"Alright, what are we doing up here?" Erin asked Jay. They were out in the arena, up in the seats on the opposite side of the building to where the stage, video screen and entrance ramp were located.
"Sit with me for a second," Jay said. They took sights directly opposite the entrance ramp. "I want us to get a boom camera up here, and this is the shot I want you to go to after Clem's music hits, when she walks out. As you know, by then the ring will be full of almost all of the heel women on the roster, who will be beating the hell out of Maya the wildcat after Alexa has essentially put a bounty on her head."
"With you so far. Carry on," Erin encouraged him.
"So, from here, your looking over the ring and the people in it, towards the entrance. Everyone in the ring will be looking that way too when they react to the music, as will the crowd, when The Final Boss emerges. The stage will be lit in dark blue light, and with the new more sinister music Clem's got it will truly look and feel like the kind of moment from classic video games when a final boss would appear at the end of a level and you as the player would think, 'Oh shit, now I'm in trouble.' Am I explaining this well enough?"
"You're explaining it perfectly. I can see your vision, and I like it. You've put a hell of a lot of effort into this return for Clem, huh?"
"It's a huge deal, so yeah. We've got to get this Final Boss character right, not just for this Wrestlemania but for the next few years. I've literally lost sleep over this, so I'm grateful you didn't shoot me down."
Erin burst out laughing, looking embarrassed at the same time. Jay was confused, so he waited for an explanation.
"Sorry, honey. I'm not laughing at you. One of my dad's sayings came to me because it would kind of fit this situation, but I'm not going to repeat it."
Now that he knew it wasn't him being laughed at, Jay grinned. "You can't laugh at it, explain about it, then not repeat it. You've got to tell me now."
Erin's cheeks were red now. "Okay: You're fucking this dog, I'm just holding it's head."
Jay laughed, more out of surprise at something so vulgar coming out of her mouth than anything else. From Hank, however, he wouldn't have been surprised at all to hear it. "I guess I can see the meaning behind that, but it's messed up."
"Right?" she said, laughing again. "Sorry, Jay. On such a stressful day, managing to have a laugh feels good. Your dedication to Clem's character and storyline is outstanding. I have no doubt she appreciates it as much as I do." She moved closer to him and put an arm around him. Even in this setting, they were able to enjoy the feeling of warmth and intimacy – a pleasant reprieve from the barely-restrained mayhem backstage.
"That means a lot to me, honey. It really does. This is the hardest I've worked on something and maybe the most dedicated I've felt to something in my professional life. You've helped me find the perfect job now that my time in the ring is almost over."
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that."
He turned his head and looked at her. "About what?"
"Your future in the ring. I've have an idea to get you back on-screen if you're interested in that?"
"Yes, I am," he said without needing to think about it. "Can we not talk about that tonight though? Got so much on my mind already."
"No problem. We can discuss it at home some time, there's no rush. We should probably get back to work. This was nice though. A few minutes away from it all. I'll make sure we get the shot you want for Clem's entrance."
"It's very nice," he agreed. " And thank you. Okay, let's get on with it. My next stop is with Maya."
"How's she doing? No dramas I assume, since you've not mentioned anything?"
"No dramas. She's a very emotional person, so I think it's a good thing the women have a much more understanding and supportive locker room these days. She's clean and there have been no conflicts or attitude problems, so I have no complaints about her at all."
"Great news. You're doing fantastic work with them all, honey." She added to the praise with a peck on the lips. "I really do have to get back to work."
Most of Jay's work for the night was done by the time Raw went on the air. He had written the segments, prepared the talent, and even instructed Erin on a specific camera shot they needed to get. Now it was over to everyone else to carry out their parts in delivering the show to the audience.
It would have been easy to feel uncomfortable at having no control over how his ideas were actually conveyed to the live audience and the TV viewers around the world, but he did not. He trusted the abilities of everyone involved, from Erin, to the cameramen, to the commentary team, to Clem and Maya, and even Alexa. Yes, this was her first night ever on TV, and in the wrestling business, but something about her inspired confidence. And in any event, she didn't have a lot to do tonight.
Her debut scene, Jay's first scene of the night, followed the show's opening match. As planned, the commentary team threw the broadcast over to Jackie Redmond out in the parking garage, and she attempted to question Raquel and Kylie about whether they were waiting for Clementine to arrive.
The sight of Raquel towering over the other women on-screen never failed to amuse Jay. His best friend had such a kind heart and a fun personality, but she sure did look intimidating.
In the background, a limo pulled into the shot and parked up near to the women. Raquel and Kylie blanked Jackie and went to open the limo's rear door.
As Jay had instructed, the camera shot changed to one that was obscured by the opened door, allowing Alexa to only be seen once she stepped clear of it, stopping for a moment to adjust her suit jacket.
"Yes," Jay said quietly to himself as he watched on a monitor. Alexa's demeanour and expression were exactly what he wanted to see. She looked like someone who had just turned up to take charge of shit that needed to be done. It matched what William Regal had told him about her: a natural actress but greener than baby shit at cutting promos.
There was an audible mixture of cheering and surprise from the fans in the arena, watching the action on the huge video screen. Clearly a significant number of them knew who they were looking at even without being able to hear the commentary.
"That's Mrs Final Boss!" Herrmann said, again as instructed by Jay. He had the perfect voice and delivery when surprises such as this happened, which made him great at his job. Jay was glad Erin had been wise enough to leave the top quality commentary team she had inherited well alone.
With that, the trio of women walked towards the building entrance, with Jackie thinking better of trying to get by Raquel to question Alexa.
It occurred to Jay that it would be a good idea to go check-in with Alexa and see how she was feeling. Yes, it had been the simplest of scenes to film, but it had also been her first time on TV, on a show that was going to be seen by millions of people around the world.
He made his way towards where the women would be coming back from the parking garage, now no longer on camera of course as their scene had ended. As expected, he encountered them in a hallway. He knew he didn't need to praise Raquel or Kylie for getting such a basic scene right, so he simply said, "Give me a minute with Alexa, please."
Raquel nodded, and carried on walking past him with Kylie, leaving Alexa behind to talk to him.
"How did I do?" she asked.
"How do you think you did?" Jay asked, not giving anything anyway. Or so he thought, until he remembered it was the human lie detector machine he was talking to. She had probably already deduced what he was thinking about her performance.
"I think it went well. My heart is still pounding out of my chest though. Holy hell, I was crapping myself in the back of that limo."
Her voice told him that she wasn't analysing him, she was hoping for some kind of praise or positive feedback from him. He had misjudged her again because of her past job. Enough was enough. He had to find a way to get past that once and for all.
"Well nobody would have been able to tell. You looked like a natural on the screen. Great job."
"Really?" she asked before laughing excitedly. "Woah, thanks Jay. It means a lot that you came to find me and say that."
"Listen, Alexa. I've got to ask you something. How can you help me get past the job you used to do? Whenever I talk to you I keep thinking about how you might be analysing everything I say."
She smiled slightly, looking like that was something she had heard before. Her response confirmed exactly that.
"That's the hardest part of doing that job. Once people find out what you do, they stop seeing you as a person and become frightened of you. Even Clem, with such a kind and loving personality, was reluctant to get into a relationship with me at first when she found out. The thing is, Jay, I don't analyse things during ordinary conversations. It would be impossible to live like that, and it would be incredibly mentally draining too. Sure, if you talk to me and start blatantly lying I'm going to notice it, but other than that please look at me and talk to me like any other person. I'm not some FBI-programmed android."
Jay actually found that very relatable. He was familiar with feeling like no one in the world understood him. Most of his life had been spent that way until Erin and Raquel had come along. Alexa, it seemed, had experienced that too, albeit for very different reasons. She had seemed quite upset while telling him about it, which again he could relate to. It wasn't easy talking to people about things that hurt.
"That was actually relatable to me," he said. "For very different reasons, I know what it's like to think no one understands you or appreciates you as a person. Thank you for the reassurance about how you use, or don't use, your expertise. I'll keep that in mind from now on, and I'll speak to you like any other person. You've got my word on that."
The conversation felt awkward to Jay, but productive nonetheless. He had brought up something that had been troubling him, and would have troubled Alexa too because she would have known if he wasn't talking naturally to her. She had given him a mental pathway through it, which would help him in his dealings with her professionally and personally. It was one of those mental breakthrough moments that he was almost getting used to experiencing lately.
"Thank you, Jay. I get that being at ease around me isn't... well... easy for people. Hopefully you can get there soon."
"I'm confident that I will now," he said, managing a smile. That brought the difficult conversation to an end, and they parted ways with Jay feeling glad they'd had the talk even if it had been difficult. He hoped that the next time he came face to face with her, he wouldn't wonder whether she was reading him like a book.
The final segment of the show began with Maya the wildcat competing in a match, but devolved into chaos when almost all of the heel women rushed the ring and set about beating her down. This was because Kylie had done a quick backstage interview midway through the show to convey the fact that Clementine, via Alexa, would be grateful to whoever could take out the wildcat. Essentially, a bounty had been put on her head.
The odds against Maya were insurmountable, and she succumbed to a beatdown, with multiple women hitting their finishing moves on her.
When he was happy the moment was right, Jay signalled to Erin and she had Clem's music hit. Out in the arena, the crowd erupted. Even though she was a heel now, this was Chicago, this was Clementine, and this was the first time she had been seen in nearly two months. It was the kind of ovation that most wrestlers would never receive, and Jay felt goosebumps on his arms.
Watching on his monitor, he saw Erin go to the exact camera shot he had requested earlier in the day as Clem and Alexa walked out into the arena. Accompanied by Clem's new slower and more sinister music, it looked and sounded exactly as he had envisioned it – the arrival of a final boss.
He had made a late change to have Alexa walk out with Clem, and as the shot changed to one down in the aisle, panning around Alexa and then onto Clem, he was glad he had done it. They looked like such a power couple.
"What a shot. They look great," one of the other agents quietly said to Jay. It was a small compliment, but it meant a lot to him from someone experienced at the job, recognising good work when they saw it.
From start to finish, the whole Final Boss character and the addition of Alexa to the storyline were all his ideas. The presentation was his work. The writing was his work. And it was being carried out by not just one but potentially two high quality performers.
He looked over at Erin. Their eyes met and she silently mouthed, 'Great job!' in between her instructions to the production team. That was the best moment of the night for Jay. Nothing made him happier than impressing the love of his life.
All that remained for the Raw episode was for Clem to go to the ring and give Maya the ass kicking of a lifetime, showing her what encountering a final boss truly meant.
But for Jay, the night's business was over, at least as far as the show was concerned. However, one task remained before he could head back to the hotel. After Raw went off air, he still had a job to do in his role as Clem's agent. He needed to talk to her about getting another knee surgery, and he had no idea how that conversation was going to play out.