Reality (Linstead AU)

Chapter 62

"Clem. Come in and have a seat," Erin said pleasantly.

"Boss. There's a lot of talk in the locker room," Clementine said as she walked in and sat down. She was dressed casually in one of her WWE merchandise hoodies and a pair of jeans, and of course her usual baseball cap. To Erin she seemed more relaxed than the last time they had sat down for a conversation about the contract situation. That had to be a good sign.

"I'm sure there is. I'll be gathering everyone together to address them shortly. Before that, following our previous conversations, I wanted to sit down with you." In front of her on the desk was a leather bound folder with the WWE logo on it. She opened it, to reveal the contract that was inside. "Tomorrow, in reality as of earlier today, I'm the Chairwoman and co-CEO of WWE. I'd love to be able to mark my first day with the huge announcement that you've signed to stay with us."

"You taking over wasn't my only condition for re-signing," Clem pointed out in an even tone.

"I know," Erin assured her. "The other thing you need me to do is fire Brian Kelton. I'm about to do something I really shouldn't, which is to call him while you're sat here and do exactly that."

"Oh," Clem said, immediately smiling. "It's wrong, but I'm totally here for it."

"Just so you know, this is a one time thing. The only reason I'm handling it this way is so that you know how seriously I take the issue of racism. In return I expect you to make it known in the locker room that I take it seriously, without talking about what's about to happen. We both know you're one of the leaders in there, so help me by leading and putting down any unrest that might come up. Are we agreed?"

Clem nodded. "Absolutely. As I said before, all I wanted to achieve was fair treatment for all. I was prepared to walk away and speak out if that was what it took to help everyone else. I'm glad I'm not going to have to do that because I really do love wrestling. Just so you know, you're already very highly regarded in the women's locker room. You don't need my help with that, but if I do have anyone come to me complaining, I'll tell them what I think – That you'll be a breath of fresh air in this place."

It surprised Erin how touched she felt by that. Knowing that her employees, at least the female ones, held her in high regard was a real boost. As she had already told Kelly Severide, making WWE a place where people were happy to come to work was her number one priority. "Thank you for saying that. It means a lot, truly. Now, I'm going to call Kelton. As you can imagine, there's so much I need to do today."

"Of course," Clem said, making herself comfortable, ready to hear the man who had almost caused her to quit wrestling get what was coming to him.

Part of Erin did feel bad for doing something unprofessional like this, however if it meant that minutes from now she had Clementine's signature on the new contract, it would have been more than worth it. She picked her phone up from the desk and navigated to Brian Kelton's cell phone number. It only dawned on her as she listened to the ringing tone that her little plan was going to off the rails somewhat if Kelton didn't answer.

But he did.

"Erin. I figured you'd be calling when I saw Hank's tweet. Didn't think you'd be this quick off the mark though."

"I didn't know he'd posted it yet," Erin said truthfully. Her dad's retirement from WWE had now been announced to the world, apparently. She could tell by the background noise that Kelton was in his car, likely driving home. "I wanted to show you the courtesy of calling you straight away, to let you know that I'm going to be taking Talent Relations in a different direction, and I'll be exercising the release clause in your contract. Today will be your last day with the company. I'll have any belongings from your office sent to you by courier."