face your demons // finn bálor

Chapter 3

The first hour of the visit to the WWE Performance Center consisted of a tour of the place by one of the trainers. (I think his name was Leo?) We met a couple of the trainees, and some aspiring superstars.
And of course, Aiden got a few phone numbers. He will never change. There was a girl that seemed to stand out to him, I think. Her name was Alexis. I didn't hear what they were talking about, but she laughed. He laughed. Even got a 'call me sometime'. He walked back over to Carlos and I and whispered, 'score'...so that must mean something.

I thought it was weird that Carlos wasn't all over the girls here. Especially since they were all over him.

"Psst." I nudge Carlos, letting Ace and Leo get ahead of us. "What's up with you? Normally you and Ace would be bragging to each other about how many girls were talking to you."

"I just got a lot on my mind right now. It's no big deal." He says, shrugging. Sure.

"Something to do with that phone call earlier?" His eyes widen, looking back up at me. Bingo. "No, I did not understand most of it."

He sighs and grabs my arm, pulling me to the locker room on our left, without calling any attention to us.

"Dude, what is it?" I ask, concerned now. Carlos is never like this. And I mean NEVER.

"Someone I used to date back home..." Tears start to form in his eyes. Shit. I should have never asked. "They were found dead last night. A few minutes from my hometown."

"I'm so sorry..." He breaks down right in front of me. He must have been holding it in since this morning. "Do you know how it happened?"

"They were murdered. Got into drugs, hung out with the wrong people. It's common in Mexico, so it was bound to happen..." He starts to calm down. "You can't tell Aiden about this. I don't want him to feel like he's holding me back from going to the funeral."

"You should go. I'm sure he would understand."

"I can't. That's the thing...it's complicated. My parents would disown me if they knew we were together."

Wait...didn't his parents tell him the news?

I decide not to push anymore and we head back out after he fixes his composure. Aiden and Leo are out of sight and I start to freak out a little until I see a taller, pale guy walking toward the direction we were headed before Carlos pulled me aside. Maybe he can point us in the right direction.

"Wait!" Carlos grabs my arm once he notices me approaching the man. "Isn't that Finn Bálor?"

"Who? I just wanted to see if he knew where Ace went." Carlos puts his hands up, defensively.

"Excuse me, sir..." The guy turns around and smiles at me. I feel my heart skip a beat when I notice his blue eyes.

"Can I help ya?" He has a thick accent. Irish? Scottish? No. Irish. My whole family on my dad's side is Scottish and that was NOT it.

I clear my throat. "Uhm, did you see one of the trainers..." I look to Carlos, forgetting his name. He mouths 'Leo'. "Leo...and a built guy, kinda looks like me but with an ugly face, walking anywhere around here?"

"I think so. Went runnin' around the halls looking for ya, I'm assuming." He points behind us.

"Thank you." I nod and grab Carlos, running in the direction he pointed to.

"Holy shit. That was awesome."

"What?"

"You just talked to a former champ."

"Former? Probably for a reason. Let's go." The guy was cute though. And my knees totally aren't weak after hearing that godly accent. Totally not.

---x---

A few minutes of searching later, we finally find my brother in an office, with a man in a suit sitting at the desk.

"Ah, Mr. Zepeda, I'm assuming?" The man looks intimidatingly at Carlos. He has a British accent. "And this is..." He gets up and grabs my hand, bowing his head before it. This guy is already creeping me out.

"Katherine. Aiden's sister. NOT here for business."

"Beautiful name, Miss Katherine." He stares me in the eye. Yikes. "Sit, sit, you two. We have important matters to discuss."

We sit down, and I pull out my phone, not interested in the whole meeting thing. I noticed it went off a couple times while Carlos was pouring his heart out.

@WWEAcePAIN and @ZepedaFire_WWE have followed you on Twitter!

"First of all, your Twitter accounts were verified. It's important to keep personal business separate from social media. Feel free to post about your matches, sticking to the story lines, of course. You're in NXT, so storylines aren't AS important. But if either of you make it to the main roster, you'll need a clean slate."

I look back up at my brother and Carlos, they're just nodding. They look like puppies who've just learned their first training command. My phone buzzes again.

@WWERollins has followed you on Twitter!

You know that one vine that's like, "Oh hell nooohooooo"? Yeah. That's me right now.

"And I understand you have discussed being mentored by Seth Rollins? That's still on the fence. He's quite busy with Raw right now and has JUST recovered from an injury."

"Actually, Mr. Regal." My brother cuts in. Oh shit. William Regal? Now I recognize him. "We were only looking to be mentored with the mic. Since, you know, Seth's so good with it and all. I don't know about Carlos, but I was willing to start off as a heel. I think Seth might be a perfect mentor for that." Ace turns to glance at me real quick. I mouth "what the hell are you doing?", but he looks right back at the man in the suit.

"We could possibly work something out, if that's the case. Although, he only mentioned working with Carlos..." So he's probably still scared of Ace. Good to know. "Well, we'll have the two of you here in the morning to see where you're at with your agility. I'll have you escorted outside." He stands up, ushering us out of the room. "Before you go, I'd like to have a little chat, Miss Katherine." What the fuck.

"Me?" He closes the door before I walk out. This isn't creepy at all.

"Yes, you. Why haven't you joined my company, yet?" So he must be the NXT manager.

"I, uhm..."

"Don't say you aren't interested. Your brother informed me of your work throughout high school."

"I have a job back at home. I haven't wrestled in years."

Regal sits back at his desk, searching through the filing cabinet. He hands me a pamphlet, titled 'WWE Protocol for the Women's Division'.

"Think about it. We'll be in touch." He opens the door for me, and I catch up to Carlos and Ace, pamphlet in hand.

Was I just offered a job?