Chapt 17

Friday night at the FCW arena went by without incident, and Matt took her and picked her up when the show was over. She had taken more notes on Missy's in ring performance and her in ring attitude, which she was learning was drastically different from the girl's actual personality. She was beginning to put together a working profile on ways to market a Hollywood type character for the girl and had emailed Mr. Keirn to be sure that an image change was okay as well to make the character work. With the assurance that it was Claire was confident that things were coming together, much sooner than she had anticipated.

Saturday she drew up a rough draft of her main ideas and presented them to Missy before the show. Missy loved her ideas and after deciding on the two top ideas Claire said that she would work out a final draft of the two and email it over to Mr. Keirn before leaving that night. After Missy left to get ready for her match that night Claire sat back in her chair and sighed in self assurance. She was one step closer to the first minor achievement in her life. She had gone to school after being denied that for so long and she was making a success of her degree before she had even received it.

A knock at the door distracted her from her thoughts and she sat up a little straighter. "Come in," she called.

Matt poked his head around the door and grinned at her with his childlike grin. "Can I come in a minute?"

"You never have to ask silly, come on in."

Taking the chair across from her he saw her face as she took in his wrestling tights beneath his t-shirt. "I know I should have kept my jeans on, I didn't want to remind you of what I do and of the fact that I betrayed your trust, so I'm sorry for that. I just wanted to come in and see how it was going, and my match is second tonight so I had to be ready."

"It's okay Matt really; I understand why you did what you did. You shouldn't have to hide who you are and what you do just because you think I can't handle it. I have to learn that you are just doing a job and that it's all okay and you're not really getting hurt."

Matt smiled at her and took her hand across the desk. "I am fine and I'm not getting hurt out there, you're right. I won't lie accidents do happen, but it's not common. So tell me Claire, how much do you know about professional wrestling?"

Color rose in Claire's cheeks and she looked to her computer monitor. "Honestly, I'd never even heard of it until I walked in here last week."

"Well if you ever decide you want to learn I'll be happy to teach you the basics." When her face paled he immediately back tracked. "I didn't mean as in I'd show you how it is in the ring, I just meant that I could explain the basics to you and help you to understand it a little. I'm sorry."

Shaking her head Claire smiled at him. "It's okay; I shouldn't have taken it that way to begin with. I know you better than that. I might just take you up on that though, since this is going to be an ongoing thing as far as an internship and the possibility that it could go permanent."

Matt looked at the clock and stood up. "I have to go; it's almost time for my match. I'll wait on you after so that we can go grab a bite to eat if you want."

Claire nodded and stood and walked around her desk to where Matt stood. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his went around her waist in a fierce hug. Anyone would have thought that they were a couple, only they knew better. They were at ease with each other and comfortable in their relationship, that was all. "Be safe out there tonight okay?"

"I will, I always am," Matt said as he placed a kiss to her forehead and turned to go take his place at the entrance ramp.

Returning to her desk, Claire turned to the monitor hanging on the wall. With a deep, nervous breath she picked up the remote and flipped the monitor on. She heard a pulse pounding beat coming from the monitor and then in a minute saw Matt bursting out through the curtain and into the arena. The fans went wild for him and he made his way to the ring, giving the audience high fives as he went. He never stopped smiling, and she saw in him a love for what he was doing. That was a love that she thought that she would never understand.

She watched the entire match, flinching and squeezing her eyes shut more times than she could count. Whenever Matt would take a particularly hard hit she would have to fight the urge to cry or turn the monitor off, but she won the fight every time. She considered it a small personal victory that there were no flash backs creeping in as she watched, and that there was no real personal fear, just a nagging worry that Matt would be hurt no matter how careful he was.

Her computer alerted her to a new email just as the match finished up and Matt was declared the winner. She flipped the monitor off and turned to her computer screen. Moving the mouse so that the screensaver would disappear she clicked on her inbox. Mr. Keirn had looked over her ideas and he wanted to begin working on one of them the next week. He praised her work and told her again that if she needed anything at all she only had to let him know. She smiled to herself and emailed back letting him know that she was glad that he liked her ideas and she looked forward to starting on bringing one of the ideas to fruition next week.

After hitting send she began to straighten her desk and to gather her things to leave for the night. She was looking forward to a late dinner with her friend after the time apart this week. Heading out to look for Missy before she left she ran right into Stephen.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run into you that way. I need to watch where I'm going."

Stephen fought reaching out to touch her arm as he said, "Its fine, there was no harm done." He smiled down at her trying to picture the petite little firecracker before him living in the hell that Matt had told him of. He just couldn't do it.

"If you say so," Claire said as she moved around him to head to the women's area in search of Missy. That man gave her the creeps and she knew that it was all because of his size and his obvious strength. Knowing that he made his money by beating on people with his large, fierce hands didn't help her either.

Letting herself into the women's locker room, Claire spotted Missy in the back corner, off to herself. She walked over to where she stood and smiled. "I got an email from Mr. Keirn a little while ago. He loved the ideas that we submitted and he wants us to choose one and once we do then next week we will start putting it into action."

Missy smiled broadly and wrapped her arms around Claire in a hug. "Thank you! The ideas were all yours but somehow you saw what I was wanting and you've found more than one road to get me there. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that!"

"Missy, I couldn't have done it without you there to help me along. We did this together and we will work it out together, and see it come to life together. I want you to be thinking on which idea you like the best and call me this week and let me know. Here is a copy of the concepts so that you can have it to look at and fall back on as you decide. If you need anything let me know okay?" Handing Missy the paper Claire smiled before waving and walking away.

Back out in the hallway she took a deep breath and held her head high. She was proud of what she was doing and she was actually enjoying the work, regardless of the setting it was in. She heard the ring bell ringing, announcing the end of a match. She didn't know if it was the last one or not but she thought that it wouldn't hurt to walk outside and wait on Matt there.

Within ten minutes of walking out the back door, fans started to fill up the parking lot area. Claire knew that the guys and girls would be headed out soon so she put her purse in her car and leaned back against the hood of the vehicle. She saw Matt when he walked out and heard the fans as they began calling him by his ring name. That was one thing that she had trouble dealing with, or at least it was one thing that had been a large part of the hurt last week. Hearing him being called a different name and seeing him respond as easily as if they were calling out Matt had made it seem as though he were leading a double life. She knew now that wasn't the case but the thought was still there, assaulting her brain against her will.

Matt caught her eye and smiled at her winking in greeting. He took time with all of the fans and it was a half an hour before he made it to her car. She couldn't fight a smile as she watched him, knowing that whether she understood it or not he brought enjoyment to these peoples life each week and he loved it. As he walked over to her she stood a little straighter and grinned at him.

"I feel like I should have a pen and a piece of paper, asking for your autograph or at the very least a camera to snap a picture with you."

"Has anyone ever told you that you are one hell of a smart ass Claire? Lucky for you I have a soft spot for smart asses." His smile as he spoke let her know that he was kidding, well to a degree.

"Lucky huh," Claire said. "I'd say you're the lucky one. You're lucky I don't mind a guy who gets his kicks in a violent dance with another brute."

Draping his arm over her shoulder he made a sad and pouty face. "I guess my luck isn't too great then, considering you wouldn't give that guy the time of day. Maybe I should just head home and wash away the heartbreak in a bottle of beer."

Swatting at his chest Claire laughed. "Who's the smart ass now?"

"That would be why you love me so," he grinned. "Where do you want to go eat or does it matter?"

"I really don't care I'm just famished. I haven't eaten since breakfast."

Matt gave her a look that told her that wasn't smart and she knew it. "How about we go grab some Chinese and take it back to my place?"

Claire gave him a strange look. In all the months that they had been friends she had never been to his apartment. He had always been the one to come to her house on the water, not that she had minded at all. "Sure, that sounds good."

"Why don't you leave your car here and ride with me? I don't live far and I will bring you back after we eat."

Grabbing her purse out of the front seat and locking her doors she climbed in the passenger seat of Matt's car. Just before closing the door she felt her blood run cold. The color drained from her face and she felt sick to her stomach in an instant. As Matt took his place behind the wheel he noticed her face and reached out to touch her shoulder.

"Claire, are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost or something."

Shaking her head and telling herself she was just being foolish she closed the car door and turned to Matt smiling. "I'm okay, just thought I saw something, but I didn't. It must be the hunger playing tricks with my mind. I told you I haven't eaten."

Taking her hand in his he looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Then let's go get you something. Are you sure that you're okay?"

"Positive," she said with one more glance over her shoulder, just to reassure herself that she hadn't seen what she could have sworn she saw.