Authors Note: I decided to go ahead and post the second chapter already. I wasn't sure if cutting the first chapter down to where I did left readers with enough to make them want to read more. I've only gotten one review on Chapter 1 so far so I'm hoping to get at least 10 reviews to Chapter 2 before going onto the third one! I've got so many pieces to this story rolling around I hope it all comes out alright! Please read & REVIEW and let me know what you're thinking! Enjoy!
Let It Reign - Chapter 2 - Big News
Raelynn sat there nervously drumming her acrylic French tip nails against the desk in front her. She sat at a large black table with six seats to her left, six seats to her right and three in front of her. She found herself staring at the time on her MacBook every few minutes as it sat in front of her. It was almost time for Raw to start and she was growing tired of this meeting. It had to be over soon, she needed to go over spots with Tyson Kidd and Natalya.
Rae looked up again seeing Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and husband Triple H sitting in front of her with various writers, road agents and other creative team members surrounding her. They were busy chatting and tossing around ideas about The Road to WrestleMania that would start next month at The Royal Rumble. She continued to zone in and out of the conversation as she felt her cell phone vibrate in the pocket of her jeans.
Carefully pulling it out she held it under the table as she checked the text message she had just received. Rae tried to keep her facial expressions in check when she saw Roman's name pop up on the screen. They had become even closer recently and talked often. Rae had spent months and tireless hours providing Roman with all the support and kind words that he needed to get over his fear of singles competition, his own character and start believing that he was very capable of upholding his family name with respect and dignity.
She was in the middle of a text in response to him when she heard Vince's voice break the monotony of the room. Raelynn tried to pretend she had been paying attention for the last 20 minutes.
"Alright, that seems to cover everything," he said. "We will all meet again tomorrow afternoon before the SmackDown taping. Now let's go out there and have a great show tonight." Everyone immediately began to scramble to their feet, gathering all their things as they started to file out of the room. Rae had just zipped up her laptop case and was about to leave as well when Vince's voice stopped her.
"Wait just a moment, Ms. Taylor…" He said calmly. She felt a knot form in her throat thinking she had been caught zoning out and texting during the meeting.
"Yes, Mr. McMahon?" She asked, her voice shaky as she looked over to him. They were now the only two left in the room and that alone was intimidating. She had never had this personal of a meeting with him before.
"I just wanted to get your professional opinion on something." He started and she eased a little bit. "You've made more than one mention of your faith in Dolph Ziggler, Damien Sandow, and Roman Reigns… Correct?" Rae nodded, knowing those three were her personal picks to win The Rumble and to headline WrestleMania. All three of those Superstars were more than deserving in her eyes.
"Yes sir," she confirmed aloud. "I think those three guys would benefit the most from the push going into WrestleMania." Vince nodded, seeming to agree with her and she was sure he could see the shock on her face when he did.
"I can agree with that," he confirmed. "You brought up very valid points at the meeting last week. Stephanie tells me you've been working quite closely with them lately."
"Yes sir, I've been going over Dolph's matches with him, Damien Sandow and I have been meeting three times a week tweaking his character and Roman just needs more confidence in himself as a singles competitor."
"You are absolutely right," Vince smiled. "Which is exactly why I've decided to give the opportunity this year to him. Reigns will go over in the Rumble and headline WrestleMania."
Raelynn couldn't control the smile that leapt to her face. She had hoped all along that it would be him but she couldn't risk saying that out loud. She would never let personal feelings cloud her judgment when it came to her job. But, they had grown so close over the last few months since they disbanded The Shield. She knew how badly he not only wanted the opportunity but also needed it to boost him to the next level as a legitimate WWE Superstar.
"That's fantastic, Mr. McMahon. I know Roman will be ecstatic. He's been working so hard these last few months." Raelynn watched Vince nod again.
"It hasn't gone unnoticed, trust me. I've been watching him closely for some time now and I'm sure he will be overjoyed..." He took a few steps toward her, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. "That's why I'm going to give you the honor of delivering the news." Her jaw dropped. Vince always personally dropped bombshells like this, especially when it came to WrestleMania.
"Me?" She asked. She still couldn't believe all the information being thrown at her. Raelynn was shocked, excited and feeling a million different emotions all at once, almost to the point of feeling lightheaded.
"Yes of course," he chuckled. "You have been behind him for a while now. I'm sure he wouldn't mind hearing the good news from you. I'll make the formal announcement at the next meeting. Until then, I trust that you can deliver the message and keep it under wraps, just between the two of you."
She couldn't wait to tell Roman, she already felt like her insides were going to explode. Rae thanked Vince multiple times as they both excused their selves to tend to the show at hand. She rushed out of Vince's make shift office and all but ran to the safety of her own as fast as her high heels would carry her. She flung herself onto the first seat she could find, reaching for her cell phone again.
"Where are you?" Raelynn texted Roman as fast as her fingers could type on the tiny screen of her iPhone, her face now sore from smiling so hard for so long.
"In my locker room, where else? :-)" He responded, almost instantly.
"Cute. You've got to meet me after the show. I need to tell you something super important!" She urged him.
"My room number is 1824. I'll meet you there tonight. We aren't going over promos again are we? Lmao."
"Oh hush. I'll meet you there as soon as I can. Good luck tonight!3" Rae responded.
Roman stepped out of the shower into the brisk air of the bathroom. Grabbing a towel from the wall he ran in through his hair and quickly over his body before sliding on a pair of black basketball shorts. He smiled to himself as he heard the persistent knocking on the door of his hotel room. It had taken Raelynn longer than he thought it would to get here.
Any given Monday they would have ran into each other countless times but tonight had been different. She hadn't seen him at all and was now even more excited to tell him the big news. Rae kept knocking, wanting him to answer it as quickly as possible. Roman checked his appearance in the foggy mirror one more time before stepping out into the room and toward the door. Again the repetitive knocking making him grin. She definitely had something important to tell him.
Roman reached for the handle and swung the door open in front of him. She stood on the other side, hand still in mid-knock stance and he chuckled as he watched her eyes look him over, jaw slightly agape. Raelynn found herself unable to breath for a moment.
"Alright baby girl, what's got you so amped up?" He asked, smiling down at her. Still all she could do was stare at him. Roman stood before her in nothing but shorts, his long black hair was damp and in little ringlets that stuck to his caramel colored skin. She could see the water from a shower still in little droplets on his shoulders, chest and abs.
"Baby girl? Hello?" He asked again, chuckling as he noticed her expression. He touched her, breaking her out of her daydream.
"Uh… um, oh sorry Ro. You just took too long to answer! I have some news!" She jumped, hoping he hadn't noticed her gawking at him like that but Roman had seen right through her. Rae might as well had been drooling all over him.
"Well, come in and tell me already." Roman rushed, "the only time I've seen you this hyper is that time you had too much Mountain Dew on cheat day." He laughed at her as he ushered her into his room. He had noticed her staring at him and that wasn't the first time he had caught her doing that but he would never say anything. He actually enjoyed it.
"Oh shut up, Roman. That was just that one time. Now come, sit. Sit down. You're going to want to sit down." She told him hurriedly, pushing him to sit on the edge of his plush king-sized bed. Raelynn could hardly contain her excitement anymore.
"Okay, I'm sitting and you're standing. Now tell me what's going on." He asked her, watching her lean up against the dresser in front of him. Rae's long brunette hair fell forward into her face and Roman found himself wanting to tuck it back behind her ear but he restrained himself, trying to focus.
"Okay so… Vince caught me after the meeting tonight, he informed me that I was to tell you what you're position would be for WrestleMania." She stopped, holding her breath as he looked up at her. Rae found herself lost for a moment in the depths of his beautiful grey eyes.
"And I had to sit down to hear it?" He groaned, "if he's put me in the pre-show battle royal I'm going to punch him in the throat, Rae. I swear I will. I've been working my ass off for him lately. I don't want some bullshit spot, I'm pretty sure I've proven my worth to him…" His annoyed rambling took her out of her trance and she just rolled her eyes. To be such a beautiful, light-hearted human being he sure was a Negative Nancy sometimes.
"No no no, Roman, that's not it at all. Shut up and let me finish!" She snapped, pushing her hands against his shoulders as she looked him square in the eye. She tried to ignore how soft his skin felt under her touch or how badly she wanted to trace the outline of the giant Samoan tribal tattoo that covered his arm.
"Then what is it, baby girl?" He asked, bringing her back to reality yet again. Why was being alone with Roman suddenly so hard for her? All these feelings that were now all of a sudden coming to light had her feeling insane. He was her friend and co-worker and it had to stop there.
"You're not part of some pre-show battle royal," she started, unable to restrain the smile she had been holding back since she had gotten there. She had to find a way to feel less awkward so she just bluntly put it out there for him. "You're going to be headlining WrestleMania 31 in the main event, Vince chose you to go over in the Royal Rumble next month." Roman sat there for a moment, shock written all over his face. He wasn't even sure he was breathing at this point. He couldn't believe what she was telling him.
"What?" He asked, "are you sure that's what he said?" She playfully slapped him on the arm, rolling her eyes at him again. The lack of confidence he had in himself would be the death of her.
"Yes, I'm sure Ro! That came directly from Vince McMahon himself! All your hard work paid off exactly like I told you it would. You're main-eventing WrestleMania." As soon as those words left her lips she felt him jump to his feet as he picked her up in his arms and twirled her around, hugging her tight as she wrapped her arms around his neck on instinct.
"Holy shit, I can't believe this. I've wanted this since I was a little kid, Rae. I don't even know what to say right now… I…" He stumbled over his words as he sat her back down on her own two feet. She had no sooner looked up at him when she felt his soft lips pressed against hers as he excitedly kissed her. Shocked, Raelynn started to pull away but couldn't find the strength—she melted into him as the kiss progressed and he closed the small gap between their bodies wrapping his arm around her waist to hold her as close to him as possible. Her hands tangled in his wet hair and at that moment, nothing else mattered.
Seconds turned to minutes but they felt like hours. When the two finally pulled themselves apart, she took a step back. Her fingertips grazed her now kiss swollen lips as she stared at the carpet. Rae could hear her heart pounding in her chest and a tightening in her lungs. Her head was spinning and she was finding it hard to breathe.
"Raelynn…" Roman whispered, his voice sent a chill down her spine. He moved to reach for her but she backed up again away from him again. She could feel her eyes start to sting.
"Roman I can't… I can't do this. Um, I need to go." She stumbled over her words, unable to look at him as she turned on her heel and headed straight for the door. Raelynn knew if she were to look back she wouldn't be able to leave. Roman just stood there and watched her go, not knowing what to say as the door closed behind her and echoed in his ear.
"Way to go, Anoa'i," he grumbled, rubbing his hands over his face. "You're going to ruin it before she even knows how you feel."
Authors Note: Okay! So there's that.. Roman obviously has more than a best friend feelings for the lovely lady... but it seems like she doesn't want any part of it. What did you guys think? Has it already blown up in his face? Leave me a review and tell me what you think!
