The undeniable attraction between Roman and Mandy the moment they set eyes on each other had taken his breath away. He had never experienced anything like it before in his life. Love at first sight, he now suspected, was actually a thing. She was the most stunningly beautiful woman he had ever seen, even wearing a maroon hoodie with the PokerStars logo on it, and a pair of jeans. She also had an infectious laugh, which she made use of often, he had discovered on their tour around the backstage areas. A woman who found his crap jokes amusing, what more could he ask for?
"Ugh, she's so glamorous," Mandy said.
Up ahead along the hallway, they could see Alexa Bliss, who was dressed in a gorgeous silver dress ahead of a Moment of Bliss segment on Smackdown. She was busy chatting to Sami Zayn.
"You're not so bad yourself," Roman said, deciding to take a chance on a riskier joke.
Mandy laughed loudly as they continued walking, taking no offense at all. "Shut up for God's sake. What you're not going to do right now is mock my appearance. FYI, I'm dressed like this because of the sponsorship deal I signed with PokerStars. Any time I know I'm going to be on TV or a stream, I have to wear something with their logo on it. What's your excuse?"
"Wow!" Roman exclaimed, laughing at her comeback. He spread his arms, looking down at his own appearance. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Nothing, if you're decorating a room or doing yard work."
"Finish him!" Roman said in his best Mortal Kombat impression, making Mandy laugh again. "I'm wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants."
"I know," she said dryly. "I like a smartly dressed man."
"Noted," Roman said, filing the information away in his head for future reference, just in case. They had reached the entrance to Gorilla, giving him a chance to get the tour back on track. "This is Gorilla. It's where the show is produced, and where we assemble before we go out into the arena."
"I've been looking forward to this," Mandy said. "Will we be able to go out into the arena?"
"We will. It'll be all set up and ready to go by now."
"This is all so exciting," Mandy enthused. "Yours must be such an awesome job to have. I'd love to be able to wrestle."
"Yeah? Well I'd love to be good at poker," Roman said.
"You play?" she asked, stopping by the curtain that led into Gorilla.
"I do, badly. I watch the Main Event every year. I caught quite a bit of the final table coverage. Honestly? I was pulling for you?"
"Oh? Why?" Mandy asked innocently.
Damn, Roman thought, realising that he had put himself in an awkward spot by not thinking about what he was saying. To hell with it, he decided. "Because I thought you were very good, and you were the only hot chick at the table."
"I see," she said slowly, grinning at his honesty.
"That hand with the queens against kings was wild," he said, pushing past the awkwardness that he had caused for himself. She now knew that he found her attractive, although after the initial moment of connection they'd had, he felt like it wasn't really news. Sparks had flown in that moment, and they both knew it.
"I never should have snap called his all-in," Mandy admitted. "But it paid off, and here I am, The Queen of Hearts."
"Insert joke here," Roman said, making her laugh again.
"You're the worst, you know that?" Mandy said, shaking her head. "Come on, show me Gorilla before I change my mind."
"As if you would," Roman said dryly. He walked through the curtain and held it open for her. Over at the production desks, a couple of backstage crew members were going through some checks on the equipment. "That's where Vince and Hunter sit," he said.
"What about whoever directs the show? Is that in one those trucks you see out back sometimes?"
"Yes, there's a TV truck. I can take you out there as well if you like?"
"I'd like to see as much as I can," Mandy said in an upbeat manner.
"No problem. We'd better leave these guys to it. Let's go into the arena. This way."
"This is where I should have music playing and a crowd cheering," Mandy said as she followed Roman through the curtain onto the stage.
"Or booing," he countered.
Mandy laughed. "What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing," he replied, also laughing.
She walked over to centre stage, at the top of the ramp, and posed with one arm in the air, her other hand touching it.
Roman had no idea what the pose was supposed to be, but it didn't really matter. She was enjoying herself.
"It must be crazy to stand here when the arena is full of people," Mandy said, looking around at the empty seats.
"You get used to it to some extent, but yes, it is a unique feeling. And then there's Wrestlemania, which is something else entirely."
"Oh my god, I bet it is," she breathed. "You know, I'd love to go to Wrestlemania. In fact, this year I think I will. Do you know what your match is going to be there yet? We're past the Royal Rumble."
"I do know, but I can't say," Roman said.
"Of course," she acknowledged. "Can we go down to the ring?"
"We can," he nodded. There was no one down there at the moment, as everything was prepared for the night's warm up matches.
They walked down the ramp together. When they reached ringside, Roman pointed to the front row of seats to their right. "You'll be over there somewhere later."
"How do you know that?" Mandy asked.
"That's where they always put the VIPs."
"Is that what I am? A VIP?" Mandy asked innocently, looking up at Roman.
"Yep," he said gruffly, fighting an urge to kiss her.
"Important enough to get your number?"
"Definitely," Roman said.
Being ringside for Smackdown was as brilliant as Mandy had had expected it to be. She was lucky enough to be in the position of being famous enough to get invites for things like this, but not famous enough to be recognised by many people in everyday life. Her luck had held out with the wrestling fans sitting around her. No one had shown any indication that they might know who she was before the time came for her little appearance on camera.
While Smackdown was on a commercial break, a cameraman got ready in front of Mandy, which let her know that she would soon be on-screen. The setup was actually quite clever in that by looking at the camera she could also see the big screen in the background, where she would see herself when she was on.
Moments later, she saw herself appear on the screen, with one of the Smackdown style name displays: 'Mandy Rose. World Series of Poker Main Event Winner.' She gave the audience a big smile and a wave, noting a rather male quality to the few cheers in the arena. She imagined the commentators saying a few nice words about her. It was a fun moment, but there was better to come later.
Baron Corbin came to the ring full of anger and humiliation after losing a match to a no name local talent the previous week, thanks to interference from Elias. He started his promo by berating Elias for his actions. A 'you got beat' chant wasn't likely to improve his mood.
"You all think it's funny, huh?" Corbin yelled at the crowd as he paced around the ring. He pointed to a couple in the front row on the opposite side of the ring to Mandy. They looked to her like they were in their thirties. "You two, I can you laughing!" he shouted. "You know what I think is funny? I can't tell if that's your girlfriend or your mom."
Some of the crowd booed, while others laughed at Corbin's insult. He moved over to the back side of the ring and pointed at an older woman. "You! Don't laugh so hard, grandma, your teeth might fall out."
There was more booing and laughter. Mandy made sure to laugh too, knowing that she was about to be the next person selected for an insult.
"Oh, look who it is," Corbin said in the ring, glaring directly at Mandy. "It's Mandy Rose, the master poker player, The Queen of Hearts. You having a laugh over there, Mandy?" he asked as he got out of the ring.
Noticing that there was a camera on her, Mandy tried her best to look unsure what to do now that she was about to be confronted.
"I'll tell you what I think is funny: Your face," Corbin said once he was standing in front of Mandy, looming over her. "Please don't tell me you paid that plastic surgeon?"
There might have been boos in that moment if Elias hadn't just come running down the entrance ramp with his guitar.
Backstage before the show, Corbin had told Mandy what he wanted to say, and after she had agreed to it, he had asked her to slap him as hard as she could. She guessed he possibly feared her contribution looking lame. But as a wrestling fan all her life, there was no chance of that happening. She blasted him so hard with her right hand that her palm was left stinging. Hopefully it had sounded good for the audience, she thought.
As the crowd cheered the slap, Corbin turned around, holding his cheek to sell the pain. He opened himself up perfectly for the guitar shot from Elias. With a loud crash, the wooden instrument exploded over the king's head, knocking him out and sending bits of wood flying everywhere.
Having thoroughly enjoyed it, Mandy was sad that her one and only appearance in WWE was at an end.
A couple of minutes later, after referees had made a show of helping Corbin to the back, the show cut to a backstage segment. Mandy used the opportunity to check her phone. There was a message from Clementine, and one from Roman. That was a very nice surprise. She opened his message first.
Roman Reigns: You're a natural. That was amazing.
Mandy giggled, thinking that he was overdoing it a bit. Nonetheless, she decided to play along with her reply.
Amazing enough to celebrate with a drink later? I'm staying at the Sheraton by the river.
A reply came back almost immediately.
Roman Reigns: How could I say no to an offer like that?
"How indeed?" Mandy said quietly, smiling to herself.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter. There was some really good feedback on the initial piece, so I decided to make it into a full story.
Mandy enjoyed her little spot on Smackdown, and scored herself a date. How will things develop from here?