Corporate Affairs

Chapter 5

The announcement from Roman Reigns that he had leukaemia for a second time had shocked fans and superstars alike. As far as she knew, Zelina Vega had been the only person outside of Roman's family to get the news ahead of his speech in the ring. She had witnessed firsthand some of the shocked reactions from members of the roster. People had stared blankly at each other, while others had shed tears. It had been difficult to watch.

As General Manager, Vega had treated doing right by Roman as her top priority of the night, before she could start getting down to Vega Cartel business. She was now waiting to see him out of the arena, knowing that his friends and mentors would be greeting him when he walked back into Gorilla, all wanting to wish him well before he headed home to begin treatment for his condition. The Universal Championship had been left in the ring, and would be returned to Zelina soon. While it was vacant, it was up to her to look after it.

Vega had left the three members of her new team back in her office when she had headed out to wait for Roman near the exit. Apart from Ciampa, who had seemed almost indifferent to the news, the Cartel members had been as shocked as everyone else to learn what Roman was dealing with.

A couple of minutes later, Roman came walking towards Vega, looking like he had been shedding tears himself. That could hardly be considered a surprise.

"Thank you again for letting me go out there and do that," Roman said as he approached her.

Vega offered her hand. "You're welcome. And I want you to know the door is open as soon as you beat this and want to come back."

"It'll be sooner than later," Roman promised her as he shook her hand.

"I hope it is," she replied sincerely. "Anything I can do as General Manager, you let me know."

Reigns nodded. "Will do." A smile appeared on his face and he cracked a joke in parting. "Make the most of it while I'm gone, because I'm going to take that team you're putting together apart when I get back here."

Vega grunted a laugh. "I'm looking forward to seeing you try."

With that, Reigns walked out of the nearby exit door, a cameraman following behind him. Just like that, he was gone. It was a sombre moment indeed for Vega, wondering how long it would be before she saw him at an arena again. She was determined to think of it as a when, not an if.

A few minutes later, Vega walked back into her office. The competitors for the first match of the night were making their entrance out in the arena. She was glad not to have to go out there. After the way the night had started, she needed a bit of time to get her composure back.

"That was... unpleasant," was the greeting she got from Baron Corbin when she entered the room, finding her people still sitting where she had left them. McIntyre and Corbin were sitting on one of the two leather couches, with Ciampa on the other. She was going to have to sit next to him. Maybe it would be a good idea to have the crew add another couch to her setup, arranging them in a U shape around the coffee table?

"Yes, it was. But the show has to go on," Vega said as she sat down.

"Good," Ciampa said. "What's being done about me and Corbin going for the tag titles?"

Vega looked at him for a second. They were going to have to have a chat about the way he spoke to her. There wasn't the required amount of respect in his voice. For now, she chose to answer the question. "My plan is to have you challenge for them at TLC. Seth and Dean have been champions for a while now, and it goes without saying how strong a team they are. I want the two of you to at least have a few matches under your belts before you face them. So, tonight you have a match against Gable and Roode. Show me what you can do."