Chapter 14

Weeks passed by.

WrestleMania time was upon the WWE and everything was extremely hectic. Vince had the stage crew in multiple meetings every day to make sure everything was set up correctly for the biggest event of the year. It didn't matter how many WrestleMania's she'd been through, Zelia still got butterflies every time the event was mentioned. This was Vince McMahon's baby, his absolute pride and joy, so if anything went wrong people would suffer. Zelia did every single thing in her power, along with Valisa, to make sure the set up would go off without a hitch. They helped Benjamin because he was only one man and Vince ended up hiring some more people temporarily since the set up was always gigantic. With all the addition people just for WrestleMania, it was impossible for Benjamin to keep track of everyone so he enlisted the girls' help, which they didn't mind.

Surprisingly, Jon and Zelia kept their distance from each other and everything settled back to normal. Or whatever normal was these days. She kept her focus on her work, attending meetings and literally taking one day at a time. Zelia loved what she did for a living and nobody, not even Jonathan Good, would stop her from doing it. Jon would think what he wanted and once his mind was made up about something, there was no changing it. As much as Zelia loved him, she'd reached her limit on how much crap she could take from Jon with his accusations. So leaving him alone and trying to move on with her broken heart was all Zelia could really do.

Glen had tried talking to her multiple times, but Zelia wanted nothing to do with him. She was hurt by what he planned with Mark because Jon honestly didn't deserve to be 'taken to school'. Mark had cornered her a few times trying to apologize as well, but Zelia wasn't hearing any of it. She simply glared at both of them and walked away, refusing to let them off the hook. It would take A LOT for both of them to get back in her good graces because what they did was a definite betrayal. Maybe after WrestleMania she would reconcile with both of them, but for now Zelia just wanted to be left alone and focus on her job.

Jon was fine to be around for the most part, but he did have his moments where both Joe and Colby left him alone to vent. He was angry and had every right to be. Even after 2 months, Jon still felt sore towards Valisa and didn't say a single word to her. Whenever she entered the Shield locker room, he left because he had nothing to say. Out of respect to Joe, he didn't speak his mind to her either because anything that came out of his mouth she definitely wouldn't like or appreciate. She broke his nose when that shot and it was a huge blow to his ego and manhood, two things that meant a great deal to Jon. Luckily, his nose was fully healed and he could go out to the ring without chancing being injured further.

As far as Zelia went, Jon left her alone and didn't bother her because he didn't want to screw his WWE career up. Wrestling was everything to him, his entire life and he'd finally achieved his ultimate goal in making it to the WWE. Nobody, especially a woman, would take that away from him. Jon had worked too hard and too long to let it all be flushed down the toilet all because he couldn't maintain his temper with a woman. It didn't matter that she consumed his every waking thought, even when he was kicking ass and taking names in the ring. Jon took out most of his anger and frustration in the gym, working out until his limbs felt like they'd fall off.

Because there were no witnesses to what transpired between Randy and Zelia, Stephanie gave Randy a simple warning and left it at that. It seemed as though Randy took it with a grain of salt and Stephanie did inform Zelia on what her decision was. Surprisingly, the woman didn't fight her on the decision and everything settled back to normal around the company thankfully. That was until Paul walked into Stephanie's office one night during Monday Night Raw, something he normally didn't do unless they had a promo to do together, and told her they had to talk.

"What about?" She asked, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"I had a great idea on how we can make fans like Team Hell No better." Paul said eagerly, hazel eyes alight with excitement. "They need a valet."

Stephanie cocked a brow, wondering if her husband had been struck in the head one too many times. "You're kidding me right? I thought we discussed this when we first decided to put Glen and Bryan together as a team. And YOU'RE the one who said it was a bad idea because it would take away from the team itself. What the hell is going on with you, Paul?" Her blue eyes narrowed slightly, seeing the apprehension cross her husband's face.

"That was THEN though and I've been looking over the ratings whenever Team Hell No comes on television." Paul pointed out, sitting down across from his beautiful wife. "They're down, Steph. We have to do something to jack the ratings back up when they come on television or we might as well dismantle the team altogether."

Stephanie had to admit Paul had a point, as much as she didn't want to admit it. Ratings hadn't been good for WWE lately and they had tried finding ways to raise them. Maybe Team Hell No was missing something and maybe that something was a valet. Obviously Paul had someone specific in mind or else he wouldn't have bothered talking to her to begin with.

"If you think that's what needs to happen, I have no problem with it…" Stephanie trailed off, holding her hand up when Paul went to talk. "BUT we can't keep switching AJ from one team to the next. Fans are getting tired of her bouncing all over the place, I know that much."

Paul grinned, completely in agreement with his wife. "I know and I don't want to take her away from Nick and Ettore anyway. They are doing well as a team together. I actually had someone in mind that's not a WWE Diva yet." Ettore Ewen was known to the fans as Nick's sidekick Big E Langston

"Someone from developmental?" Stephanie asked, already jotting down a few notes that popped into her mind. "And did you talk to Dad about this? Because you know we have to get his approval before we make big changes like this."

Rolling his eyes, Paul snorted and shook his head. "He'll go with this; I'll make sure of it." There was no reason to bring the old man into this considering he was getting ready to retire and hand the company over to him and Stephanie. "And no, nobody from developmental."

Now Stephanie was confused and it showed in her blue eyes. "Then who?" Her eyes widened when the name popped out of Paul's mouth and Stephanie could feel her jaw drop in shock. "Y-You're not serious, are you?"

"Yes."

"But…she has ZERO experience being OUT there, Paul!" Stephanie argued, standing instantly. "You can't just pluck someone from a job they already have with the company! What if she doesn't want to do this?"

"Then she'll find another job." Paul said simply, shrugging and acted as if this wasn't a big deal. "Who the hell wouldn't love an opportunity like this? She'll have better benefits, pay and everything. I see potential in her."

Stephanie couldn't believe what her husband wanted to do and ran a hand through her brown hair, looking troubled. "Paul, I don't know if it's wise to force someone to become a WWE Diva…" That's exactly what she would be. "I mean, I think she should have a choice on what she wants to do…"

Paul walked around the long desk to stare down into his wife's eyes, softly kissing her lips. "Just trust me on this, okay? All you have to do is inform her of her job title change and make it clear if she doesn't do this, she'll be let go from the company. It's really as simple as that. Sometimes we have to do things at our job we don't want to do. Tell her it's what's good for business."

Caving under pressure, Stephanie agreed to go through with what her husband wanted and watched him walk out the door, hoping she wasn't making a fatal mistake. Paul had a sharp mind for the business or else her father wouldn't have asked him to take over alongside Stephanie. Still, something about this situation didn't settle well with Stephanie and she wanted to talk to her father about it, but she had to trust Paul. He was her husband after all and he wouldn't do something to hurt the business. Sighing, Stephanie made up her mind and picked up the 2-way radio, paging the necessary person to get this over with.

When Zelia was told to go to Stephanie McMahon-Levesque's office from Benjamin, she figured it had something to do with Randy and was ready for anything spewed at her. Knocking on the door, Zelia heard 'come in' and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Stephanie held her finger up in a one second gestured and pointed to the chair, obviously on an important phone call. Zelia nodded once and sat down, looking around the office while trying not to eavesdrop on Stephanie's phone call. When she finished, Zelia's stomach tightened at the look of pure seriousness and professionalism gleaming in her boss's blue eyes. This was either going to be really good or really bad.

"Miss Bell, how are you this evening?" Stephanie asked, wanting to start this off as pleasantly as possible and folded her hands on top of her desk.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Levesque." She didn't bother adding the McMahon hyphenated name because it was definitely a mouthful to say. "How about you?"

"I'm great." Stephanie replied softly, crossing her ankles beneath the desk. "But there is a reason I've called you in here tonight. I've been thinking long and hard about this for a couple months now." That was a lie, but the best way Stephanie could think of to cover up the fact this was her husband's doing. "I want to change your job title, Miss Bell."

Zelia's stomach went from twisting in knots to relaxing in the span of seconds. "R-Really?" Maybe she would become a manager of the ring crew alongside Benjamin or maybe get a different area to put together. "What is it?"

Stephanie smiled at her enthusiasm and had a feeling her next set of words were about to completely destroy it. "Ratings haven't been good lately, as I'm sure you're aware and we've been trying to find ways to increase them. One of our teams right now is struggling with the ratings because fans just aren't connecting with them fully yet. So, I think they need a little…spice added to the team to make fans like them more."

Now Zelia didn't like where this meeting was headed and swallowed hard, trying to keep her knee from popping up and down. It was a thing she did whenever she was incredibly nervous. "I-I'm not understanding what this has to do with me…" If Stephanie was suggesting what Zelia THOUGHT she was, the woman had completely lost her mind.

"It has everything to do with you because you're the one we want to use to spice things up with Team Hell No." Stephanie said matter-of-factly, leaning back in her chair and folded her arms in front of her chest. "We want you to be their new valet."

'NO.' Zelia's mind instantly screamed, but all she could do was stare at Stephanie completely helpless. "I-I don't think I'm q-qualified…" Damn it, why did she have to stammer?

"If you weren't, we wouldn't be telling you to do this." Stephanie argued gently but remained firm, deep down feeling horrible about what she was doing. "The fact of the matter is we're about to be making cuts within the company and the stage crew is the first to be…minimized." That was the best word to describe it and Stephanie wasn't lying about this either. It was the truth. "As good as you are on the ring crew, I really don't see you sticking around much longer unless you…become something more in this company."

"So you're saying…I'll be fired if I don't accept this job?" Zelia questioned, feeling anger welling up inside of her at this sudden turn of events. "What about Valisa?"

"Valisa isn't your concern. You should be focused on what's going to happen to you and nobody else. I realize you two are friends, but this is about you right now and you have a decision to make." Stephanie concluded, finding the new contract and slid it across the desk over to Zelia, blue eyes completely even. "And you have exactly one minute to decide if you want to stay with us or if we should just terminate you right now."

Swallowing hard with wide jade eyes, Zelia knew she couldn't read over the contract that quickly and didn't want to lose her job. "Will you point out what's changed in my contract then?" She asked through tight lips, keeping her own voice level and even.

Stephanie nodded, gesturing her over to walk around the desk and pointed out her salary change. It was definitely A LOT more than what she was used to making. There were a few other changes as far as being a character on television, but nothing that alarmed Zelia. Before she knew what she was doing, Zelia scrawled her signature on the dotted line and wasn't surprised to find out she'd be debuting with Team Hell No tonight on Monday Night Raw. Stephanie dismissed Zelia, telling her wardrobe and makeup were waiting for her since it would take some time for her to find an appropriate outfit and whatnot.

Completely shell-shocked, Zelia walked out of Stephanie's office in a daze and headed down the hallway toward wardrobe and makeup. How the hell could she agree to do something like this? She still wasn't on speaking terms with Glen and now she was forced to WORK with him? Jon's accusations would only grow more once he found out she was working closer with Glen. He would probably also accusing her of sleeping with Bryan Danielson, which would sicken her considering she knew how much the men loathed each other. Turning the corner, Zelia bumped into someone and stumbled back, feeling strong hands grab her upper arms to steady her.

What the hell was fate trying to do to him? Jon couldn't help wondering that as he stared back into the obvious tear-filled jade eyes of Zelia and immediately released her, the electricity between them never ceasing. Just touching her was enough to light his blood on fire and Jon hated it because she was busy shacking up with every wrestler on the roster, or so it seemed. Zelia could see the disgust in his eyes and shook her head, not saying a single word to him. She merely went around him and bolted down the hallway as fast as she could, needing some much needed air. Wardrobe and makeup would have to wait. Jon watched her go and wanted to stop her, but instead just kept walking around the corner back to the Shield locker room.

Once again, cold calculating blue eyes watched the entire scene unfold before him and he couldn't stop laughing, walking away to do his own promo for the night.