DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own WWE, NXT or any of the Superstars and Divas from either roster that may appear in this story. Names and locations are used for story purposes only.
It was a bit of a chilly December evening in Houston, Texas as I walked across the parking lot from my car, to the restaurant that I was going to have dinner in with my best friend. As I got closer, I saw a large man sitting by one of the empty parking spots that was by the door. He hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail while wearing a black, short sleeve shirt showing a sleeve tattoo on his right arm and tan skin as he wore dark blue jeans with sneakers that looked worn out with a goatee and facial hair that seemed to not have been shaven for a few days. A black bag was beside him that he seemed to keep a close eye on even as he sat there taking in the chill, seeing as he wasn't wearing anything over his shirt. Looking at him, our eyes locked and there was something there. A level of understanding, of peace between us though we had never met before, let alone seen each other until this moment. Going inside, I look back after feeling a pair of eyes on me. Looking back, I see him watching me, and so I slow down and look at him, before turning the corner and seeing my friend standing there, on her phone.
"Hi, Kaitlyn." I say with a smile as we share a hug. She has been my best friend for the last five years and we've been there for each other through some of the toughest times in our lives, becoming inseparable in the process. Standing at only five foot eight, she stood about an inch shorter than me with brown hair after deciding to change her signature locks from blonde and black to brown.
"Hey, girl. How you are?" She asks, pulling away and following me to make the line to ask for our drinks and pay.
"I'm good, just a bit tired. I had a long day at work." I say. "What about you?"
She smiles. "It's been really good. I had that photo shoot today that I mentioned earlier this month for a fitness magazine. This is what I've always mentioned that I wanted, Cassandra. To have a career in fitness and after what we went through in Florida, to be here now...it's just amazing."
"I'm really proud of you." I tell her with the biggest smile. "What about you and the husband?"
"We're doing great!" She exclaims with a big smile on her face as we walk to a table for two and put our drinks down before grabbing our own plates to go to the buffet. "He's got a competition coming up in a few weeks for body building, so he's been preparing for that. What about you, Ms. Still Single."
I look at her. "I just haven't found that guy yet. I always get the guys who only like me for my looks."
"What guy in their right mind wouldn't like how you look?" She asks. "You're gorgeous. Curves in all the right places, long brown hair, beautiful green eyes that look blue sometimes. There's a guy out there who'll like you for more than just looks, you know. He'll come around. How's your dad by the way?"
"My dad's doing really good." I say with a smile. "He's in good shape and he's feeling really good."
About a little over an hour later, Kaitlyn and I had finished eating and were leaving the restaurant when I saw the same guy still sitting there. Only this time Dean Ambrose, who worked at the restaurant, was giving him containers of food that were being put into the guys bag with a few bottles of water as they ate. Looking up when Kaitlyn and I walked by, the guy stiffened up and continued eating as he looked away. He really looked to be in rough shape, and I felt the urge to just help him.
"Hi, ladies." Dean says with a smile.
"Hi." We replied with smiles of our own.
"This is Roman." He said, introducing the guy to us. "Roman, the one in the beige is Kaitlyn and the one of the pink is Cassandra."
The man looked up at us and gave us a small smile before looking back down at his food and continuing to eat as if he hadn't eaten in days. I looked at him and turned around to walk away after saying goodnight to Dean. Kaitlyn quickly catches up to me as I take our my car key for my SUV Tahoe. We talk for a few more minutes before we go our separate ways and I go back home to my three bedroom condo.
Over the next few days, I had seen this Roman guy only two more times. Both times were of him just sitting near a car and watching the cars pass by. I had seen Dean earlier in the day and he had mentioned how he had hit a rough patch and couldn't find a job to help him get on his feet. Both of them had been asking for jobs since the restaurant that Dean works at wasn't hiring at the moment, but there wasn't any luck. It wasn't until this very moment, before getting to my car to go back to work from my lunch break, I saw him walking into the parking lot with the same bag and the same sneakers that he had the last time I saw him.
"Can I talk to you?" I ask the large guy as I make my way to him. I realize the blue/grey eyes that were staring at me, the rippling muscles that were shown underneath his grey shirt and the mysteriousness that he had about him. He hair was still in a pony tail, though he had it much neater and he seemed to have shaved a bit, but it was growing back, his facial hair.
"About what?" He asked in a deep voice. "Aren't you that Cassandra girl that I saw a few days ago, by the way?"
My mind momentarily went blank at the sound of his voice. Deep and strong, but a hint of softness behind it as he spoke and said her name. "Um...yeah, I am. I was wondering if you or anybody you know was looking for a job."
"If I was looking a job?" He asks, with attitude. "What makes you think I need one?"
Taken aback by his attitude, I scoffed but kept my comments to myself. "The high school I work at is looking for someone to work in the office and for the attendance. They're also looking for someone who can be a football coach for the school's football team as well as someone who can help out during the remainder of the school year with gym classes."
I take out a piece of paper and a pen from my purse and write down something before giving it to him. He takes a look at it and says nothing, even as he looks back up at me.
"If you don't want any of those jobs, I understand." I say. "It may not sound like the best job, or the most luxurious job in the world. At least, to you, it may not be sound like it is. But in case you change your mind, or in case you run into anybody who's looking for a job, there's the address and the name of the school as well as the phone number, the name of the principal and the school's website. I was just trying to be nice. You don't have to give me an attitude and act like I just told you the worst thing in the world. There's people out there who are desperate for a job and you want to stand there, giving me an attitude because I told you about a job opening?"
After giving him the address, I turned around and walked away as I put my pen and my notepad back in my purse. I left without bothering to look to see if he was still there as I left. Another two weeks had gone by without seeing him and I gave up thinking that he was going to give this job thing a try.
*Roman's POV*
"Dean?" I ask when I walk into his living room. I see the blonde hair, blue eyed man from Cincinnati sitting on his couch, watching television and so I go sit next to him.
"Yeah?" He asks when he sees me. Dean and I met when I had first moved to Texas. He had been my best friend ever since. My brother and he has tried to help me out a bit. Sometimes, I feel like he's the only one that fully understands my situation and who can understand it better than anybody else who tried.
I wait for them to give commercials before talking to him. "Do you remember that girl that you introduced me to about a little over two weeks ago? She was with her friend. Her name's Cassandra."
"I remember." He said.
"Did you tell her about my situation?" I ask him.
Dean looks at me in the eyes. "No, I didn't. I just told her that you were having a bit of a rough patch and I asked if she knew of anybody that was hiring. That's as far as it went. Did something happen?"
"I saw her two weeks ago and she said that the school that she works in was hiring someone to be the coach for the football team and someone to work in the office and with the attendance." I tell him.
"That's great." He says with a smile on his face. "You were a football coach before you came here to Texas, so you could try out for that and see what happens. But it's been two weeks and you're just now telling me this. And why is the look on your face telling me that you haven't applied yet for the job?"
"I don't want anybody feeling bad for me. I want to do this on my own." I say. "Besides, when she mentioned the whole job thing, I had a bit of an attitude which didn't probably do any favors for me."
Dean groans. "Damn it, Roman. Why are you always doing this?"
"Doing what?" I ask.
"Passing by on opportunities that come your way." He says. "I understand that you want to try to do it on your own. I was the same way when I left high school. Wanting to do it on my own and to this day, there's still times where I'm like that. But, at this very moment, you're not exactly in a position where you can have the luxury of choosing what you want as a job. You don't have any family here and you've been living out of your car since you got here eight months ago and you still haven't been able to catch a break on a job. Stop trying to ignore the help that people try to give you. You could use my place as an address until you get your own place."
I look back at the television when I see that the show he was watching came back from commercials. Dean put the volume on mute before he turned his attention back to me.
"I know you want to be this Samoan badass, Roman and I give you a hell of a lot of credit." Dean continues. "You've been toughing it out on your own since you got here to Texas from Florida. With no family and nobody to really look out for you and not a lot of money left to your name."
"You look out for me." I say.
"Because you've become like a brother to me, Roman. No, you don't really take a lot of the help that I offer and there's times when I go days without seeing you and I wonder if you're okay. But I commend you for trying the best you can with what little you have." He says. "The time is going to come though where you're going to need to do something to get out of the situation you're in. You can't keep living in your car for the rest of your life, just because you don't want someone to feel bad for you if they find out about what's going on with you. I can see the passion and fire in your eyes to do better for yourself. But if you don't try, you'll never be able to. Chances, opportunities...they don't always just fall on your lap when you want them to. Take it from me. I came here to Texas, with only $100 to my name. No place to live, and a beaten down car that was barely running right. No job. No family. No friends. I was here by myself. I didn't want nobody to help me because I didn't want them feeling sorry for me. Those $100 barely lasted me a month before I was legit broke with nowhere to go. The restaurant I'm at now, barely hired me when I went in to apply for a job. But they gave me a chance and I'm still there, about to become assistant manager. It's not where I want to be eventually, but it's a start. You said it yourself that you would love to coach college ball one day and maybe even pro. You've been playing football since you were 7 and you went on to play college ball on a scholarship. You've got experience coaching. Why not apply? Cassandra doesn't know you or anything about you, so why are you worrying about what she thinks?"
"I'm not." I say quietly. "But she's the only one out of her and friend that I can't forget."
Dean looks at me. "You d know her friend's married, right?"
"I didn't notice if she had a ring or not, but I'm not talking about her friend. I'm talking about Cassandra." I tell him. "There was something there when I looked at her. As if I've known her for a long time without ever having met her before. But why would she want to help out someone that she's never met before? Someone that she doesn't know anything about?"
"Look, I've known Cassandra for a while now." Dean says. "One thing that you should know about her is that she has a big heart and she likes to help people out. She helped me make a resume and motivated me to apply for a job after meeting her at a local soup kitchen. That's one thing I really like about her. She's a really sweet person and she never does harm to others. Besides, you don't know her either. The two of you may surprise each other."
One week later...
"Mr. Reigns, thank you for coming in today." said Principal Paul Levesque as I walk into his office and shake his hand. He wore a black suit with a white shirt underneath and a black tie with black dress shoes. He was about an inch taller than me with green eyes and short, blonde hair and a wedding ring on his ring finger.
"Thank you for having me." I tell him as I take a seat in front of him as I wear my grey suit with a white shirt and black dress shoes that I managed to keep, even after losing almost all of my things and I managed to make sure it was presentable enough for today. I shaved my face this morning and put my hair into a neat bun after spending the last few days at Dean's apartment. I look around his office and see the table that we are currently sitting at, that was long and round, I guess for meetings and black chairs. His desk was a few feet away, by the window that was made of Mahogany with a black chair behind it as well as a computer and his name plate.
"We're in need of a football coach that can also help out with gym classes throughout the school year." Principal Levesque said. "After looking at your resume, Mr. Reigns, I'm actually impressed. Very impressed."
I give him a small smile, remembering that Dean helped me out a bit with updating my resume the night before I applied. "Thank you, sir."
"You played football at the high school level before going to college and playing football there on a scholarship. You started three years in a row, and you then coached for a few years, bringing your teams to several championships. What makes you the perfect candidate here at Houston High?"
"I have a passion for what I do." I say, feeling a bit nervous but agreeing with what Dean said, saying that this could be a good opportunity for me. "I've been playing football since I was 7 years old with the dreams of making it big after college. But when that didn't work out, I decided to pursue a coaching career for football. I'm a hard worker. I'm dependable and I know I can do a good job. I just need a chance."
He looks at me and smiles as he nods. A few moments later, he decides to give me a tour of the school starting with what was on the second floor, which was the main office which was also where they received the attendance each morning after what Principal Hernandez said was 3rd period. There was a break room there for the staff as well as a few small classrooms. We then went to the gym where students filled it up. The majority of them sat on the bleachers while some played basketball and others walked around.
Walking throughout the rest of the school, we finally got to the 4th floor when something caught my eye. We passed a classroom that, even though the door was closed, there was nothing blocking the view from the glass was on the door, like in the other classrooms. The woman standing in front of the room wore grey dress pants that showed her long legs and a white button up shirt, both showing her curves. Her hair slicked back into a neat ponytail as she held an open book in her hands as she talked to a class full of students.
"That's Ms. Calaway. She's an English teacher who's been here for, going on two years now." Principal Levesque says. "She teaches juniors and seniors and has become a fast favorite among a lot of our students. Ms. Calaway's really good at what she does and she loves teaching. Good qualities to have in a teacher."
"Do we have to dress professionally?" I ask. "Like she does?"
"It's not a rule, but we definitely encourage it." He says as the bell rings, indicating the ending of the period. "Now of course, you can wear regular clothing, especially on Fridays' or the last day of classes and on field trips, depending on where it is that you're going. But keep it professional. No shirts showing off your midriff, no clothing that can rip when you bend down. Even when you dress in professional clothing. Of course, if you're a coach or the gym teacher, then obviously, you'll be in athletic wear most of the time."
Students filled the hallways that were lined with classrooms and lockers. Sounds of lockers closing filled the air as we continued to walk around. Going back to his office, the principal closed the door behind him before we sat at the same table we were seated at earlier.
"Mr. Reigns, I would really like to offer you this position of football coach." He says to me. "Ever since I saw your resume, I knew I had to get you in for an interview. I see the passion in your eyes for this and I can hear it in your voice when you talk about it. That's the kind of people we love to have as part of our staff. Are you still interested in this job?"
"Really?" I ask with a smile. "I would be honored to accept this job."
He smiled before we talked some more about the job and it's description as well as some of the rules and regulations.
A/N: Why did Roman leave Florida to go to Texas? What caused him to go through a rough patch for the last few months? Why did Cassandra decide to tell him about the jobs that her school was hiring for? Now that he has the job, will they get along, or will they keep their distance from each other after getting off on a bit of a rough start? What do you think made Roman finally take an opportunity at a job after months of passing on opportunities?