Chapter I.
Every WWE superstar had a reason. A passion that would drive them to choose the career that would dominate their life; in the passing days while practically living on the road from city to city every night, it became second nature. Rarely did they stop and think about how the complexity of their lifestyle affected those they cared about. At first being on outside of the squared circle was tough to get use too, but in due time their families would grow accustomed to being separated from them 300 or more days at a time; and living that way was no longer a problem, but a dark reality.
For Sasha though, it was far from a dark reality, it was exactly what she asked for. She had wanted to be in the business since she was a kid. Sneaking into her brother's room and watching wrestlers engaged in compelling and brutal battles. The story in and outside of the ring hooked her instantly and soon it became all she could breathe despite her mother's dismay at the thought of her even doing such a thing at the time—that never put any doubt into her mind though that she would.
Now years later, still young and finally on the main roster saying that she made it was only the beginning. Sasha and her fellow sisters were all on the big screen now. After the draft, Bayley had made it to Raw with her and Charlotte, while Becky was sent over to Smackdown—with the growth and reemerging of the women's division, many opportunities were waiting for all of them; including a few unexpected draft picks.
After wrestling through her nagging back injury for the past few weeks, Sasha had been working on slowing down in the ring and even had a little time off after Summerslam. It was a little upsetting considering the momentum she had going for the weeks up to and after winning the title, but it was a hindrance she was determined to leave on the back burner. It also gave her some time to think about how much she had been pushing herself—she was lucky the injury wasn't as bad as expected at first.
Grabbing all her bags, she waited for Bayley as it was time for them to head back to the road Moline-the week had just about flown by and now they were just a day away from Clash of Champions; where Sasha and Bayley would be in a triple threat match against Charlotte for the Women's title.
The anticipation was sweltering at the bottom of her stomach, but as always beyond the slight nervousness, she remained poised on taking back the gold. For now, though she would drive into the side city to occupy some time with her good friends and YouTube wonders of UpUpDownDown. Pulling into the hotel parking lot, both ladies slung their belongings over their shoulders and walked towards the double glassed doors of temporary home. Bayley's eyes quickly perked up as she saw Seth Rollins holding the door open for them. "Ah, thanks you didn't have to do that," Bayley gave a sincere smile as Seth returned one to them both.
"No worries," he shrugged, "not much security around here and you never know what crazy idiot fan may be up to."
"You're joining us today?" Sasha inquired as the trio headed towards the elevator-it was almost tradition for all of them to gather around engaging in trivial activities. Xavier always had a tournament going on and all of them were more than happy to join in on the fun.
"Yeah, not much more to do in this town," Seth shrugged, "I mean I could always go out and explore my options but-"
"Let me stop you there buddy!" Bayley balled her fist and tapped Seth's arm, "you don't need to be getting into any more trouble than you've already been."
"What?" Seth raised a brow.
"You know exactly what she's talking about," Sasha shook her head, "Seth, why is it you're always getting in the most trouble with social media?"
"Can we refer to the fucking idiot fans for taking everything I do and twisting it into some terrible truth?" Seth raised his hands in defense.
"That's what they do," Bayley shrugged, "whether it's true or not, they always find a way-the best way to deal with it is either ignore it or roll with honestly they won't stop either way."
"You said it best," Sasha agreed. After about a century on the elevator-the chime led the doors to slide open right where they needed to be; the they all entered the extra-large room. The others were already there scattered with nonsensical chatter and loud laughter- they had to wonder what they missed so far?
One thing Sasha did notice that there were definitely some new common faces floating around the room. Other than Wood's, Big E, Kofi and a few other's; surprisingly enough-Roman was around which was rare unless she never really noticed before. No matter who decided to show up, they always ended up having a really good time.
"Your man didn't come with you today?" Xavier called out to Sasha his eyes never left the screen-Sasha set her bags to the side before taking a seat behind him. And naturally he was playing as the Seahawks driving down the field for another touchdown.
"No this time at least, they sent him with Smackdown," she yawned checking her phone, "for a few days I think."
"I guess it's your duty to fill in for him in the tournament," Xavier grinned her way Sasha rolled her eyes, "nice try, but no, I'm terrible at Madden."
"I'll mentor you," Seth said as he and Bayley joined them. "Both of you will be Pro's after learning from me."
"Alright, but if we flop the loss is on your record," Bayley jeered, "If I come even close to losing one game, our friendship is over."
"I thought you were the nice one," Seth raised a brow as examined the seriousness on her face. A few uneasy moments went by before Sasha and Bayley burst into laughter.
"Okay, we got you." Sasha shook her head, "he fell for it again!" Bayley beamed patting Seth on the back.
"You are getting really bad at reading us."
"Fuck off." Seth sighed slumping his shoulders down, "I was just going along with it."
Hours had passed before the time for the live show came too. Sasha, Bayley gathered on the way to the small venue, grabbing a cup of coffee at a nearby starbucks. Fans waited around the small arena waving for attention, as the wrestlers made their way into the building for another light night off the screen. Both ladies took a little time to sign a few items, and take pictures before being signaled by security to go inside.
"You two seriously drinking latte's in the evening before the show?" the pertinent voice of their other good friend Charlotte let up behind the crowd as several other's arrived, they entered the women's locker room.
"I don't think it's too late," Bayley pulled out a few hair accessories, "just more energy to add to our fire."
"Which should probably be saved for tomorrow night," Charlotte remarked raising a brow, "I think there would be better use for it then."
Sighing internally. Sasha grabbed her teal ring gear from her duffle. As much of a friend as Charlotte was to her sometimes she had to wonder about the slight flagrant taste she left behind. It could have been the confidence carried over—all of them had those defining moments that they easily lost themselves in, but for some reason, and even more so lately—Charlotte just seemed like she was on a little bit of a high horse.
"You alright?" Charlotte waved at Sasha. Quickly shaking out of her phase she nodded.
"Yeah, sorry, just thinking about tomorrow."
"We'll be fine,' she shook off the comment, "we always are." There she was. Maybe it was just a lapse in Sasha's judgement.
Bayley had finished pulling her hair into her signature ponytail. After adjusting the final finishes on their ring gear the, they went back into the main hall of the arena. Tonight the both of them along with Alicia Fox would be facing off against Dana, Nia Jax, and of course Charlotte- teasing the big match for Clash on Sunday in a light, but still showcasing a fun tag match to keep the audience entertained. Afterwards, usually they would go to a nearby hangout and get in a few drinks to close the night, but this time Sasha decided she should head home. With her lower back being less than one hundred; she needed the rest time to heal whatever needed to be done by tomorrow.
Hearing their cue for the stage. The three women made their way out to the ring. After their opponents made their entrance, they were all surprised to see there was no referee nearby—until the familiar music hit the speakers in which even they had no idea she was back…
Emma…
Oddly enough, it was nice to see Emma back; someone who also made a great impact in NXT itching to get back on TV again after a serious injury. Sasha, Bayley, and Alicia picked up the win with a nice reaction from the crowd.
The Moline show ended nicely. Everyone scurried to get out to the bar for a pre-clash celebration, it was tradition enough, and as much as Sasha was all for having a little fun—she really opted for the rest instead. Seth and Bayley walked beside her waiting for to get into the rental.
"I heard there's a place down the street with plenty of margaritas ready and I could definitely use a few," Bayley winked at her friend smiling.
"Actually, guys," Sasha brought out her iPhone, "I'm gonna go back for now—I'm needing a little more rest after all." The frowns on Seth and Bayley's faces said it all, but they came to an understanding.
"You gonna be good?" Seth glanced over the parking lot, "looks like Charlotte hit the pave already."
"Yeah, I'll just take an Uber back," Sasha shrugged.
"No way," Seth's eyes tightened, he glanced the other direction catching the attention of a few others across from them. "Hey, Ro!" Seth called out getting his friends' attention, Roman twisted their direction giving a quick nod. "You mind if Sasha gets a ride back with you and Truth?"
"Not at all," he quickly answered without questioning. Sasha hesitantly scooped up her bag mouthing a "thanks" to Seth before walking towards Romans' car. Roman, being pretty quiet most of the time she had been around him, was kind of intimidating—he always had a serious demeanor, but that was probably just a strict work ethic.
"Thanks a lot," Sasha strapped on her seatbelt, Truth climbed in the backseat saying hello as well.
"No worries at all," Roman started the car, he motioned at the stereo, "you can put on whatever you like."
"Alright," Sasha let out a nervous laugh, Truth tapped her shoulder raising both brows, "play some of that j bob you like."
"K pop?" Sasha laughed at Truth—he always seemed to find a way to crack a joke. "And I think I'll stick to something simple tonight." Tuning the Sirius radio—Sasha stopped on modern mix station. She leaned back onto her seat relaxing.
"You ready for tomorrow?" Roman decided to speak again after a few moments. Sasha nodded.
"I think so…I guess I'll really know tomorrow if I wake up and fall flat on my face."
"I'm sure that won't happen," Roman stopped at a light, "yall are always amazing when you go out there"
"Thank you, that means a lot" Sasha let out a friendly gaze at him smiling before releasing a slight yawn."
"You're welcome," he returned the gesture, "I think you may be a family favorite?"
"Really now?" Sasha raised a brow. "Well, I'm not surprised since I'm the best," Sasha joked shrugging her shoulders—Roman laughed.
"I think a lot would agree that's true."
"They better." Sasha retorted, "especially you."
"Okay, now you're giving yourself way too much credit."
"If I don't believe it how will anyone else?" Sasha crossed her arms.
"Good point," Roman nodded, the two of them were silent for a moment before realizing that Truth was snoring oddly loud in the back seat.
"So, how come you didn't go with the rest of them to the bar?" Roman asked while pulling into the parking lot.
"Honestly, I could have gone and probably have been okay, but I'm wanting to get as much downtime before tomorrow."
"Fair enough," Roman slammed his fist onto the middle of the steering wheel as the horn blasted its sound startling Truth half to death out of his slumber.
"What the fuck, man?" Truth's eyes were wide and alarmed and Sasha couldn't help, but burst into laughter.
The three got out the car, grabbing all of their belongings and went right back into the lifeless hotel. Hardly anyone came back tonight. "So why didn't you go?" Sasha said as Roman held the door open for her.
"My daughter usually likes to Facetime around now, can't really pass that one up."
"Cute," Sasha set her bag down at the front lobby before running to the vending machine and grabbing a water. Roman was still waiting at the front and Sasha scurried back and all three of them took the elevator up to the third level.
"Thanks again," Sasha waved before walking into her room. Dropping her bag onto the floor she reached into her purse searching for her phone. Strange enough she remembered placing it in there before getting out the car. She wondered if she left it downstairs. Dreading going back again, she quickly placed her keycard in her back pocket and quickly took the stairs back down to the lobby. When she got there, the desk attendant shot a smile at her almost immediately.
"Need anything?" the cheery blonde asked.
"By any chance did you see an Iphone laying around here somewhere?" Sasha hoped luck was on her side—the last thing she felt like dealing with was lost phone.
"Yes," the blonde kipped as if she was hoping someone would ask, "I have two actually." She placed the both of them out in front of her. Sasha immediately knew the white encased designed phone was hers. Taking it she faltered a moment when looking at the other one. Pressing the home button on the other phone, a picture of Roman and his daughter flashed on the lock screen. "Thanks, I'll just take this one to the other person we work at the same place," Sasha tooj her phone and his. The blonde nodded flashing another smile before looking at her computer screen again. Sasha raced back up the stairs as if she was in marathon before reaching the third floor again. Wasting no time, she went to the end of the hall to Roman's room; she knocked a few times hoping this wouldn't be too awkward—I mean she was just returning his phone after all….
The door slightly opened, at first Sasha thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but not really. Roman's hair was indeed wet, his eyes were mist and he was soaked. Sasha gathered herself, pretending not to notice. At least he only had the door slightly open.
"What is it?" Roman's face remained relaxed, even though he drenched. Sasha handed him his phone. "Did I leave this with you?"
"No..." Sasha said looking towards the elevator, "we both left them downstairs earlier, the receptionist held them for us," she almost had to fan herself.
"Thanks, didn't even know it was gone, would have hated to miss her call." Sasha placed the phone into Roman's hands.
Sasha gave slight nod before turning away and walking back to her own room. Closing the door behind her, she almost laughed at how silly it was for her to feel awkward—it didn't mean anything.
After taking a shower of her own she checked a few notifications on her phone. One of course from Bayley and Seth in their shenanigans at that margarita place—Sasha laughed at the silly photo before sending her husband a goodnight text. Tomorrow she was hoping of being champion again. That's all that mattered.
Morning fell and Sasha was gathering everything she needed, ready to jump right into the busy day. Her workout ended early in the morning giving her and Bayley some time to grab a light lunch on their way to Indiana.
"Tell me they at least have an Apple Bee's nearby." Bayley said as Sasha glanced at her phone gps, she gave a quick looked of approval before eyeing the road again.
Traffic was clear for the most part and they managed to get there within three hours-and there was indeed an Apple Bee's per Bayley's idea to fulfill their appetite's. Bayley let out a random yawn before looking at the text message on her phone. "Looks like Seth will be using a majority of the day for his pre-pay per view workout."
"Bummer," Sasha turned into the small lot in front of the restaurant, "how was the margarita place last night?"
"Cheap, loud, and fun." Bayley laughed shaking her head, "we didn't stay out too long though, got back in at maybe at 3am."
"That's pretty good actually," Sasha raised a brow, "Seth wasn't too much of a mess was he?"
The sudden silence from her friend warranted an inquiring glance. From the shadow cast across Bayley's face, Sasha could tell a wave of thoughts flooded her friends' eyes. "What happened?"
Bayley shook out of her trance after realizing the trail of silence. "Sorry, I guess last night is catching up with me."
"Liar." Sasha whispered as they both entered the restaurant, the host showed them to a booth. Once they slid into their seats Sasha gave her best friend a death glare. "Spill it."
"Well, since he's not here I guess can actually tell you what happened."
"No fucking way!" Sasha's eyes widened just as the waiter stopped at their table, she was a little louder than she meant to be. Bayley looked around to see if any one just happened to be around.
"Did you guys need anything to drink?" The waiter had an awkward line across his face. He stepped away once realizing that neither of them were ready to make any type of order. Sasha gestured at the brunette.
"I didn't expect what happened to happen...it just."
"Okay, before you tell me this, I'm gonna need a minute to prepare my mind." Sasha sat back in the booth shaking her head. If anything got weirder than this. "Alright I'm ready."
"The crazy thing about it was, we weren't even drunk," Bayley started her story. Sasha leaned in close to grasp onto every word. "It was just the typical going out like we all always do poking fun here and there-but then it was like something came over us…"
Sasha barely had words to express her reaction. "Oh..my god."
"Then one thing led to another-we were feeling adventurous," Bayley continued, "and then before you knew it were in this intense, engrossing, battle..."
Well damn. Sasha wrinkled her brows not ever hearing a description quite like that, but then she realized her friend wasn't finished. The anticipation in her voice was bottling before Sasha noticed that the serious graze over Bayley's face had faded into grin.
"It was the best damn battle of DDR I've ever been in!"
Sasha dropped her head to the table saying every curse word known to man. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Bayley was in a crowd of laughter, holding her chest as Sasha darted her eyes at her.
"I can't believe...I thought you two..."
"I can't believe you would ever think that!" Bayley continued to cackle, "the look on your face was priceless!"
Sasha almost about to curse again; held up her middle finger as a nice thought of endearment. "I should have known."
"But seriously though," Bayley's bright smile flashed again, "you had me a little worried last night-you never texted that you made it okay."
"Oh, right sorry," Sasha pulled her hair out of her face, "I didn't have my phone with me for a few and as soon as I got in I went to sleep."
"Did Truth sing Mariah Carey to you and Roman?" Bayley asked giggling again, "he's so much fun."
"No, he was asleep about three minutes into the drive back, but I did get more than five words out of Roman surprisingly enough."
"Good or bad?"
"Good, he was nice." Sasha said looking at the appetizers the waiter placed in front of them. Funny. They didn't remember ordering anything yet.
"What's this?" Sasha pouted a little as the waiter gave another awkward gaze. Sasha and Bayley gazed in the same direction saw that Charlotte and Dana were sitting directly behind them. The two time women's champion lifted her hand.
"It's the appetizer you guys would have ordered a half hour ago if you weren't talking about fake boning Seth Rollins." Charlotte tapped her watch. "Didn't want you guys to be late."
"Really nice of you to join the conversation," Sasha stuck her tongue out at the blonde, "how about you two sit with us?" Charlotte gave a half cocky, half sincere smile to them both before agreeing.
It was around that time that the WWE superstars had to prepare for the PPV. Fans had already lined up to see their favorites just walk into the building or if they were even luckily enough get a quick photo or two. Arriving on time Sasha, Charlotte, and Dana did just that; stopped to have a little talk with fans and signed a few photos as well. Seth and Sami joined them snapping a few photos with the excited faces as the line for crowd became longer -Seth probably took the least amount of time talking with people before going inside. Kevin Owen's appeared only to say a few sarcastic jokes to the crowd before waving them off.
Before the crowd got too big the rest of the wrestlers proceeded into the building and right into the backstage area. Before Sasha could walk through the door she felt a grip around her wrist quickly causing her to turn around.
Roman Reigns. The look on his face made it look like he wanted to spear 100 people tonight, or possibly even worse.
"You and I need to have a serious talk right fucking now," Roman muttered in an angry, but low tone. The serious nature and look on his face caused Sasha to feel a bit unnerved as he stared her down, eyes not darting for a second. "Do you think this is a fucking game?"
"I'm sorry, what Roman? Are you filming for an episode of Swerved again?" Sasha an uneasy chuckle escaped her lips, but there was no hint of humor or laughter in his eyes whatsoever. "Please let go of my wrist, you're hurting me-"
Roman's grip tightened even more for a moment or two, before he finally released Sasha's hand, eyes still locked on her. "Do you think this is some kind of fucking game? Do you really think I would get off on you sending shit like this to my wife? Sasha, my wife of all fucking people?!" Roman bellowed, as his booming voice continued to rise, earning a few stares in their general direction. Definitely not the attention she wanted to seek at the moment.
"What are you talking about Roman?! I don't even have your wife's number—" she started, but Roman cut her off with a death glare. "You thought that cute little trick where you just happened to "find" my phone was gonna work, didn't you? Oh you don't remember? Well, let me just jog your memory for you then," Roman replied, his words completely dripping with sarcasm.
"Why are you-" Charlotte started, seeing her friend in a tense conversation with Roman, but upon seeing the death glare the Samoan powerhouse, she immediately continued on her way. Roman turned on his phone and showed Sasha the text that she had supposedly sent to his wife, and in that moment Sasha could instantly begin to feel the color leaving her skin as she stared in shock.
In the message there was a picture of Sasha chucking up the deuces with her tongue out near Roman, with a rather interesting caption to go along with the picture.
"Guess who's going home with your man tonight ;)".
If there was any color left on Sasha's skin, it was completely ddevoid of color by now. There was no way in hell that she could have sent that message to Roman's wife, could she? All she had done was looked at his lock screen, and nothing more. More than anything, she respected a person's personal space and never once thought about invading their privacy.
"I didn't send that at all Roman, someone's playing you," Sasha explained, trying to reason with the powerhouse, but the annoyed look on his face let her know right away that no amount of explanations was going to get her, and even him for that matter, out of the hot water that was currently filling up around them. "Look, why the hell would I even do that to you? I'm not some thirsty fangirl who's trying to...who has delusional fantasies about you…" she continued, but trailed off as Roman's eyebrows furrowed.
Slowly, Roman started walking towards Sasha like a quiet army tank, making her backpedal until her back hit the side of the arena wall. Roman continued to make his way towards the Boss, and when he finally had her entrenched in a corner, he stopped walking. He stared at her hard with stern, darkened orbs, looking to get a read on if she was telling the truth or not. Her brown eyes completely filled with emotion, distress, and worry constantly darted back and forth, trying not to make direct eye contact for fear of earning Roman's wrath.
"I swear to you Roman, I did not send that message. I don't even know the fucking passcode to your damn phone!" she yelled rather loudly in his face, causing more stares to be cast their way, including the fans who were standing at the gate waiting to enter the arena. "If you really think that lowly of me as a person, then you're just a piece of shit like half of the other guys around here who always assume shit about me that they don't know." Her fists trembled a bit as her defense mechanism triggered, and when she finally found the nerve to look Roman directly in the eyes, he was bringing her in for a tight hug.
Now this was really getting awkward.
The warm and tight embrace from Roman sent immediate chills up Sasha's spine, as she wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head into his chest. His heartbeat was as calm and steady as ever; perhaps she had finally cooled the volcano down, at least for the moment.
But why was he suddenly hugging her?
Her moment of sudden clarity was interrupted by dozens of fans near the gate holding their smartphones out, taking pictures of her and Roman's vulnerable moment they were having.
Shit.
Sasha immediately wiggled out of Roman's grasp, not that hugging anyone at all was necessarily a bad thing, but being seen like this wouldn't exactly make the situation better. She snatched her bags and rocketed past Roman into the building, leaving him more frustrated and confused than he had been before.
Thank you for reading! Review if you have some time, much appreciated