Tension

Cassie was fuming when she got home. Travis had been belligerent on the way home , calling her uptight and accusing her of becoming different since starting the new job. Cassie didn't respond she let him talk himself out. When they got home he went inside. "I'm going to bed , anything is better than getting that look from you". He closed the bedroom door , when he did , Cassie went to the fridge and opened it , she pulled a cold bottle of white wine out and poured herself a large glass. She sat and turned on the TV, Aubrey would be back in about an hour. She tried her best to unwind , but Travis calling her a bitch in front of Joe haunted her. What would he be thinking of her? , Whose husband spoke about them like that to someone they just met? . The thing was , she didn't even have it in her anymore to fight with Travis, she felt so drained from the relationship that she didn't want to get into it with him. She stayed because of Aubrey , and her wanting to ensure that Travis would be in her life.

She was drying some dished when she heard a car door slam outside , it had to be Joe. She stepped out onto the porch and sure enough she watched as Aubrey climbed out of his car, a Range Rover. Damn. Immediately her humble three bedroom c House looked very drab in comparison to his lifestyle. She waved excitedly at Aubrey who was holding a party bag full of treats. Joe walked her to the door where Cassie gave her a hug " Is Daddy feeling better?" she asked , Joe made eyes at her , this was what they had told her as explanation of why they left. " Yes he is sleeping honey , why don't you go in and brush your teeth and get dressed and I will follow you in". With her daughter inside she turned to Joe "Thanks for bringing her back.". Joe smiled at her " It's cool , she is a great kid. Waylon has already asked if they can have a play date soon , so she was a hit.". He handed her something wrapped in foil "Some cake, chocolate, its really good". She took it from him. "Joe, I'm so sorry about earlier". She looked at her feet as she spoke. "Cass , your husbands actions are not a reflection of you". He kept his voice low to be sure Travis wouldn't hear him. " But I wasn't a fan of what he said about you. Listen me and Galina had some serious fights, real bad so I get it. I just think you need to tell him that is not acceptable sorry if I am over stepping". She finally looked at him , he looked so concerned. " Don't pity me , I can see it in your eyes", she said firmly. " There is so much you don't know about , I appreciate the concern but my marriage is private to me, I am sure you understand that". Joe wanted to say a lot more but he also knew when to step off "OK I won't ask again, but I am here if you want to talk". Cassie nodded , " I'll call you on Monday" she said making it clear the conversation was over . As Joe went to leave he went to pass her by , she startled at his low tone and a gentle hand on her arm. Her eyes met his in shock "Cassie, does he hurt you , like harm or hit you, I can help if that's the case". Her heart almost broke looking into those eyes full of concern. She whispered back "He doesn't Joe, I promise". He seemed happy with this and continued to walk. When he got to his truck and swung himself into the drivers seat she had already left the porch and was inside. That had been heavy , he understood fully now why it was so important for Cassie to keep this new job. For her confidence and to keep her going.

When Monday rolled around Joe and Cassie started their usual conversations around what would happen that week., it was all business. Cassie had had a great idea where Roman and Jey would fight in a tag match. Teasing the feud between cousins, the plan was that he would cut a promo telling Jey he would beat him like he did when they were kids. Then at the end of the night he would leave Jey hanging in the tag match by not showing up and then at the very end show up and take the pin winning the match. Joe laughed as he read the proposal, it was amazing. The things Cassie wrote were literally things he would imagine his character as saying. Like she could read Roman Reigns mind, Joe couldn't wait to take her words and bring them to life. He picked up his phone " Amazing work my protégé, you have got the angle down perfectly . Roman Reigns is very happy to bring these words to life". He got a response a few seconds later " Protégé? You wish ! Did you just refer to yourself in the third person" . He typed back " There are certain situations where Roman and I are the same person with the same reactions, I did create him you know". Cassie replied immediately "Which is surprising because he is way cooler than you !!!". Joe was a natural flirt , but he also liked to engage in banter with his friends and joke around with them . "Sounds like someone really likes the Big Dog", he put a smiley face after it , that was safe . " He's not so bad, now you on the other hand that's a different story". He enjoyed her banter , so he sent back a laughing emoji . He arranged to see her at the arena on Friday.

The sound of shrieking and girls laughing assaulted Joe's ears as he walked around backstage looking for Cassie. He didn't know if she hung with the girls but decided to follow the noise. He was greeted with the sight of 6 of the female talent following along to what sounded like Brazilian samba music . They were copying a female with her back to Joe , standing in front of them, she was wearing black yoga pants with a nice ass and a purple tank . All of the ladies were trying to keep up but their leader was just too fast. Liv , who was one of the ladies trying to follow along turned and saw him. She waved at him and he tutted to himself , he was trying to be a little discreet. She came over to him " Did you know Cassie teaches Zumba?". Joe widened his eyes and looked at the lady leading again , the hair was up high in a bun , that's why he didn't recognise her. " No , I was actually looking for her to go over some details.". Liv smirked " We can kill some time together if you like?" , she was practically on top of him. Joe pulled away " Not now , maybe later" he said. Cassie had finished up the dance and turned to see Joe. " OK that's it ladies, hope y'all had fun". Judging by their smiles it certainly looked like they had. She walked over to Joe " Well the surprises keep on coming with you. That was amazing I saw that last dance , you can move". Cassie blushed "Remind me never to tell Mandy anything , I told her last week and this week I am running classes. But seriously I love to dance and Zumba is good for the soul". " I'll take your word for it. I am more of a bump and grind kind of guy". She laughed "That doesn't surprise me one bit " .

Cassie showered and dressed , opting to wear Khaki palazzo pants , a white tank and her hair was drying naturally. She went to their base, the Roman Reigns locker room where she found Jey and Joe , going over their promo . "All good ? You guys happy?" Jey put a friendly arm around her "Cassie , girl, this is fire". She smiled up at him "Make sure you do it justice, I know you will". She looked at Joe who was texting on his phone , he seemed distracted. He stood " OK all looks good here guys , I'm going to grab something in catering , see y'all in a bit". He took off , Cassie picked up the script and read it over , it was good . Jey looked at her " Hungry?" . " I could eat something" she agreed. " OK let's go find Uce , you have to try the cookies in catering , they are amazing". They took off in the direction of catering walking and chatting. When they got there , the only other person in the room was Big E , who summoned Jey over. " I will be back in a minute Cassie," Jey said. "I am just going to run to the restroom , be back in a bit" she answered. Taking off down the hall , she smiled at one of the ladies from the costume department and a producer , she was slowly getting to know them all. Just as she got to the bathroom door , a light beyond the door caught her eye , it was something lit up in a dark corner . As she made her way towards it, she realised it was a phone. Someone must have dropped it. As she bent down to pick it up, a movement in the shadows caught her eye. She took a step closer before realising it was two people caught in an embrace . The man had his back to her but the t-shirt was familiar , Joe. But what made her look twice was the woman he was in an embrace with. She wasn't blonde in fact she had reddish brown hair and Cassie was sure she was a member of the make up team. Just as she tried to walk back silently the woman opened her eyes from enjoying Joe nuzzling her neck and made eye contact with Cassie. "Oh shit" she said loudly and Cassie cursed. Joe raised his head " What?" he asked and his companion said "We have company". He turned and his eyes found Cassies and he immediately let go of her. "Sorry , this was on the floor it was lit up , I noticed it and came to pick it up , I am sorry I didn't meant to interrupt, I thought it was lost". Joe put his hand to his pocket " Thats mine I must have dropped it". Cassie was furiously red with embarrassment, she was glad the lighting was so bad. She put Joe's phone down on a production box before apologising again and taking her leave.

Cassie returned back to Jey looking overwhelmed and flustered. "Hey , you OK?". She nodded, not saying much. In fact she was lost in thought as she chomped on the cookie Jey had gotten for her . Some time passed when Joe walked into catering he looked sheepish. He sat down and looked around him before speaking in a low voice. " Um about that" he said to Cassie , who immediately began shaking her head. " Please , we don't need to talk about that". Jey looked from Cassie to Joe " What is up with you guys?". Joe looked like a little boy caught doing something foolish, the light bulb went off in Jeys head " Fuck sake man, don't tell me she caught you and Liv again. Y'all need to handle your business a bit more privately". Spurred on by Jeys scolding Cassie took great pleasure in leaning in and whispering " Oh it wasn't Liv that I caught him with". Jey stared at his cousin. " Tracy from make-up" Joe mumbled. Jey laughed " Uce , I mean I know its been a long time with one woman but maan, you moving fast". Joe looked at Cassie who seemed to be just totally disappointed and Jey who was trying to decide if he approved or not " You know what y'all are too judgemental. I slept with one woman for over 20 years , never cheated. So now I am single I am having different experiences , is that so bad?". Jey seemed to accept this. Cassie still wasn't fully buying it " Come on Cass , you're seriously telling me that you have never even thought about sleeping with someone besides Travis, or if you suddenly became single after all that time that you wouldn't experiment a little?". He had a point , she had to admit. " I guess, but won't Liv and Tracy be a little upset that you are , erm, spreading your seed". Jey chuckled and high fived Cassie " Good one". Joe was indignant " I am not in a relationship with any of these girls ,I Made that very clear to them both, so they have no right really to get angry with me". Cassie whistled " Joe , I would not like to be in your shoes when one finds out about the other". They all stood and began walking back to the locker room. Behind Joe's back , Cassie winked at Jey . She put an arm around Joe , who looked at her in surprise, he was so broad it barely went half way around him. She beckoned him to lean down closer to her. He did so , she then said into his ear " We need to have a talk about sexually transmitted diseases son". Jey peeled with laughter as Joe shook free and stormed off. Cassie was beginning to understand why it was so fun ribbing Joe.