Roman & Jaida: The We Are Series (COMPLETED)

Part 5: We Are Ablaze

"Guys you know you'd better watch out, some girls, some girls are only about that thing, that thing, that thiiiing..." Jaida picked the little dog up as she sang along with Lauryn Hill and twirled along the hardwood floor of the spacious kitchen area. "Come on Romeo, dance with me," she giggled as the puppy happily lapped at her cheek with his tongue.

This was the life. Chilling in her condo in downtown Tampa, the warm sun pouring into her home and the breeze on her face as she danced along to nineties classics with her Yorkshire terrier puppy while a strawberry cheesecake was cooling in the refrigerator. She wished every day could be like this. Without a care in the world. Not having to worry about rushing from one town to the other or bitchy colleagues or confusing love triangles. To think she was dealing with all of this and more only two weeks ago. She had another fortnight left before she had to return to the reality that was her life. And for the first time in months, she would be doing so with neither Roman nor Lincoln by her side.

It seemed like only yesterday that she was staring down at the ring Lincoln had revealed to her, the diamond big and blinding. He might as well have been holding a grenade. Her breath had hitched in her throat and her mind had raced in a million different directions. Was this some kind of sick joke? What the hell was he thinking? How dare he ambush her like that? How long had they been back together for before he made that out-of-the-blue decision to want to get married? Without waiting for any of those thoughts to settle, she had turned on her heel and fled the party. She was aware she'd embarrassed him in front of over fifty people, but it was tough to believe that anyone else would have reacted differently to such a bombshell, an ultimatum basically disguised as a marriage proposal.

She hadn't known where she was going, she just knew that she had to get as far away from the madness as possible. By the time she returned to the apartment later that night, he'd packed her stuff for her. All traces of him were also gone, engagement ring and all, and the seamstress knew right away that this time, she would never see him again. And deep down, she was glad.

Two days after that, she was still running, still avoiding everyone at work. Stephanie McMahon finally pulled her into her office, having heard what had happened, and after some gentle prodding, the seamstress, rather embarrassingly, had burst into tears as she found herself pouring her heart out, narrating her dilemma to the Boss's daughter. But it turned out to be a very familiar story to the older woman. Stephanie could empathize with what Jaida was going through, as she'd endured a similar situation almost two decades ago with her husband Hunter. To Jaida's pleasant surprise, the Principal co-owner of the WWE was kind enough to give her an entire fortnight off from work. She was very grateful for this favor. Perhaps it was what she needed; some time to clear her head so she could return to work more focused, and so far, it was working.

Shying away from everything that reminded her of work, Jaida occupied herself in the ways she knew best. Like indulging in the second most favorite thing in the world she liked to do; bake. From chocolate chip cookies and red velvet cupcakes, to a strawberry cheesecake with cream cheese frosting, her apartment looked and smelled like a cake shop these days. Baking brought a smile to her face just like it used to her mother, and as a little girl Jaida would watch her mother at work, gaze in awe as she created something so beautiful out of items as unassuming as flour and eggs and sugar. Its beauty snuck up on you. Just like her feelings for Roman Reigns seemingly snuck up on her...