A/N: This story features an established Seth/Bayley pairing, and can be read as book four of the series listed on my profile. However, it has been so long since I last wrote for the series that this one will work fine as a standalone for new readers.

"What do you see, Seth?"

Seth Rollins looked at the reflection in the mirror, of himself with his arms around his wife's stomach. He knew that she had been referring to herself with the question because she was preparing for a big occasion.

"I see Bayley Rollins, WWE superstar, longest reigning Smackdown Women's Champion, grand slam champion, and future Hall of Famer. I see a businesswoman, a property developer, a coffee shop owner. I see a role model for all of the young girls out there who doubt whether they can make a success of their lives. I see a queen."

"That's a proper Game of Thrones introduction," Bayley said with a happy smile on her face. "All you missed was 'first of her name.' I think that's what they used to say?"

"Yes, I think so," he chuckled.

"Most importantly, do I look ready for a big meeting?"

"You do," he said with conviction. "And I've always been a sucker for seeing you in a suit."

"Not looking too bad yourself, mister," she said. In truth, Seth never looked bad in her eyes. His appearance and style hadn't changed throughout the five years they had been together, and she was perfectly happy with that.

Her appearance, on the other hand, had changed. A couple of years ago, at the request of WWE, she'd had her hair cut into a bob as part of a character transformation. At the time, she hadn't liked the new look, and she knew that Seth had taken some time to adjust to it also, no matter how much he tried to claim otherwise. But by now they both preferred the current look.

"We should probably move. Wouldn't be a good idea to miss the flight," Seth said, removing his arms from around her and stepping back.

"No, it wouldn't. Let me fix your tie."

Seth had gone for a dark blue suit, white shirt and light blue tie. He didn't wear a tie often, but today they were going to Stamford, to WWE HQ. That was why Bayley had also opted for a suit, a black one in her case, with a very light purple blouse.

"Thanks," he said once she had sorted the tie for him, although it would probably need doing again by the time they got to WWE's offices. "Here, your jacket."

"Thanks, but I'll be okay without it," she said. "Can you just hand me the gloves out of one of the pockets?"

"Gloves? You? Surely not," he teased as he searched the coat's pockets. It was something he liked to needle her about often.

"Do not start that again. For the millionth time, there's nothing wrong with wearing gloves for cleaning or housework. They keep your hands clean."

"Or for when it's cold, or for DIY, or for sex," he said, raising an eyebrow. One of her fetishes was covering his mouth with her hands, but she preferred not to do it without wearing gloves in case he drooled on her previous hands. It was a peculiarity that he was long since used to. In any case, he often got an excellent hand job in return for indulging her, which was more than a fair exchange in his book. And the teasing never failed to amuse him.

"Yeah, well, you enjoy that. Just give me the damn things. We need to go."

"Here." Seth handed over the black leather pair he had found. "We'll revisit your OCD later."

"Not OCD," she said, rolling her eyes while putting the gloves on.

"It is, but okay. Next you'll be telling me you don't enjoy me tying you up and taping your mouth."

Bayley bit her bottom lip, enjoying whatever thought or memory that had triggered. "No, I won't. Have never denied enjoying that. Now let's go. We really are going to be late."

Grabbing a pair of black aviator glasses from where she had left them on the bed, Bayley put them on so that they sat on top of her forehead, then led the way out of their bedroom.

The flight from Des Moines, Iowa, not far from their home in Waukee, to New York had been a pleasant one. In fact the plane had only been half full even by a generous estimation.

They had arrived in New York on time, where a car had been waiting to take them to Stamford. These days, visits to HQ were not commonplace, but when they did happen, the corporate hospitality was excellent.

Seth figured he knew why the figurative red carpet was being rolled out today though. WWE were trying to go the extra mile for his wife, since the main reason they were visiting the office was because her contract was due to expire in less than five months, and it was only logical that they were going to push hard to get her to sign an extension.

Bayley had been out with a knee injury for the past six months, after a freak accident at the Performance Centre right before WWE returned to performing in front of live audiences. At the time, it had been a real heartbreaker for her, but now she was all healed up and cleared to return whenever she was booked to do so. Seth imagined the return would be on the agenda today too.

What he didn't really understand was why he had been summoned. Bayley didn't need him to be there to support her, although he was happy to do so. His contract had plenty of time left on it, so he doubted that was the reason. Time would soon tell, he thought as their driver pulled up outside of WWE HQ.

Thanking the driver, they went into the building. It had been some time since Seth had been there, but nothing had changed in the lobby as far as he could tell. Apart from the receptionist, he thought upon reflection. The young woman behind the desk wasn't someone he had seen before. But she recognised them, for obvious reasons.

"Good morning, Mr and Mrs Rollins."

"Morning," Bayley said.

"Morning. We're here to see Hunter," Seth said.

"Yes, sir. You can go up. He's ready to see you. I'll let him know you're on the way up."

"Thank you," Bayley said. On the way to the elevator, she took her gloves off and unbuttoned her jacket. They had the place quite warm, even in the lobby.

"Looking forward to this meeting," Seth said quietly, also unbuttoning his jacket. He pressed the button to summon the elevator, only to discover that it was already at lobby level. The doors opened right away. "Let's see what contract offer they make you."

"Yeah, let's see," Bayley said in a thoughtful tone as she pressed the button for the top floor. Remembering her sunglasses on her forehead, she took them off and put them in her jacket pocket. In the end there had been no point bringing them since they had been used as nothing more than a fashion accessory.

Shortly, they stepped out onto the top floor, where the boardroom and the offices of the most senior executives were.

They were faced right away with Stephanie McMahon, who happened to be walking towards the elevator.

"Seth! Bayley! Great to see you," Stephanie said, giving them one of her dazzling smiles.

It had been some time since even Seth had seen her because she was almost never at shows these days.

"Hey, Steph. You look great," Seth said, exchanging the friendly hug that was their customary greeting.

"Thank you. So do you guys. Bayley, how's the knee?"

"It's all healed up now. It's good to see you," Bayley said, also exchanging a hug.

"I know you guys are here to see Hunter, but stop by my office for coffee on the way out if you have time. It would be good to catch up."

"Will do," Seth said. "Is Vince here? We should say hi if he is."

"Uh, no, he's not in the office today," Stephanie said, seeming a bit caught of guard, which was odd for such a basic question. "Listen, I've got to go. But let's talk later."

"Sure," Bayley smiled. When they parted ways, she gave Seth a look that said, 'That was awkward.'

Seth sent one back that said, 'Right?'

They continued along the hallway, past a couple of offices and the boardroom, and arrived at Hunter Helmsley's office. The door was standing open. Hunter was sitting at his desk at the far side of the room, working on his computer.

Seth rapped on the door with his knuckles.

"Seth! Bayley! Come in," Hunter said, genuinely pleased to see them.

"H. Good to see you, man," Seth said with the informality that was usual between them, having known each other for so long. Hunter also hadn't been at TV for a while, at least not for Smackdown where Seth had been working.

The two men approached each other and exchanged an enthusiastic, loud handshake. Then it was Bayley's turn to come forward.

"It's been a long time. You look well," Bayley said, displaying the fondness she felt for the man who had taught and helped her so much down in Florida.

"I look well? In that case you look incredible," Hunter said with a laugh as they exchanged a hug. "How's the knee?"

"One hundred per-cent, pretty much," Bayley said.

"So, ninety per-cent?" Hunter quipped, making light of her awkward wording. All three of them laughed.

"I'm good to go, as the doc will have told you," she said with a smile.

Hunter nodded. "He did tell me you're cleared to return. Why don't we sit down and talk about it?"

In addition to his fancy desk and the memorabilia on the walls, Hunter's office had a square table with a chair on each of its four sides. He motioned them towards it.

"Take your jackets off if you like. I know it's cold outside, but I don't understand why they've got it hotter than the sun in here today."

Bayley was glad to do as he suggested, putting her jacket over the back of the chair she had chosen and putting her gloves on the table. Seth also put his jacket on the back of his chair and sat down.

By the time they were done, Hunter was seated and ready to begin, sitting on Bayley's left and opposite Seth. The first thing he did was dial an internal number using the speaker phone in the middle of the table.

"Yes, Mr Helmsley?" a woman's voice said.

"Claire, can you bring coffee in please? Three people."

"Of course, sir."

Hunter looked back at his guests, and a smile appeared on his face. "You know, it makes me happy to see you guys doing so well for yourselves. How many houses do you own now in your business?"

"Six," Seth took pleasure in saying. "That's not including the one we live in, we own that independent of the company."

"Plus we have the coffee shop," Bayley added. That had proven to be her favourite Bayllins Property Developers venture to date.

"Yes, I remember Seth telling me about that," Hunter said. "Haven't had a chance to visit it yet. Iowa is a bit out of the way."

"That's why we like it," Seth said with a laugh.

"So, what's your next project?"

"I'd like to renovate another coffee shop," Bayley said. "We have Bean and Gone in Waukee. It would be good to have one in Des Moines too. Bean Again, maybe."

Seth clicked his fingers in approval. "Yes, that's good. Bean Again, with the same style of branding as Bean and Gone. People who happen to visit both might make the connection."

The office door opened and a pretty young blonde came in carrying a tray with a fresh pot of coffee, three cups, plus packets of sugar and little pots if cream for those who might want it. To Seth, she looked like an intern. She put the tray down on the table.

"Thank you, Claire."

"You're welcome," she said politely, and left.

Hunter poured three cups and handed them out. "Feel free to add your own cream and sugar."

"We're both good with black and strong," Seth said.

"Well, who isn't?" Hunter said, and they all chuckled at the childish humour.

"Anyway, let's talk business," Hunter said after taking a sip from his coffee. "Bayley, I'm sure you've already figured out that your contract is the most important thing we're going to talk about today. You've got roughly five months left on your current deal. We very much want you to extend with WWE, so I have an offer ready for you."

He got up and went over to his desk, where he picked up a leather bound folder. He brought it back to the table, opened it up and put it in front of her. There was a contract inside.

"It's for four years, at one point two million a year," Hunter announced.

The offer impressed Seth. He felt confident that it would make Bayley the highest paid woman in WWE, a spot that she deserved in his opinion after carrying women's wrestling through the pandemic era, before suffering her knee injury. To his surprise, he saw his wife grimace.

"I was thinking two," she said deadpan.

Hunter's jovial demeanour pretty much disappeared. He was surprised that Bayley hadn't simply taken the offer. Being negotiated with wasn't what he had expected. Seth hadn't expected it either.

"Two million?" Hunter asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"I know what Seth makes. He's on three million. Don't see why I'm worth any less than him to be honest, but I'd do a deal at two million."

Jesus, Seth thought. He couldn't understand why she hadn't told him she was going to play it this way. With WWE recently losing some good wrestlers to the competition, she was intimating that she might talk to them too, if WWE didn't up their already considerable offer.

Hunter considered it for about twenty seconds, although it felt like a lot longer. "I could do one point four."

Bayley's face showed that she still wasn't impressed. "One point five, and a quarter of my merch sales, the same deal Seth gets."

"We don't give that percentage to many people," Hunter said.

"Maybe not, but I've moved down from two million. As I said, Seth's on three. I'm now asking for half of what he makes, and I'm asking for the same merch percentage as him. I don't think you can argue that's not more than fair for what I bring to the table."

"That would make you our highest paid female talent by some distance," Hunter said, maintaining a good poker face.

"I'm sure it would," she replied evenly, keeping up her own poker face just as well as he way.

Getting over his initial surprise, Seth felt kind of proud of how Bayley was handling herself. He had tried to teach her what he knew about DIY, and about business. It seemed she had learned more than he had realised about the latter.

"One point four, and a quarter of your merch," Hunter said eventually.

"I'll sign today at one and a half," Bayley said. "It's a more than fair deal. Don't see it making sense for either of us for me to walk out of here without signing when you're only a hundred grand a year away from where I'm at."

Hunter smiled now. "You've become a shrewd businesswoman, Bayley. I respect that. Alright, I'll put one and a half million a year on the table, and a quarter of your merch sales, but I want you to sign for five years, not four. The rest of the details will be the same as your current contract."

Bayley looked at Seth. He nodded his approval. Taking that deal gave Hunter something to take out of the negotiation by locking her down to WWE for an additional, while she came out with a lot more money than had originally been offered. Also, what they would be paying her was still a good amount from WWE's point of view. These days, Bayley was a real star. Plenty of men got paid more for delivering less.

"It's a deal," Bayley said with a smile, offering her hand across the table.

Hunter shook it, then picked up the folder and contract that had been sitting on the table. "I'll just have to go get this changed and reprinted. Give me five minutes."

Once Hunter had left the office, Seth was free to speak his mind. "Jesus, Bay. Why didn't you tell me you were going to play hardball like that?"

"I wasn't sure I was until we were in the moment. Kind of didn't think I'd find the courage if I'm honest. But once I got into it with him, I enjoyed it. Think I got an okay deal, too."

"You did," Seth said, nodding. "Like he said, you'll be the highest paid woman, probably by quite a margin. The Bayley I first got to know would have signed the first deal she was offered, I feel sure. But not now."

"Is that a good thing?" she asked, studying him for his reaction, now wondering if she had done something that he disapproved of.

"Absolutely," he replied, and gave her a peck on the lips.

They sat and drank their coffee for a few minutes until Hunter returned. He put the folder back on the table, and used a fancy silver pen to point to the amended terms.

"Here we are, Bayley. As agreed, one and a half million a year for five years, and you get a quarter of your merch sales. The rest of the contract is the same as your current one. I've just signed it, so all I need is your signature right here."

Bayley took the offered pen and signed Bayley Rollins on the dotted line. She was now a WWE superstar for the next five years, and would be guaranteed seven and a half million dollars for it.

"Thank you," Hunter said, offering his hand again.

Bayley put the pen down and accepted the handshake. "Thanks, Hunter. I hope you know I never wanted to go elsewhere after everything you've done for me."

"I know, and I wouldn't have let you," he smiled. He closed the folder and took it over to his desk, where it could sit out of the way until the meeting was over.

"Now, your return is the next thing we need to talk about," Hunter said to her after he sat back down at the table.

"You have something lined up for me?" she asked hopefully.

"We sure do. There's been a lot of talk about you while you've been hurt. A common opinion, one that I happen to share, is that you were a standout performer of 'the pandemic era' as people have taken to calling it. You did your best work during that time, and it's the best Bayley character we've had. We want you to return as the same character, but as a babyface."

"Yeah, I like that," Seth said immediately.

"The same character, but a babyface," Bayley said thoughtfully. "So, you're saying the same attitude and everything, basically just without insulting the fans all the time? And wrestling heels instead of faces?"

"Exactly that," Hunter said. "You were getting babyface reactions at Wrestlemania even as a heel, so we don't see getting you over as any kind of problem. The people want to cheer you because you're charismatic, and great in the ring. As you said, you'll stop insulting the fans and insult the heels you'll be working with instead. Sometimes you don't have to throw the whole playbook out the window, you simply have to tweak it a bit to get to where you need to be."

"Not overcomplicating things, I like it," Bayley said.

Seth did too, although it didn't sound much like Vince's style. He got the impression that this was coming from Hunter himself, which was interesting.

"When do you want me back?" Bayley asked next.

"January. The week after the rumble."

"The week after the rumble? Not in it?" she asked, obviously disappointed.

"No, not in it. You're not going to win it, so it's best not to put you in. Would do nothing for you, and it might cause the fans to want you to win, and therefore to crap on the actual winner as a result. We've been there before."

"Fair enough," Bayley said. After all, she wasn't being asked a question about that part of the plan, she was being told what was going to happen.

"Oh, and we want you to go back to the style of ring attire you used when you first turned. We think that was the best look for you."

"Not a problem. I still have all of those in storage."

"Great," Hunter smiled. "I'll be in touch when we have more flesh on the bones of this idea. It's being worked on right now. Right, Seth, on to you. You've probably been sat there wondering why I asked you to come."

"I thought I was here to enjoy the coffee," Seth said, and everyone laughed.

"No, we're here to talk about altering your character too. It's been a problem for several years in my opinion, and we're going to fix it."

A/N: Do you think Bayley did a good job of negotiating with Hunter? She certainly had the element of surprise in her favour!

What do you make of the plans for her character alteration?

Readers of the previous stories in the series seemed to like the property renovation aspect of them, so what would you like to see Seth and Bayley take on as their next business venture?