"You have a really nice house," Thea said as she climbed out of the car that had picked them up at the airport.
"You haven't set foot in the place yet," Ronda said, climbing out of the front passenger seat and closing the door.
While the cameraman also got out and got himself and his equipment sorted out, Thea studied the house some more. Even though it was late, and therefore dark outside, there was enough light coming out of the house's huge windows for her to clearly make out that she was looking at a modern, spacious home with a streamlined appearance that would surely blend in with the others in the area in daylight. This was a neighborhood where people with money lived; people who had money but didn't like to openly flaunt it by by buying themselves huge, over-the-top mansions that were bigger than they would ever need. If Thea had a lot of money herself, Ronda's house was exactly the kind of place she would have loved to own. "I don't have to go inside, or see it in daylight for that matter," she added. "It looks great."
"Thank you," Ronda said. Thea wasn't sure if it was directed at her or the car's driver, who had just gotten their cases out of his trunk and raised the handle on Ronda's for her as he handed it over.
"Should I go in the house first so I can film your arrival?" the cameraman asked Thea, still used to how more conventional documentaries were filmed.
"Fuck that," Ronda quickly snapped at him. "We're having none of that reality TV bullshit with this thing, we've been perfectly clear on that. I go about my business, you film. That's what I signed up for, so that's damn well going to be what happens."
"You heard the girl," Thea said, unable not to grin at Ronda's bristly reaction. "I'll bring your case. Start filming."
"You got it." The red light on the camera came on, along with the powerful light that had just been mounted on top of it so that the viewers would be able to make out what was going on.
As the car backed out of the driveway, the three of them walked towards the front door, with Ronda leading the way. The door opened just before they got there. "I thought I heard car doors," Seth said from the doorway, smiling. "Hey baby," he said to his wife.
Watching Ronda almost jog into her husband's arms and kiss him, leaving her case behind a few feet away, Thea turned to the camera with an 'awww' expression on her face.
"I missed you, honey," Ronda was saying. "It really sucks when you're not on the road."
"I missed you too, babe. Are you going to introduce me to these guys?" Seth had noticed that they were being filmed. Although he knew the style that was required for the documentary, he would have at least liked to have been introduced to the two people who he would be spending so much time with over the next month before they got into it. As it was obviously not to be, he had to just go with it.
"Of course, sorry," Ronda said. Thea wondered how many other people Ronda was in the habit of making polite apologies too. Probably not many, she imagined. "This is Thea Trinidad."
"Hello, Thea," Seth smiled, stepping forward and giving her a peck on the cheek as she greeted him in turn. It was only a polite gesture, but the thought entered the back of Thea's mind that Ronda might be considering kicking her ass for it. Reminding herself not to confuse Ronda's on-screen personality for her real one, she noticed a smile on her face as she watched from the doorway.
"Head on in, guys," Seth said. "I'll get these cases."
"Kill that camera for a bit," Thea said to the cameraman. "We can film some more when we're settled in the house, or even just leave it until we're all feeling a bit fresher tomorrow."
Seth picked up Ronda and Thea's cases and carried them into the house. As he did so, he looked at Ronda and mumbled, "You going to introduce me to the guy or not?" There was a touch of humour in the question, born from a sense of awkwardness.
Ronda looked startled for a second and then burst out laughing. Thea wondered what was going on, but then it clicked. Ronda couldn't make the introduction because she hadn't spoken a word to the cameraman all night, and Thea hadn't thought to introduce them to each other either. The silliness of the whole thing made her burst out laughing too.
After looking at each of the two women for a moment, Seth's realised what they were laughing at, and he also laughed. "You haven't spoken to the guy, have you?"
"No," Ronda admitted through her laughter, then managed to compose herself and walk up to the cameraman, holding her hand out. "Excuse me. I'm Ronda."
"Hey, no worries, it's not about me," the cameraman smiled good naturedly. Taking her hand, he said, "I'm Adam."
While Seth introduced himself and shook hands, Thea followed Ronda into the house, which looked as impressive on the inside as it had from outside. Seeing the white marble staircase which was the centrepiece of the entrance hallway, Thea was almost lost for words. Incredible was the only one that came to mind. Waiting at the bottom of the stairs, seemingly almost trying to stay out of the way, was an attractive young woman with shoulder length dark hair and a nervous smile on her face. This time Ronda was on point with the introductions. "Thea, meet Maggie."
"Great to meet you, Maggie," Thea said, offering her hand. "I've heard a lot about you already."
"Oh no, off to a bad start then," Maggie said, her smile widening a little as she shook hands.
"Far from it," Thea assured her. "Ronda speaks very highly of you."
"Don't tell her that," Ronda snapped, feigning anger.
Playing along, already starting to get used to Ronda's sense of humour, Thea said, "Too late, your secret's out now."
Seth had carried two of the three cases into the house and now walked in with Adam's, closing the front door behind him. "I'll take your cases up for you and show you where you're sleeping," he said to the two guests. Adam insisted on taking his own case, so Seth took Ronda's instead and the three of them made their way upstairs.
Realising that Maggie wasn't used to the presense of TV cameras, Ronda gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about all this shit, you'll soon get used to it. There's only the one camera following me, and Thea seems cool too, thank fuck."
"I'll do my best," Maggie said. "I just don't want to make myself look stupid in front of how many millions of people. It's pretty scary, honestly."
"Just be yourself, girl, and everyone will love you," Ronda said softly. "How could they not? They definitely won't think you're stupid, that's for sure."
Leading the way into the living room, Maggie found herself feeling a little better thanks to Ronda's words of confidence. She knew that the documentary was important to her best friend, so she was willing to do her best to take part in it and make it work. Maybe Ronda had been right when she'd first talked about the idea, saying that the best thing to do was act completely normally and try and forget the camera was there. "You know if Thea asks me questions about you, I'll give her honest answers, right?"
Glad to hear a joke from her friend, Ronda went with it, talking in a fake overly-aggressive tone. "You will not. You will put me over like there's no tomorrow or I'll kick your face in. I'm Ronda Rousey and I hate everyone who says bad things about me."
"So Paige and her buddies were right all along?" Maggie pondered, keeping a straight face as she sat down on one of the leather couches. "That's interesting."
Ronda groaned at the mention of her critics in the locker room as she sat down on another couch. There were three of them arranged in a U shape around an expensive glass topped coffee table. The usual deal was one couch for Seth and Ronda, one for Maggie and one for visitors. It would work fine with Thea and Adam as guests. "I saw that silly bitch tonight," Ronda said. "Blasted her and her crew of nobodies pretty hard to Thea too, so that'll definitely make it onto the show. Hunter will probably regret having this idea by the time we're done with it."
"I thought you told me it was Stephanie's idea?"
"Right," Ronda admitted, eyes narrowing a little as she thought about it. "I forgot it was Steph's idea, and I still agreed to it. I bet that surprised them. They'll think I'm mellowing in my old age."
"I think you're doing great," Maggie said, turning serious. "I can tell you're happier at WWE thanks to your therapy, and it shows the rest of the time too."
Ronda had been convinced by Seth to seek professional help to deal with the problems that she had with dealing with authority figures in her life, and also with keeping her ego in check. The doctor that she had seen had diagnosed Oppositional Defiant Disorder and some signs of narcissism. Thanks to the therapy, she had shown significant improvement over the past year in both regards, although neither of the negative traits could be removed from her personality entirely. Although Hunter was aware of these issues, they were considered private and would not be mentioned on the documentary.
"Thank you, I'm doing my best," Ronda said, and then moved the conversation on about as quickly as she could. "So, what did you think of the match?"
"It was really good," Maggie nodded appreciatively. "I like you on a team with Bayley. I'd never have seen it coming, but now that it's a thing, I think it's really cool. Everyone likes Bayley, so you guys could go off the charts if they use you right."
"Pretty big if," Ronda chuckled. "Honestly, though? Hunter has some pretty good plans for us on this one. And I like Bayley, she's a nice girl and a talented wrestler. I wouldn't have asked to be put on a team, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to it now."
"Maybe I should start on some designs for you guys?" Maggie suggested. A remarkably gifted artist, Maggie had a business selling her drawings and paintings through a website. Also, thanks to being so close to Ronda and Seth, she was sometimes commissioned by WWE to produce designs for merchandise, which she then received a royalty for. Hunter had also invited her to set up a stand at Wrestlemania Axxess earlier in the year, which had gone down very well with the fans. Maggie had decided to show her appreciation by painting a picture of Hunter over the course of those four days, and had then donated it for WWE to auction off for charity.
"You should," Ronda agreed. "I don't think they're going to give us a team name because the idea is that I act reluctant to team with her, as you saw earlier, but I'm sure a shirt with both of our faces on would sell."
"Hmmm," Maggie said as she started to visualise potential ideas. "Maybe something that's divided in half vertically. Bright purple on one side with Bayley smiling and the streamers and stuff, then the other side could be black with you with your game face on, serious as can be."
"I'm sure you'll come up with something great," Ronda said. "Creativity is your thing, not mine. I just beat people up for a living."
"No, you pretend to beat people up for a living," Maggie teased.
Seth walked into the room, followed by their two guests. "Does anyone want anything to drink?"
Yawning, Ronda said, "It's late and I'm tired. I think I'm just going to go up to bed."
"I could use some sleep too," Thea admitted.
"Me too," Maggie said.
"And I thought we'd be up all night talking," Seth smiled. Going to bed early worked, considering that it was highly likely there would be sex before any sleeping was done in his room. "So what's the plan for tomorrow?"
"Up early to hit the gym," Ronda said. "Then I figured we could go film at the restaurant before we open. I know Thea wants to include it, and she's going to want to have a sit down with you, and with you too, Maggie, if you're not busy tomorrow?"
"No, I can come over with you, no problem," Maggie said.
"Sounds like a plan then," Seth said. "Does that work for you, Thea?"
"We're here to follow, not to make plans for you," Thea said. "If you guys are going to your restaurant, that's where we'll go. I would like to sit down with you both though, as Ronda said."
They chatted about the plans for the following day for another couple of minutes, then Seth lead them all out of the living room and pointed out where the kitchen was to the two guests, should they want anything in the night. It was then that he remembered something he'd meant to say earlier. Turning to Ronda, he said, "I meant to tell you, the office called this afternoon. They want me to do the dates in Europe, like we thought. So we'll both be heading over to London at the weekend."
"Are you sure your ankle is okay for that?" Ronda asked with some concern.
"Feels fine, babe. I'm ready to get back in the ring."
Ronda knew that she didn't have to doubt his statement, knowing that he wouldn't lie about something like that. An idea occurred to her. "If we're both going over there, why don't you come too, Maggie? Road trip! Well, plane trip I guess."
"Oh," Maggie said, eyes lighting up at the idea. "I've never been to Europe before. I'd love to go to London with you." Looking at Seth, she added, "That's if you don't mind?"
"Of course I don't mind," Seth said warmly. "The three of us have never been away anywhere together. I think it's a great idea, even if we're working while we're there."
"Awesome!" Maggie exclaimed, looking like she wanted to bounce up and down in delight.
As she watched the conversation and noted the way the three of them interacted, Thea began to dismiss her earlier thoughts, which were that it seemed strange for a married couple to have a housemate. Now it was easy to see why they liked Maggie so much; for someone who had obviously been through a lot of hardship in her life, she was such a positive, bubbly person. The world needed more people like Maggie, she thought.
"You can keep this one busy and out of my way," Seth quipped, gesturing to Ronda with his head.
"Just because there's going to be a camera around, I'll still hit you for comments like that," Ronda warned him with a hint of a grin.
"Why do I get the feeling she means that?" Thea giggled.
"Because she does mean it," Seth laughed. "I take more beatings from her than anyone at WWE."
"Yet you still mouth off," Ronda said, smiling now. "Who's the stupid one?"
"Me, obviously," Seth said. After leaving a suitable pause, he added, "For marrying you."
"You fucker!" Ronda said, chasing after Seth, who had scurried away up the stairs, just like his on screen character would have done, leaving Maggie, Thea and Adam laughing at the bottom of the stairs.