*Here is my new Roman story. It's going to be a little different but I hope you like it*
5 o'clock rolled around and Audrey started packing up her things. She was planning to take some work home to work on later in the night and over the weekend so that she could be prepared for the upcoming cases she had been working on for court hearings happening in the next week or two. Normally on a Friday night she would stay till almost 11 or 12 at her law firm working on everything to actually have a free weekend on Saturday and Sunday before she was back to everything early Monday morning but tonight was different she had plans for the first time in a while on a Friday night. She was putting her files into her briefcase when her work friend Scott came up to the door of her office. He knocks on the door taking her attention away from packing things up. "Hey, Scott," she says with a smile.
"Hey, Audrey," he says as he makes his way into her office. "You're leaving already?" he asks.
"Yeah, I have plans to see an old friend tonight," she says before putting her attention back onto packing up files. "I'm taking work home to do over the weekend."
"That's not like you," he says with a smile as he sits at the chair across from her desk. "You usually grind it out till midnight."
"Yeah but my friend wants to hang out for a little bit tonight," she says, "and I haven't seen him for a while so my work can wait until tomorrow morning."
"So it's a guy friend?" he asks curiously. "Is it a boyfriend?" he asks making her stop putting things away. She looked up at him with her dark brown eyes through her long thick eyelashes. "Is it?" he asks.
"Scott, you and I both know that I don't have time for a committed relationship. I probably haven't had a date since I was in law school," she says knowing that Scott has asked her out on a date multiple times since she arrived at the law firm. He wasn't bad looking he was quite handsome for his age being in his mid- 40's; he had silver hair and the most beautiful crystal blue eyes, divorced from his wife which he shared two children with and being in his mid- 40's he still found the time to work out and stay in shape, but Audrey wasn't looking for any type of relationship or commitment. She wasn't the dating type because dating always led to a relationship and then marriage all of which she didn't have time for in her life and her career but sometimes she felt like something was missing in her life. "You know my feelings on dates and boyfriends."
"I know," he says with a soft smile. "You've shot me down a few times but really, Audrey how bad would a relationship be between two powerful attorneys. I know where you're coming from and you know where I'm coming from. It's not like we don't have chemistry in the bedroom," he says making her smile knowing that they have had quite a few hook ups over the last couple years. He was her go to for a night of passion but that's as far as it went and she never stayed over that was her rule.
"Scott," she says, "I'm not interested in anything beyond the bedroom."
"Fair enough so is this a one night stand with this guy?" he asks.
"It's not even like that we're just friends. We've been friends since high school, he's my best friend. He's back in town for work for a couple days and he asked to hang out, invited me to his show and gave me tickets with backstage passes. Afterward we're having a couple drinks, that's it but then again I'm not sure why I am explaining my life to you." She picks up her briefcase after putting on her black jacket to match her black pants over her red blouse. "I'm going now but if I decide to have a late night hook up you'll be the first person I call," she says with a smile.
"Should I expect a call?" he asks standing up.
"I don't know maybe," she smiles. "I have to go. I will talk to you later," she says with a smile.
"All right," he says, "have a good night and have fun with your friend. I'll be waiting for your text or call," he says hopefully with a smile.
"Goodnight," she says with a smile before she walks out of her office as he follows her to head to his own office where she knew he would probably spend the next couple hours working.
Audrey didn't have a lot of time to spare if she wanted to make it to Madison Square Garden in time for the show to start. She had to be at the arena by 6:30 but with the Manhattan traffic of weekend tourists and business women and men getting out of work the streets of Manhattan were bumper to bumper. It was the least favorite part of her day dealing with the traffic it was nothing like her hometown of Pensacola, Florida but being in New York since she started college she was getting used to the traffic she just hated it but loved the city otherwise. She arrives at the arena around 6:15 after battling the traffic only to circle the arena to find a place to park. She finally parks her white Lexus RC F two blocks from the arena and walks to the show arriving just in time as the show starts.
Audrey is directed to her front row seat along with a few of the other WWE superstars' family members and friends. The crowd goes crazy most of the night cheering for Finn Balor, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and other members of the RAW roster. Audrey has never really been into WWE but she supports her best friend every chance she can because this was his dream. He always supported her to achieve her dreams of becoming an attorney. The main event is announced for the night and she gets her cellphone out to record Roman Reigns' entrance and to take pictures of his match against Bray Wyatt to show to him later. As soon as his music cues the audience does not take well to him. Madison Square Garden is filled with boos for him as he makes his way down the ramp but a few women start cheering for him and the women behind Audrey talk about how good looking and hot Roman Reigns is. They nearly deafen Audrey as they scream when he makes his way over to the front row. "Glad you could make it," he says with a smile before he gives her a quick hug before climbing into the ring.
"Oh my God," says one of the blonde girls drooling over Joe behind her. "You know Roman Reigns?"
"He's a friend," she says.
"How can you just be friends with Roman?" asks the other blonde. It's the same question she has been asked all her life since high school except she knows him as Joe not Roman as does everyone back home in Pensacola. All through high school they were inseparable they were always hanging out together many thought they were together but they were just friends, really good friends. When they would tell people they were just friends they always asked how could they be just friends. Joe is not a bad looking man by any means and he wasn't bad looking in high school either. He was one of the stars on the football team, the popular jock everyone knew him because of football and his talent on the field but she didn't meet him in high school being a cheerleader which was the typical love connection jocks dated the cheerleaders or other athletes. Truth is she doesn't have an athletic bone in her body and definitely doesn't have the coordination to be a cheerleader or a dancer. She met Joe in high school as a member of the Key Club. Beyond his athletic ability and his good looks he's also intelligent and he has a caring soul. He too wanted to do service projects to better the community around them and to help others. They just clicked instantly but never looked at each other in any other way than just a friend. The attraction was never there and the same could be said for him he was never attracted to her in that way. They were soulmates but best friend soulmates. You just meet someone and you just click that's how it has always been with Joe and Audrey. They have a lot in common which is what helped their friendship grow stronger even beyond high school they remained friends both graduating at the top of their class he went to Georgia Tech to study business while she went to NYU to become a lawyer but his true heart had always been with wrestling. He was going to be a WWE superstar and he made it to the big time a few years ago and she couldn't have been more proud of him like he was of her when she got her job at one of the most powerful Law firms in New York.
"Because I know him beyond the looks?" she asks shaking her head and directing her attention back to Joe's match with Bray Wyatt. "Have a goodnight," she says as they continue to talk to her about her best friend.
After defeating Bray Wyatt in their match Roman makes his way around ringside to greet the fans only to be booed by many of them before he makes his way over to Audrey. The blonde girl behind her hands her a folded piece of paper to hand to Roman. Audrey hands it to Roman and he puts it in his pocket. "I'll see you backstage," he smiles before he makes his way to the back. Roman makes his way to through the back and to his locker room to get himself ready to hang out with Audrey for the night. He grabs a quick shower and changes into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before brushing through his long gorgeous mane of hair.
"What are you doing tonight?" asks his best friend Dean Ambrose. "You want to hit the town and find some girls to take back to the hotel?" he asks.
"Not tonight. I have plans," he answers as he puts his Timberlands on. "I'll have to pass on that tonight. Actually," he says. "Here's the number of two girls that would be glad to have a night with Dean Ambrose," he says passing Dean the folded piece of paper with the blonde girls' phone numbers.
"You don't want to hang out with them?" he asks.
"Nah, not tonight," he says with a smile. "I have plans with my friend Audrey."
"Audrey huh? Is Audrey going to experience some of the Reigns Magic tonight or is this a thing between you two?" he asks with a smile.
"It's not even like that," he says. "We're just friends. She's an old friend from Florida that lives here now. It's been a while since I've seen her. I wanted to spend some time with her before I hit the road on Sunday morning."
"I see," he says, "you never hooked up with her?" he asks. "Because I saw her sitting in the front row tonight and I would definitely hook up with her."
Joe lets out a little chuckle. "She's beautiful I know," he says. He always found Audrey to be beautiful. She was full Italian with the most beautiful dark eyes he had seen and the most beautiful eyelashes with scarlet lips, olive skin and long black curly hair but as beautiful as she was he never found himself attracted to her in a romantic way. "But it's not even like that with us. We're just best friends."
"I see," he says. "What are you two going to do?"
"I don't know probably just hang out, have some drinks and eat," he says. "I don't think we have a plan to do anything other than that."
"Sounds like a good evening," he says picking up his bag. "Well, I'm going to go give these girls a call. If you change your mind you know where I'm at," he says.
"Thanks," says Joe. "Have a good night."
"You too," he says with a smile before he leaves their locker room.
Joe gathers up his things and walks out of the locker room after putting on his hoodie to meet Audrey. Audrey was waiting for him near the entrance and she was beautiful. She smiles at him as he makes his way over to her. "Hey," she says with a smile.
"Hey," he smiles back before embracing her in a hug. "It's been a while."
"Too long," she says with a smile. "You looked good out there."
"Thanks," he says with a smile. "Did you enjoy the show?"
"I enjoyed seeing you doing your thing," she smiles. "You know wrestling isn't my thing but seeing my best friend live his dream is. You have come so far."
"Thanks," he says. "Sorry it took me so long. I had to grab a quick shower."
"It's cool," she says, "there's no rush we have a couple days to catch up."
"You're right," he says with a smile, "so what do you want to do?" he asks as he opens the arena door for her as they walk out into the cool November air.
"I don't know," she says, "I thought we could go grab some burgers and fries or maybe a pizza."
"I'm down for pizza," he says as they walk to Audrey's car.
"I figured you would be," she smiles. "Let me guess, Hawaiian pizza?"
"You know me," he says with a smile.
"We'll stop at my favorite pizza place on the way to my penthouse."
"Sounds good," he says. "How far did you park from the arena?"
"Just two blocks," she shrugs. "I couldn't find a place any closer so I had to park here," she says pointing to her Lexus.
"I've come so far? Look at you Ms. Romano, I think you're the one making out better than us all," he smiles.
"I guess," she says opening the trunk for him to put his stuff in before she got into the driver's seat. Joe closed up the trunk and got into the passenger's side. "It's not too bad being an attorney."
"I guess not," he says buckling his seatbelt before she pulled out into the traffic of the New York night life. Audrey stops at her favorite pizza place on their way to her penthouse apartment to pick up their pizza. Audrey pulls into the parking garage of her building to park the car when they arrive at her apartment complex. Joe gets his things out of the trunk as Audrey waits for him holding the pizza. They make their way inside and Audrey puts in her passcode to get into the building and to ride the elevator to her penthouse apartment. The doors open to the foyer of her apartment and she opens her door leading them inside. Joe lets out a whistle. "You're living the life," he says looking around at the expensive apartment decorated by one of the best decorators in the city.
"You've never been here before have you?"
"Nah," he says.
"I'll give you a tour later," she smiles, "but first let's eat. I'm starving."
"Me too," he says. Audrey takes the pizza into the living room places it on the table while Joe puts his things down by the couch.
"Do you want a beer?" she asks.
"Yeah," he says. She takes off her jacket and hangs it up by the door before she goes into the kitchen to get napkins, plates and each of them a beer from her fridge. She brings everything back to the living room and she hands him the beer. "Thanks," he says as she takes a seat next to him on the floor it's like old times. "So how's work going for you?" he asks as they get their pizza.
"Busy but good, I love it, Joe. I spend a lot of time at the firm working."
"I bet," he says, "you've always been a hard worker."
"I know," she says with a smile before taking a bite of her pizza. "I take it Hawaiian Pizza is still your favorite?"
"It always will be," he says with a smile. "I like to argue a point that pineapple does indeed go on pizza."
"That's debatable," she says with a smile, "my dad would disagree."
"Because your dad is one of the best Italian chefs there ever was in Pensacola."
"That's true but he had a lot of training in Italy," she says, "and in Italy they don't make pizza like this. This is New York style pizza. I'm more partial to Italian pizza."
"I'm sure," he smiles. "How is your dad doing anyway and your mom?"
"They're pretty good," she says. "My dad's business is doing well, the restaurant is doing great. They're pretty excited. They're about to be grandparents again."
"That's awesome," he says, "he ready to give up the restaurant business yet?"
"I don't think he's ever going to give up the restaurant business and even if he does you know Antonio is going to take over the business."
"That's true," he says.
"What about your mom and dad?" she asks. "How are they doing?"
"They're doing all right. They are still dealing with the loss of my brother this is a hard time of year for them."
"I'm sorry about your brother," she says.
"I am too," he says softly. "So what's going on in your life? Any boyfriends I should know about?" he asks.
"I have a cat," she says with a smile, "that's about it."
"A cat huh?"
"That's all I have time for pretty much. I don't have time to manage a relationship. You know that. My mom and dad are on my case. They say at 31 I should be married with kids by now but I don't have the energy for a husband or all that."
"I hear you," he says.
"Do you have any girlfriends? I would imagine you do even though those two girls behind me were ready to have your babies tonight," she jokes with him.
"I don't have time for that, Audrey. You know me. I just like to play the field. No wives, no girlfriends just a life of travel and I don't even have a cat or a dog. It's just me in Tampa when I get home for those two days a week."
"Playing the field is always good," she says with a smile. "No strings attached that's how it should be that's all I have time for."
"We're a mess you know that?" he asks jokingly.
"Yeah but I'm happy," she says.
"Me too," he says with a smile as they continue to talk over pizza and beer.
Audrey gives Joe a tour of her penthouse apartment after they finish eating their pizza. When they make their way back into the living room Joe walks over to her bookshelf and finds the 4 yearbooks from high school. He pulls out their senior yearbook. "Aw, senior year," he says as he sits down on the couch next to her as she takes a swig of her beer. "That was a good year."
"It was," she says. "I miss high school sometimes. I think I just miss being in Pensacola sometimes it's been 2 years since I went home."
"You don't even go home on holidays?" he asks.
"What are holidays?" she asks as he flips through the yearbook. "I work all the time."
"I see," he says, "I used to get Christmas off but this year we work on Christmas so I won't be with my family on Christmas this year."
"That sucks," she says.
"I know," he says as he looks at the Who's Who section. "Well, you were voted most likely to succeed," he says.
"Right, I succeeded all right but I'm not married and I don't have kids. I love my job but sometimes I feel like something is missing. Do you ever feel that way?"
"Sometimes," he says. "What's missing?" he asks.
"A kid," she says. "Sometimes I want to have a baby. I mean I'm 31 years old. I'm getting older and I just want to have a kid before it's too late."
"You want a baby?" he asks.
"I want a baby but not everything that comes along with it," she says, "so I'll probably just be the crazy aunt that spoils her nieces and nephews with 500 cats."
"What goes along with a baby, Audrey?" he asks closing the yearbook.
"You know the marriage, the life-long commitment of being involved with the same guy, relationship everything that I don't want," she says.
"Not really," he says looking at her as she hands him her beer so he can take a swig. "It's 2017, Audrey more and more women are waiting to have children and many of those women are doing it on their own without the marriage and the romance. A lot of women are choosing artificial insemination," he suggests. "I say if you don't want the commitment of a man then that's probably the best way to go then you won't have to worry about all that other stuff just your baby."
"Isn't that kind of weird?" she asks. "I don't know if I want some random guy I don't even know, have their sperm injected into my vagina. That's weird."
"It's not that weird, they have men that are willing to donate their sperm to sperm banks. You can even buy sperm offline."
"The fact you know so much about artificial insemination and buying sperm online is frightening. And why would I order sperm off the internet. That's creepy and I don't know how safe that is. I'd rather go to a fertility clinic to get this done is it safe? Like there are no diseases right?"
"I'm sure fertility clinics monitor the sperm donated and the men donating it. I'm sure it's safe. You should look into it."
"I guess it's worth a shot," she says. "But I don't want to do this alone," she says. "Will you look into it with me?" she asks.
"I guess," he says, "if you want me to."
"Please?" she asks with a soft smile.
"Okay," he smiles, "I'll help you look into it but that can wait until tomorrow morning. I need some sleep."
"You're right," she says, "it can wait. We'll look into it tomorrow. I'm ready for bed too." She gets up and he gets up with her. She takes her beer bottle to the kitchen empties it out and tosses it into the recyclables before she turns off the lights in the kitchen. She leads him to her bedroom and changes into a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants as he strips out of his jeans. She climbs into bed and he climbs into bed next to her. "Thank-you," she says.
"For what?" he asks.
"For being the best, best friend in the world and looking into this with me," she says. "You're pretty awesome."
"Thanks," he says with a smile. "I think you're pretty awesome too. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," she says with a smile before she closes her eyes and soon falls asleep next to her best friend.
*A/N: What do you think? Do you like it? Do you want more and is it a keeper? Please review and thank-you for reading.