Chapter 14 – Dose Of Home
The trip to Reno had been exactly what everyone needed. Roman and Mackenzie got their alone time after they finished watching their two friends get married. Mackenzie was blissfully happy for her two friends; happy they had found their way to each other, happy they couldn't get enough of each other and happy that their love was so strong and pure that they wanted to tie themselves to each other for the rest of their lives.
The next few weeks following the Reno trip had been hectic and insanity all wrapped in one. First the wrestlers were getting ready for the next big pay per view plus they had a South African tour coming up and had actually just gotten back into the states from their European tour. So everyone was slightly running on empty; but was still pushing themselves.
Roman was slightly grumpy from too much travel and not enough sleeping with the schedule the wrestlers had been keeping up lately. He'd been working out with Dean in the gym while they were bullshitting and bitching about the scripts that Vince had recently had the writers putting out. For some reason Vince was pushing Roman to the top of the so called company food chain and the fans hated that he was being shoved down their throats. Roman wasn't all that thrilled with the decisions either, but everyone already knew whatever Vince wanted Vince got.
Roman had finished up his work out and went back to the hotel room and got a shower going. Once he was done he had dressed in jeans and was walking around the hotel bare foot and shirtless. As he walked into the bedroom he saw Mackenzie packing up her stuff. "What are you packing up so early for woman?" He asked.
Mackenzie stopped as her eyes looked over at Roman. "Uh hello I have a flight back to Chicago today. I have a shit ton of paperwork to get to Robert and its just easier to deliver it and help him get it filed then to fax all the crap to him."
"Well when were you going to tell me you were going back to Chicago without me?" Roman asked a little rougher than normal.
"What now I have to have your permission to leave your side for 4 days to see my boss? Besides I told you last week and also again 2 days ago." Mackenzie stated as she turned back to packing up her things. She knew Roman had been on the grumpy side but she could just feel a fight coming and couldn't figure out why.
"So, you were just going to run away?" Roman insinuated.
"Runaway? I hardly call going to see my boss running away Roman. What is going on with you? I know you've been tired from all the traveling and shit but why are you acting like an ass?" Mackenzie asked.
"I'm not acting like anything; I'm just trying to figure out why every time I turn around you are running back to Chicago." Roman growled softly. "I just feel like you are always running away."
"You already know once every month I go back to Chicago to file the paperwork that goes into this company and the contracts that get signed for the superstars; why is today suddenly something new?" Mackenzie sighed heavily as she sat and put her sneakers on before she stood back up. "And I'm hardly running anywhere. Well actually I'm going to be running late if I stand here and argue with you more, because then I'll be late for my flight."
She pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she pulled on her zip up hoodie. The plane always got chilly because of the air conditioning they always had on. "So do you want to tell me what's wrong or do you want to keep picking a fight with me?" Mackenzie asked as she looked at Roman and watched as he rolled his eyes while pulling a t-shirt on.
Mackenzie zipped up her rolling suitcase as she set it on the floor and pulled the handle up for it. She suddenly felt like she'd been hit by lightening as she turned towards Roman again. "Running? That's why you keep saying that. You think when I went into witness protection I was running away, which means you haven't forgiven me for what happened or what I did."
"What are you talking about; I forgave you a while ago." Roman stated; damn that lie tasted bad coming out of his mouth.
"You have never lied to me Roman; I don't know why you would even start now." Mackenzie stated as she shook her head. She didn't even need him to confirm it. His silence only served to annoy and hurt her feelings. "Okay fine Roman. I'm going home and you can let me know when you're done being an ass and I'll think about re-joining you on the road."
Mackenzie started to leave when she looked back at Roman. "What's the point of wanting to marry me if you can't trust or forgive me? You'll just spend the rest of your life wondering if I'm going to run away again and I'll spend the rest of my life wondering if you really love me or if you're just lying to me." She turned and left the hotel room.
Roman listened to the hotel room door as it slammed behind Mackenzie before he fell back on the bed and scrubbed his hands down his face while staring up at the ceiling.
What the actual fuck was that all about?
Roman honestly hadn't meant to pick a fight with Mackenzie before her flight out. It would just make her jetlag ten times worse if she wasn't calm during the plane ride. God damn it he hated when Dean was right. He hadn't forgiven her for wounding his Samoan pride, but he now had screwed things up so badly that if he didn't learn to forgive her he was going to potentially lose her and that was something he DID NOT want.
A couple of hours later Roman walked into the arena as he joined Dean and Jenaya in their locker room. Jenaya spent most of her time there unless she was needed elsewhere. She had recently gotten a new position in the company. She had started out at Stephanie's personal assistant and now she was a writer for the company. She was allowed to work on anyone's scripts unless they were facing Dean; for obvious reasons.
Dean was lacing up his wrestling boots when he heard the door open and close to the locker room. He saw Roman enter the room and watched as the big man silently moved around the room. Dean could just feel like something was gnawing on the big man's mind. "Did Mackenzie make it to Chicago ok?" He asked; breaking the silence.
Roman sighed heavily as he sat down across from his best friend and started getting ready for the night as well. "I guess so, but at this point she's probably not speaking to me." He stated truthfully.
Dean groaned. "What the hell happened? When we parted ways after the gym everything was ok."
Roman shook his head. "One minute she getting ready to leave and the next I'm picking a fight with her. So I'll be lucky if she talks to me at all right now."
"Why would you pick a fight with your girl?" Dean asked with a disapproving look on his face.
Roman shook his head once more. "I don't know man. I have been grumpy for the last few days because of the god damn traveling and not enough rest and apparently today I chose to take it out on Kenzie and I didn't mean too, but decided today it was time to be an asshole."
Dean groaned while making a face. "Man what the hell could you possibly have going wrong in your life that is bad enough to take it out on the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with? Dude if this goes back to the whole you can't forgive her for hurting your Samoan ego you're going to be kicking yourself by morning."
Roman nodded. "I'm already kicking myself. I started kicking myself 5 seconds after she walked out of the hotel room."
Roman finished out the rest of the week and flew back to Pensacola for his days off. He needed a dose of home and that was exactly what he got. He also knew he needed to talk to someone other than Dean about his damn Samoan pride. Even though he knew Dean was right. Dean was always right.
He stopped at his house first and dropped all of his crap off and even started some of his laundry before he took off to his parent's house. If anyone could give him a different perspective it would be his mother.
Of course the first thing his Italian momma did was feed him. Lisa watched as her youngest sat at the dining room table and ate in silence, which was really not like Roman. She grabbed a cup of coffee and walked over and sat across from him. "Okay baby boy what is going on with you today; you are way too quiet for this house hold."
Roman sighed heavily as he scrubbed his hands up and down his face as he finished chewing the bite in his mouth and swallowed it. "I had a fight with Mackenzie and I haven't heard anything from her in a couple of days.."
"You want to tell me what you two are fighting about? Kenzie is generally the easiest person to get along with and she rarely ever raises her voice let alone fighting; she doesn't even like arguing with anyone after she had that terrible relationship with that animal she dated before you."
Roman nodded. "I know, this fight is on me. She didn't even raise her voice at me. I was a complete bear with her and for no absolute good reason. I think sometimes my Samoan pride is just a little more than she can deal with."
"And by Samoan pride, what exactly are you talking about Roman?" Losa questioned.
"When she came back into my life and I found out about her signing herself into Witness protection to protect me and you and…everyone. I had the hardest time believing I couldn't have protected her just as good as any law enforcement man or woman with a gun." Roman sighed heavily once more through his nose. "But then her brother in law Dain showed me the files on some of the guys they caught that had been hired to kill any of us and I was suddenly aware that I had to push my pride and stubbornness aside and realize I couldn't have kept her as safe as I originally thought."
"And now?"
"And now I'm having a hell of a time forgiving her for choosing the Witness protection over me. I intentionally picked a fight with her two days ago because she was flying back to Chicago to file paperwork for the company. I mean seriously mom, she flies back once a month and I knew it and I still acted like a fuckin jackass." Roman explained.
"Language buddy." Lisa warned with a glare.
"Sorry." Roman mumbled.
Lisa stood up and walked around to the same side Roman was seated as she sat next to him and took his hand in hers. "I've venture to say if you can't put that pride of yours aside you run the risk of really pissing Mackenzie off and spending the rest of your life trying to find her replacement. Or – Or you can let her go because you two aren't meant to be together. But you better figure it out before you make a mistake you can't take back."
"No, we are definitely meant to be together. I've known that much since the first time I laid eyes on her. I love that we have this huge second chance. Going through the two and half years I thought she was dead was the worst time in my life. I tried dating other girl but none of them were Mackenzie. None of them could make me as happy as she did and God knows they all tried, but they all failed miserably and they all knew it too. And it wasn't because I was comparing them because honestly there was really no comparison." Roman admitted.
Lisa sighed. "So at this point you know who you want and you know how long you want to be with her, but if you can't let go of the ghost you can't control you're going to not only lose her but yourself as well." Lisa reached over as she gently gripped her son's chin and pulled his eyes to hers. "Roman, I know you love Mackenzie and I can already tell she is someone you want in your world for the rest of your life, and I know the scariest part is always admitting your pride is getting in the way of your heart. You are so much like your father and brother and once you learn how to push that pride aside I don't think Mackenzie will have a problem forgiving you."
"Forgiving me; for what?" Roman asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Forgive you for picking a fight with her." Lisa shook her head negatively. "You don't have to forgive her verbally as much as you need to say you're sorry for being a…how did you put it? A fuckin jackass."
Roman's eyes widened; his mother very rarely cussed and dropping the F bomb was NEVER in her vocabulary. "Mom!"
Lisa couldn't help as she giggled at the look on her sons face. "I pay attention to the things you say young man. I understand your generation probably cusses more to get your point across, so I'll say exactly what you said to get you to understand at this point you are the only one standing in your way of forever happiness with Mackenzie."
Lisa stood from the table. "Finish eating and think about what I said."
"Yes ma'am." Roman nodded.
"Oh and one more thing." Lisa walked back over as she gripped Roman's shoulder. "I wouldn't mind having Mackenzie in the family. Also my heart could stand to have a few more grandchildren in my life." Lisa leaned over and kissed the top of her sons head. "You think about that as well."
Roman shook his head negatively. "Yes ma'am." He chuckled. She was always gunning for more grandkids.
Roman knew going home was probably the best thing he could've done for his two days off. Seeing his parents and the rest of his family put everything into perspective.
Now he just had to figure out how to put all of it into words for Mackenzie.