Meet The Boss

Now, this was interesting. Jack had honestly figured this would go one of two ways - he would either accept his implied offer or shut him down outright, and it would come to moral grounds. His time with his father had given him a wealth of experience in things like this, and most of the GMs he’d met fell into those lines. It was predictable, depressingly so at times, so much black and white.

From the way Fairchild spoke, though, she was more grey than he had originally thought. This, he could work with.

”You know, I actually think our interests are more closely aligned than I’d suspected. You’re not out to change the world, you’re not out to keep the business pure. You, Ms. Fairchild, are in the business of making money. There’s nothing wrong with that. Quite the opposite.”

Jack leaned in, tapped his chin for a moment, then nodded once he’d found the proper words to proceed with. He would keep the charm on, more or less, but wanted to get down to brass tacts. ”My father and I had a bit of a disagreement on how best to run our company. He was set in the old ways, thought things were done best the way they’d been done. I wanted to modernize, accept the future, and as things often do in wrestling, that all turned to violence.” He idly cracked a knuckle and came close to smiling at the memory. ”It’s neither here nor there. But I tell you that to tell you this: I was profitable. When I had control, when my matches were running, when it was my direction, rating went up. How much, Lock?”

”On average?” Lock looked at the ceiling for a moment, muttering a few numbers before she looked back Jack’s way. ”I think we say a 40% increase in ratings at peak, thereabouts. I can forward specific numbers to your email, Ms. Fairchild, if you’d like.”

”The point is, if profit is what you want, I can get your profit. There’s a lot of room in Tension for someone to take charge, to shake things up in a big way, and that’s what I intend to do. I will draw eyeballs to your product.” He leaned back and settled in the chair, confident in the statement. [color:46d6=6600FF]”All I need is a little leeway every now and then. Say, occasionally looking the other way. Pushing certain matches. Giving a deaf ear to certain complaints. Nothing overt, nothing drastic, nothing that will arouse suspicion. A healthy, profitable relationship.”

”That’s the long made short of it, yeah.”

It was good to see that Jack’s instincts about Erica hadn’t been too far off the mark. While she might not have been the type to get her hands dirty or provide direct support, that was fine for both parties, a way for him to get leverage every now and then without being overt. There was an advantage to having a hand in the shadows, moving the best pieces around the board.

Erica wanted money. That made her simple, in the end, and simple was good.

”A handshake it is.” He stood up and reached out, accepting her hand into his a strong shake. Not enough to hurt, not even close, but with just a little more force than necessary. ”To future endeavors.” He placed his other hand on top of hers and slid his fingers along her soft skin as he pulled away. “And if you would ever like to meet and discuss specifics, by all means, call on me at anytime. I’m more than happy to see to whatever needs you might have.”

Behind him, the faint sound of Key’s groan could be heard.

”Anything else? No.” Jack broke away and stood, slipping his hands back into his pockets as he rose. That wasn’t 100% true, there were matters, he was aching to discuss with her, but they could come up at a later date. No need to dump everything on her table all at once.

”Thank you for your time, Ms. Fairchild - it was a pleasure. I look forward to further fruitful endeavors.” He tipped his head her way, a slow and thoughtful nod, then straightened up and made her way out of the office, with Key sulking behind him. Lock was the last to stand and file out, only after brushing her blond hairs aside and gracing the room with a warming smile.

”Feel free to contact us when you need anything. Anything at all.” She tucked her table and made her way out behind her partners, catching up with a few quick steps and pulling the door closed with a gentle click.