DYLAN
I know staring at someone while they sleep is creepy as hell, but I can’t help it.
I still couldn’t believe she was mine, you know?
I’d had a crush on Brielle when we were in high school. Being a new kid on his first day had been uncomfortable to say the least, then here comes this pretty girl, with vibrant pink hair, glasses perched on her cute button nose, smiling up at me, just because I had been decent enough to open a door for her. I must admit, I never knew how much I needed someone to smile up at me, I was dealing with the discovery of dad’s affair, and the looming chance of divorce, so you can just imagine how much of a silver lining that smile was for me.
I had been so stupid.
Caught up in the chance of becoming popular, so forgetting everything else.
Brielle squirmed slightly, and rolled over with a long stretch, a soft groan escaping her lips as her eyes slowly opened. She yawned tiredly. “Good morning.”
I smirked. “Morning, Pinky.” She shot up with a start, a quizzical look on her face. “How do you know that nickname?” I opened my mouth to answer, but she beat me to it. “Ah, I forget your girlfriend was Amanda Richfield. Fun fact, I hated that name. Amanda found countless ways to subtly bully me, that name was one of them.”
“Oh.” It must have been the look on my face or some psychic power or something, for she figured it out in a flash. “You gave me that nickname.”
“In my defense,” My arms were lifted in surrender... with powers like that, who knew what she could do next? “In my defense, that name was an endearing term for me. I-I had a small crush on you, and I always sought you out during lunch, you know?” I chuckled slightly. “I just couldn’t help it. My eyes would just scan the cafeteria for you, and whenever I did find you, I’d be okay.” I pulled her against me and wrapped my arms around her as we snuggled in the covers. “Your bright hair always made it so easy to find you, and every time I did see you, I’d chuckle to myself, and whisper, ‘found you, Pinky.’” She scoffed in amusement.
“Why did you dye your hair pink though?” I asked in interest. She shrugged non-committally. “I was in a very nasty phase of loving the color pink, so when I got the chance to dye my hair, that was what I went for.” She winced, the look making me chuckle slightly.
“Continue your tale, I’m all ears.” She pressed, and so I did. “As I was saying… so, Amanda heard me call you Pinky one time, and she and Marin had a huge laugh over it, but then that was it. I didn’t know the name continued.” I finished, taking in the surprised look on her face as everything I’d said sank in.
“I can’t believe you had a crush on me.” She said, a look of disbelief on her face that quickly morphed into confusion. “No, so wait… why did- that day when I stupidly confessed what I thought was love-”
“You took me by surprise, Brielle.” I cut her off softly, her words slicing my heart into two. “I was so confused, but admit it… had you been in my shoes, what do you think you’d have done? Think you’d jump into my arms and say ‘Oh, Dylan… I love you too?’
She eyed me for a moment before bursting into laughter that I quickly joined in. “Alright, alright, fine. I’d have probably called you crazy or something.” She admitted begrudgingly.
I pulled her in for a kiss, “I would have said I was crazy for you.” I teased as my mouth latched onto her caramel-coloured creamy throat. I reveled in the sound of laughter escaping her lips, the sound quickly turning into a soft moan. “Dylan, I have to get to work, and you have to go pick your mum up from the airport.”
I groaned. “Don’t remind me.”
Pushing away slightly, she asked with interest. “Speaking of your mum, how’s she like?”
I was silent for a moment, thoughtful. “Ma, is for lack of a better illustration, like a giant stuffed teddy bear, that looks a lot like the real deal… very scary, till you get close enough to realise that she’s just a warm toy that gives the best of hugs.”
BRIELLE
His mum was like a bear.
Interesting choice of words that had me wishing I had never asked about her in the first place.
“You know, you should come with me to go pick her up.” He declared after a moment. My gaze snapped to him like he had lost his senses, as I kept my face blank. “Oh no. This is a mother-son reunion, I don’t think I need to be there.” I explained.
You tell me you mum is like a bear, and then you want me to meet said bear. Yep, definitely madness.
Thankfully, he didn’t push it. I rolled over and reached for my phone to check the time.
7:28.
“I’m going to take a shower.” I announced, climbing out of the bed. Dylan was hot on my heels. “I’m coming too, Bree. Together, we can save the universe… by conserving water.” He declared triumphantly, much to my amusement.
*****
We were having breakfast.
Despite my protests, Dylan had decided, that he wouldn’t be a good host if he didn’t feed me breakfast before I left his place for work, and according to him, Wonton soup was definitely not breakfast food.
Sitting on the kitchen counter clad only in panties and Dylan’s shirt, I sipped on my orange juice, a plate full of scrambled eggs, vegetables and bacon on my laps as I moved my body to the soft music wafting from the living room. Dylan tossed some more bacon into the sizzling hot pan and stirred lightly, his muscles flexing at the effort.
The music changed, Justin Bieber’s ‘Yummy’ suddenly filled the kitchen causing me to shoot Dylan a look of disbelief. “Really, Dylan?” He looked up at me questioningly.
“Justin Bieber? Really?” I asked again. He laughed heartily, understanding lightening his features. “He’s a musician, no? I pride myself in not being one to discriminate, Brie. Plus, you can’t deny that he’s got some pretty great tracks.” He argued, scraping bacon onto a plate for himself, and turning off the stove.
I pulled the most disgusted look I could muster, “I don’t know if I should be pleased or disappointed at this development.”
“Oh yeah?” He placed the plate on the counter and stepped between my legs, his hands on my waist. “I guess I’m going to have to fix that, then.”
My plate of unfinished food was dumped on the counter, my half-empty glass of juice following. Dylan’s mouth claimed mine roughly, and just as I was relaxing into the kiss, the doorbell rang.
Dylan groaned slightly, as he pulled away, our foreheads still touching. “Hm. Saved by the bell. You really are a lucky one, Lucia Brielle Renaud.”
I chuckled and pushed him away gently, hopping off the counter. “You should get that. I’ll be in here finishing my breakfast.”
I watched him leave, my gaze fixed on his butt as I took a large gulp of juice.
Quickly finishing my breakfast, I cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes, but after finishing all that, Dylan had still not come back. I couldn’t hear anything too because of the music, so I decided to go check up on him.
“Dylan?” I called out loudly over the music as I padded into the living room. “You’ve been gone for ages, I was even getting worrie-” The words got stuck in my throat at the sight of the elegantly dressed woman sitting on one of the many couches that littered the room. My gaze shifted in horror to Dylan who had an equally mortified look on his face.
“Who are you?” The woman called out, standing up to properly assess me, her eyes flitting over my outfit disapprovingly. “I’m Lucia.” I answered, my chin held high, even though I wanted to tug down at Dylan’s shirt.
“Hm.” Her tone was condescending, like I wasn’t considered worthy enough to breathe the same air she was breathing or some aristocratic shit like that. Dylan cleared his throat. “Bree, meet my mum, Patricia Thomas. Ma, meet Brielle Renaud. My girlfriend.”
“I see.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” I greeted softly. “I’ll go change quickly and be out, you two must have a lot to talk about.” I stated turning on my heel to head for Dylan’s room.
“No Bree, there’s no need to leave so fast, I’m just finishing up here with my mum who was just leaving. We can go to work together.” Dylan called out, making me stop in my tracks. I turned to shoot him a subtle glare.
Couldn’t he feel the tension in the room?
“There’s no need for that, Dy. I came in my own car remember? I’ll just meet you at work.” I countered, my tone completely saccharine.
Patricia followed our exchange in earnest. “You work at RetroCorp too?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“I see. I remember you now. Shawn just won’t shut up about you.” She quipped, arms folded. I couldn’t tell if her demeanor was threatening or not, she was so cool and distant, it was nerve-wracking. I just smiled tightly and left for Dylan’s bedroom.
I found my make-up kit in the overnight bag Silvie had packed for me, my work clothes lay neatly on an armchair near huge the impressive glass window overlooking the city, well pressed.
Damn, this amazing boyfriend of mine.
Quickly applying make-up, I donned the knee-length navy blue pencil dress with a deep V-neck, and matching belt that gave my waist a cinched look. I checked myself out in the mirror appreciatively, silently thanking my best friend for choosing such a lovely outfit. My hair went up in a sleek loose ponytail, and I slipped on my black pumps from yesterday to complete the whole look. With one final glance at the mirror, I packed all my stuff back into the bag and headed for the living room.
“Well, I don’t like her for you, son. You can do so much better than her.”
“Ma, stop. I choose her, kindly drop this. I’m a grown-ass man, and I can make my own decisions. Don’t talk about this again.” I heard Dylan say, his tone completely murderous.
Wow, this really put talking behind my back into perspective.
I couldn’t help it, I paused down the corridor to eavesdrop on the rest of the conversation. It baffled me how his mother could come to such a conclusive verdict just from meeting me for a few minutes, and I’m not going to lie, I quickly felt a growing resentment for her.
She really was a bear indeed.
“Dylan, a mother knows what’s best for her child, and I’m telling you that girl is not it. You know who I met at the airport? My friend, Madeline Decker, the young girl i've been trying to hook you up with for ages. She was graceful enough to even give me a ride to your place, such a lovely young woman.” I heard her say.
Silence.
Even I feared for Dylan’s mother in that moment.
“You know Madeline Decker?! Scratch that, you brought her to my house?!” Dylan thundered.
“What’s wrong son? You’re scaring me. I’ve been telling you about this woman for a very long time… hell, I even told her about RetroCorp’s search for investors, and encouraged her to join the list, so you’re welcome.”
Pacing. Lots of pacing.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? That woman is a crazy psychopath who won’t stop pestering me, and now she knows my fucking house all thanks to you!” The rage in Dylan’s voice was impossible to ignore.
“You know what? Leave. Get out of my house! You almost made me forget how manipulative you can be sometimes, ma. Too bad I remember now.”
A slight pause, then some shuffling I couldn’t quite place.
“Oh, and before you go round blaming me for not telling you… dad has kidney failure, and Savannah is in the bloody hospital.”
I winced at the loud bang of the door, contemplating whether to go to him immediately to let him know I heard everything or wait a little and pretend to be in the dark. There was some serious banging at the door… probably Dylan’s mum wanting to be let back in after hearing such horrible news, but the noise stopped all of a sudden.
In the end, going to him immediately won, and so I did. He looked frustrated as he paced the living room, his every action, his very demeanor a complete opposite to the sexy, goofy man who had made me breakfast just a few minutes ago.
I walked towards him slowly and reached for his hand, ceasing his incessant pacing in the process. Pulling him in, I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed tight, there was no response for a long time before he finally caved in and hugged me back with a sigh. “I’m guessing you heard everything, huh?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything.
“I’m so sorry, Bree. I’m sorry you had to hear all of that. My mum’s not that great, but it has never been like this. I’m honestly very sorry.” He apologised softly. I shushed him. “It’s not your fault… parents think they know what’s best for their children sometimes, but in any case, thank you so much for standing up for me. You have no idea how much that means to me.” He pulled back to gaze at me lovingly, caressing my cheek slightly in the process. “Nobody’s going to talk about my woman that way and get away with it.” He declared proudly with a smirk causing a small smile to break out on my face. The moment passed just as quickly as it came and we both settled into pensive silence.
“Don’t you think you may have gone a bit too far telling her about Shawn and Savannah?” I contemplated out loud, but he only shrugged. “I was too far gone to care, but I really did go too far.” He admitted.
“What happens now, Dy?” I asked softly, suddenly fearful of what the future had in store for us. Dylan was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, Bree… but it’s best to be really prepared.” He said,
“Because, I just have this bad feeling that things are going to take a turn for the worse from here.”