Lilian Garcia crossed her left leg over her right and readjusted herself in the dark green armchair until she was comfortable. Her head rested on her fist, honey blonde hair falling around her hand, concealing it. She was dressed for the autumn weather in black leggings and a forest green tunic that blended almost perfectly with her chair. Her smile was warm and inviting; her brown eyes conveying every emotion appropriate for her current task.

While it had been years since Lilian had left her post as WWE's resident ring announcer, she'd always kept herself inside the mad, crazy circle that was the world of professional wrestling. Even on the outside, she still loved the bonds that formed within it. Her time with the company had created friendships to last a lifetime, and she'd been surrounded by some of the best athletes she'd ever met. In her decade with the company, she'd seen the torch passed from guys like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to John Cena, and she'd watched the rise, the fall, and the eventual resurrection of the women's division. Many of her colleagues had left professional wrestling and started podcasts, so when she took her final exit, Lilian felt like it was a no-brainer to start one of her own.

It was a blustery Tuesday morning and Lilian was sitting inside a well-lit hotel room filming another episode of her podcast, Chasing Glory. It was her hope to eventually be seen as the Oprah of the podcast industry, someone who asked the deep, thoughtful questions and brought out the best in all of her guests. Sitting across from her in another green armchair was Seth Rollins, dressed in a Black and Brave T-shirt and tight black jeans. His hair was pulled away from his face, into a bun that rested at the nape of his neck, non-obstructive to the Black and Brave baseball cap he wore. Behind his glasses, his brown eyes looked exhausted, but he was doing his best to gamely answer her questions while he sipped on his third coffee of the morning.

Earlier in the morning, while she'd drank her coffee and waited for Seth to arrive, she'd gone through her Twitter feed, quickly learning that he was by far the most talked-about Superstar on the roster at that moment, thanks to his personal and professional lives colliding. Lilian had smiled; Vince signing off on Seth's appearance had been the best thing for her podcast - she was going to be the first one to get his thoughts on everything. It was the kind of scoop wrestling reporters and her colleagues would kill for.

"From the sounds of things, it's been a pretty turbulent few weeks for you," Lilian commented. They had already talked about his ambitions, his goals, his wrestling school, and his business goals. They'd talked about his childhood and his high school years, leaving no stone unturned. With all the groundwork laid out, Lilian was ready to dive into the things her listeners wanted to hear about. When he'd arrived, still yawning and his voice still half-hazy with sleep, Seth had assured her that nothing was off-limits in the podcast; he'd told her that he only wanted to clear up the misconceptions that were out there about him.

Seth nodded at her statement. "Yeah. You could definitely say that. Accurate statement."

"I guess the first thing everyone wants to know is - how is Roman doing? I know you mentioned on Raw that he's a tough guy, but have you had a chance to talk to him since his surgery?" she asked. Seth nodded.

"I'm probably the biggest pain in his ass right now," Seth confessed. "I talk to him a few times a day. That's my brother, you know? I know we go out there and we talk about how The Shield is a brotherhood, but the truth is...it is. At least, it is to me and Roman. I don't know what's going through Dean's head at the moment but at the end of the day he's still my brother, too." He sighed, his body sagging against the armchair. Lilian nodded, her mouth curving into a sympathetic smile.

"Did you have any inclination that Dean was going to do what he did last night?" she asked. Seth made a noise.

"I mean...maybe a little. Did I think he was going to do what he did last night? No. But Dean...he got injured, and he went away, and he came back a different Dean Ambrose. He's not the Dean Ambrose that I used to know, and I know how dramatic that sounds, but it's true. It's like...Mauro Ranallo likes to say that Dean is mercurial, and he is, and I guess there's just been this resentment that's been building inside of him for a long time. I thought we'd smoothed everything out, but apparently, I was wrong.

"Short answer is after we won one for our fallen brother, I didn't think this would happen. Not in a million years."

"Was Dean angry about what happened in Australia?" Lilian asked. Seth sighed.

"Both of them were angry with me."

"For our clueless listeners out there, would you care to fill me in on what happened in Melbourne?" she asked.

"I was an idiot," Seth replied with a shrug. "I found Baron Corbin, and I went after him, and he wasn't alone. I was. It was a stupid, stupid thing I did, and I robbed the great fans of Australia a chance to see The Shield. That's what I did, and I've got to live with that. The next time I'm in Melbourne, I'm going to do everything I can to make it up to the people who paid their hard-earned money to come and see me perform. I'll feel bad about my actions for the rest of my life, but there's not a lot I can do about that."

"So, Dean was angry that you'd attacked Baron Corbin and gotten yourself pulled from the match." It wasn't a question but a flat statement. Seth nodded.

"Yeah. They were both angry, but Dean was furious. Just to be clear, though: they had every right to be. I messed up, and I messed everything up real bad. It's just...that whole weekend...that entire trip was just the absolute worst."

"That brings me to the next part of the rumor mill that's surrounding you," Lilian cut in, sitting up straighter. She leaned forward, her hands clasped together on her lap as she leaned forward. "The rumors surrounding you and Jordana Moody."

"Yeah. My social media's been a total dumpster fire since the trip."

They were quiet for a few moments. Lilian realized she was going to have to dig for the answers, that he wasn't about to freely give it up. "And?"

"It's the usual stuff in our business, Lilian - the fans don't know what they're talking about. They like to speculate."

"Are you and Jordana still together?" Lilian asked. Seth snorted.

"We never were together," Seth announced. "Not in the way that everyone seems to think we were, anyway."

"Care to explain?"

"Look, Lilian - here's the deal: Jory and I, we kind of got thrown together because at the time we were both in bad situations that really mirrored each other, being in the Authority and finding ourselves kicked out and treated as outcasts. And when you're thrust into a high-profile situation like that...we got pretty close. But that's all it really was, just two adults hanging out together. People act like we were going to move in together, get married and have a hundred kids or something. That stuff was never discussed because we both knew it wasn't that serious between the two of us.

"There's a lot of stuff that makes it online in our business, and most of it isn't true. Jory and I have always led separate lives. We're not perfect human beings. I wanted to try and make it a bit more serious between the two of us, but I saw some things that were happening, so I just...I did what had to be done." The answer left Lilian confused. He could see by the way her eyes flickered.

"Was Baron Corbin a factor in the decision you made?"

"I don't know," Seth told her, sipping his coffee. "I just know the things I've heard, but I don't want to say anything more. Out of respect for Jory," he added. Lilian nodded; she respected that.

"There were reports of her running through the hotel..." Seth shrugged.

"You would have to have her on this podcast and ask her. I don't know anything when it comes to her. We're two very different human beings," Seth reiterated. He finished his coffee and wished he had another cup handy. "All I will say is that Jory is an incredible athlete, and she's as resourceful as it gets. She has all the tools to be a valuable asset on any roster, and I wish her nothing but the best."