La Arquitecta

Chapter 71

"Thank you," Zelina said to the Uber driver who had just dropped her off at the address she had been given in midtown Manhattan.

Looking up at the tower block in front of her, she estimated it at twenty five storeys high. Its exterior was finished primarily in glass, which reflected the early January sun back at her. Above the main entrance was a large T logo with a dark red thorn forming the stem of the T. Yes, she thought, this was the American headquarters of Thorne Enterprises.

The new year was only a couple of days old, but Zelina wasn't feeling the traditional positivity of the season. The reason was that she hadn't been on WWE television for a month. She was about to have a meeting with the woman responsible for that fact.

Hunter had been up front with her and said that Lucy Thorne had pulled the plug on the Rousey/Vega pairing, saying that she wasn't happy with it in the least.

"Great," Zelina had sighed, annoyed by the latest change in the way she was being used. "So now what am I doing?"

"For now, you're being written off TV. Ronda is missing a couple of shows to do a bit of filming, as you know. While she's gone, we're going to have Bayley and Becky take you out."

"So I just disappear?" she had asked, unimpressed.

"We can't miss you if you don't go away," Hunter had pointed out.

And that had been that. Zelina had supposedly suffered an ankle injury on that night's show, and hadn't been seen since. It seemed like she was about to find out what was planned for her. At least Thorne had the decency to invite her to the office and speak to her in person, she supposed.

Although the Thorne takeover of WWE wasn't officially complete as yet, Hunter's last update had been that they were looking at two or three weeks until the announcement was made. The finish line was approaching.

The weather in New York was freezing, and Zelina wasn't dressed for it, in a thin jacket and leather pants. She told herself to stop staring at the building and get inside before she froze to death.

She hurried inside, savouring the blast of warm air that hit her as she did so. Walking over to the reception desk, she was greeted by an impossibly attractive young blonde woman, who of course had a perfect smile.

"Good morning. Welcome to Thorne Enterprises. How may I help you?"

"My name is Zelina Vega. I'm here to see Ms Thorne, at eleven. I'm slightly early," she explained politely.

The receptionist clicked away at her mouse, obviously checking Thorne's appointments for the day. The smile returned as she looked back at Zelina and gestured across the lobby. "Thank you, Ms Vega. You're going to take the elevator to the twenty second floor, turn left out of the elevator, and Ms Thorne's office will be in front of you."

"Thank you."

Zelina went over to the bank of two elevators. The doors to the right hand one slid open when she pressed the button. It came as no surprise that the twenty second floor was the top floor. Where else would Thorne have her office?

Travelling up there, Zelina found herself thinking about the fact that she wasn't the first of WWE's employees to be summoned here to see the new boss. She knew for a fact that Ronda had been, and so had Roman. Others had too, presumably. She imagined that Thorne was calling in people whose characters she wanted changed significantly. There were rumours of a heel turn for Roman. If that was true, it really was going to be a new era.

"But what about me?" she asked aloud, having no real idea what the answer might be. She felt like she had already been going from pillar to post creatively since making the main roster, and now Thorne was tinkering again. Zelina was getting tired of it, and didn't plan on being afraid to say so.