rowdier than usual.
But okay! :) Goodnight, B.
Brooke Kent (10:22 pm):
Goodnight, Anna.
Chapter Three:
Brooke paced, her whole body a tight bundle of nerves and second guesses as Vivienne and Christine dug through her closet. Brooke had Googled the restaurant Anna had selected,“Charlies,” and had clicked through every review and every image available. Business casual was the suggested attire, she already knew what menu items had the best ratings, and she knew that the ambiance was almost a touch romantic. All the photos appeared to have low lit, modern lighting, the kind with the exposed, round, warm bulbs, and every seat seemed to be some secluded booth.
“Brooke, stop pacing, please. You’re making me nervous,” Christine said, though her wide smile indicated she wasn’t nervous at all, just highly amused.
They had given Brooke almost no information after their shopping trip from the night before with Anna. Only that they had managed to get everything from the list Vivienne had rattled off via text message the day before. Christine had seemed pleased to report that Anna and Brooke shared a similar—but annoying (according to Vivienne)—habit of making puns.
Brooke stopped pacing and sank onto the edge of her bed with a huff. Vivienne emerged from her closet not a minute later.
“I think you should wear this,” Vivienne said, her voice matter of fact. She was holding a short sleeved black turtleneck and white dress pants with thin black pinstripes.
Christine was close on Vivienne’s heels. She nodded in agreement and held up a few accessories from Brooke’s jewelry box. A few gold rings of varying thicknesses, one was large and chunky with a thick onyx stone, a few were plain bands, and one was a K signet pinky ring. She was also carrying a gold chain necklace.“I think she’s right.AndI think you should wear some combination of these,” she held the rings out for Brooke to sort through and mix and match.
Brooke owned a lot of nice jewelry, but she always talked herself out of wearing it. She didn’t want to seem pretentious. Also, this many rings was a dead give away that she was queer and she usually flew under most radars on that front. Not that she didn’t want anyone to know that she was a lesbian, she just never felt the need to advertise that fact to strangers or basic acquaintances. It had nothing to do with residual internalized homophobia at all. Really, it didn’t.
The outfit was good. It wasn’t too flashy, but it would highlight a few of her better features. She knew she had a long and graceful neck, years of high level ballet training will do that for you. She also had impressive arms from her dedicated gym routine, and she knew that her turtleneck was pretty tight and would cling to her biceps. As for the rest, well those pants fit her like a glove. Maybe, just maybe, she could see if Anna would take the bait and check her out.
Christine’s phone chimed. Brooke knew it was Christine’s because neither she nor Vivienne would take the trouble to change the text tone off of the factory setting. Christine lit up at the sound. Brooke shouldn’t have looked, but Christine’s phone was sitting face up on the bed next to her. Anna’s name flashed across the screen. Her eyes widened.
“Wait, you’re texting Anna?” Brooke asked.
Christine laughed easily, waving Brooke off.“Yeah, I think we’re going to be friends.”
Brooke just looked absolutely flummoxed.
“You’re going to be fine tonight, B,” Christine said softly.“Just be yourself. She clearly wants to be your friend if she’s willing to go to England with you to help you sort out your family shit.” She put her hands on Brooke’s shoulders and waited for Brooke to make eye contact with her.“I’m not saying you have to fall in love or even in lust, I’m just saying let her in. As a friend.” She glanced at Vivienne.“I mean, we’re great and we know it, but she seems pretty great, too.”
Brooke sighed. Christine had a point. Just because she had had a massive crush on Anna for roughly a year now didn’t mean that she couldn’t just be friends with the woman. For all she knew, Anna was probably already in a serious relationship. To Christine’s point, everything that Anna had done over the past two days would indicate that she was interested in being Brooke’s friend. Brooke nodded.“It would be nice to have another friend. We can play team games at board-game nights with one more, so.”
Brooke took the clothes from Vivienne and handed Christine back the rings she wasn’t going to wear tonight, sliding the rest onto their respective fingers and fastened the gold chain around her neck.“Right,” she said.“I’ll just go change and then I guess I should be off.” She stepped around them to head into her bathroom, but froze.“What should I do with my hair? Should I have made flashcards? Should I wear boots that have a heel? I’m already a little taller than her.”
Vivienne’s perfectly manicured eyebrows dropped to a frown.“You are the smartest person I know. You do not need flashcards. Just wear your hair pulled back in a bun, you pull that look off better than anyone rightfully should. And Chris and I will pick shoes out for you while you change.”
For as to the point as Vivienne’s answers were, they were incredibly kind and filled with a confidence that only Vivienne was ever able to muster. Brooke was appreciative. For one reason or another, Anna Fourchette brought out executive dysfunction in Brooke like nothing else in the world ever had. It was honestly a little overwhelming and scary. She wasn’t going to let it stop her tonight though. She was going to finish getting ready and head to Charlies.
Brooke stepped through the front double doors of the restaurant that Anna had selected and scanned the room. Her eyes softened at the sight of Anna, leaned up against the hostess stand, chatting animatedly with a man who, based off of attire, was one of Charlies’managers. They both threw their head backs with full laughs as Brooke watched them. She didn’t want to interrupt, but she also didn’t want to get caught watching them from ten paces away.
She tried her best to not let her gaze linger on Anna anywhere it shouldn’t, but that was proving exceedingly difficult as Anna was wearing one of the many dresses she had sent Brooke photos of just the morning before. It was a dark red, nearly maroon. It was conservatively cut in the back, but the neck line dipped deliciously far south in the front. Brooke made sure to lift her eyes as she approached, knowing full well that the tips of her ears and probably most of her cheeks would be dusted with a pink blush she had never learned to control.
Anna’s eyes brightened brilliantly as they registered Brooke.“B, hi!” She exclaimed happily, shifting awkwardly on her feet as she clearly resisted the urge to throw her arms around Brooke’s neck in a hug.
Brooke’s blush deepened.“Hello, Anna.” She knew her smile was reserved, tight lipped. It always was when she was nervous.
A light pink dusted Anna’s cheeks, too. A beautiful color, perhaps brought out by the red of her dress.“Um, this is Hunter, he’s one of my oldest friends. I actually used to work here, before I started out on my own.” She gestured at the tall man beside her.
Brooke smiled at him, offering a slightly less reserved grin.“Pleasure.” She extended her hand.“I’m Brooke Kent.”
Hunter took her hand with a respectable grip and pumped it twice.“It’s nice to meet you. I’m glad Anna has started to make some new friends.”
The word‘friend,’lingered in the air between them. It hadn’t felt forced or aggressive. His sentiment seemed genuine, but Brooke couldn’t help but want to correct him. To what exactly, she hadn’t the faintest idea. She and Anna were hardly friends, even. Anna was just a really kind person who was willing to do her a favor. Maybe after tonight Hunter would be right. If Brooke managed to form any sentences at all, that is.
