As time went on, it had started to become fairly clear to Roman that the corona virus crisis was not going to be something that could be ridden out by staying on Elena for a month or two. By the end of May, the virus was still not under control, lockdown restrictions were still in place, and WWE was still taping shows with no crowd at the Performance Center.
Living on the yacht had been a lot of fun to begin with, indeed it still was in a lot of respects. But Roman realised that it wasn't a long term solution. He wanted to move back to his house, and he wanted Mandy to move there with him, he had finally decided one morning. All that remained was to find the right time to ask Mandy. He was aware that asking her to move into his house was a different question to asking her to stay with him onto his yacht for a while. Moving into his house required a big commitment. He was hopeful that she would make that commitment, but it couldn't be taken for granted.
With the year progressing towards summer, the Florida weather was now tropical. Roman had discovered how much time Mandy could spend on a sun lounger, which bordered on the extreme. When she wasn't streaming or cleaning, she could very often be found on the top deck. On the plus side, she had a truly gorgeous tan as a result.
While Roman did his morning workout every day, Mandy liked to go for a swim to wake herself up. It had become their morning routine, with a light breakfast coming afterwards. Neither of them were big morning eaters.
Walking out onto the back of the yacht, he saw that she was still in the water. The top of her snorkel was visible about twenty yards away. He sat down with his legs dangling over the back of the boat, waiting for her to surface.
It took a few minutes before she surfaced, facing the boat. She had moved quite a bit further away by that point. Roman waved to her, and she waved back.
"Enjoying the water?" he called out.
Mandy took the snorkel out of her mouth and started treading water back to the yacht, helped by her fins. "What?" she called back.
"I said are you enjoying the water?"
"Yeah! But I'm ready for breakfast!"
"Me too! So get back here!" Roman called out, deliberately being cheeky.
"Not sure you'll enjoy yours, with a snorkel stuck up your ass!"
Roman laughed. "That's very kinky!"
Laughing, Mandy came over to the boat. "You're a vile man, you know that?"
"True, but you wouldn't have me any other way."
"That's true," Mandy giggled. She offered her hand, and Roman helped her out of the water. "It's so refreshing to start the day with a swim."
"I'm glad you enjoy it," Roman smiled.
"Looks like I got it in at the right time. The sky looks pretty dark out to sea," she said as she took off the mask and fins, setting them on the deck.
Roman looked in the direction she was looking and saw that the she was right; the sky was a filthy dark grey out to sea. "That looks like we might get some rain."
"Booo," Mandy said as they walked inside. She brought the snorkel gear in and put it on a counter. "How am I supposed to work on my tan if it rains?"
She stepped up to Roman, and he put his hands around her waist. "I don't think your tan needs much work, Peach. You look gorgeous already."
"So do you. But I still want to work on my tan," Mandy said before kissing him on the lips. "I guess I'll fix breakfast, and hopefully the rain will clear out by then."
"I'm sure it will," Roman said. He sat down at the small dining table while Mandy went into 'her' galley to fix their food. She also got the coffee machine going. As she worked, Roman thought through how he was going to broach the subject of wanting to move back to his house, and wanting her to move with him. He decided that the best thing to do was to simply be honest about how he felt, then give her the chance to do the same.
"Are you okay? You seem preoccupied," Mandy said when she brought the two cups of coffee over to the table.
"I am, kind of. There's something I'd like to talk about."
"Oh? That sounds pretty ominous," Mandy said, heading back to the galley for the breakfast plates.
"It's not ominous, I promise," he said, smiling. "It is something pretty important though.
Returning to the table, Mandy put the plates down, setting Roman's in front of him.
"Thank you," he said.
Mandy sat down, tucking straight into her food. "Okay, hit me with it. I hope it's not a marriage proposal," she quipped.
"No," he laughed. "How are you finding living on the yacht?"
Mandy seemed a little surprised that the conversation had gone in that direction. She took a moment to consider an answer. "I like a lot of things about it. I'm sure you know what they are. But there are some downsides too. I mean, it can feel cramped sometimes. My streaming setup isn't ideal, and sometimes the internet isn't great. I'm sensing you're thinking about moving off here?"
Very intuitive, Roman thought. At least it meant that he didn't have to hedge around the subject. "I was thinking about it, yes. For the same reasons you said, plus we'll be low on food soon. Mainly, though, just that it's a nice place to live for a while. This isn't going to only be for a while by the look of it. It looks like we're in it for the long haul, so I think it would be much better to live in a house. That's why I've been trying to pluck up the courage to ask you to move in with me."
Mandy took in a deep breath and occupied herself with drinking some of her coffee, which didn't exactly seem like a positive response to Roman.
"I was wondering if this was going to happen," she said cautiously. "Here's the thing, Roman. I would love to move in with you, but not in Florida. When all of this is over, whenever that is, I need to be in New York. My dad will be there, and he's all I have in the world, apart from you of course. Rose's is there too, our family business. I don't feel like I can move away from New York permanently."
That was a bit of a curve ball for Roman. He had hoped for a yes, while accepting the possibility that he might get a no. A yes, but not here had not occurred to him. "So you're saying we could move in together if it was somewhere near where you live now?" he asked in order to buy himself some thinking time.
"Well, yeah. I feel bad about it when you say it back to me like that. I just miss my dad so much. I know I haven't said much about it, and I talk to him often on the phone, but I really do miss him, and the shop. Obviously I know moving up there would mean you moving away from your parents in Pensacola, though. It's an awkward situation."
"That's true. But it's a bit different for me because I'm never here anyway when WWE is on its regular schedule. I'm used to seeing mom and dad on FaceTime much more than I do in person. Obviously that's not the case for you. You like helping your dad with the family business, as well you should."
"So, where does that leave us?" Mandy asked rather timidly. Her appetite for breakfast seemed to have disappeared.
Christ, Roman thought, she thinks I'm going to break up with her over this. His actual intention couldn't have been further away from that. He needed to make that clear, he realised. "I guess it leaves us planning a move to New York," he said, smiling broadly.
"Wait, really?" Mandy squealed. "You would move to New York?"
"Yes, I would. But it would obviously have to be when this virus situation is all over. Until then, we'll need to move into my place."
Mandy squealed again, getting up from the table and coming around to him. She grabbed him in a hug before he even managed to fully stand up.
"I'm so happy. I love you so much," she blurted out as they embraced. And just like that, the three magic words had been said between them for the first time.
"I love you too, Peach," Roman said, giving her a kiss. He couldn't remember ever having felt happier. He might only have just said it, but he had known for a long time that he loved Mandy, and that their relationship was going to be the real deal. It meant so much to know that she saw it the same way.
Outside, there was a loud rumble of thunder. It came with perfect comedic timing.
"Well, that's ominous," Roman said, and they both laughed.
"At least if the storm gets really bad and tips the boat over and kills us, we can go out knowing that we love each other."
"That's very optimistic of you," Roman said, laughing again. "I think I'll get us back to the marina before it gets that far."
"Okay, captain Joe. My life is in your hands."
Roman chuckled. "Famous last words."
"Love you," Mandy said, enjoying it now that it had been said once.
"Love you too, babe. When we get to the marina, we'll start making plans for the move to my place."
"Can't wait," Mandy smiled.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter.
Roman and Mandy are making plans for after the virus. And speaking of plans, their return to WWE will need to be discussed. Do you think Vince will go with their idea for Mandy, or will he have something else in mind?