"Please grandma, can you tell the story again?"
Her little brother jumped up and down next to her. "Yeah! Tell us again how you and grandpa met."
The older lady rolled her eyes, though a slight smile was covering her still beautiful features. She was fifty eight years old, yet she would rather be caught dead than telling you her real age.
Still, it was as if time did not do anything for her. Her hair was as flawless as ever, her smile reached her eyes like they did when she was young and full of life. Only the few crow's feet betrayed her.
Luckily, she did not care about that as much as she used to.
"First, I told you not to call me grandma. It makes me feel really old, kiddo. And second, you have heard that story a thousand times already!" She chuckled as she realized that she was probably going to tell it anyway.
Another mature voice was heard. "And plus, it is a way too crude story for my two little babies."
The older women looked up to see her daughter standing in the doorway. It surprised her still to this day how much the two of them looked alike. Or better said, how much her daughter looked like her. It was as if she was looking at an exact replica of her younger self.
So controlled, so reserved and calm. But most of all, there was always that pretty and caring soft smile crossing her face.
"We're not babies anymore mommy." The younger girl pouted, arms crossed and lips pursed at that.
The women kissed her on the forehead. "To me you'll always be my two babies." She winked and looked at her mother.
"It's already past their bedtime. Please mother, give them your short version of the story."
With two squealing kids next to her, the oldest women in the room shared a smile with her daughter. It was another thing that they had in common: they both couldn't say no to their children.
"Alright, alright. But you heard your mommy, only the short version for tonight."
"You couldn't tell a short story even if your life depended on it grandma!" The boy started to giggle at his sisters words. It was true, after all.
True or not, her grandchildren did not talk to her like that. "Hey there young lady, do you want to hear it or not? Don't spoil it for your brother by not showing some respect to this old women."
"Ok grandma, I'm sorry." She then started to giggle. "But you're not old, silly!"
Another eye roll and another chuckle. "Of course I'm not, I was just kidding. Now onto the story, you still want to hear it right?"
"Yeah!" The two kids nodded their heads eagerly, their attention completely on the women sitting next to them.
"Well, you know how it all started. It was a beautiful Friday evening…"
For once, Brooke Davis was not expected to be at her office at 7am sharp. For once, she did not get twenty three phone calls an hour. And for once, there were no assistants or other employees nagging at her head.
No, today was special. Today, Brooke Davis had the day off.
And what a beautiful day it was. The sky had such an intense bright blue color at that moment, no clouds or airplanes in sight. The sun burned on her skin, a few freckles already appearing. The air even smelled green. Trees and flowers blossoming, different colors everywhere.
Brooke enjoyed every minute of it, her dimpled smile never leaving her face. Standing on the middle of the street, her eyes closed for a second before she took a deep breath. Taking it all in: the sunbeam on her face, the wind blowing trough her hair.
She'd been definitely in desperate need for a day without work. Especially when it was a great day like this.
"You look pretty."
One eye opened to see if the voice was directed to her or not. The second opened then quickly as she noticed an attractive man was indeed staring at her.
"Excuse me?"
He smirked. "What? Don't tell me you've never heard that one before? Because that would be a shame."
Although she was never one to deny a compliment, she did not like the way he talked to her. Something about that mocking tone of his. "Of course I've been told that I'm pretty. I am pretty."
"And you're obviously modest about it."
Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you again?"
Taking a few steps towards her, he extended his hand. "Oh excuse me for my bad manners. I am Julian Baker, it's a pleasure to meet you, eh..."
She felt like staring him down, refusing to take his hand and just turn around and walk away from him. Then, she remembered herself, it was a beautiful day and she was free to go wherever she wanted to go. Most of all, it wasn't a day to be bitching.
"Brooke Davis."
"Now where have I heard that name before?" He pondered his index finger tapping on his chin.
"Maybe because I am the brains behind one of the biggest women clothing line cooperation Clothes over Bros?"
He was staring at her now, her words still lingering in his head. Then, "nah, doesn't ring any bells."
Julian almost burst out laughing when he saw her face. Shocked, surprised and confused all at the same time.
"Well, whatever. I did not expect you to understand anything that concerns fashion anyway." She offered him a dismissed wave with her hand.
"You know Brooke Davis, you need to loosen up a little. Kind of like that girl over there, on that big bill board."
She shrieked when she saw what he was pointing at. "That is my model for Christ sakes!"
He couldn't hold it in any longer and flat out laughed. "I know darling, I was just messing with your pretty little head."
Brooke scoffed at his attitude. "Oh, you think you are so smart don't you? Now if you excuse me, I had quite the amazing day before you so rudely interrupted me with your so called charms."
Walking past him, he grabbed her by the arm and whispered in her ear. "Go out with me."
"No freaking way!" She let out as soon as she heard the words.
"Why not? Give me one good reason."
With a hand on her hip and the other hand pointing at him, she said "you are arrogant and cocky, you think you can manipulate women and wrap them around your finger in seconds. Well guess what? I'm not like that. I deserve respect and caring and…" She got angry when she saw him staring at her amused.
"And, and diamonds!" She winced as she realized that didn't come out too well.
"You deserve respect, caring and diamonds?" He repeated. "Wow miss Davis, you are certainly not a cheap date."
"I'm surprised, you are not at all retarded."
He only laughed again which made her even more angry. "Go out with me." He didn't even say it like it was a question. He said it like she'd already agreed with him.
She sighed then, suddenly tired of the anger that boiled trough her veins. Why was it that she could become so angry in a matter of seconds? With no good reason at all on top of that? She then told herself that it was the stress and the fact that she hadn't had a day for herself in what seemed years.
"You're not giving this up, are you?"
He shook his head smiling, knowing he had won.
She sighed dramatically. "Promise you're not some weirdo who's secretly crushing on me because I'm a famous designer?"
He only smirked.
"No serial killer?" She tried.
"What would you do if my answer is yes to that question?"
Brooke rolled her eyes. "You're probably way too chicken to do that."
"So your answer is yes? You want to go out with me?"
Much to her own surprise she found herself nodding her head slowly. "Alright, I will go out with you."
"You know, this reminds me of the start of The Notebook. Don't you think so too?"
"I did not realize such a thing. Please enlighten me, sappy movie lover." She teased.
Julian did not look amused. "Noah also had to beg Allie to go out with her. Then again, she fell for him hard and they lived happily ever after."
"Except she did not remember anything about their lives and he had to read their story over and over again." She enjoyed that he looked so uncomfortable, already loving to make him squirm.
Then he just grinned. "You just love to ruin this don't you?"
Shrugging her shoulders she gave him a quick wink. "Maybe."
"The point is, maybe this is the beginning of our own very romantic love story."
"Guess we have to find out."
"Guess so." He gently took her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "So, where do you want to go tonight?"
The brunette glanced up to look him directly in the eye. "Huh?"
"Our date, remember?" His eyes widened. "Wait, please tell me you don't have memory problems?"
Of course he was just messing with her. She might not know him completely, in fact she just met him a few minutes, but luckily for her she was good at reading people. So she playfully slapped him on his arm and told him, "selective hearing at most."
He winked at her.
"So, you want to go out tonight huh? And what if I told you I'm busy?"
Not missing a beat he replied, "Not too busy for me. Come on pretty, it's getting late. How about we grab something to eat first, then get some drinks. Maybe later tonight we can dance a little bit."
This got her attention. "You dance?"
"Like I said, a little bit." He grabbed both of her hands now, hard and rough compared to hers. "Come on, let's go."
Normally, Brooke was someone who liked to be in charge. She didn't like to be told what to do, what to say or how to act. She wasn't one to go out with strangers either.
Then again, she reminded herself for the second time, today was special. Screw it all, she thought.
Julian Baker was handsome. And by talking to him –though slightly cocky and sarcastic– she found out that he was also smart and funny.
On top of that, she had a feeling that under the shirt he was wearing, some abs were just yearning to be touched. Another fact was, she'd noticed, that he had a fine ass she just wanted to grab.
She then imagined her hands roaming all over his body, her smirking as he closed his eyes in pleasure and…
"Mother!" Her daughter yelled in shock horror.
"Sorry." Brooke smiled sheepishly. "I guess I got kind of carried away."
"Gee, you think?" Sarcasm was heard from miles away.
The older brunette looked down at her precious grandchildren, Colin and Ava, who were still watching her with wide eyes. "Kids, you can't do that when you're at least thirty."
"How old were you when you met grandpa, grandma?"
Even at the age of 5, Ava wasn't one to be fooled. "Twenty three. But that doesn't count." Brooke muttered.
"Why not?" Colin asked her with such innocence in his voice it made her smile.
"Because your grandma here is special. Now do you want her to continue or do you want to be tucked into bed?"
Glad that their mother intervened, Brooke continued her tale.
"It's no surprise when I tell you we had a great night together. He was the perfect gentleman. Brought me home and kissed me goodnight. Imagine that I was completely floored when I read the newspaper two days later."
She read it right. A death notice of Julian Baker.
An outstanding person with the biggest heart.
Julian Robert Baker, who passed away on May 20, 2009 at the age of twenty five, was someone who cared about people more than he cared about himself, someone with a kind heart and beautiful smile. Above all he was a splendid human being. It must be faith that he lost control of his car and drove off a cliff. We are heartbroken by our lost son.
We will always remember you.
Brooke couldn't read further. She knew enough.
With tears in her eyes she threw the paper away. She had to get out of her house, get away from the porch where he'd dropped her off two nights ago.
Walking without having a clue where she was going nor paying attention to her surroundings, she collided with someone and fell into the arms of the stranger.
"Well well, it must be faith that I'm seeing you again. Are you following me now, stalker?"
She almost passed out at the sight of him.
He watched her for a second and then touched her arm in concern. "Hey, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Ghost?" It was the only word that she could get out.
"Brooke? You're starting to scare me now. What's wrong?"
Julian glanced as the color drained from her face, he could feel her heartbeat beating almost as fast a mouse. Now he really was concerned.
Realizing that he was still touching her, Brooke drew her hand away and placed it on her mouth. "You're, you're…"
"I'm what?"
"You're… Dead!" She screamed.
He now too stood frozen in place. "What the hell are you talking about?!"
"The death notice in the newspaper this morning. It said that you were dead. Your parents wrote it. You drove yourself off a cliff!"
He closed his eyes and sighed. "Oh, crap."
"You better start explaining yourself Julian Baker. Do you think this is funny? Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"No Brooke, of course not. Do you really think I would do something like that? Kind of wrong, don't you think?"
Brooke only mumbled in return.
"Yesterday I sold my wreck of a car to some weird guy that offered me way too much money on e-bay. I was an ass and said yes and let him drive away after he paid me in cash. I knew it was kind of strange that he wanted my car without asking questions about insurance and how old the thing was and stuff. But whatever, I was glad that I was getting rid of my shit. He must be the one who drove off the cliff…"
She was only half listening to what he said, shock still racing through her body.
"I have to make a few phone calls. I'll be back later ok? You go home and get yourself something to drink to calm down a bit." He lifted her chin. "Ok, Brooke? Are you sure you're going to be alright?"
Nodding, she slowly walked away still a bit perplexed. That was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her…
"But it was the best day of your life, right grandma? You never wanted to let him go again."
"That's right honey." Brooke laughed. "I didn't let him drive for awhile either."
"But what about the man who bought the car from grandpa? Did he really drive off that cliff?"
A tight and forced smile formed on her lips. "No sweetie, it was all just one big misunderstanding. Now, you two have to go to bed. Did you both brush your teeth?"
"I brushed mine twice! Colin only did it once, and not even that good."
"It's a good thing he only has baby teeth then. Now come on, both lay down and close your eyes."
She watched as they drifted into sleep, Ava tucking herself safely even further under the covers and Colin, quietly sucking on his thumb let out a soft sigh. They were absolutely perfect.
Quietly she stepped out of their shared bedroom and walked down the stairs. She chuckled when she saw her precious daughter sitting on the couch reading, ironically, the newspaper.
"I never dared to ask you before mom, but eh… Did that man really died? You know the guy who dad sold his car to?"
Brooke nodded. "Unfortunately he did. After Julian first called his parents -who he almost gave a heart attack by the way- to assure them he was still alive, he found out that the guy really drove himself off a cliff. Apparently he was a man who made many mistakes. Even killed his own brother."
"So he got guilty?"
"Yes, guilt indeed got the best of him. So he bought the cheapest car he could find and killed himself."
"Guess he deserved it. I mean what kind of person kills his own brother?" She asked more to herself, already focusing herself on the paper in front of her.
Without getting the attention from her daughter, Brooke opened a box she'd hidden safely for years and opened it slowly. Inside there was just one piece of old newspaper, the words barely readable because of the fading ink.
A father, a husband and a son.
Daniel Robert Scott, who passed away on May 20, 2009 at the age of forty one, was three things. A father, a husband and a son. He lost control of his car and drove off a cliff. Hopefully, he will find rest.
No loving words, no nothing.
"Yeah, probably someone with a bad heart." Brooke whispered.
