ONE CLICK AWAY

I am here.

I am here.

I am here.

Three little words that sent a strong current down Brienne's spine. She now had confirmation that Golden_Phoenix was in the same room as her and Sansa and she fought down the urge to scan the entire room for someone that she felt could be him. A part of her was afraid of who she might see. The laughter of a woman two tables down from them ran shrill in her ears, the clangor of cutlery continued to be a strong undercurrent of the room and the smell of various different dishes filled her nostrils and made her slightly nauseous.

She could simply start looking around to see whether there was any man sitting on his own, suspiciously busy with his phone but in this day and age everyone had a smartphone and everyone was glued to them in quite an unhealthy manner.

Brienne lifted her head but before she could start scanning the room a familiar face appeared in front of her.

"Ladies," the velvety voice of Tyrion Lannister echoed in her ear as the dwarf came to a halt next to their table.

"Tyrion, what a lovely surprise," Sansa cheered and ushered him to sit next to her on one of the benches in the booth they were occupying.

"Oh, I would not necessarily call it a surprise," Tyrion said secretively and quickly glanced at Brienne who pretended to not have noticed, "also, it seems to be a recurring theme to run into you both, minus Margaery this time. It's happened quite often lately, has it not?"

"I really want to thank you, Tyrion, you gifted us with such a nice surprise," Sansa said, "I've never flown First Class because my parents say it's more important to get to a place not how to get there. I've had such a good time. Thank you."

Golden_Phoenix: Are you ok?

Brienne's phone lit up with the dating app notification and she hurriedly tried to hide the evidence that she had tried online dating from Tyrion Lannister but judging from the wide grin that suddenly spread on his face, he was well aware of the app's icon. Brienne was pretty certain that looking for and finding someone you liked on internet platforms or apps wasn't anything that was frowned upon or regarded as unusual ... regardless. This was her choice and she could always change her mind. Just as they had agreed they could.

Knightsblue: Yeah, bear with me. My table just got busier than I anticipated.

Golden_Phoenix: That's alright. You wanna reschedule?

Typing this, Jaime's heart started to beat frantically. Would she accept? Did Tyrion just ruin everything? What if he just asked Margaery for Brienne's number and retire the entire dating app? What if ...

Knightsblue: Absolutely not. Let me take care of the situation, ok? Don't go away, ok?

Golden_Phoenix: I promise.

Knightsblue: Good. I try to be quick.

"I am glad you had an enjoyable trip," Tyrion purred and Sansa giggled.

"Yeah, it was lovely. Brienne was very busy but we had such a lovely meal with her colleagues in this amazing restaurant - do you want to see pictures?"

"I would love to," Tyrion enthusiastically replied and the two of them stuck their heads together to check the pictures on Sansa's phone while Brienne grew more exasperated.

Knightsblue: I think this is going to be anything but quick. I am stuck in a limbo of holiday pictures that are being looked at. I don't know how to stop it from happening. Help!

Golden_Phoenix: You could always come and sit with me.

Brienne's head shot up and she scanned the room.

Knightsblue: I could ...

Golden_Phoenix: Would you want to?

Knightsblue: I might...

Golden_Phoenix: You don't sound convinced...

Could she do this? Her heart began to race again and her stomach - once again - felt like one giant knot. She had learned so much about that stranger on the dating platform and knew he was here, in this very room, with her. Of course, as were approximately 75 other people, staff excluded. But who was paying attention?

Knightsblue: What are you wearing?

Now it was Jaime's turn to become nervous. Should he tell her?

Golden_Phoenix: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...:-D

That was not even a lie. He had borrowed a watch from Tyrion, his dress shirt was new, his sweater was blue and his brown leather boots were one of his oldest yet most comfortable pairs.

Knightsblue: Haha, funny!

Golden_Phoenix: Finders keepers, losers weepers...

Knightsblue: Do you really want me to go from table to table to see if there is anyone that matches this? I have very little to go on, you know ...

Golden_Phoenix: Depends on your vantage point. How much of the room can you see from where you're at?

Knightsblue: Does turning around count?

Golden_Phoenix: No.

Knightsblue: Then roughly 30%.

Golden_Phoenix: Ok. Relax.

He had almost typed 'Ok, relax Brienne.' This was going dangerously out of hand.

Golden_Phoenix: Relax. Breathe. Order something to drink. Calm down. And then shamelessly check the 30 % out. :-D

Knightsblue: Drink at 11 am?

Golden_Phoenix: Will it help relax you?

Knightsblue: It will help get me drunk.

Golden_Phoenix: Their smoothies are pretty amazing and they'll do better than alcohol. I highly recommend.

"Brienne?"

"I'm sorry ... what?"

"I was asking you whether you wanted something to drink," Sansa said softly, her eyes knowing and her lips parted in a small smile.

"Oh," was all Brienne managed to say when she realized that a red-haired and rather a busty waitress had appeared next to their table and was waiting for her to order.

"I am so very sorry, yes, sorry that you had to wait," Brienne hastily apologized and ordered a strawberry lemon smoothie off the long menu.

"So, Tyrion was telling me that we can only be thanking him for one of those mysterious upgrades," Sansa said and Brienne focused back on her friend.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, can't really be blamed for the second pleasant flight you guys have had," Tyrion smirked.

"Then who ..."

Tyrion simply sipped from the water in front of him and said nothing, although his knowing smile added another knot to Brienne's stomach. Sansa's hunch had been right, it had been the arrogant Lannister. Brienne could not fathom any reason why he would spend money on them just so that they could have a nicer flight and be more relaxed. There was no logical explanation for it. None.

Except...

Knightsblue: Let's go back to questions or to assume something. If the answer is yes, I get to ask another. If the answer is no, it's your turn. Deal?

Golden_Phoenix: Intriguing.

Knightsblue: So that's a yes?

Golden_Phoenix: I'm in. Go!

Knightsblue: You have a brother.

Golden_Phoenix: That's an easy one. I told you.

Knightsblue: You recommended a smoothie but you actually don't like them.

Golden_Phoenix: That's a 'no' from me. I try to watch what I eat when I dine out and the ones they make here are excellent. My turn. You didn't come alone, you're here with a friend.

Knightsblue: That's an easy one, too, I told you I was probably going to bring someone.

Golden_Phoenix: You're too scared to find out who you've been talking to. You think it's too spontaneous and it's not you.

Knightsblue: That's more than one. Which one is it?

Golden_Phoenix: You're not spontaneous.

Knightsblue: Go on.

Golden_Phoenix: You're too scared to find out who you've been talking to.

Knightsblue: Go on.

Brienne stared intently at the three dots constantly moving for several minutes and her anxiety grew through the roof. Was he writing and deleting everything just now? What was going on? She tried to focus on Sansa and Tyrion happily chatting at her table, took a sip of the smoothie that had appeared in front of her in the meantime and distracted herself by checking the vast menu only to end up with an avocado toast to order and the three dots were still there. She locked her phone and turned it upside down. No need to worry, right? She could do this and she could also not do this.

"So Brienne, any plans for tonight?" Tyrion asked. Sansa was already clutching her invitation for tonight's ribbon cutting and beamed with excitement.

"Uh ... I don't actually. I was hoping for a quiet night after all the traveling. It's been a bit much, you know?"

"I had assumed as much. I would have another spare ticket for tonight if you change your mind. Free food, some celebrities, some wine, and most importantly ... hanging out with the most handsome Lannister," Tyrion purred.

"So Jaime?" Sansa laughed and Tyrion acted as if he was insulted.

"You, my dear lady, have hurt my most deeply. How will I ever recover?" Tyrion laughed and playfully reached to his heart with both of his hands, pretending to be deeply and utterly hurt.

"Oh, you will, stop it," Sansa giggled and then looked at Brienne as if she had forgotten that she was meant to be an ally for her friend, moral support for her endeavor...

"Brienne,..."

"It's ok, we're talking."

"Good!"

"I must be missing something ..." Tyrion quipped.

Sansa risked one look at Brienne who shot her a warning look and then resorted to not explaining what brought them into 'Seven Golden Flowers' this morning. Tyrion's brows furrowed in feigned confusion but he didn't comment any further.

"Would you want to go for a walk, maybe?" Tyrion asked Sansa who enthusiastically agreed.

"Only if that's ok with you, Bri?"

"Go ahead, it's alright."

"Are you absolutely certain?"

"I am. Go!"

"I'm gonna take care of the check for you, order whatever you feel like ordering," Tyrion said and when Sansa was out of earshot he quietly added, "you're gonna be just fine."

Brienne's eyes widened in confusion and then comprehension and she turned around to respond when her phone buzzed on the table, she slowly turned around to look at her phone, screen facing the table surface.

Golden_Phoenix: Because of things that happened in your past, you assume it has to be bad, that's why you always come back to calling me a serial killer or assuming I had to be better looking - you just think good things don't happen to you. You think you don't deserve a shot at happiness, you think no one looks at you twice. That's not actually true. You've committed to going out more - even if this was due to a bet - and you've enjoyed it. Right now you've broken your Saturday routine to go out for brunch and it kills you, being this very organized and steady person that you are, but you've decided that it would be worth it. Even with the possibility that we'd both say that we wouldn't meet face to face, the prospect alone excited you so much that - despite being cautious and often disappointed by those around you - you came here, threw caution in the wind and right now you're wondering what you should do next.

I know you don't believe me when I say that I have no idea what I am doing at the moment but I really don't. My life has been a complete mess and I've only recently started to make sense of a lot of things that have happened to me. Putting myself out there on that website, looking at a random profile that was suggested to me when I logged on might have been one of the most unexpected things that have ever happened to me - especially given that we are here just a short while after I made that decision - but I don't want you to think for just one second that I regret any of it

I also hope you'll forgive me for what I am about to do.

Brienne looked up from her phone and realized that someone was standing next to her table. A faint whiff of a familiar cologne invaded her nostrils and all of her suspicions were confirmed before she even turned around.

"Hi Brienne."