'He actually came,' Robbie thought to herself as she walked toward the tall, hooded figure standing in the airport parking lot in Orlando. The hoodie hid his most identifiable features: his tattoos and his manbun. She noticed sunglasses covering his eyes as she closed in on him.
"Why do you look so surprised?" he asked, leaning against his car.
"Because I am!" the smile on her face grew and the excitement flowed through her body. "I had my Uber app open just in case."
"When I tell you I'm going to do something, I do it," Roman affirmed, taking her bags to the trunk.
"I missed you so much yesterday," she said, leaning over the armrest to kiss him. "With you not being on the road full time we only get Monday's together and since you missed last night I thought I'd have to go 2 weeks without you."
"Yeah, when they told me that I had to sit this Raw out to sell the angle with McIntyre, you were the first thing I thought about so I decided to take the drive up here to come see you. What did I miss?"
"Backstage was pretty uneventful but an interesting article hit the dirtsheet yesterday…"
"About us?"
"No, of course not. If that ever hit the net you would know, trust me," she laughed before reading the headline from her phone. "Another LGBT member on the roster? The best part is the article cites a 'backstage member' as the source. This is why we have to be careful because the leakers are surrounding us."
"And if you were a lesbian, whose business was it?" Roman asked, stopping at a red light.
"Exactly, the dirtsheet is getting dragged for 'outing' me though. I feel bad now because all of these lesbian groups are following me now and lesbian WWE fans are tweeting support. Yesterday I was just ignoring it but now I have to address it because I don't want to mislead people into thinking I'm a lesbian only to pop up with you, a whole man, eventually."
RobynWWE: While I fully support the LGBT movement and LGBT rights, I myself am not a lesbian or bisexual.
"So, how long is eventually going to be? Can I have an estimated time of divorce?"
"At first we were going to drag it out until the end of the year but now we just want to get it over with so we're looking at July or August," he answered, looking over at her. "What are you doing?"
Robyn stared out the window, mumbling to herself. "Oh, just some calculations. I know you're a private guy with your marriage and I'm sure that's not going to change post-divorce. I'm not expecting to post selfies of us or become cast members on Total Divas but I'm sure we'll be traveling together so the fans are going to know and as we see, people backstage leak stuff to dirt sheets all the time. That being said, before when we had no public ties, us coming together just could've happened. Now that we'll be working together closely with the campaign, we have to handle our moves very carefully to not give the impression that we were sneaking around before your divorce."
"I thought about that too," he agreed.
"Let's say you do it in July, what's the appropriate time for a public figure to be seen with another woman after a divorce?"
"I don't know, like 2 months?" he shrugged.
"Joe!" Robyn exclaimed. "That'll be PR suicide. I don't care how amicable you paint the divorce, if you start dating again that quick it'll lead to, 'if it only took him 2 months to move on he must've never loved Galina in the first place or worse, 'if he's with Robyn already they must've already had something going on before the divorce.'"
"Shit," he cursed. "How long after Cena's divorce was he spotted with Nikki?"
Robbie picked up her phone again to consult with Google. "News of the divorce happened in May, it was finalized in July and pictures of him with Nikki surfaced in October so May to October is 5 months."
"Okay, we'll go with 5 months then," Roman nodded.
"Now we have to come up with a convincing cover story because people backstage, on the internet and interviewers are going to want answers," she cleared her throat. "Obviously, Joe is a very attractive man but he was married so I didn't really look at him like that. In the months after his divorce, we formed a connection due to our mutual interest in what we did for the children and pretty soon we started getting to know each other better outside of that setting and.."
"...we just fell for each other. It was very unexpected because with me being fresh out of a divorce, I wasn't looking for anything at the time," Roman added, finishing her sentence.
"Wow, how is our cover story better than how we actually got together," she laughed.
"Because it's not that far fetched and could've really happened if we weren't already together," he replied. "Also, I told Galina that if you and I were still together in a month I'd have to tell her your name. Time is winding down. She's thorough so if you have anything on your social media pages that isn't kid friendly you may want to delete it because she will find it."
"Actually, I don't have that much to hide," she scrolled through her Instagram and there wasn't anything too wild besides her holding a few drinks back in college. She did find a 'I hate kids' tweet brought on after a nightmarish flight full of them. That definitely wouldn't earn her any points with Galina. "What would say if she didn't approve of me?"
"What reason doesn't she have to approve of you?"
"Nothing but you know how it is. I know, I know, the split was mutual but it's not real to some ex-wives until they see their husband with the new girlfriend."
He shook his head. "Nah, Galina isn't like that."
"I hope you're right. This is it," Robbie pointed, directing him into the lot of her condominium. She unbuckled her seatbelt when he shifted into park. "Okay, I'll go up first to make sure it's safe."
"Safe?"
"Yeah, there are a few fans in this building. You're obviously trying to look incognito which will draw attention in itself but if actual wrestling fans stared too long they'd quickly figure you out by your build, height, walk and facial hair," she explained, opening the car door. "Be on standby."
She walked inside of the lobby and it was empty. No one seemed to be going up or coming down the elevator either.
Robbie: Clear. I'll be holding the elevator 4 u so u can get right on no wait.
When he walked in the building he was carrying a third bag instead of just her two.
"Who is that one for?"
"That's my overnight bag," he replied.
"You're spending the night with me?" she asked excitedly.
"No, I'm spending the next three nights with you, if that's okay. So tonight, Wednesday night and Thursday night since you go back on the road Friday."
"Of course it's okay! Are you kidding me? One day with you was not nearly enough. It wasn't even a full day since we spend most of it driving, flying or backstage," she said. She felt the elevator slowing down a few floors below hers before coming to a complete stop. "Oh shit, turn around, face the corner or something!"
A junior high school boy walked on without even paying attention to the person hiding himself. "Hey, Robbie, you're back."
"Yeah, just made it in," she looked at the time. 10:30 AM. "What are you doing out of school?"
"It's spring break for our school," he replied.
"Ohhh. Did you watch Raw last night?"
"Yeah, it was okay but kind of boring without Roman Reigns," he replied and she heard Roman shift in the corner.
"Eh, you went 4 months without him, what's another week?"
"I guess you're right…" the elevator opened and he got off.
"Don't you love when kids genuinely enjoy the product and wrestlers?" Roman commented. "He hasn't been tainted by smarks in the internet wrestling community, yet."
"Let's give him a few years to discover Reddit, WrestlingForum and Twitter and we'll revisit this discussion," she replied, digging around in her purse to find her keys. She unlocked her door and welcomed him inside. "Unless I go grocery shopping, we'll be ordering takeout for the next three days. I have food but it's not 'feed a fully grown Samoan man' food and spoiler alert: I'm not that great of a cook!"
"Galina wasn't either when we got our first apartment together but neither of us starved."
"Yeah, I saw your old pictures and you definitely didn't look starved!" she joked and he laughed.
"That was the football build back when it was okay to let the Samoan genes run wild."
"You're cute either way so it doesn't matter. Does Galina know where you are?"
"Uh…well..." he stammered.
"I'll take that as a no," Robbie snorted. "If she knows about us why not tell her?"
"She does but I don't want her to think that I'm skipping out on the kids to be with you already so I simply said that I had some business to take care of for the next few days and she didn't ask any questions," he replied.
"I hope this doesn't get you into any trouble," she said, unzipping her jeans. "Now that we're settled, let me show you what you missed out on last night."
At first Roman only felt standard new relationship feelings toward Robyn but the last 3 days became the game changer. His feelings intensified and everything about them being together felt right. The smile that lit his face was impossible to stop when she walked into the living room wearing a maxi dress and leather jacket, rolling her bags behind her.
"I am so ready for you to come back on the road full time, house shows and all. This has been great and now I'm spoiled. I don't want to leave and I don't want you to leave," she hugged herself to him. This vaguely reminded him of how his relationship with Galina began. They were inseparable and she never wanted him to leave when it was time for him to go back to his dorm.
"Well, just think, pretty soon you'll have me everyday. What do you think about the Tampa to Orlando commute?"
"It's just an hour and a half so I don't care. What about you?"
"I've been living in Tampa since my FCW days. That's where my kids are and when I eventually move out I want to remain close to them. If Galina ever called me to say something was wrong I want to be able to get in my car and shoot over there in no less than 15 minutes."
"So basically you want to live in Tampa and you're trying to see how I'd feel about moving there with you eventually?"
"Basically, yes," he confirmed with a nod. "We drive enough when we're on the road. I don't know about you but I'm not going to feel like driving almost 2 hours to and from when I want to see you and I don't want you to have to do it either when you want to see me. It'll just be more convenient for both of us."
"It doesn't really make a difference to me. Honestly, I'm just happy to hear that you're including me in your future plans so hell yeah I'll move when the time comes," she leaned forward to kiss him, one hand sliding behind his neck to deepen it while the other reached down to his sweatpants to fondle him. He could feel himself harden under her touch.
"Robyn, please," he whined when she began sucking on his neck. "You have a flight to catch in an hour and we have to factor in traffic to get there plus it's a Friday so the airport is going to be packed."
Robbie rolled her eyes. "You are such a planner. What's another ten minutes?"
"Fine," he lifted her dress and in one quick motion picked her up and raised her against the wall. He pulled her panties to the side and drove inside of her with urgency. She felt tight around him as he watched her face contort with pleasure. She grinded her hips down to meet his thrusts. Her eyes were clamped shut and her mouth hung open as he brought her to orgasm. He slowed his stroke to allow her to enjoy the feeling as her climax subsided. Her walls rhythmically contracting around him pushed him over the edge as he groaned.
"You have to go, for real this time. Your flight takes off in 50 minutes now!" he said, pulling his sweatpants up.
"Come with me!" she begged.
"I can't," Roman shook his head. "I'm not on the schedule so what would I even do?"
"Walk around backstage and socialize or give the house show fans their money's worth by going out there to attack McInytre over his promo on Raw. You're Roman Reigns; you can do whatever you want!"
"Roman Reigns traveling across the country without his vest, black cargo pants and military boots? I don't think so. Besides, right now I'm just Joe and Joe has three kids and a wi-" he caught himself. "Joe has three kids to get home to."
"I mean, technically, Joe still has a wife so it's okay. You two have been together for a very long time and have a lot of history so of course you still acknowledge her presence in your life and I would expect nothing less. This is still new and we're all adjusting," Robyn replied and he loved how understanding she was to his situation. Most women wouldn't be able to handle it and would probably fly off into a jealous rage if he mentioned Galina. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while but how did you know that your marriage was over"
He took a while to think before answering. "When we slowly started becoming what we are now, roommates. It seemed like the romance was gone from our relationship. All the things that you and I did the last three days: sitting on your balcony after midnight looking at the sky, bathing together, sex at the drop of a dime, the way we look at each other and even the simple things we did like joking and laying on the couch together watching Netflix, Galina and I didn't do any of it anymore. We were just parents instead of a couple. When I called home, we only talked about the kids. When I came home, we only did things for and with the kids. Don't get me wrong, the kids are always supposed to come first but what about us? I began feeling guilty because I thought it was just me and it felt horrible knowing that I'd romantically checked out on a woman who has been with me through so much but we sat down one night and she brought up similar feelings. We both started reminiscing over our relationship back at Georgia Tech. Sure, we fell in love but the question was would we still be together right now if she never got pregnant with Jojo back then? We both answered 'maybe' when the answer should've been yes without a second thought. Of course we tried things to put the spark back into our relationship but either we didn't try hard enough or it just didn't work so we acknowledged that we grew apart and decided to go our separate ways."
"And now you're with me…" she smiled.
"And now I'm with you…" he smiled back.
"Before I sneak you back out of here I want you to know that I really really like you and I need you to know that," she looked up at him shyly through her lashes.
"I really really like you too," he felt good saying because he knew he meant it.
Robyn ruffled through her McDonald's bag in the parking lot of the airport. She stuffed a handful of fries in her mouth before her muffled voice spoke, "Have you noticed we haven't talked about the big 'C' once in the last 3 days?"
"That's the way it should be. The big 'C' doesn't define who we are but it's great that if we ever get into a slump about it, we'll be able to lean on each other in ways that we can't with people who haven't gone through it."
"How are you doing though?"
"Well, 3 days ago, I was starting to feel like my old self again…"
"And now?"
"Thanks to you I'm definitely my old self again! Being locked in that house has really helped me relax these last 3 days. What about you? How are you doing?" he asked.
She sighed, her chest rising and falling. "I'm fine."
"Rob, are you sure?" he caressed her hand."You didn't get a bad report or anything recently, did you?"
"No, I haven't been back to the doctor since the last time but I'm due in 2 weeks and I'm terrified..." she admitted.
"Babe, you'll be fine. There's nothing to worry about," he held his voice steady and low, a comforting tone.
"I'm sure you thought the same thing," she mumbled under her breath but he still understood it.
"I did but once I found out, I didn't let it break me down because like I said in the ring October 22, I have faith and I knew that I was going to beat it."
She turned to him, her eyes filled with so much sadness he had to break eye contact. "Joe, you are the strongest man I've ever met but unfortunately we can't all have your outlook on this situation and realistically, every patient isn't going to be as lucky as you. Thank you for a wonderful few days. I have to go now because this is the last flight heading to my destination today and if I miss it you'll have to drive me to the house show and if you're there you'll have to stay."
When he looked at her again she was wiggling her eyebrows playfully and he was glad because it helped lighten the mood. "Nice try but this car's next destination is Tampa."
"It was worth a shot," she sighed as their lips met.
"Text me when you get there," he instructed.
"I will text you, call you, facetime you, send nudes and everything in between," she giggled, getting closing the car door.
When Roman turned the doorknob and swung his front door open, he heard two small sets of footsteps. He dropped his bag on the floor when he saw his sons and kneeled down to hug them. "Hey little guys. I'm home."
Galina walked out of the kitchen. She looked tired and he began feeling guilty for leaving her for 3 days alone with the kids. From the day he moved up to the main roster she basically became a single mother because she was raising Jojo and later the twins alone. With him being around more often now, he was supposed to be helping her out in that department.
"Hey bab…" he cleared his throat. "Galina."
"Boys, go watch TV in your room while I talk to your dad," Galina sounded pissed. Roman waited anxiously while she escorted the boys to their room and closed the door. "Let's go in our, I mean, my room for privacy."
When he entered he noticed a floor length gown hung outside of the closet."For the Hall of Fame?"
"Yep, if this is going to be our last public appearance as a married couple I have to look good."
"How much did it cost me?" he asked.
"A lot," she answered. "The shoes cost just as much. Let's not even talk about the jewelry."
"Well, I can't say you haven't earned it over the years," he replied. He was thankful that she wasn't trying to take him to the cleaners during the divorce settlement like most wives of wealthy athletes would so if she wanted to go out and buy herself an expensive dress, have at it.
"Let's get back on track. How was business?" she raised a brow.
"It was okay…"
She shook her head accusingly at him and he knew he was caught. "You know that your every move as a public figure is very traceable, right?"
"Meaning?" he knew where this was headed but he was doing everything he could to prolong the point.
"If you go to the airport, you take at least 5 selfies. If you're on the street, a fan is going to capture it. If you're actually doing business, WWE is going to promote it. Why has there been no 'Roman Reigns' news for three days straight?" she inquired. "Joe, if you wanted to spend time with your girlfriend all you had to do was tell me!"
"I just didn't know how. I'm sorry, G," he apologized.
"You didn't know how? How long have we been together? If you can't tell me everything, who can you tell? Let's get one thing straight, I don't care about you having a girlfriend. Do you know why? Because eventually I'm going to have a boyfriend. How would you feel if I looked you in the eye and said, 'hey, I'm going to take care of some business' when in reality I'm just lounging around my man's house for three days straight while you're here with the kids?" she sniffled.
"I wouldn't feel good about it," he took a few steps toward her. "Galina, are you crying?"
"No!" she turned her back to him.
"You are!"
"It's just…you didn't even hide things from me when we were together and it hurts that you're doing it now. Something else that hurt, you didn't call to check on us once. I didn't call you because I thought you were busy, the first day at least until I figured out what was really going on. I can't recall there ever being a time where you went a few hours, let alone a few days without contacting us. I can clearly see what kept you busy, though," she touched his neck where a fresh hickey formed. "Was the sex that good you couldn't spare 5 minutes to call and tell us that you were alive and well? Jojo was worried and I had to lie and tell her that your phone didn't have service where you were."
"Once again, I am so sorry. You know there's nothing more important to me than my family and I hate knowing that I had you guys on edge. This was my first getaway with Robyn and I guess I got caught up and…" he trailed off, seeing a light bulb switch on over Galina's head.
"Finally, she have a name…" Galina smiled, diving on the bed for her iPad. "Let's see what Google knows about this Robyn. Okay, she doesn't look like an 18 year old porn star which is a positive. She's also very beautiful and I can see why you were so 'caught up' as you called it. The next time you two get together though please remember your responsibilities. Let's move on to the good stuff: Instagram and Twitter."
"Go ahead," Roman felt comfortable knowing that he'd already prepared Robyn for this moment.
Galina scrolled for a long time. She scrolled so long that in the meantime he went to pick up Jojo from school and returned. Finally, she gave up. "Are you serious? Nothing?"
"Why are you so surprised? Obviously, I know how to pick 'em," he snorted.
"Maybe she's the Virgin Mary reincarnated or maybe you warned her in advance to scrub her accounts," she knew him well.
"Yeah but there wasn't much to clean up. Robyn is a great woman. I wouldn't have given her a second glance if I had any doubt about that. I definitely wouldn't shut off my entire life for 3 whole days to be with her if she wasn't special."
"From what I can tell you really like this girl," Galina noted. "I have good news. If I'm strictly going by this social media check, I approve but I'll have to meet her in person in order to give you my final verdict."
