"Did Mom really pop all the pills she got from the Medical Assistant after her sprain?!" Sophia laughed as Peyton narrated a story of them in High School. I had my hands folded and was not pleased. Hell, my son was in rehab for drug addiction.
"Yeah. Then she told Rachel that she didn't like her name and decided to rename her. Of course the name that she chose was Brooke! While I was driving, she threw our pom poms out of the car and then as always, she did not remember to fill up her tank with gas. When I asked her about it, she simply looked at Rachel and went - Answer the question, Brooke. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere. Rachel and I had to hike 2 miles to get some and when we returned, Brooke was passed out in the backseat with her skirt hiked all the way up! You know what's strange, we found Nathan and Lucas stranded on the road that night as well. They got a ride back with us. Whitey had kicked them out of the bus," Peyton continued.
"What! Lucas was in the car with us that night?" I asked, turning red instantly.
"Yeah, wait didn't you know that?" Peyton asked, laughing even more.
"No! I was as high as a kite! I only remember what you and Rachel never let me forget. Neither of you even mentioned Lucas, or Nathan for that matter," Brooke scolded.
"If I remember correctly, you were sitting between the two boys and you passed out on their laps. Nathan was used to typical Brooke, so I guess he just shrugged it off. It wasn't a big deal. It was strange having Lucas in the car with us. I mean, that time, he only hung out with Haley and Mouth and Skills and Junk and Fergie. But, mostly it was only Tutor Girl Haley. So, it was awkward. Nathan and Lucas did not want to talk about what the two of them were doing together. Trust me, Rachel tried and you were anyway zonked on pain meds. So, I blasted some music and drove everyone home," Peyton narrated.
"Wow, it feels so strange knowing that you and Mr. Scott had an interaction before the two of you became well, you and Mr. Scott," Maddie replied, sipping the piping tea that Peyton was serving on silverware.
"You're never allowed to do that!" I warned Sophia and sipped on my Rose.
"Yeah, I know," Sophia sighed. "I love you Mama." My teenager moved to envelope me in a bear hug. My insides melted as she clung to me from the back. I patted her arms and smiled with contentment.
"I love you too, Princess. So much," I smiled. "Now can we please stop the 21 Questions about me?"
"How did you want to know that you wanted to become a fashion designer, Ms. Davis? I mean all of you knew what you wanted to be in High School! All of you had done it, made it, whatever! I have no idea what I'm good at or what I want to do!" Madison asked.
"Oh wow! I don't know. I used to sketch when I was bored before I met your dad. Then, when my parents saw them, they thought I was storing trash and threw all of them. I stopped sketching for a while. Then, when I was pregnant with the two of you, I was on bedrest and I was bored. So, I resumed my pastime. Lucas was the one who saw the potential and got Mouth to start the website. Then, it just went out of control. Trust me Maddie, I had my doubts. My parents literally tore all my designs and said I was not good for anything more than being a trophy wife. I even believed them back then. I was as clueless, if not more, during High School. You will figure it out. You have all of college to narrow down what you want to do," Brooke encouraged.
"Aunt Peyton, did you always know?" Sophia asked, getting equally worried by the big future talk.
"Yeah, kinda. My mom Anna was into Art and Ellie was into Art and Music. My dad, Larry, would always play music for us to dance around the house in. My biological father was a musician too. For as long as I remember, I associated everything with Music. There was a track for every mood, there was something to listen and remember every important event by. I remember the song that was playing in the hospital when my Mom, Anna died. I remember the record Ellie had on when she succumbed to cancer. It was in my blood," Peyton answered morbidly.
"I don't think I have the blood of an Accountant or a Nurse," Madison sighed.
"Dude, you see what I have to compete with? Celebrities!" Sophia shrieked.
"You don't have to do what you Dad and I do. We'd much rather you be a doctor," I answered. "It's obvious whom Jamie is gonna follow."
There was a chorus of Nathan's name.
"I think it is only fair that we reverse and ask them some questions of our own. Don't you think so too, B Davis?" Peyton asked me.
"It's only fair, P Sawyer. Let's know what's the stupidest thing they have ever done," I laughed. Maybe this would make Sophia come clean to me about the loss of her virginity. Did I want her to though?
Both girls turned pink instantly and began to try to change the topic. "How about that movie that you two wanted to see? The horror movie you planned to watch," Sophia asked instead.
"What are you hiding from me?" I asked boldly.
"Nothing! It's that our lives aren't as interesting as yours. We're your average boring teenagers," Sophia responded quickly. She eyed Peyton quickly who looked anywhere but at my daughter.
"Soph, you hate horror movies," I reminded her.
"True, but I'll live, or at least try to," she said the second part in a whisper to herself. God, I was so worried about her. I know that the deed had been done. There was only forward from where she was, but I was so worried about her mental health. Was she really ready? Was she scarred? Did she want to be active or was it a one time deal? I needed advice. What was a mom supposed to do when she found out that her daughter wasn't as little anymore? It made me so emotional that all I wanted to do was fit her into my lap and hold her.
"Why don't you sit next to me, baby girl?" I offered, patting the empty spot between me and Peyton. Sophia hesitated, but took the offer. She pulled a throw over her and leaned into me. Like clockwork, my hands began to caress her hair. It was a habit I never wanted to stop. Peyton turned off the lights while Sophia refilled our popcorn and candy bowls. She refilled their soda glasses and I cued the movie. It was already 2:00 am when we began the movie. The girls were terrified. They were jumping at all the jump scares, screaming 'Don't go in there' as the music began to pick up, shrieking as the sound crescendoed and people began to get killed. Peyton and I found comical delight in their screams. She was not afraid of horror movies in the least and although I would much rather watch a chick flick, I had seen so many with Lucas that I was okay with them. Yes, I felt a rush every time a scary face suddenly appeared on the scream, but it wouldn't keep me up all night.
Before I knew it, Sophia was hiding in my lap, craving the additional comfort. Now I remember why Lucas was so adamant on horror movies. I was all over him in the beginning. I chuckled and took her under my arm. She lay her head on my lap and peeped fearfully at the screen, her blanket ready to cover her gaze at the inkling of something scary. Peyton was equally amused by the shrieking girls. It was a good thing that Anna's nursery was far away, or I would definitely berate the two of them for disturbing a sleeping infant.
"Hey, umm, I'm suddenly very sleepy. I am going to bed. Maddie, what about you?" Sophia announced once she had had enough of the movie.
"Yeah, so exhausted from my flight. Let's go," she replied and stood up.
I raised my eyebrow at them but kept quiet. Peyton was giggling as well.
"They're crazy for not getting scared by that!" the girls whispered to each other and walked out. Peyton and I burst out laughing once they left. She took the bottle of wine she had stashed and refilled my glass. I chugged it all down and put my glass in front of her again, beckoning her for a refill.
"What's wrong?" she asked while refilling the glass.
I looked towards the stairwell to ensure that the girls were gone. Once I was certain, I propped my feet on Peyton's lap and sighed. "Sophia and the whole losing her virginity thing. I am so worried about her. What if she is not okay? Suddenly, I feel like she is made of china and might break any moment. Why won't she talk to me? I want to hear from her mouth that she is fine. God, they never tell you how helpless parents feel all the damn time. It's not like I can even talk to Lucas about it. He'll go all Dan on Zack. His Little Princess is the pride and joy of his life!" I whined.
"She will talk to you eventually. You have to give her time. Jenny lost her virginity in college and the only reason that I know this is because she needed her doctor here to transfer her medical history there and I was called instead of her to confirm sending the information because they had my number on file. They thought I was Jenny and told me why she was at the doctor. She was screening for STDs. When I visited her next, I asked her about it gently and she came clean. She was scared about how I would react but once she got to know that I was respecting and treating her like an adult which she was, we actually got closer than we were," Peyton replied.
"I know that she isn't any different than what she was before. I simply can't shove the idea away that it is my fault because I know that it is. She went looking for love and comfort in another place because she didn't get it in the place that she was supposed to - me. That's what I did my whole adolescence and I wish I could take back all those nights," I answered honestly.
"Brooke, she isn't a nymphomaniac. She - uhh, I probably shouldn't have told you this at all," Peyton sighed.
"Why did you have sex the first time, Peyton? I asked you how it was and how you felt but never how you reached the decision," I asked.
"Uhh, I remember being scared and completely unsure. I remember my heart pounding. Honestly, I knew that he had a lot of experience. He was dropping hints and I wanted to make him happy," she replied. "Now, stop grieving like she is hurt. She is fine and smart enough to be safe. Let's go spook the lives out of them instead!"
"What!?" I laughed. Only my best friend had the ability to give me sage advice one moment to scheme over the top pranks the next moment.
"What's a sleepover without some good pranks? I have some masks from scaring the wits out of Jake. This will be so fun!" she remarked.
I didn't know whether it was having a slumber party with my best friend or the Rose that I had been chugging, but I saw myself standing up and following her to the garage. She pulled out a storage box labelled Halloween costumes. We began rummaging through it and found exactly what we needed. Peyton, the biggest halloween enthusiast, no surprise given her morbid sense of humour had everything. Fake witch nails, masks, warts, black coats and capes. I chose a ghost mask with a grim expression that I paired with a black hoodie and Peyton smeared her face green and added some warts to make it more authentic. She put on a pointy hat and a black cape. All that while, we kept giggling like school girls.
"You do know that after this, they're not going to sleep alone, right?" I asked.
"Well Brooke Davis, you can thank me for a night of cuddles with your little girl," Peyton smirked.
"You're all the cuddles I need, P Sawyer!" I said, squeezing her had to let her know that I meant every word that I was saying.
"Now let's go before you make me emo and I lose the witchiness!" she replied.
We tiptoed as quietly as we could and stood outside Jenny's room. The girls were talking.
"Really, you're going to be the cliche who loses her virginity at prom?" we heard Sophia say.
"I think it's romantic. Your brother is really good with me. I have to admit, I was glad we hadn't slept together when he broke up with me and the whole drug thing came out, but when we spoke today, he was my old Jamie, the Jamie I've loved since preschool. I know that the version that was abusing drugs is not the real Jamie and the one we saw today is. Prom is still far away anyway, so we have time to test the waters. We will be trying some other things meanwhile at your mother's ranch," Madison replied.
I was stunned and so was Peyton. Should we have been eavesdropping? Probably not. Were we going to move away from the door? Definitely not.
"Gross! He is my jerk of a brother! You two are totally going to single me out! I hate that Zack went to Florida for the Summer to meet all his old friends back home. Jude and Lydia are kids, my parents are going to be wedding planning and you and Jamie are going to be sneaking to do gross lovey things," Sophia complained.
"Says the girl who is the most experienced. I still can't believe that you did it with Zack, that too before Jamie and I," she expressed.
"Yeah," she replied, being aloof about it.
"Did it hurt a lot?" Maddie asked with trepidation.
"Zack was sweet and slow, but yeah, it hurt in the beginning but it was fine later on. It wasn't all that magical. You don't see stars, but it did feel good. Honestly, I was grateful for this vacation. I got to straighten my thoughts about the whole thing. Aunt Peyton got me on birth control and I was so overwhelmed after it happened. Now, I am good again. We had a conversation where I needed to make it clear that just because we did it, it wasn't going to be all that we did all the time. I still needed it to be slow with more emphasis on the emotional than the physical. He said that he would respect me," she answered with a smile.
Peyton looked at me and her facial expressions formed a question, "Satisfied?" she mouthed.
I inhaled and exhaled deeply and nodded my head yes. I wanted to tell her that we should give the girls space and return to the Mattress we had set up for ourselves in the living room but before she allowed me, she flung the door open and pounced on the girls with a maniacal laugh. Guess we were doing this! I followed her suit, trying to be as scary as I could. The girls were petrified. Their shrieks pierced through the house as they clutched each other, shivering with fright. Before we knew it, Anna was wailing in her nursery and the boys had come flying out of their bedrooms, slipping on their socks as they rubbed sleep out of their eyes.
"What? Peyton!" Jake yelled, knowing that this had to be his wife's plan.
"Huh? Peyton? What! Mom, Aunt P, is that you!?" Sophia complained.
Peyton was laughing as I pulled off my mask and let the top of the hoodie slide off my head. "Yeah! Sorry. It was her idea! Blame the cool Aunt!" I said, totally tattling on her.
"Jee, thanks!" Peyton replied, pulling the warts of her face.
Lucas kept silent as he rolled his eyes. "Seems like you are having a good sleepover," he said, walking towards me and kissing my cheek.
"Yes we are!" I replied. "But we completely forgot about the boys and the baby. I'll go check on Anna. We don't want to scare her with your green witch face." I handed Jake my mask and walked to the nursery to soothe my precious godbaby. She was scared and alone in her crib.
"Did Cousin Sophia's screams scare you, little one?" I asked in my baby voice as I carefully lifted her and placed her against my chest. Her neck cradled in mine as I rocked her, rubbing her back in soothing circles. "It's alright, my baby. Auntie Brooke is here."
My soothing voice seemed to have done the trick as Anna's screeches quietened down and she began to focus on my face instead, probably noting down every feature. I felt such a sharp connection to her tug my heartstrings that I had to mentally remind myself that she wasn't my daughter.
"B, is she good?" Jake asked, peeping into the room.
"Yeah, I was just about to put her back in her crib. She is awake, but she is fine," I replied, getting startled back into reality. Honestly, I wanted to keep holding her a little longer.
"Awesome, I'm going back to bed then," he replied. He came in, gave a kiss on his daughter's head, fiddled with her baby fingers and wished me and Anna goodnight.
I gave Anna a kiss of my own as I inhaled that intoxicating baby scent. Momentarily my mind wandered to the baby I had lost and would never get back, but I chose to be hopeful instead about the babies Lucas and I would have in the future as it was certain that we both wanted more and I clearly had baby fever.
I placed Anna in the crib and watched her for a few moments. She went back to sleep soon enough. Brooke exited the door and saw Peyton in the bathroom, scrubbing her face.
"Baby okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, baby wonderful," Brooke smiled.
"You and Lucas will be giving her a new cousin to play with soon enough, you know," Peyton replied. "It's evident how much you want one, and soon."
I remained quiet. We hadn't even slept together since the baby and we were okay with that. We liked the phase that we were in. We didn't want to cross that line. Not yet, atleast. I was still raw to feel anything inside me. I was still mourning the loss of the feeling of my baby growing and tumbling inside me. I didn't want to feel Lucas inside yet. Lucas and I didn't need to communicate about it. He seemed to get it and understand. I was not even on the pill anymore. We preferred the emotional connection over the physical one anyway.
Peyton and I returned to the living room and got back on the mattress. "You know I'm very grateful to you, right? I mean I would not have been able to get through everything that just happened without you," I said to her appreciatively.
"We're the love story, B Davis!" she said, pulling me into a hug.
"We're the freaking love story," I said, smiling back wide.
"Want to bust out the yearbook and then stalk everybody on facebook?" she asked, making me cackle. P Sawyer had dropped the emo and settled into witchiness so well. I was absolutely loving it and was totally here for it.
We spent time that way until sleep took over around early hours of the morning. P Sawyer had pumped milk so Anna was taken care of by the collective effort of Jake and Lucas, allowing us to sleep in, but there was something else that we had forgotten about.
"What are you still doing asleep! Wake up!" Sophia screamed, making me jolt up as if a bullet had been shot. The curtains were still drawn, making me believe that the sun was still out, yet, the cracks supplied enough light to blind me. I rubbed my eyes, feeling so exhausted. Peyton hadn't even stirred by the sound. She was still snuggled to my side under the blankets.
"What's wrong?" I asked lazily as I worked hard to stifle a yawn.
"Did you forget? Hollywood! Meeting the stars! Julian gets here in 30 minutes and you look like roadkill. Go shower and get dressed," she commanded.
I whined, all I wanted to do was sleep. Peyton looked so comfortable. "Can't you go without me? You went there before with Julian when we were at the retreat. Didn't you "Meet the Stars"?" I asked using air quotes.
"We did, but they weren't Taylor Swift or Zendaya. You dress them all meaning you know them all. Julian doesn't know Selena Gomez, you do!" she explained.
"Okay, but how do you know who is where? I'm pretty certain that they aren't posting about their whereabouts on their social media," I rolled my eyes.
"I spoke to Julian. Zendaya is filming Euphoria, Selena is filming a music video featuring none other than T Swift!" she shrieked. "It's the stars aligning! I am positively freaking out about it. So get up and get dressed."
"Oh wait, I know about this music video. We sent some options to Wardrobe to borrow. If they pick it, one of the dresses was a sneak peek of the new fall line. The one I was working on when I was here just before we got the call about Jamie," I was wide awake now as my thoughts rolled out of my mouth.
"Good! So you can get in! Say you're coming to check fittings," Sophia suggested.
"A) You really think I go and do personal fittings for music videos? And B) You really think that my dresses would need fittings?" I asked cockily.
"Today you do," she answered with an equal amount of sassiness. She was my daughter, alright. I got up begrudgingly and got dressed. Going with jeans and a cute top, I straightened out my hair and went with my everyday accessories. Putting on a pair of sneakers, I was ready just in time to see Julian step inside with Sophia's favourite doughnuts.
"Stop spoiling her," I complained to him, still feeling horribly sleep deprived. I stole a doughnut from the box and murmured a thanks as Jake placed a mug of coffee in front of me.
"Who else is coming?" I asked, not sure about anyone's plans for the day. Madison and Sophia were busy twittering as they munched on Julian's doughnuts. Jake was going to work, Lucas did not want to come so he said that he planned on writing and Peyton, who was changing Anna's diaper said that she planned on going to the studio's later in the day after she had slept some more. She was taking Anna with her, leaving me alone with the girls and Julian. "Okay, let's go."
We got into Julian's car and he drove us to the studios. I sat in the passenger seat, gazing out quietly. The girls were taking car selfies.
"What are you thinking about?" Julian asked, turning to look at me as we stood at a stop light.
"Nothing really. I honestly have been thinking about a bunch of nothing for a while now. No new design ideas, no getting back to work thoughts, not even much about the wedding," I replied. Julian's colour changed a little as he got a little pale but he instantly shrugged it and returned to normal.
"When will I be receiving the Save the Date?" he asked.
"Soon, hopefully. We're going into planning mode once we hit the ranch. I will have all my girls and most importantly, Millicent to get through the planning. Most of the ideas are set, I just need to organise vendors now. We figured that since it was so last minute, we might have to postpone it by a bit, so it was stupid to send out invitations," I replied.
"You're going to make one beautiful bride, Brooke Davis," he replied. Before I could respond, he put on his sunglasses and began driving straight ahead.
Julian flashed his ID at the gate and drove in. Madison chirped with excitement as Sophia began pointing at studio lots and telling her which space filmed which show. We parked the car and Julian called someone to come pick us up on an electric golf cart. He had arranged for the girls to be invited on the set.
We showed our passes that Julian had handed out and walked in. They were in the middle of filming a scene, so we kept quiet and watched the shooting. The set was designed to be a bedroom and Zendaya was lying on her bed staring at her ceiling in frustration as she counted tiles. There was a camera right on top of her, her hair was unruly and she was dressed in clothes twice her size. There wasn't any dialogue, just her mumbling and chanting numbers over and over with her frustrations increasing with each numeral. Finally, it got too much and she began flailing on the bed in frustration, fighting a villain that wasn't there because poetically, she was fighting her inner vices. The girls gasped at the sudden screams and arm flinging but kept them inward so as to not disrupt the shoot.
Soon, the Director yelled "Cut! Good job everybody. Let's take a look at playback."
Zendaya immediately quietened down and slid off the bed. The crew got to work, doing whatever they were supposed to be doing as Zendaya stood, waiting for further instructions. The PA that had escorted us all the way from the golf cart beckoned us to go to her. The girls began to shiver as I ushered them towards the starlet.
"Hey Zendaya," I greeted. She looked at me and a wide smile spread across her face.
"Oh, hey Brooke! Wait, did we have a fitting or something scheduled that I have forgotten about?" she asked, her eyes going wide.
"No, we don't, you're good. Firstly, I am so sorry again for that time I didn't make it to your appointment," I apologised again.
"Brooke, you literally dove down a flight of stairs and were in the hospital. I was fine, and you made it up with the most gorgeous dress for the event and the freebie dresses you sent along with the apology flowers. You didn't have to do any of that," she said courteously.
"I did receive your 'Get Well Soon' basket. Those Magnolia cupcakes are to die for," I replied. "I am actually here as the mom of one of your crazy fans. This is my daughter, Sophia and that is her best friend Madison. We came to California for the Summer and her one dream was to be able to meet you."
"OMG Hi!" Zendaya greeted, focusing her attention on my daughter and her best friend. "Wait, don't you have twins?"
"Yeah, I also have a son, but he is busy with some other things this week in California so it's girls' day," I lied.
"And you, you're not her Lucas, right?" Zendaya asked.
"No, my name is Julian Baker. I'm a movie producer and director," he replied.
"Wait! I know you! I absolutely loved Seven Dreams till Tuesday. You totally redeemed Alex Dupre's image from a troubling actress with a drug issue to a serious hard working girl in the industry. I would love the opportunity to work with you sometime," she replied.
It was Julian's turn to blush. "I'll keep that in mind. I'm currently working on a new show called Ravens which is actually based on Lucas Scott's book," he replied.
"Maybe I can guest star on an episode," she replied cheekily. "How are you girls?"
"Oh my God! I can't believe that I am meeting you! I am positively freaking out!" Madison screamed and jumped. Zendaya chuckled in amusement. She was used to teenagers going crazy in front of her.
"Do you want to take some pictures? Sorry, I can't do a lot about my hair or wardrobe. Rue's having a hard day today," she joked. The girls giggled as they stood on either side of her, linking their arms with hers. I brought out my phone and snapped away. They got her to give them Autographs and admired her messages to them.
"Zendaya, you're needed again, last checks are going on," a PA came to inform her.
"Yes, I'll be there in a moment," she replied and turned her attention back to the girls. "I hope you know that you have a really cool Mom, Sophia. I have to do another take but feel free to hang out and watch…. And don't do drugs guys! Also Brooke, I am modelling for Bulgari and need to shoot an ad for their campaign. My team will reach out to you soon with all the details and pictures of the jewellery. You think you'll be able to provide the dress?"
"Of course! Let them get to me and I'll see what I can do. We'll discuss, as long as it doesn't interfere with my wedding dates. I should really send out my Wedding Invites. I hope that you can make it there," I said. Sophia stifled an excited scream. She looked like she was about to pass out from the imagination of having Zendaya there alone.
"I hope that I can. I'll see you again after this take," she smiled and slid back into the bed, getting her acting face on.
We watched her film the scene and the Director said that he had enough footage and they could move to the next scene. Zendaya grabbed her script and coffee as the crew began assembling things for the next scene. She had twenty minutes free before she had to go back into hair and make up for the next scene. She was kind enough to give those 20 free minutes to us. She even made a tik tok with the girls, promising that she would go over the script during hair and make up.
Once she had to leave again, we drove to the studio with Selena and Taylor were filming a music video. There was tight security on the lot. Julian hadn't been able to get permission to go into the soundstage, only through the gates.
It was time for Brooke Davis to shine. I made some calls and got the name of the head of wardrobe for the music video. Lucky for me, I knew her. She had contacted me for outfits on several occasions like photoshoots, music videos, movies, season finales and things. So, I called her up.
"Hey Kristie, it's Brooke from Clothes over Bro's. I actually need a huge favour from you," I asked.
"Sure thing but can I call you at night? I'm actually on a shoot right now," she replied.
"It's about that actually. We're outside the studio and were hoping to get inside. It's not about the dresses, my daughter wants to meet Taylor and Selena," I replied.
"Oh, umm, Brooke - it's a closed set. They are so afraid about the video leaking before it's release date," she replied.
"I know, but is there anything possible? When do they go on lunch?" I asked.
"We all just broke for lunch. I was about to get in line to grab some food," she replied.
"Please can you help us get in? We'll leave before filming resumes," I promised.
"Fine, but if I get fired, you hire me to work for Clothes over Bro's!" she joked.
"It's a deal! You're a godsend!" I replied.
We waited for her to come to the gate to get us. Meanwhile, I warned my youngling. "No shooting any footage whatsoever. This was a closed set. You have to ask for permission before you even pull your phone out." Their faces grew serious like they knew what I meant by my warnings.
Kristie got us inside but both Taylor and Selena were in their trailers. I sighed as I used my final pull and called Selena's phone.
"Hey Brooke," she replied.
"Hi, I hate to do this, but I am here on your set that you're filming at and I have my daughter and best friend with me and they really wanted to meet you. You think you could spare a few minutes for us? It's cool if you can't!" I said a little too quickly.
The security made it obvious that it was serious business. "OMG! You're here! Of course I'll meet you and your daughter. Come to my trailer! Taylor is here too," she replied.
We walked to the trailer to see her bobbing her head out. She beckoned us towards her and told Security to allow us in.
"Hi!" she said, hugging me tightly. "It's been so long since we've seen you. You barely come to LA now. Hi, you must be Brooke's daughter!"
Sophia went stone cold passive all over again. "Hi Tay!" I greeted. She had one of her cats in her arms.
"Hey! Thanks for today's outfits Brooke. They are really gorgeous!'" she said as she continued to cuddle with them.
"I am glad that you liked them!" I replied.
"So what brings you and your daughter here? More wardrobe options?" Selena asked.
"No, mom duties actually. I promised my daughter that I would get them to see you. I didn't know it was a closed set. I got someone I know in Wardrobe to let us in and hoped that we could catch you during your lunch for a few minutes," I replied.
"Why didn't you call us directly? We would've asked them to let you in," Taylor joked.
"I really didn't want to disturb you two," I replied, growing red in the face.
"Hey! We disturb you constantly and are always impatient during fittings and things. This is nothing! What are your names, honies?" Selena asked the girls.
They freaked out, making Taylor's cat jump out of her arms. Luckily Taylor didn't seem to mind as she herself walked towards the girls.
"You wanna grab lunch with us? We resume shooting in an hour," Taylor asked and before the girls could respond, she called a PA to get food for all of us.
The girls tried to get details about the new song, but they kept details under wraps. Selena and Taylor asked them what their hobbies were and how they liked school. They talked to me like old friends, asking details about my wedding. They asked me about Jamie and spoke to Julian about movies.
After lunch, the girls asked for permission for pictures and whether they could post them. The singers were cool about it as they weren't even in their costumes and we were in the trailer. They got autographs and as the hour ended, we bid them goodbye.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" my daughter chanted as she hugged me tightly. I was glad that I got to do that for her. She seemed to be on a high of her own. She was polite, respectful, courteous, although a bit fangirly too. I hugged her back, cherishing them, knowing that they were going to get lesser and lesser as she got older.
We got some coffee on our way back to Peyton's house. There was heavy traffic, but the girls didn't mind, they were busy reading comments on their recently posted tik toks and instagram feeds.
"Hey Julian," I whispered, looking at the girls to make sure that they weren't paying attention.
"Hmm?" he asked, looking at me.
"I truly am sorry for breaking your heart. You deserved so much better. I wish I could've been better, but…" I stopped mid sentence, not finding the right words.
"But your heart belonged to someone else. Brooke, you weren't tricking me or fooling me. I knew all along that you still loved Lucas. I knew that I would only ever stand fourth in your life. I just hoped that I could permanently be fourth, even though fourth is not even a consolation prize." he admitted. "I was selfish. I thought that if I asked you to marry me, you would be able to move on from him and we could be great."
I kept quiet, not wanting to say the wrong thing, not knowing what the right thing to say even was. When we returned to Peyton's house, Julian didn't stay back. He said that he had some work to get done. I didn't insist. I gave him an apologetic look and whispered a thank you for taking us. He replied with a smile, kissed Sophia's head, hugged Maddie and drove off.
"Hey guys, how was it?" Lucas asked once we had entered the house. He put down his laptop and gave a wide smile when he saw us enter.
Sophia ran to him and began telling him all about our day. Madison went to call her parents and tell them about her meeting the stars too. I walked to Lucas and snuggled to his side, propping my feet up on the couch. He wrapped an arm around me and began to caress my skin while Sophia continued to tell him about every conversation.
"Seems like quite an eventful day!" he remarked once she was done.
Suddenly I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was Tori. What had happened now?
"Brooke! Did you see?" she asked hastily.
"See what?" I asked, so exhausted from the day and the past night.
"I sent you an article. Read it, I'm staying on the phone," she replied.
I opened the link and read it.
"Brooke Davis spends the day in Hollywood with her Daughter.
Celebrity Fashion Designer Brooke Davis has been spotted spending the summer in California. However, she hasn't just been touring the city like the rest of us. Her itinerary has been rather star studded. She spent the day with her daughter at the studios. They seem to have met a bunch of A-Listers like Zendaya, Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift.
Brooke's daughter, Sophia posted photos on her instagram with her mom's celebrity friends to give us a scoop. She even uploaded a tik tok with Zendaya which has gone viral in the few hours that she posted it. Zendaya, as always, danced flawlessly and Brooke's daughter and friend aren't bad either.
"Don't worry Tori, all the celebrities gave permission to Sophia to post the pictures and videos on Social Media. They won't get upset, no secrets have been leaked," I replied, assuming that's what she was worried about. With my line of work, celebrity relationships had to be maintained. If one of them had a bad experience, you could be ostracised from Hollywood forever.
"Did you read the last paragraph?" she asked impatiently. I quickly skimmed to the button of the article.
There is just one question on our mind. Where is her son? We have spotted the family around California for the better part of weeks now, but the family of four has been a family of three ever since they arrived here. Where is James Scott? Should we call CPS and tell them about the possible Home Alone situation?
"Oh God!" I screamed once I reached the end of the article. "We need to issue a statement. Lie! Tell them that Jamie is at Camp or at his cousins, hell, make up a foreign exchange student programme if you have to!"
"Okay, we'll issue a statement and rectify this mess," she replied. "I'll send you the written statement for your approval before sending it to the press."
"Thanks Tori!" I replied.
"What happened?" Lucas asked worriedly.
"The media is asking where Jamie is," I whispered. "I don't know whether I should tell the truth or lie. That decision is Jamie's but this can affect his college prospects and his whole life. I don't think we should tell the media, and yet again, maybe it will inspire another person struggling to seek help."
"Only Jamie can decide. Let's call the facility and try to get in touch with him. At least if it's too hard for him, he has the resources there to handle the situation," Lucas replied. I nodded my head and watched him pull out his phone.
They were adamant about not letting us talk to him as they didn't allow phones, but we explained the need to release a statement and respecting Jamie's decisions, so they let us. They worked with celebrities more than people with regular jobs so they understood the language of the media well.
"Hey guys, everything okay?" Jamie asked, getting on the phone. It felt so good to hear his voice. I told him that and went on to explain our predicament. Lucas stressed on the decision being his and that there was no wrong answer or any judgement from our end. He requested to talk to Maddie before he made a decision. Lucas handed her his cell phone and she took the call outside.
She emerged fifteen minutes later and handed the phone to us. "I want to tell the truth. I know that people will look at me differently and colleges might not not want me attending, hell even the NBA becomes questionable, but I want to focus on the good. The work I'm doing to get clean and stay that way. That you can lose your way, but if you really want it, you can find it back."
"We're so proud of you, son," Lucas replied.
"I love you sweetheart. Can't wait for you to return home," I said before ending the call.
"Hey Luke, want to tell the whole truth about the last few months? All of it? We could write an op ed for the New York Times. I know the editor," I suggested, feeling empowered by my son's bravery. "We won't mention Lindsey's name for legal reasons, although considering that it's the truth, it wouldn't even amount to libel."
"Yes," he replied, sharing my feelings.