A Window to the Past – Chapter 8
New York City
Brenda is startled awake by the sound of a ringing phone. She turns her body over and reaches for it.
'Hello?' she says softly.
'Brenda, it's Jonah, are you all settled in?
'Oh, yeah, the hotel is amazing,' she says, trying to wake herself up enough to hold a conversation.
'Listen, the cast and some of the crew members are getting together for a late dinner, why don't you and your friend come and join us?' he asks her.
'Um, sure, that's sounds great,' she says.
'Okay, we'll be at the Cafeteria. Take the 1 train downtown to 18th street. Walk down one block to 17th and 7th, it's right on the corner,' he says.
'Got it, see you soon,' she says and hangs up the phone.
Brenda rolls out of the bed and goes into the bathroom. Dylan opens his eyes as soon as she gets up and watches her leave the room. He turns the lamp on next to the bed and sits up.
He stares at the floor for a few seconds and decides that he's going to tell her what happened on the plane.
'Brenda?'
'Hang on,' he hears from the bathroom. Brenda comes out a minute later drying her face with a towel.
'Sorry, I was brushing my teeth,' she says.
'Listen, I wanted to tell you something,' he says.
'Okay, but the director invited us to dinner, so we should probably get ready and talk at the same time,' she says with a smile.
'Dinner?'
'Yeah, the cast and some of the crew are getting together and we are invited to join them,' she says.
She starts rummaging through her clothes for something to wear, throwing things aside as she goes.
'What did you want to say?' she asks him, not really paying attention.
'Um, it can wait, it's not a big deal,' he says. 'Why don't you just go to dinner without me? I mean, this is your chance to bond with the cast and meet everybody. I don't want to be in the way.'
'Dylan, come on,' she says turning around with a shirt in her hand. 'He invited both of us to go.'
'I know, Bren, but I really think you need to focus on them and I don't think it would be very interesting for me to sit around and listen to you guys talk shop, you know?'
Brenda stands in front of him with her hands on her hips.
'Brenda, if you really want me to go, I will, but just think about what I just said, please,' he says.
She stops for a minute and then slowly nods her head. 'Okay, Dylan, you don't have to come. I don't want you to be bored or anything and you're probably right, I do need to get to know them better,' she says.
'Thank you. Don't worry, I'll be fine,' he says.
'Okay, if you say so,' she says. She finally chooses an outfit and goes into the bathroom to change her clothes.
She comes out looking fantastic and ready to take on the city.
'I'm going, I don't know when I'll be back, but I can't imagine dinner taking that long,' she says.
'Uh huh,' Dylan says with a hint of disbelief in his voice, 'have a good time.'
She walks over and kisses him on the cheek and then leaves the room.
Dylan begins to pace back and forth with his arms folded across his chest.
'What the hell am I doing here?' he says out loud. 'I'm just following her around now. This is ridiculous.'
'Okay, Dylan, let's think this out,' he says to himself. 'I'm here because I want to support her. I'm here because she promised that we would talk about what is going on between us. I'm here because,' he pauses for a second, 'I haven't yet figured out where I'm supposed to be.'
He continues to pace while reasoning out his current situation.
'I want to leave because this just doesn't feel right. I want to leave because I don't want her life to dictate mine. I want to leave because I just can't take this back and forth anymore.'
He stops pacing and looks around the room. 'I need to get out of this room for a while,' he decides.
He grabs his jacket and the key to the room and walks out of the hotel and onto the street. The night air hits his face and it feels good. He begins to walk down the street, not entirely sure where he's going, but knowing that he has to go somewhere.
He continues to walk and finally looks up to see that he's stopped in front of the entrance to Central Park. He enters the park and starts walking until he comes upon the famous Tavern on the Green. He sits on one of the benches staring at the restaurant and all the beautiful lights.
He tries to work through everything he's been feeling since flying to London to rescue her. He realizes that even on the plane ride over to England he had an uneasy feeling about being there and that feeling compounded when she said she wouldn't return with him.
He couldn't help but think that she would come around, considering their history together, but maybe that's why she was running from him. He couldn't quite place this strange connection they had now, where every time they talk about the past, they end up making love.
It wasn't the same as their lovemaking when they were actually together. It seemed a little distant and impersonal to Dylan even though there was so much passion between them while they were making love. It was almost as if they were reliving the past for just a moment, and as soon as that moment was over, they would snap back to the present.
Dylan sighs out loud, being no closer to an answer as he was when he sat down. He decides to go back to the hotel and just wait to see what happens.
He walks slowly out of the park as it closes and meanders down the street for a while. He passes right by the hotel, too preoccupied to notice. He continues to walk several blocks and finally looks up to see that he was no where near the hotel. He turns around, slowly starts walking back, keeping his eyes open this time.
He enters the hotel and gets into the elevator. He opens the door to the room and sees Brenda stop in her tracks when he comes through the door.
'Oh, thank God,' she says and runs to him. She wraps her arms around his neck and holds on tight.
'Bren? What's wrong? Did something happen?' he asks with confusion.
'Dylan, where have you been, I've been worried sick about you!' she says.
'I just went for a walk, I figured you'd be out at dinner for a few hours,' he says. 'What's the problem?'
'Dylan, I was at dinner for almost five hours and when I came back you weren't here,' she says looking over at the clock near the bed.
He glances past her to see the time and she looks back at his face in time to register the complete shock.
'I'm so sorry, Bren, I didn't even realize it was that late,' he says, staring at the clock that reads 1:45am.
Brenda sighs and sits on the bed. She puts her hand up to her forehead for a few seconds and then looks back up at him.
'You really scared me, Dylan,' she says.
He moves to sit next to her. He wasn't quite sure how it got to be that late and realizes that he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the time fly by.
'I really am sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I really didn't think I was gone that long.'
Washington D.C.
Amy goes back to her apartment and starts pacing. She was the only one who seemed to know that Brenda and Dylan were together in London. She wasn't sure if he had followed her to New York and that was something she had to figure out quickly. With Steve, Donna, and Kelly close by and potentially Dylan, the plan was getting harder and harder to carry out.
She dials a familiar number and waits for someone to answer.
'We've got a problem,' she says.
'Ugh, what now?' a very annoyed voice says.
'Brandon got a visit from Steve, Kelly, and Donna tonight. They decided to drive across the country to surprise him and won't be leaving for at least a week,' she says.
'Well, that certainly puts a damper on things.'
'Wait, there's more,' she says. 'We know that Dylan was in London with Brenda when Beau got arrested. No one knows if he followed her to New York though.'
'Nina, we don't have time for this. It was just supposed to be Brandon and Brenda. Those two are easy to take care of, but if they're surrounded, we'll never be able to pull this off.'
'Don't you think I know that? Is there any wiggle room here? Can we contract out or something?
'I'll float the idea, but I would go on the assumption that it's just you and me.'
'Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to get around three people down here and potentially Dylan up there?'
'I don't know, but you better think fast. We're running out of time,' he says and hangs up the phone.
She slams her phone down on the table and lets out a yell.
Brandon's Apartment – the next day
'Okay,' Steve says, coming through the door to Brandon's apartment. 'I have located the best Chinese food in all the land.'
Donna starts to laugh and shakes her head.
'When is your woman getting here?' Steve asks Brandon.
Brandon looks at his watch and then up at Steve. 'Any minute now.'
Kelly turns her back and looks out the window onto the street. She wanted to kick herself for being stupid enough to think that Brandon wouldn't find anyone when he came here. She tries to convince herself that it's just a phase and that her feelings for him will go away, but she feels a chill up her spine and her heart skip a beat every time he looks at her.
'Kel?' Brandon says and puts his hand on her shoulder. She jumps at his touch and shivers a little bit.
'Whoa, are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you,' he says.
She gets lost in his eyes for just a moment before snapping back to reality. 'Oh, yeah, I'm fine, Brandon.'
'Okay, well, we're going to eat in a few minutes, what do you want to drink?'
'Whatever you've got is fine with me,' she says and turns to join her friends at the table.
Amy comes through the door and greets everyone. She walks over to where Brandon is standing and hands him a bottle of wine.
'Hi,' she says and kisses him when he leans toward her.
Kelly looks away quickly and busies herself with her napkin. Donna watches Kelly's reaction and her heart breaks when she sees the nervousness on Kelly's face.
'Well, let's eat,' Steve says, trying to break the silence and get Brandon to stop making out with his girlfriend in front of them.
'So,' Amy says sitting down next to Kelly, 'you all attend California University?'
'Yes and we're almost done. I can't wait until graduation, I'm so sick of school,' Donna says.
'I'll drink to that,' Kelly says holding up her glass.
'Aw, come on guys, this is a great and exciting time in our lives. Why would you want it to end so suddenly?' Brandon says.
'Shut up, Brandon,' Steve says jokingly and throws a hunk of rice at him.
Donna starts to laugh and is joined by Steve. Amy has a horrified look on her face, which Kelly absolutely enjoys. Brandon pauses for a second, looking quite offended at what Steve just did, but as he picks the rice off of his pants, grabs a fortune cookie and aims right for Steve's head.
'Oh, yeah, bingo,' Brandon says when the cookie hits Steve square in the forehead.
'So, Amy, tell us a little about yourself,' Donna says, trying to diffuse the food fight as quickly as possible.
'Oh, there's not much to tell. I graduated a year ago from American and now I work at the paper with Brandon,' she says.
'American, wow, that's a good school,' Steve says.
'Yeah, it was great being in the city and going to college at the same time,' she says.
'Did you major in journalism?' Steve asks her.
'Actually, I majored in Political Science with a minor in Journalism,' she says.
Steve stares at Amy completely impressed.
'I'm majoring in Interior Design and with a minor in Business,' Donna says. 'I really want to open my own shop one day.'
'That's great, Donna. That sounds like a really good plan,' Amy says.
'Yup, and when I start to crack up, I'll have Kelly to help me through it,' she says with a laugh.
Everyone but Kelly starts to laugh with her.
'Aw, come on, Kel, that was funny,' Steve says.
'Yeah, sure it was,' Kelly says dryly.
They continue to eat and chat about college. Amy gets more and more comfortable around Brandon's friends, trying really hard to make sure that they won't suspect anything from her. Kelly tries to say as little as possible as Steve and Donna probe into Brandon's girlfriend.
Brandon gets up and starts to clear the dishes as Steve talks about his mother. Kelly gets up to help him.
'Well, that must have been interesting, Steve, having a mother who was on television,' Amy says.
Donna starts to laugh and looks over at Steve. 'Interesting doesn't nearly cover it,' she says.
'What about your family? Where are you from, Amy?' Steve asks her.
Brandon turns on the faucet and starts to rinse off the dishes that Kelly is handing him.
'Oh, I grew up in Connecticut. My family is not nearly as interesting as your families are,' she tells them.
'Was your mom or dad into writing or anything? I heard that children pick up certain interests of their parents and such, but I've never actually witnessed that happening in real life,' Donna says.
'Oh, no, my mother stayed at home and my father worked on Wall Street. I think my brother wrote a poem or something in fifth grade, but I don't think that's enough to prove your theory, Donna,' Amy says.
'No, that doesn't sound right at all. Well, my father is a doctor and I couldn't be farther from that path if I tried,' she says.
Amy and Donna laugh together as Kelly grabs a few more plates from the table to give to Brandon.
Kelly cleans off one of the dishes and goes to hand it to Brandon, fully expecting him to take it just as he had all of the other ones that she handed him. She gasps out loud when he doesn't take it and she almost drops it to the floor. She catches it in time and looks at him with confusion. He was standing at the sink with the water running, not moving.
'Brandon,' Kelly says. 'Are you alright?'
Amy, Steve, and Donna continue to talk, not noticing what was going on in the kitchen with Kelly and Brandon.
Brandon slowly turns his head to meet her eyes. He snaps out of his thoughts for just a second and takes the plate from her.
'Um, yeah, yeah, I'm okay,' he says.
'Brandon, what's going on?'
'Not now, Kel,' he says and continues to rinse.
They finish up in the kitchen and join everyone else in the living room.
'Well, sorry to rain on the party, but I have to get up early and get down to Capitol Hill. Big day, tomorrow,' Amy says looking over at Brandon.
'Oh, yeah, the big vote, right?' he says getting up from his seat.
'Hopefully this whole thing will be over tomorrow and I can move on to something more interesting,' she says with a smile.
'Goodnight, everyone,' she says as Brandon walks her to the door. He kisses her tentatively and when she tries to deepen it, pulls back.
'Brandon, are you alright?' she asks him.
'Yeah, I'm just exhausted. I don't know what hit me, but my whole body is tired,' he says.
'Well, get a good night's sleep. I'll see you tomorrow,' she says with a wink and a smile.
He nods and watches her walk down the hallway. He closes the door and moves back into the living room to join his friends.
'Brandon, do you have Brenda's information? Do you know where she's staying in New York?' Donna says.
'Yes, I do, she sent me an email. Let me pull it up,' Brandon says, going to his computer.
He reads off the number to the hotel that Brenda gave him as Donna dials her phone.
New York
'Okay, Dylan, what else do you want to do?' Brenda asks him as they stand on the street outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Dylan sighs and stares at her. 'Aren't you tired yet? We've been running around all day,' he says.
'Come on, party pooper, this is my only free day this week. I have to get in as much sight seeing as possible,' she says.
'Well, I wanted to go to the Met, so you have to decide where we go next,' he tells her.
'What did you think of the exhibits?' she asks him.
'I thought they were incredible. I could probably spend an entire lifetime in that place and never even realize it,' he says.
'Yeah, that's exactly how I felt,' Brenda says with a smile.
'Where to, Bren?' he asks her.
'Well,' she says with hopeful eyes.
'What?'
'I really want to go and see the arch in Washington Square Park,' she says quickly.
'Washington Square Park? Do you know how far from here that is?' he asks her.
She nods her head and then looks down at the ground.
'Let's just hop on the subway, Dylan. We'll be there in no time,' she says trying to convince him with a smile.
'Bren, it's already dark, what are you really going to see down there at this hour?' he says.
'Dylan, come on, this is the city that never sleeps!' she insists.
Dylan tries to stay serious, but can't help but smile at her pouting face.
'Fine, let's go now before I change my mind,' he says.
She laughs at his crumbling resolve and leads him to the subway.
Washington D.C.
'She's not answering,' Donna says, hearing the phone ring on the other end.
'Hi, Bren, it's Donna. We made it D.C. yesterday to surprise Brandon and we just wanted to check in with you to see how you were. Call me back so that you can tell me about how awesome New York is! We love you, bye!' Donna says and then hangs up.
'I'm sure she's out painting the town or something,' Brandon says.
'I'm sure we can out paint her here in D.C. We should go out,' Steve says.
'Go out where?' Donna asks him.
'I don't know, what's around here, Brandon?'
'You think I have any clue? I don't have time to go out,' he says.
'Well, I guess we're just going to have to stay here and get plastered,' Steve says, downing his glass of wine.
'I'm already tired,' Donna says. 'That road trip took a lot out of me. I slept fine last night, but I'm still kind of tired.'
'Come on, Donna, don't poop out on us now,' Steve whines.
Kelly laughs for the first time in a long time as she listens to Steve try to convince Donna to stay awake.
Donna is almost startled by the sound of Kelly's laughter and watches as Kelly tries to stop, but can't.
Kelly puts her hand on her stomach trying to calm her laughter down, but as each one of them starts to laugh at her laughing, it gets worse.
After a few minutes, she's finally able to calm herself down enough to breathe normally.
'Wow, I haven't laughed that much in a long time,' she says.
Brandon turns his head in her direction and her eyes meet his just in time to see him smile brightly.
She feels her heartbeat speed up and becomes immediately self-conscious, afraid that he can see her heart pounding out of her chest.