"A year, almost to the day," Ronda said. "It's crazy how time flies, isn't it?"
"It is," Seth agreed, shaking his head at the rather scary thought.
They had just walked into the arena where Summerslam was going to take place. It had been at that pay-per-view the previous year that Ronda had wrestled her final match. Now, a year on, she was going to return at WWE's second biggest event of the year as a manager for her friend Charlotte Flair as she made her main roster debut.
"I expected to feel a bit sad, being back here and knowing that I can't wrestle," Ronda said as they walked along the hallway.
"But you don't?" Seth inquired.
Ronda looked at him and smiled. "No. I'm just looking forward to seeing all of the women in the locker room, and being back out there in front of the fans again. Plus the storyline they've given me is quite a good one. Everyone's going to be trying to guess who the figure dressed in black is. Shit, Daga and I don't even know who it's going to be, and we're going to be filming it in a couple of weeks or so."
Seth laughed. "I still can't believe you told me Bayley said she wants it to be her. If there was anyone I thought would play a face her entire career, it's her."
"I know!" Ronda exclaimed. "But I think she really likes the idea of getting to work with Daga. It's pretty obvious they're never going to turn her face; she's too good as a heel. So, if Bayley wants to team with her, she would have to be the one who turns. Not that it's her decision of course. I think they might give it to Charlotte and turn her heel. Everyone knows we're friends, so it would make sense if she was revealed as the one who had helped me with my devious plan to take over Smackdown."
"Or it could be someone from left field," Seth pondered. "It could be someone like Paige, or even Nikki. Like you said about Charlotte, people know you're friends."
Nikki Bella was in fact Ronda's oldest friend in WWE. They had shared a locker room back in the days when Ronda had first joined the company as a referee, and had formed a friendship that had stood the test of time, despite the many differences in the two women's personalities.
"I don't think they would give it to Nikki, but you never know," Ronda said thoughtfully.
"They even thought to take my character off-screen for Smackdown for a few weeks while that angle plays out," Seth said. "I guess Hunter figured it wouldn't make much sense for me to be on the show, apparently not caring that you had been abducted. And of course they couldn't have me trying to come to your aid again because that would ruin the angle."
"You are still going to come to the shows your not used on though, right?" Ronda asked, wondering how she had failed to consider that possibility before.
"Of course," Seth said. "And I thought I might come with you when you film the scenes with Daga and whoever they decide the figure in black will be when you film those scenes, unless they have me booked to appear elsewhere the same day."
"That would be good," Ronda said with a smile. "We can get the filming out of the way, then you and I can go to a restaurant somewhere, then find an expensive hotel room."
"Where we can work off the calories," Seth said, pretending that he was finishing her sentence for her.
They reached their locker room as Ronda raised an eyebrow and gave him a long, drawn out, tolerant, "Yes." Then she changed the subject. "The main thing is I'm back on the road with you."
Leading the way into the locker room, Seth held the door open for her to wheel her case into the room. "I know what you mean," he said. "It does get hard being away from you so much. Long nights in hotel rooms with a video call as the only way to see you."
Hearing that made Ronda feel bad, thinking that maybe she should be trying harder to spend more time with her man. After all, she was the one who had been away from WWE for so long, thanks to taking on the role in Executive Orders and working for her charity The Rousey Foundation, among other things. That was definitely a big consideration when the time came to talk about her contract renewal. Seth would not be retiring from the ring any time soon, which meant that if she left the company they were guaranteed to be spending a lot of their time apart. Sitting down on the bench that ran along the back wall of their locker room, she let out a deep sigh.
"That's a big sigh," Seth said, looking over at her as he arranged both of their cases in the corner of the room.
"Come and sit with me," Ronda said, surprising Seth with how depressed she suddenly sounded.
"What's wrong?" he asked, showing real concern as he sat down beside her and put and arm around her shoulders.
Nestling against him, Ronda rested her head on his shoulder. Being held by her husband immediately made her feel better, such was the love she felt for him. "I'm feeling bad because I've been away for so long doing other things, when we would have been together if I'd have been here. I'm sorry, baby."
"Hey, don't apologise to me," Seth said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Why should you give up the charity work and your acting career to spend time with me? It's not like I've considering retiring from wrestling. We're both doing what we love. That's not something to be ashamed of."
"Maybe, but we should be spending more time together," Ronda said.
The conversation made Seth think back to another recent conversation: the one that had taken place over dinner with Hunter and Stephanie at The Venice Steakhouse. "That's another reason why renewing your WWE contract is a good idea," he pointed out. "Hunter said he wants your role as Smackdown GM to be a long-term thing, and obviously I'm on the show as well. We'd be spending at the very least one night together every week. And we get a private locker room when you're here. Honestly, that's the main thing."
"You're right, we would be guaranteed time with each other," Ronda said, ignoring his attempt at a joke. What was on her mind was the fact that knew full well that her agent had other ideas with regard to her future. In his opinion, she had risen above WWE thanks to the success of Executive Orders - a role that he had succeeded in negotiating for her. His advice was that she should quit the wrestling business for good and spend her time working on projects which would bring much bigger rewards, both in terms of finance and reputation. "I don't think Rob sees it that way," she pointed out.
"Who cares what he thinks?" Seth said. While it was true that Rob Sinclair had done a good job for Ronda on some things, Seth had little time for the guy, finding him abrasive and arrogant. Trying to persuade Ronda not to re-sign with WWE was hardly likely to improve that situation. "He's your agent, not your boss. He's there to do what you tell him, when it's all said and done. Yes, he can give you advice or advise you on possible deals that he can work out for you, but the final yes or no is always yours. If you instruct him in no uncertain terms that you want to stay here, he has to make it happen and get you the best deal. That his job, not to tell you what you're going to do with your life."
"I know that," Ronda said, pulling away from him slightly so that she could look him in the eye. "Do you really think I'd let someone tell me what I was going to do on something as big as this? You know me better than that."
"I'm not saying you'd let him tell you what to do, no," Seth said. "But I do think you might be putting a bit too much importance on what he has to say."
"Seth, when the time come to talk about it, I'll be making my own decision about whether I sign a new contract or not. Trust me on that," Ronda said decisively.
Seth smiled, glad to see her returning to her usual feisty self. "I trust you," he assured her.
With that conversation behind them, they set about getting their outfits ready to change into before the show, chatting away happily as they did so. A few minutes later, Ronda announced that she was going to go and meet up with the rest of the women in their locker room.
"Okay, I'll see you later," Seth said. "Bring me a coffee on your way back, please."
"Anything for my man," Ronda said happily, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Anything?" Seth asked, sounding annoyed with himself. "I really undersold myself with a cup of coffee."
"Ha! Too late to change your mind now," Ronda said, quickly heading for the door.
After the door closed behind her, Seth chuckled to himself, glad about the fact that he had been able to cheer his wife up so quickly.
Ronda didn't make it as far as the women's locker room before she encountered Charlotte Flair, the daughter of her late mentor, her new on-screen understudy, and most importantly her friend. "Charlotte," she called out, seeing her emerge from the women's restroom further along the hallway.
Recognising the voice, Charlotte already had a broad smile on her face as she turned around. "Ronda," she said happily. "Welcome back. How are you?"
"I'm doing well," Ronda said. The two women hugged each other briefly as an additional greeting. "Ready to start the next chapter, as a manager. I get to see you kill it in your debut from the best spot in the house. I think you and Daga could steal the show tonight."
"Thank. I really hope so," Charlotte said, smiling again. "I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about making my debut on such a big stage."
"I know a thing or two about being thrown in at the deep end," Ronda said, thinking back to her own debut on the Raw episode the night after Wrestlemania 31, in front of the most raucous crowd of the year.
"That's true," Charlotte said, remembering exactly the same thing herself. "How did you get past the nerves?"
Ronda was taken by surprise at being put on the spot. The tone Charlotte had used and the way she was looking at her told her that she was suddenly being considered a mentor of sorts herself, as if from nowhere. Being thought of in that way wasn't something that she had much experience with. She felt that whatever answer she came up with wasn't going to be adequate, whereas back when she had been working with Ric, he had always seemed to know the right thing to say in any given situation. "All I can remember is Seth telling me to go out there and enjoy myself," she said awkwardly. "Then I just got in the zone, got my game face on, went out there and damn near took Nikki's head off her shoulders with a clothesline. It was over almost before I had time to think about any of it. I'm sorry, apparently I'm shit at giving out advice," she said regretfully.
"I don't think trying to go out there and enjoy it is bad advice," Charlotte said pleasantly, although she had hoped for a bit more insight from someone who had been there and done it all before. "Where are you heading?" she asked, deciding to move the conversation on.
"To your locker room," Ronda said.
"Great, that's what I thought," Charlotte said, starting to lead the way. "I know Daga's hyped that you're back. She's hardly talked about anything else since I got here. It's kind of sweet how much she likes working with you."
With a slightly embarrassed smile, Ronda said, "I did try my best to put her over in what turned out to be my last rivalry. I know it meant a lot to her that I wrestled her in my last match, and she went over. She really was a class act the whole time; taking care of me in the ring because she knew my neck was fucked, saying some really nice things to me in the ring after the match ended and arranging for Andrea Bocelli to come and sing for me at my send off. I couldn't have asked for the whole thing to go better." Still thinking about the way that Charlotte had looked to her for help, she added, "I guess it's time for me to start trying to give back. I can't wrestle anymore, but maybe I can be of some help to those of you who are just starting out. I've never really thought of myself as the kind of the person who could be a mentor, like your dad was to me. I should probably start considering it."
"I wasn't trying to pressure you into that," Charlotte said quickly. "I was just asking for a bit of advice is all. But I would like to work with you, if you'd be up for it. Obviously it would make it easier that we've been friends for years already. I was actually thinking the other week about how much experience we've lost in the women's division in the last year or two, with people leaving or retiring. Nikki and Paige are the only really experienced ones left."
"I'm not really all that experienced myself," Ronda admitted. "I think people forget that I didn't actually wrestle for all that long, certainly not compared to someone like Nikki. My career took off so quickly, I was getting offers to do movies before I knew what was going on. When I look back at it, I can see why I lost my way a bit. I'm so lucky your dad was there to get me back on track. I really think my career would have ended up flopping if he hadn't taken me under his wing, and it probably wouldn't have worked out between Seth and I, either. I really miss your dad, Char," she said, feeling herself choking up at the thought.
Charlotte stopped walking, closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. It was the only way she could keep herself under control. "I miss him, too," she said once she felt a little more composed. "I've been thinking about him all day today, Ronda. I wish he could have been her to see me tonight."
"He will be here," Ronda said gently, but sincerely. "I always believed my dad watched my matches and felt proud of me. I know Ric's already proud of you for following in his footsteps."
"Thank you for saying that, it means so much to me," Charlotte said, wiping a tear from her eye.
"I meant it," Ronda said with a kind smile. "But don't cry. Today is a good day, a day to enjoy. Like I said, you and Daga are going to tear the house down out there."
"And we get to find out who's got the part as the figure dressed in black," Charlotte said, trying her best to brighten up as Ronda had suggested as they carried on walking.
"We do?" Ronda asked, taken totally by surprise by that statement. "That's news to me."
"Oh, I thought that was why you were coming to the locker room. Hunter's coming to see us shortly to tell us about it. I bet he'll be sending a runner to get you any minute now."
Seeing that they were approaching the women's locker room, Ronda said, "Well, he won't have to. I wonder who's going to get the part?"
"I hope it's me," Charlotte said. "I'd love to team with you and Daga. But whoever it is, we'll be finding out real soon."