ONE CLICK AWAY
~ ° Previously ° ~
"I'll give you two months, tops, then we're gonna be back here, setting up that profile because you were slacking ..."
"I bet I can make it to three!" Brienne regretted the words before she had finished the sentence.
"Deal!" Margaery and Sansa squealed.
Oh boy.
Of course, Brienne failed.
Night One - the Bearded Bard (1)
The first Friday night Brienne had agreed to going out they had kept it simple and very low-key with a nice romantic comedy at the local film festival and a cocktail at the bar of a very new hotel that had opened up midtown in an area that had undergone a huge transformation and was currently considered "hot" and "trendy" for anyone below forty.
"How do you even find these places?" Brienne asked her friend Margary, as they entered the expensive-looking lobby.
"Twitter!" The brunette half-turned, her wavy hair brushing over the fabric of her tight navy blue dress.
"Seriously," Brienne muttered under her breath and followed her friend through the lobby and into the dimly lit bar. Brienne couldn't help but notice some of the men in the hotel lobby openly staring at her beautiful and enticing friend and a pang of jealousy shot through her which was soon replaced by the familiar feeling of inadequacy. Brienne had always felt a little off, not just because of her looks which had made her feel inadequate, unlovable and unwanted but also because of her character. She was a headstrong woman, too stubborn at times and her heart lay on her tongue which had gotten her into trouble more than once. Yet she felt that one of her most redeeming qualities was her endless loyalty toward her family and her close friends. She would never be a beauty, that was guaranteed, but she did have long legs that could potentially drive a man crazy and her body was lean and fit. She would hit the gym before work every Tuesday and Thursday and Sunday morning was reserved for an extended two-mile run in the park adjacent to her apartment complex.
"Will Sansa be meeting us here?" Brienne asked as Margaery led her deeper into the bar, firmly holding her right hand.
"Yes!"
"How will she able to find us?" Brienne half-shouted over the electronic lounge music that was blasting from some well-hidden speakers around the room.
"Oh no worries, she will", Margaery smirked as they reached a small table at the back of the room which had a sign on it that read 'Reserved for Stark'.
"Ah!"
"It's called planning a night out, Bri," Margaery laughed and placed her small silver clutch on the bench next to her as she sat down.
"Well, I don't do nights out..." Brienne laughed.
"But you do the planning," Margaery insisted and Brienne's laughter died down. That she did. Brienne loved nothing more than a solid plan, a clean desk and the fact that all of the things in her life would have a fixed spot where she'd always be able to find them. She needed to rely on them being there, she needed structure when at work.
"I love planning," Brienne admitted and Margaery laughed in return.
"I know you do," her friend replied, "that's why I propose you can be in charge of finding the location for our next night out. But I do have to warn you, it absolutely cannot be a Saturday night party at some sort of cosplay or sci-fi convention. That one time does not need a repetition!"
Brienne pouted: "You can't be serious! That was so ..."
"Boring?"
"Boring?!"
"Well, it had some seriously ... interesting ... costume choices, I'll give you this much," the brunette laughed and gestured towards the waiter a general willingness to order an alcoholic beverage of the more expensive kind. Brienne studied the cocktail selection and before she could place an order, Margaery had gotten the drop on her.
"I'll be having a Kiwi Twist and my friend is having a Sex On The Beach, thank you ..." Margaery tried reading the waiter's name tag, "Podrick?"
"That's right!" the waiter beamed and retreated swiftly to pass the order on to the tireless barkeeper.
"Really? Did it have to be the drink with the 'sex' in it?" Brienne admonished her friend since Margaery knew full well that her experiences in that particular department were ... limited to put it mildly.
"Yes, but actually because it's one of the ones I really like and I am sure you'll enjoy as well," Margaery grinned and Brienne couldn't help but forgive her instantaneously. Brienne slipped out of her black cardigan that she was wearing against the autumn chill outside and placed it carefully on the bench between herself and Margaery.
"I gotta say, Bri," Margaery said, "I do like this white top on you. Once you lose that cardigan, this totally turns it into an outfit for a night out. Even though you cheated ..."
"I cheated?"
"Yeah, you came to the film festival right after work. You didn't even change..."
"How can you go from praising my outfit to criticizing my choice to wear something that can do both work and after work?" Brienne teased and Margaery relaxed.
"Tsk!"
"No comment on how it's my 'work pants', still?"
"I was going to get to that part ..."
"No, you were not ..."
"No, I wasn't because that black pair of pants you're wearing just makes your legs look like they are miles long and I might be jealous ..."
"No, you're not!"
"I totally am!"
"Are not!"
"Am!"
"Who's what?" Sansa chimed in who had found the two of them despite the dark lighting and the slight flicker of candlelight that barely illuminated enough to make out faces.
"I just said I am jealous of the way Bri's legs look in those pants..." Margaery said, kissing Sansa's cheek.
"Ohhhh the black ones? I like those, they're edgy. You do look nice tonight, Bri," Sansa kissed Brienne's cheek and sat down opposite to them, "I am pretty sure some of the guys have checked you out as you came in!"
"Nah," Brienne sighed, "all eyes were on Margy, as usual."
"Oh shush you!" Margaery said just as Podrick appeared with their drinks. Sansa quickly added her also naughty named drink order and looked around. After a short scan of the room, she conspiratorially looked at both her friends.
"I am pretty certain there is at least one guy actively checking you out, Bri," Sansa whispered and Brienne could feel her face redden.
"I don't think so", she said sternly.
"Oh absolutely, see that fellow at the bar? Red hair, super awesome beard, strong build? He probably is taaaaaaaall, too!"
"Oh, I do, he's quite something, isn't he?" Margaery grinned. Soon enough Podrick appeared with Sansa's drink and an assorted platter of finger foods, delicately arranged.
"From the gentleman at the bar," he announced and smirked.
"Ooooooohhhhhh", Sansa chimed and turned around to wave at the redhead that wore a wide grin on his face and looked pleased with Sansa's enthusiasm, yet his eyes didn't leave Brienne for longer than necessary.
"Oh, I am sure he's into you, Bri!" Sansa grinned.
"Pfff.." Brienne shrugged and took a big sip from her cocktail. Margaery was right, it did taste good.
Today
A few hours later, Sansa and Margaery were happily snoring away in Brienne's guest room and the latter cleared the remnants of their movie night from the living room table. Spoons, bowls, chocolate chip cookie wrapping, chocolate sprinkles ... she had always wondered how Sansa had remained this fit and slim with this much chocolate intake on a daily basis. It had slowly turned into a regular occurrence, them eating ice cream and just ... talking. It had always been nice minus the questions about her love life. Analyzing the past three months, Brienne sighed heavily. There was no denying that the times they did go out had been ... memorable ... yet she wasn't feeling any of it.
Still, Brienne couldn't deny they had had fun tonight.
Losing the bet ultimately didn't mean that apart from the creation of Brienne's profile on the online dating site the three wouldn't be going out in the future but after yet another stressful week for the three of them, they had decided that a nice feelgood movie would be best for the sake of everyone, really. And ice cream, lots of ice cream.
In the corner of her eye, Brienne saw her laptop lying on the chair. Its lid was still closed from the moment two hours ago when she had closed it shut, annoyed at herself for creating the profile, annoyed at her friends for making her, again annoyed at herself for being unable to commit to a pattern of work-life-balance. Still, she was curious. Would anyone have visited her profile? Would it have been so boring, so plain, so ... merely unfindable that no one would even know she existed?
Brienne shook her head, fighting the urge to open her laptop and refresh her page just to have a look.
One look surely couldn't hurt, right? Right?
She decided to retreat to her bedroom with her laptop, snuggle under the covers and just have a little peek at her profile, that's all.
.
Name: Knightsblue
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Eyes: Blue
Location: King's Landing
Hobbies: Exercise / Swords / Painting
Tell us something about yourself: I am a dog person. If you like cats, I will judge you.
.
'Now, how do I find the profile views,' Brienne thought as she took in the entire website, analytically scanning for clues. She didn't have to look extensively as there appeared to be a little counter right below the place where other dating sites would have a profile picture.
"Seventeen visits', Brienne thought, 'that's more than I thought.'
The little envelope next to her user name, however, didn't look as if anyone had written a message. Still, Brienne had the mouse hover over the icon for a longer period than she would normally allow herself before sighing, closing the laptop and slipping deeper under her covers. That could wait, after all, why should anyone be intrigued by her?