Chapter 10
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The next morning, Kelly lets Sammy run into the guest bedroom to wake Brandon, as she promised, only to find him fully wake already.
"Hey, champ, ready for the day?" Brandon asked.
"Yeah, but do I have to go to school today? I want to stay with you," Sammy said.
"I know, bud, but I'll be with Grandma when she picks you up. We will play together until it's time for me to take your mother on that date, okay," Brandon said hoping to cheer him up.
"Okay," Sammy says satisfied.
Kelly then pops her head in asking, "Are you boys ready for breakfast?"
"Yep," they say together at the same time, making Kelly laugh.
After breakfast Brandon asks, "Kel, do you mind if I come along when you drop of Sammy?"
"That's not a problem, but then you would be stuck without a car," Kelly said, giving Brandon a weird look.
"Well, yes, unless I drop you off at work and then pick you up afterwards for our date," Brandon says smiling.
"Brandon," Kelly pauses, "I don't know," she says hesitate, "what if, I have to go somewhere during school hours?"
"Do you normally need to go somewhere during school hours?" Brandon asks.
"Well," Kelly thinks, "no, not normally."
"Well then it's settled, I'm driving," Brandon says as he takes her keys off of the countertop and walks out the door with Sammy closely following him.
Sammy turns around, "Mommy are you coming?" he asks.
As Kelly stands there for a couple seconds trying to figure out what just happened, then goes to meet them out at her car, now curious at what Brandon has planned for tonight.
After school has let out, Brandon drives into the parking lot at 4 o'clock. He walks into the building with a single white lily. He sees another guy in the hall, probably a teacher, but at least 10 years younger than him. "Hi, excuse me, I was looking for Kelly Taylor's office," Brandon said.
"It's down the hall to the right, but good luck buddy, she won't date anyone, trust me I've tried," says the teacher.
"Uh, okay thanks," Brandon says kind of laughing to himself. Brandon finds her office quickly, knocks on the door.
"Come in," Kelly says loudly through the door. "I'm here to pick up one Ms Kelly Taylor for a night she's not going to forget," Brandon smiles nervously than adds, "at least I hope you won't forget. Here this is for you, it's still your favorite right?"
"Hi, yes it is," Kelly says as she walks around to the front of her desk to smell the lily. "Just let me shut down my computer, put this in some water, and I'll be ready."
As they walk towards the front entrance, hand in hand, Ryan Matthews sees them from the office and decided to ask, "Kelly, do you still want those files?"
"Yes, please, tomorrow will be fine," Kelly responds.
"So, who's your friend?" Ryan asks curious and kind of jealous since they are holding hands.
"This is Brandon Walsh, we've been friends for a long time, we actually met in the courtyard outside," Kelly explains, while looking up at Brandon smiling.
"Hi, pleasure to meet you," Brandon says.
"You too, good luck again." Ryan says.
"Thanks," Brandon says as they walk out of the door.
Kelly asks, "What did he mean by 'good luck again', Brandon."
He responds, "When I came in looking for your office, I saw him in the hall. He saw the flower, assuming I was trying to get you to date me for the first time. He mentioned you turned him down."
Kelly lets out a small laugh, "Yeah, like I said, I haven't dated plus he is 10 years younger and Silver's teacher. That would just be weird. So enough about Ryan Matthews, where are we going? Do I need to change?" Kelly asks.
"Not telling, and no," Brandon says as he opens the passenger side door for her.
During the drive, they rode in silence, but it was a comfortable silence since their minds were both wondering what is going to happen that night, but also on the future. Kelly kept on glancing at Brandon, trying to study the changes in him over the last several years. She's trying to figure out what he is up to and what his life plans are, if he is wanting to stay around LA or feels the need to go chase the next story. Brandon is nervous at how Kelly is going to react to the things he needs to tell her. Finally, they reach their destination, before they leave the car; Brandon turns to Kelly and takes her hand.
"Kel, I want this night to be special. Not full of making tons of decisions about the future, but more to catch up and find out where we both stand in life and what we want. I know there are several things for us to talk about, but remember we don't have only this night. I'm hoping we can have several more nights of us just talking or just being with each other. I'm tired of traveling, tired of sleeping in strange places without a comfortable bed, tired of not being with my family. You've been my family and I don't mean in a sisterly way. I know that you are my other half. I don't know what I want to do or where to work in LA; I can figure that out later. I just want to be with you and Sammy."
Kelly replies, "I want you to be with Sammy and I also Brandon, but we need to take this one day at a time. I can't just jump back into our relationship. We had problems; otherwise we would have already been married for 12 years."
She said as she looked downward, Brandon extended his hand to lift her chin, "I was hoping we could walk along the beach and talk, since it was one of the things we used to do often."
Kelly replied with, "I would like that," while showing a small smile.
As they start to walk towards the beach side by side Brandon shares what he learned on the island from the locals about fishing and the simply way of life they led. After about an hour or two they arrive at the restaurant, Eclipse, Kelly finally asks, "Brandon, how are you really handling being back in LA with the hustle and bustle? I could tell the traffic frustrated you."
Brandon looks down then back up then replies, "honestly, it's hard, but it's worth it because the most important thing I learned from people on the island was the love and commitment they had for their families. There wasn't day that went by that I didn't think of you, Kel."
Kelly responds "I thought about you everyday also, it was so hard not to, especially with Sammy's smile. It's exactly like yours and it's like a double sword every time because he is so happy, but it hurts that you haven't been here."
"Kel, I'm so sor..."
Kelly stops him by putting her finger over his mouth, "shh…there's nothing you could have done, life works in ways we don't understand. I don't want you to feel sorry for yourself or feel responsible, because either of us is responsible. You couldn't have known I would have gotten pregnant, especially with my condition. It was the last thing on my mind that night. I'm just thankful you're here now."
Before Brandon could respond the waiter came to take their order, then Kelly asked questions about the characteristics of the people on the island.
After Brandon responded he said, "Ok, so enough about the island and me, I can share more another time, I want to know really how you have been Kel, I want to know everything, what it's like being a mother, school, your thoughts and feelings, everything Kel."
Kelly takes a deep breath and then their food came interpreting them as she began to open her mouth.
"Thank you sir," Brandon complements the server and then looks up at Kelly.
Kelly decides to keep her answer light at least while their at the restaurant, "I've really enjoyed working at West Bev, never thought I would step into that building after we graduated, but I really do like it there."
Kelly continues to talk about some of the students and things she has learned from her experiences until they are finished with dinner.
"Well, it's time to move onto the next part of our date," Brandon says.
"Okay, where to now, since it's only eight? Kelly asks.
"Nope, still not telling," Brandon says smiling.
"Fine, just remember I still have work in the morning," Kelly states.
"Oh, you will be home at a decent hour," Brandon says still not reveling where they're going.
