SUBTITLE: BREAKING CHARACTER

CHAPTER 17

Olivia paced the floor of her apartment waiting for Robin to get there. There had been so much on her mind over the past 3 months. She hadn't been talking to Wade even though he was blowing up her phone and she had been involved in somewhat of a "relationship" with Seth. He had been flying to Pennsylvania or flying her out for romantic getaways every chance he got. It wasn't that she didn't miss Wade, but she needed some time to breathe before talking to him again.

The doorbell rang and she could see Robin standing there with a bottle of wine through the peephole.

"Get in here, now and tell me everything about your date!" Robin hurried into the apartment where Liv already had two glasses and a corkscrew on the coffee table.

"Girllllllllllllllll!" Robin dramatically threw herself down on the couch. "I'm calling him my marathon man! I fell asleep, woke up and he was still going!" Robin laughed as she paused to look at her phone.

"Is that your marathon man now?" Olivia poured wine into each of the glasses.

"No, this is Dean." Robin's face lit up as she texted him back.

"Dean?! Hmm….and how is he doing without his Tweety?" Both of the ladies laughed hysterically as Olivia did her best Dean Ambrose impression.

"He still has me. We're just falling back for a bit. We're still friends." Robin sounded like she didn't even believe herself.

"Okay, so what does he think about you seeing Derrick the Marathon Man?"

"He knows I spend time with other guys, if that's what you're asking."

"Is he seeing other women?" Robin looked slightly annoyed and gulped her glass of wine.

"He's seeing a girl who just came to NXT named Jasmine."

"Oh, I don't need to ask you how you feel about that!" Olivia playfully tapped Robin on the shoulder. "When are you guys gonna have a serious talk and try to get back together?" Robin looked at the floor as she felt tears well up in her eyes.

"I'm not sure he wants to get back together." Olivia rubbed Robin's shoulder. "I messed up big time and I'm just happy to have him in my life at all…even if we're just friends." It broke Olivia's heart to see her friend so sad. Sure she had a great time having one night stands and adventurous sex with a few of her "regulars", but they weren't Dean and they never would be.

"I still have faith, but I guess there's nothing wrong with having some fun in the mean time!" Olivia refilled Robin's glass as her phone starting to ring. It was Seth.

"Hey Liv! What's up?"

"Nothing much. I'm just having a glass of wine with Robin." Robin waved to indicate saying hi to Seth. "She says hi."

"All you girls drink is wine! Tell Robin I said hello. We just landed in St. Louis and we're about to go get something to eat. What are you up to?" Robin laughed at the giddy expression on Liv's face as Seth's voice filled her ear. Olivia could hear other voices in the background and one of them was Dean's yelling at her to put them on speaker phone.

"Hey Liv. Hey Tweety." Dean's voice got deeper when he said hello to Robin. "You ladies getting into any trouble tonight?"

"Nope. We're just hanging out and having a girls' night in!" Robin put on her most flirtatious tone while talking to Dean.

"Well, that sounds nice. I wish we could come play with you gals, but I hope to see you soon, Tweety!" Robin and Liv looked at each other and silently screamed.

"Okay Dean, just let me know when!"

"You got it, beautiful!" Dean went back to driving and Seth took Liv off speaker phone.

"I'll give you a call before I go to sleep tonight, Liv."

"Okay, you guys be safe!"

"Later, baby." After hanging up, Liv noticed Robin staring off into space with a goofy look on her face.

"What the hell is up with you?" Liv shook her to get her out of the daze. Robin shyly smiled while refilling her wine glass. Robin didn't answer. She just sipped her wine. "Mmmhmm! Just friends my ass!" Olivia left Robin to her obvious daydream of Dean.

Around 11, Robin told Olivia that she needed to head home to get ready for work, but Olivia knew she was itching to text Dean.

"Call me tomorrow, Liv. Enjoy your conversation with Seth!"

"Enjoy yours with Dean!" Robin's mouth dropped open and she was embarrassed that Liv saw right through her.

Robin sent Dean a text in the car and anxiously awaited his response. When she pulled up to her apartment and still hadn't heard from him, her stomach knotted up. She started to imagine him with Jasmine and it made tears form in her eyes. As she opened the door to get out of her car, her phone rang. It was Derrick.

"Hey Derrick. I'm just getting in. Can I call you once I get settled?"

"Sure. Or I could just come over…" Robin hoped she'd hear from Dean, but she hated the idea of waiting around to hear from him all night.

"I'll see you when you get here." Robin jogged into her apartment and changed her clothes. She was layered up to fight the cool late September air, but she wanted to put something sexy on for Derrick.

After about 15 minutes of freshening up and strategically placing candles throughout her apartment, Derrick knocked on Robin's door.

"Hey beautiful." Derrick bent down to walk in. He was a former basketball player that Robin met in a bar during a trip to New York. He was tall, and had the most mesmerizing brown skin Robin had ever seen. In addition to being good looking, he was very romantic. They had been seeing each other for a month or so and it made things easier that Derrick's mom lived in a suburb of Robin's hometown. So that meant he was able to see Robin pretty frequently when he came to visit his mom.

"Come in." Robin stepped aside to let him come in but he never took his eyes off of her. Robin slipped into some lingerie she bought herself after things ended with Dean. Whenever she was down, she always turned to shopping and wine. That form of therapy hadn't failed her so far.

"I picked up some champagne earlier tonight in case I saw you." Derrick bent down to kiss Robin, but he noticed she didn't seem happy about the champagne. Sure, it was her favorite drink, but it was reminding her of Dean. Champagne was always like foreplay for them. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yes! I'm fine baby." Robin pulled him down so she could wrap her arms around his neck. She kissed him passionately in an attempt to get Dean out of her head.

Derrick popped the bottle and poured the champagne into the glasses.

"Here's to us getting to know each other a whole lot better." Derrick tapped Robin's glass and they both sipped at the champagne as Robin's phone rang. It was Dean.

"Shit!" She thought to herself. Of all the times for him to call her back, he picked now. She asked Derrick to excuse her while she took the call and went into her bedroom. "Hello?"

"Tweety? Why are you whispering?" Robin turned her phone down because Dean's voice was loud and she knew Derrick would hear him even in the other room.

"I'm not whispering."

"Yes you are." Dean mocked her in a sing song voice. "You're with a dude aren't you?" Dean laughed and poked fun at her. "It's that NBA guy…what's his name again?"

"You know his name, Dean. It's Derrick."

"Ahh, that's right! Derrick! I don't know why I can't remember that name. It's just so forgettable." Robin smiled at Dean's apparent jealousy.

"Dean I have to go…"

"Wait, I know your birthday is next week and we have 'Hell in a Cell' coming up. Why don't you fly down to the show and we can all celebrate afterwards." Robin was dying to see Dean again, but she knew Derrick wanted to spend her birthday with her.

"That sounds great, Dean! But, I already promised to celebrate next week with Derrick." Dean was quiet for a while.

"Well, you could bring your boyfriend along."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Robin snapped immediately. She thrust her palm into her forehead realizing Derrick could have heard her in the other room.

"Whoa! Sorry Tweety! I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers." Dean smiled at the confirmation that things weren't too serious between her and Derrick.

"I'll see if he'd like to go. Who would be a part of the party?"

"The usual gang. Me, Seth, Cesaro, Axel and the gang. I'm pretty sure Liv will be there." Robin was listening for one key name that she didn't hear.

"What about Jasmine?" Dean got quiet again.

"I don't know. She might be there. We're not really into making plans together." Robin smiled knowing that Jasmine wasn't getting any of the privileges she had gotten.

"Well, it sounds like fun. I'll let you know."

"I'll be waiting." Robin hung up and headed back into the living room where Derrick had taken off his shirt and put on some music.

"Important call?" Derrick patted the couch for Robin to join him.

"Umm, no not really. Just a friend asking me about my birthday plans."

"Who Liv?" Derrick was fishing to find out who she was speaking to.

"No, another friend. My friend Dean." Derrick put his arm around Robin and pulled her close.

"I never heard you talk about Dean." Robin downed her glass of champagne and wanted to immediately take back the information she'd given Derrick, but it was way too late.

"I don't see him that much. He's a wrestler and he's on the road all the time."

"Wait a wrestler?...like for WWE?!" Robin nodded her head "yes" and Derrick shot up from his couch with excitement. "Are you talking about Dean Ambrose? You're friends with Dean Ambrose?" Robin just kept nodding her head as Derrick marked out over her ex-boyfriend.

"Yes I'm friends with Dean Ambrose. He invited us to celebrate my birthday with him and some other wrestlers at Hell in a Cell."

"I'm a huge wrestling fan, baby. It would be great to see a live pay per view, but is that how you want to spend your birthday?" Robin dropped her head and laughed at his question.

"That's exactly how I would want to spend my birthday!" Derrick kissed her on the cheek and eventually worked his way down to her neck. Robin felt guilty for imagining that his lips were Dean's lips, but to her disappointment his kisses were nothing like Dean's. She moaned lightly thinking about how Dean's kisses were different and much more passionate. Derrick rocked her back on the couch and started removing her lingerie. Robin let her mind wander to how great it would be to feel Dean's lips all over her body again, but Derrick would have to do…for now.