I Will Buy You a New Life
Chapter 5
~*"Every minute without you feels like an eternity."-Unknown*~
Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours...Brian looked at the clock. 8:00. 'Alright, that bastard should have called 3 hours ago,' he thought to himself. He was getting way impatient. He wanted to know everything about her. He sighed in frustration and grabbed the phone, punching Nick's number into the phone.
"Hello?" asked Nick obviously distracted by Tony Hawk most likely.
"Hey asshole," said Brian. Nick paused his game and stood up, adjusting the phone on his shoulder.
"Hey Brian. What's up?"
"Ok, stop being the asshole that you are and tell me what happened!" he said ready to jump through the phone and strangle Nick for not calling him the second he walked in the door.
"Nothing happened. I didn't even see your Mrs. Juliet. I didn't even see someone who looked remotely like her," he lied. Truth is he didn't even go. He felt it was best to save Brian the embarrassment. Yeah that and he didn't want to have to get dressed.
"WHAT?! She's there everyday! Why wasn't she there?" he asked dropping his head on the table. "Ya know, that's just my luck."
"Well hey, look at it this way, at least you didn't miss out on her looking hot as hell or something," said Nick, trying to lift Brian's spirits.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he mumbled, with his face pressed against the table. All he wanted was to find some stuff out about her. He sighed and decided he should probably do it himself anyway. It was a dumb idea and he was actually a little happy she wasn't there.
"I'm sorry Rok-man. Maybe she knew you weren't going to be there so she skipped on the bus today and walked instead," he suggested, once again trying to lift Brian's spirits. Brian laughed a little.
"Oh yeah, I wish. Anyway, I'm gonna go watch some TV and go to sleep. I had nothing to do today so I spent all my time trying to find something to do and now I'm exhausted," he said.
"Alright. Peace," said Nick, hanging up his phone. Brian clicked his off and headed into the living room and slumped down on the couch, turning the TV on. He channel surfed for what seemed like hours before giving up and turning it off. He sat in the dim light of his living room with his head resting on the back of the couch. He couldn't get over this feeling of loneliness he had had since that dream the other night...well last night. 'Wow, that was last night?' he asked himself. Today seemed so long without her in it.
**Angelina**
She slipped under her sheets and stared up at the ceiling. He wasn't there today. Her day seemed almost pointless without seeing him. She sighed. She hated him more and more every second for making her like him so much. She growled under her breath and turned over, pulling her sheets over her head and turning onto her side. She thought about what had happened to her in the past when she opened her heart to someone. A chill ran down her spine. She hated thinking about it. She focused her mind on Brian and suddenly the knot that had begun to form in the pit of her stomach disappeared and she smiled, clinging onto her pillow as she thought about it him. He made her so happy with just one smile and so angry at the same time. She was so frustrated with herself. She knew she liked him, but she just wasn't ready to let herself go again. She wasn't ready to risk her life for another human like she had in the past, even though she knew that that's what love was all about. Taking risks.
"Whoa! Love?" she asked herself, sitting up in bed suddenly. She rolled her eyes at her stupid comment and laid back down, shutting her eyes. "Love? Ha, yeah right," she said as she reached over to the light on the nightstand and flicked it off. She couldn't sleep again...not that it was a big surprise. She was thinking of him and couldn't let her mind rest enough to fall asleep. She gave up and just laid there, staring up at the ceiling.
**Next Day**
"Yo Nick!" said Brian, getting out of his car and running up Nick's front lawn to catch up with him. Nick had just gone out to get his mail and was walking back up to the house when he heard Brian say his name. He turned around and smiled.
"Here for your daily bus-ride I see," said Nick looking Brian up and down. "Nice sweater, I'm sure no one will realize it's you," he said remarking on Brian's huge grey Kentucky Wildcats sweater.
"Dude, it's a bus with about 4 million people going home after a hard day at work. I haven't been approached yet, so why would that start now?" he asked, following Nick into his house.
"You never know dude. You're playing with fire."
"Well I'm willing to risk it. Anyway, where's Jill? I haven't heard much about her lately," he said, sitting at the kitchen counter and placing his keys down. Nick threw the mail on the counter and glanced through it then threw it across the room, watching it land perfectly on the couch. Nick turned back to Brian.
"Oh, she's down in Ft. Myers visiting some friends. I think we're going to move back to Tampa soon. Her sister's there and her dad doesn't live that far away. Besides, Orlando is kicking my ass. I hate it here man," he said, resting his head on his hand that was propped up onto the counter by his elbow. Brian nodded his head.
"Yeah, it's annoying but hey, I ain't leaving unless Angelina is coming with me," he said grinning.
"You are such a loser, Bri." Brian nodded his head.
"Yeah, I know but who the hell cares?" he said looking at the clock. Nick laughed at him. "What's so funny?" he asked, not getting the joke.
"You've got it bad," said Nick between giggles. "She's got you wrapped around her little finger and she doesn't even know it!" Brian looked at him questioningly. "Oh come on, Rok! I saw you glance at the clock. You've only been her for like 5 minutes and all ready you're getting anxious. You are so pathetic."
"Damn you, Nick!" he said balling up his fist for emphasize. "I am not wrapped around anyone's finger thankyouverymuch and besides, I just don't want to miss the bus. You have no idea how long yesterday was without seeing her." Nick shook his head, laughing lightly. "Leave me the hell alone!" he said grinning.
**Later that day**
Brian stood at the bus stop, freezing his ass off. It was cold for Florida! Ok, well like 60 degrees, but if you've lived in the state long enough and are used to the weather, you know that no matter how much people make fun of you for being cold when it's in the 60s, you're still going to freeze your ass off. Brian remembered back to the days in Kentucky when he'd run around outside in shorts when it was this cold out. He laughed a little at the memory but stopped when he saw the bus approaching. He smiled brightly, happy even just to see the bus that was carrying her. He climbed on and headed to the seat beside her without even looking around for another seat. He plopped down beside her and smiled at her. She smiled warmly back. 'Holy shit,' he thought. He never saw her smile at him before.
"Hey Angelina, It's good to see you again," he said slumping down in his seat a little and rubbing his hands together for warmth.
"Hi," she said meekly. She watched his hands. She had an infatuation with hands for some reason and his were gorgeous. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, feeling her staring at him. She looked up and met his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just have a hand thing and you have really nice ones." He smiled.
"Thank you," he said looking down at his own hands. She moved her hand to touch his and he looked down at her. The smallest touch from her sent sparks of electricity shooting through his body. She looked up and noticed his eyes on her and quickly removed her hand. He just smiled. There wasn't much talk between the two as usual, but today it was ok. Today, they both felt content not talking. They were happy to just be near each other.
"Shit," she said, wrapping her arms around herself. Brian looked over at her, wondering what was wrong.
"What? Did you drop your ring again?" he asked. She shook her head, smiling a little. He was so happy to see her smile.
"No, I forgot my damn sweater at work," she said obviously mentally cursing at herself. Brian smiled and pulled his sweater over his head and handed it to her. She looked at it and shook her head. "No, Brian, it's ok. I'll be fine."
"No really, take it," he said trying to hand it to her again. She shook her head again.
"No, you'll freeze to death, I'll be fine. My place isn't that far from the bus stop."
"Angelina, I'm serious, it's fine. Take it. I'm from Kentucky, I can take my cold ass weather," he said smiling at her.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure! Now take it before you freeze," he said handing it to her again. She took it from him and pulled it over her head. It was a little too big...ok, a lot too big but it was warm from his body and it smelled like him. She turned her head toward the window and smiled, inhaling the smell of him before turning back to face him.
"Thank you so much, how can I ever repay you?" she asked, pulling it tighter around her body as more passengers exited and entered the bus at another stop.
"Let me take you out for dinner," he said simply. She hesitated before declining.
"I can't...my uh...my dog can't be alone for that long. He goes crazy," she lied. Truth was she'd left her dog alone for days before on business trips and he was just dandy. In fact, sometimes she wondered if he liked it better alone.
"Well then I'll make you dinner at your house." She sighed and looked down at her hands. How was she going to get out of this one?
"Well, I don't have any food at my house and besides, I wasn't expecting anyone to come over so I'm sure it's a complete mess," she said, doing everything she could to try to get out of it. It's not that she didn't want him near her, but she just wasn't sure yet. She was sure she liked him, but she still wasn't sure of...'Of what?' she asked herself. She couldn't think of an answer to her own question. 'I'm not sure of what?' she asked herself again.
"We can walk to the grocery store and grab some food. I'll make you my specialty, spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread." Home-made dinner? Sure sounded good to her but...she couldn't think of a good enough excuse to get out of it.
"Alright," she said softly. His smile tripled until it was hard to see around it. She looked up at him, smiling inwardly at the goofy ass grin he had plastered across his face. This was going to be interesting...a night alone with a guy. She hadn't been alone with a guy in so long (or anyone for that matter), she wasn't even sure if she could remember first night rules. She decided it didn't really matter anyway. She wasn't planning on kissing him and she sure as hell wasn't going to sleep with him so basically this was just a quick quiet dinner, then off to bed. She felt her palms began to sweat a little as they reached her stop. She was actually getting kind of nervous. What if she did something wrong? What if he didn't like her house? What if Killer attacked him? She laughed at her last question. Killer had never attached a fly in his life. They reached her stop and Brian stood up, letting her walk past him first. She was definitely getting nervous now. What if he expected more then dinner? What if this became a regular thing? What if they started dating thanks to this one time she couldn't say no? What if he hurt her in the long run? She tried so hard not to think of any of that. They stepped off the bus and stood there for a second.
"Umm...I don't know my way around here. Which way to the grocery store?" he asked, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. His arms were freezing, but he knew it was worth it. She had his sweater and he would be eating dinner with the most beautiful woman alive in his eyes. She pointed down the road and he nodded his head. The two began to walk silently down the street. Brian saw her shivering a little bit and wanted so badly to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight against his body, but he knew better then that so he kept his hands to himself.
Not too long after, they reached Publix. (Florida's main source for groceries...not to mention the meeting place of every old person alive.) The two walked through the automatic doors and Brian grabbed a basket and pushed it up and down the aisles, collecting all the stuff he would need to make the perfect dinner. While she was off in another aisle getting stuff that she needed for herself, Brian slipped a couple of dark blue candles in the cart along with candle holders and a dark blue flower vase. He planned on grabbing some of them on his travels around the store as well. He wanted everything to be perfect. This was, after all, their first encounter outside of the tin piece of shit (otherwise known as the bus). He shoved that stuff to the bottom of the basket when he saw her walking back down the aisle toward him. He looked down at her as she placed some bananas and a few other things in the cart.
"You ready to go, Angel?" he asked her. She looked up at him and nodded her head, gleaming. She loved the fact that he had just called her Angel. No one had every called her that before and it felt damn good. He was happy with her reaction, seeing as he thought she'd kick his ass for being sweet with her. They made their way to the lines that were about 4 miles long (filled with old people, of course). He sighed and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You'd think it was 'Depends- 50% off day' or something," he said smiling. She laughed lightly. It made him feel good to see her laugh.
"Oh God!" she said, still laughing. "That was horrible Brian!" He smiled and nodded his head.
"Yeah, I know but I mean come on. There's enough old people here to start a retirement home." She laughed again and his goal was set: To see her smile at least once a minute whenever they were together. They FINALLY made it to the front of the line and she told him she had to go to the bathroom and that she'd meet him outside. He nodded. This was perfect for him so she wouldn't see his sappy self buying candles and flowers for her. He watched her walk away from him, smiling to himself.
"That'll be $53.11," said the lady behind the counter.
"What?" asked Brian, refocusing his attention back to her.
"$53.11," she said again. Brian nodded his head and began writing out a check. He had to re-read it a couple times to make sure it didn't say something like 'Angelina is gorgeous' across it, since that's the only thought that kept running through his mind. "That your girlfriend?" asked the lady as she took the check from Brian's hand. He shook his head. "Best friend?" He shook his head again. "Do you even know her?" He laughed and nodded his head.
"Just a little bit," he said, smiling.
"Oh, well good luck with dinner tonight and don't pressure her into anything." He nodded sternly.
"Oh hell no I'm not going to pressure her into anything! I don't want to scare her off," he said looking back over at the bathroom doors in time to see her walking out. She looked at him and smiled, gesturing to him that she'd be outside. He gave her a thumbs up and watched her walk outside. He smiled a little to himself.
"Well good luck again, and have a nice night," said the lady handing him his reciept. He smiled at her and pushed the cart out of the store. Angelina was leaned up against a wall waiting for him. She looked over when the doors opened and smiled. His heart jumped in his chest.
"Do you think they'd notice if we stole the cart?" he asked looking at her as the two began to walk through the parking lot. She shook her head.
"They have like a million and one, I'm sure they'll be okay," she said wrapping her arms around herself as the wind picked up a little.
"Good, cause there is no way we'd be able to carry all of this crap," he said looking down at the almost filled cart. She nodded her head in agreement.
"Thanks for paying and thanks for doing all of this. You're way too nice to me," she said looking down at her shoes as they walked. Brian stopped walking and grabbed her arm so she was stopped too. He looked down at her and lifted her chin so she would look into his eyes.
"Angel, nothing in the world is too nice for you," he said looking deep into her eyes. She smiled slightly, trying to believe it...wanting to believe it but she just couldn't. He smiled back at her and turned back around and began walking again. The rest of the walk to her house was relatively quiet except for when Brian mentioned that he had a friend that lived not too far from her. She didn't seem too interested. Her mind seemed to be somewhere else again. Brian grabbed all 4 million of their bags and walked up the stairs to her door. She insisted on helping, but he refused, being the gentleman that he is. They walked inside and he looked around for a second. It was cute. Not exactly as bright and colorful as he had invisioned, but nice all the same. He saw this tiny Jack-Russel Terrier come bounding around the corner. It ran instantly to Brian and jumped up his leg.
"Killer! Down!" she yelled at him. He looked up at her sadly and she picked him up. "Awww you miss me baby?" she asked holding him up under his front legs. "Oh, the kitchen is down there and to the right," she said noticing Brian leaning because of the weight of the bags. He set them down on the counter and walked back into the foyer to meet her dog. She held him up to Brian's face and the dog licked his nose causing Brian to laugh a little. "Killer, this is Brian. Brian, this is Killer," she said introducing the two. Brian took Killer into his hands and craddled the small dog in his arms as he licked and sniffed Brian. "I think he likes you," said Angelina, smiling at the site. If she had a camera right then, that picture would have been worth a million smiles in the future, but she didn't, so she didn't dwell on it. She looked at Brian playing with the dog and began to walk into the kitchen to put the stuff away. Brian set the dog down and jogged after her.
"I'll do that!" he said playfully slapping her hands away. She smiled and backed away.
"Be my guest," she said sitting at the counter to advise him on what went where. When he pulled out the candles and flowers, she felt a lump form in her throat. He looked over at her and smiled.
"They're for effect. An Italian dinner isn't Italian without some candles and flowers," he said with a European accent. She laughed at him.
"Well, I guess you do have a point, Brian."
-=Chapter Six=-
-=I Will Buy Chapter Index=-
-=Story Index=-
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