First of all, there are a few people I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart:
Thanks a lot to InsaniaTorn/missmalaise for beta-reading my chapters and helping me improve my writing and grammar skills. You are awesome!
I would also like to thank ShannonTheAwesomeOne/dominoduh for giving me the best ideas and for being my inspiration. She is my personal Roman Reigns consultant and I love her for it. Thanks hun!
Also a huuuge thank you to all of my readers, especially butterflydance21, Emmettluver2010, ImSuchAGenuis1988, punkydiva17, Pinayprincesa, ILoveAnime89, Cookie D, SweetEnigma, lovencrazy86, LadyOfJusticeShield, MrsApexPredator etc. I love your reviews. They encourage me to keep going.
Okay, enough for now…I'm sure you want to read the new chapter. So enjoy, my lovely readers!
Chapter 10: Do I still want you in my life?
She couldn't sleep all night. The picture of Roman's eyes was haunting her constantly. The hatred, the aggression.
She swallowed hard and checked her watch. It was 8am. She was thankful that the night was finally over, but she was also totally exhausted and tired.
Her stomach rumbled. She was hungry but she really didn't feel like eating. And she most definitely didn't want to run into Roman. Her eyes filled with tears again. She really thought he was different. But he disappointed her. Or was she too hard on him? In the end he really just wanted to defend her. Just like he said last night.
But how can she just forgive him if she is still scared to death just thinking about his hot temper?
She shook her head and pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind. This time she wouldn't hide in her room. She would go out there and be strong. She knew she would probably see Drew and his buddies. And she knew that Roman would most likely be there as well. But she wouldn't let anyone run her life. Not anymore.
After a quick shower, she got dressed and made her way downstairs. She took the stairs, not wanting to have an awkward conversation with one of her colleagues in the elevator.
Before entering the breakfast room, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Stay strong, Karo. You can do it.
Without looking around, she directly made her way to the buffet. She just wanted to get something to eat and sit down at a table all by herself. She was used to being alone. It shouldn't make any difference now.
"Good morning, Karo." It was Seth.
She just had a few seconds to decide what to do: either greet him back and possibly spot Roman, or just keep going and ignore him. She went for the latter possibility and made her way to the coffee machine.
Seth didn't deserve to be treated like that. He was a good guy and she really liked him, but right now she just couldn't talk to him. At least not with Roman sitting next to him.
Meanwhile Seth stared after her with a confused look on his face. He then looked at Roman sceptically and shook his head.
"Hey man…does your bruised face possibly have something to do with Karolina ignoring us?"
Roman sighed and dropped his fork on the table. It killed him to see how cold-hearted Karo was. He never thought she could be like this.
"Maybe", he said and continued. "But I really don't want to talk about it. It's not worth it."
Seth frowned and looked at Dean, telepathically pleading him to help him. Maybe Roman would open up if Dean said something.
"Look Roman, spill the beans. It doesn't really help if you keep being moody because of something that is eating you up inside."
Roman looked back and forth between his two best friends. Maybe he should really talk about it. Maybe they knew why she was acting like that. Because he had no idea.
"Karolina and I had a date last night. We didn't tell anyone because we just wanted to see where this is going first. I took her to a nice restaurant and everything was perfect. But the dumbass that I am, I dragged her to a club. And who do we meet?"
Again there was hatred in his eyes. Just thinking about Drew made him furious.
"Don't tell me you had a brawl with Drew." Seth looked at Roman annoyed. Really? He thought his friend was cleverer than that. Drew was a piece of shit and Seth didn't think that Roman would get his hands dirty because of that asshole.
"Seth, you should have seen the texts he sent to Karo. He needed a rubdown." Of course Seth wouldn't understand. He always kept talking things through. He was like a woman sometimes. But talking wasn't an option with Drew. Drew was the kind of guy that needed to get his ass kicked.
"But why is Karo pissed off with you then?"
Dean actually wasn't the kind of guy that talked about feelings, but he knew that Roman liked that girl and he wanted to make sure that things worked out. Not to forget that he liked her as well. She was a cool chick.
"If I only knew…" Roman sighed again. He really wished he knew. He kept thinking about this all night. He just wanted to protect her. Didn't it show her how much she already meant to him?
Seth suddenly stood up and left Roman and Dean alone without saying another word. He had to find Karolina. And he needed to know what was going on. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to show her that he was her friend. It was a difficult situation for him. He would never let down Roman, but at the same time he wanted Karolina to be happy.
He found her at a small table in the back of the room, stirring her coffee, lost in thought.
"Hey", he quietly said while taking the seat across from her. She didn't look up at him. She felt bad for treating him like this but she just couldn't help it. She was fighting the tears again. She hated to cry in front of people.
"Karolina…look at me." He gently lifted her chin so that she was forced to look up. Her eyes were blood-shot and teary-eyed. She must have been crying all night long.
"Roman just told us what happened last night. But tell me why you're avoiding him now." He looked at her expectantly, but she kept quiet.
"Okay, look, I also think it's stupid to get into a fight because of things like these and I really don't support his decision, but he was probably doing it for you", he continued. This made Karo bristle with anger.
"He was doing it for me? Seth, seriously, he was acting like a maniac yesterday. Yeah, maybe someone had to show Drew that he crossed the line, but that doesn't give him the right to yell at me and…"
"Woah woah woah…he yelled at you?" Seth couldn't really believe what Karo had just told him because Roman was actually quite a calm person. That really didn't sound like him.
"He did. You should have seen that look in his eyes. I was scared, Seth." The tears were now streaming down her face. She was conflicted about this whole thing. She was confused. Was she overreacting?
"But Karo, I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to scare you. You know yourself that people do things in a rage which they regret afterwards."
She couldn't stop crying. God, why couldn't she just be strong for a second? She was such a wimp.
Seth stood up and took her hands so that she had to stand up as well. He pulled her into a tight hug, caressing her hair and trying to calm her down.
"It's going to be ok, Karolina", he whispered into her ear. He felt so sorry for her. She had been going through so much in the last couple of months. He just wanted to see her happy finally. And he was sure that Roman actually could be the one to make her happy. But things seemed to be different now.
He gently broke the hug, looking into her eyes again. "You should talk to him, Karo. He deserves to know what he did wrong."
She immediately shook her head no. She didn't want to talk to him. What if he lost his temper again?
"So what do you want to do now? Just ignore him for the rest of your life? You know that you can't. First of all because you guys are working in the same company and secondly because you fucking like him. Don't deny it! This is ridiculous!"
Seth was right. She liked him. She liked Roman a lot. But she didn't like the way he was trying to solve a problem. Because in her opinion, violence wasn't a solution.
Before she could answer, she spotted Dean approaching them. Why was he here now?
"Hey girl." He looked at her intently when he stood in front of her, but no emotion reflected in his eyes. You would think he was heartless if you didn't know him. But deep down he had feelings as well. He just wasn't the kind of person to show them. Feelings meant trouble. And he had been in trouble his whole life, so he didn't give a shit about certain things anymore.
Seth let go of Karo and looked at Dean surprised. He normally didn't intervene if it was about relationship matters. So why did he now?
"Now stop crying. That doesn't look sexy at all." He tried to break the ice with his cocky attitude. And he succeeded. He made Karo giggle in between sobs.
"Seth, would you give us a minute?" Seth frowned and sighed heavily. Dean wanted to be alone with Karo? He wanted to be alone with a woman as fragile as Karo was in that moment? Seth was just hoping that Dean wouldn't fuck this up. He knew that Dean wasn't the one to comfort girls when they were having heartache because he was the one breaking their hearts in the first place.
But Seth simply nodded and gave Karo a peck on her cheek before leaving them alone.
Dean sat down and waited for Karo to do so as well. He didn't know himself what he was doing there. And most importantly he didn't know why he was doing it. But he had the feeling he had to do something this time.
"I'm completely honest with you, babe. I know women don't like this 'fighting over woman' stuff. And it's actually pretty ridiculous, I know. But if a man likes a woman, he does things which can't be explained. I honestly don't give a fuck about the texts Drew sent you. And I don't give a fuck about the things that happened during their brawl last night. But I do care about my friend back there. He took a beating for you."
Karolina wanted to say something, but Dean wouldn't let her interrupt him.
"I'm not done, Karo." He looked at her sternly and carried on, "He is sitting over there with a black eye and his lip busted open. And he has no idea why you are not talking to him anymore. Do you think that's fair? Don't you think you should at least tell him?"
She looked at him surprised. She didn't know he could ever be so worried about someone. Again she wanted to say something but he simply continued, not giving her a chance to speak.
"Girl, you know I'm not really into this relationship bullshit and all, but Roman likes you more than you can imagine. And as long as he hasn't beaten you, you have no right to be pissed off with him."
She swallowed hard. His words echoed in her head over and over again. And maybe he was right. Dean was that kind of guy who told you exactly what he was thinking. And he was brutally honest. And if Dean involved himself in such a thing, then it really was important to him.
"Did he hurt you, Karolina?" Dean looked at her expectantly and was relieved to see that she shook her head no. He knew that Roman would never hit a woman. He let out his anger in the gym. Or at Drew, apparently.
"But I still don't want to see him today. I need to think things through." It was the first time she was able to say something after Dean's monologue.
"That's ok, I do understand. But don't let him suffer too much or I have to spank you." Again he made her laugh. He couldn't be serious for too long. That wasn't in his nature.
He stood up and looked at her, unsure of what to do next. She sensed that he didn't know how to react now, so she took the initiative and put her arms around his waist, hugging him. He was surprised at first, not moving, but soon relaxed and put his arms around her as well.
He wasn't used to having a female friend. At least in terms of not sleeping with her at the same time. It felt strange, but he would get used to it somehow.
"Thanks, Dean", she whispered to him with her face pressed against his chest. He simply nodded although she couldn't see it, and then let her go.
"Yeah, well…uhm…I see you around." He smiled at her and quickly turned around, leaving her alone.
Now she was even more conflicted. On the one hand, she was mad at Roman for being such a dick; for being so aggressive and for yelling at her, but on the other hand, she knew that he didn't do it to hurt her. Why should he? He was the one asking her out for a date. Maybe it really didn't mean anything. He most likely just lost his temper once. It might have been an exception.
And as both Seth and Dean told her, he was doing it for her. He wanted to shut Drew up once and for all. He took the risk to get a beating by three men while he was all by himself. Only to show her that he cared.
It was most definitely not the right thing to do, but maybe she should give him a chance to explain his actions to her? Or shouldn't she? Karo was confused.