"I've been looking forward to this," Erin said.
"Me too," Jay replied honestly. There were worse ways to spend a morning than on a private jet with his fiancée. They had just been driven out to the WWE-branded jet on one of the aprons at JFK airport. Today's flight was going to take them down to Orlando, where they would be visiting the WWE Performance Center.
"So glad we don't have to fly commercial," Erin said.
The jet sat with its door open, which served as the steps when it was opened. The plane was ready and waiting for action, its two rear-mounted engines running. It would be cold inside when they got on-board, but Jay knew from experience that it would warm up quickly once the door was closed.
He followed Erin up the steps. Just inside the plane, their stewardess was waiting for them. She was a tall blonde with a southern accent, named Lacey. She was good at her job, with an ability to judge when to attend to passengers, and when to leave them to their business or to relax.
"Good morning, Ms Voight. Mr Halstead," Lacey said politely. "I have fresh coffee for you, just how you like it."
"You know me too well, Lacey," Erin said pleasantly.
"Morning," Jay added as he walked past the stewardess.
As Lacey set about closing the door, Erin and Jay sat down on comfortable leather seats, opposite each other at a table. There were other seats available, but this was where they always sat when they flew together. Often, Erin had her laptop out to do some work, but not now. Not yet, at least. Her travel bag had been dumped on the seat beside her. Jay had left his just inside the plane, for Lacey to attend to.
"God, it's cold today," Erin complained, rubbing her hands together. Inevitably, Jay thought, she was wearing leather gloves. Today's were one of multiple black pairs she had. He was sure she was enjoying wearing them.
"Don't pretend you're complaining," he said, and they both knew what he meant.
"Sshhh," Erin said with a grin on her face and her cheeks reddening a bit. She didn't want a glove conversation with Lacey nearby.
Jay chuckled. "We'll return to that subject later then."
"At the hotel," Erin suggested.
The NXT show would finish quite late, so rather than red eye it back to New York, Erin had decided they would book a hotel suite and fly back in the morning. It worked for Jay – they seemed to have a lot of sex in hotel suites. It seemed like that was what Erin had in mind.
"We'll be taking off shortly," Lacey told them now that the door was closed. "Other than coffee, is there anything I can get you?"
"No, thank you. Just the coffee," Erin said. And with that, they settled in for the flight.
Hours later, they got out of a car in front of the Performance Center. It was a non-descript former warehouse with a WWE logo on the front of it. From the outside, it was nothing special at all. In Jay's opinion, inside it was a very special place. Trainees came here to learn how to become WWE wrestlers. The many athletic aspects of the sport were taught here, as well as the acting side of things. Promo class had been one of Jay's favourite aspects when he had been taught here.
"You know, I was watching a video yesterday of one of Clem's first NXT matches," Erin said. "She looked so young, and so green, coming out with some bland, generic ring gear and crappy music, and no crowd reaction whatsoever. She was a total nobody. Remarkable."
"That's how everyone starts," Jay said with a smile.
"Right, but Clem's the first woman to have made it to the level of being up there with men as one of the top stars in the company, and to earn massive money. I love what that means for all of the women who come here to learn. They have seen that it's possible for a woman to truly make it. In there right now, we might have a star waiting to emerge who is as big or even bigger than Clem. And that's without even thinking about the guys. I'll be calling at least one of them up to the main roster today too, on Kelly's recommendation.
"Sounds like you've got it all planned out." By now, Jay was more than used to Erin not sharing her business decisions or plans with him. That was just how their relationship worked, and he was comfortable with it being that way.
She gave him a little grin that for some reason turned him on in an instant. "You know me. Let's go in. We're about to give these guys a big surprise."
Jay knew that Crockett Marcel, a former wrestler who now ran NXT, was the only one who knew he and Erin were coming today. Erin had instructed him to keep it that way. Thinking back to when he had been a trainee just getting started in WWE, Jay knew that he might have shit himself if Hank Voight had shown up, with one of the company's top wrestlers by his side. Now Erin was the boss, and that was what she was about to do to the people who were inside right now, thinking they were going through a normal day honing their skills.
"After you," Jay said after opening the building's door. He held it open for her.
"Thank you," Erin said.
The receptionist was the first one to get the big surprise. She kept her composure well, but Jay had seen the 'oh shit' look on her face for a moment.
"Ms Voight. Mr Halstead. Good morning. I... we... we're expecting you."
"Morning," Erin said pleasantly. "Don't worry, Crockett's expecting us. Would you have him come out please?"
"Of course."
As the woman picked her phone up, Jay looked around the small reception area. All it contained was the reception desk as a door to the rest of the facility that required an ID card to be scanned in order to unlock it. Ironically, neither Jay or even Erin had one.
Less than a minute later, the door opened and Crockett emerged, looking happy to welcome them. "Erin! It's good to see you."
"Hey, Crockett," Erin said, and they exchanged a handshake.
"Jay. Good to see you, brother."
"Crockett. You look good, man," Jay said before they hugged each other. At one point, near to the end of Crockett's in-ring career, he and Jay had been a tag team for about six months. Jay fondly recalled those days, aware that he had learned a lot from the experience.
"You too. It's good to see you stepping into the management side of things."
Jay was a bit confused by that. He was about to say that he wasn't stepping into the management side of things, but Crockett had already returned his attention to Erin.
"I didn't say anything to anyone, as you asked. They're all training right now. Am I right in thinking you're down here to steal some of my wrestlers?" His choice of language had humour behind it, and it made Erin laugh.
"That's right. I'm going to be calling up Blake Gallo and Kylie Estevez to the main roster."
Crockett smiled broadly, proud of the people he had trained, and delighted for them. "Good choices. They're both ready. How do you want to let them know?"
"I think we'll call them into your office individually."
"Sounds good. You've been here before so I know you don't need the guided tour. What do you say we take a walk around the rings and observe some training?"
Erin clapped her hands together in anticipation. "Let's do it." She looked at Jay and smiled, which in turn made him smile. She was really enjoying herself.
"Follow me," Crockett said.
Jay allowed Erin to go ahead of him through the door, then through another one into the main room of the Performance Center. There were eight wrestling rings in there, all of which currently had wrestlers working in them. The trio reached the first ring before anyone became aware of their presence. Then, looking around the room, Jay saw several people with the 'oh shit' look on their faces, and word started spreading that Erin Voight and Jay Halstead had just walked in.
The ring they had approached happened to have Blake Gallo in it, working a practice tag team match with three other trainees. The action stopped when they noticed Erin and Jay.
"You can carry on," Crockett called up to them.
"We're just having a look around," Erin said, trying to put them at ease. Jay knew that wasn't going to work.
"They're shitting bricks right now," he said to her, barely above a whisper.
"I know," she whispered back.
For the next half hour, the trio made their way around all eight of the rings, observing the action. Most of the conversation was between Jay and Crockett as they talked about who needed to improve on what. Erin showed the intelligence to listen to people who knew more than she did. Voight or not, she was no wrestler, and didn't have the knowledge that only a career in the ring could give.
"What do you say to some coffee in my office, and we can deal with those call ups?" Crockett suggested eventually.
"Let's do that," Erin agreed.
They headed back towards the front of the building, where the offices, locker rooms and bathrooms were. Jay found himself feeling happy for the two people who were about to get some life-changing news. The call up from NXT to the main roster was the first step to genuinely making it in WWE, and also the point at which good money started to be paid. It didn't escape him how he could now relate to other people, even if it was due to his own memories of a similar experience. He truly owed Erin a lot for helping him to grow as a person.
That was when Crockett's line about stepping into management suddenly made sense to Jay. He was right. That was exactly what was happening. That was why he was here, as an unofficial part of Erin's management team. She had positioned him so delicately that he hadn't even realised it, which had prevented him feeling the pressure of it. In that moment, walking behind Erin across the Performance Center, Jay looked at her with yet another level of respect and love. He recalled what Hank had bitterly said to him once about the thought of Erin dating a wrestler.
'She's better than that. Better than all of us.'
It was true. Jay had agreed then, and he agreed even more now. Yet they were together and deeply in love. He was truly blessed by that.
A/N: What do you make of Erin and Jay's visit to the Performance Center so far? We'll see more in the next chapter.
