by R. S Burnett
“Hey Luce” I greet and pull her into a hug.
“Brooke, this is Chloe, Chloe this is the owner, Brooke”
“Nice to meet you, you’ll fit in well. It will be fine” I assure her with a smile because she looks nervous. She’s very pretty with blonde hair and bright blue eyes, slim, taller than me a about five foot eight and looks as if she will be a lot of fun when she gets over her first day nerves. “Lucy will look after you, you’re in great hands”
“Everything okay?” Lucy asks noticing my clothes.
“I’m not staying long tonight. I have some stuff I have to take care of but I wanted to pop in to see everyone” I reassure her with a smile when she starts looking concerned. I notice Andrew has done as I asked and called in Jess, Mel, Dan, Zack, Tucker and the rest of the band. I head to the end of the bar where they are all sat.
I get them all their drinks, not needing to ask what they want and add a shot each for everyone. Andrew joins me on my side of the bar and helps with the drinks.
“All sorted?” he asks me quietly, I rang him before I came in to tell him what was happening but asking him to keep it to himself. I nod and grin up at him making him smile and hug me kindly. “You’re going to be fine” he kisses my cheek.
“Here you guys, you know, one or two of you could change you’re choice of drink once in a while, mix it up a bit. You’re all very predictable” I tease the group as I hand out their drinks.
“We don’t need to add any excitement to your night, you do that all by yourself” Derek teases back making me chuckle.
“Speaking of excitement, are you two going to be putting on a show tonight?” Cam asks excitedly. He always gets excited when Andrew and I do bets and challenges; he enjoys my loosing and embarrassments way too much.
I look to Andrew who is grinning.
“Definitely” I answer with a wink and laugh when he rubs his hands together in anticipation.
“Everything okay Brooke?” Mel asks me turning from her conversation with Tucker smiling.
“Never better” I assure her, noticing they are linking arms.
“You’re not staying long” Tucker notes, looking at me for the first time since I walked over, making my decision easier.
“Nope, only for an hour or two” I answer still smiling to let him know all is okay but he frowns at me when Will walks out of the office and hands me a coffee. I never drink anything other than alcohol at the club. I don’t always get drunk, five out of six nights a week I only have one or two beers but I never drink anything else and he knows that.
The conversation quickly turns to a group discussion on club events that are coming up, I make comments when necessary but generally take a backseat from the conversation not making any commitments but not declining any either. I watch as Lucy and Chloe struggle with the amount of customers so I give them a hand until the line clears a bit and introduce Chloe to the group. I notice Tucker looking her over, I don’t know if it’s because I’m watching for it but I’m not all that surprised by it I think it’s something he always does I just haven’t paid that much attention to it before now.
After about two hours since I came here the music lowers and I look up to Andrew standing on the bar, microphone in hand.
“Guess where I stayed last night” he asks the club.
I laugh and climb up on tot the bar with him taking the mic Lucy holds up for me. “Let me guess, with the girl of your dreams and it was the best night ever?” I tease making the crowd cheer.
“I would ask how you know that, but you were there” the cheers get even louder.
“Did you have a good night?” I ask laughing.
“Of course, didn’t get much sleep though” he winks at the crowd.
“I’m worth it though” I smirk back at him.
“Did you enjoy it?” he asks and the crowd goes quiet waiting for me to answer.
I pretend to think about it for a minute “Well you did snore but it was bearable” I wink to the crowd and turn to Lucy. “Can you knock the office door for me please?” I ask away from my mic, she frowns but does it.
“We shouldn’t have waited so long to do it” he teases.
“If I knew you liked to cuddle I would have asked you over last winter” I tease back laughing at how our innocent night together is proving to be such entertainment.
As soon as Will walks out of the office into the bar I nod at Andrew to let him know it’s time.
“Okay ladies and gentlemen, I know you’re all waiting for me to challenge Brooke to do something but that’s not going to be happening tonight” a loud groan goes up around the club and Andrew shushes them. “Tonight however we say goodbye” he turns around ignoring the confused mumblings and faces of the club and gestures towards something to Lucy. I can’t help but grin and chuckle as she hands him a massive bunch of pink and red roses.
“Tonight we say goodbye and good luck to Brooke because she is leaving us” he announces, I hear a glass smash and turn to see Lucy has dropped a bottle of vodka after hearing of my departure she looks up at me confused and with tears in her eyes I smile at her sadly.
“We will be sad to see you go and miss all the entertainment you provide. We’ll miss hearing you laugh, argue and that sexy little growl you do. We’ll miss seeing smile, pout and that stubborn thing you do when you’re so sure you’ll win a bet you have no chance of winning” he smirks at me. ”But most of all we will just miss you being here” He hands me the flowers and kisses me on the side of my mouth.
“Thank you Andrew I’ll miss you too” I hug him and then turn to the crowd. “I’ll miss all of you as well and I’ll miss being here six nights a week” I say into my mic.
“How long you’ll be gone, are you coming back?”
“I don’t know yet” I answer without answering; this is something I haven’t figured out yet.
“I won’t be taking my phone with me so I will only be contactable by email. I want you all to take care of my friends and be nice to them, they mean a lot to me” I tell the crowd. “I know you’ll have just as much fun here with me gone. I’ll try not to get into any trouble while I’m gone, and I hope you’ll all do the same” I tease them. “I really will miss every single one of you” I hold back the tears that are threatening to spill over. “Now if you’ll all excuse me, I have a few people I need to say goodbye to before I leave” I turn to get down of the bar but Andrew stops me.
“If you would all join me I’d like to make a toast” he hands me a shot but I shake my head at him reaching down for my coffee.
“If you could all raise you’re glasses … This is for you Brooke, good luck and I hope you’re not gone too long. To Brooke!” He shouts and the crowd all echo ‘To Brooke’ I smile and raise my coffee at them all.
Lucy pulls me in a hug crying softly.
“I don’t want you to leave” she sniffs into my ear.
“It’ll be fine, I promise. I don’t want to either but I have to” I squeeze her back.
“You promise to come back”
“I’ll try” is all I reply without promising “Take care of everyone for me okay?” I ask to distract her she nods at me and lets me go.
I head to the customer side of the bar to make my goodbyes to everyone else.
Everyone hugs and kisses me goodbye all asking me to promise that I don’t stay away too long, a few ask me why I’m leaving but I don’t answer directly. Tucker doesn’t say goodbye to me in front of the group he leads me to the office. Will looks up at our entrance and stands to hug and wish me luck and walks out with a ‘have fun’ and a kiss on the cheek leaving me alone with Tucker. This is the hardest goodbye but at the same time the easiest.
“Is this about what I did? Because I’m sorry for that” he asks looking at me but avoiding my eyes.
“It’s not about that, although that helped” I admit.
“Don’t leave because of what I did. We wasn’t together then Brooke” he pleads making me frown.
“I
t’s not about what happened Tucker, I’m not upset about that, I’m more upset about the lie” he starts to talk but I cut him off “You may not have lied to me directly but you asked two of my best friends not to talk to me about something you told them you had already talked to me about. You lied to them to keep something from me. That’s what I had a problem with. If I had known about Mel I wouldn’t have let what happened in here the night after my birthday happen. If I had known about you and Lucy straight after what me and you did then nothing further would have ever happened between us”
“Brooke I…” he starts
“I know sex might not mean a lot to you, but it does to me. What we did, every time we did it, it meant a lot to me. That you could do that with me and then a few hours later do it with my best friend, that tells me something Tucker”
“Does it tell you that what happened with me and Lucy was something I did to try and block out the feelings being with you brought back?” he asks pleadingly.
I shake my head at him sadly “No, it tells me you got three out of three”
“And you didn’t sleep with Andrew last night?” he asks unbelievingly.
“Why are you asking a question that you already know the answer to? If you don’t know the answer to that then you don’t know me. I slept with Andrew yes but I didn’t have sex with him” I let out a long sigh, surprised that I don’t feel like crying. “I have been so up and down since you came here, I don’t even know which way is up any more. You make me really happy and I’m going to miss you like you wouldn’t believe but I’m not going to miss the stuff comes along with it. You make me so happy that you also have the power over me to make me crazy”
“I’m not going to let you walk out on me again”
“I’m not walking out on you Tucker, I’m walking out on us”
“You can’t leave me, I love you Brooke. I want to be with you. Now. Always.”
“I know you love me and I love you too but are you in love with me? There’s a very big difference. I’m trying to decide which one it is for me. I think you’re in love with the idea of me. We have so much history that I’m comfortable to you. I know we have passion but that can run out. Then where would be? Two people who are relatively attracted to each other but not in love? I can’t live with that possibility. You mean too much to me for me to risk ever resenting you”
“You really are giving up” he whispers.
“No, I’m taking a step back, If what we have is real then it will never go away” I say softly
“Are you coming back?”
“That depends” I answer
“On what?”
“A lot of things”
“I’m going to miss you” he wraps his arms around me and squeezes me tightly.
“I’ll miss you too, always” I reply.
He pulls back a little and looks into my eyes. I close them as his lips meet mine but pull away when he tries to deepen the kiss.
“I can’t do this, I’m sorry” I whisper and kiss him on the cheek. For the second time in my life I walk away from Tucker not wondering if I’ll ever see him again or wishing that I won’t but wishing that when I do see him again he finally feels the same way that I do.
Chapter Twenty Six
To: Brooke Daniels
From: Lucy Stanton
Subject: Missing you
Date: Friday 2 November 10:58
Morning Brooke!
Just wanted to write to let you know that we all miss you and the past two months haven’t been the same without you.
I hope that you are getting on okay wherever it is that you are.
I also want you to know that if I hurt you in anyway at all I am so deeply sorry you don’t understand. I feel like I have lost my best friend and I don’t like it. I would never intentionally upset you.
Your friends Sophie and Matt came up here, they wasn’t too happy to find out that you had left town and Sophie went a little crazy at Tucker, it was very fun to watch. I have never seen a grown man cower before.
The club isn’t the same without you. Andrew hasn’t been on the bar or stage since you left. Chloe is fitting in well and is now one of the fastest barmaids I have even seen.
Anyway I miss you and hope to hear (or see) from you soon. Lots of love
Luce xxxxx
To: Lucy Stanton
From: Brooke Daniels
Subject: RE: Missing you
Date: Friday 9 November 15:23
Hey Luce!!
I’m doing great! I think I really needed to get away, I didn’t realise how stressed ECT I really was.
You didn’t hurt me so stop worrying about it, I know you would never upset me on purpose but you haven’t upset me so it doesn’t matter. Stop worrying I love you and miss you too.
I would have loved to have seen Sophie go off on one as well that’s always very entertaining (poor Tucker) I’ve been on the end of one of her rants, it’ not pretty.
Is everyone OKAY?
I’m glad Chloe is fitting in, I knew she would!
I really miss everyone and being at the club.
Hope you’re all having fun and the weather is good for you. We have snow… too cold!
Love you & miss you
B xxxxx
To: Brooke Daniels
From: Lucy Stanton
Subject: RE: RE: Missing you
Date: Friday 16 November 23:12
Hey girlie,
Everyone’s fine, they all say hello.
Yeah she fit in well, it’s nice because I get a two days off now instead of just one.
The weather here is cold enough but no snow for us (yet).
Where are you by the way? I heard that Tucker went looking for you but had no luck so he came back here. Have you heard from him?
A lot of the customers at the club ask about you too.
Will has been very quiet since you left and asks everyone everyday if they have heard from you.
It’s become a little tradition that on a Thursday night they play your bar dance song and we all do a shot for you.
It would be better if you were here though.
Anyway I’m glad that you’re doing well and feeling better. I didn’t realize you were stressed. You can always talk to me you know, I’m here for you.
Love you,
Luce xxxxx
To: Lucy Stanton
From: Brooke Daniels
Subject: RE:RE: RE: Missing you
Date: Friday 23 November 17:30
Hey yourself,
Tell them all I say Hey back :)
I’m glad you get another day off, you deserve it, you work so hard!
I’m not that far away, but far enough.
No I haven’t heard from him. He has my email address but I guess he’s giving me my space.
Everyone at the club is always so sweet to me, I miss them more than I thought they would. You’re all like a giant family to me!
Love that you all do a shot for me haha!
I know I can always talk to you and your there for me but how were you supposed to know that I wasn’t happy when I didn’t even know myself?
I miss you and MAY be home for Christmas.
If you want me back that is?
Lots of love and hugs and kisses
B xxxxx
To: Brooke Daniels
From: Lucy Stanton
Subject: Coming home?
Date: Friday 30 November 09:08
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
Of course I want you to come back!
Get your sexy little butt back here!!
Are you coming home?
Luce xxxxx
Chapter Twenty Seven
With help from Chloe and Will I know that tonight is Lucy’s night off but she will be here with the band and Andrew. I manage to sneak in unnoticed and it wouldn’t surprise me if the few of the customers that saw me only kept quiet because they didn’t recognize me. In the three months I was away I put on some weight, not much but i
t’s noticeable, I look healthier. I also got rid of my plain brown hair and it’s now a more chestnut brown/red with blonde highlights, I kept the length though and it has grown so it goes down just past my breasts. I’m not wearing anything short or flashy like I normally do when I work at the club. I’m in a cream ruffle skirt that ends halfway between my bottom and my knees, black ankle boots, a black tee with a silver scarf tied loosely around my neck. My hair is down and in loose curls pulled in front of both my shoulders and I have a cream woolly knitted cap style hat on, slightly sideways to the left where my new fringe covers my left eye almost completely.
Chloe arranged it so at exactly ten the DJ plays my song.
As the song begins to play I walk out of the office and as predicted my friends are all here sat at their usual table, without them noticing me I jump on the bar and the club erupts in screams. Not cheers like normal. Ear splitting screams. I laugh and start my usual dance. Lucy runs up and jumps on the bar alongside me and starts dancing with me. The rest of my friends all jump up from the table and head over to the bar. As soon as the song has finished the DJ shouts out ‘Brooke’s back!’ into his mic and the club erupts into a mixtures of cheers and different shouts of ‘welcome back’ and ‘we missed you’s.
Lucy wastes no time in pulling me into a long hard hug.
“I can’t believe you’re back!” she exclaims loudly in my ear.
“Uhh .. Lucy … I need to breathe” I rasp out trying to loosen her hold on me a little.
