Brooke looked around the room, a stage set up with a ramp, which led up to the middle of the room. Chairs lined up surrounding the ramp. Photographers setting up their equipments. She jumped a little with shock when she felt someone wrap an arm on her shoulder. She smiled when she found Antonio standing besides her.
"Nervous Babygirl?"
"extremely!" she replied.
Antonio smiled and nodded understandingly. He remembered how he felt on his first unveiling. It's exciting as well as nerve-wracking .
"An, I have never done this before. I launch everything on my website and the only shows I have done were for the competitions. I don't even know if my brand is big enough to put on a show. Huh! I don't know how I let you talk me into it." Brooke said nervously, doubting if this at all was a good idea anymore.
"Honey, there is always a first for everything. And your brand is big, trust me. People are talking about it in New York. And since you walked the ramp for me, the media has been quite curious about you too." he winked.
Since she and Lucas had walked the ramp for him, a lot his friends from the fashion industry as well as the media had asked him about Brooke and Lucas for scoops. And when he invited them to her unveiling, they were more than happy to be here.
"Okay, enough worrying my diva. Shake off the tension and go to your models, you have a show to put on." he smiled and gave her a peck on her cheek.
-x-
Lucas sat in the audience and looked around. It was a housefull. He recognized a few faces from the fashion magazines Brooke would read and force him to read as well when they were together.
The show started with Antonio announcing and talking about Brooke and her brand with a big proud smile on his face. The models started catwalking in beautiful dresses and high heels one after the other.
Rachel walked to the center stage wearing a beautiful geometric pattern bodycon dress showing off her fake bump. Her hair teased at the crown and pulled up in a ponytail, smokey eyes and bold oxblood lips. Jake beamed looking at her. She looked at Jake and winked at him, making him blush.
Last but not the least, Haley walked the ramp with a nervous smile. She wore a floral high-low dress, her makeup minimal-fresh and dewy. Her hair was left lose in carefree Beach waves and she wore a lavender flower crown. People who knew Haley, would know it was not at all her style, but the look suited her so well.
As she walked Nathan's mouth fell open. She looked like a Greek goddess and all he wanted to do was pull her off the ramp, carry her home and do all sorts of things to her.
"Stop drooling, Nate" Lucas laughed looking at his little brother's expressions.
"Can you blame me?" Nathan shrugged shyly.
-x-
The show ended with a huge round of applause. It was a big success. Everyone loved the designs, the concept of realistic models and the whole idea of the collection.
The media surrounded Brooke asking curious questions.
"Miss. Davis, what inspired you to start a maternity line?" asked a reported.
Brooke smiled confidently. "My friends. Two of my very best friends were pregnant, one of them you saw looking extremely beautiful on the ramp. And I realized everything available in the market for pregnant women were shapeless, baggy and super ugly. That's when I decided to start "Yummy Mummy". Pregnancy is beautiful, why hide behind ugly baggy clothes?"
People nodded and smiled in agreement.
Another reporter asked, "You are one of the youngest designers in the country and this was your first unveiling. How does it feel to be successful at such a young age? "
"It's overwhelming to say the least. Honestly, all I did was design the clothes. It was An, Antonio and my friend Lucas who planned to whole thing. I was as surprised as you all are."
She looked at Antonio and wrapped an arm around, smiling at him. "Antonio has been my guardian angel. I don't even know what I'd do without him."
"Do you plan to shift to New York and expand your Brand after graduation?" asked a young lady reporter.
"That's exactly the plan. But I want to go to college too, study fashion designing, learn more about the industry." she smiled brightly talking about her future plans.
"Lucas is Lucas Scott, right? The male showstopper from Antonio's wedding collection show. So, are you both together?" interrupted a nosy reporter.
Brooke maintained a calm façade and answered with a fake smile "we go to the same high school and we are very good friends."
Antonio felt Brooke's discomfort and told the reporters that they will take no more questions and guided her away from them.
-x-
Brooke was elated by the success for her unveiling. She had always thought that she'd have a successful show and media running after her one day after she graduates with a fashion degree, but that day will come so soon even before she graduated high school was beyond her dreams.
She and Lucas had gone to the airport to see off Antonio, who was leaving for L.A for his next show. He had invited Brooke and her friends to the show, where Lucas and Nathan were modeling for him next week.
-x-
Brooke jumped out of Lucas' truck and ran inside the house happily.
"hey cute professor!" she greeted Andy cheerfully, who was making coffee in the kitchen.
"Hey cupid! How was the unveiling?" he asked with a smile.
"It was fab!! You know, some of my favorite celebrity designers were there too and they praises my designs. Best day of my life." Brooke said enthusiastically.
Andy laughed at her enthusiasm "congratulations sweetie!!"
"Where's Lil B? I have missed her so much!"
Brooke had been so busy for the past week that she didn't have the time to come and see Lily. And now that she was free the first thing she wanted to do was play with Lily, so rather than going to her apartment she came to Lucas' house.
She went into the nursery to find Karen feeding Lily. She smiled at Karen and told her everything about the show. Once Lily was fed, she took baby Lily into her arms and Lily cooed.
"She likes you a lot, Brooke" Karen smiled.
"I love you too Lil B and I missed you so so sooo much." she said and kissed her head. Lily smiled and Brooke's heart melted.
"Aww… you are so beautiful Lilypie. One of these days I'm gonna come and steal you away." Brooke said in a baby voice making Karen laugh.
That night when she finally returned home after having dinner at Karen's, she had a big smile of satisfaction on her face. She quickly took a shower and changed into her favorites Pjs and went went to sleep dreaming about a beautiful future ahead.
-x-
"Let's do a road trip!" Brooke suggested excitedly.
"It's a 38 hour drive Tigger. And the way I pee nowadays, it's going to take a lot more than that." Haley tried to explain Brooke.
"Yes, and we will be very tired by the time we reach there." added Lucas.
Brooke scoffed "YOLO !! Live a little guys. These are the last few months of our high school life. We'll be young only once. Let's make the best of it." she said with a big grin.
"That's my girl B. Davis. Let's do it!" agreed Skills giving Brooke a high-five.
Everyone gave in and agreed to a road trip.
"Yay!! Los Angeles, here we come!" Brooke announced gleefully.
-x-
After forty-two hours of driving, bickering about what music to play, sharing memories of high school and stopping again and again for Haley's bathroom breaks, they had finally reached Los Angeles.They had cricked Necks, painful backs and numb derrières, but it was the best journey they all had had in a long time.
Antonio had booked two royal suites for them at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. The boys took a room and the girls took the other. The rooms were just royal to say the least and each had two bedrooms. The guys raided the minibar while the girls went for a relaxing spa.
-x-
The next day was the day of the fashion show. Lucas and Nathan walked the ramp as promised to Antonio. Haley openly spoke about Nathan's hot body while Brooke secretly appreciated Lucas' ripped body showing through the see-through T-shirt. When a female model approached Nathan, he wrapped his arm around Haley and smiled pointing at his wedding ring. Lucas didn't have a wedding ring to ward off the bevy of ladies swamping him. He wished he could just hold Brooke close to him like Nathan had held Haley.
"You'll be going to the party in the evening right? Let's go together." suggested a tall, beautiful blonde model with a picture perfect smile, keeping a hand on his chest flirtatiously.
Brooke looked at the ongoing scene from a distance. She wished she could listen to what that blonde was saying.
"Uh… I'm sorry, I have a girlfriend." said Lucas, thoroughly embarrassed by the bold advances of the blonde.
She flipped her hair and walked away, surprised that he rejected her.
-x-
Antonio had had gowns and tux delivered up to their rooms for the party. All the boys looked sharp and handsome in their tux and the girls looked extremely beautiful in their gowns. They reached the venue in a limo and walked the red carpet excitedly, clicks and flashes of camers coming from all around. Brooke recognized some of the photographers from her unveiling and waved to them. They asked Lucas and Brooke to pose for the camera together. Lucas put an arm around her waist and gave a small, awkward smile while Brooke smiled brightly and confidently, displaying her dimples.
"See, even the media thinks we are great together." Lucas whispered to Brooke.
"Media just likes gossips. They'll think I look good with a log if it sells. And anyways I'm hot, I look good with everyone." she smirked making Lucas chuckle.
-x-
As soon as they entered, a waiter offered them champagne. Everyone except Haley took a glass. They looked around and were amazed to see so many celebrities. Brooke knew Antonio was a big name in the industry and knew a lot of celebrities, but seeing them in person and attending the same party as them was exhilarating.
Antonio soon found them and greeted them. Brooke admired how grounded Antonio was. He had so many celebrities around him, but he took out time to talk to nobodies like them. Brooke had met him in New York last year, when she went for a fashion competition. He was judging the show. Later he came up to Brooke and introduced himself, not that he needed an introduction. Antonio was born and brought up in Tree Hill too, which made them connect instantly and since then Antonio had always had Brooke's back. Not only professionally, but personally Antonio had always been there for her. When she said he was her guardian angel, she truly meant it.
"Boys, you all are looking delicious." he winked.
"and you girls" he sighed "there is something about teenage beauty, isn't it?" he said making the girls blush and giggle.
"An, thank you so much for the dresses. They are so beautiful." Brooke said, looking and feeling beautiful in her silver sequined off shoulder dress.
Her dress had an open back and a plunging neckline, supported only by thin spaghetti straps which were criss-crossed at the back. It hugged her curves perfectly giving her a very sexy look. She had paired it with a layered necklace which ended between her décolletage and a pair of delicate single-strand diamond earrings. Her hair and makeup were minimalistic.
"doll, you are making the dress look hotter than it is." he said and kissed her cheek.
"Come I want you to meet someone." he said with a smile displaying his perfect white teeth.
Antonio introduced Brooke to a lot of his designer friends and many celebrities, actors and singers. Brooke was nervous as well as excited talking to them. It was like a dream and she hoped to style them all someday.
"I have a surprise for you" he said with a smirk and guided her to the other corner of the room.
Brooke's mouth fell open when she saw Sarah Jessica Parker and Ryan Gosling standing together and chatting with each other. Antonio was on first name basis with them. He greeted them with by kissing there cheeks and then introduced them to Brooke.
"Tonie has told me so much about you. He says you are the one to watch out for." said Sarah Jessica Parker in her raspy voice.
"Oh she is the one who owns Clothes Over Bros ?" Ryan Gosling asked Antonio in surprise. Antonio nodded proudly.
"Wow you are so young and beautiful too" Ryan praised her.
Brooke blushed hearing them compliment her. Ryan Gosling called her beautiful, she felt she could float away in a cloud of happiness.
"uh.. heh-heh.. I can't even tell you how hard I am trying not to go all crazy fan girl on you both… I love sex and the city, I can watch it on loop everyday...and Notebook…. Oh my God can't even tell you how I love Notebook." she gushed.
"I agree! I can die for Notebook" Sarah Jessica Parker said, dramatically keeping a hand on her chest.
Antonio giggled "Sarah, honey didn't I tell you she is so much like you, she even had a sexy voice like yours"
Ryan Gosling blushed modestly at the praises. As a new song starts playing Ryan looks at Brooke.
"true" Ryan and Sarah said in unison.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked Brooke
Brooke's heart skips a beat "Oh boy! Yes!!" Brooke nodded repeatedly and squeaks, unable to contain her excitement and making Sarah and Antonio laugh.
-x-
Lucas had his eyes fixed on Brooke. He saw her blush and gush talking to Ryan Gosling. He knew how much she loved him and felt a tinge of jealousy when he saw her talking to him. As he saw them moving towards the dance floor he felt his unreasonable jealousy increasing.
"Dawg you are going to burn holes into Ryan Gosling." Skills joked.
Lucas scowled at him and again looked at Brooke.
"Man you should have said yes to the sexy model who asked you to be her date."
"I have a very beautiful girl to focus on Skills and I'm not blowing it this time" Lucas said.
Skills smiled and clapped his back "That's my dawg! Good to know the homewrecker didn't wrecked your brain completely."
Meanwhile Brooke couldn't believe she was dancing with Ryan Gosling. She was so nervous but she managed to look confident as always.
"So Brooke, what do you do?" Ryan asked.
"I am in my senior year of high school" she replied shyly.
"Oh!! I didn't think you were that young." he said with raised eyebrows.
"Now I can't ask you out in a date" he joked.
"I am Eighteen and I would totally date you." Brooke smiled flirtatiously, displaying her perfect dimples.
Ryan laughed admiring her confidence.
"I would like that but I don't think your boyfriend would. He has been glaring at me constantly." he joked motioning towards Lucas with his eyes.
Brooke looked and saw Lucas glaring at them and she found herself blushing and flustering badly.
"Umm.. He is not my boyfriend." she mumbled.
"ex boyfriend then? The way he is looking, there has to be some history here."
"A very complicated history, to say the least." Brooke confessed.
"hmm… I see, but by the looks of it you both still love each other. You know, the way he is looking at you and the way you are reacting. And if there is love, it's worth working on the complications." he smiled at her genuinely.
Brooke took in his words and thought about it. The song ended and Brooke asked him if he would meet her friends as they all are big fans. She introduced him to everyone. The girls blushed and giggled. And the boys shook hands with him.
"I was Notebooked by my girlfriend, man. But it was totally worth it. Loved the movie." Skills said making everyone laugh.
Later Lucas asked Brooke for a dance and she agreed. They danced slowly as "it's all coming back to me" played in the backgrounds.
"I hate when you dance with anyone else." Lucas confessed.
Brooke rolled her eyes hiding the thrill his words gave to her.
"That wasn't anyone, that was Ryan Gosling. I can't believe he asked me for a dance." she smiled ear to ear.
Lucas chuckled shaking his head "Ummm…. If it made you that happy, then I guess I can let it go."
"I would have had a date with him if you didn't scare him away with your deathly glares." Brooke feigned anger.
"Good that I glared then." Lucas smirked. Brooke looked at him in amusement, in total loss of words.
-x-
A while later they said their goodbyes to Antonio and left for their hotels. Brooke didn't want the night to end and wanted to go for a walk. It was 2 a.m and everyone was tired to their bones and just wanted to sleep knowing that tomorrow they had to leave and spend the next 40 hour cramped up in a car.
Brooke was waiting for the lift when Lucas came out of his room.
"Now where are you going?" he asked.
"Umm.. Wasn't sleepy, just wanted to take a walk. But Where were you going?" she asked raising her eyebrows.
"Naley took a bedroom and Shelly kicked me and Skills out of the other" he chuckled.
"Skills was too sleepy so he took the couch and I was going to your's and Rachel's suite to sleep in the other bedroom." he grinned.
She laughed "Oh sure, take the key" she said offering him her keycard.
"Actually, on second thought, I'd like to go on a walk too." he smiled as the lift opened.
-x-
They walked through the busy street. Life was so different here. Roads at 2 in the night here were busier than roads of Tree Hill in broad daylight. Everything was so much more glamorous, but the serenity of Tree Hill was better than anything in the world.
"I miss home" Brooke said, breaking the silence between them.
"I was thinking the same. It's exciting here, but there is only one Tree Hill, right?"
"exactly!!" Brooke smiled at him.
They walked through the Wilshire boulevard, looking at the display windows of the shops and showroom. There was something soothing about window shopping, Brooke always felt. Lucas never understood what was the fun about shopping, let alone window shopping but nonetheless he loved the peace it brought on Brooke's face.
-x-
"Brooke darling! What are you doing here?" a woman squeaked.
Lucas looked at the woman and frowned. She had made Brooke jump and the peace on her face was instantly replace with a tensed expression.
"Mother! How are you?" Brooke replied with a tight fake smile.
"Oh I am good, but you didn't answer me."
Brooke eyed the man besides her mother. He was young enough to be her son and she knew instantly, he was her current boytoy. He looked at Brooke with a flirtatious smile eyeing her from top to bottom. Brooke rolled her eyes at him with disgust.
"I am here for some work. Where is dad?" she asked her mother, very well knowing the answer.
"Oh he is out on a business trip… Who's this, your latest boytoy ?" she asked eyeing Lucas with a hard glare.
"Hello Mrs. Davis, I'm Lucas Scott" he extended his hand.
She completely ignored him.
"Dan's illegitimate? Brooke you are famous now. Make better choices honey." she said with a fake concern.
"mom! That's none of your business" Brooke frowned.
Victoria rolled her eyes.
"darling, don't call me mom.. It doesn't go with my personality"
"something we both agree on" scoffed Brooke
"You had an unveiling of your collection and I got to know about it when I read about it in the papers, how insulting is that?"
"If you were present in my life, you would have known about it first hand." retaliated Brooke with a bitter smile.
"come home tomorrow, we can discuss your brand expansion" Victoria said ignoring her daughter's disappointed words.
"I think I'll pass." Brooke said with a fake smile and then it disappeared and she sighed. "but I'll come home after graduation, before college."
"did you get an acceptance letter yet?" Victoria asked scrolling through her phone.
"not yet" Brooke answered in a small voice.
Victoria snorted "darling, girls with grades like yours don't go to college. And anyways why would you want to waste any time on college, we have to focus on the brand."
"Ma'am, her grades have improved tremendously and Brooke is brilliant, she'll definitely get accepted to a good college." Lucas said, smiling genuinely at Brooke. Brooke returned his smile with sad smile
Victoria ignored Lucas and typed something on her phone.
"You can come home after graduation. Your dad and I will be gone though. We have a trip planned for Italy." she looked up and smiled fake lying at him.
"oh! Okay" Brooke said unable to hide how hurt she was. "I have to go now. I will see you when I see you" and with that she grabbed Lucas by his hand and pulled him. She walked away from her mother as fast as she could.
It was hurtful that her mother didn't even hug her or ask her how she was. She was hurt that they planned their trip right when she was supposed to be returning home after graduation. She didn't know why did it hurt so much everytime, when it had always been like this with her parents. She thought she was done trying to get her parents to love her, but everytime they made her feel worthless, it hurt a little more than the last time. That was the reason she had been such a playgirl. She liked the attention she got from the guys, something she never got from her parents. And this was the reason she was so messed up, the reason why it was difficult for her to trust someone with her heart.
When her mother was no more in the view her shoulders slumped. She looked at Lucas sadly. He realized how dysfunctional her family was. He realized why Brooke had built up so many walls around her.
"I'm really sorry for her behavior Lucas. She can be a bitch sometimes….No, scratch that… she is always a bitch"
"Nothing I haven't heard before, it doesn't bother me anymore. But you know, I used to think you were just being overly dramatic when you spoke about your parents. I didn't think it was so true." Lucas said, still shaken by hurricane Victoria.
"What you saw was just a fraction of it" she scoffed.
"I'm sorry" Lucas looked at her apologetically.
Brooke sighed sadly "I was having such a good day, she totally ruined it."
"How about we go back to the hotel, order room service and watch a movie." he suggested.
Brooke smiled at him "do I get to choose the movie?"
"okay, anything but that Gosling dude" he pouted.
Brooke laughed as they turned towards their hotel. She sighed defeatedly thinking about her interaction with Victoria. Lucas wrapped his arm around her in support, she kept her head on his shoulder and leaned on him for the rest of the way to their hotel.
-x-
They tiptoed into the room, trying not to wake up Rachel, who was sleeping in one of the bedrooms. They silently giggled and walked into the other bedroom. Brooke sat on the bed and ordered a movie on pay per view while Lucas went to the washroom. Lucas came from the washroom to find "Breakfast at Tiffany's" playing in the TV and he rolled his eyes.
"What? You said no Ryan Gosling. This is not a ryan gosling movie. This is a classic, and everyone likes it!!" she giggled.
Lucas plopped on the bed besides Brooke and watched the movie along with her. He had watched this movie a million times with his mother and had always secretly liked it, not that he would ever confess. He laughed as Brooke repeated the dialogues along with the movie.
"when I was little, I wanted to be like Holly Golightly. Only I would have had a cute little dog rather than a cat." she said with a smile.
He smiles and adjusted his pillow and pulled the duvet over him. Soon in between the movie they both fell asleep.
-x-
Lucas woke up to find his arms wrapped around Brooke and brooke snuggling peacefully to his chest. He smiled and kissed her head. She looked so beautiful sleeping and he felt so peaceful holding her that he never wanted to let go off her.
He looked at the clock on the wall. It was 6 in the morning. He had hardly slept for three hours, but he felt so fresh. He suddenly had an idea and he smiled brightly. He ran his finger through Brooke's hair and called her out trying to wake her up. She groaned in her sleep and pulled him closer.
"wake up Pretty Girl, we are going somewhere" he said with a smile.
Brooke moaned and opened an eye and found her head on his chest. She breathed in his scent and wanted to stay like that forever. She reluctantly freed herself from his embrace and sat up and yawned.
"mmmh… where are we going?" she asked sleepily.
"that's a surprise. Now get your ass off the bed and get ready quickly...or maybe we can just go like this, you are looking very very sexy in that dress." he said with a mischievous smile.
Brooke flustered waking up completely. She quickly got up and went to Rachel's room. Rachel was still fast asleep so she quietly pulled out her black bodycon dress from her luggage and tiptoed back to the other bedroom. She quickly changed into that dress, removed the necklace but kept the diamond earings. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and applied a sheer lip gloss. She came out of the washroom and Lucas smiled at her.
"This dress is perfect for where we are going" and with that he put his hand on the small of her back and guided her out of the room.
-x-
On the way they stopped at cafe and ordered double shot lattes and Danish to go.
"where the hell are we going Lucas, they whole city is still asleep?" she looked around the empty streets and asked, frustrated by all the suspense.
"it won't be a surprise if I tell you, will it?" he grinned.
"I liked you better when you were broody." she mumbled making him laugh.
"At least let me have my coffee" she said grumpily.
"not yet" he smirked.
They walked towards the Rodeo drive and kept walking until they stopped.
"here!" Lucas smiled finally handing Brooke her coffee.
Brooke quickly snatched her coffee and took a sip.
"now what?" she asked.
"This is it. Your own breakfast at Tiffany's" he smiled gesturing towards the shop.
Brooke finally noticed her surroundings. They were standing in front of Tiffany and Co, with a coffee and Danish in their hands.
Brooke laughed with joy at the idea. She had always wanted to do this, but never found an opportunity.
"God, this is perfect." she beamed.
They quietly had their breakfast while looking through the display windows of Tiffany's. It was a perfect end to a memorable night and a perfect start to a beautiful day.
"Thanks broody" she raised on her toes and hugged him.
"Anything for you, Pretty Girl" he smiled.
-x-