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Chapter Four: Let's Go For A Swim
Roman had always been one to take in his surroundings, to pay attention to the details. He noticed things that others usually didn't or things people simply didn't care about. So as he and the rest of the guys swam in the hotel pool, he couldn't help but notice Charlotte sitting at the side of the pool by herself. She wasn't reading and she was covered in a towel so she wasn't tanning. She was just sort of sitting there, looking sad and lonely. Charlotte was someone who has always caught his attention. He notice her character, how the queen was truly a sight to behold. He noticed how kind, genuine and humble she was out of character. He noticed her beauty, how she seemed to have no flaws. He stared at her for a moment, ignoring his friends behind him, focusing on her. He wondered why she would be sitting alone instead of enjoying herself.
"Dude, who are you staring at?" His cousin, Jimmy swims up behind him
"No one." Roman lies, turning his attention away from the tall, sad blonde.
"Were you looking at Charlotte?" Jimmy asked and Roman turns around.
"No. I wasn't looking at anyone." Roman says and Jimmy smirks.
"You were so looking at Charlotte. Wow, who knew you had a thing for blondes." Jimmy teases and Roman rolls his eyes.
"I wasn't looking at Charlotte and I don't have a thing for blondes. What do you want Uce?" Roman replies and the twin shakes his head.
"Nothing. You disappeared for a second and I find you staring at Charlotte. I was just a little curious." Jimmy explains and Roman groans.
"I told you I wasn't looking at Charlotte." Roman says, his tone louder and it was loud enough to gain Charlotte's attention. He looks over and she sees her staring at him, a frown painted on her face and glare directed at him. She pulled her towel closer to her body and and sunk further into her chair.
"What wrong with her?" Jimmy said and Roman shakes his head.
"I'll be right back." Roman says and Jimmy snickers.
"You're going to check on your girl, how sweet." He comments and Roman ignored him as he gets out the pool. He grabs his towel and dries off quickly before slowly walking over to Charlotte. He took a seat on the chair next to her and ponder what he could say.
"Hey." He starts.
"What do you want?" Charlotte asks, irritation present in her voice, she didn't even look in his direction. Her frown turned into a glare, her hands tightening her towel once again.
"I just wanted to talk. You looked lonely." He says, he wasn't shocked by her reaction. She probably thought he was making fun of her earlier.
"Sure. Whatever joke or bet your doing, I'm not going to fall for it." Charlotte says firmly and Roman raises his hands in defense.
"I swear to you, I'm not pulling a prank on you and there's no bet. This isn't a joke. I honestly wanted to talk to you." He says genuinely and he noticed Charlotte looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"And why should I believe you." She inquired and he shrug.
"You just should." He says and she takes a moment to reply.
"Why did you say my name so much over there?" Charlotte asks and he smirks.
"Who said we were talking about you? You aren't the only Charlotte in the world, ya know." He counters and she gives him a knowing glance. "I know, Jimmy was just teasing me because I had been staring." He admits and she raises her eyebrow.
"Staring? At me? Why?" Charlotte subconsciously fixed her towel again and he took notice. That had to have been the third or fourth time she had done it.
"Like I said, you looked lonely. And you weren't tanning or reading so I was wondering why you were just sitting here." He explained and she frowns.
"Oh." Is her only reply and he frowned.
"Is something wrong?" He asked and she quickly shook her head.
"No, I'm fine." She says quickly.
"Then you wanna go for a swim? I promise we don't bite." He smiles softly at her and she shakes her head.
"No, I'm fine right here. Thanks." Charlotte says curtly and but he didn't let that deter him.
"I know you want to swim. C'mon, have some fun." He tells her and she rolls her eyes.
"Yeah sure, I'll take off this towel, get in the pool and have you guys laugh at me, so much fun. No thanks!" Charlotte says and Roman looks at her with confusion.
"Laugh at you? Why the hell would we laugh at you?" Roman asks and she directs her eyes forward, ignoring his stare.
"It nothing, forget it. I'm not swimming with you." She changes the subject and Roman frowned.
"No, I wanna know why we'd laugh at you? You're our friend, our acquaintance at least. I know we're a bunch of rowdy men but we have manners and we know respect." Roman tells her and she rolls her eyes.
"Why does it matter. I'm not swimming with them." Charlotte replies.
"Then how about you just swim with me? Later tonight, we go for a swim, none of the guys." Roman suggested and Charlotte looked at him with indifference.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Charlotte questions with a raised eyebrow and he shrugs.
"If that's what you want to call it then yes, I'm asking you out on a date." Roman tells her.
"Now I really don't believe you. How much are they paying you to do this?" Charlotte says and he rolls his eyes.
"I told you that this wasn't some bet. I mean it, no one is gonna jump out and say you've been punked. I'm asking you to swim with me because I genuinely want your company. The only payment I get from this is seeing a smile on your face." Roman answers honestly and a hot red blush takes over Charlotte's cheeks.
"I don't think anyone's ever said that to me before." She stated softly.
"Well I'm glad to be the first." He smiled.
"My room number is 409, get me at 10." She tells him before standing and walking away, leaving him in shock. She wanted to leave before she started to regret it and take it back.
"So I'll take that as a yes?" He shouts after her and though he couldn't see her face, he knew she was smiling.
"Uce, what the hell was that?" Jimmy asks him and Roman shakes his head.
"Don't worry about it."
It was 9:56 and Charlotte was, in lack of a better term, losing her shit. As the clock got closer to ten, she found herself regretting her decision more and more. She had put on about three different swimsuits and she still didn't feel comfortable. The fear of him judging her was talking over and it made her want to cancel. Say she was busy or got sick, say anything to get out of it. And to top it all off, she had no make up on. I mean, of course she had no make up on earlier but at least then she had a towel covering her body so she didn't feel completely ugly.
Charlotte anxiously paced around her room, counting down the last four minutes until Roman was supposed to show up at her door. She constantly stopped at the mirror to fix her appearance as if she would look worse as the minutes went by. And she jumped when she heard a knock at the door. She looked down at her watch she saw that it was ten o'clock.
"Of course he would be exactly on time." She thought to herself. She looked over her outfit once more before walking to the door. Despite her initial confidence in her bikini, she grabs a towel and wraps it around her torso. She nervously opened the door and was met with a shirtless Roman Reigns. Sure he was shirtless earlier but somehow he looked even better as he stood awkwardly in front of her.
"Hey." They both say at the same time. An awkward silence takes over for a moment before he speaks. "So, you ready to go swimming?" Roman asks and she nods.
"Let me grab my room key first."
The walk to the pool was the same as any of their other encounters. They made some small talk, not discussing anything that really mattered until they reached their destination. When the two finally reached the pool, Roman could tell Charlotte was a bit nervous. She still had the same towel on from earlier and he wondered what her attachment was to it.
"You're not gonna chicken out on me now are you?" Roman teases in attempt to lighten the mood.
"Why would you think that?" She replies, nervousness present in her voice.
"Because you still haven't taken off that towel." He points out and she goes to tighten it a bit. She could feel Roman staring at her and she sighed. It was now or never and he seemed to truly want to go swimming with her. She released her grip on the towel and let it fall to the ground, exposing her white bikini.
Roman was at a loss for words when he saw her. Charlotte was a beautiful woman with a fantastic body, there was no denying that. Her ring gear proved enough that body was something special. But seeing her in this bikini was something else. He couldn't even find words to describe it.
Charlotte quickly felt her self consciousness coming back at his lack of words. "See, I knew this was stupid!" She shook her head as she attempted to pick up the towel and he stopped her.
"No, I'm sorry but I didn't know what to say. You look breathtaking and for a moment I was speechless." He explained and heat returned to the blonde's cheeks.
"Roman, you don't have to lie to-"
"No, I'm not lying. I mean it." He reassures her and she nods.
"Thank you." She replies softly and he smiles.
"So are we jumping in together or are you scared it might be cold?" He teases and the atmosphere between them quickly changes.
"I'm not scared of a little cold water." Charlotte scoffed and he laughed.
"I'm glad to hear that." Roman says with a smirk before he pushing Charlotte into the pool.
"Oh I'm not gonna let you get away with that." Charlotte growled as she resurfaced. Roman was hunched over in laughter as she swam back to the edge.
"Wherever you say." He smirks and she glares at him. Despite the angry look on her face, he knew she wanted to laugh. He took a step back from the edge of the pool, knowing she would try to pull him in.
"It looks like you're the only one that's scared." She shouts from the pool.
"Oh really?" He replies with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean, you're still not in the pool. What are you waiting for?" She taunts, splashing some water at him.
"I like to take my time, prepare for change in atmosphere." He lies. Of course Roman had no problem getting in the pool but he was enjoying this banter they had going.
"Yeah, sure." Charlotte rolls her eyes. Roman walks closer to the edge, teasing her a bit. The blonde watches him closely as he walked closer to her and before she could reach out to grab him, Roman jumps in. She was splashed with an excessive amount of water but she couldn't stop herself from laughing.
As Roman resurfaced, he saw the huge smile on Charlotte's face and he paused. Sure, he had seen her smile before but there was just something about how genuine and pure she looked in person that made him happy. It was as if her happiness was contagious.
"You okay?" She asks the Samoan after she noticed him staring.
"Yeah, I was wrapped up in your smile." He says and she instantly closed her mouth.
"Was there something on my teeth?" She worries, her self consciousness setting back in and he shakes his head.
"What, no!" He starts, shocked by her reaction. "It was beautiful, one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen." He tells her and a scarlet blush takes over her face.
"You don't mean that." She tells him and he shakes his head.
"No, I truly mean it." He says and he can't help but ask "Why do you keep putting yourself down like that?" He asks and she froze, the warm water seemed to feel ice cold on Charlotte's skin. She was not prepared for that question.
"What are you talking about?" She asks, as if she has no clue what he's talking about.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Charlotte. Earlier when I wanted to talk to you, you acted as if it was impossible that I could actually want to talk to you. And you act as if it's impossible that someone might actually think you're pretty. Why do you do that?" He explains and she closes her eyes.
"I mean when everyone says you look like a man on a daily basis, a part of you starts to believe it." She mumbles but Roman heard every word. He honestly couldn't believe what she just said. It was beyond him that anyone could say she looked like man and actually mean it. And the fact that she started to believe it made him upset.
"That's why you were wearing that towel earlier." Roman states and she nods. "Well, I hope you know that's bullshit." He tells her and her eyes widen.
"What?" Charlotte was surprised, she didn't expect that response.
"What they're saying about you, it's bullshit. You don't look anything like a man. You are beautiful, extremely beautifully and you shouldn't let anyone tell you otherwise." He tells her honestly as he swims closer to her.
"Roman, thank you but I'm anything but beautiful." She mutters and and rolls his eyes.
"Woman, have you seen yourself? You're one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. You look amazing in anything wear, whether it's this bikini or you ring gear or regular clothes or even that towel you wrap yourself in. The people who call you ugly are jealous, people who wished they looked like you. They want what you have and they insult you to make themselves feel better. But you shouldn't listen to a word they say. You're amazing and beautiful inside and out. Nothing about you is manly and you couldn't look like a man it you tried." Roman stressed. He refused to have someone as incredible as Charlotte be put down by some fat internet nerds who live in their mom's basement.
"You actually mean that?" Charlotte asked him, her voice soft. Of course Becky always told her things like that but Becky was her best friend, it was basically her job to say things like that. Hearing it from Roman, someone she barely talks to, was different. It meant had more meaning to her.
"Of course I do. I wouldn't lie to you and I wouldn't say something I didn't mean." The Samoan answers and Charlotte smiles.
"Thank you." She tells him and he returns a smile.
"Now I bet I can beat you to the other side of the pool." He tells her in attempt to lighten the mood and Charlotte scoffed.
"Please, you're on!" She replies.
"You cheated!" Roman says as he walks Charlotte back to her room.
"I did not. You just can't swim faster than me." The blonde smirks and he rolls his eyes.
"Whatever, I know a cheater when I see one." He declares and Charlotte laughs.
"If you say so." She playfully shrugs and soon the pair was laughing, as they walked the halls of the hotel at 1 am.
As they approached her door, Roman couldn't help but stare at her. He wanted to spend more time with her, she was absolutely enchanting. Everything about her was amazing and there was no way he wasn't going to spend more time with her.
"Here we are. Roman, I really want to thank you for tonight, for the things you said, for spending time with me. I really needed it." Charlotte tells him with a soft smile and he smiles in return.
"You're very welcome." He says.
"Well I guess I'll see you later." She says as she unlocks her door.
"Wait!" He says before she could enter her room. She looked at him in confusion and Roman rubbed the back of his neck.
"I would really like to do this again, with you." He tells her.
"Go swimming?" She questioned.
"Or something else, whatever you want to do." He explains and she smirked.
"Are you asking me on a real date?" She inquired.
"If that's what you want to call it then yes, I'm asking you on a real date." He says and she laughs.
"I would love to." Charlotte agrees.