Cat, Sharon and Judy (a personal friend of Cat's)
had just settled in the
room. Anne arrived an hour later. They were
going over who was going to
what Axxess and where they were sitting at the
main event. There was a
knock. Anne answered. It was the rest of the
girls: Sandra, Jade, Kal,
Bonnie, Dville, and Chawni. Dville had a
surprise for everyone - Nikole,
who had not been seen for quite a while. After
all the hugs and kisses,
Cat introduced Judy to the girls and told them
what they had talked
about. She also told them that the A-U party was
going to be in the room
Saturday night and that everyone was to be there
at 7:00.
"Where's B? Anyone heard from her?" Sandra
asked.
"Not yet, but she did email me to say she would
be arriving today, and that
she would call us from Willie's house," Cat
replied.
The phone rang. "Hey B. We were just talking
about you," Cat said. "We
were also going over who was going to be where at
what time at Axxess and
the main event, plus the party Saturday night.
When you coming by?"
"Willie and I are coming over now."
"Okay, all of us will be downstairs in the dining
room."
"Now look dad. You told me to handle this anyway
I liked. I thought the
special autograph session was a good idea,
especially for public
relations."
Vince scowled. "Do you realize what's going to
happen? People will be
pushing and shoving to get in. If anyone gets
hurt, we could be sued! I
don't need anymore lawsuits!"
Shane shook his head. "First of all, it's
basically for women
only. Second, only those who show a pass at the
door will be allowed
entry. And I'll have security posted at the
door."
"Oh, like that makes it any better," Vince looked
at him
skeptically. "Just how many 'women' are going to
be allowed."
Shane bit his lip. "A hundred."
"Why a hundred?"
"It makes a good random sample of women
fans."
"A hundred women, at one time, in the same room
with 13 wrestlers," Vince
arched his brows. "Do they know about
it?"
"They already know."
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
"What's the worse that can happen? The women
will come, get their
autographs, talk to the guys a little bit, snap a
few pictures, and then
go."
"You hope."
Chapter 20
As the session was scheduled for the same time as
the planned party, the
girls agreed to changing the time to after the
session was through. B and
Willie were already waiting in the lobby of the
hotel when the girls
arrived. Each one had her camera and magazine in
hand, except for Cat, who
was carrying a plastic bag.
"What's with the bag?" Willie asked.
"A couple of my friends found out I was attending
the session and sent me
their magazines to get autographed." She pulled
out 4 issues.
"The guys will have writer's cramp by the time
they get through," B
commented. "It's a good thing we're here
first."
"Yeah, but what gets me is the fact that the
whole time I was only a couple
of blocks from here," Cat groaned. "I could have
gotten a lot of good
shots had I known."
By 6:30, the lobby was crowded with women waiting
to meet the
wrestlers. Shane peeked out of the banquet room
door and smiled, but
Vince's words came to mind. He crossed his
fingers, hoping everything
would go smoothly.
At 6:45, one of the security guards opened the
double doors to allow the
women entrance. Linda and Shane stood at the
doors and shook each woman's
hand as they entered, and handed each one a copy
of the DVD.
______
Just off to the side, a door was slightly ajar, a
pair of eyes watching
closely as the banquet room filled. "What's
going on?"
"There's a huge line of women waiting. Shane and
Linda are at the door
shaking hands as they come in. Looks like
they're handing out
something."
"How are they acting?"
"Some are jumping up and down, some seem like
they're nervous. Looks like
each of them has their magazine, except one. She
has, I can't tell, but it
looks like an armful."
"An armful? Hell, I can feel my fingers already
going numb!"
"Any men in there?"
"No, it's nothing but women."
"Hey, you don't suppose they'll rush us all at
once?"
"I hope not. I want to be able to be at least in
one piece for tomorrow
night."
"I don't think they'll do that, but…."
Shane came in. "Okay, guys, its time."
Shane came back out. "Ladies, this is the moment
you've waited
for." Shane turned to the door and motioned the
wrestlers to enter.
With trepidation, the wrestlers entered and sat
at a long table. The room
shook with squeals and shouting. Anne, who was
next to Cat, leaned
against her. Cat turned and saw how pale Anne
was. "Anne, you
alright?" Anne didn't say a word, going limp.
Fortunately B and Willie,
who were behind her, caught her before she went
to the floor. B lightly
tapped Anne's cheek. Anne shook her head and
opened her eyes.
One of the security guards had noticed and came
over with a bottle of
water. Anne took a few sips and stood up. B and
Willie held on to her
just in case. "I'm fine," she said.
"You want to sit for a bit?" the guard
asked.
Anne shook her head. "I'll be okay."
"Just to be sure," B said, "get in between Willie
and I."
So the session got under way, with Sandra the
first of the A-U girls to go
through. Anne held up (barely) as she went
through, B and Willie watching
her closely. When it came Cat's turn, it was
agreed that she would get her
autographed copies at the end of the line, which
was Mark. Cat had done
fairly well up to this point, but when she came
to Mark, her legs became
wobbly, forcing her to hold on to the table.
Mark noticed and arose to
help steady her. "Thank you," she replied. When
she had regained her
composure, Cat picked up her magazines and stood
at the door to wait for
the others.
Bonnie was speechless as she waited for Trips to
sign his poster. Jade had
to be pinched in the side by Dville "Hey, we know
you want to jump Nash's
bones, but not here!" she whispered. As B and
Willie went through the
line, the wrestlers kept giving Willie weird
looks. Finally, she came to
Glen, who peered at her closely before signing.
"I've seen you somewhere
before," he remarked. Willie went over to B.
"Think he remembers you?" B
asked. "I don't know" Willie replied.
Sharon and Judy were the last. Sharon was
shaking when she came in front
of Glen. The girls had been taking pictures of
the guys all through the
line, but B got a good one of Sharon as she stood
in front of Glen, her
cheeks a bright shade of red as she shook his
hand. Judy was weak in the
knees when she finally got Mark. All the years
she had seen him on TV, now
to see him in person. Cat made sure to get a
good shot. Judy stammered a
"thank you" and went over to the rest of the
girls. "Well, it's back to
the hotel and party time!" Cat
exclaimed.
Once everyone had left, the guys dropped their
pens. "Oh, my hand!" Nash
groaned and he flexed his fingers. "That feels
good."
Vince had come in toward the end to view the
carnage, shocked to see how
smoothly things had run. Shane noticed and
smiled. "See, nothing
happened."
Vince noticed some leftover copies of the DVD.
"What's this?"
"This is the DVD of the magazine shoot. Each
woman that came got a copy."
Shane waited a bit. "Now, you have to admit this
whole thing was a good
idea, wasn't it?"
Vince took a deep breath. "Okay, I admit it.
This is one of the best ideas
we had."
"And?" Linda arched her brows.
Vince looked at her. "What?"
"Vince, what else?" she asked.
"Okay, okay. From now on I'll start listening to
the women fans."
Linda smiled and put her arm through Vince's.
"Let's have a small drink to
celebrate."
"Good. I've got another idea," Shane said as he
explained on their way to
the bar.