LUCAS : You don't want my real number?
Brooke's breath hitched, she wasn't even sure she heard him right. But Lucas's little smile left no doubt. She had a hard time believing it... Surprised, she felt flattered at first until she realized the grotesqueness of the situation.
BROOKE : Uh... As handsome as you are... Well, whatever... But, I'm not looking for a relationship... Especially with a married man... That's really not my thing!
Without reacting to what she had just said, Lucas narrowed his eyes, caressing her with a warming and electrifying look.
LUCAS : You have magnificent hair!
BROOKE : Well, do you accept?
She was pleading with him with her eyes, impatient to finish as quickly as possible.
LUCAS : You know... As charming as you are, and know that I weigh my words... I need a little more time to fall under the spell of a young lady I met in a bar...
Brooke rolled her eyes at his teasing. He seemed to understand her embarrassment and regained his seriousness.
LUCAS : But what do you gain from it!? Enlighten me...
BROOKE : Peace for a few months ! Please!
Lucas looked one last time at Haley and Rachel then his hand disappeared inside his jacket. He took out a pen then grabbed a coaster on the bar.
LUCAS : Here, miss...
As he handed her the small cardboard, Brooke grabbed it but he held her for a few seconds.. Their fingers brushed. An electric shock ran through Brooke's body, and Lucas' eyes locked on hers, dark and hungry. Brooke then read the raw desire in his eyes, the sexual tension that was floating had just skyrocketed. At that precise moment, Brooke almost forgot her wedding ring, her heart was beating fast, much too fast.
BROOKE : Thank you very much...
Brooke was hot, too hot. Her hands were sweaty and she felt more and more attracted to this mysterious stranger. She no longer heard the noise around them, she then stared at their knees which were almost brushing against each other. Her gaze instinctively went up along his thighs then to his crotch. She hurried to look elsewhere. Her eyes continued their path on his torso, his neck then his mouth. She saw his lips move. Before he could say anything and already quite destabilized, Brooke quickly got up to stop him.
BROOKE : Well, thank you again, and have a good evening.
Brooke barely heard her whisper something that sounded like "you're welcome", without adding anything else. She ran as fast as she could and zigzagged through the crowd, still panting and completely stirred, excited even. She met the gaze of her friends who watched her advance towards their table. Brooke smiled proudly despite her feverishness. While arriving in the middle of the bar which had taken on the appearance of a dance floor, Brooke wiggled while showing them the number. Haley and Rachel made big surprised eyes and motioned for Brooke to come and sit down instead of strutting on the dance floor.
BROOKE : Look at the work!
HALEY : Seriously? Show me!
Brooke handed them her trophy and then set it down on the table, slapping the coaster with her palm after setting it down.
HALEY : He even wrote his name! Wow! Lucas...
RACHEL : Lucas... Well done!
BROOKE : Is that really that surprising!? You're offending me!
Brooke stared at the regular, masculine handwriting of the stranger who was no longer one. He had a first name now. She still shivered from her meeting with him, and she was almost sure that he had felt the same way. But it seems that she will never know ... And maybe it was better because she was probably deluding herself. Even if a tiny hope remained, she preferred to go dancing to have fun, to get him out of her head. Obviously, she did not fail to sway her hips and move her body with great sensuality on the dance floor. He was watching her ...
Lucas ordered a beer to the waiter as he had just finished his glass. His hands were sweaty too. He couldn't take his eyes off Brooke who was dancing on the dance floor with her friends. But at the same time, he couldn't help but think that she was exaggerating a little and hoped that it was for him. He knew it was wrong. That he didn't have the time or the freedom to think about her like that. But he kept thinking back to the feeling on her skin when they had touched. He was still excited by it. He met pretty girls every day in his job... He was even married to one of them. While he already regretted having let Brooke slip away, his marital status came back to him full force.
PEYTON : Sorry honey, it took longer than expected...
LUCAS : Mmmh, as usual.
Lucas mumbled under his breath. Peyton, his wife, didn't hear what he had just said, she was still typing on her cell phone.
PEYTON : I'm sending another confirmation message to Millicent for tomorrow's fashion show, and to Chris for the dressmaker... Then, I promise you that we'll end this romantic evening as it should be!
Three months later
Brooke's exams had just ended and she was still waiting for the results of her exam session.
MOTHER : Hello my dear, slept well?
Brooke stuck her head through the curtain that separated their accommodation from the hair salon, her mother was already in full preparation.
BROOKE : Hello mom! Yes, although a lie-in would have been more than welcome! And you already ready to open up to what I see?
MOTHER : Saturday is a big day, you know! But Debie comes as reinforcements later...
Brooke's mother was a lifelong hairdresser. A few years ago, she had opened her own salon downstairs from their home.
BROOKE : I'll be back this afternoon, okay? And tonight, we're eating together!
MOTHER : Perfect! We'll order something, and who knows... Maybe we'll have something to celebrate?
BROOKE : If I don't have any results yet, I hope at least I've found a job for this summer!
MOTHER : I'm sure you'll find it, my honey! Trust yourself... You're full of qualities!
BROOKE : You're not objective, you're my mother!
After a quick kiss, Brooke left the salon to go and look for a job to finance her fashion design studies. She still had a year to go but she was getting closer and closer to her goal. She owed her mother a lot. It was her savings that financed the cost of her training, so she wanted to help her as much as she could. It was the least she could do.
The pizza delivery guy had just rung the doorbell and Brooke's mother came back with two hot boxes.
MOTHER : Come on Brooke, tell me everything!
BROOKE : I have the impression that I won't find anything more... I think I left it way too late!
MOTHER : It's true that most students had to plan ahead. They've already had to look for their summer job since the beginning of June...
BROOKE : I know, Mom... It's just that I wanted to be able to concentrate fully on my exams...
MOTHER : I know! ! Besides, I think your darling little mommy has found you another great plan!
Brooke looked at her, surprised but curious.
MOTHER : Guess who I had at the salon today...?
BROOKE : Uh... I don't know... Beyonce!?
MOTHER : No, although I would have really appreciated it! But he's also a personality... But not in the same field!
BROOKE : Oh yeah, a personality!?
Her mother's eyes widened, her lips pursed, and she nodded frantically.
BROOKE : She's not in singing, or not in politics?
MOTHER : Neither... Hint, it's something you're particularly fond of!
Brooke frowned, completely helpless by what she was implying and what seemed obvious to her.
BROOKE : Come on, tell me!
MOTHER : Peyton Scott... Does that ring a bell?
Brooke's eyes went from questioning to surprise and excitement. She found it hard to believe it. Peyton Scott was one of the biggest names in American fashion design, a big name and a star in his field.
BROOKE : You're kidding, right mom!? You would have called me to come back immediately and...
MOTHER : And I was in a rush, Brooke, I didn't have time... But no, I'm not kidding! And the icing on the cake... She might have a job for you!
Brooke's pulse instantly quickened, she must have turned pale because her mother had just sat closer to her. She could already see herself as Peyton Scott's assistant for a few weeks... A dream come true!
MOTHER : She's looking for a new babysitter for her daughter Sawyer, who's almost five! What do you think!?
Disappointed, Brooke came back down to earth violently, as quickly as she had imagined herself as a total immersion apprentice stylist.
BROOKE : Oh... Babysitter!?
His mother felt that his enthusiasm was no longer really there.
MOTHER : Babysitting the daughter of an internationally renowned stylist, who you will know personally thanks to this ... it will definitely open doors for you after ... And even during! Think about it, it's an incredible opportunity, right?
Thinking about it a little more closely, and even if it was less exciting than what she had hoped, Brooke could not refuse such an offer. It was a golden opportunity to enter this world that she loved so much.
BROOKE : You're right ... I will be paid, too! Everything else, it will only be added value ...
MOTHER : Here is her card. Her husband and she will be delighted to meet you but don't delay it is quite urgent apparently.