It was too late when Stephanie realised that she had nothing in her case that would be appropriate to wear for lunch with her boss and her idol. Neither a short skirt or a pair of jeans seemed like something that she should go for but they were the available options. She silently cursed herself for not thinking about it sooner as she tried to decide what to wear. She remembered something that she had once been told at a moment like this when a tough decision had to be made, "Flip a coin, when it's in the air you'll know which side you're hoping for." She smiled as she did just that and found herself hoping for a tail, the short skirt. That was the decision made so she selected a light grey crop top which would look good with the black skirt. Next up was to fix her hair and make up and do it quickly. Being late was not an option.

Paul resisted the temptation to look at his watch. He was sure that it was twelve thirty and there was no sign of Stephanie. His thoughts of her were interrupted by a server bringing his coffee and green tea for Trish. Paul had no idea how she could drink crap like that. He blinked his eyes to clear his mind and focus on what his wife had just said, "Talking the boss into this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be then?"

Paul smiled at his own achievement, "I told you honey this is a good idea. Let me worry about the boss, what I need you to do is get on board with this yourself. If you don't get behind it the guys in your department won't get behind it so much either."

"It's not my department yet," Trish moaned as she sipped her very hot tea, "She's not actually given me the promotion yet even though I expected to get it weeks ago."

Paul sensed an opportunity, "Well what if I told her that you came up with this idea? I don't think I actually mentioned that the idea was mine when I called her earlier. She liked it so maybe if you took the credit she would have faith in you."

Trish's eyes narrowed slightly and she brushed a hand through her blonde hair which looked to Paul like a sign of nervousness or insecurity, "You don't think she has faith in me?"

Paul phrased his reply carefully, "I meant that maybe it would give her that extra push into promoting you, not that she has no faith in you now. If she had no faith in you I'm sure she would have made the clear by now, she doesn't exactly hold back on things like that. I'm trying to help you honey, you can have the credit for my idea." He watched as Trish absently looked into her cup of tea for a few seconds and then mumbled, "Okay. Okay I'll get behind it. We'll tell Stephanie that this was my idea and then you can tell the boss."

Paul drank some coffee to cover his involuntary smile, "Tell her yourself, she doesn't bite."

Trish snorted, "That's not what I've heard and in any case she doesn't speak to me. She doesn't speak to anyone on the creative or production side of the company apart from you unless she randomly walks into a meeting. I think I've only ever spoken to her twice and then it was only to answer a question." Paul was about to respond but Trish continued with a shake of her head, "Running WWE at twenty six. What was her dad thinking?"

Paul laughed at that, "It's obvious what he was thinking. He was thinking about retiring at fifty and that money would still never be a problem. Who can blame him? So he left it all to his daughter and went back to Italy. You just have to get used to..."

Paul tried not to react to Trish's interruption which was delivered with a hint of distaste, "Here's Stephanie now, she's nearly got a skirt on."

As Stephanie walked into the restaurant and looked around, seeing the table at which Paul and Trish were waiting her heart pounded in her chest. Lunch with her boss and her idol to discuss a big creative opportunity, was this even real? She considered another problem, Paul and Trish were sitting opposite each other so who should she sit next to? Everything about this felt awkward to Stephanie as she was not naturally a confident person. She managed to portray one in the ring but the reality was something else, she felt shy and nervous to even be around these people. As she got closer to the table she saw that Trish had noticed her arrival and that of the four available places at the table only three had been set which at least took one decision away from her. She would be sitting next to Trish. She willed her voice not to show her nerves or the fact that she felt star struck as she replied to Trish's warm greeting which was, "Hi Stephanie, nice to meet you." Predictably her voice or the words that spilled out did not live up to their end of the bargain, "Hi Trish, it's an honor to meet you."

Paul had been a little surprised that Trish had switched from cold to warm so quickly at Stephanie's arrival but he figured that at least she was making an effort. He spoke kindly to Stephanie, "Have a seat and we'll order some lunch."

Stephanie smiled at her boss. "Yes sir... Paul," instantly raging at herself for doing that yet again. Why could she not just feel comfortable around these rich and powerful legends of the business? The answer was obvious to her, she was none of those things and she never would be. She lived in a one bedroom condo and had almost no savings. Things would pick up in that regard now that she was on the Raw roster and making more money but a legend of the wrestling industry? She told herself as she sat next to Trish, someone who truly was, that was never going to happen. She was not that good but then why was she getting all of this attention from Paul? As she was not accustomed to discussing business matters over a meal Stephanie was unsure why the opportunity that had been mentioned was not being discussed after they had all ordered food. Instead Paul and Trish asked her questions about her life and her family background. At least they seemed genuinely interested in her answers, especially Paul. After almost fifteen minutes of this the food was delivered and Stephanie eagerly attacked her baked potato as Paul said, "So Stephanie, Trish would like to tell you about her idea."

Paul congratulated himself on his brilliance as Trish finished her mouthful of food and smiled at him. He had written himself and Stephanie a storyline so that they would be working together and now Trish was delighted with him for letting her take the credit for it. It was genius. He told himself as he had many times before that he should not be doing this or even thinking about Stephanie in anything other than a professional sense as he was a married man but the facts were the facts. The very sight of Stephanie drove him crazy. He looked across the table at her and smiled as he thought that despite the small piece of baked potato sitting on her top which had obviously gone unnoticed by her she was stunningly beautiful. It was sitting on her chest and what a chest it was, Trish was certainly nothing to complain about in that regard but even so Stephanie's was amazing.

He helped Stephanie out by hinting with his eyes as he wiped his own chest with a finger and she got the message and looked down removed the piece of potato without even considering how Paul had noticed it. Stephanie gave Trish her full attention as she began to explain the idea of having the unsuspecting Stephanie McMahon character thrown into the position of General Manager even though she had no experience and the benefits and creative freedom that this would bring to the storylines. Stephanie had been awed by all of this before and now she was convinced that either this was a dream or that Paul and Trish were ribbing her for some sadistic reason. Things only got worse in this regard when she heard Trish say, "Obviously the problem that presented itself was how to get you into the role to begin with, how would someone who is clearly unfit for the job uh... get the job? So Paul talked to the boss and she's coming in on this story too."

That did it for Stephanie, she could not help her next response, "Okay you're not serious are you? You're ribbing me or something? I mean this can't all be true."

Paul laughed and nearly choked on his food, "No, it's definitely true. My wife comes up with some brilliant creative ideas, right honey?"

Trish beamed, "Right. So this is what's going to happen." She proceeded to tell Stephanie the rest of the storyline that would lead to her getting the job as General Manager. Half of Stephanie's baked potato sat untouched on her plate as she listened, it had been totally forgotten about. Stephanie's head was spinning but she tried to make herself not sound as overcome by what was happening as she really was, "Trish I can't thank you enough for this. I won't let you down, either of you. I can't wait to start on this... wait when does this start?".

Now finished with his lunch Paul sat back in his chair in satisfaction as he watched the two women chatting away. He could tell that Stephanie's enthusiasm had been infectious to Trish and now she was excited about the idea too. He watched as Trish answered the question that Stephanie had asked, "As you know we have a pay per view next weekend. Paul's character is going to interfere in the main event and cost Daniel Bryan the title. The next night there will supposedly be rumors that some of the superstars are talking about walking out on him and the WWE and going on strike due to his constant abuse of power. That's why the boss shows up and you already know what happens then."

Paul checked his watch and realised that sadly this lunch had lasted too long already. He and Trish should have left to prepare for Smackdown already, "Well that's it Stephanie unless you have questions? I need to pay for this lot and then Trish and I have to get to Smackdown."

Stephanie managed to prevent herself saying sir which she was pleased about, "Okay Paul, Trish. Thank you for the food and for this opportunity. It means so much to me. Thank you."

Paul nodded and Trish smiled, "You're welcome." As Stephanie left the table Paul avoided looking at the very visible, very beautiful legs. He was pleased to hear Trish say, "You know I've changed my mind about her. I like her attitude, she doesn't think that she's something special or that she's entitled to anything. I like her."

Paul was thinking that he very much liked Stephanie too and that Trish was wrong, she was definitely something special.