Jay had decided to wait to give Erin the news about Hailey reconsidering her opposition to Maya Mizrachi being re-hired until he could do it in person. The main reason being so that he could see her reaction. He knew how much bringing Maya back to WWE meant to her.

Resisting telling her as soon as he got home from his couple of days on the road hadn't been easy, however he managed to hold back until they had finished dinner and settled down together on the couch.

"Oh, I meant to tell you, Clem and Hailey asked to see me backstage the other day. Asked me to pass on to you that after some consideration, Hailey has changed her answer about Maya coming back. She's a yes now."

Erin's eyes lit up. "And you're casually telling me this now? We talked on the phone a bunch of times while you were on the road!"

He laughed, enjoying her reaction as much as he had expected to. "Alright, you got me. Truth is I wanted to see the look on your face when I told you. It was worth it. So, I guess you can call Maya tomorrow, or whatever. It's in time for the Royal Rumble, if you want to get her involved in that."

"Things would have to come together fast to make that happen now, but it's not impossible."

As she spoke, Jay could figuratively sense the cogs turning in her head. He had put some thought into Maya's return in the past day or so himself. Since he had been asked to have some input on creative regarding Clementine, he figured he had a chance of Erin considering what he had to say on the matter. As ever, stepping out of his comfort zone wasn't easy. The fact that it was Erin has was talking to helped a lot though.

"I've got a question for you. Why do you plan on having Maya team up with Clem, Raquel and Kylie when she comes back? It doesn't make sense to me. Clem's group will be heels by then. Hailey is also a heel, with Sylvie's group. Surely Clem vs The Wildcat and Upton vs The Wildcat is where the money is? Surely she needs to come back as a babyface? Apart from anything else, the roster would be very top heavy on heels."

Erin looked at him and seemed to go through a number of emotions as she chewed over what he had said. An element of surprise at being challenged. Pleased by his demonstration of increased confidence. And most importantly for him, genuine interest in what he had said. His idea wasn't going to be dismissed. It was going to be considered, at least.

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully after a long silence. "You know, you might be onto something there. Now that you've said it, I can see your point about where the Wildcat money is. No doubt people would want to see her against Clem, and against Hailey given their history. I'm going to think on it. It's so good to get input from you, Jay. Thank you."

"It's good to be able to help. Or try to," he said happily.

Erin moved closer and gave him a kiss. "Want to have a drink and fool around?"

"How about having a drink and making a start on the wedding planning? Then we can fool around."

Erin gave him one of those impossibly beautiful smiles. "That's a plan and a half."

A few days later, Jay had taken the WWE private jet down to Orlando. The fact that he was getting used to travelling like that made him a little uneasy. Erin's lifestyle was becoming his lifestyle. He supposed that had been inevitable from the moment their relationship had gotten serious.

Today was the day he was visiting Clementine and Alexa. The agenda involved talking at length about Clem's character changes and future creative direction, followed by dinner, followed by spending the night at their house. He had expected to be dreading it more than he was, so far. That was another sign of his newly-increased confidence, he realised.

What was there to dread really? Clementine was a nice person who he enjoyed talking to. From what little interaction he'd had with Alexa, she seemed to be too. The fact that she was an FBI body language expert, or whatever hell the job description was, felt intimidating though. Very intimidating, actually, now that he considered it again.

Clementine had messaged him to say she would pick him up from the airport. That embarrassed him somewhat because he had left her to take Uber rides to and from Eagle's Nest when she had visited him. There was still more progress he could make in terms of relating to other people and seeing things from their point of view. At the time, he hadn't even considered that going to pick her up or driving her to the airport would have been nice things to do – things that Clem would have appreciated. He would learn from that.

Walking into the arrivals area, he spotted Clem right away. It wasn't hard since she had her usual baseball cap on. She almost never went without it unless she was wrestling a match. That was the first thing on the list of changes for her new character, he decided in that moment. For badass heel Clem, the baseball cap had to go. Whether he could convince her of that was another matter.

Clem saw him approaching and walked forward to meet him. She smiled, as did Jay, yet there was that moment of awkwardness again just like the day at Eagle's Nest because neither of them quite knew what kind of greeting felt right.

"We're going to have to decide what to do in these situations," Jay said, trying to find humour in it. He was grateful to see Clem smile again.

"Yes. Don't think shaking hands is right, but is a hug right either? I wish I didn't have a brain that insists on overthinking everything."

"I hear that," Jay said emphatically. "Why we don't we agree that a hug is the right thing, and we'll get better at it over time?" Look at me, he thought, helping someone else with their insecurities. Sometimes he barely recognised himself these days.

"Okay. Next time we'll do that. Anyway, thanks very much for coming down. It means a lot that you're doing this to work on my character."

"Hey, we're going to be doing a lot of work together now that I'm your agent. Might have to get you to move to New York – cut down the travel in the interest of climate change."

The joke made Clem laugh. The both knew that visiting each other's houses would be the exception not the rule. Once the initial leg work on the big character change was done, they could talk business on the phone or in person at arenas.

"Don't think I'll be able to sell Lexi on that one. Let's head out to my car."

They started walking towards the exit, Jay pulling his travel case along behind him. "Lexi? Should I call her that? Or should I use Alexa?"

"Oh, uh, you should probably use Alexa. Lexi is the name I use, if you know what I mean?"

"I get it. Alexa it is." Again, Jay's unease reared its head at the prospect of spending time in the company of the tiny but so formidable FBI agent. Or employee. He didn't even know which of those descriptors was right. Hell, at least she's not CIA, he thought with a hint of amusement.

They made it to Clem's car, a white Range Rover that Jay suspected was a top of the line model, without being approached by anyone. As two highly-recognisable public figures, Jay figured they had been lucky. As he got into the car, he had a brief flare up of jealousy when he found himself wondering if Clem was more famous than him these days. Possibly, he had to admit. He wrestled less and worked backstage more these days, whereas she was at the peak of her career and popularity. Still, it wasn't a competition, he told himself. And he could hardly do a good job as her producer and agent if he was going to feel resentment if their work was successful.

"So, how did you get Hailey Upton to agree to Maya Mizrachi coming back?" he asked as Clem got the car moving, slowly driving around the parking lot towards the exit.

"I don't think I should reveal private conversations. No offence, I just think it's wrong to that."

"That's fair," Jay conceded. "However you did it, well done. Didn't expect it to happen myself."

"I'm glad Hailey agreed, but Maya has a lot to prove. Has she changed her lifestyle and her behaviour? Can she still go in the ring after a long time away from WWE? I'm not going to tolerate any bullshit in the locker room."

"Honestly? I think she has changed. I met her with Kelly Severide at the office, and we had a very positive conversation. I won't say more about it." Two can play that game, he thought. "As for the not tolerating bullshit thing? Good. That's exactly why the other women look to you for leadership."

Clementine didn't say anything to that. She used navigating traffic as an excuse to work in a silence before changing the subject.

"One thing I've been thinking about is a new nickname for my character. The Diamond in the Rough is outdated, and doesn't fit a new evolution of Clementine. I've spent ages thinking about it and I came up with several ideas. None of them were good enough though."

"Changing the nickname did occur to me too," Jay said. "Only one idea really stood out for me: The final boss of the women's division."

Clem glanced at him and made a hang gesture that said he had just nailed it in one attempt. "That's brilliant. Maybe a bit long. The Final Boss. Now that is great. Works perfectly for what Erin wants me to do – showing up infrequently to beat someone's ass and then disappear again. Also having the word boss in there is good in relation to me having Raquel, Maya and Kylie under me. We should pitch it to Erin."

"Just like that, we've got a new name," Jay said, pleasantly surprised by his own creativity.

Clem smiled at him. He saw in it the first sign of her trusting him with her character. Any wrestler worthy of the description was protective over their character, so it meant a lot to him. It also showed that there was a real chance of his role as her agent and producer being a notable success. They were on the same wavelength.

"We've got a new name assuming Erin approves it," she pointed out.

"Let's be honest, Erin didn't get us working together so that she could veto all of our ideas."

"Of course not. But she still might veto that one."

"She might. But she won't," he said confidently.

The work-related conversation continued for the rest of the journey to Clementine's house. Although work-related, Jay enjoyed it. Talking wrestling wasn't really work for him, it was more like a hobby that he happened to get paid a lot of money to enjoy.

Clementine and Alexa lived in one of those neighbourhoods that fairly rich people, most city workers who commuted, tended to live in. It was all impeccable green lawns, houses that looked like they were freshly painted, and what few cars were on the driveways at this time of day were all the latest models. Jay had been to school with kids who lived in a neighbourhood like this. He had despised every single one of them and their parents, and he didn't feel much better about this characterless neighbourhood. Not that he planned on saying that to Clem.

"This is us," Clem said, pulling onto a driveway of a house like all the others. "And Lexi's home, great."

Jay had already figured that out because there was a black BMW parked on the driveway. It too was a new model, and was freshly washed, gleaming in the sun. The blandness of the whole scene was the last thing on his mind though. He hadn't spoken to Alexa since finding out what she did for a living. Now that the moment was at hand, he was dreading it. He was going to feel like his every word and action were being analysed to the fullest extent. That was the last thing he needed or wanted. How Clementine was able to live happily in those circumstances was beyond him.

"You okay? She doesn't bite. You've met her plenty of times," Clem said, looking at him as she killed the Jeep's engine. She had evidently seen a look on his face that he hadn't meant to be there.

It hit Jay that he had lapsed into negativity and self-doubt. Why did he need to dread being around Alexa and her body language and statement analysis expertise? He was a good person and he had nothing to hide. Still, the prospect of being studied by that pretty five foot tall woman was terrifying. Actually, it was a test. That was what it really was. A test of the progress he thought he was making. If he could conduct himself with confidence around Alexa, that would speak volumes.

"I, uh, feel a bit intimidated," he admitted, feeling embarrassed by it even though Clementine would appreciate and respect the honesty.

To his surprise, she put a hand on his knee in a reassuring manner. "Really, it'll be fine. Lexi's a wonderful person. You'll feel welcome in our home, and we'll have a great time when we go out for dinner tonight. Trust me."

Those were the key words. Trust was what they were trying to build. Showing that he trusted her was important.

"Okay," was all he said, but it was a reply that carried a lot of importance.

A/N: Jay is intimidated by the prospect of spending time around Alexa. How do you think he will manage once they are face to face?