____________________________________________________________

Amy departed Stephanie's office after about a half hour.  She and the brunette had roughly discussed what she could expect working on SmackDown for the next couple of months.

The redhead bit her lip as she approached a closed locker room door.  This was the room Stephanie had told her Adam was using for the night, and he was sharing it with Rey Mysterio.  The General Manager had said it was just two doors down the right from the divas' locker room.

Amy raised her hand to rap lightly on the door with her knuckles.  As she waited, she couldn't quite comprehend why she was feeling at all nervous.  She and Adam were friends - always had been ever since she'd first come to the WWE.  In fact, he'd been the one to suggest she wear her pants low with her thong showing.

After a moment, the door was opened, and Amy could hear his voice.

"What happened, Rey, did you forget your-"

The tall blond man cut himself off as he drank in the sight of the lovely redhead, rather than his short, heavily-tattooed Latino friend, standing there.

"Amy..." he said after his mind absorbed the fact that she was really there and not a figment of his imagination.  "My God, what are you-  Come in!"  The Canadian reached out for the diva's arm and gently pulled her into the locker room.

"Hi, Adam..." the redhead said with a shy smile.  As discreetly as she could manage, which was not easy - she took in his appearance with appreciateion.  He was dressed in a pair of royal blue wrestling tights, his long blond hair damp from a recent shower and flowing loosely over his shoulders.  And it was not lost on Amy how good he smelled...

The tall Canadian continued to eye her as though still unsure as to whether or not she was really here or merely a dream.  He knew of one way to be able to tell, but he wasn't sure she would actually want to be hugged - so he restrained himself.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, then mentally cursed himself for the question.  She would probably now think he didn't want her here - which, in reality, couldn't be farther from the truth.

"I had a meeting with Stephanie," Amy replied.  She ducked her head for a split second, collecting herself, then spoke again.  "I suppose you saw last night's RAW...?"

"Uh...yeah, I did," Adam admitted, then he suddenly began to grow angry as he thought about the way Eric Bischoff had treated this woman.  What the hell did the bastard think?  That she was Torrie Wilson - a skank who would not only pose nude in probably any skin magazine and throw herself at more than half the male wrestlers in the back?  Adam thought he would absolutely love to show up on RAW one of these days just to pound Bischoff into a pulp...

"Well...that's the reason I'm here," the redhead said softly.  "I mean to call Stephanie, but she called me instead...and she offered me a job working on SmackDown."

"Really?  That's great!" the blond man said, and his heart quickened a little.  He'd hated the roster split to begin with, but even more so than that, he'd hated that Amy had been chosen for RAW while he'd been picked for SmackDown.  Of course, she might have been able to opt for a move to his this show if she'd really wanted - as Matt Hardy had done.  However, as a close friend, Matt had confessed to Adam that Stephanie McMahon was the reason he'd moved here.  At the time, he and the brunette had been secretly dating for the past three months.  He wondered if Amy knew...

"Yeah...sounds like Stephanie's got some big plans."

"What?  You mean for you?"

"Well, yeah...for me, too..."  Amy smiled but didn't divulge him.  After a beat, she cocked her head to one side as she gazed up at him with those fabulous hazel eyes of hers.  "Adam, let me ask you something..."

"Sure..."

"How would you feel about having yourself a manager?"

"Oh?" he asked, arching an eyebrow as he gazed into her still smiling face.

"Yeah...a manager - one with red hair and who could be a lethal asset in your corner but can't be as lethal an asset as usual due to a bum - yet healing - neck..."

The tall blond man's handsome face just about lit up as he grinned at her, his green eyes sparkling.

"Would said manager happen to be you, by any chance?"

"Maybe..." Amy said, her gaze fixed on his.  "Actually, yeah - it was all Stephanie's idea."

Adam continued to grin, and he made a mental note to thank the General Manager later on...