Reality (Linstead AU)

Chapter 79

Erin had decided that Kylie Estevez would be the first to get the good news about her main roster call up. Blake Gallo was second on the list.

Summoned to Crockett Marcel's office, where Crockett, Erin and Jay were ready and waiting, Kylie came in looking distinctly nervous. Relating to other people was always difficult for Jay, but he understood that particular emotion. As a member of the NXT roster, where you were essentially a trainee, being ordered in to see Erin Voight of all people had to be terrifying. To Jay, Erin was his fiancée, a kind and loving person who he adored. But to Kylie she was the boss of a multi-billion dollar company, who could make or break Kylie's entire career with one decision.

"Come in, Kylie," Crockett said. "I'm assuming you haven't met Jay or Erin before?"

"No, sir," Kylie said timidly.

Erin maintained a poker face and said nothing as she nodded a perfunctory greeting. Jay realised she was going to make the good news even more of a surprise, so he said nothing either. Their reactions made Kylie even more nervous, probably thinking she was about to be let go.

"You won't be needed for NXT next week," Erin said in an emotionless voice. "When we're done here, you can clear out your locker."

"Okay," Kylie said, looking like her bottom lip was about to start quivering.

Then Erin's face lit up and her true emotions came through. "I'm going to need you for Raw Monday night. You've made the main roster."

Kylie stared at Erin for a moment, clearly not processing the news. "Really?" was all she managed to say in response.

"Yes, really. I've got plans for you."

Jay decided this would be a good time to say something nice to the young woman. "Congratulations. You deserve it."

"Oh my god! Thank you so much!" Kylie cried, dashing over to Jay and giving him a hug, much to his surprise. He returned the embrace simply because he didn't know what else to do.

Kylie quickly moved on to Erin, who was happy to give her a more convincing hug. Then came Crockett with a hug of his own.

"What did I tell you?" Crockett asked Kylie. "I said I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Jay wasn't a party to whatever past conversation that comment referred to, but he saw that it meant a lot to Kylie.

"I've been doing my best not to." Then she looked at Erin. "Am I allowed to ask what I'm doing on Raw?"

"Of course," Erin said comfortably. "There's going to be a team forming and you'll be on it. Clementine will be the leader. Raquel will be on the team, with you and one other woman."

Kylie seemed more blown away by that than the news of her call up. "I'm going to work with Clem?" she asked in disbelief.

"You are."

When Kylie burst into tears, Jay gained a new level of understanding of how Clem was seen by other female wrestlers. A role model and leader, yes, but not only that. More than that. Kylie obviously saw Clem as somebody who was head and shoulders above the other female wrestlers. Someone who it would be the honour of a lifetime to even be in the presence of. For some reason, Jay's reaction was to think that had to be a lot for Clem to put up with, yet she always seemed relaxed and humble. He felt down on himself because he wasn't capable of doing the same.

Erin and Kylie were still talking, with Erin trying to calm Raw's newest addition down. Jay motioned to the door and said, "I'm going to..." The implication was that he needed to take a leak.

Erin nodded and Jay left the office. He went to the bathroom because he actually did need to take a leak, but that wasn't why he had wanted to get out of the office. He wanted to put what he was feeling into words with someone. Erin wasn't an option, so he had only one choice. Standing at the urinal, he started a text message to Raquel.

Just saw Erin tell Kylie Estevez about her call up. She was delighted about the call up, but she reacted more to being told she'll be working with Clem. She started crying and I've never been more aware of how most of you women look up to Clem and how much she means to you. I wish people looked at me that way.

The final sentence was what he had really wanted to express to someone. He didn't know why he felt like that, he just did. In a way, he was jealous of Clem.

Jay washed and dried his hands, then hung around in the otherwise empty bathroom for a few minutes, hoping Raquel had seen his message and would reply quickly. Thankfully, a reply did come through.

Raquel Gonzalez: Can't chat now. In the gym. Guys do think of you that way, you just don't notice them. Clem makes an effort to be a leader. So can you. Call you later.

Jay read the message three times. It was the same every time. Apparently, Raquel saw people think of him the way Kylie thought of Clem, yet he had never noticed it himself because he had never been able, or had never particularly tried, to relate to other people. In that moment, it almost literally felt like a switch flipped inside his head. The message that Erin and Raquel had both been trying to drill into his head for so long finally managed to sink in. He was his only limitation. He could do better if he tried hard enough. He could do better with his fiancée, with his friends, with his peers, and with the people he was in charge of in his role as a producer. Today was the day to start doing better.

Turning to look in the nearby mirror, Jay had a tiny bit more respect for the man he saw looking back at him.

"You can do it," he told the reflection. And he believed himself.

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A/N: Welcome back to this story, at last! I've re-written parts of this chapter a bunch of times, partly to try and make it longer and partly because the moment Jay finally had his big breakthrough is something I wanted to make sure I was happy. In the end, I decided that it worked best as a short chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it?