Chapter 2: Reunited

Thirteen days. It had been 13 days since Baron had seen or even spoken to Brennan. The same large group that always showed up to The Menace was there on Tuesday. The previous week, he had been distracted from his friends and their conversations looking for her, but she never showed up. He was still looking for her on this night too.

'Why can't I get this woman out of my head?'

She'd already plagued his thoughts before he had even ever met her and now it was even worse than before. He couldn't stop the images of her half dimpled smile from flashing across his mind. He couldn't shake the feeling of her curves pressed against his body. It was everything and he hardly knew anything about her.

"What's up with you?" Corey joined Baron at the bar. Baron was rolling a beer bottle between his hands while staring down at it absently.

"Nothing." Baron replied rapidly; more rapidly than he intended.

He mentally face palmed, 'If that wasn't a dead giveaway, you dummy.'

"Liar. You're looking for Blue."

Baron shot him a look.

"Busted."

"Alright, fine. Yeah, I'm looking for Brennan."

"I hate to say I told you so."

"Since when?" Baron questioned as his lips turned up into a half smile. He went back to rolling the bottle between his hands, not waiting for or even expecting a reply from Corey.

"Hey Dennis!" Corey shouted and got the bartender's attention before walking away, leaving Baron to fend for himself.

"Thanks a lot, asshole." Baron mumbled under his breath.

"What's up big fella?" Dennis asked as he approached.

Dennis wasn't much older than Baron, but his hair was already gray. It looked like he had purposely colored his hair that shade, but the small thatch of gray under his bottom lip in his otherwise naturally dark beard told a different story. He was a tall man too, but not nearly as tall as Baron. In an odd way, Dennis reminded him of Corey; or at least how Baron imagined Corey would look in 20 years or so.

Baron felt the jealousy surge through him. 'I bet they used to screw around with each other. No way they could be that close and not feel… Something.'

He was overanalyzing. 'You don't know shit about either of them. If there was something between them, it sure in the hell isn't any of your business. Dial it back, ya ape.'

What the hell was going on with him?

"Have you seen Brennan at all lately?" Baron spoke up before his thoughts could take another drastic turn.

"She was in here yesterday watching Raw, actually. She said she had been M.I.A. because of a new job and wanting to be on top of her game. She had her final interview last week."

'That's right! The job with NXT. I never did ask her what she does for a living. I wonder what she'll be doing there.'

Baron let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was glad he hadn't scared her off, but was bummed about missing out on talking to her because of something important like her livelihood.

"You didn't ask her for her number?" Dennis asked.

"I thought I'd see her again before I made that move."

Dennis nodded. "You're a smart man. You're in here every week. I'm sure you'll bump into her again; whether it's here or somewhere else around here."

"Thanks, man." He turned on his bar stool ready to head back over to his friends.

"I'm gonna give you a bit of advice."

Baron turned his head focusing on Dennis.

"It won't take much to fuck up whatever it is you think you have with her, so watch yourself."

'And exactly how in the hell does he know that?'

"What do you mean?"

"Trust me, you'll figure it out. And if you don't, you'll learn the hard way."

The move to Florida happened because Brennan not only needed, but wanted a change of scenery. Was moving across the country her brightest idea? Probably not, but she figured she could've done a lot worse. She had spent 14 months and was going to have a bitch of a time paying off 16,000 dollars in student loans she had taken out to go to cosmetology school. And she would be damned if she spent all that time and money just to end up stuck in a Super Cuts or Great Clips doing cheap haircuts for an hourly wage. She had her fill of that shit in beauty school, minus the hourly wage. She didn't mind landing at a Sephora though. Makeup was her more so her passion than doing hair. She kept her eyes peeled for any and all opportunities and when a massive one with WWE presented itself to her, she leapt at the chance. It was a behind the scenes gig and she would be working side by side with people that worked for a company that she had been a fan of since she was 12 years old.

Today was the day and she was going to blow it because she'd fallen asleep the previous night without getting her shit together the night before.

"Shit! I'm late. I'm gonna be late!" Brennan yelled as she ran around her apartment looking for business casual clothes to wear. She was clad in a black spaghetti strap shirt and shorts barely long enough to cover her ample backside.

'Jesus, it's bright in here. Why are the blinds open?' She plowed into her living room, grimacing. She avoided near death after she knocked into the side of the couch, thankful she didn't smash her toes into the piece of furniture.

'Where the hell are all my clothes?' grabbing her laundry basket that sat between her couch and coffee table and dumping it on her living room floor.

'Black t-shirt, black leggings, black- what the hell are these? Where the fuck… Oh!' She tossed the items away searching until she found her ruffled charcoal gray tank top.

'God damn it! Where the fuck are my pants?' Leaving the pile of clothes on the floor, blue braids trailing behind her as she ran back to her bedroom and rifled through her closet.

'BINGO!' She yanked her pants from the hanger before running into the bathroom.

'I hope I don't smell.' She was skipping her shower for the day. She brushed her teeth then washed her face. Next she hesitated about what to do as far as her makeup.

'Always dress and look the part you're playing.' It had been drilled into her head those 14 months she had been in school. She could do lazy girl makeup for a day. That's all she really had time for.

'Moisturize, prime, eye shadow primer, where the fuck is that brush? Ugh! I don't have time for this shit.' She rummaged through the black cup sitting on her bathroom counter labeled eyes and grabbed a black fluffy brush. It was dirty, and instead of finding a shadow to dip her brush in, she worked the brush in windshield wiper motions into and above the crease of her almond shaped eyes. She couldn't tell what color was on the brush, but it didn't matter. She grabbed a shadow duo from the top tray of her opened caboodle and dipped another tapered brush with a white handle into a dark gray shadow. She blended the shadow seamlessly into the outer corner and crease of her eye. She dipped the brush in again before switching to her left eye. She grabbed a gold eye shadow pencil and swiped the color along her eyelid. Once satisfied with the saturation of the color, she grabbed the tapered brush again and blended the gray and gold together. Next she grabbed a black eyeliner pen and began trying to line her eyes. She swiped, but nothing happened.

'Come on! You've got to be kidding me.' She shook the pen and swiped along her lash line. Nothing.

"Damn it!"

'I really didn't want to use liquid liner. Let's see how this goes.' She reached into the side pocket of a black and white polka dot back also sitting on her counter and rummaged briefly for her black liquid liner.

She took a steadying breath and leaned forward towards the mirror. She began slowly, taking small strokes along her upper lash line drawing a thin black line. She continued on to her left eye then stood back.

'Today isn't my fucking day is it?' The lines didn't look the same. She huffed and went back to her right eye in an attempted to thicken the line to make it match the left. She took another steadying breath and began to draw again.

"Fuck." She missed the mark on the start of her line and made a black flick that wasn't connected to the rest of the line. 'Well, fuck it. If anyone is close enough to see that, they need to back the hell off.'

She continued on thickening the liner until she was satisfied that the lines on her eyes looked similar enough.

'Mascara, foundation, concealer, eyebrows filled in, contour, blush, powder, highlight, lipstick and setting spray. Done.'

She entered her room and threw on her slightly wrinkled black dress pants and gray top before rummaging through her closet again for her black blazer and flats; throwing the blazer on her bed and the shoes to the floor. She walked over to her nine cube organizer and sprayed herself with some perfume then put on some deodorant. She put big faux diamond earrings in her ears and a black choker around her neck. She grabbed her blazer and slipped it on, flipping her long braids out of the garment, as she slid into her shoes and was out of her front door with her bag on her shoulder.

She was making her way to Winter Park to Full Sail Studios where NXT was filmed in he arena building to the right. She had a meeting with Talent Relations to go over some paperwork and officially sign her contract as a new cosmetologist for the company.

"Shit shit shit." She mumbled as she finally found a place to park her 2002 Toyota Camry. It was looking a bit ashen with a hint of brown over the green paint. Someone had affectionately wrote wash me on the trunk. Assholes.

Brennan pulled the visor down to look herself over. Plain; she looked very plain minus her bright blue braids. She had opted to flip her septum ring up into her nose as to not draw any attention to it, as she had for the rest of her interview processes. She also had all of her tattoos covered; all for the sake of looking professional. It wasn't her normal style at all, but she wanted this job, so she did what she had to do.

'Here's to hoping I don't run into Baron. Baron… Should I call him Tommy now? Christ almighty. I need to focus and get my ass out of this car. I can't be sitting here daydreaming about how attractive that man is. Or how good he smelled or how his thumb rubbing my hip made me a little weak in the knees. Who knew someone so big could be so gentle.'

"SHIT! Snap out of it." She slammed the visor up and turned her car off, pulling the key from her ignition. She grabbed her bag from the floor where it had fallen from slamming on her brakes too hard one too many times and dropped her keys inside. She unlocked then opened the driver's door then locked the doors before heading to the entrance of the building.

"So you haven't seen her at all?" Alexa asked as she walked along Baron and Corey to the back entrance of Full Sail Studios Live building.

Baron shook his head sadly as they walked towards the building.

"Excuse me!" A voice said she jogged pass the small group. She was trying to pull her long blue braids up into a bun.

"Brennan?" The group of three shouted at the same time as they looked at each other before jogging to catch up with her.

"Shit." She mumbled for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She slowed to a stop when she realized she had no clue where the hell she was going. The group caught up to her.

'Well fuck you today too, deities.'

"What are you doing here?" Baron covertly let his eyes roam her body. It had been 14 days since he had seen her.

'That was real smooth there, T. You know why she's here. Dennis told you why last night.'

"Uh… Right now, I'm lost." She responded sheepishly as she finally got her hair up in a bun now that she wasn't jogging anymore. Her eyes flicked from him to Alexa to Corey as she readjusted her blazer and bag.

In her haste and screwing around with her hair, she had jogged past the entrance she had been using to enter the arena. How? She didn't know. The front of the building was glass, most wouldn't have missed it, but most people weren't her.

'Damn… She even looks good dressed professionally. Not as much makeup as the last time I saw her. What freaking color are her eyes? They look brown today, but I swear they were a deep, dark green the last time I saw her.'

"Where are you headed?" Alexa asked as she shielded her blue eyes from the sun. Brennan couldn't get over how Alexa's eyes seemed to sparkle no matter what. Maybe the petite blonde really was a pixie princess.

"I actually have a meeting with Talent Relations today and I'm running late." Brennan explained as they made their way to a back entrance.

"You're a wrestler?" Corey and Baron asked at the same time.

Brennan slowed to a stop again as she began to laugh. "Aw, you two are both handsome and absolutely hilarious." She was bending over at the waist. "Oh jeez. That was great."

The group entered the back entrance and walked down a corridor as the wrestlers continued to guess at what Brennan's position with WWE would be.

"Backstage interviewer?"

"Nope."

"Referee?"

"Negative."

"Stage hand?"

"Nah uh."

"Well, what the hell?" Baron questioned, his voice a combination of exasperation, confusion and a laugh bubbling beneath the surface.

"Show me to Talent Relations or whatever the hell office I need to go to and let me sign my contract before I spill the beans. I'd really hate to jinx myself."

They all nodded as they kept walking.

"I can show you the rest of the way if you'd like." Corey stepped up.

'What the fuck do you think you're doing, Graves?'

"Um, actually… I was hoping Tommy could show me the way there." She didn't dare look in Baron's direction.

Corey tried to conceal his knowing smirk. 'Set 'em up, let's see if T can knock them down.'

Baron briefly paused, 'She actually wants me to escort her? What the hell did I just miss?'

"Good luck." Corey and Alexa both spoke before leaving with reassuring smiles and small waves.

"Thanks." She breathed out as she went to stand next to Baron.

"Shall we?" Baron offered her his non-tattooed right arm, which she looped her left arm through as they made the short walk to the office. She lightly drummed her fingers on his forearm.

'His skin is really soft.' Her finger drifted along his skin, lightly skimming over some of the veins that were raised.

He flexed his arm in response to her minimal ministrations. Her touch was light and gentle, yet somehow still warm.

'I wonder what else her hands are good at doing.'

"Are you busy later?"

"I don't have any plans, unless I decide to drink myself silly at home alone."

Her hand slid from his forearm, her fingertips ghosting over the palm of his hand.

"Well, you could always come out for drinks with friends if drinking yourself silly is what you want to do."

Brennan smiled a full real smile. She tilted her head, catching Baron's eyes.

'Jesus, what fucking color are her eyes?'

"I suppose that's your way of asking me to meet you at The Menace tonight."

He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck, suddenly nervous. "Suppose you're right. Is that a yes?"

"It definitely is." A playful smirk graced her lips.

He lightly bit his bottom lip as he nodded.

'Oh shit, don't do that. I want to do that. Wait… What?'

"I'll see you later then. Good luck." He gave her shoulder a squeeze before turning to walk in the direction they originally came.

"Thanks." She smiled a half smile as she watched him go. She raised her fist to rap on the closed office door.

"So, how'd it go?" Baron asked as Brennan took a seat directly across from him at the booth some of the talent had decided to use to stow away some of their jackets and purses. He was sitting alone, sipping a beer.

He eyed her and the smirk that was playing on her lips.

"Are you finally going to tell me what your position with the company is?"

She rolled her eyes at him and pursed her full lips before replying.

"You're looking at NXT's newest cosmetologist." Excitement evident in her voice.

Baron smiled which caught her off guard.

'He should do that more often. Damn.'

"Congrats. Welcome to the family." Baron told her as he reached over, grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. He half expected her to pull away, but was pleasantly surprised when she didn't.

Neither of them expected the little flips their stomachs did either.

"Thank you. I'm excited to get started."

He nodded. He liked that about her – the quiet enthusiasm that radiated from her, almost palpable in the room full of unsuspecting strangers. It was coming off of her in waves.

"What's going on here?" Corey teased as he motioned to Baron and Brennan's hands.

Baron slowly pulled his hand away from hers. Brennan slowly put her hand down in her lap. She opened and closed her right hand; the one Baron had been holding.

'Get it together, girl. He was just being friendly. Although, if he decided to do it again, I absolutely wouldn't mind it.'

"He was just congratulating me on my new job." Brennan explained, trying not to visibly shake off her previous thoughts.

"You got it?" Corey asked. "Really? Like for sure?" His voice got louder with each question.

With a small smile gracing her lips, Brennan nodded.

"HELL YEAH!" Corey shouted. "I'm buying a round for everyone to celebrate. Looks like your new friend is gonna be around a lot more now, BC." He nudged Baron before walking away.

Brennan sat across the table with an eyebrow quirked as she watched a slight blush appear on Baron's cheeks.

"He sure does like giving you shit." She said trying to lighten the mood.

"Graves is an asshole, but he's the coolest asshole I know."

Brennan chuckled at him. "Sounds like a best friend to me."

"Yeah, birds of a feather..." Baron chuckled.

"Hey! We're gonna steal her for a bit." Alexa told Baron as she approached the table with Bayley.

"Steal me for what?"Brennan's smile shrank, and she looked immediately uncomfortable, her eyes flying to Baron's for help.

"We'll bring her back completely unscathed." Bayley shouted back at Baron as she and Alexa pulled Brennan along to a group of other talent from NXT.

Baron sat quietly and watched. He watched Brennan get introduced to most everyone on the roster. She managed to escape them saying she left her drink at the table, which wasn't exactly a big stretch, because she had. She made it back over to the booth and plopped down right next to Baron.

"Save me." She leaned into him dramatically.

He chuckled at her. "Was it that bad?"

She shook her head. "No, not at all. It's just overload." She leaned forward and reached across the table for her drink. As she leaned back Baron lifted his right arm to rest behind her on the back of the seat.

The two of them fell into easy conversation until Baron asked a million dollar question.

"So what does your boyfriend think about you hanging out until the early morning?"

Brennan almost choked on her drink as she laughed. She turned slightly to look at Baron.

"My boyfriend?"

"Okay, husband."

She laughed again.

"Yeah, I have no idea what either of those are. Especially since I don't have either one." Her tone was even as she relaxed against him

He narrowed his brown eyes at her.

"What?"

"I don't believe you."

"Why not?" She asked as she took a sip of her drink.

"I don't get how you could be single."

"Okay, here's some food for thought. Why would I lie about that of all things?" She raised an eyebrow.

He removed his arm and turned to look at her. He was thinking. He was searching her face for any evidence of a lie. He found himself being drawn in by her eyes.

"Why does that matter anyway? I mean, if I did have a husband or a boyfriend, he wouldn't have that type of control over what I do anyway."

'Fuck, she's feisty. That's really sexy. I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle her. But I would if she'd wanted me to. Any way she wanted me to.' He squirmed at the thought, but she thankfully didn't notice.

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "I guess you really don't have a reason to lie about that."

"Or anything else for that matter." She added which made him give her a goofy half smile.

"So, who are you dating, Alexa or Corey?" She teased with a smile playing at her lips.

He glared and shoved her playfully. "Neither, smart ass."

Well, here's chapter 2. Thanks for the reviews and follows on this. It may take awhile for me to get it written, edited and posted with how busy my life tends to be, but I'm determined to get this story completed. What do you guys think has happened between Dennis and Brennan? And why does the thought of them being together not sit well with Baron? Hmm... I wanna know what you think!