ONE CLICK AWAY
"What the hell ... what the actual hell ... what ... ugh ... no way ... UGHHHH!" Brienne continued on until they reached their departure gate and Sansa could not stand it much longer. With surprising force, she yanked Brienne around so that the latter had to face her.
"Brienne!"
"Yes?"
"You worry me!" Sansa said, her eyes widening and her expression solemn and a little scared for her friend.
"I'm so sorry," Brienne hurried to say but she could not hide the added layer of feeling that she was transporting with these little three words. Something had happened, she knew it, Sansa knew it. All Brienne had to decide was whether or not she was going to tell her. Forcing herself to look Sansa in the eye, she quickly drew a deep breath.
"I can't tell you just yet, I need to be sure of something first," Brienne explained, not explaining anything at all.
Sansa's brows furrowed.
"Ok"?"
"It's ... I have a theory and I need to be sure I'm right. If I am - the Gods forbid! - it's ... phew, ... it's something."
"You really worry me, Brienne, are you ok? I mean, physically? Are you ill?"
"Oh Sansa, no, no, it's nothing like that, at all. Don't worry, I am super duper healthy. It's about the dating site..." Brienne reluctantly admitted. They were called to board the plane in boarding group 2 and both proceeded to the jetway entrance to have their boarding passes scanned.
"Oh, Miss Tarth, Miss Stark, we are inviting you to First Class today," the gate agent announced and their lights flashed red instead of green, "do you mind stepping aside and letting my colleague issue you your new boarding passes? It will only be a minute and we'll have you join whenever you're all set, ok?"
Giddy with excitement, Sansa stepped towards the podium and Brienne followed her, a little less enthused.
While the second gate agent worked on Sansa's boarding pass, Brienne could not help but wonder ... so she asked.
"Oh, that can have all different kinds of reasons, darling," the older woman behind the counter replied, her name tag reading 'Walda', "sometimes it's the status with the airline, sometimes it's the ticket class, sometimes it's a spontaneous booking and sometimes someone buys it cash right here at the airport."
"Do you happen to know which one of those possibilities apply here?" Brienne pressed a little, dissatisfied with Walda's answer to some extent.
Walda checked her screen, retrieved the necessary data and grinned.
"Oh this one was bought, darling. Do you happen to work for one of the Lannister firms?"
"Ohhhhhhh, that might have been Tyrion," Sansa chimed in, "remember? I told him I was going to accompany you on that business trip. He must've pulled some strings. Oh, how lovely."
Brienne exhaled sharply. Right. Tyrion. Their unexpected lunch with the very charming and the very not charming Lannister. That must have been it, the ever so perceptive Tyrion must have remembered what Sansa had told him. There was no denying the dwarfish Lannister brother had been very smitten with Sansa and by the look on her face when she realized a Lannister had bought them upgrades, Brienne could tell Sansa was neither the one to say no to a free upgrade nor to a certain Lannister - if only he asked nicely.
You see, my real-life relationships don't ever go anywhere.
As they sat down in the second row of the aeroplane, the first sip of the welcome drink - champagne - relaxed Brienne a little more than she'd normally allow on a work-related trip.
Her thoughts spun back to her chat partner.
What if this was Jaime Lannister?
How sure was she about that? Could it all be just a big coincidence? Did fate have a very cruel way of letting her know that she could only be impressive to someone as beautiful as Jaime Lannister by chatting on a platform that didn't allow any pictures?
I have no idea how this is gonna go.
'Well, Jaime, me too. I don't either. Let's find out if this IS you...' Brienne thought and turned around to face Sansa. Time to tell her she would be going out with her on a Saturday dinner date.
Tyrion was sat at the same hotel bar they had been at weeks ago, absent-mindedly stirring his Latte Macchiato and reminiscing about the last forty-five minutes of his life that had turned out rather differently from what he had anticipated.
"Aren't you glad this is now finally over?" a female voice caught his attention and without turning his head he knew who had addressed him. He turned around and smiled.
"I kinda am," he grinned and faced Margaery Tyrell, "although .. it is known your family is very generous with my salary so I am actually half-sad that my engagement with Olenna's divorce has come to such an abrupt ending."
"Well, who knew someone other than a Lannister could employ a PI and find dirt on Olenna's too young husband," the honey-blonde grinned and sat down on the barstool next to Tyrion.
"Who coulda' known," Tyrion laughed.
"So, what's next for you now that you're off the hook in terms of going to court with the big publicly discussed Tyrell divorce," Margaery asked.
"Well, our family owns several companies ... somewhere in one of those, an employee will be needing legal counselling one way or the other. There's always going to be work for someone like me," Tyrion took a big sip from his cooling Latte Macchiato and added a question himself: "And you? Anything new with you or your friends?"
"Ah," Margaery said, gesturing for the barkeeper to take her order of a non-alcoholic cocktail.
"So?"
"Any of my closest friends you're interested in?" Margaery mocked him playfully and Tyrion could not help but laugh in return.
"Ah you caught me," he admitted and raised his hands in defeat.
"So, it's not Brienne..." Margaery started and Tyrion raised his eyebrow in confusion. Why would even Brienne's best friend immediately jump to the conclusion that of the two of them she wouldn't be the one worthy of attention from him? That didn't sound very supportive.
"Why would it not be her?"
"Oh come on, I saw the goo-goo eyes you made at Sansa during lunch just as I saw your brother look at Brienne. I can tell you're smitten with Sansa just as I can tell that Jaime is very smitten with Brienne. Of course, she would NOT believe me when I told her that I caught him staring several times. I don't know if she'd be able to like him back, though. I think she kinda started dating a couple of days ago? It's all weird. She's started this internet dating site ..."
For a second Tyrion's mind went blank.
Entirely.
Wait. What?
'This has to be the greatest prank the universe has ever played on anyone,' Tyrion thought. If chatter and chattee turned out to be Brienne and Jaime ... it would be a very unlikely chance that they would be but Tyrion didn't want to challenge faith in any way ever again.
"Interesting. I admit the thought had crossed my mind, too, you know? Bonding with a complete stranger? It sounds like quite a thrill, come to think of it," Tyrion said earnestly.
"Can you believe there are sites without any pictures?" Margaery asked and Tyrion choked on the sip of his Latte he had been taking.
"I'm sorry, what?" he coughed.
"Yeah, Brienne has told me all about it. When we suggested she should try looking online this obviously wasn't what we had in mind, you know? We thought it would be fun to look at a lot of guys and then just start swiping left or right with her. Naturally, being Brienne, she went for the most anonymous option of them all. She's just very shy, I believe this suits her the most," Margaery explained and Tyrion's heart quickened. The more Margaery explained, the more probable it sounded. Jaime's mysterious chat partner might as well be Brienne Tarth.
"Do you have anything planned for tonight?" Tyrion asked, out-of-context.
"Why?" Margaery smirked.
"How would you feel about accompanying me to 'Riverrun TV'? I am scheduled to be interviewed in an hour..."
"Absolutely. How can I say no when you've elegantly saved the entire Tyrell family today?"
Oh my ... by the Seven, Brienne, you really need to come and check out the view?" Sansa squealed after discovering the big window in their hotel room. All Brienne did was to hum and to swing her small suitcase onto one of the beds.
"I'm sure it is beautiful," she said, absent-mindedly.
"Breath - taking! The city lights are so sparkly, like little fairies flying about town," Sansa said, dreamily, those same lights reflecting on her face, her eyes shining.
"Fairies..." Brienne huffed.
"They might not exist, Bri," Sansa said softly, turning around to face her friend, "but if I can't imagine things, create life and alternate worlds in my head, what even is left? Phantasy is what we need, otherwise, it's just too boring."
Brienne couldn't argue with Sansa's logic.
"Listen, I know you're awfully quiet because you feel like this date is a bad idea. I get that, I really do. I would be very nervous as well. Don't beat yourself up over this, though. You can always cancel, you don't have to reveal who you are and I am going to be there protecting you. There's nothing to worry about," Sansa tried to calm down her friend.
Brienne's brows furrowed. She hadn't told Sansa that she was suspicious her chat partner might be the gloriously handsome but equally rough-around-the-edges Jaime Lannister. How would you even phrase this? 'Hey listen, Sansa, do you think it's plausible that I am chatting with Westeros' most eligible bachelor? No? Didn't think so, too!'
"Do you mind if I switch on the TV?" Sansa asked into the silence that had befallen them.
"Ah, no, sure, go ahead," Brienne said and the second she did, Sansa snagged the remote and switched on the TV, selecting the evening edition of 'Meet Melara...' on Riverrun TV. The hostess, Melara Hetherspoon had just entered the stage, her blonde hair curled in the latest fashion, the ends of her hair dyed in a bright pink colour, the ombre generating a stark contrast to the black and red decor of the studio the show was filmed in.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Meet Melara. My name is Melara Hetherspoon and I have the hottest news of Westeros' high society tonight, news on the latest downfall of Cersei Lannister, the surprise developments in the Tyrell divorce and a very special guest who I'll introduce in a little while. But now - let's talk about this week's fashion. Who wore it better..."
Brienne tuned Melara's voice out and quietly unpacked her small suitcase, making sure her work attire was ideally not crinkled. Her mind snapped back to the TV when Melara Hetherspoon introduced her guest for the night.
"... and joining me live in this studio is the remarkable Tyrion Lannister!" the TV hostess said, a big polite smile plastered on her face, makeup and hair still perfect. Sporting a genuine smile and a relaxed posture, the camera zoomed in on Tyrion Lannister, the youngest of the Lannister siblings.
"Thank you so much for having me, Melara, it is always a true pleasure," the dwarf smiled at the TV hostess, whose blush couldn't be hidden even by the amount of TV-proof makeup she was wearing.
"You flatter me, stop," she grinned.
"It is true tho," Tyrion said earnestly, "but I do think that your purpose for inviting me wasn't to exchange pleasantries, I feel like this is somehow connected to my famous last name."
Melara chuckled.
"Well, that is a valid assumption, Tyrion, given what's going on in that vast family of yours..."
Sansa sat on the second single bed in the hotel room, feet dangling off the edge of the bed, her attention on the TV and their new acquaintance. Brienne could not help but wonder whether they'd learn something new about the latest incident involving Cersei Lannister.
They would.
"Well, why don't you ask away?" a relaxed Tyrion coaxed the TV hostess into beginning the interview and within seconds she started firing questions at the Lannister.
"... well, I can assure you that in addition to upgrading the security and camera system, Jaime has filed a restraining order against our sister. I am sure you've seen the video that's been going around? It's very unfortunate that we would have to go to great lengths to do this but quite frankly we don't see an alternative at this point. Sometimes you have to just unplug and disengage from negativity. That's what we've resorted to doing."
"Well, it's been quite a week..."
"Can't really say it's been boring, that's for sure," Tyrion quipped and Melara laughed.
"Speaking of videos that go around," Melara added, "there is the other video that leaked in which you and your brother discuss dating. I cannot be the only female in Westeros that is asking herself ... 'is this true? Is Jaime Lannister on the market'?"
"Ahhhhh, I knew you'd ask," Tyrion laughed, sparks dancing in his eyes, mischief apparent in every fibre of his body.
"Did you?" Melara grinned, clearly amused.
"I did," Tyrion replied, suddenly a lot more solemn, "you know, it is true, with a last name that is known in Westeros and beyond it is truly hard to go out there. You're bound to be subject to scrutiny and intense vetting. People watch your every move. I should know, I am a Lannister, too. If I weren't, there's no chance in hell I would be sitting in this TV studio with the breathtaking Melara Hetherspoon, would I?"
"You flatter me," Melara grinned.
"I know", Tyrion flashed a big bright smile at her.
"It is not always easy to scroll away, to not engage and to remember that you don't have to do this, 'not today', right? Especially when it comes to one's personal life, it's very hard to not be offended by things that are said or done. Look, I know what it feels like to be born 'wrong' in the eyes of a lot of people, I get that. I feel like there should be boundaries when it comes to personal lives. I know that this video sparked interest in Jaime's love life and I understand why that is. After all, he is just ruggedly handsome, isn't he?"
"Well, he is Westeros' most eligible bachelor, three years in a row..." Melara offered.
"True, and he didn't even have to work for it. That's different should he attempt to have a real and meaningful relationship. He'll have to work for that, I feel like that's something that just hits you when you're in that spot when you're dealing with the possibility of meeting someone that has the potential to turn your world upside down. I am not entirely sure whether that's the case with Jaime just yet, but I do feel it's likely there is someone."
Tyrion turned around to face the camera a little more direct.
"After all, you don't know whom you'd find out there, do you?"
The smirk that followed sent a strong current through Brienne's body.
Oh shit.