Brooke
The last four weeks have been hell on earth.
Brody and I are still living in the same house, in different rooms, and at each other’s throats the whole time. Both of us are too stubborn to move out, which is only making the situation worse by the day. In all fairness, he has offered to buy me out, and I am seriously considering it. However, there is a part of me, a big part, that thinks Brody should be the one to go. After all it was he who ended our relationship.
Brody thinks that I’m being deliberately obtuse and not moving out just to spite him. As he so nicely reminded me last night, as we got into another blazing fight, he can afford to buy me out but can’t afford to buy his share. The fight ended in a lot of door slamming, me calling him a selfish bastard, and Brody heading out. Where he went, I haven’t a clue, but I did notice that he didn’t come home until three in the morning.
Come to think of it, Brody has been spending more and more time going out in the evenings. He thinks I don’t notice, but I do. As a couple, we rarely went out, preferring to spend our time at home together. Now, I’ll be lucky if I see him for more than ten minutes in any given day of the week.
It stings.
It stings that he makes more of an effort with his appearance—taking a shower and changing his clothes before he goes out. He rarely bothered when we were together.
It hurts that I can overhear the conversations he has on his cell, and from that, I found out that he was already dating someone new.
Didn’t take long to be replaced, did it?
Fucking Joely Baxter and her fake tits.
Why didn’t he tell me? I had to listen to him cooing to her over the phone and calling her baby.
I hate him.
They have plans to go out tonight as well.
Wonderful.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Brody stands in front of me looking like perfection. His dark hair is neatly styled; he’s wearing a gray button down shirt that matches his eyes and what looks to be a new pair of jeans.
“I’m going out.”
“Great.” I fake a smile. “Have a nice time.”
“I’m not sure what time I’ll get back.”
“Try not to make too much noise.” I have no idea why he’s telling me this, he doesn’t usually.
“K,” he says as he picks his keys up off the counter.
“Brody?”
“Yeah.” He turns back around to look at me.
“Just…don’t bring her back here. Please.”
He stares at me for a long moment before answering. “I won’t.”
“Oh my God, Brooke. You’d love it here!”
It’s midnight, Brody still isn’t home from his date, and for the last hour or so I’ve been catching up with Hope via Facetime.
“Seriously. My neighbor, Jake, is H.O.T. He’s a stripper or something.” She laughs. I laugh too, happy that she’s happy. She deserves it after everything she went through with Caden.
“And it’s warm most of the year.”
“I don’t know, Hope. I just can’t up and leave my life here.”
“Sure you can.” She smiles. “I don’t mean to sound mercenary, but what exactly do you have there?”
“Plenty.”
“Like?”
“My job, my friends.” I stop myself before I blurt out Brody.
“A job you hate, and you can always keep in contact with people. There are these newfangled things called phones, email, and the Internet. You wouldn’t have to put up with frozen eyeballs each winter. Plus, you’ll make loads of new friends here. I have. Everyone is so friendly. They’d love you.”
“Hey, if you can introduce me to that hot neighbor of yours, then we’ll have a done deal, missy.” I tease without any humor. Hope being Hope notices my sudden change in mood.
“Seriously, Brooke, I miss you. I miss my sister,” she says sadly.
“I miss you too, piglet,” I say, pressing my fingers to my lips and blowing her a kiss, which she pretends to catch.
“It would do you so good leaving that place behind. Leaving all those memories in the past.” She gives a little shudder.
“Brody’s dating someone.” I blurt out.
“Oh, Brooke. How do you feel about that?”
“Like my heart is a piece of glass with a crack in it. That crack gets bigger and bigger with each passing day.”
“Honey…”
“I’ll have to pull my big girl panties up and get on with it, won’t I?” I say with a sigh. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
“Come live with me. Please?” she pleads. “I hate the idea of you having to sit on the sidelines while Brody moves on with his life. You’ll just end up dead inside, and before you say anything,” she says quickly before I can interrupt, “I know that from bitter experience. You know as well as I do that those McAllister boys aren’t exactly lacking in admirers. I wouldn’t put it past some woman to try and get herself knocked up by Brody so that he’ll put a ring on it.”
“That wouldn’t happen. Brody’s more savvy than that.”
“I thought Cade was too and look what happened there.”
“I don’t know, Hope. It’s a big change for me. I’d be uprooting my life. My job might be boring but it’s steady.”
“You told me yourself that you’ve got to move, and that you can’t afford to buy Brody out. You’ll have to find somewhere else to live soon. Why not cut your losses and make a clean break? Come live with me. My apartment is plenty big for the two of us. We could even get a cat…”
“And hot neighbors.” I grin.
“And hot neighbors,” she repeats with a laugh. “Just promise you’ll think about it, okay?”
“I promise.”
The sound of the front door slamming shut makes me look up from the computer screen.
“Brody home?” Hope asks.
“Yeah. I better go. Don’t want him thinking I waited up for him.”
“No problem. Bye, B.”
“Bye, piglet,” I say, pressing the red button to end our conversation.
With a huge lack of enthusiasm, I get out of my nice warm bed and pad over to the bedroom door in order to close it. Just as I reach it, I hear a distinctly female giggle, followed by a very male, very Brody groan.
No.
He wouldn’t.
He promised.
The female voice giggles again and I hear a thump, as if two bodies are colliding with a wall.
I can hear Brody’s familiar rumble but can’t make out what he’s saying. The female voice lets out a high-pitched shriek, then a long, low moan.
Judging by the increasing closeness of the sounds of the voices, I would say that they will be in the hallway in three…two…one.
“I want you so bad.” Brody gasps, while my heart starts its slow, painful splinter into two.
“I.”
Kiss.
“Want.”
Kiss.
“You.”
Kiss.
“Too.”
I’d recognize those nasally tones anywhere.
Joely Baxter.
I bite down hard on the back of my hand as I hear them grunt and groan right outside my door. I can hardly breathe as now both my hands are clamped over my mouth, making it impossible for the wail of anguish that wants to rip from me to have a voice.
“Do you have protection?” Joely gasps.
“I…yeah,” Brody answers with a moan.
No. Please. No. Don’t do this to me. You promised.
“This your room?” I feel the push on the other side of my door. Any second Brody and Joely are going to come tumbling into my room. Then it’s real. My worst nightmare. Brody is going to have sex with another woman, and I’ll have to listen to them go at it.
I was his one and only. I thought I was special, but I guess I’m not.
“NO,” Brody says roughly, and the pressure on my door eases up. “My room’s this way.”
I hear a thump, then Joely lets out a belly laugh.
“Jesus, Brody, how much did you have to drink?”
“Too much.” He laughs. “Now come here.”
The door to his room slams shut and I hear more giggling. A few minutes pass and the “Oh Gods” start. I dress as quickly as I can, fleeing the house before I’m forced to hear more.
As I run down the steps of our porch, I notice that Lola’s lights are on. Like a moth to a flame, I sprint over to her house and hammer on her front door.
“LOLA. OPEN UP. PLEASE, LOLA. Please be in...please.” I cry before my exhausted, heartbroken body gives out on me and I end up a sobbing heap on the floor of her porch.
“Brooke?” A bright light washes over me, and the next thing I know Lola has her arms around me, rocking me back and forth. “Brooke, honey, what on earth happened to you?”
“B-B-B…rod.”
“Shhhhh.” She coos. “Come on. Let’s get you inside, safe and sound.”
I feel a gentle tug on my arm as Lola helps me to my feet and ushers me inside. Without a word, she guides me past her living room to her guest room. I stand silent as she pulls back the bed covers, smoothing them down before taking my hand and leading me over to the comfy looking bed. Lola places her soft hands on each shoulder, pushing me down until I sink on the mattress.
“Just goin’ to take your shoes off, sugar, then I’ll get you somethin’ to help you sleep,” she says with a tender smile. I remain dumbstruck as she helps me lay back, fussing around me as she tucks me in. “Be right back, hun.”
In my near catatonic state, I don’t notice that Lola has left the room until she hands me a mug of hot brandy.
“Now you drink that up. You hear? That’s my grandma’s recipe for when life has done you ill. Nothing but good ole brandy mixed with a little bit of honey and hot water. It’ll sooth a soul sent straight to hell, according to Grandma. Drink it all and then you can tell me what happened.”
I don’t even get that far. The effects of the strong alcohol quickly sends me off into a dreamless sleep while I curse the day I ever met Brody McAllister.