Supportive as ever, Jay had taken an Uber to a bar in order to be out of the house before Lucy Thorne showed up for her dinner with Erin. Erin greatly appreciated that as three would have been a crowd when business needed to be discussed.

Lucy would be arriving any minute. Erin had asked her housekeeper, a young woman named Kayla Braxton who was a good cleaner and an even better chef, to prepare something nice for dinner. To compliment the meal, there would be expensive wine for the table. Erin had put on a smart black dress. She felt ready. As ready as she was going to get, anyway.

Just then, she heard the sound of a powerful car engine outside. The vehicle purred to a stop on the driveway. Erin had made sure the electronic gate at the bottom of the driveway had been left open for Lucy.

Remaining in her seat at the dining table, which Kayla had already set for dinner, Erin waited for her guest to be shown in. She heard a knock at the door, followed by Kayla going to answer it. She heard the two women's voices, and rose from her chair just before Lucy was shown into the open plan dining and living area. She made sure to smile despite her nervousness. A metaphorical game of poker might be about to start, depending how Lucy chose to approach this dinner and the deal Erin wanted to discuss. The first moments showed promise. Lucy walked in with a big, genuine smile on her face. Kayla had apparently taken her coat.

"Hello, Erin. Bloody hell, that must be some view you've got up here in daylight."

"Lucy. Welcome to Eagle's Nest." They shook hands. "Yes, it's breath-taking. I knew I was going to buy this place before I ever set foot inside the house."

"That I can believe."

"Please, have a seat." Erin motioned to one of the two places that had been set. They were opposite each other. Erin had thought that would be a better look than sitting at the head of the table.

"Thank you. What are we eating? I could eat a scabby horse."

Erin laughed at the joke as they both sat down, thinking once more that she actually liked Lucy. That was why she considered it vital that she would be her co-CEO and not one of the other board members.

"I actually don't know. But Kayla will be in with the wine any... ah, here she is."

Kayla entered the room with the wine bottle open and approached the table. She identified the wine and its year, then started to pour for Lucy.

"I'll have one glass. No more as I'm driving. I'll take water after this."

"What are you serving tonight, Kayla?" Erin asked the short, pretty woman with freckled cheeks.

"To start, Greek lemon chicken soup. Lamb shanks for the main. And my homemade cheesecake for dessert. I'll bring a pitcher of water in and some glasses."

"Sounds delicious, but I'm not a dessert person," Lucy said politely.

"With the size of Kayla's portions, that's not likely to matter. And I mean that in a good way," Erin said, not wanting to offend her employee, who she also happened to like.

"I don't like people to go hungry," Kayla said with a smile as she finished pouring for Erin. With that, she put the wine bottle on the table and left them to it.

Small talk ensued. Erin knew it was bad form to talk business until food was served. The conversation was mostly about Lucy's soccer team, Leicester City. Erin learned that they were not having a great time during the current season.

Kayla brought in the bowls of soup, set them on the table and left again. Lucy tried hers and gave her approval. Then it was time to get down to business.

"So, what would you like to discuss?" she asked.

Erin tried not to look nervous. "The situation with my dad. I'm sure that comes as no surprise. I'm going to take you into confidence here, Lucy. Dad's going to sign over enough stocks to me in order for me to have a controlling interest in the company, and he's going to step away."

"I wondered if he might," Lucy said, eating her soup and taking the announcement in her stride. "Why am I being told this now?"

"I think you've probably guessed," Erin said, hoping to do away with any jousting or beating around the bush. "I want to become Chairwoman and co-CEO. A co-CEO is needed, I believe, firstly in order to get the board to vote for the new regime, and second, quite frankly, to help me run the company. My decision to approach you first was an easy one. You're the person I'd like to work with."

Lucy sat and ate for almost a minute, considering what she had heard and eyeing Erin up. Her face gave little away. Erin decided she wouldn't want to play poker against the woman.

"Okay, here's where I'm at," Lucy said eventually. "Thank you for your kind words, and for approaching me. I like the way you've gone about it. You laid it all out with no flannel and no horse shit. So I'm going to do the same. I like you too, Erin, and I think we would make a good team running WWE. I think you do need the help because without it you'd be out of your depth. The way I see it, you'd run the wrestling side of things and I'd run the business side. Although as Chairwoman you'd naturally have final sign off on major decisions. How does that sound to you?"

"Fair," Erin said, encouraging Lucy to continue.

"My time, and this will require a lot of it, doesn't come cheap. I want you to sell me five per-cent of the company at market value."

Five per-cent, Erin thought as Lucy paused to allow her to digest it. Five per-cent of a company worth over five billion dollars was worth a lot of money. But she could see Lucy's point too. Why would she invest her time into WWE just for a salary? It wasn't worth it for someone who was already a multi-millionaire. Lucy wanted real skin in the game, and rightfully so. Five per-cent would make her the largest stock holder outside of the Voights.

Having accepted the concept, Erin considered the number. Five per-cent was a lot. But Lucy wasn't likely to negotiate down. Suddenly Erin realised why her dad had chosen sixty per-cent as the amount of stock to sign over to her, rather than fifty or fifty one. He had given her some to play with, for a situation like this.

"Just to help you while you consider it," Lucy said, having finished her soup. "I could have said ten per-cent, then we could have sat here and pissed around with numbers. But I think we'll strike up the best kind of partnership if we're open with each other. Five is a fair number, and I'm not interested in coming in for less. So that's the deal that's here to be done."

Don't rush it, Erin told herself, considering everything carefully and thinking of some refinements to the deal while finishing her soup. "Five per-cent," she agreed. "But I need it in writing as part of the agreement that you'll serve as co-CEO for five years. If that doesn't happen, the five per-cent comes back to me at the price you paid for it, or at current market value if that is lower. After five years we can make a decision on whether we continue together, or if I run the company by myself. Either way, after the five year period those stocks are yours."

Lucy sipped some wine and ruminated on the terms. "Sensible," was her verdict. "I'll give you five years. I doubt you'll need more before you can run the show yourself. Have paperwork drawn up and we'll get this done." She offered her hand across the table.

"Great," Erin said, shaking hands and smiling. Inside, a wave of relief and euphoria washed over her. The deal was done, and with that said, she was going to be in charge of the family business. It would take time, what with Hank needing to sign over the stocks, then the agreement with Lucy to be put into writing, but it would happen.

"Maybe we can stick a copy up our agreement Bischoff's arse?" Lucy said with a grin that made Erin burst out laughing.

"Trust me, I'd love to."

After the meal, which as predicted hadn't made it as far as dessert, Lucy had left, followed closely by Kayla. Left alone, Erin had gone to sit for a few minutes in the living room, trying to unwind a little. Another glass of wine helped. It was time to let Jay know the coast was clear. She typed out a text and sent it to him.

Lucy and Kayla have just left. xx

A reply came a minute or so later.

Jay: Okay, I'll head home soon. How did it go?

It went well. I'll tell you when you get here. Trying to unwind right now.

Jay: Great news. Don't worry, I'll help you unwind. x

I'll look forward to it. Love you. xx

While she waited for Jay to return, Erin stayed on the couch, spending most of the time sitting with her eyes closed, allowing some the great stress she was under to flow out of her. It felt good. Her work was always going to be stressful, but that was a different kind of stress to what she had been struggling with ahead of sitting down with Lucy. She had feared that she might not be able to secure control of her own company, and had dreaded what might happen then. Now that eventuality seemed highly unlikely, and that was such a relief.

Almost half an hour after the text message exchange, Jay arrived home. Erin was so glad to see him that she simply hugged him for several moments after he got into the house.

Jay kissed the top of her head. "You must be feeling like a lot of weight has been lifted off you? Either that or you're very glad to see me," he added as an attempt at humour.

She laughed lightly and pecked him on the lips. "Of course I'm glad to see you. Yes, it is a massive relief." They went through to the living area and sat down, and she told him in simple terms about the agreement that she had reached with Lucy.

Jay smiled at her, but she could tell it went over his head. "Erin, you know I don't understand all that business stuff. I'm a dumb wrestler with rocks in his head. If you say it's a good deal, I believe you. You did a great job getting Lucy on-board."

"You are not dumb! Don't say that about yourself," she scolded him. "How was your night anyway?"

"It was good. I went to the bar and sat there drinking. Got into conversation with a guy who happened to be from Chicago. He was a Cubs fan. We spent the night disagreeing about baseball. It was fun."

Erin had one of those moments where the depth and strength of the love she felt for her man really made itself known. "Jay, I'm so proud of you, you know? You sitting in a bar talking to a stranger shows so much growth. I can't even tell you how much I love you."

Her words meant a lot to Jay, she could see it in on his face. But he didn't know what to say. That was a problem he still had sometimes. She decided to help him out of the predicament.

"Come on, honey," she said taking his hand. "Let's go to bed and snuggle."

"Sounds like a good end to a good day."

A/N: Erin got a deal done with Lucy Thorne, albeit at the price of selling off five per-cent of the company. Do you think she made the right decision?

Next time, Erin and Jay will be heading down to Florida for their mini vacation with Raquel and Z.