A/N: I do NOT own WWE, NXT, or any of the Superstars in this story. Locations and names are used for story purposes only.
The past two weeks had been so hectic with Katrina's work schedule and her having to travel and with all of her meetings, that it was nice to have a bit of a break for a day to relax and regroup. Seth was with Roman and Dean, both who he had known for a couple of years now before getting the chance to work with them now. They had become like brothers and were catching up on a few things. They were both married and Roman had three kids. One girl and twin boys. Dean and his wife didn't have any kids yet, but eventually they would have some of their own.
After about half an hour, Seth noticed that Katrina still hadn't come into the kitchen to grab anything for lunch. Looking at the time, he also realized that he didn't see her that morning for breakfast, either. With how much she's been working, he's noticed that once she's in work mode, it's difficult to get her out of it.
"Ms. Katrina's like that." Said one of the cooks when he passed by, noticing when Seth looked at the time. He was an elder man, but kind and gentle with a heavy English accent. "She gets so busy and so wrapped up in work, that it's like she forgets to eat. Mr. Levesque made sure she had breakfast this morning, though."
"Workhorse?" Asks Dean. "I've noticed that the last couple of weeks and if you look at her record when it comes to work, she just goes and goes. And goes."
The man smiles and shrugs. "Ms. Katrina likes to work. At least she works for what she's gotten instead of just expecting it to be given to her. She's worked very hard to get to were she is, especially in that company."
Katrina worked at a Fortune 500 company that excelled in technology and was worth over a billion dollars. With all of the hard work that she had been putting in since her time in college, she had been rising in the ranks and was now one of the youngest people to hold the position that she held.
"If you just give me a couple of minutes, I can make her favorite sandwich and maybe one of you fine gentlemen can make sure she gets it and that she remembers to eat." The man says, excusing himself.
He grabs the things that he needs and starts making her sandwich while Seth turns his attention back to his friends. Letting out a sigh, he looks through his phone, knowing that the guys' attention was on him. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, their attention continued to remain on him.
"You know I'll take it to her, right?" Seth asks without looking up.
"We know." Dean says. "Hopefully you'll talk to her this time."
"Is this high school?" He asks.
Dean and Roman chuckle, before picking up on a conversation from earlier. Seth got up and walked up to the cook who had a plate set up with a sandwich and some seedless grapes. He went to the fridge and poured some water into a cup and handed it over to Seth.
"Please make sure that she eats." He softly says with a kind smile.
"I will." Seth replies before grabbing the plate and cup, and making her way to the office that she had in the house.
Greeting some of the guards on his way up to the third floor, his thoughts kept taking him to that day, in the park. It was years ago, though it sometimes felt like it was longer than what it really was. Sometimes, it felt like it was just yesterday. He never would have thought that he would be working for her now. They were both all grown up and yet there were still things that they didn't know about each other. Seth wanted to change that. He wanted to get to know the woman behind those blue eyes that still lived in his memory, because those same blue eyes never left. How could he forget those eyes? Seth recognized them, the moment he saw her again and he knew the moment their eyes met, there somewhere inside of her, she remembered him, too. At least he hoped she did. When he got to her office, the doors were closed, and after letting out a deep breath, he knocked. A few seconds later, he heard her voice and opened the door to let herself in.
The office was large, but it was somehow cozy. Large windows with the curtains pulled back, showed the rain falling against the window, on a chilly and cloudy day. Carpets, shelves filled with books, a fireplace that was currently being used, a mahogany desk that Katrina sat at, with an open laptop and paperwork that she was putting together and back in their places of folders and their drawers. When she looked up, she smiled up at him and it did something to him that he couldn't explain.
"I thought you could use some lunch." Seth says, placing the plate and the cup of water on her desk.
"Thank you. I appreciate it." With that same smile that was now showing her dimples.
Seth watched as she did a few things on her laptop, and turned it off before closing it. She neatly put everything in place before standing up. Katrina was dressed in jeans and a beige sweater with the sleeves rolled up a bit and her hair in a braid. He could smell her scent. Strawberries and a perfume that he still didn't know the name of.
"I'll let you finish up. Let me know if you need anything." Seth says, about to turn to leave.
"You can stay." Katrina softly says. "I would like if you stayed. Unless you have something you need to do."
He looks at her and catches her blue eyes. Agreeing to stay, they took a seat on the couch by the window and she offered him a grape. They started talking about how their day was going and the last two weeks as well as how her asking how he was adjusting to things.
"To be honest, I've been looking forward to trying to talk to you." Seth says.
"You have?" She asks, adjusting herself so that her legs are tucked underneath her. "I know I probably don't always make it easy to talk to me when I'm in work mode."
Seth smiles but shrugs. "It's attractive, seeing a woman who works as hard as you. At least to me."
"Thanks." She softly says with the most adorable little smile, that deepened her dimples. "Are you trying to be on my good side, though?"
"I'm being honest." He tells her. "But I don't even know if you're single and I'm giving you compliments."
Katrina softly laughs, and the sound of it fills his ears. It's a sound that he doesn't want to stop hearing, as it fills the space around him.
"I'm single. What about you? I'm sure you have a lucky lady that you have you're eye on." She says.
"Nah. I'm single." He simply says.
When Katrina finished her food, she sets the plate down in her lap after grabbing her cup to take a sip of water. "I thought you'd have someone by now."
"Sometimes I don't feel like I had enough time for one." Seth says. "I was always traveling and it was long hours, and it didn't exactly help my relationships in the past. But I wouldn't change this opportunity for anything. When it happens, it'll happen. Just like it will for you."
Their eyes meet and hold for a moment, before looking away. Katrina caught the smile on his face when she quickly looked back up. The man sitting in front of her at this moment, went above and beyond what her memory of him, did for her. Seth looked older, though mature. Looked like he had learned a lot throughout the years, but there was a comfort in his brown eyes that Katrina liked to see whenever she was able to steal a glance at him. Mostly when she thought he wasn't looking. She couldn't help it. The man had really grown up and physically showed it, from his beard, to his muscles and the tattoo on his back that she caught sight of when she saw him going out for a run. Almost half an hour later, they noticed the time and reluctantly decided to end the conversation before either of them wanted to. Grabbing her plate, Katrina then grabbed her laptop and her folders, trying to hold everything at once.
"Allow me." Seth says, offering to grab her plate and her cup. "It's the least I can do. Besides, I'm the one that bought it up here."
She thanked him and put out the fire, before making sure she had everything she needed and walking out of the room. Seth followed her and they then walked side by side, down the hallway, deciding to take the stairs. When they got to the second floor, Katrina stopped and looked over at him.
"Thank you, for keeping me company today." She says. "Don't be a stranger."
"Neither should you. Even when you're in work mode." Seth says with a smile.
Katrina returned the smile, showing her dimples, and that feeling again hit him, like it did earlier. Hooking a strand of hair behind her ear, continues to her room, with Seth watching as she walks away. Letting out a sigh, he leans against the nearby wall and considers himself lucky when she looks back before going into her room. What the hell was he doing?
0.0
"Paul, you should be resting." Katrina says, as she hugged him when she walked into their room, with all of their security things were at. "You just had surgery, not to long ago."
"Yes, but then who's going to keep an eye on all of those guys for you?" He asked, letting her sit down.
"What's wrong with Nigel?" She asks, looking up at him.
"Nothing. He's very much capable of doing all of this without me being constantly around." He tells her. "I just want to make sure they do right by you, my dear. Especially with Mr. Rollins who seems to like spending time with you."
Katrina felt her face warm up at the mention of it. "We're just friends, Paul."
"I know that." He tells her. "Is he what you thought he'd be? Even after all these years?"
Paul was one of the very few people who knew about the whole Seth thing from all those years ago. He was also one of the very few people who believed her when she said that the day would come when they would meet again and how she knew it in her heart, that it would happen. When she finally got that chance to see the man again, Paul saw the way their souls connected and danced with each other without a word being said by neither one.
"I'm not sure exactly how I pictured him to be." Katrina honestly tells him. "But when I met him, I just felt it deep down, that he's good. Genuinely good."
Before she could explain any further, some of the men came in and apologized for interrupting, before greeting Katrina. Seth walked in and his eyes met with hers, before showing a soft smile. Her heartbeat quickened at the sight of him, but she just put it as her being happy to see someone that she was growing to be her friend. Though she couldn't help but like seeing his brown eyes and hearing his voice, and his laugh. A few minutes talking to him, was better than nothing at all, and then there was earlier today when she was able to have an actual conversation with him during lunch.
Finding a piece of paper and a pen while Paul talked to the men, Katrina wrote something down and neatly folded it into a tight rectangular shape. When Paul looked over at her, she gave him a smile and handed him the folded paper while not giving anything away. He didn't ask any questions, but there was a smile in his eyes that she liked to see. A smile that told her that he knew that it was meant for something of a more private matter. After the meeting was over, the men starting leaving and while Seth watched as Katrina radiated pure youthfulness in the way she interacted with someone on the phone. That left him without realizing when Paul walked up to him, and felt something being placed in his hand. Looking down, he saw the neatly folded up paper and looked up.
"I don't know what it says or what it's for. I just know she would want it to be given to you." The man says. "She seems to grow more comfortable around you as she trusts you more and more. Treat her right, Mr. Rollins."
He nodded and watched as Paul walked back to the woman he always liked to watched. They talk for a moment before sharing a smile and a hug. He walked with her to the door and gave Seth her dimple showing smile before leaving the room with the man behind her. Opening the paper that was in his hand, he saw the neat and feminine writing of Katrina.
'By the grill, tonight. How does 10:00 sound?'
Seth feels a smile growing on his lips as he re-read the note before folding it back up and putting it in his pocket. The next few hours passed by as it were like a snail. Katrina went to her room after having dessert and took a long shower before coming out and dressing in sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt. Putting her hair back into a neat braid, she looked at the time and saw that there was only fifteen minutes left before 10:00. Putting on a sweater, she made her way outside, to where the grill was. There was a sectional that was nearby, with pillows. A canopy covering the area, supported by concrete pillars, and a view of the lake in the distance. The night was quiet, but the moon was out, as were some stars that Katrina was able to make out. Even with that, she still lit up some candles and sat down, allowing the quietness to surround her.
"Enjoying the view?" Someone asked from behind.
Looking towards the direction the voice came from, she smiled seeing Seth walking towards her in sweats and a long sleeve, t-shirt. Seth sat in silence as he took in the beauty of the night, though his eyes eventually turned their attention to the woman sitting beside him. Her long, dark thick hair. Neatly groomed eyebrows. Piercing blue eyes, that could be as blue as the ocean, or as blue as a clear sky and possibly so many shades of blue in between. Pink, full lips. The birthmark above her eyebrow. Her soft and delicate features on her face, all the way down to the curves of her body. Even as they started talking about their day, they stole glances of each other, when they thought the other wasn't paying attention.
"So did you end up staying here in England, or did you go somewhere else?" Katrina asked.
"I stayed here for a little while longer after that day in the park." Seth replies. "A few more months to be exact. I then went back home to Iowa and I was there for a while, spending as much time as I could with my mom and my friends and working a bit and traveled in the States before coming back to the U.K. When I came back, even though, I made my home here in England, my job has led me to traveling to a few more countries, and getting as much experience as I could, as well as taking advantage of the traveling to experience the different cultures. What did you end up doing after that day? Did you go to school?"
Katrina looked at him and squinted before looking down at her hands. "I don't really know what to tell you, seeing as I'm sure there's things you know about me, for job purposes."
"Just what I needed to know." Seth softly tells her. "Like where you work. All of the possible routes to your job and back. Knowing the area around here and your job, as well as to all of your frequented places, and all the possible ways to get there. Your parents, and siblings. But since I'm not a guard for them, I don't really know anything about them except for whatever information I'm given on them. If you go on any business trips, or just trips of any kind, we need to know. Especially if it's out of the country. Sounds like some stalker type of thing to some people, but as your security, it's what we have to know. Everything else, it's up to you whether or not you want to tell me."
She gives him a soft smile and looks out over the lake. "I had just graduated not too long before we met with a degree in Economics, and so I went back for a Masters. Then I went to the University of Glasgow in Scotland for Business and then I came back to Oxford for an MBA."
Catching his eye, she couldn't help but notice the sparkle in his eyes and felt her cheeks grow warm under his stare. Seth leaned in a bit to hook a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"How was it, having been able to accomplish all of that, so young?" He asks.
"I finished high school at fourteen and I got my bachelor's in three years. Both times." She says. "It feels good being able to accomplish all of that and as young as I did."
"Going to college as young as you did, kind of forced you to grow up a bit, huh?" He says.
She nods, looking down at her lap. "I missed out on a lot, when I was growing up. A lot of things that I feel like I missed out on because I felt like I had to grow up faster than what I thought I should. I was a high school senior at 14 years old. Four degrees by the time I turned 25. I missed out on prom. Missed out on going out with my friends. I didn't even have that much friends until I got older. There were a lot of things I couldn't do because of my age and so it was hard a lot of times. What about you? Did you go to college?"
"I didn't go to college." Seth tells her, expecting a negative reaction from her, but when she didn't say anything, he continued. "I wrestled for a bit before getting a job as security. I traveled for a bit before coming here to England. When you and I met, I had already been here for about a year and even though I liked it here, I was a bit homesick. That had been the longest amount of time that I had been away from home and so a few months after we met, like I said earlier, I went back to the States. How do you feel, knowing that I never went to college?"
"I don't see you any differently." Katrina tells him, with a smile. "You're still Seth, to me. I'm not the type of person that looks down on someone because of their education or because they took a different career path or because of what they had or didn't have in their life. Who am I to judge?"
When a light breeze filled the air, Katrina tightened her sweater around her and started curling up in her seat in an effort to stay warm. Seth noticed and just wanted to take her in his arms to keep her warm.
"Let's go back inside. If you want, I'll make you some hot cocoa." Seth offered.
"Sounds good." She replies with her dimples showing as she smiled.
They blew out all of the candles, and made sure they were out before making their way back inside and to the kitchen. Katrina helped to make some hot cocoa and they fell into a comfortable silence until they sat down with their mugs filled with the warm liquid.
"Do you still like hummingbirds?" Seth asked.
"I love them." Katrina softly says. "Out of all of the places that you've been to, what's your favorite place?"
He thought for a moment. "I've always liked Italy. The food, the culture. All of that. You?"
"If I had to choose, I would go with France." She tells him. "The little cafe's and the language and the food. Did I mention the Eiffel Tower?"
"Ever had anyone special to take there?" Seth asks. "It is said that Paris is the city of love."
"Do people really say that?" Katrina asks with a smile. "And no, I haven't. I don't date a lot."
Seth looks at her, surprised. "How is it that a woman as beautiful and as smart as you, doesn't date a lot?"
Katrina shrugs. "It's hard. Well, for me it is. I've always been awkward, even when I was little. Always had my nose in a book, because I loved to read and I still do and because I loved learning, which I still do. A lot of guys didn't pay attention to me and always saw me as just a friend or a little sister because of how much younger I was than them. It clearly didn't last long with the boyfriends I did have, because I'm single now and clearly, the guys I do date, it never goes further than a couple of dates because they see I'm not going to just open up my legs for them or they just see money when they realize who my family is. One complaint I do get is that I work a lot, which I agree, I probably do. But I rather work for what I have, than have to depend on someone for everything. At least I can say that I got it for myself rather than someone taking credit for everything I have."
He looks at her in new admiration. "When was the last time you had any romance?"
"Last night, because of a book I finished reading." She replies. "But if you mean in person, then it's been a while."
Seth lets out a laugh that filled the kitchen and it's a sound that she surprisingly likes to hear. More than she thought she did. They both take a sip of their hot cocoa as the laughter dies down. They go back into conversation about random things, like music and movies before they decided to go to bed at three in the morning. A few days later, it was after 8:30 in the morning when Katrina heard a knock on the door. She was in her office at work and it was all glass. Her big, mahogany desk in the middle of the room, with a computer and paperwork that she was in the middle of working on as well as the work she had up on her computer. There was a black couch to the left of the desk, and a large window over looking the skyline of the city. There were shelves filled with books of all kinds. Outside of her office, was a secretary that had started working there at the same time as her. The woman was blonde with green eyes and could pass for a model. The two were the same age and had become really good friends since their start with the company.
Looking up to see who was at the door, she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face when she saw Seth standing there in his usual attire, and saw that he held up a small bag and a cup holder with two cups in it. Taking in the sight of him, she couldn't help but notice how he looked in black dress pants, a black shirt and black shoes with his hair pulled back into a bun. Katrina walks up to door and opens it, seeing his deep brown eyes quickly linger before looking back at her eyes.
"I know Mary is supposed to let you know when someone would like to meet with you, but I wanted to surprise you with some breakfast, since I know you didn't get to eat anything earlier." Seth says, still standing at the door.
"Thank you, so much." She says, appreciating the gesture. "You didn't have to."
Seth waved it off. "I know, but I wanted to make sure you ate something."
"Not trying to poison me, are you?" She asks.
"Nope." He says, chuckling. "We can't get rid of each other that easily."
Katrina smiled at him, and let him in. When she got to her desk, she pressed a button that was underneath and saw the glass surrounding her office, close up, as if there was curtain there. Seth looked on, impressed.
"I like my privacy, too." She states, offering a seat on the couch after saving her work.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your work." He says. "I can always come back later. You know I'll be around and we can always talk another time."
Katrina stopped him. "It's okay. I could a break right now anyways, to eat something. I've been going non-stop since I got here. If I can get this done before lunch, I'll have the afternoon to take it easy."
"But not at the expense of your health." Seth reminds her.
"Right." She says with a soft smile.
Taking the bag, she takes out a warm bagel with cream cheese while he sets the two cups on the floor. After a bite of the bagel, Katrina closes her eyes and lets out a happy sigh. They both ate their bagels and drank some coffee before they went their separate ways and Katrina went back to work. After staying up late, the last couple of days with the guy, she was tired but she didn't mind. Neither of them did, seeing as how they both enjoyed their late night conversations, and with little to no interruptions. She would get a knowing look from Mary whenever she would see them interact with each other, or whenever they were simply around each other, though Katrina paid no mind to it.
Leaving the door open, she happened to look out and saw a woman that Katrina recognized from one of the other departments, talking to Seth. She felt a strange feeling inside of her and she wasn't sure what it was. Katrina wasn't even sure to what think about it, as she saw the woman laugh at something that Seth had said and place her hand on his arm. It was a few more minutes before she walked away and Seth stayed behind with Drew. Burying herself back into her work, Katrina put her thoughts to the back of her head as she focused and what she needed to focus on.