Teach Me How To Love

Chapter 2 - Count Your Blessings

Yelena pulled into the parking lot of the Quickens Loans Arena and parked. Gathering everything she needed for the night, she approached the guard.

"I.D?", -  the beefy man asked.

"Right", - Yelena muttered, managing to dig her hand into her purse. Her fingers found the small pocket where she kept her I.D to find it empty. Shit. She must have somehow dropped it when her purse fell back at the hotel.

Sending the man an apologetic smile she replied, - "I must have lost it. My name should be on the list, tough.

The man sighed heavily.

"Name?", - he barked.

"Ulyanova", - she said, hefting her things up tighter against her chest as he flipped through the pages on his clipboard.

"Ulyanova, here it is. Go on in."

She spoke a soft thank you and went inside. Keeping her head down, she made her way to to the sign in log to sign in then made her way to her work station. As she was putting her things away, she saw Stephanie McMahon approaching her

"Hello Yelena.", - the Billion Dollar Princess said, flashing a sweet smile.

"Hello Mrs. McMahon. How are you this evening?", - Yelena asked, trying to reign in her nerves. It wasn't every day the she got to speak to the boss' daughter.

"I'm doing well, thank you. So listen. I have a proposition for you, if you are willing.", - Stephanie said, cutting to the chase. "Since we're trying to come up with the times and keep up with every social media site there is out there, I was wondering if you would like to be the lead photographer for the WWE'S Instagram page?"

"Me?", - Yelena asked, flabbergasted.

"I couldn't think of a more capable and talented person to do this job. You were my first pick. I wouldn't have anyone else."

"Wow... thank you so much Mrs. McMahon. I don't know what to say." This was a very big deal to Yelena. Sure most of her pictures made it onto but to be handpicked by Stephanie McMahon for a project was huge.

"Please, call me Stephanie and a yes would suffice.", - the Vice President said with a smile

"Yes, of course I'd love to do this. Thank you so much Mrs. McMa-... I mean Stephanie.", - she said, shaking her boss's hand.

"Great. So can we meet early tomorrow and maybe have breakfast so we can discuss everything with so you can get started?", - Stephanie asked,

"Yes, of course", - Yelena answered eagerly.

"Good. Meet me downstairs in the cafe at eight thirty. See you then.", - Stephanie said, giving the young woman a friendly squeeze as she left, her heels clicking as she went.

Yelena was pretty much walking on air for the rest of the night. She was in such a great mode despite the horrendous dinner with her mother and sister and she had gotten some amazing shots throughout the show and when it was over, she uploaded her photos to her laptop, chose ten of her favorites and sent them to Steve, the guy who's in charge of the website. Packing up her things, she said goodnight to her coworker James and made her way to the parking lot. She had just made it through the double doors when she heard her name being called. Turning around, she saw that it was her friend Zivile, better known to the WWE Universe as the Lithuanian Diva, Aksana, and the name she preferred. They had become close friends in the three years she had known her. The Diva was like the big sister she had always wanted.

"Hey girl, where are you going so soon? Not back to the hotel, I hope.", - the dark haired beauty chided, falling into step beside her. She wore a short little black dress that stopped above the knee and had a key hole cutout and the highest heels Yelena had ever seen. How she'd managed to catch up with her so fast without breaking her neck was a wonder. The Diva wore smokey makeup around her blue-green eyes, making them stand out against her jet black hair and bold red lips. Yelena had always admired how she could rock red lips, but then again, Aksana could be wearing a potato sack and pull it off. She wished she could be as bold and confident as her friend.

"Yes, actually I am. I'm really tired and I have to be up early for a meeting with Stephanie and-"

"You have a meeting with Stephanie? About what?", - Asksana asked, cutting her off

"Well, she kind of gave me a promotion sort of. She wants me to run the Instagram page."

"Oh my god, Lena, that's great, I'm so happy for you!", - Aksana squealed, pulling her best friend in for a hug. "Come on, we have to go out and celebrate tonight! A lot of the girls and some of the guys are going out tonight. You should come!", - she begged

"Thanks, but I would prefer not to be hung over when I meet with Stephanie. And besides, I don't really know anyone.", - Yelena said, tucking a stay lock of her chestnut colored hair behind her ear. Even if she didn't have a meeting tomorrow, she still wouldn't want to go. Aksana was the sweetest person ever, but some of the other Divas seemed a bit too catty for her liking and all of the guys were so... intimidating.

"You'll never be comfortable around them if you don't at least try to get to know some people. You've been working here too long to say I'm your only friend."

Yelena sighed. She didn't even know the half of it. Yes, she has been working for the company going on three years and yes Aksana was her only friend and sure, she was only on first name bases with a few people, but if she really knew what was truly going on behind closed doors, she wouldn't believe it.

"Have fun.", - Yelena said simply.

"I guess I'll catch you later. Good luck tomorrow.", - Aksana said, watching the brunette get into her car. She waved as she pulled out of her parking space and drove off with a honk. She wished her friend would give her work buddies a chance. She was sure she'd love them as much as she did. One of these days she was going to have to drag her out of her comfort zone. The girl was just too shy for her own good.

After taking a long bubble bath, Yelena, pulled on a pair of comfy sweats and a long sleeve sleep shirt. She decided to let her hair air dry, feeling to lazy to bother with a blow dryer. She dug through her suitcase until she found her book, "Identical" by Ellen Hopkins, the novel she was currently reading and snuggled into bed. She got through four chapters before her eyelids began to droop and eventually gave in to sleep. 

Beta"s Note: as always you can see Yelena"s outfits in multimedia & please leave a review