Masked//Roman Reigns Love Story

30. Jessica

Monday, December 16, 2013
6:04p.m.

Every RAW and SmackDown show, I watched the Divas' division receive the smallest fraction of time. They'd be lucky to get more than ten minutes of screen time, that was including the entrances. Aj Lee was noticeably their biggest draw, even with the Total Divas cast bringing in new viewers. It was hard to watch because even though I'd only been in the ring with them a handful of times, I knew we all potential to be better than what we were. We were missing diversity and something fresh, something to get the company and the fans invested. I was willing to bet that we could make something really good if we were just given a genuine chance to prove it. Those women in the locker room were more than bathroom breaks, I was more than a bathroom break.

Waiting outside of the chairman, Vince McMahon's door, I heard someone call out to me from down the hall. "Ria!"

"Hey Colby," I smiled, going in for a hug when he finally met me.

We both stepped away from the door so our conversation wasn't so close that Vince could hear it. Colby had been good with checking in on me since we had that good heart-to-heart. He always made sure I had everything I needed and that I was safe. I appreciated the effort because he didn't have to do any of it. It also seemed like he was learning boundaries because our conversation didn't make me uncomfortable like they did before we figured things out.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Pretty good, you?"

"I'm alright, living so I can't complain. What're you doing here? You didn't get cleared, did you?" he tried to settle his excitement.

"Not cleared quite yet," I felt like I was letting him down having to say that out loud.

"Oh," his face dropped right along with mine, sharing my disappointment. At least someone was looking forward to my return.

"So... you're about to knock on the boss man's door. Something serious going on? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just pitching a new character for when I come back. Crystal Rose doesn't have much depth besides being best friends with Aj Lee and that's not going to work long term. And I don't want to be a sob story either because of what happened in real life."

"I completely get it. Can I hear about your idea? I bet it's really good," he said.

"I'd love to tell you but I don't want you to talk me out of it. I haven't told anyone about what I'm thinking of doing so don't take it personally. If it works out, you'll see what I do on tv. If Vince doesn't like it, I'll tell you about it later tonight," I offered.

"Okay, that's fair enough. I don't mind waiting, but good luck with the meeting. I hope everything goes well, seriously," he wished, pulling me into another warm hug.

"Gracias," I whispered, silently praying that it would all work out for me this time. I wanted this to work.

I didn't give myself any time to think about what I was doing because if I did, I was going to back out. I had to do this for myself. I had to speak my mind and be honest about my hopes and plans for not just myself, but the division as a whole. If things didn't work out and it was too unsafe to be on the road with WWE, maybe I could be a creative writer for the women.

"Maria, it's so great to see you. How are you?" Vince asked once I walked in with his permission.

I was surprised to see him stand from the couch to embrace me with a strong hug. It wasn't overly aggressive, but it was firm enough to feel like he meant whatever he was communicating with this physical contact. It wasn't like him to show affection.