A/N: Ok finally back! Sorry for the delay but life and my job got in the way a little bit. Thank you for hanging in there and for all of the follows, faves, and reviews! It really means a lot to me. Please keep them coming! I'm still setting up a few things but I think you guys will be happy with the turn things are about to ease into! :)
Chapter Nine - Revelations
Michonne moved her hips in time with the pounding beat of the music pumping from the bar's speakers. It was Friday night and she was with Maggie at a bar she'd never been to before waiting for Glenn to show up. It was supposed to be a group outing to celebrate them winning the CDC contract but Sasha and Abe had canceled at the last minute because Sasha wasn't feeling well and Glenn was caught in traffic.
"Glenn says he's 10 minutes away…" Michonne looked up at Maggie and smiled apologetically.
"You know…I think I'm just going to call an Uber and go home…" Before she could even get the words out, Maggie was emphatically shaking her head. She continued speaking before Maggie could say anything. "Abe and Sasha aren't going to make it and that's going to turn this into a date night for you and Glenn instead of a friends night." Maggie defiantly shoved her phone into her pocket and reached across the table to squeeze her hand.
"We can still celebrate with just the three of us!" Getting to know Maggie had been a blessing over the last few weeks. Every moment she spent with her helped her see why Glenn had fallen so hard and so fast for her. She was a sweetheart but she was also whip smart and unafraid to challenge him. Maggie was exactly what he needed to push him out of his comfort zone and it seemed like he was exactly what she needed to keep her grounded.
The best part was that she accepted the relationship between her and Glenn without question. That had always been a secret fear of hers; that one day Glenn would fall in love with some woman who didn't appreciate the fact that his best friend was a woman. Maggie was just the opposite. She accepted it but didn't try to force herself into it and Michonne appreciated that greatly…anyway they were quickly becoming friends in their own right.
"We can celebrate another night! You and Glenn deserve a date night." Maggie sighed deeply and Michonne could tell that having an unexpected date night with Glenn was very appealing to her.
"At least stay until he gets here? It'll give us a chance to talk a little bit." Happy that she'd given in and that she would be able to go home and binge watch a couple more episodes of Lovesick on Netflix, Michonne broke into a wide grin.
"Of course! Like I'd leave you alone here", she said.
Maggie smiled brightly and lifted her martini glass to her lips.
"So…are you still going out with that guy…Mike?" Michonne laughed to herself and took a drink from her own glass.
"You don't beat around the bush, do you?", asked Michonne.
"Glenn could be here any minute so I'm making the most of my time with you", she answered with a grin.
"We've been out on a couple of dates but I think I'm going to end it", she explained and Maggie's eyes widened at the news.
"Really? Why?" Michonne took another sip of her drink and pondered Maggie's question. She'd second-guessed going out with him almost since the minute she'd accepted his offer at game night, but the date had actually gone well. He'd turned down the arrogance and she'd been able to see why Sasha had thought they'd get along.
Along with being extremely good looking, he was smart, cultured, and his casual observations about life made her laugh. The date surprised her and made her think that she'd been wrong about him. So when he'd asked to see her again, she'd accepted, even though she still had the nagging feeling that something was missing.
The second date was more of the same. He'd taken her to a nice dinner, where they'd shared nice conversation and even exchanged a nice kiss at the end of the night. But when he'd texted her the next day to see about seeing her again, she'd promised to get back to him when she wasn't so busy. In reality, she knew she didn't want to see him again and was struggling with how to tell him that. She'd been given a short reprieve from having to see him by a business trip to DC. He'd left Wednesday and wasn't due back until Sunday.
Two dates had proved that her lack of chemistry with him was real and not a result of her comparing him to someone else in her mind. When he'd kissed her, there was absolutely nothing there and Michonne couldn't bring herself to try with him any more. He was a nice guy when he wasn't being cocky but he wasn't for her in any way, shape, or form.
The situation was complicated by the fact that Mike had just been made manager of the CDC project that had just been awarded to Bishop and Rhee. So even if she did cut him loose, she wouldn't be free of him. She was going to have to see him nearly every day for the next nine months to a year. Yeah. Sasha owed her one. Big time.
Complicating things even more were still her lingering thoughts regarding Maggie's brother. She hadn't heard from him in nearly three weeks but his memory was fresh in her mind. She'd done her best to keep him from her thoughts while she was with Mike, but when she was alone those thoughts rushed back in.
She wanted to ask Maggie about him but she couldn't figure out a way to do it without being suspicious and Maggie never brought him up to give her an opening. She figured he was off living his best life with his girlfriend and had completely forgotten about the girl who'd run him over in the bookstore. That thought tormented her more than anything else; the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about him while he never thought about her.
She turned her attention back to Maggie.
"It's just not going to work out." Maggie's lips curved into a grin as she nodded and tucked a few strands of her wavy brown hair behind her ear.
"Well, the right guy is out there for you. I'm sure of it!" Michonne had to laugh at the younger woman's certainty.
"How are you so sure?" Maggie shrugged at Michonne's question like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Because you're amazing and…" Maggie's voice trailed off as she pulled her pone from her pocket and Michonne saw a coy smile appear on her lips. "Glenn's here…I'm going to meet him at the door. Can you wait here and hold the table for us?"
"Sure."
"Thanks, Michonne!" Maggie gave her a quick hug before she dashed away from the table, leaving her alone with her drink and her thoughts. Her phone buzzed and she looked down at the screen to see a text from Mike.
Mike: DC is so boring. I can't wait to get back to Atlanta and you.
She exhaled deeply and tried to think of the right way to answer him. She didn't want to end things via a text and she also didn't want to give him hope about the two of them being anything more than they already were.
Michonne: Can we get together for coffee when you get back on Sunday?
Mike: Definitely! I'll text you when I get back.
Michonne: See you then.
She turned off the notifications on her phone and slid it into her purse so she wouldn't be tempted to keep texting him. She'd just made a date to essentially break up with him, so she didn't want to give him the wrong idea. Rubbing her forehead, she finished the rest of her drink and hoped Glenn and Maggie returned to the table quickly so she could go home to Netflix and chill with herself.
XX
"So how's it feel? You've been a single man for almost three weeks now…" Shane asked, slapping Rick on his back as he slid him another beer. It was his first night out since the break up and it seemed like Shane was hell bent on getting him more drunk than he'd ever been in his life. They'd gone for burgers at their favorite place after work and now they were at a random bar in Buckhead enjoying a couple of beers and conversation.
"…and all I've had time to do is search for a place to live so I can move what's left of my shit out of the condo before Lori burns it all." Rick answered with a shrug before taking a drink from his beer.
"The window may have already closed on that that one, man. Have you talked to her?" Rick couldn't keep the incredulous look from his face at Shane's question.
"God, no…the hate texts she keeps sending is more than enough." Rick wasn't kidding about that one. Every day he'd receive at least five texts letting him know in no uncertain terms that he was an asshole and she hated him.
Shane released a low chuckle and cocked his head to one side, his lips curving into an easy grin.
"Well, I've got a front row seat to the Rick Grimes is an asshole meetings and wow…how the hell did you deal with that day in and day out for as long as you did? I mean…she is a special kind of awful", he said and Rick sighed as his fingers began to absently tear at the label on his beer bottle. He could almost picture Lori and Andrea sitting around with a bottle of wine and completely dragging his name through the mud.
"Look, I'm sorry for putting you in this position. Andrea and Lori are friends and…"
"Aww, man…it's fine. Was Andi pissed when I told her I was going out with you tonight? Sure, but she'll get over it. We've been friends way too long to let women come between us…even if one of 'em is my wife."
"Thanks."
"That's what friends are for. Eventually, Andi will realize that Lori is a hateful bitch and it won't be a problem any more…I still don't get why it took you so long to see it."
"Yeah, well…she wasn't like that before…and then she wasn't like that all the time…" He reasoned; his upbringing forcing him not to say anything bad about Lori even though Shane's description was extremely accurate. Shane started laughing as he finished off his beer.
"In other words, she hit you with the okie doke, and you fell for it." Shane's summary was simple but it wasn't too far from the truth. He'd been swindled from the moment she'd shown up on his doorstep in New Orleans and he'd been too lonely for too long to see it. "Don't beat yourself up over it. It happens to the best of us…did you find a place yet?" Shane's voice pulled him out of his head and shook his head as he finished off his beer.
"Not yet, but the realtor I met last week called with more listings to show me tomorrow." The house hunt hadn't gone well the week before. The realtor kept showing him very nice condos in the city but none of them felt right. They were all a little bit too sterile and while he didn't know exactly what he was looking for, he knew it wasn't that.
Shane nodded and kept drinking.
"Still sure you want to buy?" Rick paused for a moment as he considered Shane's question. Originally, he'd planned to just find an apartment but his parents not so subtly dropped a few hints that he should think about buying.
"Yeah. It's time I think. If I own a home, I'll never be homeless again, right?" Shane nodded and clinked the neck of his beer bottle against Rick's.
"You're just making all kinds of life changing decisions this week!" Rick scratched at the stubble he'd allowed to get a little more out of control than he ever did, and laughed to himself.
"It's long overdue. It's like I've been in a coma or something and now that I'm awake, I'm going to do my best to make up for lost time." Shane slapped him on the shoulder again as he rose from the barstool.
"I'm gonna hit the head and grab us something harder. We've got to celebrate!" Shane disappeared, leaving Rick alone and grateful for the respite however short it was probably going to be. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead to fight away the headache that he felt coming on.
While he wasn't feeling regret over ending things with Lori, the week had been tough on him. His life had been upended and he wasn't exactly sure how to move forward. For the first time in years, there were no expectations on him and no one was making plans for him. As soon as he wasn't living with his parents any more, he'd be completely free and that was something he was looking forward to for multiple reasons.
He thought he caught a glimpse of one of those reasons when he glanced around the bar looking for Shane. From the first minute he had a chance to breathe, Michonne was on his mind, so when he saw her standing at a table across the bar, he'd almost thought she was a figment of his imagination. It wasn't until he recognized the woman standing next to her as his own sister that he believed she was real.
He took a minute to take her in and silently thank whatever had inspired Shane to pick that bar for their night out. It was the first time he was allowed to look at her without feeling guilty for the way she made him feel. Her short, hot pink dress hugged all of her curves; leaving her shoulders and most of her long legs bare. He still couldn't understand how she could be so klutzy in a pair of flats but able to walk perfectly in sky high heels. He smiled at the strange dichotomy that seemed to make her even more captivating to him.
He'd wanted to call her every day for the last two weeks but something kept stopping him. Maybe it was because he wasn't ready or maybe he only thought he wasn't ready because of some antiquated notion that there should be some kind of mourning period after a relationship ended. Either way, he hadn't called or texted her and he'd instructed his sister not to tell her that he no longer had a girlfriend. He felt like that was something she should only hear from him.
Maggie had no problem calling him an idiot and letting him know that her friends had set her up with some guy. That news had nearly sent him running to her office to tell her everything but he'd held himself back. It was too soon and he had to at least try to get his shit together before dragging her into it. So that's what he'd spent the last three weeks doing…that and trying not to think about the sobering possibility that she could be moving on.
"Rick…earth to Rick!" He blinked out of his thoughts to find that Shane had returned to their small table with more drinks and a curious expression in his dark eyes. "What's got you all hypnotized?"
"Nothing…" Shane frowned and Rick could tell he was trying to track his gaze for himself. He knew the exact moment he figured it out because Shane slid his drink over to him and punched his arm.
"Never mind, I think I can see for myself. Who's the girl talking to Maggie?" Rick groaned and thought about lying to Shane but if he knew anything at all about his best friend, it was that the man was like a dog with a bone when he wanted to know something. That usually resulted in something embarrassing happening so it would be better for everyone if he just came clean.
"Her name is Michonne", he answered, careful not to volunteer any information. If Shane wanted to know, he was going to have to pull it out of him.
Unfortunately, Shane also knew this game and by the mischievous twinkle in his eye, Rick could tell he was more than willing to play.
"How do you know her?"
"She's the woman who ran me over at Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago." Shane's eyes widened and Rick followed his gaze to Michonne who was laughing with Maggie. Her smile could literally light up a room and Rick was quickly becoming lost in her again; so much so that he almost didn't hear Shane when he started talking again.
"Seriously?! Her?! No wonder you weren't too upset about that sprained ankle! She's…wow!" His pitiful charade hadn't been working anyway so Rick gave it up and continued to stare at the gorgeous woman who'd been haunting his thoughts since the day they met.
"She's something else alright…beautiful inside and out." He felt Shane's stare burning the side of his face and he knew what was coming.
"Holy shit! I know that look! You like her!" Rick quickly turned his back on Michonne and gave his full attention to his friend.
"Shane…" The humor left Shane's features and was replaced by a look of shock.
"Is she the reason you broke up with Lori?" Rick quickly shook his head.
"No! I broke up with Lori because we'd run our course and I should've done it a long time ago", he denied. Shane raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"But she's the reason you finally realized it!" If anything, Shane was a good lawyer and he'd effectively cross examined him with ease.
"Maybe…", Rick offered, taking a drink of his whiskey.
"Well…if you like her, you better do something about it soon because some pretty boy is over there chatting her up." Rick's heart dropped and his head spun around like it was on a swivel and he frowned when he saw that it was still just Michonne and Maggie. Shane's loud, amused laugh alerted him to the fact that he'd been had. "Your head spun around so fast it made my head spin!"
"Asshole…", he frowned, but he couldn't deny the anxiety he felt at the thought of seeing Michonne with another guy. Shane had absolutely no idea just how deeply his little joke had cut him.
"Go talk to her." He wrinkled his eyebrows and looked at Shane.
"It's too soon. It's only been two weeks since I broke up with Lori…" His friend shrugged and brought his glass to his lips.
"So what? That girl is fire! If you don't make a move some other guy will and then you'll be beatin' yourself up over it for the rest of your life."
"I don't know…", he began, his brain trying it's best to talk him out of doing exactly what Shane was suggesting; the one thing he really wanted to do. His friend slapped him on the back and smirked.
"Look, Maggie just walked away. I'll make sure she gives y'all time to talk." Shane picked up his drink and started walking in the direction that he'd seen Maggie disappear in.
"Why do you care so much?", he called after him. Shane stopped moving and looked over his shoulder wearing a cocky grin that he should have patented.
"Because I ain't ever seen you look at a woman the way you're looking at her. Now take some liquid courage, get your ass over there, and get your girl!" Rick took a deep breath, picked up his glass and downed what was left in there in one gulp; his eyes never leaving her back. The heat of the liquor burned his chest, warmed his cheeks, and helped push him across the bar to her. He had no idea how the next few minutes were going to go but despite that uncertainty, he was eager to be in her presence again.
He slowly approached her, taking the time to fully appreciate her near perfect form. The closer he got, the less he cared about how little time had passed since his break up or the possibility that she might be seeing someone. He was going to tell her everything that had happened in the last three weeks and ask her to go out with him. No matter how it turned out, he could never regret doing anything that, even for a moment, brought him closer to her.
XXX
Michonne sighed to herself and wondered what was taking Maggie so long to come back with Glenn and their drinks. She'd already decided that she'd have a drink with them and then leave. She didn't want to be the third wheel and they were so cute together that it was almost sickening. While Michonne loved Glenn dearly and was beginning to feel that way about Maggie too, she couldn't stand to be witness to their love bubble without anyone else as a buffer. There wasn't enough alcohol in the world to help her survive that.
"Michonne?" His voice sent a tremor of recognition through her body and when she turned around to find Rick standing there, her breath caught in her throat. He was more dressed down than she'd ever seen him; his black polo shirt and dark jeans making him look like an extra from a Lands End catalog. The only things that didn't quite fit with that image was his dark hair that still curled up at his collar and around his ears; and the scruff on his face that was quickly turning into a full blown beard. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets and she noticed that he wore half a smile as she basked in the warmth of his gaze.
"Rick...hi! Maggie didn't tell me you were coming tonight…", she greeted, shaking herself out of the spell he had her under from just being in his presence.
"I didn't know you were going to be here tonight…", he answered with a shrug, "I'm here with my friend Shane having a guys night. How've you been?"
"I'm good…busy with work and about 800 other things…how about you?" His eyes left hers for the first time since they started talking and there was a long pause before he answered her question.
"It's been an...interesting...few weeks...to say the least." When he looked up at her, there was a hint of something she couldn't quite place behind his eyes but before she could say anything, he spoke again. "I'm sorry…again…for missing game night. I really wanted to come but these last few Mondays…" She shook her head and and waved her hand dismissively causing his words to just trail off.
"It's ok, stuff happens! Maybe you can make it to the next one." She watched as a slow smile appeared on his lips and he cleared his throat as he took a step closer to her.
"I hope so…because getting to know you better is something I'm very interested in." Michonne's brain slowed to a crawl as the spell he had her under strengthened. The heat between them was palpable and they way he was looking at her only made it worse. He was openly flirting with her and as much as she wanted to throw caution to the wind and flirt back, she couldn't. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, steeling herself to break the spell and do the right thing.
He was still smiling at her when she opened her eyes and it almost made her reconsider shutting him down, but she had to do it. She wasn't going to be his girl on the side. It wasn't who she was and she was disappointed that he'd turned out to be the kind of guy who would ask her to be.
"Rick…", she began, "I think we both know that there's an…attraction…between us but you're with someone and I…" She felt his fingers gently brush her arm and it halted her words. That look she hadn't been able to identify earlier was back in his eyes, but it didn't completely extinguish the fire that burned in them too.
"I ended things with my girlfriend." His revelation nearly knocked her off her feet. "I probably should've opened with that." His joke hung in the air between them as she tried to process what his words meant and even in her shocked state, she came to only one conclusion. The barrier between them was gone.
Almost as soon as she allowed herself to be a little happy about the fact that the man she was interested in was single, she was bombarded with the thought that she could somehow she could be responsible for it. If she felt whatever it was between them, he had to have felt it too. Even though it was something she wanted, she'd never wanted to get in the middle of someone else's relationship.
The weight of her even having a small role in the dissolution of his relationship began to settle on her shoulders and she took a step back and folded her arms across her middle causing his hand to slide off her arm.
"What? That's...I'm sorry." He shook his head and exhaled deeply before speaking.
"It was for the best. Things hadn't been right with us for a long time and I finally realized that we both deserve better." He didn't elaborate any further, but the simplicity of his explanation made her recognize the honesty in his words. Something in his voice told her that his break up was the result of the relationship running its course and she felt a little bit lighter.
"Are you ok?" He nodded quickly and graced her with another one of his smiles.
"I'm good…" She raised an eyebrow, drawing an amused laugh from him. "…really. I'm just ready to move on with my life."
"Well…it's only been a few weeks and break ups can be weird. One minute you think you're fine and the next you're eating a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting." Her joke fell flat this time and he only stared at her.
"Michonne…I know what you're doing."
"What?"
"I know I'm coming out of a relationship and I understand your hesitation about that…" She shook her head, upset at the fact that he was able to read her so easily.
"Rick…" Ignoring her, he took a step forward invading her space once again. They were standing so close that she could feel the warmth radiating off his body and she wanted to stay there despite her concerns.
"That…attraction you mentioned? I felt it too. I still do. I don't want to miss out on whatever it is between us." Her emotions were at war inside of her. She knew that if she allowed herself to go down that path with him, she was going to fall hard for him and that scared her. The last time she'd fallen hard for a guy, he'd left her devastated. Rick had the potential to do the same thing, especially if he really wasn't ready.
She looked up and got lost in the ocean of his eyes and she resigned herself to the only possible decision she could make. She reached for his hand and and gently squeezed it in her own.
"I can't be your rebound." He smiled and slowly shook his head, looking at her like that was the silliest thing he'd ever heard.
"You could never be that", he said, his voice thick with emotion. "We can take this as slow as you want to." She smiled brightly and nodded her agreement.
"Good because I want to take my time getting to know you better."
"Me too. You know…I've spent the last two weeks trying to figure out how to have this conversation with you." She couldn't hide how taken aback she was by his confession.
"Really?" He nodded as a slightly self-conscious smile danced on his lips.
"Yeah…I made Maggie swear not to say anything to you about what was going on with me and I kept waiting for it to feel like I had my life together before I called you." She was flattered by his honesty and by the value he put on what she thought of him.
"Is your life together?" He shook his head and laughed to himself.
"Not in the slightest! I mean, if it wasn't for my parents, I'd be kind of homeless right now. Not the ideal situation when you're trying to get a date with a woman who looks as beautiful as you do in that dress." She released his hand and blushed at his compliment.
"I've been there. Glenn was my savior in my time of need and I bought my townhouse shortly after."
"I'm looking to do the same thing. I went out with my realtor last weekend but nothing she showed me was right. I'm meeting her again tomorrow but I don't think she gets me." She wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. He was talking about buying a house and he sounded absolutely miserable about it.
"Looking at places was my favorite part! The neighborhoods, the architecture…all of it should be representative of who you are and what you want out of life." She was geeking out and she knew it but she didn't care. Ever since she was a kid, she loved looking at houses. It was probably what made her want to be an architect. Sometimes she would go to open houses on weekends just to lose herself in the architecture, the character, and the neighborhoods of Atlanta.
She could tell her enthusiasm wasn't lost on him by the smile on his face and the amusement in his eyes.
"That coming from the architect!" She laughed and tried to reign herself in.
"I'm sorry! I get a little passionate about that kind of stuff." He nodded, his eyes never leaving her.
"I can tell...Since you seem to enjoy house hunting, why don't you come with me tomorrow? I could really use the help and we could start getting to know each other better." He'd used her love of houses to coax her into spending the day with him and she smirked at how smoothly he'd pulled it off.
She was beginning to realize that taking things slowly with him was going to be a lot harder than it sounded and by the confident grin on his face, she could tell he knew it too. "Come on, Michonne…I'll buy you a doughnut for your services."
She shook her head and laughed to herself under her breath as she with hit with everything she was missing when she was with Mike. The chemistry between them was combustible and the issue wasn't going to be with igniting it. On the contrary, stopping it from igniting before they were both ready was going to be the real task.
She twisted her lips trying to hold back the smile she felt tugging at the corners of her lips.
"It better be Bacon Caramel and I'll need coffee too if it's earlier than 10am." He nodded his acceptance of her terms and pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to her after unlocking it.
"Tell me where you live and I'll pick you up at 9:30."
XXXX
A/N: Please review!
I'm thinking that Lori and Mike are loose ends that aren't going to be tied up so easily…and three guesses as to who the realtor is and the first two don't count! ;)
