Nine: Bitter. Sweet.
Bobby Roode was a man of many talents. Those talents did not include being subtle.
Charlotte didn't fit his taste in women. He liked them a little more plump, a little shorter and a little less bossy. Charlotte was a better pick for Dean because he'd do just about anything for her. She was like the woman behind the song, "Grenade" by Bruno Mars. She'd never do the same.
That's why Bobby didn't understand what kept him coming back to her. It started off casual enough. He saw her when he stopped by to talk to Dean. She was there when Dean brought the family to the precinct's yearly Christmas parties. If Dean forgot to turn his phone on, Bobby had to call Charlotte to remind him. Casual. Nothing intimate.
Bobby couldn't recall the exact moment of change, but something clicked within him and he realized how empty his life was without a long-term commitment. He found himself stopping by more and more. His excuse was to see Dean. He started doing some work around the house. He told Charlotte that Dean didn't know how to do some of these things, so he was just helping the family out. He started spending more time with Charlotte and Dean's son, Max. His claim was that he liked the kid and they clicked.
Charlotte didn't exactly show an interest, but she wasn't telling him to get out. The more time Bobby spent with her, the more he started to believe that she was his.
The moment finally came. Some random mid-afternoon in July. Max was out playing baseball with the neighborhood kids. Dean was swamped with paperwork back at the precinct. Bobby came over to fix the bathroom sink. He couldn't remember all the details, or how much time had passed. He did remember that Charlotte was wearing a dark purple dress that dipped low in front. She said she was going to a sponsorship dinner that night and she was trying on the dress in her room when Bobby busted a pipe and she came rushing in to help him.
She was barefoot and bra-less. Her hair was hanging all around her shoulders and the water had drenched her nice new dress. She was laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Bobby was also soaked to the bone and he wasn't going to laugh, but her lighthearted attitude made him crack up.
He found his way on top of her. She didn't push him away. They were kissing and getting more heated. She didn't tell him to stop. The bathroom floor was still wet. It was hot enough that it didn't matter. He fucked her harder than he intended to. She didn't hate him, afterwards.
Bobby knew the baby was his as soon as Dean said Charlotte was pregnant a few weeks, later. Bobby tried to get to her, to tell her that he'd be there for his child, but she couldn't manage a second alone with him.
Once that baby was gone, Charlotte was gone, too.
She had mentioned more than once about going to Atlanta. Bobby knew that's where she'd go if she ever left Dean. He found her more easily than he thought he would. He offered to give her a place to stay. He knew the area better than she did. She still refused him.
He didn't immediately follow her to the city. He waited almost a year before he moved away from the piss-ant town he called home. Dean was never the wiser. He was too easy going to think his best friend was moving out to find his soon-to-be-ex.
Bobby found a place to live outside of Atlanta. He looked up Charlotte, again. He found her in an old strip joint called La Termitas. He was infuriated at first, thinking that Charlotte had been forced into the trade to make ends meet. Then he realized she chose the life. He kept an eye on her while she worked.
Charlotte only followed him home for booty calls. She only talked to him when she had a problem that she didn't want to get her hands dirty with. She spent one night with him to tell him about a young doe-eyed thing from the sticks. Beth was her name.
Bobby had been given explicit instructions from Charlotte to find a way to rid the club of, "Their rip-off version of Taylor Swift." Charlotte told him stories over time of Beth's diva personality backstage, how Beth could get Goldust to approve of anything she wanted, and how Beth was using her popularity with the men to make sure that Charlotte had less and less stage time.
"It's getting to the point where it's costing me money to work there!" Charlotte complained.
Bobby watched Beth. She did appear to have a lot of stage time compared to the other girls. Charlotte was in some of the acts with Beth, but Charlotte was a background girl. Bobby saw how Beth interacted with the other girls. She appeared nice to most of them, but she showed an aversion to Charlotte. He watched Beth with the men. She spent some time with a guy named Randy. Looked like some asshole.
He spent months trying to find a way to get rid of Beth. She seemed to notice he was watching her and she was starting to get uneasy. She was never in a good place to cause a simple accident or something that would keep her out of work for a while. She was starting to catch on to the fact that Bobby was paying attention to her. He knew he would have to lay low for a while or he'd risk wearing out his welcome at the club.
Bobby took a trip to Miami for a few months. He learned about gator fishing. He got himself a nice tan. He shaved his head. He learned there were ways to make someone disappear.
He had only been back a few hours when Charlotte called him up in a rage, "Where did you go? You know that girl has a new routine?! I'm out for sure!"
"Calm down, alright? I'll take care of it," Bobby reassured her.
"She's got a new puppy around her, too! Seth something-or-other, the brother of that psycho, Randy! Seth's softer but he's not weak! You'll need to get her or he'll put a knife in your chest!"
"A knife? What is he, some sort of vigilante?" Bobby snorted laughter.
"He's like a hunter or something. Beth talks about it like he's some sort of a pro. It doesn't matter, what does matter is he'll stop you if he catches on to you!"
"He won't," Bobby stated.
Charlotte's voice turned softer as she asked more sweetly, "How do you know for sure?"
"They'll never see me comin'," Bobby told her.
:-:
"Bye," Beth whispered, giving Seth a quick kiss on the lips before disappearing backstage.
She knew he didn't like public displays of affection, so she kept it as simple as possible. Seth was glad that Beth understood him so well.
He wandered over to the bar. It was still early enough that there were only two customers in the club and they were being distracted by lap dances from Sasha and Bayley. Goldust was tending the empty bar, cleaning out shot glasses and preparing for another long night.
"Hello, there!" Goldust greeted Seth like they were old pals.
Seth sat sideways on a bar stool so he didn't have to look at Goldust, directly. He was more interested in observing his surroundings to make sure no one was listening.
"Beth lost her voice this morning. She'll just be dancing," Seth informed Goldust.
It wasn't a suggestion. Goldust understood that and nodded as he replied, "We can always play back the recorded songs so she can lip sync. Customers don't care one way or the other."
Seth took one more look around before he asked quietly, "I have a question for you."
"Shoot straight, then," Goldust made the motion of aiming and firing a gun with his hand. Seth didn't laugh.
"When I was here, last, Beth was singing her new song. There was a guy at the bar watching her. Looked like ex-military with a shaved head," Seth said.
Goldust didn't have to think long before he recalled, "Oh, sure! Bobby, I think his name is. He's one of those paranoid types who acts like he knows everything about everyone else but nobody knows two things about him."
"Seems like a dangerous type," Seth probed.
With a quick shrug, Goldust surmised, "He looks fierce as fuck but we've never had a problem with him around here. He just started showing up about...a year ago? About that long. He's been gone a while, though. I thought he moved."
"Does he have a preference for one of the girls, here?" Seth asked, taking another quick glance around.
"Oh, uh...Charlotte, I think. He talks to her; takes her home, sometimes. I've never seen him talk to the other girls. He used to watch Beth whenever she was on stage. He's never asked for anything one-on-one with her, though. Guess he's the look-but-don't-touch type."
"That may not apply if given the chance," Seth mumbled under his breath.
"What's that?" Goldust asked.
Seth just nodded at him and said, "Thanks, man."
Goldust smiled like he had done very well for himself. Seth was aware of Goldust's taste in men. Seth was also aware that Goldust had a bit of a crush on him. Seth only spoke to him when it concerned Beth. Goldust was always eager to engage with Seth, but he never made things uncomfortable.
Seth was about to walk out when he remembered he needed to talk to Beth. He wanted to tell her that he'd already spoken to Goldust about not singing for the night. Seth headed to the curtains that led backstage. He stopped when he heard a woman's voice saying, "...a boy-toy is all you need."
He stood just behind the curtain and listened. He could see through the fabric just well enough to make out Beth's form sitting at her vanity. Charlotte was standing behind Beth and leaning over her. Charlotte was topless and Beth was trying to lean away from her so she wouldn't get hit with a face-full of boob.
"It ain't like that," Beth whispered, her strained voice sounding too meek to stop the onslaught.
Charlotte let her head hang back and cackled out loud. Beth put her hands over her ears and leaned even further away. She was about to fall out of her chair.
"You don't even know what real men are like! The boy that follows you around? He's as green as a fourteen-year-old trying to tongue kiss his crush!"
"You're so mean," Beth sighed.
Charlotte started to turn away like she was going back to her own vanity. Seth watched as Charlotte prepared to sit down but shot back up like she had almost forgotten to add something. Charlotte pointed at Beth's reflection in the mirror and asked in a curiously sensual voice, "That boy of yours ever put it in your ass?"
Beth shot up out of her chair to walk out. Seth stepped through the curtain at that moment and she stopped short. Charlotte gave him a quick once-over and asked curiously, "How long have you been there?"
Beth's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Seth acted like he had no idea what Charlotte meant as he relayed to Beth, "Goldust said it's fine if you just dance."
Charlotte's expression fell for a moment. Seth glanced at her and caught a hint of jealousy. He also caught a much deeper emotion. Resentment.
"Thank you," Beth whispered, trying to wipe the embarrassment away by running her hands over her face.
Seth nodded and turned to leave. Beth followed after him and hugged him from behind as soon as they were past the curtain and out of Charlotte's sight.
He slowly turned around in her arms so he could face her. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry for what she said."
"'About me being a boy who doesn't know a goddamn thing about sex, or about me putting it in your ass?" Seth lifted a curious brow.
Beth buried her head against his chest to stifle an outburst of giggles made jagged by her lost voice. Seth pulled her even closer to him and growled in her ear, "Doesn't matter what I know or don't know. I'll do anything you want me to."
Her eyes moved up to meet his. She kept her head tilted against him. She enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her. He enjoyed holding her.
"Guess we'll see," she whispered.
"Can't wait," Seth half-smiled.
