A Window to the Past – Chapter 10
Washington, D.C.
The phone begins to ring as Brandon pours his first cup of coffee. He wanders slowly over to the phone with his eyes half closed.
'You sound like you're still asleep,' Amy says brightly into the phone when Brandon answers.
'I am,' he says and takes another sip of coffee.
'I take it you had fun with your friends yesterday?' she asks.
'Yes, I did. I didn't realize how much I missed having them around, but I really do,' he says, slowly remembering how uneasy he really was with her.
'Well, wake up and get yourself into the office. I can't wait to see you,' she says.
'Yup, be there shortly,' Brandon says and hangs up the phone.
He puts the phone down and turns to see Kelly pouring some coffee for herself. He sits down at the kitchen table and waits for her to join him.
'Morning, Brandon,' she says and then yawns.
'Morning, Kel,' he says and tries as hard as he can to muster a smile.
Kelly drops her eyes and sips her coffee.
'So, what's on the agenda for today, Kel?' he asks her.
'Um, I'm not sure,' she says, 'whatever Steve wants to do, I guess.'
'Do you think you guys will go up and visit Brenda in New York?' he asks her.
'I don't know, even if Donna decides she wants to go, I think I'll stay here, if that's alright with you. I'm so not up for another road trip before we have to go home,' she tells him.
Brandon finds himself smiling at her as she talks. 'That's fine with me, Kel, you can stay here as long as you want.'
Kelly returns his smile and they stare at each other over their coffee cups until Donna comes stumbling into the kitchen rubbing her eyes.
Kelly and Brandon both quickly turn their heads in Donna's direction. Donna pours herself a glass of water and joins them at the table.
'Good morning, Donna,' Brandon says, drinking his coffee.
'Morning,' Donna says, with her eyes half closed.
'So, what are your plans for today?' Brandon asks.
'I don't know yet, I'm thinking find something to eat for breakfast and go from there,' she says.
'Well,' Brandon says, getting up from the table, 'I have to get ready for work.'
He catches Kelly's eye for just a second before disappearing into the bathroom.
'Oh my God, Donna,' Kelly says, when Brandon is out of ear shot.
'What?'
'There's definitely something going on with us. The way we talked and the way he smiled at me, I just know there's something there,' Kelly says with excitement.
'So, what are you going to do about it?' Donna asks her.
'I don't know yet, I haven't thought that far ahead,' Kelly tells her as she watches Steve come cheerfully out of the bedroom.
'Wow, dressed and ready for the day already, Steve? What's going on?' Kelly asks him.
'I figured if we were going to go and see Brenda, we better leave early,' Steve says and then winks at Donna.
'Really? You weren't too excited about it yesterday,' Donna says.
'If we go up early and spend the day with her, then we can be back here by bed time and still have two days to hang out with Brandon,' Steve says.
'That's a great plan, Steve, I'm so excited,' Donna says, springing up from the table. 'I'm going to go and get dressed.'
Steve smiles and grabs the newspaper from the table.
Brandon comes out of the bedroom dressed and ready for work.
'Okay, I'm off, see you guys later,' he says and walks quickly out of the apartment before Steve has a chance to tell him what the plan for the day is.
'We can just leave him a note telling him where we went,' Steve says.
'That won't be necessary, Steve, I'm not going with you. I'm going to stay here,' Kelly says.
'What?'
'I don't want to travel anymore until we get in the car to go home. I'm going to stay here,' she says.
'Ah, I see, of course you want to stay here. You want Brandon all to yourself to make your move,' Steve says.
'Shut up,' Kelly says.
Donna comes skipping out of the bathroom and stands in front of Steve with a gigantic smile on her face.
'Okay, let's go,' Donna says. She looks over at Kelly, who hadn't moved from her seat at the table.
'Come on, Kel,' she says insistently.
'Kelly's not coming, Donna, it's just you and me for the day,' Steve says. He takes her hand, waves to Kelly, and walks Donna out of the apartment.
Kelly smiles to herself as soon as the door closes and finishes the rest of her coffee.
'Steve, what's going on? Why doesn't Kelly want to come with us?' Donna asks him as they make their way to the train station.
'Come on, Donna, wake up. She's going to be alone with Brandon for a day, without us tagging along, of course she doesn't want to come,' Steve tells her.
'Oh,' Donna says, finally realizing what was going on. 'Well, let me call Brenda and tell her that we're coming up. She can tell us where to meet up with her.'
'Good idea,' Steve says.
Donna pulls out her phone and dials Brenda's number.
The phone on the hotel nightstand begins to vibrate and ring. Brenda goes to pick it up, but is so wrapped up in Dylan's arms and the covers from the bed that she almost misses the call.
'Hello? Hello?' she says quickly into the phone as Dylan opens his eyes and starts to nip at her neck.
'Brenda? Did I wake you?' Donna asks her.
'Um, no, no, it's fine. What's going on, Donna?' she says, trying to stifle moan as Dylan continues to attack her.
'Steve and I are coming to see you today. We're going to take the train up, spend some time with you in beautiful New York City and then hop on the train back to D.C. tonight,' Donna says with excitement.
'Really, that's great! What time do you think you'll get here?' Brenda says. Dylan stops what he's doing and lifts his head to look at her.
'I think sometime around noon. Are you going to be free?' Donna asks her.
'Well, I have rehearsal until 2pm today. Do you think you guys could roam around for a few hours until I can come and get you?' she asks them.
'Oh sure, absolutely we can. We'll be coming in to Penn Station and I'm pretty sure Steve is going to want to walk around Madison Square Garden or something,' Donna laughs.
'Okay, well, if you want, you could meet me at the theatre around 2pm or I can just call you when I get out of rehearsal,' Brenda says.
'We can meet up with you, Bren, it's no problem. Where is the theatre?' Donna asks her.
'It's called Circle in the Square and it's located on Broadway and 50th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues,' Brenda tells her.
'Okay, got it, see you soon!' Donna says.
'Okay, bye,' Brenda says and hangs up the phone.
'What was that all about?' Dylan asks her.
'Donna and Steve are coming to New York for the day to visit me,' Brenda tells him slowly.
Dylan just stares at her for a few seconds before letting out a breath.
'What are we going to do?' Brenda asks him.
Dylan leans down to kiss her gently. 'Well, Bren, we're just going to have to sit back and enjoy the looks of shock and surprise on our friends faces when they see us together,' he says.
Brenda smiles and leans forward to kiss him. 'You could tell them without really telling them, you know,' she says.
Dylan gives her a puzzling look. 'What do you mean?'
'Well, I have to go to the theatre and their train is due in from D.C. around noon. You could meet them at the train station and keep them busy until I'm done with rehearsal,' she suggests.
'Hmm, that's an interesting idea,' Dylan says as it mulls it over. He smiles down at her and raises his eyebrows.
Brenda starts to laugh as he wraps his arms around her tightly and starts kissing her face and neck.
Washington D.C.
Amy sits at her desk listening carefully for Brandon to arrive for work. She stares at her computer trying to pass the time when her cell phone starts to vibrate.
'Hello?'
'Nina, we're in,' the voice says.
'What do you mean?'
'The friends were spotted getting on a train for New York this morning, which means Brandon is on his own tonight.'
'All of them?'
'Well, we were too late to see them leaving the apartment, but we did see two blond girls and a blonde guy get on the train to New York.'
'Well, it doesn't get easier than that, does it?' she says. 'We still have to get to Brenda somehow though.'
'Yeah, but if we deal with Brandon first, Brenda will be an easier target.'
'Okay, I'll meet you at my apartment after work and we'll figure out how to get this plan moving,' she says with a smile.
'You got it, see you later.'
She hangs up the phone and hears Brandon's voice over the cubicles talking with George.
'So, you had fun with your friends?' George asks Brandon as they approach their desks.
'Yeah, it was great, thanks for the day off,' Brandon says.
'No problem, now let's get going we have a lot of work to do today,' George says.
'Amy, do you have that breakdown I asked you for yesterday done yet?' George says over the cubicle wall.
Amy gets up and walks around the wall to talk to George. 'Just putting the finishes touches on it. I just need to review it one more time and then it'll be done,' she says.
She turns her head toward Brandon and smiles. He looks up at her and gives her a weak smile before busying himself arranging the papers on his desk.
'Well, get going, Amy, I don't have all day to wait for it!' George says with annoyance in his voice.
Amy goes back to her desk quickly to finish her assignment so that she can focus on how to put her plan into motion.
New York
Brenda comes out of the bathroom dressed and ready to go to rehearsal. She turns her head slightly and smiles at the image of Dylan lying on the bed with both hands behind his head in his boxer shorts watching television.
She walks over to the side of the bed and leans down to kiss him.
'So, I'll see you at 2 outside of the theatre, okay?' she says.
'Mmmmm, I can't wait,' he says, putting his hand on the back of her head and pulling her closer.
Brenda kisses him and then stands up quickly. 'I really have to go now or I'm going to be late.'
She smiles and leaves the room quickly.
As Brenda walks to the theatre she can't help but smile the entire time. She couldn't remember the last time she was this happy.
Dylan stares at the ceiling for a few minutes after Brenda leaves for rehearsal. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly before getting out of bed. He smiles to himself and then goes into the bathroom to take a shower.
He gets dressed and leaves the hotel to get something to eat while he waits for Steve and Donna's train to arrive.
Washington, D.C.
Kelly mopes around Brandon's apartment while he is at work. She goes into his bedroom and sits on his bed. She stares at his clothes and his pictures and sighs.
'What am I doing?' she says out loud.
She thinks back to the way that they had been looking at each other since she arrived and can't help but shake the feeling that he might care about her more than he was letting on.
'Okay, Kelly, get it together. You're only going to get one chance at this before Donna and Steve come back and before Brandon remembers why he was going out with Amy in the first place. You can do this, you can do this.'
Kelly stands up quickly and goes right to her suitcase. She pulls everything out in a heap trying to find the perfect outfit.
She chooses a very sexy little black dress and goes into the bathroom to take a shower and get herself ready for Brandon to come back.
New York
Dylan walks down the steps from the street into Penn Station. He finds the track for the arrival of the train from Washington D.C. and stands at the top of the steps waiting for Donna and Steve to emerge from below.
Dylan finds it a little difficult to wipe the smirk off of his face, knowing the reaction he is sure to get when they see him.
People begin to come up the steps and he stands waiting in anticipation for them to come into view. When they finally do, Dylan hesitates for a second and then lurches himself forward to get in their direct path.
'Steve, this place is huge, how are we going to find our way out?' Donna asks, looking around the station.
'Come on, Donna, just go with it. We're in New York, so don't act like a tourist or you'll get shot or something,' Steve says.
'Steve, don't say things like,' Donna starts to say. Her eyes widen and her mouth drops as Dylan comes into view.
'Can't you even pay attention long enough to finish a sentence,' Steve says, shaking his head.
Donna tugs hard on the sleeve of his shirt.
'What now?' he asks turning his head to her with annoyance.
She puts her hand to his chin and turns his head in Dylan's direction.
Dylan stands off to the side of them watching this all take place with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.
'Dylan!' Steve says with surprise. Steve takes a few steps toward him and gives Dylan and embrace.
'What the hell are you doing here?' Steve asks him.
'Steve, are you retarded?' Donna asks as she hugs Dylan. 'Dylan, you look great.'
'Thank you, Donna, I feel great,' Dylan says.
Donna takes Steve by the hand as Dylan leads them out of the train station to the street. Steve, still confused, follows like a zombie.
'Are you here to see Brenda too?' Steve finally gets out.
Donna starts to laugh and after staring at Steve for a few seconds, Dylan starts to laugh too.
'Steve, wake up, Dylan is here with Brenda,' Donna says. 'I am so happy for you. Are you guys really together?'
Dylan smiles at her and all he can do is nod his head.
Donna squeals with excitement and hugs Dylan again.
'Wait, I thought you were in Hawaii with your mom?' Steve asks.
'I was, Steve, but I left Hawaii to go to London and now I'm here in New York,' Dylan says. 'Let's go.'
Dylan starts to walk down the street with Donna. Steve follows slowly behind them working it all out in his head.
'Steve, hurry up man, or you're going to be left behind,' Dylan yells. 'So, Donna, what do you want do first?'
Donna smiles and says 'Dylan, take me to 5th Avenue right now!'
'Oh God,' Dylan says. 'You want to shop, don't you?'
'Of course I want to shop, now let's go,' Donna says. 'I really want to get Brenda a congratulations gift for landing a Broadway show.'
'Isn't that what Dylan is here for?' Steve says.
'Ah, yes, there is the Steve we all know and love. Welcome back, buddy,' Dylan says.
'We only have about an hour and a half before Brenda is finished with rehearsal, so we can't go too far,' Dylan says.
'I'm kind of hungry, can we stop for some lunch somewhere?' Steve asks.
'Oooh, yeah, let's get some food,' Donna says nodding her head.
Dylan smiles again and puts his arm around Donna's shoulders.
'Right this way, ma'am,' he says and leads them to a little diner.
The Circle in the Square Theatre
Brenda and the cast sit on the stage talking to each other after reading through the first Act of the show.
Jonah comes around the curtain from back stage with a large box and places it in the middle of the stage.
'Okay, folks, if we are going to do this comedy right, we're going to have to get down and dirty,' he says.
Jonah points to the box, looks at all of them, and says, 'Get dressed.'
They all stare at each other for a few seconds before one of the guys ventures forth and opens the box. He laughs and starts to pull out knee pads, elbow pads, chest pads, and helmets.
'Comedic theatre hurts, guys, let's get dressed and get to it,' Jonah says with a laugh.
'Oh my,' Brenda says as she starts to put on the pads.
'Now,' Jonah says as the cast bulks up, 'everyone knows the key to a good comedy is timing. I know that we've only been working together for a few days, but we're going to need as much time as possible to get the timing perfect.'
The cast stands on the stage all padded up waiting for Jonah to give them some instruction as to what they were going to be doing.
'Now, there are eight doors on this set people. We need to be able to open and close them in time. We need to be able to slam them perfectly in time and people need to pop in and out like the gopher game at the arcade,' Jonah tells them.
'We're going to play a little game to try to get this timing down and hopefully by the time we're done you'll be able to anticipate every move of your fellow actors. Now, I want Brenda and Tony center stage and everyone else, get behind a door,' he says.
Brenda steps up with Tony while the other actors take their places behind the doors of the set.
There was a basic framework of the set already built with only the doors installed as the finished pieces. The walls weren't even covered, but the director insisted that the doors be available for use during the first week of rehearsal.
'Okay, for our first game, we're going to start a round of 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' starting with Tony, then Brenda, and then clockwise around the set from behind the doors. When it's your turn to sing, pop in, sing your lines, and pop back out when your verse is finished. Brenda and Tony, I want you to face the audience and listen carefully to where the voices are coming from. Memorize who is behind which door while keeping in time with the song,' Jonah explains.
After some laughter from behind the set and an incredulous look on Tony's face, Jonah moves off of the stage and sits in the center seat of the audience.
'Begin,' he says loudly.
Tony looks at Brenda, shrugs at her with a smile on his face, and then stares straight ahead to the back wall of the theatre and starts to sing.
Luckys, NYC
Dylan, Steve, and Donna enjoy a very filling lunch at Luckys Famous Burgers, a few blocks away from the theatre.
'That has to be one of the best burgers I have ever had,' Donna says, wiping her mouth.
'I'm sure Nat would love to hear that little tidbit of information,' Steve says with a smile.
'Don't you dare, Steve. Nat's burgers are my all-time favorites, but this one definitely wins points,' she says.
'Your secret is safe with us, Donna,' Dylan says, sipping his coffee.
Dylan gets up to pay the bill while Steve and Donna collect themselves.
'We better start walking, Brenda will be out of rehearsal in about 10 minutes,' Dylan says.
'Can we walk in a roundabout way to the theatre? I'm going to need some help digesting all of the food,' Steve says, rubbing his stomach.
Donna laughs and follows Dylan out of the diner.
'So, how long has this thing with Brenda been going on and how long were planning to keep it from us?' Steve asks as they walk.
'It's none of your business how long it's been going on, and I'm pretty sure we were going to keep it a secret as long as possible,' Dylan says.
'Well, I think it's wonderful. It's great to see you smile again, Dylan,' Donna says sincerely, as she puts her hand on his shoulder.
Dylan returns the smile Donna gives him as they cross the street and the theatre comes into view.
'There it is,' Dylan says, pointing it out.
'Wow, it looks really nice from the outside,' Steve says.
Donna starts to fidget as they get closer and closer to the theatre.
'Donna, what's going on?' Steve asks her.
'I'm just getting excited! I can't wait to see Brenda,' she says with a smile. 'It seems like forever since the last time we saw each other.'
'Here they come now,' Dylan says pointing to the bunch of people walking out of the theatre.
Donna emits a shrill sound as she finally sees Brenda walk out. Brenda turns her head immediately in their direction and starts to walk quickly toward them.
Donna runs and almost knocks Brenda over when she throws her arms around her.
'Whoa, Donna,' Brenda says with a laugh. 'It's good to see you too.'
Donna starts to laugh as she slowly lets go of her friend.
Brenda takes a few steps and embraces Steve.
'How was your trip?' Brenda asks them.
'It was a lot quicker than I thought it would be,' Steve says.
'Look, we don't have a whole lot of time to spend with you, so let's get going,' Donna says, grabbing Brenda's hand.
Brenda starts to laugh and gives Dylan a sideways glance.
'Hold on a second there, Donna,' Dylan says. He steps forward, puts his hands on both sides of Brenda's face and kisses her.
Before Brenda has a chance to properly kiss him back, she feels Donna pulling her in the other direction.
Donna smiles quickly at her as Brenda turns her head in her direction and quickly walks away from the guys.
'Oh my God, tell me everything!' Donna says as she pulls Brenda down the street.