A new girl in town
Chapter 4
Kayla/Taker/Kane/J.J./Hunter
Kayla met Hunter's gaze once more.
"Fuck off," she mouthed.
Hunter stared with disbelief.
Is she actually challenging me? No one does that unless they want an ass kicking. Hunter thought in shock.
"If you know what's good for you Hunter you'll turn and face me when I'm talking." Vince said sounding pissed.
And the game begins . . . now. She thought with satisfaction.
Shit. Hunter thought. I didn't even see him come in.
"As I was saying…" Vince said. "I want to see more hustle out of all of you. I'm tired of seeing you sitting around and doing nothing. If you were doing your jobs properly I wouldn't see that. Because you'd be too busy."
"Wrestlers if you are not in the ring I expect you to be making promos or working out something is wrong if you're not and I plan on fixing that." Vince continued.
"Photographers unless you are working on something specific that I have asked for I want more candid shots of the wrestlers." Vince said.
"As for the rest of you if you don't have something you're supposed to be doing.. find something." He said glaring around the room.
Like we can fit more into our days. J.J. thought. I already go to three meetings, do candid shots and now I'm working with Kayla. What more does he want?
Working out I can do. Kane thought. I already do. But to do it right before a match is stupid it'll make you tired for the match. Then you can't perform as well and he'll get on us about that.
Vince you're an ass if you think you can put people to work constantly with no breaks. They'll burn out and you'll get sloppy work. Taker thought. Or they will turn against you.
What the hell. I've just walked in the door and he's already demanding more. Kayla thought suppressing a smile. J.J.'s right he's an ass.
"I want to introduce our new digital producer. This is Kayla Jacobs." Vince said pointing her out.
Way to make me look like an ass Vince. Just make everyone stare at me as if they weren't already. Kayla thought refusing to stand up for her introduction.
Vince continued on berating everyone for quite a while before dismissing them.
J.J. listened to the grumbling as people left through the door beside her and Kane.
They are not happy. I wouldn't be surprised if they all turned against Vince if he keeps up his shit. People can only work so hard. J.J. thought.
Kane watched them all leave their faces told the whole story. They were not happy and he could sense a lot of tension in the air.
Kayla got up and exited with the crowd.
Taker stood his ground on the opposite side of the room waiting for the room to clear.
By the way they sound an explosion is not far away. Taker thought.
After all the others had left J.J., Kane and Taker turned to leave.
J.J./Kane/Taker
As they left Kane looked at Taker.
"Yeah I know." Taker said. "I'm not working out before a match either."
"It just doesn't make sense to." Kane replied. "We'll just end up tired and not able to perform to our standards."
"You guys have it easy. You can always hide out in your locker room and Vince won't see you. He wants us photographers to take more candid pictures of everyone. That means he expects results. I'm going to be a lot more busy." J.J. said laughing.
"That's true enough." Taker said with a smile. "I think Vince is going to be looking for us out there as well."
"Yeah he's going to want extra promos and if we're not out and about how can you get candid shots." Kane said adding to her laughter.
"This is ridicules we're already busting out asses what more does he want." J.J. said.
"He's Vince. He's not happy unless everyone else is unhappy." Taker said shaking his head.
"I don't know about you two but I'm not changing a bit. I've already got a new responsibility added with working alongside Kayla on the shots for the websites I don't think I can fit anything else in." J.J. said.
"I don't think Vince was taking to you. Hell you do three meetings and the show, now digital production." Kane said.
"Yeah you're already doing the job of two plus meetings." Taker said as they got to the locker room. "Let the others do more candid shots. Your hands are pretty full."
"I can't do that to them they have three meetings too." J.J. said. "What Vince wants is impossible he has to know that."
"Speaking of digital production that must have been fun. Dealing with her." Taker said.
"She's pretty ok. Just new and she doesn't know anything about wrestling. She doesn't even know who you guys are nor anyone else." J.J. said.
Kayla
Kayla got back to her office and immediately fired up the browser on the iMac. Her curiosity regarding Kane hadn't been satiated earlier by her discussion with J.J. and she yearned to know more.
"Research is way more Cass's thing, but it can't hurt to look," she said out loud as Google loaded.
After a half an hour of viewing YouTube videos and reading countless pages of text, in rapid - fire fashion, her eyes were burning but her mind was in overdrive.
"Holy fucking shit," she muttered, pushing her chair away from the monitor and standing.
"I need a god damn smoke after that."
J.J./Kayla
Once back at the locker room J.J. grabbed her camera bag.
"Tell me you're not going out to shoot candid shots." Kane said.
"No I need to go to digital production and since the talent meeting is right before the photographers I need to have my gear with me." J.J. said. "I'll be going from one thing to another then down to ringside to do the show."
"Why can't she manage digital production on her own." Taker said. "It's her job after all."
"Because until she knows who people are she can't do her job." J.J. said turning to leave.
Arriving at Kayla's office J.J. knocked and waited to be invited in.
"Yeah, it's open," Kayla said.
J.J. walked in to see a picture of Kane on Kayla's computer along with an article.
"I see you've been doing research. But why Kane first?" J.J. asked.
J.J. remembered that article it had been printed just after Kane joined the fed. He looked practically feral.
"Oh," J.J. said wondering what exactly Kayla had already read about him.
"Did you get very far on your search?" J.J. asked. "Or are you still looking at the beginning of his career."
"I'm still at the beginning, I guess," Kayla replied.
"Though I've seen highlights from his later matches."
"Ok." J.J. said taking a seat. "Shall we pick up where we left off or do you want to do further work on looking Kane up?"
"Are you going to look up all the athletes that will take a while you know." J.J. said looking at Kayla.
"No, it's fine; let's begin from where we left off," Kayla said, closing the browser and refocusing on J.J.'s photos.
"Ok, let's see who's next." J.J. said.
"Who's this bozo." Kayla asked pointing to a picture of a guy in a throwback shirt and a mic.
"That's John Cena. He began his career in the indies as the prototype mostly a robotic imitation of the perfect male. Mostly now he raps and makes an ass of himself. But I think he's got potential." J.J. said
"He won't be winning any fashion awards," Kayla quipped, rolling her eyes.
"No I doubt he will but he's funny and the fans are beginning to like him." J.J. replied.
Kayla changed the screen to the next picture.
"And now we have two mean looking mother fuckers," she narrated.
"That would be LOD. Or Legion of Doom." J.J. said. "Arguably one of the toughest tag teams in wrestling today." J.J. said. "They are extremely dangerous and one hell of a thorn in the side of all tag teams. The one on the left is hawk and the other one is animal."
"I can see why," Kayla said as she moved the screen to another photo.
"Here we have. . . Um. Two rejects from a Bowie video," she said, shaking her head.
"Awesome job with the face paint though."
"They are another story all together. This shot doesn't show the third member. He's out with injury. These two are Axe and Smash. J.J. pointed to each in turn.
"They're two decent guys but tough as nails. When Hunter and crew went after Kane in the ring they didn't help Kane but they didn't take advantage either." J.J. said. "The third member is Crash."
"Now there's. . . oh god, I think that's a head. What the actual fuck?" Kayla said staring at the next photo.
"That is al snow and head." J.J. laughed. "He goes everywhere with that thing. He talks to it and it gets involved in most of his matches. I can't tell if he's actually crazy or it's just an act. But you should hear him arguing with 'head'."
Kayla shook her head.
"Whatever drugs he's on. . . I kind of want to try them," she said.
"Sad part is I think 'head' wins most of the arguments." J.J. laughed.
Kayla just shook her head again.
"And there's the dude with no fucking sense of humor," Kayla said as a familiar face loaded onto the screen.
J.J. laughed.
"He actually has a pretty good sense of humor. More now than he had a little while ago. He's apparently just very fond of his bike and doesn't like anyone to touch it." J.J. added with another laugh. "He's Kane's brother and my brother in law." J.J. added.
"A little too fond," Kayla muttered, rolling her eyes.
"He's also one hell of a tough son of a bitch." J.J. said.
Kayla shrugged noncommittally. "Guys him are a dime a dozen where I come from," she said.
"They're all bluster and bullshit confidents but when you get right down to it, there isn't much else there," she added with conviction.
"I wouldn't take him so lightly. He can be a good friend or a terrible enemy." J.J. said. "And there is a hell of a lot more to him than bluster and bullshit."
"He can be a really nice guy once you get to know him but you don't want to make him angry. He tends to get a little scary when he's pissed." J.J. added with a smile.
"Just tell him to keep his damn hands off of me," Kayla said in a tense tone.
I'll have to watch these two they seem to mix like oil and water. J.J. thought but she didn't say anything.
Together they went through most of the pictures with J.J. telling her a little about each one. Then J.J. looked at the clock and jumped up.
"Shit I'm going to be late for the talent meeting." She said grabbing her bag and rushing out of the room.
J.J./Kane/Taker
J.J. saw Vince walking down the hall and managed to step into the meeting before he saw her and moments before he walked into the room to begin the meeting.
That was close. J.J. thought.
Good she made it. I didn't think she would. Kane thought. She must have lost track of time in that meeting.
She just made it. No telling what Vince would have had to say if she'd been late. Taker thought.
Whew. Another couple of minutes and he'd have beaten me here. J.J. thought still out of breath but happy she wouldn't have to hear about it from Vince.
"I didn't see any of you out there today." Vince began. "I gave explicit orders this morning and I expect them to be followed."
Yeah right. J.J. thought. The inmates run this asylum you just think you do. If you fire any of them especially your main roster people will riot.
Taker just stared a whole right through Vince and the older man refused to look at him.
Kane just watched the play of anger and disbelief on Taker's face with interest before giving his attention back to Vince who continued to bluster on.
After a while Vince dismissed them with his usual grunt of "go" as he walked out of the room.
Kayla
Kayla sat quietly for several minutes after J.J. had gone.
"Jeeze, this place is a friggen' lunatic asilum," she said aloud as she thought about all she'd just learned.
"Vince sure does know how to pick 'm," she continued as she reloaded the browser and continued where she'd left off on Kane.
"What is it about this guy?" she wondered as she read.
She wasn't interested in him in a romantic sense, she immediately concluded. No, that definitely wasn't it. physically speaking, he wasn't her type; she hated it but she still carried a shallow streak from her pre - military days and he didn't fit who she tended to go for.
So then what was it? "Am I just that curious to see what he's hiding?" she asked herself as she continued to scroll through webpages.
"God, that's fucking awful of me if it's true."
She sighed and closed the browser. "What would Karena have me do in this instant?" she asked the empty room.
"Why and because," she murmured, tapping her fingernails against the desk as she pondered.
"He definitely intrigues me," she began.
"And I think. . . maybe. . . it's because I want to get to know him?"
She nodded. That felt like the answer. She could see a lot of herself in Kane - especially the 'her' who'd arrived back at Tye's place after the extended hospitalization.
"If he's like this now, what the hell was he like when he and J.J. first met?" Kayla wondered.
"Fuck, this is too much to think about," she muttered.
"There has got to be food somewhere in this place."
At that thought, her stomach growled, reminding her that yet again, she hadn't eaten much all day. Her mind made up, she left the office.
J.J.
Stepping back out of the meeting J.J. realized that she'd forgotten her camera bag in Kayla's office when she'd rushed out.
Going back to the office she knocked. When no one answered she began to worry.
Do I just go in and grab it or do I wait for her to come back. She wondered. But I don't know where she is or how long she'll be gone and I only have a few minutes to get the bag and get to the photographers meeting.
Finally making up her mind she knocked once more before opening the door and stepping inside. J.J. grabbed the bag and headed out but not before noticing the browser was back on Kane.
I wonder how far she's going to go in finding out about Kane. She thought.
I shouldn't worry there isn't much out there on his personal life just his career. J.J. decided as she walked down the hall.