13. Brooke
Chapter 13
Brooke
“ So , it’s just the two of us,” I looked at Anne who sat down comfortably on my couch, watching her favorite cartoon on the television. She turned to look at me, with her lips lifted up into a cute pout.
“ What do you want to do?” she asked me, and at that moment I felt like the child between us. I looked at Brady , who lay down on the floor close to Anne as he watched the cartoon with her.
“ What do you want to do?” She placed her finger on her chin, pretending to put on a thinking face as she tapped. I mimicked her actions as I thought about my morning exchange with Asher and the events that led up to two girls bored out of their minds in my apartment.
I was finally bestowed the pleasure of taking care of Anne without supervision from either Granny Elise —it would be a downplay of her joy for me to say she was pleased that she was relieved from babysitting a five-year-old and a twenty-seven-year-old—and Asher .
He had given me specific instructions to fetch his daughter from daycare before five p.m. or else I would pay the fine. What day care closed at five?
Anne and I had had a pleasant walk from her school back to the apartment building where we met a tenant who had found my apartment keys. I would’ve kissed his cheek, but after paying a fine at Thomas ’ office, I decided to buy a new door lock and trusted Asher by giving him one of the spare keys.
I thanked the kind guy who had returned my keys, because they still had my favorite keychain, with my brother’s dog tags and a cute, purple butterfly.
“ I don’t know,” she sighed, and I snapped my fingers as I got up.
“ Would you like to bake some cookies with me?” I smiled as I pointed to my chest with my thumb, and Anne got up from the couch, as well.
“ Yes ! Can we make chocolate cookies?” I knew my girl would be on board with baking.
“ Uh -huh, we can even coat them in melted chocolate,” I told her, and she jumped excitedly. “ Do you want to go visit Granny Elise and get some easy-to-bake recipes?”
“ Yup !”
“ Put on your shoes, sweetie,” I told her as I grabbed my phone from the counter, and we were on our way to the floor beneath us.
“ We’ll be back soon, Brady .” She waved as we walked out of my apartment, and he watched us carefully until we closed the door. I assured him that we would still be in the apartment building, and he finally caved in when I gave him a treat.
Brady was already protective over Anne , and it was safe to say that my young neighbor had met her favorite best friend ever. Brady seemed to be opening up to the family, and it brought me so much happiness to see him being loved and welcomed by Asher and Anne .
I had suggested baking cookies because my brother and I used to enjoy doing that together whenever he would come back home from whatever tour he had been on. He would say that his missions were confidential but would proceed to tell me a few stories as we shared our cookies together.
I missed him.
Anne and I got into the elevator, and we were finally on our way to Granny Elise’s apartment.
“ Do you want to keep some cookies for school tomorrow?” She hummed before she shook her head.
“ No , I want to give them to my daddy.” Nobody was Asher’s biggest fan like his daughter was. The girl rooted for her father more than anybody, and she would constantly sing his praises.
It was valid though; he was a great father, just a horrible person.
We arrived at Granny Elise’s apartment and knocked on her door as we discussed the different type of flavored cookies we wanted to bake.
“ I want a lot!” she giggled like she was already high on sugar, and I laughed as I moved her hair away from her face.
“ I was just like you when I was younger; I lost all my teeth,” I warned her, and she rolled her eyes, waving away my warning.
“ That’s because you ate them all on one day. You need to eat them in two days, Brooke .” She raised two of her fingers.
“ My dearest girls, what pleasure do I owe this visit to?” Granny Elise asked as she pulled her door open even wider, and Anne and I entered, both kissing her cheek. Granny Elise was a gem; I still had no idea how Asher was able to get such a wonderful woman on his side.
He attracted the best of people with his shitty personality; it was a mystery, indeed!
“ We came to get cookie recipes,” I told her as I leaned against the counter, and she looked at me, giving me a warning sign, and I waved my hand. “ I promise, I know what I’m doing.”
“ Okay , dear,” Granny Elise caved in almost immediately as she reached into a cabinet and grabbed a book that was doubled in size because of all the pages that had been slotted in there, and I knew right then and there that Anne and I were about to have a blast.
“ Woah , you have so many recipes, Granny ,” Anne gushed as she climbed on the island chair and leaned forward, watching as Granny Elise paged through her many recipes.
“ Yes , and everything has been color coded according to the baked goods,” she told us as she paged through to the yellow page section.
“ No way, don’t tell me you also have a cook book,” I said, and she smiled as she shrugged.
“ I also have a drink book, a desert book, and others, if you know what I mean.” She winked, and my eyes widened before a smile grew on my face.
“ I’ll be sure to come get a few pages when Marie comes over,” I whispered, and she laughed, gently slapping my arm. I always knew that Granny Elise was a bit naughty and a bit of an explorer.
“ Talking about Marie , you didn’t give me an update,” she said, and I opened my phone, showing her the picture Marie had sent me with Matthew .
“ Their date went great, and they decided to go for a second, and third, and fourth eventually,” I laughed as I swiped through the pictures. “ They look good together, don’t they?”
“ They do,” she confirmed with a simple nod. “ But are you okay?” she asked, and I could hear the concern in her tone, and I nodded as I locked my phone.
“ Three dates gave me enough time to get over it. It actually doesn’t hurt as much as it used to; I guess I just had to get busy.” She gave me a knowing look as she passed the baked goods book to the distracted Anne who licked her lips as if she was tasting all of those delicacies.
I do the same on Instagram sometimes, so I understood my girl’s drooling.
“ Or maybe you’re distracted by someone,” she suggested with a slight lift of her eyebrows, and I squinted my eyes.
“ What ?”
“ You know exactly what I’m talking about; don’t act coy now, little girl.” She pointed to Anne before she raised her hand above her head, and once I got what she was saying, I choked on my spit.
“ Absolutely not!” I coughed as I waved my hands, and she smiled.
“ Whatever you say, dear, but you’re both very attractive adults; nobody would blame you.”
“ No , Elise , and I will leave before you come up with even more terrifying ideas,” I told her as I took her book and tucked it under my arm, taking a hold of Anne’s hand.
“ Fine , but don’t say I didn’t tell you so when it happens,” she sang, and Anne looked at the both of us curiously.
“ When what happens?” Granny Elise burst out laughing as I stared at her, shocked. How much had she heard?
“ When we bake some banging cookies and all the neighbors want some.” A little white lie never hurt anybody.
“ And we won’t give them any because they’re for us and Daddy .”
“ Yup , the girls and Daddy ,” Elise winked, and I shook my head as I left her apartment.
“ Goodbye , Granny ,” Anne shouted when we arrived at the elevator, and Granny Elise was still standing in the hallway, watching us.
“ Goodbye , my dears; make sure you go to bed early, Anne ! Elders need to have their fun too,” she winked again, and I gasped, shocked at Elise’s dirty mind.
I had never thought of such things happening between Asher and I . Sure , I found him attractive in the beginning, but that was until I realized just how insufferable he was that I decided I wanted nothing to do with him like that... ever!
We got back to my apartment, and Brady did his mandatory body check, assessing if everything was okay with us before he went back and lay down on the floor in front of the television.
“ So , you’re going to have to wear my crop shirt as your apron, Anne ,” I told her as I lifted the shirt up, and she giggled. “ I promise to get you your own apron soon so that we can always bake together.”
“ Deal !”
Baking with Anne was a gift, and I was reminded of just how much I loved doing this; I had to do it a bit more from now on.
Anne listened to instructions incredibly well and made sure to stay away from the oven whenever I opened it to take out a tray of cookies. She was already a star at baking, and I could tell this was something she enjoyed.
“ You did such a good job, sweetie,” I complimented her as we sat down on my island, enjoying a few portions of our hard labor with a nice cup of iced tea for Anne and coffee for me.
“ Hmm , these are really delicious.” She chewed with her mouth closed and only spoke after she had swallowed her food. Her father had taught her some incredible table manners.
“ Next time, we should make cinnamon rolls,” I told her, and she nodded eagerly, not interested in engaging in conversation; all she cared about was the plate of cookies in front of her.
I heard a knock on the door and got up from my chair. I unlocked my door to see Asher .
“ Good evening,” I greeted, and his just-out-of-the-shower scent hit me immediately as he entered my apartment.
“ How was your day?” he asked me, and I raised my thumbs, not wanting to bore him with the details. “ Did you mistakenly try to open your door with the wrong keys?” he asked me, and I raised my eyebrows. “ It’s a new lock and there are already scratches and dents on there.”
“ Nope , but somebody from this building did find my old keys,” I told him as I grabbed them from the kitchen counter, and he nodded.
“ Daddy , look at what I made!” Anne shouted as she ran to him with my plate of cookies, and Brady was right behind her, waiting to be acknowledged by his master. He was probably saying, “ Dad , look, your daughter is still in one piece.”
“ Princess , you baked these?” Asher picked up his princess, seeming pleased with her efforts as he asked her all the steps she took to bake such perfect cookies.
Ugh , Asher was such a great father, and it made me sick to think of how he was such a terrible person when his daughter wasn’t there.
Why did I even agree to babysit Anne if his behavior was never going to change toward me? I did it because I adored Anne ; she was such a sweetheart to be around. I didn’t really like kids that much, but I loved Anne ! She was the best child in the entire world; nobody would convince me otherwise!
“ We put your cookies in a container,” Anne told him as he put her down, and she led him to the island. “ Will you eat them?” She looked up at him with sparkling, curious eyes, and he smiled as he pressed a kiss on her forehead.
“ We can eat them together,” he told her, and I smiled when I noticed her grin. Yeah , she was gonna learn the hard way about how teeth get cavities.
“ Well , I’ll let you guys be. I have to go wash the baking smell off me,” I told them, and he nodded as they walked over to my living room. We had agreed that Anne would be sleeping over at my place because Asher had to leave for some tradition his team did every other Friday .
I showered quickly because it would be awkward to spend so much time in the shower. I got changed into my black silk two-piece pj’s and as I was drying my hair, I heard a gentle knock on my bedroom door, and I softly answered, “ Come in!”
Asher pushed the door open with a sleeping Anne in his arms. “ Oh , let me fix the bed for her,” I spoke softly as I peeled back my covers, and he placed her down before covering her.
Brady followed in shortly after and made himself comfortable on my rug, once again beside Anne .
“ Can we talk for a second?” Asher asked as he stood up straight, and I nodded, following him out of my bedroom into the living the room.
“ If you’re worried about coming back late, don’t worry about it. Anne and I will be fi?—“
“ I don’t appreciate what you did.” He spoke coldly as he turned around to face me, his expression revealing just how pissed he was.
“ I don’t understand.”
“ You don’t get to expose my daughter to such danger, Brooke . You don’t!”
“ What danger are you talking about?” I laughed softly, confused. “ Your daughter has been with me since I fetched her; I never let her out of my sight.”
“ I don’t allow her to bake for a reason; we don’t bake at my place. You should’ve asked my permission before you did what you did.”
Why was he so pissed?
“ Asher , it’s just baking!” I expressed my confusion, and he raised his hands before closing them into a fist.
“ It’s not just baking. If there was a gas leak, it could’ve killed you both, Brooke .”
“ Come on, that’s like a probability of less than one in ten, Asher . It didn’t happen,” I crossed my arms over my chest, ignoring just how much my boobs could be spilling from the top of my shirt.
“ Don’t tell me about probability, Brooke ! I just spent the last six hours putting out a fire at a bakery because of a gas leak in one of their ovens. They lost everything! Compared to them, Brooke , you’re an amateur, and they are professionals. If it happens to professionals, why can’t it happen to you?”
This man just always had to insult me any chance he gets!
“ Listen , I know I don’t have baking qualifications, but I do know how to be careful. You have been judging me because of a single mistake I made, and it’s getting old. Your daughter didn’t get anywhere near the oven, she was by island the entire time, the gas didn’t fucking leak, and even if it did, it wouldn’t be my fault! Anne is fine; I would never intentionally try to hurt her. I am not a sadist! Stop being a dick, Asher . I’m getting tired of your shit.”
I was heaving by the time I finished getting all that off my chest. This man made me so mad! We stared at each other for a while, both waiting for the other’s response, but there was none.
I licked my lips and within a split second, Asher’s lips were on mine, pressing a hard bruising kiss on my lips as he grabbed my face, pulling me closer to him.
And I let it happen.