By August there was still no sign of an opportunity for Roman to safely return to work. The corona virus was still not under control, large public gatherings were still banned, and WWE was still having to tape all shows at the Performance Center.
Things were better for Roman and Mandy. They had been living in his house for a few months now, and things were going great for them. In simple terms, they were very much in love. No amount of time locked down in the house seemed to feel like too much to them.
Of late, in a move that seemed to be designed to save the economy as much as anything else, businesses and retail stores were opening up again. Mindful of Roman's health, neither he nor Mandy had been out for anything more than essential grocery shopping, which she had dealt with on their behalf.
With the world slowly getting back to normal, or at least back to what was going to pass for normal, with social distancing and mandatory face masks, Roman had gotten the impression that crowds returning to arenas wouldn't be far away. There were two things that were causing him to view a return to work in a more positive light. Firstly, he had spoken to the doctor who had handled his cancer treatment, learning that his immune system was actually a lot stronger than he had given it credit for. Secondly, it seemed that the destructive power of the virus had been exaggerated by the media in the earlier stages of the outbreak. Doing some research of his own had provided him with some more comforting statistics.
All in all, Roman had felt able to call WWE HQ and leave a message with Vince McMahon's secretary that he and Mandy were ready to return to work once it was deemed safe enough for arena shows to return. He imagined that would still be a couple of months away at least, leaving more time for the virus situation to improve.
His mention of Mandy's name during the phone call had been quite deliberate. There was a possibility that Vince might not be all that interested in bringing her back. He wasn't going to get off that easily if Roman had anything to say about it.
The call back from Stamford arrived while Mandy was out on one of her grocery runs. Roman was in the kitchen, fixing himself a coffee. He felt a little apprehensive as he looked at his ringing phone. It had been quite some time since he had spoken to Vince. They had been in touch via text message several times, but that was something altogether different. The first few moments of the call were going to tell him a lot. The boss would either be delighted to hear from him and enthusiastic about bringing him back, or he would be standoffish and indifferent. If it was the latter, his career was in trouble, and Mandy's was probably over with.
Here we go, Roman thought, answering the call. "Hello?"
"Hello, Roman," came Vince's distinctive booming voice. "I got your message. You're ready to return work?"
"Hi, Vince," Roman said, glad of the somewhat positive tone he heard in McMahon's voice. They were getting straight down to business, which was fairly usual for phone calls with Vince. "I'm ready to return to work once it's deemed safe enough for arena shows to return. I think we'll be over the worst of the virus by then."
"Glad to hear it. We do have something in mind. Why don't you come to the office and we'll talk about it? You're okay with getting a flight, right?"
"Sure," Roman replied, hiding his instinctive reluctance. He had pretty much expected to have to go to the office. Being summoned for face to face meetings was part of being one of the top guys in the company. Until the virus happened, it hadn't been a problem. "Should Mandy come with me? I'm hoping you're interested in bringing her back. We have an idea that we'd like to pitch to you for her."
"That won't be necessary," Vince said. For a second, Roman thought he was going to have to go into battle for his girl. "We've already got an idea for her."
That was great news, Roman thought. Or at least he hoped it was. After all, there was no guarantee that it wasn't a crap idea. That would be a bridge to cross if it became necessary. For now, he would take the win as far as WWE wanting to continue using her was concerned. "Sounds good. When do you want us to come up?" he asked.
"Let's make it Monday. Monday at 2pm."
"We'll be there. See you then."
"See you then," Vince agreed, and the call was ended. There had been something in his voice that sounded like he was looking forward to it, at least a little. Roman was too. McMahon wasn't always easy to work for, but Roman did like him.
"Some good news to tell Mandy, anyway," he said to himself as he put his phone down on the counter and resumed fixing his coffee.
It was just over half an hour later when Mandy walked through the front door. Roman went out to the hallway to greet her, finding that she was carrying three bags of groceries, wearing a white medical mask and black nitrile gloves, which she quickly pulled off now that she was home. The mask came off next.
"Hey. It's so warm out there, you wouldn't believe it. I need some iced water," she said.
"Hey. I can fix that for you," Roman said. "I'll leave you to deal with those bags. I know I'm not allowed to pack anything away." The fact that they were living in his house made no difference, the kitchen ban was still in effect. Fixing the ice water was about all he was allowed to do in there.
"Thank you, babe," Mandy said. Reaching where he was standing, she gave him a peck on the lips. "What have you been doing while I was out?"
"I got a call back from Vince."
"Oh! What did he have to say? Are they ready to bring you back?" she asked as she carried the bags through to the kitchen.
"They're ready to bring us both back," Roman was happy to announce. "Vince wants to see us at the office, as I suspected. The appointment is 2pm Monday."
"You're okay with flying?" she asked. Putting the grocery bags on one of the kitchen counters, she looked at him with some concern. It said a lot that she focused on that first rather than the news she had just gotten that she was going to be brought back to work for WWE. Roman found that compassionate side of her to be one of the things that he loved the most.
"Things have to go back to normal at some point, Peach. And like we've discussed, my immune system is in a better state now. If I don't get back to work soon, when will I? I can't sit at home forever and let life pass me by. Besides, I miss wrestling so much. It's what I want to do."
"And you know I've got your back one hundred per-cent."
"I know," Roman smiled. "And I've got your back too, which is why I was delighted when Vince said they have an idea in mind for you."
"Wait, they have an idea? You didn't tell them what we came up with?"
"I didn't get the chance. Vince said he wanted you to come along too because they have something for you. I wasn't going to question it."
"No, of course not. I wonder what their idea is? I'll be disappointed if it's something worse than ours."
"Me too. Hopefully it's good. If not, then we can still pitch our idea. Just because Vince has one doesn't mean we necessarily have to agree to it."
Mandy laughed. "I think it's safe to say I don't have that kind of stroke in WWE."
"No, but I do," Roman said with a grin. "Or at least, I did before all of this happened. If it comes to it, I'll do a bit of arm twisting. One way or another, we'll arrive at something you're happy with, I promise."
Mandy smiled in appreciation. "Thank you, Roman. I'm a lucky woman. I can't wait to learn what I'll be doing. But what about you? What do they have for your return?"
"I don't know," Roman said with a shake of his head. "Vince kept his cards close to chest over the phone. We'll have to wait and see what happens on Monday."
"I'm really excited!" Mandy cried.
"Me too. It's going to seem like it takes ages for Monday to come around."
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter.
It's not going to take long for Monday to come around for us because it will be the next chapter. What do you think Vince has lined up for Roman, or for Mandy? Let's see if anyone can guess either of them correctly.