by T J Vertigo
PART 19
B ROOKE CALLED BEV to make a lunch date and was thrilled to find out that Sam and Nancy were visiting, she hadn't seen them in ages. They agreed to meet up at a coffee shop near Bev's apartment. It didn't take Brooke long to get there by cab, traffic seemed lighter than usual, and once she got inside the shop, she spotted Bev instantly.
"Brooke! You look fantastic!" Sam exclaimed, throwing her arms around the smaller woman and hugging her. "Have you joined a gym or something?"
Brooke giggled in embarrassment as Sam released her and drank her in. "No, but I've been rollerblading a lot."
"It shows." Nancy said, standing up to hug Brooke as well.
"Don't hog her all to yourselves, let her sit down and get some air, it's sweltering out there." Bev said, patting the seat next to her.
After sitting down Brooke kissed Bev on the cheek. "It's alright, I took a cab, and to my amazement, it was air conditioned. Besides, I don't mind the hugs." she winked at the two women across from her. They were smiling at her a little too brightly and Brooke narrowed her eyes. "She told you, didn't she." she said, turning towards Bev.
Sam and Nancy nodded in unison, still smiling with all their teeth.
"Bev!" Brooke said, then sucked her teeth.
"Don't be mad, I think its great news!" Sam said, reaching across the table and taking Brooke's hand. "Our little Brooke, all grown up, and a lesbian too."
"How much do you know?" The blonde asked Sam, yet turned again to face Bev.
"Everything." Bev admitted with a guilty grin.
Brooke sighed. "Well then..." she said, then stared at the table.
"So? Spill it! What happened at the party? Did you tell her? What did she say?" Sam asked excitedly. "Did you get any yet?"
Brooke laughed at her enthusiasm. "At least let me get some food first."
"Good idea." Bev agreed and they all picked up their menus and studied them.
* * *
Cayden stared at the phone in her hand for a long time, trying to think of what she would say to Brooke. She tried a few different things out loud and La La seemed to think she had the right idea with the second choice. She dialed the number quickly and when it rang three times she panicked, not knowing what to say to the answering machine. Just as she was about to hang up, someone picked up the other end.
"Hello?"
Cayden processed the voice and cringed. "Uh, Hi. May I speak to Brooke?"
"She's not in, who's calling please?" Harriet asked pleasantly.
"Oh, no, that's alright, I'll call back later." Cayden said quickly.
"Cayden? Is that you?"
Bert lowered his newspaper and peered at his wife over the top of it. "Is that Cayden the Rude?" He joked, chuckling when Harriet waved frantically at him.
The tall woman screwed up her face. "Yeah, can you tell her that I called?"
"How are you dear? I heard you weren't feeling well."
Mr. Hewitt leaned over in his chair and watched his wife harass Cayden. "Don't make her crazy Harriet." he warned.
Mrs. Hewitt covered the mouthpiece and hushed her husband.
"I'm better now." Cayden sighed and remembered this phone call was all about being polite. "And you?"
"Oh me? I'm feeling well, thank you." Harriet responded cheerfully. "So, Cayden, when will we be meeting you?"
Cayden panicked again. Meeting me? What did Brooke tell her? "I'm not quite sure."
"Brooke hasn't invited you over yet? I swear she has no manners. Well, you have an invitation dear."
"Yeah, and she'll come running for afternoon tea with Harriet the inquisitor." Bert snickered.
Cayden held back a chuckle at the overheard comment. "Thank you ma'am."
"Ma'am? Oh, you don't have to call me that! Call me Harriet!" Mrs. Hewitt insisted. "So, what are you doing on this hot day?" She turned around and gave Bert a glare to shut up.
Cayden sighed, and sat down on the couch. "Just had a late breakfast, I don't plan on much today, it's my only day off." She replied politely.
"Oh really? You keep the store open 6 days a week?" Harriet said, ignoring Bert's sour face. "So, do you own the shop?"
"Harriet!" Bert whispered loudly. "Leave the poor girl alone."
"Yes, I do." She's picking me for information. Cayden thought. Probably seeing if I'm good enough for Brooke. Funny, the father doesn't seem that worried. "My parents gave me the shop when they retired, it's a decent living, and I enjoy the work."
"Oh, so it's a family business." Harriet said as much for Bert's benefit as her own.
Bert's ears alerted at that, after all, he was a family man.
Harriet smiled, Cayden was proving to be quite polite, nothing like the monster Brooke made her out to be. "So, I take it you like animals?"
"I love them ma'am... Harriet." Cayden turned to look at La La. "Pets are innocent, they depend on you for survival, they don't judge you."
Hmm, interesting choice of words. Harriet pressed further. "I certainly understand. My Fred doesn't care if I do my hair in the morning or not, he just loves me for me."
"Yeah," Cayden pet La La lovingly. "Its unconditional."
Bert watched his wife get a thoughtful expression, then smile warmly.
"Yes dear, we could all use some of that."
Cayden squirmed uncomfortably. "I suppose."
"Shall I leave a message for Brooke?"
"Sure, tell her I called to thank her for seeing to me when I wasn't feeling so good."
"Oh, I certainly will! Does she have your number?"
"I'm sure she does. Thank you, Harriet."
"You take care!"
Cayden hung up the phone, her ears were pink and her hand was sweaty. She didn't figure that Brooke wouldn't be home, and her mother caught her off guard. "I was polite to her though, so that counts." she said to the cat who was standing on the couch next to her. "It wasn't too bad. She seems pleasant enough." She thought about the conversation a bit with pursed lips then shook it off. "Well, that should get the ball rolling. Brooke will call me back, maybe we'll get together, and when she starts acting too pushy, I can tell her to back off. What do you think La La?"
The cat yawned then turned over on his back.
"Yeah, it isn't hard to please you." Cayden said as she scratched his soft belly.
* * *
The four women made small talk all through their meal, and now with lunch finished, Bev, Sam and Nancy all looked at Brooke with anticipation.
Brooke smiled and stirred her coffee. "So, I bet you want to know what happened."
"YES!" They all replied in unison.
"Okay! Well, I got to the party and Cayden wasn't around. Her two friends, Wade and Jodie, told me she was in the store room. I took a beer and headed that way, I thought it would be a better idea to tell her what I had to say in private."
"What exactly were you going to tell her?" Sam asked.
"I needed to tell her why Grant confronted her, thinking we were having an affair." Brooke explained. "Well, you wouldn't believe the reception I got! She slammed the door in my face! That pissed me off and I intended to go in there and let her have it but damn, she's so sexy, and hot and I lost it for a while."
Sam snickered and Nancy elbowed her. "What? I think its cute." Sam explained.
"You want to talk cute? You should have seen her ass, good lord!" The blonde fanned herself.
"Yeah? Is it round and happy?" Nancy wondered, gesturing an ass with her hands.
"Oh yeah, you could put a drink on it. It's perfect." Brooke recalled dreamily. "Anyway, we started yelling at each other first. Cayden was being a bit snarky, so I got even madder, but it seemed the more angry I got, the more she liked it, so I toned it down and started talking. All the while, she was staring at my breasts."
As if practiced, everyone looked at Brooke's breasts. She raised an eyebrow and stuck out her chest. "It was the bra, trust me."
"You're doing fine just like that kiddo." Bev said with a snicker
.
"Mom!" Sam wagged her finger. "So? She was staring at your chest..."
"It was getting hard to concentrate, she started getting all sexy, and droopy eyed and I could tell she wasn't listening to a word I said... that is until I told her I dream about her. Once I confessed to talking in my sleep, I swear, steam shot out of her ears. She just got closer and closer until I was backed up against the wall and then she kissed me."
"She kissed you? What was it like? Tongues?" Nancy asked.
"Oh yeah, tongues. It was incredible! I've been dreaming about what it would feel like almost every night, and the dreams paled in comparison. And then there was the second one..." Brooke closed her eyes to savor the memory.
"The second one?" Bev turned sideways in her seat to face Brooke.
"Well, we were kissing the first time and I dropped my beer, the crash made Jodie and Wade come in and they caught us. Cayden freaked out, she was unreasonably upset about kissing me. She blamed my breasts for making her do it."
Bev, Nancy and Sam erupted in laughter, Brooke wanted to be offended, but realized how silly the statement was and joined in.
"She was totally fixated on them, in fact, I had to lift her face to mine at one point and that's what started the second kiss."
"So tell me about this bra." Sam joked, wiggling her eyebrow.
Nancy leaned across the table, and smiled evilly, "I'll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours."
Brooke blushed. "I don't have any secrets, this is all new to me."
"Oh sweetie, we're just teasing. I guess this is a bit hard for you isn't it." Sam sympathized.
"I thought it was just like getting a man, but its not, and I'm confused." Brooke confessed.
"No, its not much different you just have a tough woman. Think of it as an uncooperative man, only with a killer ass." She joked. "So, then, how'd you get a second kiss?"
"I made her stop ranting and come over to me. She fought it at first, and I could see her warring with herself, but one glance back at my body and she just kept moving. Once she was in front of me, I wanted her to actually hear my confession, so I began to explain myself, but she said I talk to much and kissed me again!"
"Oooo, a shut up kiss!" Nancy said excitedly.
"There doesn't seem to be a lack of passion between you two." Bev noticed.
"No, see, that's what I thought too. That time while were kissing, she picked me up off the floor and I was all wrapped around her. I never felt anything like it in my life! My knees were weak, my heart was pounding in my ears and I could hardly breathe from the adrenaline rush! She was so into it too, she groaned and squirmed... the way she said my name gave me goosebumps. I don't know what came over me either! I tasted her neck and I think I even bit it, everything was great and the she suddenly dropped me on the floor and ran out! I'll be damned if I know what happened!"
"Major issues." Sam announced.
"You're telling me?" Brooke agreed. "She's impossible. I know she wants me, even though she denies it. I have solid proof. She keeps telling me I'm straight, but how can I be straight if I want her so bad? Why doesn't she see that? What do I have to do to show her?"
"Well, she's attracted to you, that's for sure." Bev said, "But she keeps running away, she's afraid of something."
"So tell me about this solid proof." Sam wondered.
Brooke blushed instantly and cleared her throat. "No, I shouldn't. But trust me on this."
"You could be misreading it, you say she blamed your breasts, she may only be interested in your body. It may be new for her or something." Bev offered.
"Yeah, and she keeps insisting your straight, she may be put off by someone she thinks is straight wanting to experiment with her. Being attracted to you, would just piss her off." Sam added.
"No." Brooke said, yet thought about it. "You think?"
"Could be. Have you talked about it?" Bev asked.
"Well, not really. Listen, I was at her house, the day after the party, she was hung over and sick and I took care of her against her will. She was obnoxious and argumentative with me, but even that night we kissed again, and I felt something in that kiss. It was more than just physical...much more, and believe me, it did something to her too." Brooke trailed off suddenly hearing Cayden calling her name while she touched herself. "I don't even think I care if it's just my body she's interested in."
"Are you sure? Brooke, then that IS an experiment." Sam said seriously.
"But I dream about it! I can hardly close my eyes without imagining us ... you know..."
"Are you sure its just not your body she wants?" Bev asked.
"I'm quite sure, I hear from her friends that she's been acting the same way as I am. They tell me she wants me and she's afraid."
"What is she afraid of? Maybe you two should talk."
"I'd love to, but we get together and start bickering right away." Brooke frowned. "What do I do?"
"You have to call a truce. You're both grown adults, and you need to talk like you are. I doubt she'll confess her fears to you just like that, so I think you both need to do a lot of talking before anything is to happen." Nancy offered.
"Then again, if its just the sex you want, you can always torture her with your body until she gives in." Sam added.
"Sam, that's not what she needs right now." Nancy chastised her lover.
Brooke narrowed her eyes. That wasn't such a bad idea.
* * *
"She's afraid of love honey!"
Brooke jumped in surprise as her mother ambushed her at the door. "What the heck are you talking about? Who's afraid of love?"
"Cayden!" Harriet exclaimed with a self-satisfied smile.
Brooked stared in puzzlement at her mother.
"Harriet, I said you should stop jumping to conclusions!" Bert yelled from the living room.
Brooke's eyes widened in fear. "What did you do?" she asked loudly. "How did you...you didn't call her did you?"
"Oh nooo, she called you." Harriet explained innocently. "I just picked up the phone."
"MOM! Oh my god! You didn't!" Brooke threw her hands in the air and stomped off to the living room. "Dad, what happened?"
"Cayden called to speak to you and your mother tried to pry." he shrugged.
It just sunk in, and Brooke took a seat heavily. "Cayden called to talk to me?"
"Oh yes, she wanted to thank you for taking care of her when she was sick. Brooke dear, she doesn't seem rude to me." Harriet said, sitting down next to Brooke.
"She wanted to... really?" The blonde asked in amazement.
"She was very pleasant, but I sense a sadness."
"Mother, what did you say to her?" Brooke wondered nervously.
"I didn't say anything!" Harriet answered defensively.
"Then where did you get that idea?" Brooke raised an eyebrow.
"Its just a hunch. Sweetie, I think Cayden is afraid of love, and getting hurt. Your father said that to me but I didn't believe him. You're going to have to go slow with her."
"Ma, everybody's afraid of getting hurt. That's nothing new."
"Trust me. She knows she's difficult and doesn't want to get involved for fear of getting hurt." Harriet explained.
"How do you know all of this? Mom! You didn't question her did you? Oh no!" Brooke panicked.
"No! I did not. She just mentioned something about animals loving unconditionally and I just figured..."
"I can't believe you could deduce something like that from a simple statement about animals."
"It was the way she said it honey."
"Wait a minute, she had a decent conversation with you? She wasn't unnecessarily abrupt?"
"No, not at all. Quite charming."
"Hmph. Go figure." Brooke rolled her eyes.
"Shame on you for not inviting her over here, but don't worry I took care of that." Harriet smiled proudly.
"Oh no... no way. She's not being subjected to you in person! It was bad enough you played analyst on the phone."
"Brooke, I'd like to meet Cayden." Bert piped up.
No!" Brooke answered quickly, then thought a second. "I'm sorry dad, I know you're only looking out for me." Hmm, so she was downright charming to my mother? It may be a very good thing to invite her over here then... she can't get obnoxious with me in front of them... "I'll think about it, alright?"
"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Harriet said excitedly.
"I haven't said yes yet!" Brooke waved her arms around.
"Well, do call her back honey, she expects your call."
"I will, ma." How strange. Cayden called to thank me, has a lovely little chat with my mother.... accepts an invitation... what's going on? I need to think. "I'm going to take Fred out for a while."
PART 20
B ROOKE WALKED SLOWLY with Fred, she had a lot of info to digest. She went over the conversation in the diner with furrowed brows, then what her mother had said. No matter how she looked at it, it was obvious, Cayden was afraid. Afraid of me... afraid of love... Brooke sighed heavily. I need to make her comfortable with me. She needs to know there's no pressure for anything serious. I have to make it all about having fun. Brooke nodded to herself, pleased at her decision, then she giggled at her next thought. She wants me, I don't have to worry about that, I just need her to relax when it comes to us. Us. What us? There isn't an us. Brooke pursed her lips, then raised an eyebrow. There's definitely sex, she's hot for me for sure, but sex isn't an option right now... that's going to take a while... isn't it? Hmm. The blonde started walking back to her mom's place with a slow smile spreading across her lips. Not really, it's certainly there. We get so carried away with a kiss... given the opportunity, there's no telling... yeah right. If I can keep her in front of me after the damned kiss. WAIT! I got it... Cayden's uptight about sex! Why didn't I think of that? Brooke's eyes widened. That's the problem here! She only runs when sex becomes involved. Ooo, she needs to loosen up about sex, and THAT I can handle.
* * *
Cayden appeared to be going about her day, but if you looked closely, you'd notice she hadn't strayed more than two feet from the phone. She even took it to the bathroom with her, giving La La the excuse that you never know who's going to call and offer her a million dollars to eat a bug. With no incoming calls by dinnertime, Cayden began pouting her way into the kitchen. She stuck her head in the freezer and narrowed her eyes at the food as if it was the food's fault that Brooke didn't call. She picked up practically everything and put it down again, finally deciding on a cheeseburger and tater tots, with a healthy helping of pickles to make her feel better. She noticed that the burgers were fused in one hunk, Wade apparently threw them together when he put them away and try as she might, she couldn't pry them apart. She growled now, having no choice but to cook two burgers. "Well Wade, you get dinner by default." In her sour mood, she briefly thought about burning his on purpose but then sanity made her realize it wasn't his fault any more than the frozen burgers which she was banging rhythmically on the counter. If Brooke didn't want to talk to her, it was her own damned fault for acting like an ass. She threw the meat one more ugly look as she put it in the microwave to defrost, then sat and stared at the phone until the oven beeped.