Backstage at the convention centre that WWE had booked, a matter of minutes ahead of his meet and greet session, Jay found himself standing with Raquel. By chance, her VIP meet and greet had also been arranged for the Friday afternoon session.

"Still seems crazy that so many people would pay nearly two hundred bucks to see me," Raquel said to him.

Jay nodded. "I was thinking the same thing yesterday. About myself, I mean," he quickly clarified in case he offended her.

"I can't imagine you look forward to it? Must be tough for you," she said sympathetically.

"Yeah, but I'll get through it. I focus on giving the people value for money."

"That's a good way to look at it," Raquel said thoughtfully.

Jay looked at his friend for a moment. She had made an effort for the occasion, dressed up in white pants and stylish a black sleeveless top that showed off her impressive physique. She had gotten makeup done and her hair straightened. She was a beautiful woman for sure, not that he looked at her that way. He could only ever see his best friend, not someone he might sleep with, even if he wasn't happily committed to his relationship with Erin.

The staff at the meet and greets were mostly volunteers, who could be easily spotted by their bright red t-shirts with black WWE logos on the back. One of them opened the door to the convention centre's main hall, signalling to the wrestlers that they could go through. Fans would have started to be admitted half an hour earlier, and would be lining up at whichever stage they wanted to visit first.

"You go ahead," Raquel said to Jay. "I'm going to quickly grab a coffee to take with me."

"Alright. Have fun," Jay said, and headed for the door. The fans were kept away from the door by a steel railing about thirty feet away. Jay followed the laid out walkway and one of the volunteers directed him to VIP stage number one. As he approached, he saw that his line was already filling up. The fans there started cheering and calling his name.

Climbing up the steps onto the stage, Jay found the usual setup. There was a metal chair behind a table that was covered in black cloth. Across from the table there was a photographer, his camera set on a tripod. Fans were allowed to bring one item for him to sign, and were allowed one picture with him. They were not allowed to come behind the table for the picture. A burly security guard stood at the edge of the stage in case anyone pushed their luck, but Jay had never experienced that. Fans who paid good money to get in did not want to be thrown out again.

Jay was sitting down and making himself comfortable when he heard the fans at the next stage cheering. Their wrestler had appeared. He looked over and saw that it was Raquel. For now, until her upcoming character change happened, she was a babyface. That allowed her to really play up to the fans.

"How's everyone doing?" Jay quite clearly heard her shout.

There was a loud cheer.

"What do you think of Jay Halstead?" she shouted next. He instantly figured out she was having some with him, trying to get them to boo him because he was a heel. It worked. The fans in front of her stage booed.

To Jay's surprise, the fans in his line got involved, counteracting the boos by starting to chant his name. It made him laugh, which wasn't something he had expected to do for the next hour or so.

He got to work meeting his fans, shaking hands, exchanging pleasantries, signing whatever merchandise they brought forward and posing for their pictures, remaining seated behind the table.

During one of the brief breaks between fans, he glanced over at Raquel's stage. He had to smile when he saw that she had moved her table out of the way, and was standing with her fans for their pictures. That was technically against regulations, but she wouldn't get in trouble for it. It would give the fans a better experience and better pictures with her. When he looked over, Raquel was meeting a girl who wasn't as tall as her, hardly a surprise, but was quite well built. They were posing with the fan clenching the bicep of her right arm, while Raquel pointed at it and looked at it with a theatrical, wide-eyed 'holy shit!' expression on her face. Jay had to laugh. Raquel was so much fun, in a way that he could only dream of, and she was having an absolute blast with her fans. At the same time, it made him feel a little sad that he would probably never have the level of confidence that she was blessed with. Maybe with Erin and Raquel's help he could improve, though.


Friday night's job was to attend the Hall of Fame ceremony. Jay wasn't involved in inducting anyone, so all he had to do was sit, watch and listen. But he still wasn't looking forward to it. Black tie events were too formal for him, and the ceremony seemed to drag on forever. As far as he recalled, last year's one had lasted more than four hours.

At least this year he had the pleasure of arriving with Erin on his arm. They had been driven to the arena where the ceremony was being held in a limo, which had just dropped them off at the red carpet.

"Do I look okay?" Erin asked before they stepped forward, towards the cameras, both photo and video. There was even an interviewer – something else Jay wished he could avoid.

He looked at her. "Okay? You look mind-blowing."

And that was an understatement, he thought. She was wearing and a black designer dress that showed some cleavage and plenty of leg. Classy and beautiful at the same time. It was no surprise to him at all that she had added elbow length leather gloves to complete the look. Any excuse, he thought with an inner smile. Her hair and makeup were on point. Her stylist had given her hair a wavy look that Jay very much approved of.

"Well, thank you," she said with a smile. "And you are the most handsome man here by a large margin."

Jay seriously doubted that, but he appreciated the compliment. "Try to get us away from the interviewer as soon as you can," he said as they linked arms.

Erin didn't start walking. Instead, she had a question. "Jay, how is it that you hate the idea of being interviewed by that woman over there, but you can cut amazing promos in the ring in front of fifteen thousand people and not think twice about it?"

He shrugged. "I guess I don't look at it the same way. I'm not interacting with the fans, least of all one on one. I'm performing. Can we get this over with now please?"

"Sure. But try to look like you're having a good time, okay?"

"Will do."

They walked forward and posed for photos for a few minutes. Photographers shouted out requests for them to stand or look a certain way. Some of the requests were obliged, then they moved on to the interviewer. She asked each of them a couple of generic questions. Jay lied and said he was honoured as always to attend the Hall of Fame ceremony. The truth was he would have rather been back at the hotel, having room service food and making love to Erin, even if that was exactly what they had done the previous night.

"See, there's wasn't anything to complain about," Erin said cheerfully when they were done, moving off towards the arena entrance.

"Remember you said that when you're sat next to your dad's new squeeze all night," Jay replied in kind. He figured if she could lightly needle him, he could do the same to her. She hadn't exactly made a secret of the fact that she didn't like Hank's new partner, and Jay could understand why based on her description of Amanda, or Mandy. What would a thirty year old hot blonde with lip fillers and butt implants possibly see in a man twice her age who wasn't anything to look at? Money, of course. Jay imagined everyone but Hank could figure that out.

Erin cringed. "Ugh, don't. I'll be sitting one side of him, she can go on the other side. Ideally like a mile away on the other side."

"So you're saying you're not a fan? When did you meet her anyway? You didn't say a word about her until yesterday."

"I haven't met her yet. I was hoping she wouldn't be here," Erin said grumpily as they walked through a short backstage hallway, and straight out into the arena. By Monday night, this same arena would be all set for Monday Night Raw. But now there was a stage with a stylish glass lectern featuring the WWE logo, and all of the floor area was filled with seating for the WWE staff and talent. The rest of the arena was sold out, with fans who wanted to attend already filing in. Some were already seated.

"Dad told me about her a few nights back," Erin was saying. "He told me he broke up with Trish, who I liked, now he's got this bimbo. I looked her up and there are a bunch of pictures online of her flaunting herself. She used to be a bikini model or some crap like that."

Jay and Erin were not the first arrivals among the WWE contingent. Some of those who were there were standing around in little groups talking. With four hours of sitting down ahead of them once proceedings got underway, people were not too keen to make an early start.

"We'll be front row centre," Erin said, heading that way.

Erin Voight plus one, Jay thought, imagining that was what the invite would have said, if invites were issued for the event. Still, a front row seat was a front row seat. As they approached the front row from behind, Jay saw that Hank was there, standing up and looking around, probably for Erin. He saw them and smiled. Standing beside him was a pretty blonde in a very dark red dress that showed plenty of cleavage. Amanda Rose, Jay thought, wondering if the tits were real. He couldn't help himself. He put the odds at about even. He considered making some kind of stepmom joke for about half a second, but he quickly aborted that idea. All It would do was upset Erin. It certainly wouldn't amuse her.

Hank looked to be in what was the closest he ever got to a happy mood. He greeted Erin first, with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, sweetheart."

"Hi, dad," Erin said warmly.

Jay had to give Hank one thing. Regardless of what other flaws he had, he loved his daughter dearly. That was admirable, and in some ways Jay was jealous of it. Why couldn't his parents have been like that with him?

"Jay. Good to see you," Hank said next, offering his hand. He might still not have been thrilled with Erin's relationship choice, but the tension between them was gone now.

"Hank," Jay said, firmly shaking his hand.

Next, Hank made the introductions to his new lover. Amanda Rose was hot, Jay thought, recalling the moronic fan at the airport. But hotter than Erin? No way. And Erin did it without lip fillers, fake eyelashes and all the other bullshit. He noticed that she was wearing a very expensive-looking silver watch. Probably something that Hank had lavished on her.

"Erin, Jay, this is Mandy Rose. Mandy, my daughter Erin and her partner Jay."

"Hi," Erin said, shaking hands. Jay noted the lack of a further pleasantry, which was unusual for Erin when meeting someone. She really was not keen on her dad dating someone younger than her. But then, why would she be?

"Hi, Erin. It's good to meet you."

Jay decided to be polite when his turn to shake hands came. He had no reason to dislike the woman. "Nice to meet you," he said, finding her handshake quite firm. Her arms were quite toned though. She obviously knew her way around a gym.

"You too, Jay," Mandy said with a smile.

"You're here next to me, Erin," Hank said, moving aside so that she and Jay could get by him.

As he did so, Jay saw that he was going to be sitting next to Clementine, who was already seated. He wasn't surprised that she was on the front row. Hank liked to drop hints to the fans, in this case letting them know that Clem was in town and a return might be on the cards at some point over the course of the weekend's shows. Next to Clementine was a short, pretty blonde woman with pink die in the ends of her hair. She wasn't a wrestler, so she had to be Clementine's date. Jay hadn't even known she was gay. That was what he got for not socialising with people, he supposed. Well, he was trying to improve on that, with Erin's help and support.

Jay moved past Hank before Erin did, as that suited the seating arrangement. As he did so, Clementine stopped talking to her partner and turned to look at him. All of the seats had pieces of paper with names on them, so she would have known ahead of time who was coming to sit next to her.

"Jay. How are you?" Clementine asked, politely getting up to greet him. She was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and a tie. It was what some would have thought of as a traditionally male way to dress, but it looked great on her in Jay's opinion. Needless to say there was no baseball cap and no pig tails.

"Good thanks, Clem," he said. "You look good."

Clementine smiled. "Thank you. So do you. Meet my girlfriend, Alexa Bliss. Alexa, Jay Halstead, and Erin Voight."

Erin was now standing beside Jay and they both exchanged pleasantries with Alexa, who had a silver dress on which complimented her small but delightful figure. Her smile was radiant too. Clem was a lucky woman, Jay thought, but still Alexa was no match for Erin. They exchanged some pleasantries, then they all settled into their seats. Jay prepared himself for what promised to be a long haul.


A couple of hours later, one of the night's Hall of Fame inductees was giving a particularly heartfelt speech, having thanked Hank, as well as a whole list of people he had worked with in WWE, both as tag team partners and as opponents.

"And most of all, I'd like to thank my wife Suzy and our two sons Matthew and Mitchell. I wasn't around for you as much as I would have liked..." He paused mid sentence and looked down at the lectern, obviously hit hard by his emotions and crying.

Jay found himself with a lump in his throat suddenly. He looked at Erin and saw tears in her eyes. It was a really emotional moment, having a stronger effect on Jay than he would have expected.

Erin looked at him and squeezed his hand, which had been holding her lap for a while. "I love you, Jay. With my whole heart," she said quietly.

"I love you too," he croaked back, past the lump in his throat. With my whole heart, he thought, knowing that they were words he would never forget.


A/N: Thank you to everyone for the feedback on the previous chapter. I meant a lot to see so many people happy to see Clementine.

Next time Jay and Erin will be having dinner with Hank and Mandy. How do you think that will go?