Chapter 40

It was the week before WrestleMania XXXI.

Three months since the Christmas from hell, thanks to Nyla's judgmental parents.

Three months since Nyla moved in with Roman in Pensacola and she'd never been happier in her life.

Surprisingly, Neela was all right with the move and didn't have any anxiety, especially after finally meeting Joelle, Roman's daughter. The girls were a few years apart in age, but they hit it off without any problems. Barbies were their favorite along with tea parties. Roman's mother, Lisa, volunteered to happily keep an eye on Neela while Roman and Nyla were on the road for work. Nyla refused to give her job up, but she wouldn't bring Neela on the road either, wanting her to have as normal a childhood as possible. They had gotten her registered at the local elementary school and everyone was very welcoming. Nyla always called in at least twice a day to check on her daughter – the transition had been tough for Nyla at first due to the fact, she didn't know Roman's family all that well.

June kept her promise and hired a lawyer to try to get full physical and sole custody of her granddaughter. However, she had no leg to stand on because of her financial turmoil. Nyla had cut her off and Benjamin wound up having to go back to work to support them. They had to drop the lawyer a month into the fight due to financial disarray and were on the verge of losing their home. Nyla begged her mother to drop the custody battle, promising Neela could see them on her breaks since she was home a lot more. The Authority had backed way off, allowing her to do her job the way she wanted, as long as she wasn't biased. Nyla did what she thought best for the WWE Universe, putting the fans first before anything else and kept her personal animosity at what they did to her at bay.

Ever since Nyla had started dating Roman and left Seth high and dry, they had surprisingly left her alone. It was a little unnerving at first, but as the months ticked by, with no repercussions, the anxiety slowly melted away. Now she loved coming to work and doing her job, feeling the way she did when she first started back in 2003. Roman always walked her to her office, kissed her soundly and promised to meet up with her in catering, if he could, before his match. They had a routine down, but he still did some things spontaneously, especially when it came to making out. They STILL hadn't done the deed yet. Nyla really wanted to, but during WrestleMania season, she didn't see Roman a whole lot due to the buildup for the biggest event of the year. This was the WWE's Superbowl and he was exhausted by the time the nights came to an end. There were some weeks she went home to Pensacola without him because he had media or signings or the WWE had added an extra show he had to attend.

What Nyla didn't realize was Seth had been biding his time, along with the rest of the Authority, waiting for the perfect moment to unravel her entire world.

It would happen that night on Raw – the go home show for WrestleMania.


It was also 3 months since Macaria called everything off with Dean to focus solely on her career.

After being struck down by Seth Rollins, Stephanie had kept him far away from her and only sent non-intimidating men to her for photo shoots. Macaria had also requested Dean Ambrose to be moved to another photographer too. Stephanie had smiled smarmily and gave her that request and gave her Roman Reigns instead, with other Superstars and Divas. Macaria was still friends with Nyla and knew everything the woman had gone through. They had at least one coffee date a week, usually the morning of Smackdown! shows because Dean and Roman liked to meet up to work out on those days. It was their chance to catch up, talk and Nyla made sure not to mention Dean to Macaria once.

These past 3 months had flown by and Macaria was slammed with so much work, she barely got any sleep these days. Melatonin was her best friend whenever she went home for her 2 days off in Vegas. She'd found a beautiful two bedroom house on the outskirts of the city, had an in-ground pool with a fireplace and the whole place inside was carpeted besides the bathrooms and kitchen. It was perfect. It was her paradise. It was somewhat like Dean's place, but had her own personal touch to it. She had taken out an FHA loan and paid double on the house, so it would be paid off within 10 years instead of 25-30 years. Along with a new house came a new car, a 2014 Nissan Rogue. She had loved the rental Dean drove, the design of it and everything. It was a little roomy for her and she liked it that way, only driving it ever so often since she was on the road constantly.

Never once did Dean leave her mind. There were a few times like at Christmas and New Year's they texted each other, wishing each other well. That was it though. No other text messages, phone calls, emails, nothing between them. Macaria's life had stopped being hectic and tense ever since she called things off with him. She liked the way things were nowadays, but missed Dean more than she could or would ever admit. Her heart hurt whenever she saw him on the monitor backstage, having one in her makeshift office and had to turn it off. It pained her too much to watch him and Macaria did her best to avoid him like the plague. Every picture of him was put in a portfolio and shoved in the back of her closet in the bedroom at home, hidden from the world.

When her probation was up in another 3 months, Macaria had no idea what she would do if he came back for her.

On one hand, she just wanted to jump in his arms and cling to him for dear life, but everything seemed to be settled and easy without him. She was torn on what to do, her brain and heart conflicted. That was even if he wanted her anymore. Macaria had hurt him pretty badly with what she'd said and done. Sighing, it was moments like these when she was completely alone, in the seclusion of her office, in between Superstars/Divas needing their photos taken, she reflected over everything that happened. At the very least, Seth had stayed away and Macaria had a feeling that was due to Stephanie. The woman was a bitch and heartless, but for some reason, she had a soft spot Macaria still, to this day, did not understand.

"Earth to Caria."

Macaria snapped out of her deep thoughts and smiled sheepishly at Nyla, taking the coffee the woman had for her. "Thanks. Sorry."

"You were in la-la land again. What's on your mind?" Nyla needed a break after working all day on scripts, finalizing them for WrestleMania. The writers kept changing things and she had to either approve or deny them. Most were denied, sadly. "Anything you wanna talk about?"

"Just reflecting. Nothing to really talk about." Macaria smiled, sipping her coffee and groaned at how good it tasted. "I needed a caffeine boost."

Nyla didn't believe that, but wouldn't push Macaria, knowing she would only clam up. "I swear, these writers need their heads removed from their asses." She shook her head, sipping her own coffee.

"Why, what happened?" Macaria asked amusedly, a small smile on her face. She didn't smile much these days, not really having much to be happy about. Even with the major changes in her life.

"Just stupid, ridiculous ideas. I swear, I don't think any of them have brains in their skulls. If I went with HALF their ideas, this company would go bankrupt." Nyla complained, making Macaria laugh and knew her job was done for the evening. She tried getting the woman to laugh at least once a day if they saw each other.

"That bad, eh? Thank god I'm not on the writing team cause I'd probably lose IQ points dealing with those morons." It was Nyla's turn to laugh just as the unmistakable music of Randy Orton flowed through the speakers. "Wanna watch what happens with Orton and Rollins? I hope he beats the shit out of that asshole at Mania, personally."

"Don't you got anybody scheduled for pictures?"

"Not for another hour or so. I can take some time to watch the show with you."

Shrugging, Nyla actually enjoyed watching her ex-fling destroy Seth Rollins week in and week out, despite the Authority's efforts. Randy was always one step ahead of them with the feud. Tonight, the WWE Universe decided Randy's fate by choosing who his opponent would be for the evening. Naturally, they chose J & J Security – Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury to be the sacrifices. Throughout the whole match, if it could even be called that, Randy played and toyed with them, making Seth think about what was coming his way at WrestleMania. It was hilarious and the girls were giggling uncontrollably, leaning against each other while Jamie and Joey tried devising some kind of plan to gain the upper hand on the Viper.

It wasn't happening.

Finally, after Randy delivered an RKO to Jamie Noble, after scaring Seth off from the ring as he ran up the ramp. Pinning his so-called security, Randy smiled viciously and slowly made his way to his feet, standing over the fallen J & J Security. He pointed up the ramp at Seth, mouthing 'that's you on Sunday' and, for a split second, the color drained out of Seth's face. However, it was only a second and Seth had pulled something out of his back pocket, waving it at Randy with a microphone in hand.

For some reason, Nyla felt her stomach clench and tighten, sharing a worried look with Macaria.

Macaria grabbed Nyla's hand, neither saying a word and turned their attention back to the monitor as Seth began speaking.

"You know, Randy, I tried to get along with you. I tried being your teammate, but you just couldn't bow down to the FUTURE of this company! You still haven't gotten it through your thick skull who I am and what I stand for! And what's worse – you never saw THIS coming." Seth laughed wickedly, once again waving the piece of paper in the air while Randy looked on perplexed.

"What the fuck you on about, boy?" Randy shouted from the ring, not bothering with a microphone and leaned against the ropes, his cool mystic blues icing over.

"In my hand holds a deep, dark secret that's been kept from you for the past 10 years."

"Oh my god…" Nyla gasped out, now understanding why her stomach had tightened and her heart began beating thunderously against her chest. "No, NO!"

Randy arched a brow, not understanding what Seth was talking about.

Seth drank this moment in for a few seconds, letting it sink in and the crowd was buzzing all around him, another wicked laugh echoing in the microphone. "You never realized Hunter and Stephanie had kept this secret from you. They kept you CLOSE for a reason! They kept you from finding out purposely in order to use this against someone who you were once close with. A LOOOOOOOONG time ago."

"Please, please don't do this…" Nyla clutched her head in her fingers, gripping her hair tightly and could already feel the tears sliding down her cheeks.

Seth was truly the scum of the earth for doing this on national television, Macaria thought sadly, knowing nobody would be able to stop the secret from getting out now.

He had been waiting, biding his time, for the opportune moment to reveal the truth to Randy, when Seth knew it would hurt the most. This was his revenge against Nyla for rejecting him, for making his life miserable, for all the hell he had to go through after she went with Roman from the Authority. Stephanie, specifically. If Nyla thought he'd forgotten her for a second, she was sadly mistaken.

"In my hand, I hold a piece of paper that is a paternity test, Randy. A paternity test that involves you…and a certain writer in the back." Seth could see the realization dawn on Randy's face and rolled his lips, unable to stop laughing. "And this certain writer had a daughter…9 years ago." He paused again, letting his words sink into Randy's brain and enjoyed the heavy booing from the crowd. "YOUR daughter, Randy!"

"Oh fuck!" Roman stared at the monitor in shock, along with Dean, who had already had his segment for the night.

"Go." Dean knew he had to go hunt down Nyla before Randy could find her, pushing him out the door.

Dean was chasing after the Intercontinental championship, along with 5 other men, after stealing it from Bad News Barrett – Wade Barrett. He was a horrible champion and did not make the title prestigious. They had a match at Fastlane, the pay-per-view event on the road to WrestleMania, after the Royal Rumble, and the man refused to fight him. He kept getting out of the ring, trying to get counted out like a coward. Dean didn't take kindly to that disrespect and stole the title, claiming it was HIS title now and Barrett was a disgrace to the championship. Ever since, he held onto the belt and now, at WrestleMania XXXI, he would do his best to climb the ladder in the Ladder match and win it fair and square. Five other men stood in his way and Dean knew he'd go through hell on earth, but one way or another, he had to win this match or die trying.

What else did have to live for?

Shaking his head at the monitor, Dean saw the anger building on Randy's face and Seth took off backstage with Randy hot on his trail. It was a good thing Roman had gone after Nyla because that was a secret she had been worried the Authority would use one day against her. Tonight had been that time, apparently. They were nothing more than pieces of garbage, but at the very least, Nyla had been left alone to her own devices and he and Roman were no longer getting crappy storylines and scripts.

"NYLA!"

Dean overheard that roar down the hallway and was out the door instantly, seeing Randy making a beeline for her with Roman blocking her from view. Along with Nyla was…Macaria. He hadn't seen her in at least a month, doing his best to avoid her and could see the fear in her eyes for her friend. He stepped up to stand by Roman, folding his arms in front of his bare chest, fresh out of the shower.

"Move out of the way, boys! This doesn't concern YOU!" Randy clutched the paternity test in his hand tightly, gritting his teeth to the point of gnashing. "You had my kid and DIDN'T BOTHER TELLING ME?!"

Nyla was too afraid to speak, clutching onto Roman's arm and couldn't meet Randy's eyes.

Seth sauntered up, laughing and leaned against the cinderblock wall, knowing he had thoroughly messed with Randy's head going into their match at WrestleMania. "Now I KNOW you didn't think the Authority wouldn't make due on their promise, Nyla." He shook his finger at her and blinked when she screamed out, tackling him to the floor.

"Whoa, Nyla!" Roman had watched her SPEAR Seth to the floor as hard as she could, actually making him land on his backside. Her tiny fists began beating down on him, her screams echoing around everyone and he had to peel her off Seth with brute force. "Calm down – calm down, baby girl!"

Macaria and Dean watched on in shock, watching Roman drag a raging Nyla down the hallway to check her sore hands while Seth was left with scratches on his face.

Just because he wanted to, Dean delivered a Dirty Deeds to Seth against the concrete floor, leaving him laying and snorted, walking past Macaria on his way back to his dressing room.