Goose Bumps
Bree had been having a perfectly normal day. At seven am, she awoke her son, Benjamin, and made him breakfast before letting him watch a little television, kissing her husband goodbye and wishing him a good day at work. At eight thirty am she dropped Benjamin at playgroup with a soft cuddle and a promise of going back for him at three. At eleven am, she tried out a few recipes for sugar cookies, adding various ingredients to each batch, such as almonds or peppermint essence. At one pm precisely, she made herself a healthy lunch; then made sure everything in the house was pristine. At two thirty, she left to pick up Benjamin from playgroup, and at seven she put him to bed.
It was only at eight o clock, that things started to become irregular.
Orson called with the news that he had witnessed a woman being attacked on his way home, and he would need to stay at the hospital and then move on to the police station. She had felt slightly shocked at the idea of someone being attacked so close to her home, but of course, she had witnessed one of her best friends shoot her ex husband dead only a few years before, so she was not so easily rattled anymore.
At exactly eight forty-seven, Lynette Scavo called.
"Hey Bree, it's me…" Lynette sounded down, as if someone had just told her that she'd never work again.
"Lynette? What's wrong?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine…" her response was entirely unconvincing "I was just wondering if you wanted to come over for a chat?"
"What about the kids?" Bree asked, knowing all too well that if their little 'chat' progressed to things like politics, they would not be able to keep their voices hushed.
"Tom's taken them to see Kayla. I'm… I'm lonely," Lynette's confession came as a shock to Bree – she would not expect her to say such a thing, being such a strong woman. Much stronger than her – she'd managed four unruly children, adding a fifth awful one for a while as a result of her husband's affair, held up an incredibly demanding job before supporting her husband in beginning his own business, fought a horrible battle with cancer and even had her home destroyed by a tornado, and it had all happened in the past few years.
If Lynette needed a friend, Bree was not going to hesitate to be there for her.
"I'll just tell Andrew to watch over Benjamin, and I'll be right over."
"Thanks," Lynette smiled down the phone, and Bree could almost see it right there.
At eight forty-eight, Bree told Andrew she was going to see Lynette.
She also informed him that she may not return until the morning.
-
The door was open, so she let herself in. Lynette was sat on the couch, dressed in striped pyjama bottoms and a silky camisole, legs drawn up to her chest, blonde hair cascading over her shoulders in loose curls. Wordlessly, Bree lowered herself to sit close beside her friend, assuming her usual position: back straight, ankles crossed and hands in her lap.
"Hey, Bree…" Lynette's voice was muffled; she talked into her knees.
"What's up?" Bree asked, brushing imaginary dirt off the hem of her skirt.
"I don't know… everything's just so… crazy, you know?"
"I know," Bree said, both knowingly and sympathetically.
"The boys are just… impossible. They're so… I don't know. What did you do when Andrew hit puberty?"
"Me?" Bree laughed, "I screwed everything up, and went insane in the process."
"Insane…" Lynette repeated, giving Bree a certain look.
"You're a much better person than me, Lynette, and I'm certain you're going to do a lot better than I did." Bree told her, and Lynette suddenly let out a sob.
"Not when my boys are getting into crime!" she gasped, her grip on her own legs tightening as she shuddered.
"Shh…" Bree replied, pulling her into a soft embrace "Forget about all that… I'm sure it's all just a silly phase, nothing more. And besides, boys are always trouble at this age; I should know. Don't worry over it, Lynette."
"I guess…" Lynette trailed, resting her head on Bree's shoulder. "I just feel like… the boys are spiralling out of my control, and there's nothing I can do about it… Tom's been away all the time again ever since Scavo's became a chain restaurant… and when he does have any free time, he spends most of it making sure things are still good between him and Kayla…" Lynette slid down into resting her head in Bree's lap.
"She's a teenager too, don't forget… and I'm betting an incredibly difficult one, judging by how she used to behave towards you. If there's anything worse than teenage boys, it's teenage girls." Bree said gently, absently falling into a pattern of stroking Lynette's hair.
"That's another thing… before I know it, Penny's going to be putting make up on and asking me to take her to the doctor for birth control!"
"Oh Lynette… as long as she doesn't get pregnant…" Bree drew in a long breath before sighing deeply.
"Sorry… I wasn't thinking…" said Lynette, grasping Bree's other hand, which, unlike the left one which was stroking her hair, lay limply by her side.
"What's this?" asked Lynette, noticing a small red line across Bree's palm.
"I burnt myself taking muffins out of the oven yesterday…"
"You didn't think to grab an oven mitt?"
"I was so sure they were going to burn, I didn't think at all," said Bree, and Lynette chuckled softly to herself, bringing the mark to her lips.
"I've never met someone as dedicated to being perfect as you are…"
"I-"
"And you are perfect, in every sense…" Lynette said in hushed tones, her ice blue eyes staring up into Bree's vivid green ones, which contrasted highly with the pink blush creeping across her cheeks.
"We both know that's not true," she replied, speaking of the horrendous secrets she'd kept from her friends over the past few years, but too vain to admit that. "For one thing, you never have to do anything to your hair and it still looks amazing…" she pushed her free hand through Lynette's long, blonde curls. "Have I told you it looks good lately?"
"Actually I'm thinking of getting a much shorter cut… more up to speed, you know? I've just been… scared to cut it, since the cancer. Having it grow back has been the biggest sign of physical recovery for me," she trailed. Bree nodded, understanding.
"I think it suits you as it is," she said, knowing that hearing her say that, Lynette would now probably want it cut even more. It was just part of her rebellious nature. "All long and blonde… stereotypically beautiful!"
"Ah who wants to be stereotypical?" asked Lynette, sitting up, her eyes soaking in Bree's features. "I'd kill to be a sexy redhead like you,"
"Sexy redhead!" Bree repeated, laughing softly. "More like…"
"Pristine ice queen?'
"Yeah. Something like that," she smiled, pushing her hair back in a strangely un-Bree way. It fell back over her face, shadowing her beautiful features.
"Oh god…" said Lynette, starting to get up "I haven't even offered you a coffee, what the hell is wrong with me?"
" Don't worry about it," Bree replied, pulling her back down "I don't want coffee."
The words 'I just want you' flew into Lynette's mind from absolutely nowhere. She imagined Bree saying them to her, a sexy glare drilling into her.
"Oh, god…" Lynette gasped, shocked by these sudden thoughts. It was late. All the touching, stroking – god knows she'd been starved of it lately – had probably stirred something stupid in her.
"What?" asked Bree, toying with the hem of her sweater. It was awfully toasty in Lynette's house.
"Nothing, nothing…" Lynette replied, watching as Bree pulled her sweater off to reveal an unbearably skimpy little strappy top. This revealed the top of Bree's white lace bra, and Lynette found her eyes fixated on it, something deep and dark in her wanting to see the whole thing, remove it, even.
"Lynette..? Are you alright?" Bree's smoothed the thin fabric over her stomach.
"Yeah… fine…" she replied. Bree placed a hand on Lynette's bare shoulder, and she shivered.
"You can… tell me if something's bothering you…"
"Actually, I think I'm going to go make that coffee, I'm feeling a little tired…"
"Then we could go and sit in your bed? I'm sure we both have a fair bit of gossip to catch up on, after all this serious talk… and that way if you're feeling sleepy… I mean, I could stay over, if you want…"
To Be Continued