Roxanne (Hvitserk x OC)

PART II

"What would be the point? Tomorrow things go back to how they were, sans Mike."

Tatiana elbowed her sharply again. "You're honestly hopeless when it comes to men, Roxy." Was she really? Sure, she couldn't pick a long-term partner well. She hadn't exactly picked Hvitserk either, he'd picked her out.

Roxanne sighed. "Tell me something I don't already know."

"You weren't curious to see if there could be a repeat down the line?"

Roxanne had been thinking about it the whole damn drive back. It wouldn't do her any good though. She'd end up becoming co-dependent to that hook-up like she had ended up with Mike. When Mike crossed her thoughts this time, she felt guilt creep in. She'd thrown what they had out so easily. She shouldn't have, she did love him, or maybe she thought she had. There was no coming back from leaving her at the altar, but a few drinks and she'd jumped straight into bed with Hvitserk.

"I need to focus on getting everything else sorted," Roxanne started as she stared at her pruning fingers as she leaned her head back against Tatiana's. She was really going to miss Hvitserk though, he'd made her feel alive. "We should probably get out Tati."

***

The weeks flew by. Thoughts of Mike fled as she realized he wasn't coming back. It didn't hurt as much as she'd expected to; looking back she learned they'd fallen out of love long before the wedding. She had been denying it, and it was clear. He never messaged her; never came to collect what things he'd been storing at her apartment. Tatiana seemed to take a great deal of pleasure in packing it up and handing it to charity. His parents tried to call, she ignored them.

Roxanne smiled at the elderly couple Tatiana was serving. They were discussing what cake they wanted out of the cabinet. She sighed as she focused on the coffee machine in front of her. Her head wasn't in it today; she'd been feeling tired the past few days. Tatiana's laugh caught her attention again and Roxanne's mind drifted as she cleaned the heads. They were done for the day, beyond the cleaning. She loved her little shop; even if it still caused some friction with her mother that she opened it and spent most of her time there.

The sound of a motorbike outside made her look up sharply. She saw Tatiana glance at her from out of the corner of her eye, she nearly blushed at her obvious reaction. The bike rolled past the shop front. The rider didn't have a leather vest on and a little part of her deflated. She hadn't told Tatiana but every time she heard or saw a bike, she immediately thought of Hvitserk. She didn't even know what bike he rode, only that she associated the sound or sight with him suddenly.

She felt crazy. The elderly couple had selected their caramel cheesecake and Tatiana waved and showed them out the door before locking it and flipping the closed sign round so they wouldn't be bothered as they finished up for the day.

"Are you alright, Rox?" Tatiana asked as she came around the counter.

Roxanne sighed as she hooked the handle back into place on the last head. "I don't know. I feel exhausted the last few days. I've been sleeping but I'm not hungry cause my stomach has been in knots." She'd boiled the stomach upset down to nerves about making headway to opening a new shop. The crew she had for this shop were great, it meant she could drag Tatiana with her to the new one to train the staff there and build it up. But they needed a location. "The new shop location is further away than I hoped but the lady said it was perfect for what we needed."

Tatiana nodded, not saying a word. "And I know it'll be worth it but I'm just nervous because it'll mean I need to move or find a temporary place in town so I can make sure I'm close."

"That was a mouthful of words, Roxy, but didn't really answer my question."

She rolled her eyes. "I feel like I'm all over the place. I'm sheer joy at the idea of it, then terror because it's going to hurt if this fails. I'm in overdrive."