"I could really do without this," Erin said.

"Tell me about it," Jay grumbled.

They were back in their hotel suite after the Hall of Fame ceremony, which had gone on for more than four hours, as Jay had expected. He was tired, and certainly didn't want to go for dinner with Hank and Mandy. It was too late in the day for dinner to feel right, apart from anything else. Hank had probably had to pay the hotel to keep the restaurant open for the wrestlers.

"I'm not going to bother changing. Let's get down there and get it over with," Erin said. Her only concession to the less formal occasion was to remove her gloves and throw them on the bed. She tried to put a braver face on the situation by changing the subject. "You know how proud I am and how happy I am for you that you've made so much progress with your confidence and stuff?"

"Yeah?" he asked, wondering where this was heading.

"You've formed a strong friendship with Raquel, which is great. But that was her idea, and she put a lot of the early work in. I've got a bit of a challenge for you. It came to me when you were talking to Clementine earlier. Why don't you see if you can make friends with her?"

"With Clem? I guess I could try," Jay said hesitantly. Her wording was a little patronising, but he knew Erin didn't mean it like that. She was trying to push him to continue his personal development. The only way he did that was with her gently pushing him forward, and supporting him, so he really did appreciate it. Tiredness was probably why her choice of words wasn't the best. He decided to accept the challenge, and put forward one of his own.

"Okay," he said. "I'll try to approach Clem at some point and see what happens. Can't say I'm confident, but that's what I'm trying to work on, I guess. While we're talking about challenges, I've got one for you."

Now ready to leave, Erin looked at him and slightly raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I want you to give Mandy a fair shake, until, if, you get a reason not to. Yes, I get why you feel the way you do about her and the relationship with your dad, but try not to judge. Maybe it is genuine between them?"

"I'd like to give her a fair shake alright," Erin said with a scowl on her face. "A shake by the fucking neck."

"Erin, try to go in with a more open mind. For your dad. Okay?"

She sighed, relenting, and came to him for a hug. "Fine. I'll try not to bite her head off. But the minute she steps out of line..."

"I get it," Jay assured her. He kissed her on the forehead. "Just give it a fair shot. It's for the best."

For once it was Jay giving advise and Erin taking it in. "For my dad, and for you," she agreed. "Thank you, honey. I appreciate you having my back."

Honey, Jay noted. She hadn't called him that before. Until now he hadn't particularly liked the word as a term of affection, but now all of a sudden he did like it because she had used it for him.

Erin pecked him on the lips, then stepped away from his embrace. "We'd better get down there," she said.

"Let's do it. The sooner we eat, the sooner we get to bed."

They made their way down to the ground floor and into the restaurant. There was a notice outside the doors saying that only WWE employees were permitted to enter. Jay and Erin passed by the security guard on sight alone. Apparently he recognised them.

"There they are," Erin said, spotting Hank and Mandy sitting at a table at the far end of the room. It was a suitable distance away from the other diners, Jay saw. Surprisingly, quite a few of the wrestlers had shown up to eat after the long night over at the arena. On the way across the restaurant, Jay passed by Adam Ruzek and Kim Burgess at a table for two. Ruzek acknowledged him with a nod.

"Ruze," Jay said, nodding back to him.

"Hey, dad," Erin said, approaching the 'top table'.

"Erin. Jay," Hank said, not getting up. "How did you find the ceremony?"

"Long," Erin said frankly as they sat down. "How did you find it, Mandy?"

At least she's making an effort, Jay thought, giving Hank and Mandy a smile in greeting.

"I enjoyed it," Mandy said, sipping from a glass of red wine. There was a bottle on the table that Hank must have ordered, Jay realised. Both Hank and Mandy were in the same clothes they had worn at the Hall of Fame ceremony. They had likely come straight to the restaurant afterwards.

"I guess it has some novelty to it when you don't know anything about wrestling," Erin said, her tone quite condescending towards Mandy.

"Erin," Hank said, gently chastising her. Jay felt annoyed to, after specifically asking her not to behave like that.

"What?" Erin objected, looking at Hank.

"It's okay," Mandy said to Hank, sounding like she had been expecting some rough treatment from Erin. Jay supposed you would have to be a complete idiot not to expect your lover's daughter to have a problem if you were younger than she was.

"I wouldn't say I know nothing about wrestling. I've watched since I was a teenager. Listen, Erin, I believe in talking straight with people. This is awkward for you, and I understand why. It's awkward for me too. What I don't want is to be fighting with you. If we go down that road, everyone at this table is going to be miserable. So can we try not to do that?"

That sounded fair enough to Jay, but the question wasn't directed to him.

"We can try," Erin conceded. "But since we're talking straight with each other, here's where I stand. I don't like you being with my dad. I don't trust you, and I especially don't trust your motives."

Hank looked angry, but he kept his mouth shut and let Mandy respond for herself.

"Then I'm going to have to prove you wrong, Erin."

"That's a whole lot of proving you've got to do," Erin said.

"So, where did you guys meet?" Jay asked, wanting to change the direction of the conversation quickly. He felt incredibly awkward, and wanted to leave. But he knew that wasn't a realistic option.

"Hank works out at the gym I own," Mandy said.

Own, Jay noted. Maybe she wasn't a gold-digging bimbo after all.

"You own a gym?" Erin asked.

"Yes. It's about ten minutes from WWE HQ. I own three donut shops too."

"Donut shops and a gym. Makes sense," Erin said. The sarcasm was obvious.

"Erin, come on," Jay said quietly. He wanted her to make more of an effort with Mandy, especially after she had pledged to do so.

"Alright," Erin sighed, relenting. "Sorry, Mandy, there was no need for that. What made you want to open donut shops?"

"I love working out, and donuts are my guilty pleasure. So I went into business with both of those. Both business are doing well, I'm proud to say."

The business talk served as something of an ice-breaker, and the conversation began to flow a little better, much to Jay's relief. There was still tension in the air, but it wasn't unbearable.

Due to the lateness of the hour, they all only ordered a main course. In just under an hour, the couples went their separate ways, and Jay and Erin returned to their suite.

"Glad that's over," Erin said as soon as the door was closed. "Can we go to bed now? I'm dying on my feet, and I've got to wrestle tomorrow night."

"Bed sounds good," Jay said tiredly. He was already over by the bed, starting to undress.

Erin came up behind him and put her arms around his waist, hugging him. "I let you down didn't I, down there?"

"No. But you did come close," he said, conveying with his tone that she was already forgiven.

"I just couldn't help it, Jay. Like I said to her, I don't trust her motives."

"To be honest with you? I didn't dislike her. I'd have to get to know her better to form a better opinion, but I didn't get red flags. And she apparently has two successful businesses of her own so it's not like she's an airhead who sees Hank as a sugar daddy."

Erin grunted a laugh. "No, she sees him as a sugar daddy without being an airhead. That's probably even worse."

Jay turned around and kissed her. "I don't think she does. But either way, let's get to bed. You've got a match tomorrow, like you said. You need your rest."

"God, I hope I don't screw it up. I'm nervous, Jay."

He could see that in her eyes without her telling him. He kissed her again, this time on the tip of the nose. Why he chose there, he wasn't sure, but he liked it once he did it. "You won't screw up," he said reassuringly. "You've learned all the basics you need, and you'll rehearse most of the match with Sylvie tomorrow morning."

"I know," Erin said. "But rehearsing it with Sylvie in an empty stadium is a different thing to doing the match for real in front of 75,000 people."

"True. Like I said though, you'll be fine. You're a very, very talented actress. That's as important as the moves you can do. Most of the battle is getting the fans to believe in what they're seeing. You always manage that. You'll put on a good match and you'll have a blast doing it. Trust me. I only wish you'd tell me what you've written for it. I want to know what's going to happen!"

"I do trust you. Thank you for having confidence in me. But you know I'm not going to tell you what's going to happen."

Jay sighed. "Yes, church and state, I know. I guess I'll have to watch and enjoy along with everyone else."

Erin gave him a big grin. "Yes, you will."


A/N: An early Merry Christmas from me to everyone who will be celebrating. Cherish the time with your families. I know I will.

What do you think will happen in Erin's match with Sylvie?