Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
brIANNA
After coming up with her idea for the romance convention, the days passed faster than Brianna could account for.
In between research, her regularly scheduled shifts at the library, and flirting with Audrey, her days were fuller than ever.
Mike was on board with the idea, but Brianna didn’t expect any resistance from him.
She was still nervous about the reception from the town council, but at least she wouldn’t have to speak to them directly; she just needed to convince the library CEO.
That was happening next week, and with her PowerPoint and accompanying report all ready to go, Brianna was looking forward to a day off.
Winter in Beaver Creek was still in full effect, but Brianna wanted to plan something fun for Audrey.
Brianna was past the point of admitting she liked her, and it was starting to become evident that her future plans were beginning to include the other woman.
She often thought of her when coming across an interesting bookish problem, when wanting advice, or when thinking of what her spring and summer would look like.
She was starting to think about where they could go in the spring, to where she wanted to take Audrey in Toronto when the idea of leaving Beaver Creek on an extended trip didn’t sound so miserable.
It was Friday evening now, and Brianna was looking up ideas for what to do in Beaver Creek.
Not needing to impress anyone other than herself, she hadn’t thought of ever leaving her cozy apartment, but she recognized that hanging out there did not count as a formal date.
She wanted to do something date-like. Thankfully, the tourism information on the Beaver Creek website pointed out that the local community centre transformed their pavemented areas into an outdoor skating rink in the winter, and it became a roller-blading haven in the summer.
The rink conveniently seemed to be able to provide rental skates, and though she wasn’t very athletic, Brianna had convinced herself that it would likely be a fun date.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she called Audrey.
Audrey picked up after only two rings. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Brianna responded. She struggled to remember how to properly carry a conversation. Why did she always get so nervous when it came to this woman?
“What are you up to, gorgeous?” Audrey asked a few seconds later. Brianna was grateful to hear the usual nickname, and for the fact that Audrey seemed to realize she needed a gentle push.
“Just thinking about where I’d love to take you tomorrow,” Brianna replied. She mentally high-fived herself for that one.
“Ooohh. What are you thinking?” Audrey’s voice had perked up in excitement.
“Skating. Have you ever been?”
“That could be fun. I haven’t gone since high school, I think. It’s mainly a date spot, so I always feel out of place surrounded by all the couples when I walk past it.”
“As long as you don’t laugh at me if I fall over, then we can join the throngs of couples.” Brianna was sporting a cheesy smile now, but at least over the phone, she wasn’t self-conscious about it.
“I will also be falling over, so we can be clumsy together. We’ll just take it slow. Okay?” Audrey asked.
“That sounds perfect. I’ll pick you up around 1?”
Audrey laughed. “I have the car in this relationship.”
Brianna’s heart beat faster at the mention of a relationship, and she missed the entirety of what Audrey said after that. “Sorry, can you repeat that?”
Audrey laughed. “I said I’ll pick you up instead. I’ll take you to my favourite brunch spot. Noon okay?”
“This was my date to plan,” Brianna huffed in mock-anger.
“Brunch is my date; the skating can be yours.”
“Deal.”
Brianna had nothing else to really share after that, but she didn’t feel like hanging up yet. As she tried to think of something fun and witty to say, Audrey interrupted her pancake-filled daydreams.
“Should we invite Nathan too?”
“Huh?” Brianna was a little confused. “You want to invite Nathan to our date?”
Audrey laughed. “No, he doesn’t need to third wheel our date. I was just thinking about how we should probably tell him. Maybe an ice rink could be a neutral third place. Well, I should tell him. I’m his sister.”
“I’m his best friend,” Brianna supplied unhelpfully.
Truthfully, she wasn’t quite sure what the etiquette was.
Though Audrey was his sister, they didn’t seem awfully close.
Should Brianna be the one to tell him, since she was technically closer to him?
The more she thought about it, the worse she felt about keeping it from him.
It was probably too early to be this serious about Audrey, but Brianna couldn’t deny that she was starting to want to look forward to a future with her.
And that would mean telling the people in her life.
“I think we should tell him,” Brianna eventually continued. “Sure, I can invite him skating. I want at least one full date with you first.”
“You want me all to yourself, hmm?” Audrey teased.
Brianna wasn’t sure how to respond to that calmly, so she deflected instead. “I’ll text you after I speak with him.”
“Sure. Good luck,” Audrey said. They chatted some more about the date (like what the hell proper skating attire was so Brianna could make sure she was dressed properly) before they finally ended the call so Brianna could speak to Nathan.
He was rightfully confused about the formal nature of the call, but he agreed to meet Brianna at the ice rink the next day.
She suggested he bring his date from earlier, if it was still going well, and he said he would if she was free.
He seemed to buy Brianna’s initial reasoning that she missed his company and wanted to hang out a bit, so at least she didn’t feel too guilty about misleading him.
Was it the best idea to lead him to a location full of sharp blades to tell him she was dating his sister? Probably not, but she thought it should be done. At least there was a potential for it to be fun there. If anything, at least the town gossips would have something to talk about after.
Oh, it would be a disaster, wouldn’t it?
A few minutes before noon the next day, Brianna was surprised to have her buzzer ring.
Brianna accepted the buzzer after hearing Audrey’s voice on the other end, and she waited impatiently for the woman to come up.
When there was a knock on the door, Brianna opened it eagerly.
“You didn’t have to come up,” she said but stopped at seeing the bouquet in Audrey’s hands. Where did she even find flowers in the middle of winter?
“For you, gorgeous,” Audrey said and walked past Brianna into the apartment. Brianna accepted them eagerly and then pulled Audrey in for what was supposed to be a quick kiss. She was contemplating putting down the flowers to deepen the kiss when Audrey stepped back, though she was smiling.
“We’re going to be late for our reservation,” she said matter-of-factly.
“You’re right,” Brianna chuckled at her own lack of self-restraint.
She finally took a moment to properly examine the flowers.
Brianna was horrible at identifying different flower types, but they were a perfect combination of purple, pink, and red.
Whatever kind they were, they were stunning. “These are beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you,” Audrey said without missing a beat. Brianna raised an eyebrow at the other woman, who shrugged. “If you expect me not to compliment you, you’ve picked the wrong date.”
Brianna shook her head and silently went to the kitchen to find a vase. Thankfully, her only vase survived the move and was unpacked in the main pantry.
Audrey walked into the kitchen a moment later, her winter jacket unbuttoned now. Brianna placed the vase on her otherwise barren kitchen island.
“They look perfect there,” Audrey said. She hugged Brianna from behind, resting her head on Brianna’s shoulder. Brianna was so comfortable in her arms, she really did not want to leave yet.
“Almost as perfect as this,” Brianna said. She blushed at the cheesiness of her words but knew they were true.
Audrey turned slightly to kiss the side of her head. “Seriously, we should go, or we really will be late.”
Brianna exhaled as Audrey stepped away from her and followed the woman back to the door and out of the apartment, once she had put on her winter gear.
She had settled on black flannel pants with leggings underneath, a silver knit sweater, and cute winter booties, as well as earmuffs and gloves in addition to her jacket.
It was probably slightly overkill, but she wanted to be protected in case she fell on her ass, which was likely.
Inside the car, once she had left some of her winter gear in the backseat, it took every fibre of her being to resist grabbing Audrey’s hand as she drove.
It was probably dangerous to do so in the middle of winter, so she kept her hands to herself, as much as it pained her to do so.
Once they stepped out of the car at the brunch place, though, she didn’t hesitate to grab it as they walked towards the restaurant.
Audrey looked down at their intertwined hands. “Oh, I like this,” she said, smiling at Brianna.
Brianna could not identify whether it was the smile or words that made her heart skip a beat, so she silently nodded as they walked closer to the restaurant.
Though it had been only a few days since they had last seen each other, it was clear Brianna had missed Audrey, more than she expected.
She logically understood everything was too new, too shiny, too perfect right now, but she couldn’t deny the feelings.
She was glad Audrey had invited Nathan to meet them later, because with the way things were progressing, she knew it was only a matter of time before everyone around her found out.
These feelings were getting harder and harder to hide.
Inside the restaurant, Brianna let Audrey keep her promise of planning the brunch and let her take care of all the people-ing.
As much as she was comfortable being around other people, Brianna was conscious she had a threshold for how much talking to strangers she could do in one day.
She knew she’d have to talk to some people at the skating rink and rental, but at least for now, she was more than happy to let Audrey take care of it.
She was even pleasantly surprised by how much she enjoyed Audrey ordering for them both. She knew she appreciated it in books when the main characters were taken care of by their partners, but she was intrigued to learn she enjoyed it in real life too.
“What are you thinking?” Audrey asked, snapping Brianna out of her daydreaming.
Brianna blushed. “Just...the fact that I seem to learn something new about myself every day.”
Audrey laughed. “And what did you learn to make you think about that?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Brianna waved her hand in a brush-off gesture and took a sip of her water to try and deflect.
Audrey only raised an eyebrow, but she seemed to understand Brianna wanted to change the topic.
Though they had already talked about work and their hobbies, Audrey asked Brianna about those very things.
Eventually, the conversation naturally shifted to some of their past dates, and it was kind of nice to talk about the woes of dating.
It seemed that both big cities and small towns had their fair share of angst, and it was interesting to compare.
Brianna wasn’t really sure whether it was second date appropriate, but Audrey brought out Brianna’s true self, and she appreciated that more than if she had wanted to try and avoid topics for the sake of what would be appropriate.
By the time their food was mostly polished off, Audrey had finished telling her about a previous relationship she couldn’t even tell her family about, since the other person didn’t want her parents to know.
It was easy to relate to, both from Audrey’s perspective and her ex’s.
Brianna tried to avoid thinking about her family, because the pain sometimes could become more than she could handle, but sharing it with Audrey didn’t seem so bad.
Though it was early, she knew she could trust Audrey with this.
“Are your parents okay with it?” Brianna finally asked.
“With me being a lesbian?” Audrey asked.
Brianna nodded.
“Well, it’s not as if they have a choice.” Audrey and Brianna both chuckled at the obvious joke. “But yes, they were fine with it. I mean, they accepted it, sometimes with more gusto than I would’ve liked… I don’t know if you remember, but they petitioned the school to start a gay club.”
Brianna laughed. “I definitely do not remember that.”
“It certainly didn’t help in the friend department, I can tell you that much.” Audrey shook her head. “What about yours?” she eventually asked.
Brianna had to take a sip of her water to work up the courage to talk about it. She took a deep breath.
“Mine were…not okay with it, to say the least. I ran away to Toronto the first chance I could get. My grandpa, though, has always been supportive. You’d think it’d be the opposite, but he always told me the only thing he cares about is whether I’m happy. Everything else is just irrelevant.”
Audrey reached across the table to put her hand on top of Brianna’s. It was a sweet gesture, and Brianna smiled at her. “I’m glad you have him in your corner at least. That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t, but I made it through. I just can’t believe I’m back here. I really never thought I would be,” Brianna said.
“Well, I, for one, am glad you are,” Audrey said with a smile. She turned serious after a moment. “Have you seen your parents since then?”
“Nope. I haven’t had any contact with them, and I prefer it that way. There’s really nothing they could say that would make me want to invite them back into my life. Even if they did regret what they said or did, that doesn’t mean I have to give them access to me again.”
“You’re so strong. Seriously. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”
“Trust me, I know. Or at least on my good days,” Brianna said. She detached her arm from Audrey’s to take a sip of some more water.
“I can tell you so on your bad days too,” Audrey said.
The women were interrupted from their smile-fest with the waitstaff coming by with the bill. Audrey paid, and Brianna only agreed to it because she knew she would be paying for the ice rink date, which she was getting more and more excited for.
It took her considerable effort not to skip to the car, and she was grinning ear-to-ear when they finally sat down inside.
“Ready for my date now?”
“You know it, gorgeous.”