have a problem."
"She acts like she's entitled to things around here. You'd think she was sucking Hunter's dick or something." It was funny hearing Charlotte talk about people thinking they were entitled to things. You'd think she would act like that because of who her dad is, but she didn't give off that vibe at all.
"She might be." Marley nearly spit her drink everywhere at Sasha's comment.
"Is that why you guys stopped hanging out with Summer? Because she hangs out with Renee?"
"Nah, not really. We just kinda grew apart from her and it seemed like she didn't want anything to do with is anymore since she made it to the main roster."
"It's funny that you guys mention all this because Nattie mentioned something similar to me." Marley set her empty wine glass down on the coffee table in front if them.
"Do tell. Our lips are sealed." Charlotte grabbed the bottle of wine and poured more into Marley's glass. She thought that the more she had, the easier it would be to get the juicy gossip from her.
"She just mentioned that Renee had a few fuck buddies on the main roster and that she was very possessive over them."
"Oh yeah. I've heard that too. That's ridiculous. She doesn't own them. I can guarantee that the dudes they she's been hooking up with, haven't only been hooking up with her."
The three continued to gossip about things behind the scenes on the main roster and at NXT. Marley was learning things about the NXT roster that she never would've expected and Charlotte and Sasha were just excited to know who was single in the main roster.
The had finished off two bottle of wine and they were feeling it. Sasha seemed to be handling her alcohol better than Charlotte and Marley. She was definitely going to have to spend the night on their couch tonight.
"Y'know. Last time I got drunk, I ended up in Dean Ambrose's bed, so thank god it's just you guys."
"Wait, WHAT? You slept with Dean Ambrose?!" Charlotte nearly shouted for everyone in her apartment complex to hear.
"Technically, yeah.. I mean nothing happened. A bunch of us went out drinking one night. Renee left me in the hands of Seth at the end of the night, since we're cool and I guess he passed me off to Roman. Roman and Dean were sharing a room. I ended up in their room and I guess I passed out on the bed that just happened to be Ambrose's. No big deal."
"Does Renee know about that?"
"Not that I know of. Why?"
"Well you're already taking over part of her job, right?" Marley nodded. "Well now she's gonna think you're trying to take her dude."
"They're not even a thing."
"She's gonna think you're trying to single white female her."
"I don't even like him like that. I barely like him as a person. He's kind of an asshole."
"Uh huh. Okay. You're not a good liar when you're drunk."
"I'm not drunk!" She tried to convince them but they weren't buying it. "Okay, obviously he's attractive. That's not a secret. But he just rubs me the wrong way."
"So you want him to rub you the right way?" Sasha teased.
"Oh my god!" Marley covered her face with her hands. "That's not what I meant."
"It's totally what you meant." Charlotte teased and laughed.
"You two are ganging up on me. I don't like this. Where is Bayley when I need her?"
To say that Marley was nervous was an understatement. Ever since she woke up this morning, she felt like she was going to puke. She was having doubts about this job and she just wanted to turn around and go back home.
She spent all day yesterday practicing her interview skills at the performance center and even when she got back to her hotel last night, she stayed up all night practicing interviewing random objects in her room. "Lamp, how do you feel about mini fridge getting a title shot before you?" She was tired, nervous and regretting not having breakfast this morning.
She carpooled with Bayley and Alexa to Full Sail that evening and she was sure that if she asked the one more question, they were going to throw her out of the car.
"I'm sorry! I'm just nervous. I don't want to fuck up in front of these people."
"You're going to do fine. This is just NXT. If you mess up, which you won't, no one is really going to care." Alexa assured her. "Everything is going to be fine."
Bayley pulled into the parking lot of Full Sail. When she stopped the car, she turned around to face Marley. "Just remember to breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Stay calm. We've all been through the same nervousness that you're having. Just stay calm."
And she did just that.
Everyone she interviewed made sure she was calm, cool and collected before she'd start their interviews and they all gave her assuring words. She was very thankful for that.
As soon as the tapings were over, Marley made her way back to the locker room. She hungry, tired and ready to go. When Marley entered the women's locker room she was quickly engulfed into a hug.
"Bayley, I can't breathe" Bayley pulled away and let the girl catch her breathe.
"You're such a great interviewer! You did great!" The other girls in the room agreed. "We need to go out and celebrate!"
"Thanks guys, but I'm not really in the mood to celebrate. I just want to get something to eat and go to sleep."
"Well luckily for you, we always go to Waffle House after every show. It's tradition and you have to come."
Marley couldn't pass up Waffle House. Waffle House was one of her favorite restaurants and she'd never be able to pass it up. "Fiiiiiiine." The girls cheered and they all filed out of the locker room.
Marley and Alexa were waiting by Bayley's car while they waited for her to finish signing autographs and posing for pictures.
"Imagine my surprise to find out that my intern has been moved down to NXT." Marley groaned as she turned around to face Renee. She had spent most of the night trying to avoid Renee, but when you're standing in plain sight, it's hard to avoid someone. "I honestly thought they got rid of you."
"Nope. Can't get rid of me that easily."
"Good to know.."
Alexa and Bayley finally made their way back to the car. The girls gave Renee a curt nod. "Ready?"
Marley nodded. "I'll see you later, Renee."
When the girls arrived at Waffle House, she wasn't expecting almost everyone to be here. She just thought it was something the girls did. She followed behind the girls who were making their way over to a table that was already occupied with Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville.
Marley climbed into the booth and sat next to Sami while Alexa and Bayley sat on the other side next to Adrian. A waitress brought them a few menus while she took their drink orders.
"You guys did really good tonight. It was cool getting to watch from backstage." She complimented them. The whole thing was surreal. "That last match with you two was probably my favorite of the night." She motioned between him ad Adrian.
"Thanks! You did a really great job of interviewing. I'm honestly surprised you didn't mess up, since it was the first time you've done something like that."
"Oh thanks. It's good to know so little people faith in me!" She joked. To be honest, she was surprised too. Every time she approached someone for an interview, she felt like she was going fumble over her words. This was different from what she was used to.
The waitress brought them their drinks and quickly took their food orders. Marley ordered a plate of chocolate chip waffles with a side of bacon. This is why she loved Waffle House. You can get breakfast food at any time of the day and you can also get regular food too. It was the perfect restaurant.
The group chatted while they ate their meals. It was mainly the group asking her questions about herself or asking her what it's like being in the road.
"Are you enjoying it down here, so far?" Sami asked her.
"Oh yeah. I love it. You guys have been really nice and accepting of me. It makes not want to leave."
The two were talking more about random things when Alexa elbowed Bayley in the arm. Bayley had been talking to Adrian about something and she turned to Alexa. "What?" Alexa nodded her head across the table at Sami and Marley. Bayley grinned at the two in front of her. She could help but think about how cute they looked together and she was going to make it her mission to get them together.
At the end of the night, Marley had exchange numbers with Sami and Adrian, after she suggested that they, including Bayley and Alexa, should all have a movie night tomorrow night after their house show.
They all agreed, but since Marley was living out of a hotel room, Bayley offered up her apartment. Bayley had no problem with having a movie night at her place, especially since it meant that she could get Marley and Sami to spend more time together.
##########
Marley entered her hotel room and immediately crashed onto the bed in front of her. She was tired, her feet were killing her and she just wanted to go to sleep. The first NXT house show of the weekend was tomorrow and she had promised Bayley that she would go and support her. It's not like she'd be doing anything else but hanging out in her hotel room. Which reminded her, she really needed to look into finding an apartment soon. Sure, the hotel was being paid for, but you can only stay in a hotel for so long without going crazy.
"I'm just going to rest my eyes for a minute." She kicked the shoes off her and curled up on top of her bed. Fifteen minutes later, she awoken from her power nap to the feeling of her phone vibrating in her hand. Before even looking at her phone, she answered it.
"Hello?" She answered groggily. She was thankful someone had called her and woke her up, that way she wouldn't actually sleep in her dress and have to wake up early in the morning to get a shower.
"You sound tired." The deep voice spoke from the other end.
"I am tired. Thanks for finally returning my call, asshole."
"Sorry.. I meant to call you back, but I've had my phone off since Monday night."
"I get it. It's fine. I've been busy anyway."
"So I've heard."
"Word travels fast around here, huh? Let me guess, it was Renee."
"You'd guess right."
Marley laughed. "Why am I not surprised?"
"She likes to gossip. Isn't that like a trait all girls share?"
She rolled her eyes. "I feel like you know nothing about women. Anyway, enough about me. What's it like being an authority stooge?"
Seth chuckled. "It's going to be fun, I think. I'm excited about it. Just wait until you come back on the road. You'll get to do interviews with asshole Rollins. You'll love it."
"Yeah, that's going to be fun." She said sarcastically. "How are the other two doing?"
"Honestly? I have no idea." He sighed. "We're supposed to be keeping up with appearances by not being seen together and stuff like that and I've had my phone off so I haven't tried talking to them."
"We all knew this was coming, we just weren't sure when. I think everyone expected Ambrose to turn on me and Roman, but I was a last-minute decision."
"Yeah, I feel like Dean would've made more sense, but I think it hurt more that it was you."
"Did you cry?"
She laughed. "Nah. I was close to throwing my phone at Bayley's TV though. I don't think she would've liked that."
"Probably not, kiddo. So you're making friends down there?"
"Yeah. I've mainly been hanging out with Bayley and Alexa. I did hang out with Sasha and Charlotte the other night, but other than that..."
"I'm surprised you haven't become friends with any of the guys down there."
"Eh. It's not that I haven't, it's just that I haven't really had the opportunity to become friends with any of them. I guess I'm kinda starting to become friends with Sami and Adrian? I don't know. It's easier for me to make girlfriends and not dude friends. Probably explains why you were my only guy friend."
"I'm not your only guy friend. You're friends with Rhodes and Barrett."
"Not really. They're friends with Renee. They were just nice and friendly to me because of her."
"Huh. You're friends with Ambrose and Roman though, right?"
"Unless you count me asking Roman if I can braid his hair, friendship.. then no. And don't even get me started on Ambrose."
"Weird. I would've thought than sleeping with him would've sparked a new friendship."
"Oh my god. It wasn't what it looked like at all. I slept in the same bed as him but I didn't sleep with him."
"Suuuuure."
"I'm going to hang up on you."
"No you won't."
She sighed. "You're right."
"So, how long are you going to be at NXT?"
"I don't know. I'm supposed to be back by Money in the Bank, or at least that's what they told me. I think they want to wait for these episodes to air first, that way they can see how the fans react to me."
"They're going to love you. You just have a really likable personality. And you're easy on the eyes, so that's a plus"
The two continued talking for a little while longer before Seth let her go so she could get ready for bed.
A/N: Thank you guys for reading and sticking with this story. I appreciate it soooo much. I had an anonymous reviewer (who forgot their login) who gave me a few ideas for somethings that are going to happen, so thank you!
if anyone else has any ideas or suggestions, let me know! And don't forget to review! (If you want to that is.)
