A new girl in town

Chapter 6

Kayla/Taker/Kane/Sammy

Kayla blinked slowly.

I'm obviously missing some crucial information here, but what could it be? She thought.

Do I ask or wait for them to say something? She asked herself.

"Um, guys?" she began.

"Someone clue me in? I hear about basements and no TV and I'm like what?" She continued.

"I don't want to pry, but I'm really, really lost." Kala said sounding a bit confused.

"It's a long story for another time." Kane said not willing to go into it now when he hardly knew her.

Taker closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. As if his thoughts were upsetting him slightly.

I still can't believe he went through all that. Taker thought. I wish I could have been there for him or known what was going on.

Kayla nodded.

"Shit, I better go," she said, looking down at her phone.

"Later, guys," she said, getting up and emptying her trash before heading for the door.

"Well that was a little awkward." Sammy said.

"Just a bit." Taker agreed.

"I still don't get the "Yoda" thing." Kane said smiling behind his mask.

Sammy and Taker laughed and began eating again though their food had grown cold.

Kayla took the nearest exit out of the building, found a spot and lit up. Then she leaned against the wall and sighed.

So that was incredibly awkward, she thought.

It's not like I have much of anything assigned to me yet, but I needed a quick escape.

As she smoked, her mind went over the little she'd managed to learn, trying to fit the pieces together.

As they got up Kane wondered if he'd said too much.

I probably shouldn't have mentioned the basement. Now she'll have the wrong idea and especially that I don't know about Yoda or Grover. I'll have to look them up after the show so I know. He thought.

Once they were back in the locker room Kane sat down and wondered how his life could have been different if maybe he knew about those things. I wonder what else I don't know about that everyone else does.

Kayla

Kayla finished her first smoke and still had no answers, so she pulled another out of the pack and lit up.

What does the basement comment mean? She asked herself.

Were his parents just that awesome?

No, that doesn't fit. She thought.

Basement and not knowing about kids' TV. . . think, Kayla, think. She ordered herself.

What I need is more intel. She decided.

I haven't found anything on his personal life so far but they don't call me curious for nothing. It has got to be somewhere.

She never stopped to remember Cass' often quoted words: "Curiosity is a good thing until it gets you in to trouble."

After another smoke, Kayla walked back inside and to her office.

I guess Cass was right - I need to actually watch the product if I'm going to design this thing. She thought.

Seeing it live shouldn't be a problem but getting previous shows? Is there a library here or something? She wondered.

Vince, why is there no WWE Netflix when you need one? She asked herself.

Then she got up and left her office deciding to wander the halls.

As` she wandered, she began to make mental notes.

Wrestlers in their natural habitat. She quipped to herself.

She noticed that there were definite cliques amongst the wrestlers. Hunter had his group; seemed to be having the time of their lives harassing everyone in sight.

I'm definitely staying off that shit list. Kayla thought as she watched from a distance.

But then again I've already pissed Hunter off so I'm probably on that list already. She thought.

She noticed that most people were getting out of the group's way. Thinking that she'd seeen quite enough, Kayla followed the flow of people down the hall.

As she was turning the corner, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She brushed it away and turned around.

"You must be new!" John Cena said cheerfully as he looked down at her.

"I know I've never seen you before."

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Kayla asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Nothing; nothing;" Cena said grinning.

"Okay then," Kayla muttered as she attempted to walk passed him.

"Hey, wait up!" he yelled as he followed her.

She rolled her eyes and waited.

"I noticed that you're the newest member of Hunter's shit list," Cena commented as he stood next to Kayla.

"Tremendous powers of observation there bud," she quipped.

"I'm really not as dumb as I look," Cena said defensively.

"I write my own stuff. It sells so I've kept doing it," he added.

Kayla shrugged.

"My point is, you need someone to watch your back," Cena said.

Kayla laughed derisively.

"And I guess you're offering," she said dryly.

Cena just shrugged.

"Think about it," he said, slapping her on the shoulder and leaving her standing in the middle of the hallway.

Kane/Sammy/Taker

Taker watched Kane for a moment.

He's thinking again. Probably about the past he always slumps like that when he's thinking about Paul. Taker thought.

I'm going to have to break him out of it somehow. He decided walking over to Kane and sitting down beside him.

Kane started then looked at Taker but he seemed far away.

"What's up?" Kane asked after a moment.

"Just wanted to talk about tonight against LOD." Taker said trying to draw Kane out.

"Oh." Kane said glad Taker didn't want to talk about Father.

"We've gone past pretending not to like each other. So we'll have to come up with a new plan." Taker continued.

"Yeah people have seen us hanging out and we're sharing a locker room now." Kane affirmed.

"We'll just have to perform like a well-oiled team and really take care of LOD tonight. Make people see what we can do now that we're together." Taker said.

"Yeah," Kane said still seeming a bit distant. "Quick tags and major destruction."

"That was my thoughts exactly." Taker said.

"So who's going to start it?" Kane asked.

"I think hawk will and you should." Taker said.

"Sounds good to me." Kane said.

They talked for a little while longer then just sat in silence.

Kayla

After Cena had left, Kayla stood alone in the hallway for several moments.

'He's harmless', J.J. had said. He so wants in my pants. Kayla thought with a laugh. Either that or he's the world's most chivalrous kid.

She resumed wandering around as she tried to assess things. She spotted demolition talking in a corner.

Their face paint looks even more awesome in person. She thought. Too bad make - up can't rescue this face.

I guess not everyone has their own space? She wandered as she saw several more teams gathered in out of the way spots like Demolition had been. LOD looked larger in person; whatever they were discussing seemed to make them both happy and feral, as they both wore savage grins.

Twenty ways to kill a man, I bet. Kayla thought as she passed.

Then she spotted a team she'd never seen before. They were at a card table guzzling beer and arguing loudly.

They either take their jobs way too seriously or this really is a 24 - 7 deal for them. Kayla thought. It looks like fun though.

She paused in her wandering to look down at her phone.

Deciding that she wasn't likely to see anything else of interest, Kayla made her way back to her office.

Once back in front of the computer, she pulled up the WWE'S current website and started making notes for its improvement.

I may not have actual material to work with yet but I may as well start somewhere. She thought as she assessed pages with a critical eye.

It's no wonder I was hired. She thought after she'd encountered the exact same page loading error for the 4th time.

This thing needs some serious work. Not to mention a complete overhaul of their video system. She thought.

"This is the 21st century, man!" she said out loud.

"This shit is unacceptable."

They've obviously made the transition to digital media. She thought, remembering J.J.'s flash drive.

But there's no evidence of that here. If the fans are benefiting from the change in any way, I don't see it.

Kayla sighed loudly.

I'm definitely going to be getting my money's worth. She thought as her head began to pound.

"Fuck this; it's nicotine time," she told the empty room. Glancing at the weather widgit on her phone, she noticed that it had cooled down significantly so she shrugged on her black leather jacket just in case.

The exit she'd used earlier was now locked, so she moved toward the front of the building

Jeeze, I hope I can smoke somewhere here. She thought as she stepped outside.

Spotting a pile of buts a few yards away she smiled.

Victory. She thought as she pulled her smokes out of her pants pocket. Then she searched for a lighter. Finding one at last in the right hand pocket of her coat, she pulled a smoke from the pack, dropped the pack in to her pocket and lit up.

She inhaled deeply and exhaled in contentment. Fuck Wade and Cass with their vaping shit; nothing would ever top a real smoke. She closed her eyes as she went through the familiar routine. Then she decided that she'd have another. With the burning cigarette but in one hand, she managed to remove another unlit one with the other. Then she put the lit end against the unlit portion of the new cigarette. It caught instantly and she smiled.

Then she butted out the old one and started inhaling the new.

"You know smoking is terrible for you, right?" asked a familiar voice. Kayla opened her eyes and looked up.

Cena stood in front of her with his hands on his hips. She rolled her eyes.

"Do I look like I need a permanent shadow?" she asked with aggravation.

Or a puppy, for that matter. She thought.

Cena shrugged.

"I'm doing my duty to help you avoid dying from lung cancer." He said with a grin.

Kayla was tempted to slap it right off his face.

"Save the speech," she snapped through a mouthful of smoke. She purposefully blew her next drag in his direction and laughed as he covered his face.

"If you don't want to party, get out of the fuckin' club," she told him.

Just for that, I'm smoking another. She thought with satisfaction.

"Has anyone told you that you're really mean?" Cena asked her.

"So many times that I hear it in my sleep," Kayla quipped as she held the cigarette in her teeth.

"Along with smoking is bad, weed is worse and everything good is going to kill you," she added.

"We're all gonna fuckin' die anyway. Why not enjoy yourself?" she asked.

Cena looked at her incredulously.

"So what, people who eat fast food all the time have got it right?" he asked sounding scandalized.

Kayla shrugged. "Hey, if it tastes good to them and makes them happy, then more power to 'm," she drawled.

"But it's bad for you!" Cena yelled.

Kayla looked at him with a pitying expression.

"Oh, you have so much still to learn, young grass hopper," she sighed, adopting a British accent.

"No, you do. . . for smoking!" Cena exclaimed, pointing both index fingers at her and catching her in the chest.

"Hey, hands off the goods, bud," she said, brushing his hands away.

"Like the rest of me, these aren't for sale."

Cena finally said that he had to get ready and reluctantly left. Kayla sighed through clenched teeth and threw her but after him. Then she groaned.

Fuck me, now I have to actually light another one. She thought.

So she pulled out the lighter, grabbed another cigarette and lit up. Inhaling lessened some of her aggravation but not by much.

She looked up and straight in to Kane's eyes.

Kane stared in disbelief. How can she do that?

Kane took a step back and opened his mouth to talk.

How the fuck did he just do that? She asked herself. No one does that.

"How.." Kane started to say but was cut off.

"If you're here to talk to me about the dangers of smoking or whatever, save it," she snapped.

"I just got the 2 hour lecture from Cena and frankly, I'll never get that time back. I'm an adult; if I want to smoke a store's worth of these things, I'll fucking do so."

"How can you put fire so close to your face? You were burned?" Kane said.

Kayla flicked the cigarette distractedly at his words and the head fell off. Without thinking she took out the lighter and lit the now shortened smoke.

Kane visibly blanched and backed away.

Kayla looked down at the burning cigarette then back in to Kane's face.

"I've never thought much about it," she said casually.

"I've always smoked. That didn't change after the accident. That kind of thing doesn't scare me." she shrugged.

"If you think this is bad you should see me light a roach." Kayla said nonchalantly.

"A roach? Why would you light a roach." Kane asked picturing the bugs he often saw while in the basement.

"Uh, it's a tiny ass joint. . . you know. . ." Kayla said, gesturing vaguely at nothing.

C'mon, he's at least got to know what weed is. She thought.

Jesus fucking Christ on pogo sticks, please tell me that I'm not going to have to explain this. She pleaded to herself.