Just a quick note: Yes, this is a new story. I started working on it about a month and a half ago. Don't fear though; Memoirs of A Diva, Darkest Hour, Diva of Destruction, and Rose of Sharyn are still on the go as well. I just haven't finished up the work on those yet. You can expect new updates for those within the next week or so.

Meeting The McMahons

Stephanie Levesque pursed her lips together as she spotted the young brunette walking down the hallway towards her at a brisk pace. The girl was late; not over the line late, but enough to make Stephanie suspect that she had gotten lost on the way to the arena. The approaching woman was a pretty girl; long, thick brown hair pulled back in a tight bun, with glasses that seemed to compliment her face perfectly. She was obeying corporate dress code; dressed in a black suit with a white button-down shirt underneath and a simple gold chain around her neck. The young woman looked absolutely flustered, and Stephanie knew better than to give her a really hard time about being late. Raw was set to start in a few hours; Stephanie had spent the better part of the afternoon going over things with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, before having to talk to a few of the talents about their behavior backstage. After all the years she had spent involved with the business, it never seemed to get any easier to don the hardhat and lay down the law to people who stepped out of line.

"Mrs. Levesque?"

"Stephanie," she replied, holding her hand out to shake. The young brunette took it. She had a firm handshake. It surprised Stephanie.

"Angelle Harper. I guess I'm your new assistant."

"And not a moment too soon," Stephanie confessed with relief. "It's been absolutely horrific the last few months." It wasn't a word of a lie. On top of working on creative for all three shows, she was also booking talents on and off television and dealing with talent relations duties. Throw in the fact she was a married mother of two, and Stephanie had become WWE's resident Superwoman. She hoped that this young woman would be able to make her job less stressful until her father, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, could appoint somebody new to talent relations. She had tried to lobby her father – unsuccessfully – to pass some of the duties onto her brother Shane, but Shane had enough on his plate as it was. He was a married father of two as well, and seemed to have less time than Stephanie as the Executive Vice President of Global Media.

"I can only imagine. From what Mr. McMahon said, you seem to be holding down the fort across the board." The girl had a soft voice, and Stephanie could tell she was timid, even if she gave strong handshakes. Stephanie nodded.

"Have you ever been an assistant before?" Stephanie asked. Angelle shook her head.

"No. I'm still pretty new to this. So if I bungle things, I apologize in advance. As it was I just about had an anxiety attack when I couldn't find my way to the arena. I didn't want you to think I was standing you up or wasting your time..."

"Don't worry about that too much," Stephanie replied. "It is your first day, after all." She looked at the clock on her wall. "I have to run to a meeting with Vince and a few members of Creative. Can you track down Shane and see if he's got all the details down for tonight?" Angelle nodded. Stephanie flashed her a smile. "Thanks. I'll meet you back here in about a half hour." Angelle went to ask another question, but Stephanie was already taking off down the hall. Angelle sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. Half an hour? Was she just supposed to stand around with people she didn't know until Stephanie was finished? She didn't want to make Stephanie mad on her first day by not listening to her orders, or asking stupid questions.

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Angelle began to make her way down the hallway, hoping for a glimpse of Shane McMahon. She wasn't a wrestling fan; she had never even watched a show, but had gotten the job with Stephanie by a recommendation a mutual friend had made. Fresh out of college, Angelle was desperate for experience anyways, so she had jumped at the chance.

This is great, she thought bitterly, I don't even know who the hell Shane McMahon is.

She tried to keep her eyes downcasted, but she could feel the talent's eyes on her. "Dead girl walking on the Green Mile!" she heard a Texan voice call out. It reverberated off of the hallway walls and instantly she could feel a hundred eyes on her. She turned to see a guy in a white cowboy hat and a business suit smiling from a far corner of the hallway, talking to a smaller guy covered in tattoos. She didn't have time to respond to much else as she crashed into somebody. With a shaky breath, she stared up into the coldest blue eyes she had ever seen. He's a tall one, she thought, staring up at him. He had close cropped brown hair, sleeved tattoos on both arms and wore a black button-down shirt with slacks. He had two men with him; a blond man dressed in a pair of jeans and a white polo shirt, and a smaller guy with dark hair and tired eyes, dressed in a blue shirt and khakis. They intimidated her, and they knew it. With each passing second, she shrunk further and further under their gaze.

"I..."

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" the man with the tattoos asked, his tone making it clear that he was not impressed by her collision with him.

"I'm sorry...I'll pay more attention next time..." she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Be sure that you do," the blond told her. She moved around them and got out of their sight as fast as she could. She still felt their eyes on her back and she fought the blush from taking over her cheeks. She wanted to cry, but she kept herself in check. It felt like she was messing up all across the board, making lousy first impression after lousy first impression. She saw a dark haired man in a pair of jeans with two shirts on; a white long-sleeved shirt and a green T-shirt, talking to somebody. She knew instantly she had found Shane; he and his sister definitely looked alike.

"Um, Mr. McMahon?" she squeaked. Shane turned to see Angelle and turned back to the man he was talking to, a smaller guy dressed in black with long hair and a cowboy hat.

"This might be important," he told the man. "I'll catch up with you later, all right?"

"Sure thing," the man drawled with a thick accent. "I need to go check in with Mark anyways." They slapped hands into a hug and the man with the black cowboy hat disappeared. He turned to her.

"Hello," he said. "You would be?"

"I'm Angelle. Your sister sent me to look for you."

"She's panicking that I won't know how tonight's going to go down, isn't she?" he asked.

"I'm not sure if panicked is the accurate word," Angelle replied. She was so intimidated to be around all these people that she didn't know. "But she wanted me to check in with you to make sure you knew what you were doing tonight."

"Well, why didn't she do it herself?" he asked, his features darkening in contemplation. He noticed a look cross the young woman's features and he smiled. She was definitely new to the field, and he was worried that she wasn't thick skinned enough to make it.

"She said she had a meeting with Mr. McMahon and Creative," Angelle replied. "So she asked me if I could come talk to you for her."

It dawned on Shane. "You're her new assistant, aren't you?" he asked. She nodded. "Well, on behalf of the McMahon family, and on behalf of the talent roster, welcome to the WWE."

"I don't know about that," she replied. "I had a bit of a run-in with three guys on the way to find you."

Shane was silent for a second. "Must be Legacy. The lead one have tattoos down his arms?" She nodded. "Yeah. That would be them. The bundle of sunshine you bumped into would be Randy Orton. He's a moody bastard, but relatively harmless. The other two with him are Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Which reminds me that I need to talk to them about tonight. Are you doing anything right now?"

"I have to meet Stephanie when she's finished her creative meeting in catering."

"Well, knowing my father, she'll be there forever. Come on, you can come sit in on a meeting with the guys and I and you can see how we piece together a segment for TV."

"I won't get in trouble with Steph, right?"

"Nah. Steph's a pretty mellow person, and I'm sure she knows you're with me." Angelle smiled. "Come on. I'm sure you could use a new first impression with the boys in Legacy anyways." She nodded; she still couldn't get Randy Orton's cold, piercing eyes out of her head as she followed Shane down the hallway.

**

"You again?"

"Cut the girl some slack, Orton. It's her first day."

"No shit." Randy's demeanor changed instantly. He held out his hand.

"Randy Orton, this is Angelle, my sister's new assistant. Angelle, this moody prick here is Randy Orton." Randy scowled at Shane, but shook Angelle's hand nonetheless.

"Don't pay mind to McMahon over here," Randy said, kissing her hand. She thought she was going to faint. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Angelle."

"I'm Cody Rhodes," the dark haired man said, extending his hand to her. She shook it.

"Ted DiBiase," the blond stated, shaking her hand.

"Angelle Harper," she said. "It's nice to meet you guys." They all took seats in chairs.

"So do you have your 'address' written for tonight?" Shane inquired. Randy nodded.

"I've been working on it all week," Randy confessed. WrestleMania XXV was six days away in Houston, Texas, while Raw was emanating from Dallas. "I got Rhodes and DiBiase here to take a look over the final draft; they said it seems fine. Samantha thinks it's too wooden."

"Um, who's Samantha?" Angelle asked. They all stared at her and she instantly felt stupid. The look on Randy's face said he didn't think what she was thinking, however.

"Samantha's my wife," Randy replied. Angelle's mouth formed into a silent "oh" and she apologized for interrupting before the guys continuted.

"...So they'll cut to the backstage area and show that the limousine doors – both sides – are open. You've prepped the security guys right?"

"We have," Ted replied, motioning to himself and Cody. He checked the watch on his wrist. "Which reminds me, Cody and I have to get into our gear and film the pretapes. You guys got everything under control here?"

"In a second," Shane replied. "So, what's going to happen is Dad's going to come out first. Followed by me, and then Hunter. We'll level security and make our way to you guys. Cody, I'll be on you." Cody nodded.

"Should be fun," he murmured.

"So how are we doing this beatdown?" Randy asked.

"Well, it's going to be you and Hunter obviously. Dad and I will be brawling with DiBiase and Rhodes. You're going to bail through the crowd with Ted and leave Cody. Hunter's going to hit you with the Pedigree, Codeman, and that's how we're going to close out the show." They nodded and stood, slapping hands and hugging Shane, and shaking hands with Angelle before leaving.

Angelle looked at the clock. "I should probably get to catering and see if Stephanie's finished her meeting." She stood to her feet. "It was nice meeting you, Shane. You, too, Randy. Sorry about crashing into you earlier."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Water under the bridge." She nodded, smiling softly before letting herself out. Randy turned to Shane.

"She for real?" Randy asked. Shane shook his head.

"She's a little timid," he replied. "But I think she'll be just fine. I think she's feeling a bit out of place. She'll adjust." Randy shrugged and continued to go over closing segment plans with Shane.

**

"Sorry, Mrs. Levesque. Your brother took me to meet Legacy." Stephanie shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. I figured he'd have you sit in," she replied, taking a bottle of water. "And please, Angelle. Stephanie. Mrs. Levesque sounds so old." Angelle nodded, and she took a bottle of water.

"Steph! Steph! We got some bad news!"

Stephanie turned to see a young technician. "Business beckons," she replied, taking a swig of water. "Could you let Big Show know that he's going over John Cena in a ten minute match tonight?" Angelle looked confused, but she nodded. She didn't know who Big Show was, or what going over meant, but she was pretty sure there would be a tag on a locker room or something. Stephanie offered a quick thanks and Angelle began making her way back down the hallway. Big Show...Big Show...what would a guy who calls himself the 'Big Show' look like anyways?

She walked past a few people she didn't recognize; a man with a unibrow talking to a muscular blonde woman and another woman with blondish highlights in her hair, a blonde man and a little person, both dressed in green, and a guy with long black hair, sleeved tattoos and a lip piercing sitting on a trunk listening to his iPod. He was dressed in his trunks and his boots, with a T-shirt. She sighed; she was going to feel like the stupidest person on the planet, but she knew she may as well ask for help. She approached.

"Um...excuse me?" she said, her voice stuck at a soft level. The guy looked up, startled by her appearance, and pulled a headphone out of his ear.

"Um...hello," he said. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah...I'm really sorry and I feel stupid, but...I'm looking for the Big Show and I have no idea who he is." He smiled at her and slid off the trunk.

"I'll take you to his locker room."

"Thank you so much." They began to walk down the hallway. "You new around here? I don't think I've ever seen you around here before."

"It's my first day. I'm Angelle. Stephanie's new assistant. She asked me to talk to the Big Show, but...well, the truth is, I don't know who anybody is back here." He smiled.

"Don't worry. You'll pick it up fast enough." He extended his hand. "I'm Phil Brooks. I wrestle here under the name CM Punk."

"What does CM stand for?" she asked. He smiled.

"Chicago-Made." She nodded, and they continued down the hallway. "How has your night been so far?"

"A disaster. I got lost on the way to the arena, so I was late getting here, then I had a run-in with Legacy...I'm tracking men down and I have no idea what they look like, or who they are." He could tell she was flustered. "The only shining moment is at least I smoothed things over with Legacy."

"They're harmless," Phil told her. "Orton's kind of moody, but so long as you remember that, things will be okay."

"That's what Mr. McMahon told me."

"Vince said that?"

"No. Shane."

"Ah." They stopped at an enormous blue door. "This is his locker room. Is it safe to leave you? I need to go talk to the other guys tonight."

"I'll be fine, Phil. Thanks so much for your help."

"Think nothing of it. See you around." He gave her a soft tap on the back, sticking his headphone back in his ear and disappearing down the hallway. She took a deep breath and knocked. She heard some rustling on the other side of the door and when it opened, she was face to face with a man's torso. Chocolate eyes wide, she stared up at him, flabbergasted by the sheer size of the man.

"Yo, man, who is it?" she heard a voice shout.

"Some chick," the giant called back. She heard movement, but couldn't see anything past the big man.

"She hot?" She blushed as the man made his way past the big man. He stopped and stared at her, flashing her a smile. She was gorgeous. She looked at him; deep blue eyes and a cute smile, dressed in a black T-shirt and blue denim shorts.

"Big Man, you should probably sit down. He's intimidating you, ain't he?" She nodded.

"I've never seen anybody so big. I'm sorry. I really do have a purpose for interrupting you two." The blue eyed man gave the giant a slap on the arm and told him to move back. He complied and Angelle was ushered into the room. There was also a man with long blonde hair inside, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt with a graphic design on it.

"So, what can we do for you?"

"Mrs. Levesque...I mean, Stephanie, told me to come here and talk to...Big Show and John Cena?"

"That's us," the man with the blue eyes said, motioning to himself and the giant.

"Stephanie wanted me to tell you that Big Show is supposed to go over Cena tonight in a ten minute match...whatever that means."

"It means I'm kicking your ass again tonight, Cena," the giant known as Big Show replied with a smug grin on his face. The blond and the giant chuckled at Cena's expense. She felt awkward, like a fight was going to break out in her presence, but her suspicions never came to fruition. The blonde and Cena both noticed she looked out of place. The blonde stood to his feet and extended his hand. "Adam Copeland. Or Edge, as I'm known in the WWE Universe. You would be?"

"I'm Angelle Harper. I'm Stephanie Levesque's new assistant. Here to kind of alleviate her workload a little bit in the talent department until Mr. McMahon gets a suitable replacement."

"Paul Wight. Or The Big Show," the giant replied, extending his hand. She shook it, and was astounded at how big his hands were.

"John Cena," the man with blue eyes said. "On behalf of the locker room, welcome to the WWE."

"Thank you," she replied. "I'm sorry to have interrupted. I should get going and see if Stephanie needs me to do anything before Raw goes on the air." They nodded and she let herself out. Adam started laughing.

"Timid little thing, isn't she? I don't know if WWE is the place for that." Cena nodded. Wrestling was a calloused industry. People had to be thick skinned to succeed. He wondered if she could make it.

**

Angelle stood in the Gorilla Position, watching the show through the cracks of the curtain. She was getting everybody ready to go out, hooked up with a clipboard and an earpiece to call for whoever was needed. She had since lost the business blazer; just opting for the shirt and slacks. It had been an eventful night; but from the sounds of things, WrestleMania was going to be a big show.

"Who do you need now, Angelle?" Stephanie's voice cracked through. Angelle flipped to the next page of the clipboard. She was astounded at how organized the show was.

"I need the Money in the Bank participants," she replied. Within seconds, the men all began lining up to go through the curtain. She recognized Phil in there and they flashed each other a reassuring smile. He gave her a thumbs up before making his way through the curtain.

The time seemed to fly and she admitted to herself early on that she admired the athleticism. Everybody seemed to have so much fun on the other side of the curtain and the people were really responding to it. Before she knew it, Shane McMahon, Triple H and the Chairman himself were standing beside her, ready to go and face the Legacy group she had met at the beginning of the night. She was curious about how their plans were going to play out. The Chairman's theme started first and he made his way through, a scowl on his face. She covered the mouthpiece on her headset. "Break a leg out there, guys."

"Thanks," Shane mouthed, giving her a soft pat on the arm before disappearing past the black curtain. His music started and he disappeared. Angelle could tell Triple H was in another mindset at the moment, his gaze down, a scowl on his face. He was getting ready to go out there and kick a lot of ass. His theme started and she heard the crowd roar louder than they did for the McMahon men, and Triple H disappeared past the curtain. Her eyes were glued to the space between the curtains, watching the three men lay out the security guards that were trying to act as a barrier between Triple H and the McMahons and Legacy. The crowd was at a fever pitch and Angelle found herself getting into it as well as Shane slammed Cody Rhodes against the ring apron.

**

At midnight, the McMahons and Angelle officially parted ways. She was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep, still fully amped from the show she had just witnessed. As she made her way to the underground parking lot, she wondered if she should go get a coffee. Sleep was definitely a few hours away. If she even slept at all. Tomorrow she had to be back at the arena to do more for the SmackDown tapings. Stephanie had let it slip that commentator Tazz would not be with WWE after this week. The Powers That Be were in a panic, busy trying to find a replacement for Tazz at WrestleMania Sunday because the man had made it clear he had no intention of being there. Angelle wondered if there was anything she could do to help the situation.

"We meet again."

Angelle jumped, startled, a small scream escaping her lips as she wheeled around to see John Cena. He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Whoa! Easy! I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm sorry. I was spaced out," she confessed, walking into the underground parking lot area. "You're familiar with this area, aren't you?"

"More or less," he replied with a shrug. "Why?"

"I'm not tired, so I thought I'd go get a coffee. Do you know of anywhere that's open?"

"I think there's a Dunkin' Donuts about ten minutes from the arena," he told her. "Was that what you had in mind? It's twenty-four hours."

She sighed. "It'll work. Thanks." She hit the button on her keychain and the doors unlocked to her car.

"Hey. Do you mind if I come with you?" She stared at him oddly.

"This isn't some kind of a date, is it?"

"No, no, no," he said, his tone rushed. "It's just...well, I noticed you were a little lost tonight when it came to the guys and what was going on. If you're going for a coffee...I thought I'd tag along and maybe fill you in on the stories heading into the Big One this weekend." She sighed.

"It's sweet of you to offer and all, but I'd imagine you must be exhausted right now."

"Not really. It takes a few hours to wind down after a show," he informed her. "You can follow me there." She nodded.

"Fine. I guess I'll meet you there."

"Great," Cena replied, hitting the button that unlocked his car halfway down the parking lot. He began to make his way towards the car. "Meet you there."