The next day was an important one for Jay. Clementine was coming to the house to discuss in detail the changes to her character. Being given input, even responsibility, in the creative area was new to him. Thankfully, with his new confidence backing him up, he didn't feel nervous about it. After all, Clem was a nice person, professional, fairly easy to work with and incredibly knowledgeable on wrestling.
After breakfast, it was time for Erin to head out for her day at the office. The atmosphere between them had been great all morning, after the hot sex the night before. Jay had done his best to give her everything she wanted, and he felt like he had done well. Her first words in parting at the front door suggested that he was right.
"Last night was amazing, honey. Looking forward to fooling around like that again real soon."
Jay knew right away how to respond to that. "You call me taping you up like that 'fooling around'? I'll have to up my game for next time then."
"Do that," she said eagerly, before looking at her watch. "I've got to go, Jay. Enjoy your day, and I'll look forward to hearing all about it tonight. You know, I've been thinking about this and I've had an idea. What would you say if I took you off producing for the women's division and put you exclusively with Clem? You'd become her agent and producer, working on every aspect of her presentation on TV. You might even have some input on writing."
Jay was in two minds about that. Clementine's stuff was the biggest deal in women's wrestling, and would only become more so with the upcoming character change. The problem was he liked working with all the women.
"Maybe. I like what I'm doing now though, producing for all the women. I'd miss working with them."
"You'd still work with a lot of them, from time to time. Becoming Clem's producer wouldn't only mean working with her of course. You'd be working with the women who'll be on the team we're going to give her, which will include Raquel. You'd also work with Clem's opponents. Clem is very important to WWE. One of our biggest stars. You vibe with her better than I do. I'd like you to take this on."
How could he say no to that? Frankly, it was a good idea. Not to mention that he recognised the confidence Erin was showing in him. He couldn't push that away. "Assuming Clem's okay with it, I'll do it," he decided.
"Great. Float the idea today when she gets here. I'm sure she'll go for it. My advice? Don't just talk work today. Try to get to know her a bit more. If you guys are close, you'll bring the best out of each other. If it doesn't go well today, don't worry..."
Cut her off and show confidence, Jay told himself. "It'll go well. I've got this, honey."
The way Erin looked at him showed that she really liked the tone she heard in his voice. "Alright then. I've seriously got to move my ass. Love you. I'll leave the gates open so that Clem's driver can bring her up to the house."
"Love you too," Jay said, and gave her a peck on the lips.
With that, Erin left. Jay had an hour or so to kill before Clementine showed up. Her preference had been to arrive in New York the night before, stay in a hotel, then come to the house in the morning. After the day of discussion, she would head home on an evening flight.
Kayla had been told she could take the day off, so that Jay and Clem would have privacy. That left Jay with the house to himself until Clem arrived. He decided to kill the time by watching some soccer highlights – something easy on the mind ahead of what promised to be a taxing day for his brain.
Time flew by, and it didn't seem to take long before Jay's phone made the distinctive ping sound that signified the home surveillance system had detected movement at the gates at the bottom of Eagle's Nest's driveway. He would usually open the app to see who was there. This time there was no need.
He got up and went to the front door, opening it in time to see Clementine getting out of an Uber. She looked good, dressed fairly casually in jeans, a denim jacket over a grey hoodie, and her customary baseball cap. As seemed to be usual for her, her outfit was quite masculine, but she always pulled them off. He got the impression that she had put a lot of thought into what would be appropriate to wear to the boss's house, opting in the end for what she felt most comfortable in. He could relate. A visit to the boss's house was the kind of thing that would give him anxiety too. He realised his first job of the day was to get Clem to feel at ease.
"Clem! It's good to see you," he said warmly, stepping out onto the driveway to greet her as the Uber slowly pulled away.
"Jay. It's good to see you as well," she said. They approached each other, then there was a moment of awkwardness. Jay didn't know if he should go for a hug, a handshake, or something else. In the end there was a clumsy hug without much actual contact being made between them.
"Sorry, I'm uh, not good at..." Clem faltered.
"Don't worry, I'm the same," he assured her. "Greetings are complicated."
"So, this is where you live," she said, turning and looking beyond the driveway at the jaw-dropping view. "It's incredible up here. Could look at that view for hours and not get bored."
"It is stunning. If the weather wasn't so cold we could have sat out on the deck all day."
"Yeah, I think inside is best," she said in an attempt at humour. There was still a distinct awkwardness in the air. Jay knew that if he was going to do the job Erin had suggested, becoming Clem's agent and producer with WWE, they were going to have to become a lot closer. That was the only way that kind of working relationship could succeed, which was why it was rare for such a job to be given to someone. Hank had almost never done it during his long tenure, and as far as Jay was aware, this was the first one Erin had tried to establish.
"Head inside. After you," he offered, motioning towards the door. "I'll make coffee if you'd like one?"
"That would be nice."
They went inside, and Jay led the way to the kitchen. Clem looked around the house, taking in the surroundings, clearly feeling out of her element. Jay wondered if Erin had made the right call in having this extended meeting take place at the house. He tried to think of something to say to start putting her at ease. What would he have wanted to hear in her position?
After getting the coffee machine going, he looked Clem in the eyes as she stood near the kitchen island looking somewhat nervous.
"It's just me and you, Clem. We're just going to sit and talk wrestling, like we've done how many times at arenas. Only difference here is we have peace and quiet around us, and we can order pizza in for lunch. It'll be a good time."
It seemed to help, and she nodded. "You're right, that does sound good. I'm not uncomfortable about spending the day with you. It's being at Erin's house that makes me... Besides the fact that she's the boss, I don't know, I just feel like we don't click too well. Don't take that as me talking Erin down. She's done a wonderful job since she took charge of WWE, and I greatly respect how she's improved the work environment for us women. It's on a personal level that the connection isn't there."
"Why do you think that?" he asked, careful not to sound like he was saying she was wrong. The truth was she was correct, as Erin had said something similar earlier.
"I get the impression that she's often thinking about me saying I was leaving WWE that time, and that part of her is always considering whether I'll react badly to a creative idea or whatever and threaten the same thing again. That makes me feel like she doesn't understand me very well. That's not the kind of person I am. Overall, yeah, there's not the kind of closeness there that I'd like in an ideal world."
She had used the magic word - closeness. Jay saw that as an opportunity. Honesty was the key. "Frankly? I think you're probably right," he said as he finished fixing Clem's coffee. "Sugar? Cream?"
"No, thank you. I'll take it how it is. Why do you say I'm right?"
Jay handed her the cup and set about fixing another for himself. "Because Erin has asked me to float the idea of becoming your agent and producer. To my mind, she wouldn't have done that if she didn't feel the same as you, that the two of you don't click in the best possible way. Having said that, she absolutely appreciates you as a person and a talent. You know you're seen as one of the top stars in the whole company, rightfully so."
Clem eyed him carefully. "Erin wants you to work exclusively on my stuff? And you want to do that?"
"Absolutely. That's the answer to both of those questions," he clarified. "We'd work on your character together. We'd work on your matches together. We'd even have some input on making suggestions for your creative, although Erin will obviously continue in charge of that. Your character change and everything it entails will be a lot to put together. Let's make some magic, Clem."
She weighed that up for a moment. "I appreciate you agreeing to work with me. It's a special thing for Erin to suggest, and for you to agree to. With this character change to get right, this is the right time to start. I do think we can make some magic together. Let's give it a try."
Jay was now warming to the task at hand. Progress was already being made. "I know you'll give it everything you've got. You always do. My commitment is that I'll do the same. It might only be coffee, but what do you say we drink to it?"
That made Clem laugh, which had been his intention. "Alright, we'll drink to a new partnership," she said, raising her coffee cup.
Jay touched his cup to hers and they both took a sip of their hot drinks. There was a lot of progress to be made on the personal level and a hell of a lot of work to do on the professional side of things, but a big step forward had just taken place. Jay was now the agent and producer of Clementine.
A/N: Again without really being aware of what was happening, Jay had taken on a major role in WWE. Erin has mastered the art of encouraging him without actually encouraging him, and just look at how he is now relating to Clem's thoughts and emotions, while adjusting his own behaviour to suit. This has always been a story about Jay's growth, and I don't want readers to lose sight of that.
