Brooke had called an emergency meeting the night after Anna had come over for photos. She now paced back and forth in her living room in front of Christine, who was so excited she was on the edge of her seat, and Vivienne, who was watching Brooke with a calculated stare that was honestly a little unnerving.“What happened is we took like amillionphotos and Anna Fourchette smells like heaven. And I could not for the life of me fall asleep after she left and there’s no way I can make it through this week like this.” Brooke was exhausted. She had never been a good sleeper, but last night was another level of sleep deprivation. She couldn’t get her brain to stop thinking, to stop replaying everything that had happened since Monday night over and over in her mind.
“Can we see the photos?” Vivienne asked, frowning, She was clearly thinking. She was as serious as Brooke in her approach to everything that she did, perhaps even more so.
Brooke nodded, unlocked her phone and handed it over. She had studied each photo with painful scrutiny the night before. She had analyzed every pixel on the screen. The way her hair had fallen, how dark Anna’s eyes truly were, the subtle blush on their cheeks as the pictures had gotten more comfortable, more intimate. That was the main reason she couldn’t sleep. Christine scooted closer to get a better look as Vivienne thumbed through the photos.
“May I make an observation?” Vivienne asked after sifting through most of the photos.
Brooke nodded, uncomfortably, fully braced for whatever Vivienne might say.
“You look genuinely happy in these pictures.” It wasn’t mean. It wasn’t harsh. It was the truth.
Vivienne’s observation was painfully accurate. Brookehadlooked happy in those photos, increasingly so as the night had lingered on. She had looked it because she had truly been happy. Spending time with Anna, Anna just existing in her space, it had made Brooke incredibly happy. Last night, she and Anna had putSchitt’s Creekon in the background and had spent the rest of the evening taking ridiculous photos together, changing outfits, and then taking more ridiculous pictures. Anna had quickly determined her two favorites and had set one as her phone background and one as her lock screen. She had tasked Brooke to do the same and it was that task that had kept Brooke up. Every photo was too good, too lovely, too surreal. And at the end of it, too, unfortunately fake.
Brooke didn’t have a response to Vivienne’s statement. What was there to say? She just let out a frustrated huff of a breath.
“Did you work on your story at all?” Christine asked, her eyes still locked on Brooke’s screen.
“Yes, I believe it’s almost airtight at this point.” She sighed and flopped down on the couch next to them.“We started casually dating three months ago, but only got serious about a month and a half ago.” She wiped her face with her hands, trying to wipe away some of her tiredness. If only it worked like that.“The thought there was that it would allow cover should a question get asked that one of us doesn’t know the answer to.”
“Smart,” Vivienne said, handing Christine Brooke’s phone. She turned her hard gaze to Brooke’s face.“I assume you’ve covered each other’s favorites, potential allergies, and five year plans?”
Brooke nodded.“Yes, none, and partially.”
“Tip-toed around the big stuff?” Vivienne asked.
Brooke swallowed and nodded.“Of course. We both agreed that as human’s we’d like marriage one day and even a kid or two. Lot’s of childhood trauma to unpack, but I told her that I’ve always wanted to adopt a kid and she fully supports that idea in theory. It was just pretty weird given that we’re pretending to be dating and talking about very real things.”
Anna hadn’t made the topic weird at all, but Brooke had been a very reluctant participant and that much was obvious. Anna hadn’t pushed very hard. She had made it very clear that she was just trying to get a brief understanding should Brooke’s mother press them on any uncomfortable topics. Brooke said as much now to Christine and Vivienne.
“Any word on her actual sexuality?” Christine asked.
Brooke shook her head no.“Not even a whisper.”
Christine turned Brooke’s phone around to a photo that had etched itself into every wrinkle in Brooke’s brain. It was of Brooke leaned back on her couch almost to the point of fully laying down and Anna snuggled into her. Anna’s smiling face was tucked into the crook of Brooke’s neck. It was as if the world had slowed to a stop just for them. They had snuggled like that for the better part of an episode, casually snapping pictures, and laughing along with the ridiculousness of the show. Brooke had never watched it before, but it was Anna’s favorite. After a few minutes, Brooke could see why. Anna had taken that photo in particular right after Brooke had promised to watch the whole show. Their smiles were painfully big. It wasn’t until the end of the episode that Anna had bothered to get up.
“Which ones did Anna pick for her phone?” Christine asked.
“That one is her home screen and one of the ones from our‘date night’at Charlies is her lock screen.” Brooke said, air quoting date night, letting everyone know that she was fully aware that none of it was real.
Christine nodded excitedly, like that bit of information had confirmed something for her. Vivienne just tilted her head to the side and continued to study Brooke’s face.
“I think, if she made this one her home screen, you should too,” Christine said.
Vivienne nodded.“I would agree. I would make this photo where she’s sitting on the couch and you’ve leaned down over her as if you were just going for a hug, your lock screen.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a cute one. Good choice,” Christine agreed.
Brooke inhaled sharply. She agreed, but more to the point she didn’t know what she was going to do about the fact that she had already fallen helplessly in love with Anna Fourchette and was about to spend an entire week with her. She let out a heavy exhale. At least there would be people around the whole time and Brooke was not a fan of PDA, so at maximum they would be holding hands and even that would probably be pretty rare.
“Let’s do a little more prep then, shall we?” Vivienne asked.
Brooke nodded. Vivienne would be able to help. Vivienne knew exactly what was in store for them with the Kents. Brooke stood back up and resumed her pacing. She did her best thinking on her feet.
“One bed situation.”
Brooke’s eyes widened.“Okay, well that would never happen. You’ve met my family.”
“If it did,” Vivienne pushed.
