by Cee, DW
“OK.”
“Do you have plans today?” I shook my head no. “You want to go out and grab some lunch and then some groceries? Cat and Daniel must survive on love because there’s nothing in the fridge.”
“Sounds great but I just realized I’m meeting my friend, Ruby, for brunch. Any chance we can meet for dinner?” Did that sound desperate? I hoped not.
“I suppose I can squeeze you in for dinner.” He grinned. “What do you like to eat?”
“Something very English.”
“Speaking of English, you don’t need to go see your family today? Aren’t they dying to see you after all these years?”
This guy was a nosy one. “They live near Scarborough. I’ll head up there this weekend.”
“That’s a beautiful place to be and not far from where my parents live. Maybe we can head up north together?” Was he really asking me this question?
“You’re Irish?” Brendan made me so nervous; I changed subjects without warning.
“Born and raised in Dublin. Moved to Liverpool at age seven, moved to London for college, and here I am.”
“Here you are…” That was the stupidest thing to say. What was wrong with me?
“So dinner?”
“Yeah, dinner. Um, whatever you like is fine. Send me time and location and I’ll be there.”
He gave me another one of his incredible smiles and put out his hand as if to ask me for something.
My wide-eyed confusion pushed Brendan’s mouth into an even larger grin. “Your phone. Give me your phone so I can put in my contact info and get yours. How else will I send you time and location?”
“Right.” I dug through my purse that still sat on the coffee table.
Once we exchanged all our info, I tentatively waved good-bye before walking back into my room.
“Roomie?” He stopped me.
“Yeah?”
“Make sure you get some coffee in you when you have brunch with your friend. I’d like to ask you some more questions tonight and I’m hoping you’ll be more coherent.” This time, it was a smirk that accompanied the wink.
“Um, yeah. Sure. See you later.”
Shit. I was seriously thrown off kilter this morning. Who the hell was this Brendan O’Shaughnessy and what had he done with me?
Chloe: Ruby, Who?
“CHLOE!!!” Ruby ran down the block, hollering my name. Everyone around me stared at the woman who ran and yelled simultaneously. Then they stared at the object of her flailing arms—me. This was crazy Ruby Bennington who didn’t care what people thought of her.
“Will you stop acting like a loon? Everyone is staring at us,” I whispered in admonishment.
“I’ve missed you, Chloe Darcy.” Ruby was also an affectionate one.
“You saw me yesterday. You saw me two days before we left LA. We lived near each other and went out at least once a week. Don’t lie and tell me you missed me.” My annoyed tone was all bluster. Ruby and I were sisters in all but blood.
“Let’s sit and eat.” We grabbed a table outside and ordered our food. “Where did you go…” A phone call saved me from Ruby’s inquisition. She muttered, “He just can’t leave me alone,” as she went digging through her purse for her cell phone. I could tell by the eye rolling who was on the other line.
“Don’t tell Michael you’re with me,” I warned and pled.
“Why the hell not?” She stared at me as if I’d grown three heads.
“Just don’t.” This time it was more of an obstinate insisting.
“Are you going to explain everything if I keep my mouth shut?” By this point, the phone had stopped ringing.
I debated. Did I want to explain everything to my soul sister? If it was a topic on anything, anybody but her brother, I’d say yes. “I just don’t want him to know.”
Once again, the “did-you-just-grow-another-head?” stare.
“What’s going on?” The phone rang again before she finished her sentence. “Hello Big Brother. Guess who I ran…”
I cut her off by ending her phone call. “All right! I’ll tell you everything. Just don’t tell your brother that you’re with me.”
“That’s better.” Ruby winked and giggled before picking up the phone, again. “Yes, Brother. Sorry, bad connection.” Rubes nodded her head a few times before answering, “I dunno, Mikey. She might not like that.” There were a few more “uh-huhs,” and “nu-uhs,” and a very loud, “I GOT IT! Stop telling me what I can and cannot do.” Before the conversation was over, Ruby stuck her tongue out at her brother through the cell phone and said, “I hope it’s a bust tonight and she gives you the boot!”
Ruby immediately hung up the phone and cracked up.
“What was that all about?”
“You first, Sister! What’s with the avoidance tactic?”
After a brief hesitation, I explained everything. “You see why I don’t want to talk to your brother?”
“No damn way! Mikey left you at Heathrow? Shit. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming in right after us? Didn’t you tell me you were headed straight to your parents once you landed? That’s why I didn’t insist you ride with us.”
“I was headed to Mum’s until Michael convinced me otherwise. It’s OK. It’s done.” I played it off as if yesterday didn’t bother me. “What was your conversation all about?”
“I told you about Laney Reid?”
“Kind of.” Ruby went into every last detail of this American who had stolen Michael’s heart. Smart, beautiful, good family—it was everything Michael deserved. “She sounds…perfect.” I had to admit. She was Michael’s equal.
“And she’s really nice.” Ruby dug into her eggs while I played with my food. “Anyway, Laney wanted the three of us to have dinner tonight and Michael just uninvited me. He wants her all to himself.”
“So when’s the wedding? She must be over the moon that Michael’s infatuated.”
Rubes almost choked on her eggs, her cackling was so forceful. “That’s the funny part! At every turn, she pushes him away and tells him, ‘no’. It’s charmingly refreshing.”
“Are you sure she’s not playing games with him? You know how girls have feigned disinterest in Michael until he pays attention to them? Remember that girl, what’s her name? The one who was the daughter of some cousin of a royalty in Austria? She acted like she was totally immune to Michael’s status and charm, until he looked her way and boom! She was practically stalking him.”
The cackles started again; they were louder this time. “This Laney Reid is legit. I like her a lot and could see myself being very good friends with her the rest of my life. You want to meet her?”
“Why the hell would I want to meet her?” I almost spit out, but gingerly held back. It was a tenuous hold, but I kept a tight rein on my obnoxious comments. “Am I losing you, too?” That damn woman was taking away all my close friends.
“You are not losing me, but I would like to know how I lost my only roommate in the course of a plane ride.” My disgruntled friend complained.
“I…well…”
“Tell me the truth, Chloe. Is it because of Michael and Laney? What’s going on between you and Michael?”
“As you can see, there’s nothing going on with me and Michael.” Damn. That came out sounding a lot uglier than I meant for it to come out. I toned it down considerably. “Michael and I are friends, good friends. I’m happy he’s met someone. I just hope we don’t lose our friendship because of her. That’s all.”
“Then why’d you dump me?”
“Rubes,” I sighed. “I didn’t dump you. I figured since you’re back home, with your family, you don’t need me tagging along…again.”
“What the hell does that mean, ‘tagging along, again?’ You’re my best friend. I thought we were sisters. Are you mad I didn’t room with you in LA? When you decided to move to LA, I couldn’t get out of my roommate situation. I thought you understood.”
“CHLOE!” My sister-in-name was exasperated with me. “Don’t go there again. You know my family loves you. Even the almighty duke loves you. Truth be told, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he prefers you over me.”
I wanted to explain to my best friend that we lived in polar opposite worlds. We could be best friends, but I wasn’t family—unless I married in, which wasn’t ever happening.
“Why can’t we stay best friends, living in separate homes? It’s no different than what we had in Los Angeles.” That line of reasoning wasn’t working for Ruby. “At the rate Laney Reid is working, you may have a new best friend by the end of summer.”
Her face told me she was very unhappy with me. “You know how hard it’s been for me to find a genuine friend all these years. Either girls can’t stand me because of my status and wealth, or they can’t wait to be my new bff and sister-in-law because I’m a Bennington. Michael and I’ve always agreed that you are our one true friend.”
“And I am still your true friend. I love you and Michael like family and nothing changes, unless it’s on yours and Michael’s part.”
“You’re really not going to live with me? What if I get my own flat? Will you come live with me, then?”
“For now, since I’ve committed to living with Cat, I need to stay for a year. I don’t want to bail on her, Dan, and Brendan.”
“CAT??? You and Crazy Cat are living together? Why the hell wasn’t I invited to this party?” Ruby’s voice was a crescendo again. “Can I join you four?”
“The flat is absolutely tiny, Rubes. It’s the size of your room in Belgravia.”
I laughed at Ruby’s adorable five-year-old pout. “Now, who’s abandoning whom? You’re leaving me for Cat.”
“If I was leaving you for anybody, it’d be for Brendan.” Oh hell! I shouldn’t have piqued her curiosity like that.
“Brendan? Who is he and when can I meet him?”
“Uh…”
“Confess, Chloe Noel Darcy. Who is this Brendan?”
I had no choice. “Brendan O’Shaughnessy is this half Irish, half English, Magic Mike looking guy who will rob you of your breath and sanity when you meet him.”
“He’s that good looking?”
I nodded yes. “Wait until you hear his accent. Almost as fun as the male stripper body.”
“HELL YES! Let’s go now and meet him.”
I cracked up at my friend’s enthusiasm. “I only met him a few hours ago. Let me get to know him a little better before I bring you into the madness. As it is, I couldn’t say more than a word or two at a time. He probably thinks I’m an idiot.”
Ruby sat quiet for all of a minute before saying, “Life is changing for all of you, huh? Mikey has his Laney. You have Cat and Brendan. I’m the only one at a standstill.”
“Your life is always revolving, Rubes. Between your acting career and your family commitments, you’re just as busy as the rest of us.”
“Yeah, but I don’t really have a career. I’m hopping from job to job, and am a tag-a-long with my parents’ charity commitments. I feel as if everyone has a direction but me.”
“Rubes, I work as a designer because I love it and because I have to earn a living. Michael will do his duties as the future duke because it’s his responsibility and his calling. You, on the other hand, have the most perfect life. You can do whatever you like, making little to no money, and you’ll be fine. How much better does life get than that? I’d count my blessings.” The pouting continued. I wanted to cheer up my friend. “How about I set up a dinner for the five of us tonight since your brother uninvited you from his dinner?”
Ruby dug through my purse and plucked out my cell phone. “Prove it.” She cracked a smile.
I shook my head in slight exasperation and dialed. “Cat?”
“Hey. What’s up?”
“Can you rally the roomies for a dinner out, tonight? Ruby Bennington will join us.”
“I love Ruby! I haven’t seen her in years.” I didn’t need to relay this message. Cat’s yell was just as loud as Ruby’s.
“I love you, too!” Ruby yelled back.
“Can we stop with the screaming and talk to one another like civilized people?”
“Where?” Cat asked.
“Homeslice, near Cambridge Theatre and Covent Garden at 7:30,” Ruby answered.
“Why do you need me when you both can do this telepathically?” I asked both ladies.
“See you later, Ruby.”
“See ya!”
I hung up before the restaurant kicked us out.
“You happy now?”
“Extremely! I can’t wait to meet your roommates. Do you have dibs on this Brendan O’Shaughnessy, already?”
“No, Rubes. If you like him, I say go for it.”
“Fab! What do you want me to tell Mikey concerning you? I’m sure by now he knows you’re here. He’s most likely pissing in his pants wondering how to undo the wrong he’s done.”
I didn’t think so, not with Laney Reid on his mind. “No need to say a word about me. I’m sure he’ll call when he’s ready.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“7:30?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Ruby giggled. “I’m going to go tell Laney all about you and my soon-to-be new man.”
“You don’t even know him.”
“I don’t, but I like what I’ve heard.”
The giggling didn’t stop until we parted.
Chloe: Brendan, Who? (Take Two)
“Where’s Ruby?”
“Hello Roomie. Yes, I had a good day, and you?”
“I thought you were coming with Ruby.”
“She’s never on time to anything. I wouldn’t hold my breath. She’ll probably arrive after we’ve had our first pie.”
“Hello, Chloe.” Brendan greeted me with his two dimples and a side hug. Something about his arm that stayed on my shoulder felt really good.
“Hey.”
“Since Cat so rudely ignored your day, I’ll ask. How was your day?”
“Good.”
“You met your girlfriend?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Are we back to our one-word, one-way communication?” he whispered.
I blushed at my idiot actions. “Uh, no.” Enough was enough. I wasn’t some simpering Miss. Get a hold of yourself, Chloe Noel Darcy! “I had a great time with my girlfriend, Ruby. Then I went and met my first client at her flat in Belgravia. She liked my ideas, she signed the agreement, and now I have my first job in the UK. Dinner is on me, tonight!”
“You don’t do anything in half-measures, do you?” Brendan hadn’t let go of me and his lips stayed near my right ear. I was liking this position more and more.
“Woo-hoo!” Cat hugged me from the other side. “You found a job! I knew you could do it.”
“Thanks Cat. There was no one more surprised than I when my client signed the document without hesitation. She not only agreed on every price—without a complaint—but she also wants me to come see her country home. In essence, I now have two jobs, plus more if her contacts come through.”
“YEAH!” Cat, Dan, and Brendan all cheered for me.
“I’m here!” Ruby ran over to us. “Hello, everyone.” My girlfriend was huffing and puffing. She was actually early for her standards.
“Hello, there.” Brendan’s arm lifted from my shoulder so he could reach out and massage Ruby’s hand. I was feeling kinda cheapened about now. “I’m Brendan O’Shaughnessy.”
“Ruby Bennington.”
“Bennington? As in Michael’s little sister?” Damn. I didn’t need another reminder of Michael.
“Went to St. Andrews with him until he decided to go Ivy League on us. What’s he up to these days?”
“We just got home from the States yesterday.”
“Just like you.” Mr. Congeniality was all dimples when he spoke to me. I couldn’t help but return the smile. “You know Michael?”