Roman woke up and opened his eyes. Talise's side of the bed was empty. He sat up and the scent of coffee hit him. She was in the house somewhere. He grabbed his briefs from the floor and put them on. He walked through the house and found her at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and her phone in front of her. She looked like she hadn't slept at all.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"The texts started around midnight," she said.
"What texts?"He asked.
"They found my new number. Phone calls started around 2 AM. I turned my phone off after a while but I couldn't go back to sleep," she said.
He sat down next to her and took her hand.
"I'm so sorry," he said.
"You always are," she said.
"Tell me how to fix it," he said.
"I don't know," she said.
"How did they even find your new number?" He asked.
"How did they find my old one? I don't know, Roman. What I do know is that the reporter still wrote a short article about you maybe being here despite not having any proof," she said.
She turned on her phone and ignored the texts coming through. She found the article and showed it to him.
"It's the dirt sheets. Most people don't believe anything written there," he said.
"But some do," she said.
Her phone started ringing from an unknown number. She hit the green button and put it on speaker. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. The caller started talking on his own.
"Is this Roman Reigns' newest slut? How big is his dick? You can tell me."
She hung up and turned her phone off again.
"It's been like that all night," she said.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"I don't wanna hear it," she said.
"That's not all. My shop was named in the article. You should read the reviews I got over night," she said.
"Oh no," he said. "That's not fucking okay. They don't get to mess with your livelihood."
She sighed and downed the rest of her coffee. She stood up and poured herself a new cup.
"I'll get you a new number," he said.
"I can take care of that myself," she said.
"What do you wanna do?" He asked.
"I just don't know if this is worth is. You're a great guy but you keep ruining my life. I know you don't mean to but that's how it is. I thought changing my number and my hair was enough but now it's even worse than a week ago," she said.
"Don't say that," he said.
He stood up and walked over to her. She looked at him with tired eyes. That lovely water in her eyes looked so sad. He knew it would spill over any second if things got even worse.
"Ride out the storm," he said.
"How?" She asked.
"You're sick. It says so on your facebook page. There's no proof other than one young delivery guy making up lies about me being here. I'll leave tomorrow to go on the road. I won't tell a living soul I was here, and neither will you. You'll keep your head up high and laugh at everyone coming to the shop with this ridiculous rumor. Ask them how we would even know each other. Make them feel stupid," he said.
"I guess I can do that," she said.
"You can," he smiled. "Don't let this ruin what we just started. I know you feel the same way as me. You can't deny this insane chemestry between us."
"It is pretty electric," she said.
She finally found her smile and his own smile grew bigger. He leaned down and kissed her.
"Fuck them all," he said.
"Fuck them all," she repeated.
"That's my lovely water woman," he said.
"That is such a bad petname," she said.
"Nah, it's perfect," he chuckled. "And on that note, we need a shower."