Deceit

Cassie spent the next few days running ideas in her head . By the time Thursday morning rolled around, she had a solid plan. Joe had created a WhatsApp group with her , Jey and Paul and they mostly communicated through that. They had landed on Roman opening the show with a speech from a Paul to explain why he was now aligned with Roman Cassie wanted him to talk the character up and really put him over. Then there would be a backstage segment with Jey where Roman would apologise for not taking his calls and tell him all was good. Finally there would be a number 1 contenders match, a fatal four way , that Jey would unexpectedly win , and set up a title match at the next pay per View. It was perfect. Cassie worked mostly with Joe outside of the main group, running ideas with him and sending him possible promo scripts. He always added something in and made it just that little bit more intense. There was no denying that they made a great team. In a very short space of time , they got very used to each other, albeit mostly through their phones.

When Cassie arrived at the arena on Friday , early in the day to ensure that Vince approved their ideas, she was excited to get working. "Hey there kid" , Paul as usual was early and he gave her a quick hug. He had his suit on already , ready for show time. " The guys are running some moves in the ring, let's go see them and we can talk a little more then". She followed Paul around smiling at those who she was introduced to , everyone seemed so nice and welcoming it made it so much easier. They went back through the Gorilla position where she saw Vince speaking to some people about the show. He smiled at them both " Vince is going to talk to us after he is done with those producers , but he seemed happy with the pitch overall, he might have some notes". They walked through the curtain and Cassie gasped as she looked around the impressive set up and the ring. She has seen the wrestling ring on TV many times but she was in awe at it up close. Inside she spotted Joe running up and down and leaning back on the ropes on either side "They call that running ropes" he explained as they watched Joe. He was wearing black under armour shorts and a white t-shirt that looked moulded onto him , the ring of sweat around his neckline showed how hard he was working. She was in awe as she watched him , he was a true athlete she could tell by the way he moved in the ring . They didn't disturb and she watched as him and Jey locked up into different holds and tried some moves. At one point Jey lifted Joe into the air and she winced when he slammed down on the mat. "Doesn't hurt" he said out loud rolling onto his front and making eye contact with Cassie. He had obviously seen them arrive earlier, she hadn't realised. "Well it does if you don't know how to land properly" he said Cassie said " We didn't mean to disturb". "Nah, you're good we are done anyway. Uce grab some water man , let's talk to Paul and Cass". Joe replied , before rolling out of the ring, while Jey went and got them some water. He was glistening in sweat as he approached but Cassie had to admit there was something really impressive and confident about him that drew eyes. It was obvious why he was WWE's choice of leading man. He wiped his brow and hands with a towel and shook Paul's hand , before fixing Cassie with a warm smile " Well what do you think?" he indicated the ring and the set up of the set as a whole . " Pretty Impressive" she said looking around.

They strolled through to the back area and went to a room that had been designated as theirs to use , it had a Roman Reigns sign on it and had a table and shelving " It's a new set for where we will film our backstage segments from now on , and with Covid it means we can have our own space" Paul explained. They were all being tested regularly anyway but this was added security and pleased Cassie. Joe sat at the table with a white towel draped around his neck. " So you good with the script and that? Anything you want to add or change?' he asked. There were no objections the direction they wanted to go in was fairly straight forward. Paul's phone beeped and he looked at it "Vince , I gotta go see him. Be back in a minute". He left the two of them alone. Cassie took a moment to check her own phone in case Travis had text about Aubree. She could feel Joe's eyes on her. "So, how was your week?" he asked as she finally met his eyes. She suddenly felt a bit shy, even though they had texted everyday this week , being here with him in person felt a bit strange. "Yeah , good . Nothing really adventurous about me , school drop offs making dinner , working out. All very boring really". She didn't like attention on her , that much was obvious. Joe noticed she didn't give much away , but then neither did he , Joe wasn't one for opening up a lot , so he got where she was coming from. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed she didn't give him some more. He didn't have a chance to respond as Jey walked into the room, "Hey Uce , Cassie" , he threw a bottle of water at Joe , who opened it and drank thirstily. "OK I gotta take a shower before we start filming". Cassie stood , not sure what to do "come on Cassie I can show you where catering and that is , while cuz makes himself pretty" he said with a smirk. Joe rolled his eyes "I'll catch y'all in a bit".

Catering was definitely a place where one came to people watch. She sat with Jey and he Introduced her to a few of the wrestlers, she saw Bayley and Liv sitting at a table and they waved her over. " Here again? You must have really liked the last show" Bayley said. Nothing official had been announced or made regarding her working with Joe so Cassie was careful not to say too much. "Yeah I am going to work with Uncle Paul for a bit". It was a noncommittal answer. "Cool, like an assistant then?"Bayley asked. Cassie nodded in agreement. "What about Joe , you going to be working with him?". Liv wasn't hiding her intentions at all, she wanted information. "Yeah from time to time, listen I better get back to Jey" she said leaving the girls to it. Bayley turned to Liv once Cassie had left "Wow give the girl a break". The blonde tutted "Sorry , but she is just his type . Brown hair , killer body and beautiful eyes, I was just making sure she knew where she stands". Bayley was not a fan of girls ragging on girls "Well you obviously weren't looking hard enough, cause she has a wedding ring on her finger" . Liv glared back at her "So has Joe" she said matter of factly.

Jey had been called in for some meeting with a producer so he told Cassie to wait back in the dressing room where they would be filming. Paul had sent her a message to say Vince was happy with their angle and they would be running it tonight. In about 90 minutes Joe and Paul would kick off the show with the promo she had helped her uncle to write. She knocked on the door before entering the dressing room , the last thing she needed was to walk in while Joe was getting dressed. When she heard silence she opened the door and found the room was empty. He had probably been called to do some other jobs she reasoned. She settled in a chair at the back of the room behind a desk. She took out her phone and got lost in the world of Instagram. She hadn't heard any voices so was surprised when the door opened. The first thing she saw was a blonde being backed up into the room, the man had his head down kissing her neck urgently. She recognised the hair in the bun. Joe. She watched , In utter embarrassment as he lifted what she could see now was Liv up in the air and she wrapped her legs around his waist. His head was still buried down in her chest and he raised his head for a moment , looking for somewhere to anchor them both , he pushed her back into a locker and Cassie knew she was going to have to do or say something before she became party to a live sex show She cleared the throat loudly and Joe who had been just about to remove Liv's shirt froze. He turned his head and his eyes met hers. She knew she was looking at him in utter disgust, her face always betrayed her. " Oh oops I'm sorry we um didn't know you were there" Liv said with a giggle , she also looked like someone who was claiming victory like she was happy that Cassie had seen them mid embrace. " Don't worry, I'm leaving" she said standing. Joe couldn't speak , he looked like a child who had been caught doing something wrong. She glared at him before slamming the door shut behind her.

Paul was pacing in front of Gorilla it was 30 minutes till show time and Vince had made some minor adjustments he needed to run by Joe. He grinned when he saw his niece approach "Guess what?" he said with his arms outstretched. She looked distracted he thought " What, uncle Paul?". He told her that Vince absolutely loved everything she had proposed " and even better, he is willing to offer you a temporary contract for three months , working exclusively with me and Joe , at first. Cassie , if this goes well , it could be something more permanent and long term , but most importantly this is what they are offering from a money perspective for the three months." . He showed Cassie a contract with an amount of money she thought seemed too extravagant for what she was doing. "Really?" she said incredulously. " Yes I went through it with a fine tooth comb, it's all good. Take it home and read it and sign it fast". This cheered Cassie right up, it was only when she saw Joe approach that her expression changed. He was walking towards them his gaze fixed on her. She turned away immediately " Joe , there you are we need to run these changes through,". ,"Sure Paul , I just need to talk to Cassie quickly if that's ok". She looked at him , neutral expression on her face "We don't need to.." , but he cut her off and beckoned for her to follow him. Reluctantly, she traipsed after him. They found a quiet corner and he turned to her "What you saw back there , um". He looked contrite. " It's none of my business" she said coldly. His nostrils flared " I don't understand whats going on here, are you mad at me for that thing with Liv?'. Cassie couldn't believe her ears , he didn't even seem the least bit sorry or worried about the fact that he was cheating on his wife. "I guess I thought you were a nice guy". Her words hung in the air and she refused to drop his gaze , he looked absolutely shocked . "So having sex with someone automatically makes me a jerk?". He also held her eyes in his. " No but cheating on your wife does" she said before she strode away. The sound of laughing made her stop , it was a sarcastic laugh. He rolled his eyes before fixing her with an unkind stare. " You know what Cass , you may know a lot about Roman Reigns the character. But you know absolutely fuck all about the man Joe".