Danae doodled on her notepad as Vince droned on and on. With some amusement, she noticed that Chris and Stephanie were sitting as far away from each other as humanly possible and still be in the same room. Since seeing the 'Smoochy Dreams' page, they'd avoided each other as much as they could without looking obvious about it.
They'd both managed to react fairly calmly at the time. Chris had started laughing nervously, then made an excuse to get out of there. Stephanie had sat in stunned silence for a few minutes, then asked Danae if she could look at the 'Smoochy Moments' section. They'd read through them together, with Stephanie occasionally commenting, but generally growing more and more silent. Eventually she too, made her escape. Danae had simply shaken her head and had wondered if the page had possibly made them realize how intense the chemistry between them was.
"Psst Dan… Danae!" A voice to her left hissed. She glanced over her shoulder, to see Jeff Hardy in the row behind her, leaning forwards with a piece of paper in his hand. Leaning back, she extended an arm behind her, quickly bringing it forwards again when she felt a piece of paper in his hand. She unfolded it and placed it flat against her notepad. 'Hey Dan -What's up with Jericho & Steph? I've never seen them look so uneasy around each other. They usually get along like a house on fire. Any ideas? - Rob. P.S. - What are you doing tonight?'
Hiding a grin, Danae looked around at Rob Van Dam who was sitting two rows behind her and about four seats across. He grinned a winked at her. She turned around scribbled a reply. 'Two words for ya Rob - fan sites. To cut a long story short, yes I did show it to them and yes I did try to talk them out of it. It's not my fault they didn't listen! - Danae. P.S. What've you got planned?'
She leaned back and slipped the note to Jeff, grateful for the fact that if Vince had anything important to discuss with someone, he usually kept them after the meeting or scheduled a meeting with them. The weekly meetings involving the entire road staff were a mere formality and Danae wondered how many others knew that the boss was aware of the fact that most of his employees spent the meetings passing notes back and forth.
"Well that just about wraps it up." Vince concluded. A voice from the back of the room muttered "Thank God!"
"Your welcome Billy!" called back Mick Foley, referring to the numerous signs seen over the years reading 'Foley is God.' Amid the gales of laughter, Vince could be heard shouting "Stephanie! Jericho! Danae! Can you three stay behind please?"
Danae continued doodling on her notepad as she remained in her seat, waiting for everyone leave before approaching Vince. A shadow fell over her notepad and a voice remarked "Cool picture."
She looked up at the speaker and grinned. "Gotta keep myself amused somehow. Unlike Edge and Christian, I'm not brave enough to bring a Game Boy to these things. Crappy drawings keeps me entertained."
"Oh so passing notes back and forth with me doesn't?" Rob grinned at Danae mischievously and she felt her heart do a tiny somersault. "So what are your plans for tonight?"
"Sorry Dan, it's a surprise. I'll pick you up at seven and wear neat casual." Last time Danae had gone out with Rob, she wore a semi-formal outfit and ended up roller-skating in it. She smiled back at him, a little shyly. "One thing is for sure-"
"Hurry up lover boy!" shouted Billy Kidman from the doorway. "We've got a booking at the gym remember?"
Looking a little embarrassed, Rob reminded Danae "Seven o'clock."
"See you then." By this stage the room was empty of nearly everyone. With a smile, Danae joined Vince, Stephanie and Chris at the front of the room. Stephanie grinned at Danae "Got a hot date tonight?"
"I plead the fifth." Danae blushed. Vince rolled his eyes. "Can we get down to business please?"
"Sure thing Vince." Danae was grateful for the change in topic. "What's up?"
"Well, I've decided it's time to do something about the on going feud between Stephanie and Chris. Either bring it to a conclusion or take it a whole new direction."
"Which direction would that be?" Chris spoke for the first time, looking and sounding terse. Danae couldn't resist. "You know Jericho, there's quite a chemistry between you and Steph. I happen to know for a fact that there are quite a few people out there who happen to think you two would make an incredible couple."
"Oh bite me Dan." Chris looked at her in distaste. Stephanie hit him on the arm. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Cut it out!" Vince ordered. "Danae, I'm turning these two over to you. Any other angles you're working on at the moment will be turned over to someone else. You have full creative control on this one."
"Thanks boss!" Danae was stunned. She'd only been with the company six weeks and thought that it would be at least six months before she was given control of writing an angle. Vince looked at her in a fatherly manner. "You've got a lot of potential. Besides I've been hearing favorable things from those you've been working with so far."
"One of them wasn't Rob was it?" Stephanie teased. Chris started laughing at the look Danae shot Stephanie. Vince rolled his eyes. "As a matter of fact, Rob has had nothing but good things to say about Danae, but I have been around long enough to know when someone's professional opinion is clouded by their personal opinion."
Chris started to say something, then shut up at the looks both Stephanie and Danae gave him. It was a common and widely accepted theory around the place the reason he'd never gotten a serious shot for the title was because Hunter was jealous of Chris and Stephanie's close friendship.
"I want this sorted out fairly soon. You two can share your opinions and thoughts, but the final decision goes to Danae. You will abide by her decision. Remember, it's just a show." Vince looked pointedly at Chris, who smiled innocently. "That just about wraps it up. Oh and Danae?"
"Yes Vince?"
"Don't wear out Vam Dam too much tonight." He ruffled her hair "He's got a big show tomorrow night."
The other three started laughing at the look on Danae's face. "See me on Sunday before Heat and let me know what you've come up with so far ok?"
"No problem." Danae replied as Vince gathered his things together at left. She smirked at Chris and Stephanie. "So what have you two got planned for tomorrow?"
"Planning to attempt to learn a song for Fozzy's next gig." Chris replied. Stephanie sighed. "Shopping with Lita, Trish and Molly."
"Friday?"
"There's no getting out of this is there?" Chris crossed his arms. Danae shrugged. "Well, if you really want to leave it up to me…"
"Fine. Friday." He stormed out, muttering something under his breath. Danae and Stephanie burst out laughing. "That page really got under his skin didn't it?"
"Looks like it." Danae replied. "Um, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What's up Dan?" Steph asked curiously. Danae sighed. "How's Hunter going to take this?"
"Hunter?" Stephanie's eyes clouded. "He'll respect your decision and whatever direction you want to take this."
"But-"
"Trust me. He may not like it, but he'll do it." Steph bit her lip. "You'd better get out of here. You have a hot date tonight remember?"
"Oh hell, I didn't realise it was so late!" Danae cursed under her breath as she checked her watch. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
Stephanie sat down on the table as Danae headed off. Slowly her lips curved in a smile. The next few weeks were certainly going to be interesting.