"Shall we get another coffee?" Alexa suggested.

Jay had assumed the conversation was coming to an end. It had felt that way to him, but clearly she saw it differently. She wanted another drink, which actually meant she was enjoying talking to him and wanted to continue. The realisation gave him a confidence boost.

"Okay. I'll get them this time. What would you like?"

She gave him her preference and Jay went up to the bar and placed the order. While he was there, he wondered where the conversation was going to go once he returned to the table. He hoped Alexa didn't expect him to start opening up about himself. He wasn't ready for that, and he hadn't learned a huge amount about her yet. At least not outside of her professional life. Alexa Bliss the person was what he wanted to know about, but he was too poor at conversation to know the right questions to ask.

When he returned to the table, he was instead faced with a question from Alexa. "Is there anything you've always wanted to do, Jay? Other than wrestling I mean. Something you've wanted to do but haven't done."

"Hmm. Good question," he said thoughtfully. "The only thing that comes to mind is Raquel keeps talking to me about getting into scuba diving so that we can dive together. I want to. Erin does too, but we've never found the time. That's something I need to make sure happens soon."

Alexa smiled. "Funny you say that. She's said the same thing to Clem and I. I like Raquel. She's such a fun person to be around and she's got a lot of enthusiasm. A person who really enjoys life."

Jay wasn't sure if he liked that or not because the first thought his brain came up with was that Raquel was giving up on him because he wasn't partaking in the things she liked. No, he thought. She wasn't like that, least of all with her best friend. But it was a mental kick in the ass for him to do better.

"How do you feel about trying scuba?" he asked.

"I'd love to at least have a go at it and see if it's as enjoyable as she says. But we're going to have to wait until Clem has recovered from her surgery before we can look into it."

Jay nodded. "Yes, that makes sense."

He was aware that Alexa was having to lead the conversation. It made him feel awkward again. Then, mercifully, a question came to mind. It wasn't a great one, but it was better than nothing.

"How about you? I mean, what have you always wanted to do?"

"Open a restaurant," she said without hesitation. Jay came to the realisation that this was why she had wanted to raise the subject in the first place. She wanted to talk to him about her dream of opening a restaurant. That meant he had to be open to listening, and had to try to be supportive.

"It's always been a dream of mine," she was saying. "Cooking is something I love, not that you'd know because we've been out for food every time you've come over. But yeah, I love to cook and food is a passion of mine. Whenever Clem and I go out to eat, I find myself thinking about what I would do differently if it were my restaurant. How would I change the food? The menu? The decor? The staff? What's good about the place? What isn't? I think I could do a good job running a restaurant."

"Your passion is obvious," Jay said, hoping he sounded encouraging. "How seriously have you looked into it?"

"Looked into it? I haven't, to be honest. I've thought about it a lot though. The thing is, I don't have the money. And even if I did, I've signed a contract to work for WWE now. This is also an awesome job, as we already talked about. I'm committed to this role now."

Now Jay knew exactly what to say. The second round of drinks arrived, giving him a little more time to get the wording right in his head. "Working for WWE doesn't mean you can't open a restaurant. Lot's of the guys in the locker room have businesses. It's something to fall back on when retirement comes, as well as something to enjoy doing. For example, you know Adam Ruzek and Kim Burgess?"

"Yeah, I know them. Not well, but they're nice people."

"They are. They've got a property flipping company. Well, not flipping. They renovate property and rent it out. Whatever kind of company that is, that's what they do."

"I see," Alexa said thoughtfully.

"And as for the money thing, you and Clem would open the restaurant together, right? She makes a lot of money."

Alexa sipped her coffee, looking uncomfortable with what he was implying. "Asking Clem to put up the money for something I'd like to do wouldn't sit right with me. That's why I've not talked to her about this. If I did, she'd break her back to support me and she'd insist on putting the money up. That's the person she is."

"True," Jay said with nothing but respect for Clementine. "But... You knew there was a but coming... How do you know Clem wouldn't actually love the idea of opening a restaurant? Or at least the idea of you opening one together? I think you should have the conversation."

Alexa looked at him and he could tell a lot by the look on her face. It made him wonder if he was becoming a human lie detector machine by osmosis. It was more likely that she had an expressive face. That helped with her acting, as was already starting to become apparent on TV. Right now, she was listening to him, taking him seriously, and considering the wisdom of what he had said.

"Maybe you're right," she said eventually. "Thank you, Jay. I think I just needed to talk through it with someone to get it all straight in my head."

"We all need that from time to time. There's no need to thank me."

"Well, thank you anyway," she said, and they smiled at each other.

Jay drank some of his coffee before posing another question. "What would you call the restaurant? If you've even thought of a name?"

"I've thought of two actually, although I'm not sure if either of them are any good. The first one is A Moment of Bliss."

He simply couldn't help himself roaring with laughter. "Sorry. I'm really sorry. It's just, that sounds more like a cabaret club than a restaurant."

Alexa burst out laughing too, which showed him no offense had been taken. It actually felt like a warm moment between them. "You're right, it does! Definitely cross that off then. The other one I have is Blissentine."

"Blissentine," he repeated. "Restaurants do have fancy names sometimes so I guess that could work. The main thing is to choose a name you and Clem like, assuming this idea goes anywhere. Just don't call it A Moment of Bliss whatever you do."

They laughed again. Yes, Jay thought, this could become a friendship. He was very pleased with his morning, and looked forward to telling Erin about it.

Later, back in the suite, Jay almost ambushed Erin when she got back from the production meeting.

"So, I had a busy morning!" he said, going over to her.

"Hi to you too. I nearly got in the door then," Erin said, smiling in amusement before giving him a peck on the lips.

"Sorry, honey. How was the meeting?"

"Frustrating. Having a show produced and directed out of my control puts me on edge. But we got it done and of course I know everyone will do a great job. They wouldn't be working for us otherwise."

"Very true," Jay said, dying to get to his news.

"Okay, okay. Let me fix a coffee while you tell me what happened this morning," she said, sucked in by his obvious excitement.

Jay broke the news as he followed her to the suite's coffee machine. "After you left, I wanted to meet up with Raquel. But she was busy having breakfast in bed, so I texted Alexa and asked her to meet up for coffee."

That surprised Erin, as he had expected it to. She turned to him with her eyebrows raised and a smile on her face. "You came up with that idea, texted her and met up with her for coffee and a chat?"

"Yes. Yes, I did."

"That's... amazing, Jay. I'm genuinely surprised. And proud of you. That's such a big step, especially with Alexa of all people. I know you've found it tough to feel at ease around her because of her former job."

Jay felt uplifted by the positive reaction, particularly Erin saying she was proud of him. "Thank you! And yes, I was nervous about meeting up with her. The thing is, she's very nice and quite easy to talk to. If you can avoid being scared of her."

She grinned again as she turned back to the coffee machine and got it going. "I'm sure she is. Hopefully you're over that hurdle now. So what did you guys talk about?"

Jay knew the first thing he wanted to mention. "She started with a really nice idea she's had for tonight on the red carpet. She asked me if I thought you'd mind if she wore 'your look' as a tribute. You know, leather pants, leather top and of course leather gloves. She said she'll upload a picture of herself before the red carpet with a caption 'Tribute to the boss.' I said I was sure you'd appreciate the gesture and the show of respect. Damn, maybe I was supposed to avoid spoiling all this?" he suddenly wondered.

"Maybe, but thank you for telling me. It's really brightened my mood. Well, hearing about your big step brightened it. This brightened it even more. What a kind thought of Alexa. Show's how much she appreciates the job we offered her, and I like that. I like that I'm notable as having my own look too."

We, Jay had noted. The truth was Erin had offered the job. Only she had the power to do that. But she had said we to include him because it had been his idea, and they were a team. Little things like that showed what a good person she was.

"I really love you so much," he said, feeling it overwhelmingly strongly in that moment as he gave her a kiss.

"Aww, I love you too. What brought that on?"

"Just knowing how much people look up to you. I wish you could see it more yourself by spending more time with people. But we already talked about that."

"We did," she said, taking her cup of coffee from the machine. "I'm going to work on it, starting tonight. After the red carpet, there will be some time before the show starts. I'm thinking we could both mingle a bit? You know, as much as I like people referring to me as the boss because of the respect it shows, I'd like to be Erin to them sometimes too. You're totally right about me trying to show myself to them a bit more."

Jay nodded seriously. "And I'm trying hard to do the same. Want people to see me as more..." He faltered, in search of the correct word.

"Approachable?" Erin suggested.

"Yes, approachable. Exactly."

"We've both got some effort to put in then. Got to get ready first. I'm going to enjoy getting my hair, nails, makeup done. It'll be nice to feel at my best."

"It's going to knock me dead," Jay said with absolute certainty, wondering what her vintage outfit was going to look like.

"No doubt that's going to be mutual," Erin said, eyeing him up.