ii.
"Dating disasters, part five thousand sixty-three…"
Sighing a little, Brianna opened
the door to apartment 7C, already regretting the two hours she'd spent
getting ready for the night, the blind date Sierra had set her up on…
He's great, Bri. Totally
Hollywood, just your type.
Nothing could be further from the
truth, honestly. Yes, Brianna had come out here looking for the glitz
and glamour that came with Hollywood and the actress/waitress someday superstar
cliché, and in her mind, somewhere, she'd decided that she'd find
Prince Charming somewhere along the way…
So far, she'd found a tiny apartment,
a bartending job that gave her more headaches than tips, and…
Prince Charming?
"Ha, if I thought I was going to have Happily Ever After, I need to reread some things. The fairy tale doesn't exist."
Most nights, she'd just hang out
by herself, go down the street and rent a video, or spend too long in her
ancient looking claw foot bathtub, reading. The girl spent more time
in the bathroom than was healthy, and…
That's where she was headed now.
"But it's nothing a little bubble bath and a trashy novel won't fix, right?" With a soft snicker, she grabbed her half-empty bottle of strawberries and crème bubble bath, a book from her shelf of over read romances and a CD…
-*-
"Cos I want it aaaaaaaaaallllllllll, or nothing at aaaaaaaaaaaaaallllll…."
Sinking into the wall of bubbles,
Bri had enveloped herself in a book, something a lot like the life she
wanted…
Challenge, desire, and a man with
a great set of abs. Success would be nice too, but most of the time,
these novels seemed to drive on one thing, what she couldn't seem to manage
on her own.
Relationships that somehow worked.
It seemed impossible, but someday, maybe it'd happen.
-*-
He'd seen her slip in – he'd been
watching for days now, just learning about her, learning the tiniest little
details, the quirks that made her who she was, the things that made him
want to just smack her…
There was a lot more to Brianna
than he'd thought, and the more he watched, the more adorable she was.
The way she liked to stay up late
and watch cartoons at three in the morning.
The way her voice drifted through
the tiny apartment while she sang to no one in particular…
The hours she spent on the fire
escape, just…thinking.
She liked yellow roses, wore glasses from time to time, and swore she was romance retardant.
"Not a chance, angel…you've got the makings of a princess under there somewhere. It's too bad…"
It was too bad she spent hours deciding
what to wear, if she should leave her belly button ring in or take it out,
what kind of makeup she should wear, how high the heels on her shoes should
be, if she should wear glitter…
Trivial things.
Things that…eventually, wouldn't
matter.
"Soon…you'll get your wish.
I promise you that. At a price."