The flight from Orlando to New York had been a surreal experience for Roman and Mandy, not to mention the experience at the airport. Usually hives of activity, there had hardly been anyone there at all.
"I wonder if we can keep airports like this after the virus?" Roman had said.
"I think that might be wishful thinking," Mandy had replied. "In any case, it's creepy. I don't like it at all."
If the airport experience had been creepy, the flight had possibly been worst. They had been among only an handful of passengers on a flight that would ordinarily have been full. At least that meant a reduced risk of exposure to the virus, Roman had thought.
"That's an experience I wouldn't like to repeat," Mandy said once they were in the car that Vince McMahon had sent to pick them up and take them to HQ.
"We'll have to repeat it on the way home," Roman pointed out.
"This is true. That's why I brought spare masks and gloves," Mandy said, holding up her handbag. They had discarded their first set after leaving the airport, deciding that they would be safe enough in the back of the car. Walking into the office dressed like that had definitely been ruled out, for Vince would be unimpressed.
"You've got a handbag full of gloves. Why am I not surprised?" Roman asked quietly, giving her a mischievous smile.
"Give a girl the right to feel sexy about herself," Mandy chided him, also smiling.
"I've told you before, you can wear what you want, whenever you want as far as I'm concerned. You always look hot to me."
"You know how to say the right things," Mandy giggled. She paused for a moment, then her tone changed. "Roman?"
"You okay?" he asked with some concern, picking up that she sounded worried about something.
"I'm nervous about this meeting. Sitting down in an office talking business isn't something I've ever done before, let alone with someone like Vince McMahon. Until recently I streamed poker and made sandwiches for a living. I'm way out of my comfort zone."
Roman hadn't really thought that through, he realised. Because he had met Mandy at a WWE event, and because she now worked for the company, he tended to think of her as being much more experienced in the wrestling business than she actually was. The truth was that she was still an outsider. It was something that he was going to have to do a better job of remembering, in order to help her with it. For now, he needed to put her at ease about the meeting as best he could.
"Think of it as having a cup of coffee and a chat with someone. Vince is quite easy to talk to when you come to the office, away from the hustle and bustle of a show. We'll just be going over ideas. I'm sure you'll feel at ease once we're in there. It'll be one of those situations where the anticipation of something with be worse than the reality of it. And if you do struggle, which you won't, I'll be sat right next to you. It'll be fine."
"I trust you," Mandy said seriously.
Roman loved the simplicity of her response. It showed how strong their bond was. She was prepared to accept that things were going to be okay based entirely on the fact that he said they would be.
About an hour later, Roman and Mandy walked into Vince McMahon's outer office. Roman found himself thinking how professional and attractive Mandy looked in her cream coloured dress. She certainly didn't appear as out of place as she likely felt.
"Good afternoon," Vince's secretary said politely. She was an attractive brunette in her thirties. Roman had forgotten her name, if he had ever been told it.
"Hi. We're meeting Vince at 2pm. We're a little early," Roman said.
"That's okay. Vince is in the gym, so you might have to wait a while. Have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?"
"No, thank you," Roman said.
"I'm good, thanks," Mandy said.
With that, they walked over and sat down on two of the several comfortable leather chairs for visitors.
"Is that usual?" Mandy asked under her breath, referring to Vince's lack of punctuality.
"Yeah. You never see Vince without having to wait. He'll be here soon, maybe." He had intended it as a joke, but it seemed to make Mandy more nervous. He supposed he could understand why the wait wasn't helping her.
It was nearly 2:30pm by the time Vince showed up. "Hey, Roman! It's good to see you!" he said enthusiastically in his typical booming voice as he strode into the office, looking fresh in a light grey suit.
"Hello, Vince. It's good to see you too," Roman said, getting up. He didn't have to fake smiling broadly. It really was nice to see the boss after so long.
"I keep being told hugs are off limits, so it'll have to be a handshake," Vince said with good humour.
Roman laughed. "A handshake will do," he said, accepting the gesture. "Crazy times we're living in, huh?"
"I think it'll soon be over, and not before time," Vince said. It was fairly typical of him to view the virus as nothing more than an annoyance, as if people were overreacting to it. "Hello, Mandy. It's good to see you again. You look great."
"Thanks, Vince. It's good to see you too," Mandy said as she shook his hand. Knowing her as well as he did, Roman could tell she was a bit uncomfortable doing it because of the pandemic.
"Bring some coffee in will you, Christina?" Vince said to the receptionist.
"Of course," Christina said cheerfully.
"Right, come through," Vince said, leading the way into his office. "How has life in Florida been treating you? You both look well."
"It's been good. But I have missed working a lot. Can't wait to get back to it, once it's safe," Roman said.
"Yes, you mentioned you were looking to return when we're finally back in arenas," Vince said. He sat down behind his desk and motioned for them to take a seat in front of it.
"That's right," Roman said as he sat down.
"We're expecting that to happen in the near future. I'm actually going to hold you back longer than that, both of you. I want to bring you back at the Royal Rumble."
"Are you saying we're going to be brought back together? Is Mandy going to manage me?" Roman asked. Glancing at her, he saw her smiling at the thought.
"You are both going to come back at the Rumble, but no, Mandy won't be managing you. Let's talk about you first, Roman. I want you to turn heel."
"Oh," Roman said in surprise. He noticed Mandy look at him with her eyebrows raised. "Tell me more."
"Starting in the near future, you're going to start tweeting things out about Smackdown being your yard, saying people like Braun Strowman should enjoy being on top while they can because it will be different when you come back, you know the kind of thing."
No points for originality, Roman thought. But he wasn't against the idea of turning heel. Indeed he had pitched for it himself in the past when he had been the object of hatred from many of WWE's fans despite supposedly being a babyface.
"So, what happens at the Rumble?" he asked.
"You win the rumble match. I think it's safe to assume that will piss a fair few people off, so we'll be off to a good start."
"Well, thanks, Vince. This sounds good to me so far," Roman said. He obviously had no intention of arguing about being brought back in right at the top. To do so would have been insanity.
They proceeded to discuss some more details for Roman's big comeback. As they did so, Christina returned with a tray, and fixed coffee for everyone according to their preferences. When they were done discussing Roman, it was Mandy's turn.
"Okay, that brings me to you, Mandy," Vince said, looking at her. "I've been told by someone who has watched some of the streams you do that you have natural charisma; that you're a good talker. Adding that to the fact that you're obviously very good-looking, I think we can make use of you on TV. I see you as a valet, or a manager, as seems to be the popular description for it now."
"Seriously? Awesome!" Mandy exclaimed. Roman could have laughed as he watched her realise that it might not have been the most professional response. "I mean, that sounds great. I'd love to do that. Who will I be working with?"
Vince smiled, amused by her initial reaction himself. "Before we get that far, I need to tell you that you'll have to report for promo training at the Performance Center. It's one thing to have natural charisma, but you still need to be taught how we do things."
"Not a problem. I'll give it everything I've got. Learning new skills is something I like," Mandy assured him.
"Good. You'll also need to sign a WWE contract. The temporary arrangement we had before isn't going to cut it for this. I'll have something sent out to you."
"Thank you," Mandy said.
Roman liked what he was hearing a lot. His girl was getting a proper deal with WWE. Vince was actually committing to using her. He felt almost as excited to learn who her client or clients were going to be as she was.
"I can tell you're wanting me to cut to the chase and tell you who you'll be valet for," Vince said with another smile. "You'll be with someone we're going to call up from NXT. Someone who has a lot of in-ring talent, but not much charisma, which is why they need a manager."
"Now you're deliberately making her wait," Roman said with some amusement.
Vince laughed. "Yeah, I suppose I am. Mandy, you're going to be working with Raquel Gonzalez."
Roman looked at Mandy to see her reaction. Her eyes lit up, and she smiled.
"Oh, I love that! She's been so impressive on NXT! She's so big and powerful, she really could dominate the other women. Wait, though. What about Dakota Kai?"
"It looks like she's going to need another knee surgery eventually," Vince explained. "She's working through it for the time being. We'll probably keep them going on NXT until October or November before writing them off. That gives Raquel a couple of months off TV before she makes her main roster debut with you at the Rumble."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Roman said.
"And it gives me plenty of time to take promo lessons," Mandy said.
Vince nodded. "Exactly. So you're both happy with what we've discussed?"
"Yeah," Roman said.
"Very happy," Mandy agreed. "Have you spoken to Raquel about this yet?"
"Not yet," Vince said. "She can focus on what she's doing for now. She's getting a call up to the main roster, so it's hardly likely that she's going to have a problem."
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review last time.
What do you think of the plans for Roman and Mandy? Do you think Raquel will like the idea of having Mandy manage her?