Summary: Julian is about to lose his job after the company he works for is combining with another. His boss, Lucas, always flirted with his wife, Brooke. What happens when Julian pushes Brooke to sleep with Lucas to keep his job?
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the little boys. Everything else is owned by One Tree Hill. The title is from a Fall Out Boy song!
NEW STORY! NEW STORY! I hope you all enjoy this story. It's a different take than I normally do, but I wanted to write it for some reason, a challenge so to say. It will most definitely be a Brulian/Brucas story. I'll let you all decide what you think. Please review and let me know! In the meantime, thanks for reading!
Sugar, We're Going Down Swinging
Chapter One
I starred at the clock about the exit from the kitchen, watching the time closely. It was 6pm and Julian was late for dinner. He was never late for dinner. At 5:30 ever Monday threw Friday he would walk through the red front door and the boys would run up to him with hugs.
Except today.
Today we waited for fifteen minutes so far with no word or sign of Julian.
"Mama, I'm hungry. Can we please eat?" Grant wined to me. The whining pierces my ears. When he was younger it was cute, now at six it needed to be snipped in the butt.
"Grant Davis Baker, what did I tell you about whining?" I pointed my finger at him. The southern Mama was coming out in me.
"Sorry Ma'am." There was the polite boy I was raising. "Can we please eat?" He asked this time without the whining.
"Please Mama?" William piped up. It was a surprise that boy would sit in that chair long enough. He was energetic and bouncing all the time. But at three, boys will be boys.
"Five more minutes." I warned them. William's eyes fell off of me and looked on to his plate were he was dragging his food around with his fork. "William Julian, didn't I teach you not to play with your food."
Like his brother did, he responds with "Sorry Ma'am."
I was strict, I know, but manners start young. I was raising little gentleman that would sweep girls off their feet someday. "Much better." I smiled at them. Shortly I was going to give up waiting for him. It was getting too late. "Dig in." I gave in.
"Mama, guess what?" Grant's face lit up like a Christmas tree with lights.
"What Little G?" I smiled at him.
"Today in school we got told that it's gonna be career day. Do you think Daddy can go?"
Since starting school last year, Grant fell in love with it. He always had something positive to say about it and was ecstatic about learning new things. Homework was more of a struggle for myself than it was for him.
"You'll need to ask him, Grant." I just smiled and he continued to talk on and on about his day at school and how excited he was that next year William would join him at the private school that he goes too. "But I'm sure he'll be willing to go."
Just then the front door opened, indicating that Julian was finally home. Both boys went to push their chairs out to great him but I stopped them. "Boy's sit and eat."
"But Daddy's home, Mama." William's face brightened. He was a daddy's boy. He loved going to work with him or sporting events. Anything boyish, William was there.
"He will come join us at the table." I warned him before getting angry. I understood a little boy wanting to see his father, totally acceptable, but I wasn't going to ruin the scheduled day-to-day plan to accommodate him.
And just like I stated, Julian walked right to the kitchen table, taking his seat opposite of me.
"Sorry I'm late." He smiled apologetic but after knowing someone for ten years, you can pin point lies. "It was a tough day at work." He placed some food on his plate. "How was today, Babe?"
"It was good." I mumbled staring at the plate. I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, a prediction of the future of some sorts. "The neighbor's from down the bock are moving. The house is put up for sale today. Bevin hasn't been around the club house in a while."
"Yeah, Antwan lost his job last week in the second group of firing." Julian looked on sad. Julian had been friend's with the Tanner's for as long as I can remember. From high school, through college and to now they still are friends. "Things happen like this when the company downsizes. I can be next."
He could be next? Why didn't I ever think about that? Why did I just assume since he is one of the higher managers that he would keep his job during the merge and downsizing? "You can?" I tried staying calm, it was the best I could do not to inform the boys of the problems.
"Is that why I lost many friends at school?" Grant spoke up after listening. "They just don't come anymore and Mrs. Jacobs always looks sad."
"That's cause Mrs. Jacobs has always been sad." Julian snickered. Leave it to him to give our son a bad impression of a teacher he also had in kindergarten. "Old grumpy lady."
"She's hundreds years old, Daddy. She's got lots of wrinkles."
"Enough of the bad talking about a teacher." I interjected into their conversation before it became worse.
"And poopy Mama to kill the mood."
"Julian, please can we have a normal dinner conversation for once." A house full of men takes the normal conversation to the potty. A conversation in this house deals with dirt, poop, bugs and gas expelling from bodies in either directions. I usually rolled my eyes at the comments and correct the boys on proper language but it fell short when Julian was around.
"Sorry, my love. Boys, the Queen has spoken. You two need to be proper little men right now." Julian smiled at them and gosh, the way he interacted with the boys made me happy. He was kind and a great listener. He took it upon himself to get to know whatever hobby they had. Julian was a great father.
"Mama will always be the Queen," Grant nodded in agreement.
"Nanny is evil lady." William laughed about my mother. "That makes you the Queen!"
My mother, the one lady that shoved this stupid town on me from the day I was born. It was always, 'Brooke, when you grow up stay in this town. It shows you're better than everyone.' I don't want to be better than everyone. I just want a happy family.
"Be nice." I warned William silently agreeing with him though. "Nanny wouldn't approve of being talked about behind her back, Bud."
"But she not here so it's not behind her back." At three-years-old he was smart. He stated it like it is. I suspected that it had to be from me not talking in that stupid baby talk, or encouraging him to learn new words everyday. We do flash cards constantly when he's home and it's just William and me time.
"To be honest, Brooke, everyone talks bad about your mother. She's the wicked west of Tree Hill."
"Be nice. Boys, eat up. It's almost bath and bed time." I declared. I wanted to change the topic back to about the job situation but I knew that if I did that around the boys it wouldn't end well. It would have to wait till tonight.
"We played in the dirt today Mama. Mrs. Jacobs yelled at Michael and I. We were just jumping in the mud."
"And that is why little boys need baths. When you are finished put your plate in the sink and you can have ten minutes to go play before bath time." I declared. I watched both boy scurry off their chairs, doing what I asked, before running up the stairs to their room.
I needed wine, a big fucking glass of wine to have the conversation about to go down. Too bad I haven't gone to the liquor store this week.
"Brooke, baby, it can get bad." He admitted, "Really bad. I just don't know what would happen if I lost this job. This is the only big business in Tree Hill. We may have to leave here. Maybe even move to Raleigh or Charlotte to look."
Move? I'd do anything needed for this family but this was my hometown. I grew up here, Julian grew up here and now William and Grant will be growing up here. I don't want to uproot them, especially in the middle of the school year for Grant. Changes are enough to challenge him. Grant is like me, changes mess us up big time. I could barely handle them and I see the struggle Grant has with them. It won't end well.
"That far?" I stumbled upon my words slightly. I expected he'd say the next town over, not moving two to three plus hours away.
"Everyone is applying around here. There's only so many openings for each company when there are three times as many applicants." He took a sip of the beer I placed at the table when setting it earlier. "I love you, B, and I love our boys. I'd do anything right now to support ya'll. I have an idea though, if you just hear me out."
This can not be good. Julian's ideas are never good. It was his bright idea to use the shed as a slide last year when we finally got a huge snow storm around here.
"Tell me it,"
"When the boys are asleep I will." He stood up and kissed my lips. "Great dinner, B." He left the room for the mess of dishes to be done by me.
XO-OTH-XO
"Please do this for me?" Julian was on his knees begging me to give in to this one demand, but I couldn't. I wouldn't be treated like a piece of property to share whenever he wanted too.
"Do this for you? Why don't you do something for me or for yourself?" I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs that he was being a fucking idiot right now but I had to remember the two little boys sleeping in the room next to use did not need to hear it.
"Like what Brooke? The company is downsizing because another one bought us out. I cannot keep the stress of worrying about this! It stresses me out." He ran his hands through his curly hair. When he did that it use to make me melt, but now I see it as he using it against me. "This, all this, " he pointed around the room, "can be gone in a second if I loose this job."
"Well start looking for another one." I offered that advise. The business world is big; he can easily find another one. We didn't need this big house, the cars, and the kids' toys. We didn't need it at all. "It can't be that hard."
"You haven't been in the work force for six years, it's a lot tougher than before. So far two hundred people were let go, I can be next Brooke."
"Who said your going to be next, Julian?"
"He let Charles go. Charles does the same job I do, Brooke. If he can be so calm letting him go, then he won't care if I'm let go."
"Charles was just an ass though."
"An ass that was amazing at his job, Brooke. Everyone being fired is great at their jobs. I can't risk this. Please just do this for the family."
"I can't even believe you're asking me this."
"Tomorrow is the company elite's dinner. He flirt's with you constantly. All I'm asking is to show more skin than normal and flirt back. If something leads from it, so be it."
"So basically you're whoring me out like I'm a piece of property to get what you want?"
Whoring me out is how I heard it and I know if I ask the opinion of my closet friends they'd say the same. In this small southern town, old idealisms still are active part of day-to-day life. Women stay home with the kids, taking care of the house and kids while men go to work to support their families. It was the idea that woman don't work outside of the home. It's the popular vote.
"I'm not whoring you out. I'm basically asking for you to take one for the team. Do this for the boys so they don't have to move. Do it for yourself so you don't lose this life style you love."
His argument sucked; it was bad, horribly bad. I just saw the desperation in his face. The thing that stated he was trying really hard to make this all work out but the stress of possibly having to loose everything he worked hard for was turning the hair near his ears gray.
I didn't responded to him, why should I? He is asking me to sleep with his boss to keep his job. I shouldn't have to say no, he should know I would never do anything like that. Never in a million years would I.
"Brooke, baby," He sat down next to me on the bed. "I know this is shocking but I see the way he looks at you, flirts with you and such. If you bribe him with sex we may be able to stay in Tree Hill."
"He may flirt with me, Julian but I never return it. I've been with you and only you. I don't feel comfortable doing this."
"Well please, Brooke. I can't loose this job. I need it, I love it."
I looked him in the eyes and I realize I may end up agreeing to one of the worst things in my life. Those brown eyes of his melt me constantly, just like our boys' brown eyes make me give in constantly.
"I'll do whatever you want to do if you agree with this." He pleaded and begged some more. Julian never begs for anything. I give him all he could ever want. "Please Brooke. Just do this and we never have to speak of it again."
"One time only." I gave in. I don't know the exact reason why I gave in but I did.
"Thank you, Brooke." Julian sighed of relief. "Just give into his flirts and we'll be able to stay."
"If anything else happens, so help me God Julian, you may be found dead." I left the room. I couldn't believe I agreed to this. It wasn't like me.
I will now have to flirt with one of the most popular men in Tree Hill, Lucas Scott. It doesn't hurt that those blue eyes and cocky smile get me every time.
Tomorrow I will be his for the night.
Tomorrow this all will be done.
Tomorrow it has only just begun.
So here was the first chapter! What do you all think? In this one I wanted to show how family oriented Brooke is and how she is a southern ma'am teaching her young boys to be proper when she will become anything but that. Please let me know what you all think with this story!