Robin

Richy sighs and wipes the sweat from his forehead as he flops back in his wheelchair. "I can't do this shit, Robin."

I pick up a water bottle from the snack table and hand it to him. "Don't you give up on me, Richy. You got this!" I try to encourage him, which only makes his frown deepen.

"I don't like nice Robin. She's too… normal."

"Well, if nice Robin is going to get you to want to walk again, so be it."

He rolls his eyes and stands up. I smile as he grips the handles of the walker in front of him. He slowly moves his leg from the ground, groaning as he does so. Then he does it. He finally walks again.

I begin smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. "You're doing it, Richy! You're doing it!"

He stops walking and faces me with a smirk. "We could be doing something else." He says and winks.

I roll my eyes and push the hair in his face back. "I'm going to call August."

I call August and tell him the wonderful news. He arrives shortly after and when he sees Richy walking with the walker, they hit each other as they shout nonsense at each other and smile happily.

When they are done, August lifts me up, making me giggle like a five-year-old. He presses kisses all over my face and neck before staring up at me with a smile.

"Robin." He says.

I smile back. "Hmm?"

"You are the definition of perfect, you know that?"

My smile grows wider and I peck his lips. "I am pretty perfect."

He sets me down and cups my face in his hands. August kisses me deeply, passionately, almost like he is claiming my lips. After a moment, he pulls away and presses his forehead against mine as I breathe heavily. "Thank you." He whispers.

August rubs my cheek before walking away. As I watch him leave to return to basketball practice, I find myself cheesing.

For the remainder of the day, I try to erase the stupid smile that he created. Kelly notices it and smiles.

"You should smile more, ma'am."

My smile drops and I glare at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It just means-"

"Are you implying I'm ugly when I don't smile, Kelly? Do you really have that much audacity?"

Her eyes widen. "No, ma'am, of course not! Ms. Davis, I can assure you, I do not think that way at all. You are one of the most beautiful women I-"

I laugh at her panicked expression and return to my computer. "I'm kidding, Kelly."

She exhales a deep breath. "Oh, thank goodness! I nearly- "

"But seriously. Don't ever tell me what I should and should not do ever again. You understand me?"

She nods hastily. "Yes, ma'am."

"Awesome."

It isn't long before it is time for me to leave. Since it was Friday and I don't work on weekends, I give Kelly a list of things I need done before leaving the building.

I arrive home shortly after. I hadn't eaten today and if it wasn't August's constant reminding of me to eat, I probably would have forgotten. I decide to make a pie, as I had been craving one for a while.

As I place it in the oven, my phone vibrates in my pocket. Once the pie is all the way in, I turn it to the correct temperature and close the oven door. I check my phone and see it is a reminder that Marie and Damien's wedding is in two weeks and that August and I needed to start looking for something to wear.

I make a note to myself to do that and take a seat on the sofa. I watch 'Forensic Files' until the oven dings, declaring the pie is done. I rush to it eagerly. When I take it out, place it on the countertop, and grab a knife, a flashback of my mom comes to mind.

When me and my sister were younger, mom used to always make us share a pie. She said it was a way to bond with each other, although at the time it definitely felt like punishment. Mom knew how much I liked to be even, so she always cut it evenly. She did that with everything. Sadly, I didn't start thinking of little things like that until she was gone.

Tears starting to form in my eyes, I drop the knife and decide not to eat pie anymore. Grabbing a bottle of champagne, I walk to my bathroom and take a seat on the floor. It was cold against my right foot, as that one wasn't covered with a sock like the other one.

I can't wait to see August.

My mouth goes agape at what I have just thought. Coming to a reliazation almost immediately, I bump my head against the wall and sigh, "I love that fucker."

I've been trying so hard to deny it. Trying to persuade myself that the thoughts in my head were false and just coming from a lonely heart. But now, as I sat in my bathroom, taking a sip of warm champagne, I realized the only person that could make me feel better was August. He was the only one I wanted to make me feel better.

There wasn't a rage flowing through my veins when I thought of him, and as much as I hated to admit it, it hadn't been for a while.

I take another sip and laugh, but there's hardly any amusement behind it. "Fuck. I actually love him."

I couldn't tell him, though. Now way in hell was I going to tell him. I knew exactly what he would say. I'd much rather keep this to myself than to get hurt. Which means I have to do what I would have gladly done five months ago. Avoid him.

If I continued to hang around August with this kind of secret weighing on me, I know he would get it out of me. And I couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't. I knew how painful it would be to hear those words I've heard countless times before coming out of his mouth.

So for the next seven days, I am able to avoid him successfully. I tell him not to come over and to my surprise, he doesn't. When he asks for me to go to his place, I come up with some lame excuse. If he tries to stop by my office, I tell Kelly not to let him in. I go to the gym earlier than usual and don't go to the coffee shop at all. I felt terrible and often thought about just telling him, because the pain of not seeing him or hearing his voice hurts far worse.

As I end a call with the caterer, Kelly rushes into my office with an alarmed expression. "Ms. Davis, I tried to stop him!" She shouts, blocking the doorway.

I frown. "Stop who? What are you talking-" I cut myself off. August pushes past Kelly and strides in my office.

"Him." She mutters.

"We need to talk." He says. I put my head down and act as if I'm searching for something on the desk as he steps closer.

"Uh, I'll just go." Kelly says, rushing out of the office and shutting the door behind her.

She is definitely getting a pay cut for that.

"Why have you been avoiding me, Robin?"

My heart rate begins to speed up as I continue to 'search' for something. "I've just been very busy lately. Not that it's any of your business."

"Robin, don't give me that lame excuse. I've used that line before. What's really up?"

I shrug. "I'm busy, August."

"Your mom's funeral is in two days. Is that what this is about?"

I swallow, trying to keep the tears that wanted to escape at that, and shake my head. "Don't. Don't do that, August."

He places his hands on the desk. "Well I'm lost here. Did I do something?"

"No."

"Fuck, Robin, please. I miss you all right? I've been losing my mind not being able to see you, talk to you, listen to you insult me, touch you, kiss you." He lifts my chin, making me stare at him directly. "Talk to me, baby. Please."

I get out of his hold and look down at my desk as I blink away tears. I shake my head. "I'm supposed to hate you, August. I'm supposed to wince and gag at the thought of you touching me. That was easier for me. I didn't have to worry about getting hurt. It was safe."

I dig in my purse and remove a hundred-dollar bill from it. I hand it to him with a small fake smile. "Congratulations. You won the bet, August."

He stares at me, then at the money, then back at me before running a hand through his hair and begins pacing in front of my desk. "No." He says.

I set the money on the desk. "You flood my head. I love your stupid face and your stupid smile. Your stupid corny jokes and that stupid thing you do with your stupid hands when you're nervous."

"Robin, stop."

"I love your stupid laugh and that stupid smirk you make when you've successfully pissed me off."

He stops pacing and turns to me with a pained expression. "Why? Why are you telling me this?"

A tear falls as I sit down. "Because I love you, August. That's why."

He shakes his head and looks away. "No. No you don't. I'm not capable of being loved, Robin. You and I know it."

"Yes you are."

He faces me, his expression one of frustration. "All right, what do you want me to do, Robin? You want me to say it back, we date, and pretend we never hated each other's thoughts? It doesn't work that way. This isn't a fairytale, baby."

I wipe my eyes. "No." I mumble. "I don't want that. I want you to care, August. I want to feel loved. I'm tired. I'm so tired of being alone and heartbroken. I just want someone to try for me, that's all. Just try. Please."

He stares at me and for a moment, I think he might let his guard down, let me in. I think that he might let himself be loved. That we might finally allow ourselves to be happy.

But he doesn't. Instead, he reaches for the door handle. "Well, I can't give you that, Robin. I just… I just can't, okay? And I need you to understand that."