Office Mates

Friends Apologize

Robin had a big weekend with Aurora. They kissed. This is exactly what Marian had wanted for him. And while Marian would have normally pestered him for details about his date, Robin hasn't heard from her all weekend. Their fight is replaying in his mind again. He doesn't like the way they last spoke with each other. He cannot speak for Marian, but Robin is aware he also played a role in the fight. He wants to apologize to Marian when she arrives today so that the tension in the office will diffuse. He arrived at work early so he could get comfortable and practice what he planned to say in his apology. He is also very curious about what made Marian's personality change. His only guess is that she and Theo are on the brink of breaking up.

Robin waits for Marian to arrive. Marian walks into their office with big round sunglasses over her eyes. Her shoulders are stooped slightly and she has a giant iced coffee in one hand. The coffee is from a place Robin has never seen before. She takes a drink from it before she sets it down on the table. Robin watches Marian and instantly can tell that she must have gone out last night. Normally Marian is much more put together when she arrives at work.
Marian opens the door and sees Robin sitting at his computer. She looks at the time and exhales. She is so late. Robin is going to say something to her about her being late. She starts to take off her sunglasses but the lights in the office make her squint. She wasn't ready for fluorescent lights. Marian is feeling super uncomfortable after she yelled at Robin last week. She was stressing about all the attention from Liam. And now she knows that something between them changed. He has never asked her to stay and he kept her at his place all weekend. Marian starts smiling, she has been waiting for this all along. She keeps telling herself she should feel happier about the whole thing. But that isn't possible until she figures out what to do about Theo. And she isn't about to let Theo go after just one good weekend with Liam. So she has to continue to live in this purgatory a bit longer. Until she is sure Liam has changed. While she can't solve that problem, she can fix things between her and Robin.
Since walking in, Robin has looked over at Marian a few times. He is clearly waiting for Maraian to take the lead.
Marian looks over at Robin. After a minute he looks up and meets her gaze. He looks sheepishly at her. He starts to clear his throat when Marian speaks, "Hello Robin." Robin responds with a simple, "Marian.' Marian takes the initiative first, "I am sorry I was so terrible to you last week. I know it's not an excuse, but I had stuff happening that was distracting me last week." Robin smiles, now it's his turn to apologize, "Don't worry about it. You weren't acting like your normal self. Honestly, I am sorry I didn't realize something was wrong. I shouldn't have raised my voice with you." Marian starts smiling at Robin, "Don't feel bad. I was the one in the wrong." Robin, curiously asks, "Is it a family emergency?" Marian shakes her head, "No, nothing like that." Robin digs a bit deeper, "Are you and Theo fighting?"
At this point Marian pauses. She cannot tell Robin everything. Robin has a very black-and-white understanding of relationships. He would judge Marian for how she is treating Theo. Marian replies jokingly, trying to make it seem like not a big deal, "Look at you taking an interest in my personal life! Things with Theo are getting complicated." Robin looks genuinely upset at this, "I'm sorry. You two seem happy together. I'm sure you can fix it." Marian doesn't respond to this. She isn't sure if she wants to fix things with Theo. If things with Liam get even better, she must end things with Theo. Robin waits for Marian to say something. He takes her silence as uncertainty, so he tries to reassure her. "I bet if you asked him what's bothering him, he would tell you." Before she can stop herself she answers, "I don't need to ask. He's mad because I don't call him my boyfriend." Robin looks super confused, "wait, that is an official thing? You refuse to be committed to him?" Marian stops herself. She knew Robin would react this way. But what is she supposed to do? She has been clear with Theo from the start that she didn't want any labels between them. He of course was on the same page. But that conversation was almost a year ago. Theo has every right to think things are different between them. But Marian just doesn't feel for Theo the way he feels for her. It's not fair to go into a relationship when it is so uneven between them.
Marian finally asks Robin, "He hates it, but I want to be honest with him. It's not fair to Theo if I don't feel the same about him, right?" Robin thinks about this and responds, "I guess that it is better you are honest. At least you aren't leading him on." At this Marian looks down. She feels terrible, she isn't being honest with Theo, because he knows nothing about Liam. Marian gets noticeably more upset. Robin decides, "Sorry Marian, let's change the subject." And at this, Marian says a very Robin-ish response, "I am at work and I just want to focus on that right now." The two start working in silence. A few minutes later, Marian's phone buzzes. She looks at it and gets a giant smile. Robin thinks it must be Theo apologizing. He is being a man and taking things on Marian's terms. Robin relaxes again and finally focuses on work.