A/N: This story takes place in an existing world, following on from my stories The New Authority, The Hugger's Return and I Don't Care Anymore. However, I will be writing it in such a way that new readers can pick the series up with this story without necessarily needing to read the other stories first. Having said that, new readers need to be aware that there is an established relation between Seth Rollins and Bayley. Last time we saw them, they were engaged to be married.

Bayley Rollins wasn't exactly sure how she felt about the fact that she was hours away from making her return to WWE television. Coming back with a new character on the go home Smackdown episode before the Royal Rumble pay-per-view was a big deal. After three months away, she imagined that her comeback would be much talked about. The sad part about returning to action was that it meant her honeymoon was officially over.

Vince McMahon had given her and Seth a month off for their wedding and honeymoon, which in her case had been added on to a two month injury layoff due to an ankle ligament problem.

The wedding had been an intimate ceremony with only a few family and friends present. It had taken place on an idyllic beach in the Bahamas. Even in late December, the weather there had been warm, making the wedding day perfect in every respect. It was better than anything Bayley could have dreamed of before meeting Seth, the love of her life. He truly made her happy in every conceivable way, and she knew that he felt the same way about her.

Most of the rest of the month-long vacation had been spent either in the hotel's spa or on the beach, meaning that Bayley felt more pampered than she ever had in her life. She also had a fantastic tan, as did Seth.

When they hadn't been relaxing on the beach, they had enjoyed some water sports. They had left the Bahamas as accomplishes jet skiers, and as certified scuba divers. Both of those activities were going to become a regular thing for them to enjoy if Bayley had any say in the matter.

All in all, it had been the trip of a lifetime. At some point, Bayley intended to sort through the hundreds of pictures they had taken and put the best ones into an album, along with their wedding photos. What better way to memorialise a wedding and a vacation that had been so special?

"All of the rent is up to date," Seth said to her. They were in the back of an SUV with blacked out windows, which was taking them to the arena for Smackdown. McMahon had sent the ride to get them from the airport in order to avoid fans seeing them enter the building. Seth was on his phone, apparently looking at the accounts for their business, Bayllins Property Developers. Their business model was to buy run down and abandoned houses at auction, enjoy fixing them up together, then rent them out. So far, they had completed two houses and both were now occupied by paying tenants. Shortly, they would need to look for their next project, she thought.

"Time to look for the next house to renovate soon," she said.

"You know, I was thinking about that a couple of nights back. What do you think to the idea of opening a restaurant?" Seth asked, looking at her.

Bayley was taken by surprise, but instinctively she liked the idea a lot. In addition to the property development company, they also owned a coffee shop called Bean and Gone. The shop was where they had stopped for coffee one day while they had been house hunting in Waukee, Iowa. They had ended up buying a house in Waukee, and had been regular customers of Bean and Gone. When the owners had decided to sell up and retire, Seth and Bayley had jumped on the opportunity to buy it.

"Yes, I'm up for that," Bayley decided. "But, Seth, we don't know anything about running a restaurant."

"We didn't know anything about running a coffee shop," he pointed out. "That's why we find someone who does. We find the right person, hire them, pay them well, and keep them loyal. If we get the right person to run the place for us, we're laughing. They'll make sure the chefs are good, the food is good, and the service is good."

"But we need the right place, in the right location though," Bayley said, thinking as she spoke.

"We do," Seth nodded. "The right place would be somewhere busy. That's why I'm thinking we should look is Des Moines. Waukee is a bit quiet on the restaurant scene."

"It is," Bayley acknowledged. Whenever they were home and decided to eat out, they went to Des Moines. That told her all she needed to know in that regard.

"If you want, we can start looking next time we're home?" Seth suggested. "It might be a while before we find the right opportunity, so we might end up doing another house in the mean time."

"Whatever we work on I'm happy with. As long as we work on it together, I'll enjoy it," Bayley smiled.

"Me too, angel," Seth said. He leaned in for a kiss and they touched their lips lightly together.

A few minutes later, the SUV drove into the parking garage of the arena where Smackdown was going to take place. They got out, and the driver retrieved their cases for them.

"I can't wait to hear about the reactions you get when you walk into the locker room," Seth chuckled as they walked into the building.

"People aren't going to believe it," Bayley giggled. When discussing her upcoming new character with Vince, she had agreed with his opinion that her appearance needed to change, so as to demonstrate a clear differential from the hugger Bayley who had last been seen three months ago. They had agreed that she should get her hair cut. The side ponytail was gone. Indeed, the long hair was gone. She now had a bob, which she actually really liked now that she had it. Seth was still adjusting to the change, but she knew he would get there. The fans, and Bayley's colleagues, were going to be taken properly surprised because she had told no one about it.

On the way to the locker rooms, they received welcomes and marriage congratulations from several members of the backstage team. No one commented on the hair cut, which actually disappointed Bayley. She knew it would be a different story in the locker room, though.

The men's locker room was the first one they came to. It was time for them to part ways. They did so, as ever, with a kiss.

"Have fun," Seth said.

"You too. And get some details from Roman. He's been very quiet the past couple of weeks."

"Will do," Seth promised.

Bayley looked forward to hearing what he could find out about Roman's new relationship. Their friend had been divorced for almost six months now. He had recently started dating again, and of all people, he had chosen the executive of Fox Broadcasting who they had sent to represent them behind the scenes at Smackdown. They certainly couldn't be accused of not showing an interest in the product they were paying big money for. Through the executive, a forty year old very attractive woman of Indian descent called Priti Pilania, they had input into what happened on the show. Exactly how much input was a mystery to the rank and file members of the roster, but rumour had it that if Priti didn't like someone, they were in trouble.

Fox hadn't stopped there, either. They had apparently talked Vince McMahon into having an on-screen Fox Sports Executive character to work in something like a General Manager role. Priti had gotten that gig too, despite having no acting experience to her name that Bayley knew about. Both her and Seth had to admit that she was good at it though. She could cut a good, if not amazing, promo, and she had a certain presence in front of a camera that was very hard to teach. Maybe that was why Fox had picked her to be the executive they sent, Bayley wondered.

Time would tell, she guessed, because thanks to Roman and Priti being together, Bayley and Seth would be able to get the inside track from him on the backstage dealings.

Enough about Roman's love life, Bayley told herself as she reached the women's locker room. It was time for her first big return of the night, and it was time for her friends and colleagues to freak out over her change in appearance. She couldn't wait to see their faces, such would be the shock of her long hair being no more. Even she couldn't remember herself the last time it hadn't been long. No one in WWE had ever seen it shorter, she knew that for a fact.

Bayley walked into the locker room, deliberately making her entrance low profile. It made no difference because Sasha Banks, her best friend, saw her straight away.

"Bay! Oh my god, what did you do?" Sasha cried, ensuring that everyone else's attention went to Bayley immediately.

There was general uproar about the new hairstyle, with some people saying they loved it and others teasing her for it. It was pretty much the reaction that Bayley had expected. She smiled, lapping it up. "I know it seems drastic," she said. "I'm debuting a new character tonight. Vince and I both agreed that this change was a good idea."

"What's the new character?" Mandy Rose asked.

"It's a smartly-dressed pompous businesswoman who thinks she's better than everyone else. She looks down on people, yet she calls herself a role model."

"Sounds about right," Dana Brooke said quietly.

"Excuse me?" Bayley asked incredulously.

"That came out sounding harsher than I wanted it to," Dana said a little apologetically. "What I meant was you are a businesswoman. You talk about business and property a lot, and you can act a bit superior at times. I'm just saying I can see why Vince saw this gimmick for you."

Bayley was surprised and upset by that. It was noticeable that no one dismissed the accusation as ridiculous. She had never wanted to come across like that to anyone. It didn't sound like her at all. She made a mental note to avoid speaking about her business interests to her colleagues as much as possible from now on.

"Ignore her. She doesn't know what she's talking about," Sasha said quietly as she and Bayley walked over to their lockers.

"I kind of think she does, even if she came across really mean about it," Bayley admitted. "Seth and I do spend a lot of time on our business interests, and we talk about them a lot. I never thought about whether it would be annoying for other people."

"Yeah, well, most of us know you well and we know you're not at all like the way you described your new character," Sasha said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Bayley smiled. "Thanks, Sash. And hey, at least I guess I don't need to second guess myself about playing the new role. I should be able to get people to hate me pretty easily by the sound of it."

"Oh, shut up," Sasha laughed. "No one in here hates you. Hopefully the fans soon will though, if that's what you're going for. Now, I want to see pictures from the rest of your vacation. It sucks that I could only be there for the wedding day."

"I know, but I'm so glad you were there," Bayley said as she took out her phone. "I hope you've got plenty of time because we took a lot of pictures!"

A/N: Thank you for checking out this first chapter. Incredibly, this is the first time in over a year that I have written anything in this series. I'm glad to get back to it.

How do you think Bayley's new character will debut?