Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic, except the ones that you don't recognize. Disney and Alliance Atlantis and so forth own them all. I also don't own any place or location that you might recognize.
Realization of Fate
A Blind Disaster
La Maison et le Jardin is one of the most exquisite restaurants in the city. Usually, it takes at least a week ahead of schedule to reserve a table, but with Tyler's status, and the fact that he secretly owns a share of the place, an information unknown even by his closest friends, a simple phone call was all it took. He was ready for the 'big date' and was only waiting for David to arrive, hopefully wearing the right attire for the evening. He waited outside until he spotted a silver BMW Z3 convertible. It was obvious that David was the driver. When he stepped out of the vehicle, Tyler was relieved to see that he was wearing a coat and a tie.
"I see you clean up pretty well," Tyler said. "And the car isn't so bad either."
"Hey, I like to travel with style. What can I say? I'm single, and I'm a doctor. Anyway, you're the one to talk. And what car did you bring today? Car number 5, or is it 7?"
"You're amusing, you know that?" Tyler laughed. "I'm not going to tell you how many cars I have, but I did bring my metallic blue Mustang Convertible."
"Oh, metallic blue. Do you have a red one, too?"
"Maybe," Tyler smiled. "Come on. Let's go in before the ladies arrive."
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Brooke was a bit apprehensive as she drove to the restaurant. For the first time, she understood what Tyler has been telling her for the last couple of years.
"Are you nervous?" asked Dana.
"Not really."
'That's an understatement,' Brooke thought to herself. Her conversation with David earlier made an impact on her than she wanted to admit. 'Maybe he's right. I do need to get out more. This is like my first official date since who knows when. How pathetic is that? I hope this guy won't turn out like a jerk.' As she turned left, the restaurant was right around the corner. After they left the car with the valet parking driver, they went in and asked for the location of their table. Immediately, they spotted Tyler, but the mystery man was out of sight.
"Good evening, Ladies," Tyler stood up as he pulled out a chair for each of them.
"Hey Tyler! This is Dana. Dana, this is Tyler Connell."
"It's nice to meet you," she said.
"My pleasure."
"So, not that I'm thrilled to meet him or anything, but where's my date?" asked Brooke.
"He's in the bathroom. He'll be here in a minute."
Tyler looked over Brooke and saw him coming.
"Actually, he's coming right now."
David spotted them, and like Brooke, was equally curious to find out the identity of his date. Of course, that only lasted until the two of them met face to face.
"YOU!" Brooke and David said simultaneously.
"I don't believe this," Brooke said. "This is not happening. Of all the people to be set up with, it turns out to be you."
David didn't say anything, but the look he gave Tyler said a lot.
"Tyler!" Brooke said, who by now was creating a scene. "This is all your fault. You planned this, didn't you?"
"I didn't know," Tyler denied.
"You had to know. You were so eager to set me up. Just tell me the truth."
"Okay. Alright. Fine. I did set you up with him. I thought it would be a good idea. Why can't you two just settle your differences for one night? If not for me, then for Dana's sake."
"Hey bro," she said softly while David only nodded.
"Tyler, I don't think this is such a good idea."
"Come on, Brooke," Tyler pleaded. "Could you just at least try?"
"I told you already. The answer is no."
"Oh, for crying out loud, can you stop talking and thinking about yourself for just a minute?" David finally spoke up. "Did it not occur to you this whole time that maybe you're not the only one who's disappointed how this whole scenario turned out?"
He never meant to yell at her. To be honest, half of what he said didn't even mean anything. No matter what he was thinking now, the damage has been done and words that are spoken are impossible to take back. He knew that he hurt her, even if it wasn't intended. He can see it in her eyes. In an instant, Brooke stormed out of the restaurant, leaving him and everyone dumbfounded.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, hoping that he had heard him.
In reality, she was too far away to hear. As he turned and sat on his seat, he felt almost every pair or eyes in the room directed at him.
"What are you people looking at? Did you think this was entertaining? Why don't you get back to what you're doing and mind your own business."
He settled his elbows on top of the table and dug his head in the palm of his hands.
"I shouldn't have done that," he said.
"I'm really sorry, man," Tyler said. "I didn't think it would get out of hand."
"I know you meant well. I'm really sorry for messing up your night. I'm sorry to both of you."
"It's okay, David," Dana said. "If I had known, I wouldn't have let this happen."
"Maybe it was for the best," David said. "It made our situation more clearer now. We just hate each other."
"She doesn't hate you," Dana said. "You just don't agree on a lot of things."
"Maybe it's all my fault. I kind of said some stuff the other day. Maybe that triggered something off when she saw me."
"I guess this date is off," Tyler said.
"No, don't let me ruin your date as well. Some of us should at least have fun. This is only the finest eating place in the city."
"How about you?" asked Dana.
"I better leave. I should take some time too cool off. Get everything out of the system."
"I'll see you later then," Dana said.
"Give me a call or something," said Tyler.
"Thanks for everything," he smiled at Tyler.
"I didn't do much good."
"Well, thanks anyway," he said before kissing his sister goodbye. "I'll see you around."
"Bye David," they both said.
"Enjoy!" he said before leaving.
"I guess that leaves you and me," Tyler said. 'This should be interesting.'
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David drove around the block. If someone asked what he was doing, he would tell him or her that he just wanted to get some air. In truth, he was actually searching for Brooke. When he found out that she was his supposed blind date, he was surprised. When he thought more about it, he was amazed to find himself unflustered about the idea. To be frank, he had to admit that there was always something about Brooke that had an effect on him. He couldn't quite figure it out, and as a result, developed a sort of love-hate relationship with her, minus the love. Secretly, he calls her the "untouchable" one. Of all the woman he had tried to charm, she was the only one not to budge.
After going around and around, he eventually got tired and head off to "his spot." Once and a while, he visits a secluded area in the local park where he comes to think and dwell about the stuff going on in his life. The area overlooked the city and had a nice view of the heavens. As he parked his car, he noticed, to his disappointment, that he wasn't alone. 'That's the first.' Disliking the idea of having company, he decided to leave, until he noticed a familiar red car.
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After they ordered their respective meals, a quiet discomfort loomed over them. After the recent turn of events, neither knew or had the guts to start a conversation.
"What a weird night, huh?" Tyler said.
"No kidding."
"I'm really sorry about what happened."
"It's not your fault. I just hope Brooke and my brother are alright."
"Well, speaking of David, I heard that you two are twins."
"Yep, we sure are."
"So, how's it like living with him?"
"We don't live together anymore."
"I see," Tyler said. 'This is tougher than I thought. Could this date be any more boring?'
"Enough about me," Dana said. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"I know you're supposed to be famous and all, but aside from that, I really have no idea who you are."
"That's a surprise. I wish no one knows who I am."
"I think that the media is overrated," she said. "What do you do anyway?"
"I'm a lawyer," Tyler said. "I own that law firm on Rutherford Boulevard."
"Oh yeah, your surname is Connell. Connell Law, right?"
"Yep, that's the one." 'Please let this be over soon.'
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He was stuck in his car with one decision to make: whether to approach Brooke or not. If he chooses to leave, then both of them could have time to think. On the other hand, seeing her in the office the following Monday would be awkward. If he speaks to her now, then the whole entire neighborhood, or at least the animal kingdom situated in the park, would be awakened by the havoc they would create. An upside is that they would settle things once and for all. Going against his better judgment, he approached her with caution.
"It's a nice night, isn't it?" he spoke up.
Brooke knows that voice all too well, but she didn't bother to acknowledge him. Instead, she leaned on the wall railing that allowed her to see the city. From her viewpoint, it resembled a miniature New York City under the full moon.
"How did you find this place?"
She still didn't answer him.
"I always thought that I was the only one who knew about this place. This is the only time that I caught another person here."
"Well, this is a public park, you know," she finally replied. "It's not like you had your name on it or anything. Besides, I most likely found out about this place before you."
"I beg to differ."
"What are you doing here?"
"Probably the same reason why you're here."
"I thought we both agreed that we didn't want to see each other."
"I didn't agree on such a thing."
She finally turned towards him.
"Don't play dumb with me. I know what you said."
"You were the one who made it crystal clear that you loathed the fact that I turned out to be your blind date."
"You were disappointed yourself."
"No, I wasn't."
"Yes, you were. Not only did you say those words, but the way you said them was enough."
"What did you care, anyway? It's not like you wanted me to be your date."
Brooke didn't reply, but simply looked at him. As David looked in her eyes, he couldn't tell the message behind them.
"Why do you hate me so much?" he asked, as his tone grew serious. "I've been around a lot of people, and I know this may shock you, but they do tend to like me. I'm not a bad person. I'm comfortable with who I am, but whenever I'm around you, I feel like I'm the scum of the Earth… the lowest of the low."
"Look, Collins, I don't hate you."
"Then why do you act like it so much?"
"It's not like it's one-sided. You seem to hate me so much yourself."
"I don't hate you."
"So finally, we have one thing in common. We don't hate each other."
David finally laughed for the first time since they had their squabble at the restaurant. Brooke did the same.
"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," he apologized. "I didn't mean what I said. I just said it because what you were saying about me struck a chord. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I should apologize as well. I guess all that came from what you said the other day at the office. It wasn't that I was insulted, but more that I had trouble accepting the fact of how right you were, as much as I hated to admit it."
"Should we call a truce?" he asked, hoping that she would agree.
"Truce," she smiled at him, probably the first smile that she had given to him.
Maybe it was the scenery, the city lights, the stars in the sky, or the bright full moon, but for the first time since he laid his eyes on her, he noticed how amazingly incredible the girl in front of him is. It wasn't only her smile or her blue eyes, but her personality. Until now, the thought really didn't cross his mind, but maybe the blind date wasn't such a bad idea at all.
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'This blind date was totally a bad idea,' Tyler told himself as they proceeded to eat their meal. For the past hour and a half, neither of them said a word to each other. The funny part is that he wished he was with Val right now rather than Dana. It occurred to him that he declined to include Alyssa, but for some reason, it didn't quite bother him.
"Did Brooke ever tell you that I have a daughter?" Tyler asked, making his last attempt at conversation.
"I think she mentioned that once. Who's the mother?"
"Her name is Val. Valerie Connell."
"You two were married?"
"No."
"But her last name…"
"I said her name is Valerie Cummings."
"You said Valerie Connell earlier."
'Did I really say that? Well, Valerie Connell sounds better than Valerie Cummings… wait, what the heck am I talking about? Am I actually saying these things?'
"I guess I mispronounced."
"So Val is your ex-girlfriend who happened to be the mother of your daughter?"
"Well, yeah, but she's married to some jerk now. I hope she leaves him for good."
Dana looked at him skeptically. 'This guy still has some issues with this woman.'
"How long have you known her?"
"We've known each other since high school. We dated a few months into junior year. In the middle of college, we broke up. At our friends wedding, we reunited. We were both so drunk and depressed that the next morning, we ended up in the same hotel room on the same bed. She moved to London, then she tells me I'm the father of her unborn child, and the rest is history."
"Well, that was very… um, detailed. So your daughter was basically a mistake?"
"What?" Tyler said in an angry tone. "My daughter is not a mistake. I mean, yeah, we didn't plan on it, but she is the best thing that happened in my life since, well, since her mother and I got together way back then."
"I'm really sorry," she said. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that."
"I'm sorry for getting angry."
"This Val that you talk about… what is she like?"
"She's the greatest person you will ever know. She's terrific. She's funny in her own way, or at least she makes me laugh. She's smart. She's amazing. Back in high school, I used to worship her. We were like the typical high school couple stereotype. I was the football jock, and she was a cheerleader. We also worked together, which is good and bad in a relationship. We've been through a lot. When we broke up, it was the hardest thing that I ever had to do. I mean, to think that if I opted to speak first instead of letting her do it, maybe we would've been married by now."
"Tyler, can you stop for a sec? I only asked you what she's like, not an analysis of your relationship."
"Was I really doing that?" 'This is worse than I thought.'
"If I didn't know any better, I would say that you still have some feelings for this woman."
"You've got to be kidding me," Tyler let out a laugh, although the idea wasn't even funny at all.
"Even though I'm doing the similar type of job that Brooke has, I did major in psychology. Basically, I can see right through you."
"Now you're bluffing."
"Am I really?"
"I can't possibly have feelings for her. That's impossible."
"You were just dwelling on the possibility a while ago that you could've been married. I would assume that you wanted to propose. It must have been a heartbreaking for you."
"Oh, now you're acting like you're my shrink?"
"Seeing how worked up you became when I brought up that topic, I deduce that you Tyler Connell is in a state of denial."
"As of now, you are really starting to get on your nerves."
"That's what shrinks are for, so I guess I'm doing a pretty good job."
"Okay, you know what, let's stop talking about me and more about you. How did you breakup with your boyfriend?"
"We didn't really breakup. It was all a big misunderstanding."
"How long have you two been together?"
"We've been together for five years. Heck, we're even engaged, except I threw the ring back at him."
"What happened?"
"Now you're starting to act like my shrink," she smiled.
"Am I doing good?"
"For an amateur."
"So what's happened again?"
"I heard that something was going on with him and some girl, so I followed him. When I saw him kissing her, I just lost it. When he got back, I confronted him with what I witnessed, and he got upset at me for not trusting him. It turned out that he was working on an undercover mission. The worst part is that the girl was his ex. We've had fights like this before, but we never went more than a week without forgiving each other."
"Why not call him and talk it out?"
"My friends tell me not to. They said that it wouldn't be a good idea. I know that he's not doing any better than I am."
"Your friends are your friends, but your love life, your life, rests in you own hands."
"That's what I keep telling myself, but what if he doesn't forgive me?"
"Like they say, love is a gamble. To win big, you have to bet big. In love, you have to put everything on the line. If you truly love someone, then it's good to know that at least you tried. If it's meant to be, then it is. If it's not, then it's not. It's as simple as that."
"It's funny how things turn out, doesn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Here we both are, telling each other advice about each other's love life, when we were supposed to be on a blind date."
"Well, as far as blind dates go, this one is a disaster. It all started with Brooke and David earlier, but talking to you didn't turn out bad. Good things always come out after every disaster."
"Thank you so much for helping me."
"It's my pleasure."
"Have you thought about what I said?"
"About Val? You're joking, right?"
"Well, you may not believe any of those things right now, but you'll see what I mean."
"Whatever you say."
"You know what, we should have lunch or dinner some time."
"Lunch or dinner?" 'Is she asking me on a date?'
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Brooke continued to gaze over the scenery. Time and time again, she would take a peek at David from the corner of her eye. Despite her reservations about him, he turns out to be a really nice guy. Even just standing next him makes her feel safe.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
"A little bit."
In an instant, he took of his jacket and offered it to her.
"Thanks," Brooke said as she gave him a smile. "That's very nice of you."
David returned her smile, causing Brooke's heart to skip a beat. The fact both of his hands were still on her shoulder didn't help at all to ease her nervousness. For the last ten seconds, she noticed that the two of them have been staring at each other, and no matter how much she tried to turn her gaze away from him, the harder it was for her to let go.
"You have amazing eyes," he said, and the way he said it was nothing like he had sounded before.
"It must be the moonlight."
"Maybe."
As Brooke continued to gaze at him, something clicked inside her. For the first time, she was seeing a part of him that all those other women have been seeing since they had dated him. Was she jealous of them then? Maybe a little. But why hasn't she seen this side of him before? Maybe it was because they always had banters between each other. As the time got longer, she got more anxious.
"I… I better go," Brooke stammered as she proceeded to give him back his jacket.
"Do you need a ride?" he asked, sensing the tension between them.
"That's okay, really," Brooke said. "I have my car over there."
Brooke tried to search her purse for her car keys, but she had no luck finding it.
"Looking for this?" he asked. "You dropped it."
Brooke sighed. It wasn't because she almost lost her keys, but the fact that she had to go near him again actually terrified her. As she grabbed the keys from her hand, he took a hold of hers.
"Can I ask you something?"
"If you let go of my hand."
"I'm sorry," he said. "Would you like to go out sometime? Maybe?"
Brooke stared at him in shock. Never in a million years has she anticipated this to happen. Something tells her that she shouldn't accept his offer, but just staring at him, looking more sincere than she had ever seen him, causes her to accept otherwise.
"I guess we can arrange that. Maybe."
"I'll see you around then."
David watched her leave. It was still a shock to him that he had asked her out. It wasn't the first time that he had asked somebody out, as Brooke pointed out to him the other day, but asking Brooke felt different. He felt something that he hasn't felt before in a long time.
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"Well, that's what I said. It's not a date or anything."
"Right."
"It's just that you're doing a better job on me than my friends are. I did have fun talking to you. You know, we'll be each other's shrink for free."
"I have to admit that I had fun myself. I never thought I'd find a friend in you."
"I thought of the same thing," she smiled.
After they exchanged phone numbers and made plans for their next meet, they left the restaurant.
"I suppose you need a ride," Tyler said.
"How did you ever guess?"
Thirty minutes later, Tyler finally arrived home. He still had a lot of things to take care of, starting with apologizing to Brooke and talking to David. Most of all, he had to sort out his situation with Val. The more he replayed what Dana said, the more he started to believe it. When he got in, he was surprised to see Val still awake. 'She wasn't waiting up for me, was she?'
"Why are you still awake?"
"Oh, hey, I didn't even hear you come in. I was just watching something."
"Braveheart?"
"You got to love Mel Gibson and his blue face," Val lied. "So, how's your date?"
"It didn't start out well, but it ended well. I was actually… enlightening."
"Enlightening?"
"Well, you know, we got to talking. I really learned some interesting stuff."
"Stuff about what? What did you learn?"
"I just realized," Tyler started, "that I was wrong about something."
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That was quite long. I'm just glad I finished it. I hope you liked it. It's been a long while since I've updated this. I hope you're still reading. I'll try to follow up as soon as I can. I'll be going on another vacation soon, so I hope to get the next chapter up by then. Like I said many times before, I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182