It had officially been three weeks, two days, eighteen hours and forty seven minutes since he had been forced to break up with his girlfriend, it had been three weeks, two days, thirteen hours and twenty four minutes since he had last seen her and today all of that was likely to change.
The weekend after Paul and Stephanie were forced apart she wasn't on the road and he had managed to get himself a somewhat serious concussion which had forced him off the road and home to an empty house that had slowly driven him crazy.
He loved his family and he was eternally grateful to his sister for bringing his niece and nephew by nearly every day to see him but he was sure it was more to do with her wanting to make sure that he hadn't done anything stupid than it was to her wanting to make the most of him whilst he was there.
Today he had a meeting at the offices with Vince and the trainer to discuss his progress and whether he could get back on the road and start wrestling again or not and he was dreading it, he knew she would be there and as much as he wanted to see her he knew it would break his heart when he did.
He had had a three hour drive from his house down to the offices to think about nothing other than the fact that he may come face to face with his ex-girlfriend today and he still didn't know how he was going to handle it or what he would say because he was pretty sure blurting out 'I miss you' in the middle of the offices wouldn't really go down that well.
Pulling into the parking lot at the offices he made his way towards reception informing them of his business and then made his way up to the top floor. Stepping off of the elevator when he reached his destination he was about to turn the corner when he spotted her stood just feet from him but he was hidden by a wall. As he stared at her he couldn't help but take in her demeanour, he could see from the way she was standing, from the way she was forcing a smile and a laugh at a joke that was being told that she was about as unhappy as he was and it killed him, as much as it would hurt for her to be dealing with it well it hurt more for her to be that unhappy.
Waiting out of sight until she re-entered her office and shut the door he then moved from his hiding place to go and speak with Vince's Secretary in the hopes of avoiding Stephanie completely, he just couldn't do it.
Over an hour later and Paul was exiting the offices, he had managed to safely avoid Stephanie after leaving Vince's office and now he was going to work out in a gym down the street so he could make sure he avoided Stephanie and then he would check into a hotel. As much as he wanted to drive straight back home he had been warned that they may require him to go through some testing with the trainer on Saturday as there was a pay-per-view on Sunday and if he was cleared to wrestle he would be required to be there so he had to stick around.
Stephanie had known that Paul was going to be at the offices today, she had overheard her Dad talking about it because apparently he was keeping her in the dark and trying to protect her feelings or some stupid shit like that if what she had been told by him in the past few weeks was anything to go by. She had tried to find excuses to hang around outside of her office so she could just see him but whenever she was not in her office she never saw him and now she knew he was gone and it hurt but unfortunately she had the rest of the day to get through and she couldn't wallow.
After working out he went to get some food and once he had his food he went and checked in at a hotel and attempted to get comfortable in his room.
A few hours of sitting along in his hotel room and he was slowly going crazy because no matter how many times he flicked through every single channel on TV he could never find anything to watch as he only had Stephanie on his mind. Deciding to get out of the room and go to the bar before he completely lost it he picked up his key card and headed downstairs.
After work Stephanie made her way home, she didn't want to go home, it was big and quiet and lonely, she missed crawling into the arms of the man she loved and she was just struggling right now because she knew he was coming back on the road soon and it was just getting harder as it got closer.
Entering her house she dropped her keys on the table and her handbag beside it and made her way towards the kitchen but stopped halfway there realising that she wasn't hungry and couldn't be bothered to eat so went over to the stereo and put on the CD making sure that it would repeat the same song over and over like she needed before she made her way to the couch and got herself comfortable and picked up her phone.
Sitting down at the bar Paul wished there was more people around so he could blend into the background but unfortunately it was just him and a female bartender who was currently washing glasses.
Seeing a new patron she quickly finished with the glass she was drying before she walked over to him drying her hands on a towel, "what can I get for you this fine evening?"
Grumbling lowly he shrugged, "a water?"
Taken aback by his request she raised her eyebrow, "water?! Don't you want anything stronger? You look like you could do with it."
Sighing he shook his head, "I don't drink, not because I can't, I just don't so water is fine thank you."
Bending down to the fridge she pulled out a bottle of water standing back up, "bottle or glass?"
"Bottle is fine, I don't really care tonight."
Pushing the water across the bar to him she leant briefly on her side, "if you don't mind me asking why are you here? You look like you'd prefer to be anywhere but here."
Unscrewing the cap off his bottle he took a sip, "trust me I would. A bar, even if it is just a hotel bar, is definitely not my scene. Unfortunately my hotel room is driving me insane and if I didn't get out of there then I was likely to either punch a hole through the wall or jump off the balcony."
Laughing she smiled politely, "well I am happy that my hole in the wall dungeon can help you. Do you mind me asking why are you so damned depressed? If I had any other patrons you would be sure to be driving them away. Wait, let me guess, girlfriend troubles?"
"More like ex-girlfriend troubles."
Pouring herself a drink she got comfortable in front of him, "well I am happy to listen if you want to talk."
Taking another drink of his water he figured it couldn't do any harm, "I fell hard and fast for the most amazing woman I have ever met and I am pretty sure she felt the same way about me too but then our boss forced us apart, I got a Doctors note saying I was too sick to work and I haven't seen her since . . . until today. She looks as miserable as I feel but she didn't see me, I couldn't do that to myself or to her."
Confused the barmaid raised her eyebrow, "your boss forced the two of you apart? What the hell sort of company do you work for where your boss dictates what relationships you can or cannot have?"
"Yeah he's not just the boss, he's my ex's Father."
When it hit her exactly what he meant she shook her head, "boy you have a career death wish but it does make sense why you allowed him to split you up now. How deep did you fall for this woman? Is it a case of you being miserable and struggling for a few months and then you'll be able to move on and find somebody else or will you forever be pining for this woman?"
He hated to admit it because it made him feel weak but it was the truth, "I will forever be pining for her. I know I am in love with her and I think she might be the one which makes this entire situation even more depressing."
She didn't understand what the problem was, she got that it was a difficult situation but for her it was easy, "well to me it is simple, if you love her that much and you think she is the one for you then why are you sitting here wallowing in self pity? Why are you letting a cranky old fucker dictate whether you can be together or not? If you want to be with her then make it work, don't roll over and die, fight for it."
"He's my boss, he could fire me."
Taking a step back he was huge and if he got angry it could get nasty and fast and he could easily snap her in two, "what's more important to you, your job or the woman you say you love? Maybe she won't want to disobey her Dad and get back with you but will you know unless you try?"
Playing with the label on his bottle of water he stared down at the bar, if he was to do as she suggested then it would require really putting himself out there and he wasn't sure if he was ready to have his heart stomped on because he knew how much her Dad meant to her. Rubbing his temples he sighed, "and if she doesn't want to disobey her Dad?"
"Then at least you know and you can try to move on. If you don't try you will never know and you'll drive all of the patrons out of all of the bars in the whole of America if you stay this miserable and keep frequenting the bars to help you forget how lonely you are."
Glaring at her playfully he shook his head, "well aren't you just charming? I can definitely tell why you have so many customers. As much as I hate to admit it you're probably right so thank you for listening to me."
Sliding off his seat he made his way out of the bar and back up to his room to grab his keys and a jacket.
As he pulled the keys out of the engine as he sat outside of her house he looked at his keyring wondering if he was doing the right thing, he missed her so much it hurt but actually telling her that was a scary prospect.
Getting out of the car he walked the short distance to her front door before he nervously slid his key into the lock and turned it gulping when he heard it click before he pushed the door open and entered the house shutting the door firmly behind him.
Sat on the couch staring at her phone as she scrolled through the pictures she had of the two of them together she missed him so much, she just wanted to turn back time and go back to the day where her Dad had told them they needed to split up so she could fight for him more. She had no right to cry over the fact that they weren't together as it was as much her fault as it was his but as she looked at the pictures she couldn't help the tears that spilled down her cheeks.
He had lost count of the minutes he had spent stood in the hallway trying to psyche himself up to enter the lounge but he had noticed that she had the same song on repeat and that couldn't possibly be a good sign. Realising he couldn't stand there forever he took a deep breath and walked the short distance to the lounge door, "is your CD stuck?"
Hearing a voice behind her she jumped immediately spinning around to see who was there, she was sure she had locked the front door and now she was shit scared but as her eyes focussed on the person in front of her she was more shocked than scared, "Paul?"
Leaning on the door frame he shoved his hands into his pocket, "that's me. I hope you don't mind but I let myself in."
"How?"
Holding up his keyring he smiled sheepishly, "you didn't ask for the key back and I just didn't offer it."
Throwing her phone down onto the seat beside her she stood up and turned the stereo off wiping at her wet cheeks, "what are you doing here? If you wanted to talk to me you could have said 'hi' when you were at the office but I didn't see you."
"No but I did see you. Steph I couldn't face you in the office, I didn't think I would be able to control my mouth if I came face to face with you with other people around."
Staring at him like he was crazy she didn't understand, "I don't get it. What are you trying to say?"
Sighing he rubbed his face wearily, "I don't know what I'm saying. I only know that I love you, I miss you and as much as this may be career suicide I'm ready to commit it if it means I can be with you."
Rooted to the spot she couldn't move and was just confused, "why today?"
"Because I'm fucking miserable without you? Because I saw you at the office and realised you look as miserable as I feel? Because a barmaid told me that she didn't understand why I was letting a 'cranky old fucker' dictate my life and she's right. Steph I can't help how hard I have fallen for you, even if I could take it all back I don't think I would. Nothing seems to matter any more because you are not there, I just want you back. I realise I am putting you in a ridiculously difficult situation because that is your Dad but I'm just putting my heart out there because if I don't then I would never have known what might have been."
Tilting her head to the side she had never seen him like this before, "you went to a bar?"
Smiling softly he nodded his head, "and ordered a water. She told me I was so miserable if there were any other people there I would have driven them away. I'm miserable without you and if you can tell me you don't feel the same and you don't regret us splitting up then I will leave you alone but I just need to hear you say it."
"I can't say it Paul, I am miserable without you too. I wish I could go back in time and fight for this more."
Apprehensive about the answer he would receive he had to ask the question anyway so he said, "but?"
Shrugging her shoulders she didn't really have one, "but I don't have one. Can we make this work?"
"Do we want to make it work?"
Wrapping her arms around herself she felt like that was such a stupid question for him to ask, "well I do. Paul if we're going to disobey my Father and get back together then we have to be certain that we both want this. This could really rock my relationship with my Dad and I wouldn't put that on the line for just any one or for any reason other than me being certain this is what I want. If you're not certain that it is what you want or you're not willing to risk it then please just leave now."
Quickly closing the gap between them he pulled her into his arms desperate to just feel her in his arms after what he had heard her say, "I am certain this is what I want. I wouldn't risk my entire career on something that I wasn't confident in and passionate about and I am most certainly confident in my love for you and passionate about our relationship so I am ready and willing to do whatever to prove my love for you."
Closing her eyes as he held her close she rested her head on his chest and breathed in the scent of his cologne, "so no matter what you want this to work?"
Kissing the top of her head he rubbed her lower back gently with the tips of his fingers, "no matter what I want this to work. Together we can do anything we want, we can achieve anything and everything and we will."
Needing to test him she lifted her head, "so if my Dad suspended you for disobeying him?"
"Then I would enjoy spending more time with you but don't tell him I said that."
Laughing she lifted her head and felt happy for the first time since they broke up, "so we're really doing this?"
Nodding his head he moved his face closer to hers and whispered, "we're really doing this." Capturing her lips in a soft and sweet kiss he relished the moment where he got to kiss her again before he pulled back, "hmm, I missed that."
Sighing softly she took his hands in hers, "I did too." Pulling him over to the couch she took a seat, "join me."
"With pleasure."
Picking up her phone he took a seat beside her and wrapped his arm around her, "so what were you so engrossed in when I arrived? I wasn't interrupting work was I?"
Shaking her head she leant against him and closed her eyes, "hmm no, you can look if you want."
Unlocking her phone he smiled when he saw the picture of the two of them together. Clearly tonight she was thinking about him as much as he had been thinking about her so he knew he had done the right thing but more importantly he knew that this time around they would be unbreakable.