Once the snow stopped falling, the trapped WWE employees were eager to get out and explore. Roman and MiraBeth included Dean and the Usos in their plans for lunch outside of the hotel. The men wanted to work out so Mirabeth stuffed her workout clothes in Roman's backpack as well. Sure enough, the guys were motivated and quickly found an open gym. Roman's cousins were happily surprised that MiraBeth knew her way around gym equipment and wasn't going to slow them down. Her work ethic and intensity matched theirs even if her strength didn't.
"What is this crap about?" Dean asked a little while later.
"What's up?" Roman asked.
"Some new WWE policy. Apparently 'on-air talents are not allowed to date or interact with other company personnel beyond a professional standpoint.' There is an exception that says we can date each other." he read from his phone.
"Excuse me?" Jimmy Uso nearly squeaked.
"I'm not diddling any of you dudes." Roman guffawed.
Dean rolled his eyes. "You know exactly what I meant." He nearly threw his phone down.
"I wonder who screwed up. You know for them to make that rule, someone has screwed up big time. That kind of rule goes public and people start to pry. There's enough bad press it is, they don't want any more." Jey sagely wondered from his bench press.
"I'm glad we don't have to worry about it." Roman winked at MiraBeth.
"Gee, thanks." Dean muttered as he walked away.
"I guess Dean might be caught up in the new rule?" MiraBeth asked Roman.
"I wouldn't know. We don't talk about women and probably won't until I settle down permanently." Roman said with a raised eyebrow.
"Not yet, Big Boy. Not yet." she said with a laugh as she danced out of his reach. Roman followed after his girlfriend, happy that they were finally able to get back to the workout that they were supposed to be doing.
"Hi, Roman. Hey, MiraBeth. Great to see you both." Vince McMahon greeted as the couple backstage in the arena on Thursday.
"Mr. McMahon." Roman greeted with a nod.
"Good afternoon." MiraBeth said with a smile.
"You are just the person I wanted to see." Mr. McMahon said to MiraBeth as he reached for her shoulder, guiding her down the hall. Roman followed, wondering what was going on.
"You know I have faith in your abilities as an officer of the peace and a first class detective." he began. MiraBeth listened as Vince went on about the needs that the WWE had for overhauling their security. "To top it off, we had the incidents Sunday night between fans and the Uso's and a fan and Fandango. I need to get someone in here who can oversee this and make sure this doesn't happen again. You would be perfect for the role."
"Nope." Roman interrupted. MiraBeth's head whipped around to look back at her boyfriend incredulously. Vince glared at the other man, not believing what he was hearing. "MiraBeth is not interested in working for the WWE under any circumstances. Ever." When MiraBeth opened her mouth to speak up for herself, Mr. McMahon beat her to the punch.
"Maybe you should let your girlfriend speak for herself. You might be surprised by what she has to say." the owner of the WWE said with an air of arrogance.
Roman looked Vince in the eye. "I know that if MiraBeth had to choose, she would choose me. And thanks to your latest directive, she cannot work her as a security expert and date an on-air talent. That means she has to choose between working for the WWE and our relationship." MiraBeth's mouth closed as she gave a tiny nod. Roman knew she understood. He had been right and he hadn't overstepped his bounds.
"That policy was directed at…It was supposed to keep…It needs to protect us from…Do you mean to tell me…"Vince began to sputter. MiraBeth took a step back and drew even with Roman's side as Vince started his famous strut down the hall. He turned and came back to the couple. "I haven't forgotten how MiraBeth put together the pieces and figured out what Hunter and Shawn were up to. The way you handled that case, weeding through the quagmire of rumors that flow around the backstage so quickly and keeping a lid on things so the show was able to still continue; you were a true professional. I don't know everything about the accident but you seem to be true to form with the handling of that as well. You are someone I want here, on this team. The dating policy will not keep good people, necessary people away." Vince promised.
"You aren't going to break us up." Roman vowed.
"We aren't your pawns. That's not right. I have to respectfully decline your offer. Besides that, I never said I was quitting my job as a police officer. You are making lots of assumptions without talking to the parties involved." MiraBeth said to the chairman before turning on her heel and heading for catering.
"She sure is a spitfire." he said to Roman.
"She's my spitfire. That toughness and grit has gotten her through so much and I have no intention of losing her now." Roman said in a warning tone. "As much as I would love to have her here fulltime, that decision is hers alone. And that is without the stupid directive standing in the way." It was Vince's turn to stand speechless as Roman left him alone in the hallway and joined MiraBeth in catering.