Room On The Third Floor
'Cos it's times like these remind me
That I've got to keep my feet on the ground
Aubrey hated this. She hated long nights pouring through interviews and piecing through files of evidence given to them from the district attorney. She hated the meetings that lasted all night as her firm tried to come up with their defense for their hopelessly guilty client. She hated the cheap hotel that the firm was putting her up in as the trial was taking place under heavy media coverage and they didn't want their lawyers to face any distractions. She hated all of this and yet...she couldn't imagine doing anything different with her life.
It was the nights like this that made her hate it. She was away from home and running on caffeine as she slammed her manila folder shut and shoved it into her briefcase. She was getting nowhere and she knew that her colleague Mark was going to give her shit tomorrow, but she didn't really care. She could always throw her impeccable win-loss record in his face and smirk when he tried not to act like it bothered him. She could ignore his macho act and just think about what was waiting for her at home, remembering that guys like this were the very reason that she swore off all relations with the opposite sex back in college to begin with.
It was an unusually warm autumn and the air conditioner was rattling in the background, blowing out warm hair that only made Aubrey tug at her night shirt and slam her hand on the metal casing. As she hissed and shook her aching fist, the unit quit working completely and Aubrey just rolled her eyes as she thrust open the curtain and yanked open the sliding glass door.
The cool air came flooding into the musty room and she leaned against the doorway, pressing her forehead against the cold glass and looking down at the city below. Pittsburgh was definitely not where she imagined herself ending up, but Chloe had found a great teaching job at a small private school that she couldn't say no to and Aubrey simply followed her. Lawyers were always in demand and it only took her a few weeks to find a position at a prominent firm in the city. It was hard to believe that five years had passed and as she looked down at the city below, she couldn't help but smile as she found it strangely beautiful. It was gritty and undignified and completely different than her hometown on the coast of North Carolina, but it was the first real home that she had ever known and she could accept its flaws for the memories that it afforded to her.
Her favorite? That would be impossible to pick, but she did have a few favorites. Like ice skating in the middle of the city with Chloe two winters ago and trying not to laugh when Chloe boasted about her skills and ended up falling and breaking her wrist. Or getting kicked out of a hockey game last fall after Chloe had become disorderly and gotten into a fight with a drunken fan from across the state. Life was different since Barden, but that didn't mean that it had to be bad and she wouldn't trade it for anything.
That being said, she just couldn't help herself from pulling out her cell phone and calling home. She knew that it was late, almost two in the morning, and that Chloe was probably sound asleep, but there was no falling asleep without hearing her voice. It was a habit that had been ingrained in her since their days as roommates back at Barden and as Chloe came on the other end and groggily muttered a greeting, Aubrey didn't feel so bad.
"Hey, I didn't think you'd be awake. I just wanted to call you and tell you good night. What are you up to?"
Before Chloe could venture a response, screaming came over the line and Aubrey sighed as Chloe told her to hold on and tossed her phone onto to bed. She should have known that something like this would happen, but Chloe had this way of making her lose her mind and she could just blame it on a temporary fit of forgetfulness. As the baby roared in the background though, she knew that she was at fault and she felt terrible.
She hated leaving Chloe at home with their eight week old daughter Lila, but Chloe had insisted that it was okay and that they would visit on the weekend when Aubrey had some time off. It was still awful though and as Chloe's voice came back over the line, soothing the infant with soft words, Aubrey's heart ached for the loss of contact with her family.
"It's okay, baby", Chloe lilted as she rocked the baby and cradled the phone between her shoulder and her cheek. "Mommy's sorry for calling so late. She won't do it again, right Bree?"
Chloe's soft words were having no effect on the restless baby and Aubrey started to apologize. What else could she do?
"I'm so sorry, Chlo. I forgot that it was so late and I know that I changed my ringtone on your phone to something really obnoxious and it must have woke her-"
"-Bree, stop apologizing!" Chloe cut her off while placing the baby on the bed and checking to see if she was wet. "She's a baby, it's what they do. She doesn't need changed and she ate a little while ago, so I don't know what's going on. Maybe she's just bored."
"She gets that from her mom!"
"Hey, I resent that comment!" Chloe snipped as she lifted the baby back up and put the phone on speaker so she could pace around the room. "Maybe she's moody; she could have gotten that trait from you."
"That's impossible since you carried her, but nice try." Aubrey smiled as Chloe laughed and the baby seemed to calm down. "Am I on speaker phone? You sound kind of…distant."
"Yeah, it's easier to just put it on speaker than to balance that and a baby. Keep talking Bree, she's calming down. Maybe she misses you."
"I doubt that", Aubrey muttered as she sunk onto the bed and leaned back against the headboard. "Now that I know that I have an audience, I don't know what to say. You give me performance anxiety."
"Sing us a song. You used to do that when she was still in my belly and maybe that will calm her down."
"No way! These walls are paper thin and I'm not waking up Tom and Tina downstairs."
"How do you know their names?" Chloe questioned as she kissed Lila's blonde ringlets and rubbed her back. "Are we making new friends in the big city?"
"No, I got to hear them screaming each other's names this morning when they had morning-"
"-That's enough! Tiny ears are listening and she doesn't need to know about that kind of stuff yet. Tell us a story, something cute with puppies or princesses."
"Chloe, you know that I'm not good at that stuff." Aubrey sighed while looking around the room for some kind of inspiration. If she had her iPad, she'd download a children's book and read it to them, but the hotel didn't have Wi-Fi and the device was useless. Next time, she was paying for her own room. A nice suite with a view of the city and a whirlpool; not a cramped room on the third floor with peeling wallpaper and a shower that constantly ran cold. She hated that she was even thinking about the next time when she missing so much at home. "Maybe I can read you guys some of my notes from the trial."
"Absolutely not!" Chloe practically screeched as she sunk onto her own bed. Sometimes dealing with Aubrey was like dealing with one of her students. "She's also way too young to hear about a murder. Look in the drawer; hotels usually throw something in there for you to read."
Aubrey rolled her eyes, but flopped over on the bed and slid the drawer open. "There's a bible", Aubrey muttered while studying the dusty book and placing it back in the drawer. "She's way too young for religion. I'm sorry Chlo, but all that's in here is a list of television channels and a phone book. Unless you want me to read from the phone book, I have nothing."
"Yes, do that."
"Seriously?!"
"Yeah, what other choice do we have? Just flip it open and start reading. I'm kind of hungry so maybe go to the restaurant listing."
"You're so weird." Aubrey smiled as she sat back on the bed and flipped open the heavy book, paging through it until she reached the section dedicated to restaurants. The baby was still screaming in her ear and Aubrey grimaced before saying "Lila, let's tone it down a little so mommy can think."
"Bree, come on…", Chloe practically begged as she reached the end of her rope. The baby manuals that Aubrey had insisted that she read had no section on what to do when you were alone and your baby was angry with the world.
"Okay, I'm doing it." Aubrey sighed, blushing as she realized just how ridiculous this whole idea was. "Here we go: Mario's in the South Side has classic Italian dishes at a great modern price. They have pasta from $12.99 and prime rib on Saturday nights. They even have an adjacent parking lot."
Chloe laughed as Aubrey snorted and said "I'm pretty sure that the menu does not go into that much detail, but you get an A for effort. What's so funny about the parking?"
"If you're paying $13 for a bowl of noodles, they better throw in a parking spot. How's she doing?"
"Better." Chloe smiled down at her daughter who was sleepily gazing at the cell phone, focusing on Aubrey's warm and animated voice as she spoke to her girls. She had started to whimper again as Aubrey grew quiet though and Chloe rubbed her stomach and tried to calm her. "Keep going, she's listening to you."
"The things I do for you, Chloe Posen. Let's try…ooh, a burger place!"
Chloe smiled and tapped her finger against the screen, pulling up the option to record the conversation and tapping that too. She had to have a record of this, for when Aubrey insisted that she was the surly one and couldn't joke around. Or also to blackmail her with and threaten to send to their friends. She knew of one former Bella who would have a field day with this kind of material…
"Fatheads, on the party-crazy Carson Street, features sandwiches that are as big as your head. They also have beer specials and flaming hot wings. I don't know Lila, I don't think that have anything for a little girl to eat. I think we should just stick to the little café down the street"
The baby had fallen asleep on the bed and Chloe rubbed her fingers over her perfect face as her chest rose and fell. She looked so beautiful like this and Chloe wanted to savor this moment forever. She wanted to share this moment with her wife. She hated being alone.
"Should I keep going?"
"Um…yeah, she's still listening."
"Let's try something a little different. I'm tired of food. Here's one I think you'll remember under sporting venues. PNC Park, where on a very special night a few years ago, yours truly proposed to your mommy. It was a Saturday night and the Bucs had lost, but there were fireworks and it was the perfect summer evening. We were walking to our car alongside the river and I pretended to drop my keys and when your mom dropped down to help me look for them, I pulled out the ring. I can't wait until you're old enough for your first game. Maybe next season, since I think you're still too little to appreciate it. How's she doing, babe?"
"She's been asleep for about five minutes." Chloe whispered, her voice thick with emotion at the recollection of the evening. She couldn't believe that Aubrey remembered every moment of it, but she shouldn't have been surprised. She had married the smartest person that she had ever known and a closet romantic.
"Why did you let me keep going?"
"I just…I love hearing your voice. I can't believe that you remember that night. You hate baseball."
"Yeah, but I love you. Make sure that the front door isn't locked."
"Why? We live in the suburbs, but I'm not crazy enough to leave our door unlocked. I don't want to get robbed, silly."
"I'm coming home for the night. I can't sleep without you next to me and I want to see that little face. Besides, I missed your voice too and I want to see my girls, so leave the light on and I'll be home before you know it. Don't fall asleep!"
"I won't", Chloe murmured while swiping a hand across her eyes."I love you."
"I love you too."
She always had and she always would.
Sometimes life wasn't so bad after all. In fact, sometimes it was pretty great. Especially for Aubrey Posen, who had everything that she had always hoped for: a family.
A/N: Story title comes from the McFly song, which has been stuck in my head for days. This is for l8nights on tumblr who said they would enjoy reading a phone book if I wrote it. This isn't quite the same, but inspiration is inspiration, right? Thanks for reading!