She pushes me playfully and gives me a mock stern look. “How can you even ask that? Wasn’t my pleasure pretty self-evident?”
I nod, with a sheepish look. “I guess so.”
“You know, this has been the best week ever,” she says.
“I agree.” Suddenly the idea of going back to work is pointless. “Hey, can we just take off now? I’m starving!” I announce, as we work our way out of the room, and approach the elevators.
“Sure,” she agrees. “How about burgers at In-N-Out?”
“Animal style?”
“Is there any other way,” she asks grinning.
Animate Me / Chapter Twenty-Four / The End of the Woo
“They can’t order me to stop dreaming.” Cinderellaxxiii
The next morning, Brooke wakes up and looks troubled.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, stroking her cheek.
“It’s our last day of woo week,” she says sadly.
She has no idea how the dread of tomorrow is creeping up my spine.
“Don’t remind me. I don’t want it to end. Let’s not end it…let’s just keep it going,” I reply, trying to sound upbeat.
She smiles softly. I can tell there’s nothing she’d like more. “By the way, I’m making dinner for you tonight,” she informs me.
“Really? You’re cooking?” I guess the look of disbelief on my face is a bit off-putting.
“Watch it!” she warns me. “I can cook…I can bring home the bacon and fry it in the pan, you know.”
I smile at her. “And I love that I’m learning that about you.”
“Besides,” she continues. “I haven’t wooed you enough. You deserve a lot of woo, world-class woo.”
My girl wants to woo me. I reach over and gently squeeze her hand.
“Okay, Ms. Woo, dazzle me.”
When I leave her place it hurts to drive away. It’s a physical pain, like I’m being pulled apart. Everything feels wrong the whole way home.
So I spend my afternoon with B-Girl, doing the digital color work over the inked lines for the new issue. I’m going to hate when I get so busy that I’ll have to give up this part of the process, because every time I color in a page, I feel like I’m bringing B-Girl to life.
It’s not long now before Brooke meets her. However nervous that makes me, I know in my heart she’ll adore her just as I do. B-Girl is the physical manifestation of my love and admiration for her. I think Brooke also understands by now that with her strength, kind heart and goodness she’ll always be a super hero to me.
• • •
Incredibly impatient to be with her again, I break Curtis’s dating law and show up early for our dinner. Instead of peonies, I’ve brought roses from my garden, and a bottle of red wine. When she opens the door she’s barefoot and wearing an apron, her cheeks flushed.
“I thought I’d come a little early and help,” I offer as I step inside.
“I bet it’s because you missed me so much you couldn’t stay away,” she teases.
“Am I that obvious?”
She turns and kisses me.
“Yeah,” she acknowledges laughing. “It’s one of the things I’ve always loved about you.”
She directs me to open the wine while she stirs and fusses over the stove. The salad and garlic bread require her attention as well. After I pour the Chianti, she lets me taste the Bolognese sauce. It’s so good that I moan happily, and she grins. My girl can cook…damn.
For a moment I glance around and wonder if she’ll let me move in…like, tonight. With Brooke, wherever she is, is where I want to be.
She makes me wait while she carries everything outside to the patio. The last thing she does is take my roses, now nestled in a little vase, out to the table.
“Come on Mr. Woo,” she coaxes, pulling me by the hand.
I smile and follow as she leads me to her little wonderland. The table is tucked under a canopy of twinkly lights, with the Harry Connick CD playing. The food smells wonderful.
“Wow, Brooke,” I sigh.
“See, I can woo too,” she says grinning as we take our seats.
“Thank you…for this.”
She smiles sweetly, unfolds her fancy napkin and smoothes it over her lap.
My heart’s so full as I watch her refill our wine glasses. It’s all the little details of what’s she’s done for me that tells me so much.
We take our time and savor dinner, despite a nervous buzz. There’s a current of electricity crackling through us only slightly muted by the wine and her soothing touches. Woo week has been everything I’d hoped for and more…but with heavy hearts, we both know it’ll soon come to an end.
When our plates are pushed away we finally face the looming elephant on the patio. “How are you feeling about tomorrow?” I ask, trying to mask my anxiety.
She looks down and I see the darkness move over her expression.
“Not great,” she admits.
“What are you most worried about?”
“Well, obviously I’m not looking forward to my conversation with Arnauld. It’s not going to be fun.”
I nod and wait for more.
“He doesn’t like it when he doesn’t get his way.”
I sit silently, staring at my wine glass before taking another sip.
“What do you think he’ll say?”
“I’m not sure. His manipulation can take different directions.”
“Are you ready for that. I mean, you’re sure of what you want, aren’t you?”
“Yes, of course.” She takes my hand in hers. “I’ve just got to deal with him and get it over with.”
I suddenly picture Brooke with Arnold and my stomach falls. A seed of fear is planted, growing through me wild and untamed. What if he says something that scares her just enough?…enough so that she’s not so sure after all?
Feeling edgy, I push my chair back and get up, walking to the railing. I take a deep breath trying to calm myself as I gaze at the view.
I feel her settle next to me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m nervous,” I admit. “I don’t want you to have to go through this. It makes me crazy how he tries to manipulate you.”
“I know,” she admits. “But I need to finish this conversation with him so we can move forward.”
I turn and look at her. She needs to understand how serious this is for me. “Brooke, you know how much I love you, and now that I know you love me too, everything’s changed. I can’t share you with him or pretend to the world that you’re not my girl.” I take a deep breath and imagine life moving on as it was, as if nothing happened. I shake my head. “I just can’t.”
“I don’t want that either,” she says quietly.
I know what has to be said. “This has to be it…an end for Arnold, and a beginning for us. If it isn’t…”
“Yes?”
“I can’t just sit back and watch you with him, knowing you love me. You have to make a choice. It’s the only way for me.”
She steps into my arms and rests her cheek on my chest.
“Well, of course I choose you,” she says softly, with no trace of hesitation.
My breath catches as I pull her tight against me. When we kiss, the emotion is raw as if each fear we had buried this week has broken through the soil and come to light. Every feeling is heightened and dramatic like it’s the last time we will be together, even though we both know that isn’t the case.
Pulling me inside to her bedroom, she’s rendered in gold from the cast of the twinkly lights outside the window. She kisses me again, but this time soft and slow, like butter melting.
“Brooke,” I moan as her fingers purposefully unbutton my shirt, and slide it off. She leans into me, kissing my shoulder, and tenderly feathers her lips up my neck.
I’m silent, yet my heart speaks to her as I hold her close.