"Now that was delicious," Roman said. He put his knife and fork down on his plate and sat back in his chair, letting out a contented sigh. Pork chops baked in chorizo and tomato sauce had been a first for him, prepared to perfection by Mandy, who seemed to be every bit the master chef that she had sold herself as.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," she smiled from across the small table.
"You're an amazing cook. I was wondering if you were talking yourself up too much before, but now I'm totally a believer. You're wasted as a poker player."
Mandy giggled. "Ten million bucks says I'm not too bad at that, either."
"Humble, too," Roman said with a laugh of his own.
Mandy stacked Roman's plate onto hers, placing both sets of cutlery on top. With that, she got up from the table. "I'm going to wash these before the food dries on."
"I'd offer to do it, but apparently I'm banned from the galley."
"You are banned, officially and permanently. Make a mess of my galley, I'll have to throw you overboard."
"I'd like to see you try, Ms Rose. I think it might be you who ended up in the drink, and it would be for more than a bit of snorkelling."
Mandy laughed as she walked over to the galley with the plates. She put them in the sink with the cooking utensils and pans she had used, and got the water running. Roman decided the least he could do was go and talk to her while she worked, even if it technically meant breaking his ban on entering the galley.
"After I've done this, what do you say we crack open a bottle of wine and go up on the top deck?" Mandy suggested. True to form, she put on a pair of dark green rubber gloves before starting to do the dishes.
"Sounds good to me," Roman said as he stepped up behind her at the sink and put his hands around her waist. "It's a fairly warm evening, and it's a nice view. A bit like this one," he added, kissing the side of her neck.
"Mmmm," Mandy purred, enjoying the kisses while she worked. "I'm glad you like what you see, Joe."
"Always, Peach. Especially when you have gloves on. Very sexy."
"Now you're teasing," she scolded, flicking some bubbly water at him.
"As if I'd do that," Roman laughed.
The banter continued while Mandy did the dishes. Roman took on the job of drying, discovering that it wasn't covered by the ban. When the job was done, he poured them a glass of wine each and they went up to the top deck. There was a cool breeze blowing, but it wasn't too bad. Elena was once more anchored with a view of Orlando's night skyline.
"Back to streaming tomorrow for me," Mandy said as they sat down together. "I'd better do some long ones to catch up with my hours a bit."
"Good idea." Roman found himself thinking that lockdown, even on a yacht with a beautiful woman, didn't provide a whole lot to do, especially if the woman had to work. "I'm going to have to find myself something to do apart from working out and swimming. Maybe I'll order a Playstation or something."
"That's a good idea. Or get a laptop so that you can use the camera to video call your friends and family," Mandy suggested.
That reminded Roman of Seth's suggestion to get a video call set up between them. "Speaking of, Seth suggested we could get on a video call with him and Becky at some point. I thought maybe we could use your computer for it, if that's okay?"
"Of course," Mandy said happily. "It'll be nice to start getting to know your friends. We should do the same with my best friend, Clementine. She happens to be a wrestling fan, so I know she would love to chat to you. I was going to try and get her to a Smackdown episode when crowds were a thing. It would have been funny for her to be there live to see me in action. RIP that idea, I guess."
"Why RIP that idea?" Roman asked after taking a sip of wine.
"I can't see myself working with WWE again. I know you said Vince told you he would talk to us about it, but even so, why would he be bothered about taking me back? I'm not a wrestler."
"No, you're not a wrestler," Roman said thoughtfully. "And it's true that Vince won't likely put any of the creative team's effort into coming up with anything for you. No, we're going to have think of a good idea ourselves and hope that he'll go for whatever we come up with."
Mandy puffed up her cheeks and blew out a sigh. "I have no idea what kind of thing would be good. I mean, the thing with Otis was perfect because I didn't have to be a wrestler."
"You're a good presenter," Roman said, thinking aloud. "I've watched your streams, and you really are good at it. You chat so easily and relatably with your viewers. A backstage interviewing spot might be the right thing for you."
"Hmmm. Maybe," Mandy said. She drank some wine while considering it. "Hey, what about one of those talk show kind of things? You know, Moment of Bliss, Miz TV, that sort of thing. We could try and sell it to Vince that having a non-wrestler host one would put a unique spin on it."
Inspiration struck Roman. Her idea wasn't bad, but he felt like he had come up with a way to improve upon it. WWE were starting to get into video-style podcasts, with things like Stone Cold's Broken Skull Sessions. Wrestlers would go on the show and talk candidly about themselves. Roman's idea was for a similar kind of show hosted by Mandy, with the difference being that wrestlers would appear in character.
"How about this," he said, going on to describe the idea.
"It does sound interesting. It sounds kind of like a WWE version of Jerry Springer or something. My only issue is I have no experience with interviewing people."
Roman took a hit from his wine glass. "I don't see that as a major problem. Like I said, you're good at presenting, and at talking to people. I'm sure you would take to interviewing like a duck to water. Keep it simple; be yourself, talk to them and have them talk to you.
"Maybe. I do like the idea," Mandy said, her enthusiasm growing by the moment. "What would we call the show?" she asked with a laugh.
They both thought for a while. Roman wasn't coming up with much. Only one idea came to mind, and he wasn't sold on it. "A Bed of Roses is the best I've got."
"That's not bad," Mandy said. "I was trying to come up with names using Rose too. How about The Rose Garden?"
"The Rose Garden. I like that," Roman said, nodding his approval. "My only concern would be whether the name fits the kind of show it would be."
"I don't know. Possibly that might be a problem?"
"Either way, it's an idea we can pitch to Vince. I think it's a good one. It has what I think might be the added bonus of not requiring time on Raw or Smackdown. We might have gotten some resistance from him about that. A studio show may well appeal to him more. We could run it by Seth and Becky when we chat to them and see what they think of it."
"Yeah, let's do that. If they don't like it, we'll know we likely wouldn't have a chance with Vince."
"That's the plan then. More wine?" Roman asked, finishing off his glass.
Mandy quickly downed her wine and handed the glass over. "Yes, please."
"I'll make sure not to spill any in the galley, in case I end up getting murdered."
"I'll be checking forensically for traces of wine," she assured him with a beautiful smile.
Chuckling, Roman made his way down the stairs to the lower deck. He felt glad that the creative team would come up with an idea for his return, considering himself not to be very good at it based on the experience he'd just had.
As he poured a second glass of wine for them both, he decided to change the subject when he went back upstairs. It was a nice evening, perfect for a bit of romance. Mandy was opening up to him sexually as she gained experience and confidence. Both of their appetites were only increasing, and Roman felt ready for sex. They could enjoy the evening a bit first, though.
Wine glasses in hand, Roman made his way back up the stairs. He found Mandy now with her top off. As soon as she saw him, she started seductively taking off her bra. They were back in Bond movie territory.
"Why hello, Mr Reigns," Mandy purred, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Hello, Ms Rose. You look splendid," Roman said, putting on a rather awful English accent. "Can I interest you in a drink?"
"You can. Thank you," Mandy said as she took one of the glasses. "Can I interest you in some boobs?"
Roman laughed heartily. "Of course you can. Let me get in behind you, and I'll take you up on that generous offer."
As Mandy moved for him, Roman took his shirt off. He figured if she was going to go topless the least he could do was return the favour. He sat down behind her and started massaging her breasts with his hands.
"You know, Mandy, on second thoughts I don't think I'm in any kind of hurry to get back to WWE. I think I've got everything I want right here."
Mandy moaned softly in pleasure, indicating that she very much agreed with him.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter.
What do you think of the idea that Roman and Mandy came up with? Will Vince be interested in the chat show idea? Or do you think there might be a better idea for her?