Lauren Doesn't Giggle

On Friday, after I said goodbye to my last client, some of my coworkers took me out for drinks.  The plan was for me to hang out with them for a few hours, then Brody was going to meet me there and we were going to go have dinner and drinks with Lauren, Kinsley, and Alex.  We were meeting them at 8, so Brody was planning to get there around 7:30 or 7:45.

We left the office at 5, and my soon-to-be-former-coworkers were keeping my drinks full.  I was feeling it by a little after 7.  When Sam said she was going up to the bar for one more round, I didn't protest, though I probably should have.  She was gone for awhile, and suddenly Charlotte said, "Looks like Sam found a hot guy to flirt with up at the bar."  I craned my neck to look and saw that the hot guy that Sam was flirting with happened to be Brody.  She had a hand on his arm and was standing about 3 inches away from him, talking animatedly.  For his part, Brody looked awfully uncomfortable and was scanning the bar, likely looking for me.

"I'll be right back," I said, quickly slipping away from the table and up to the bar.  I walked up to Sam and Brody and smiled.  "Hi," I said, looking at Brody.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, the relief on his face evident.  He slid an arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.  Sam looked surprised and took a half step back.

"You're..." she started, then trailed off.

"Sam, I see you've met my boyfriend, Brody,"  I said, smiling kindly.  I felt bad since she didn't know, and I didn't want to embarrass her.

"Yes, I guess I have," she said, her face red.  Brody turned to the bar to take a drink from the bartender and pay, and Sam mouthed, "I'm so sorry!" to me.  I shook my head and smiled again.  Sam turned and hurried back to the table.

"You're early," I said, when Brody turned back, drink in hand.  "You should have let me know, I'd have looked for you."  I wobbled a little and he tightened his arm around my waist to steady me.

"I am early," he agreed.  "I got done with work early and thought I'd swing by and have a drink with you guys before we take off.  And then I got accosted by her."  He nodded towards the table.

"She's really quite lovely," I assured him with a laugh.  He looked at me skeptically.  When we got to the table, he put his drink down and excused himself to go to the restroom.

"I thought he looked familiar!" Leigh hissed, as soon as he was out of earshot.  "Isn't that the guy that showed up at the office a couple months back?"  I confirmed, mildly embarrassed at the memory of Brody showing up unexpectedly to confront me about not telling him about Savannah's little plan after Allie spilled the beans to me.  "He's gorgeous, nice work!"

"I am mortified," Sam said.  "I am seriously so sorry, if I would have known--"

I cut her off.  "Don't worry, I'm not upset.  I promise!"  I assured her.

"She's probably used to other girls hitting on him," Charlotte said with a shrug.  "You don't get to enjoy having a boyfriend that looks like that without having to deal with girls flirting with him."  For some reason, talking about how hot Brody was was making me uncomfortable, and I was relieved when Leigh whispered that he was coming back.  Everyone quickly shifted to free up a chair next to me.  Brody kissed my cheek as he sat down, which made me blush.

We sat for about a half hour, and then it was time for us to head out to meet Lauren, Kinsley, and Alex.  I started to get a little irritated by the way they were all giggling at Brody.  You'd think they'd never been in the presence of a man before.  "Your coworkers are a lively bunch," Brody commented mildly as we walked out.  I burst into laughter.

"Something like that," I said.  "Sorry about Sam."

"You're sorry that I got hit on?" he teased.  "I'm not, it helps me feel young again."

"Yes, because 30 is so very old," I agreed.  "Especially when you don't look a day over 25.  It must be hard."

"Says the 26 year old that gets carded regularly," he joked back.  "And it's not because they card everyone that looks under 50!"  It was true.  Between my height and my round face, I was constantly hearing that I looked like I was much younger than 26.  Everyone assured me that some day I'd be thankful for it, but for now I wasn't a huge fan.

 "I'll be 27 soon!" I shot back.  "That's pretty much the official old age cut-off."  Brody laughed and shook his head.  My birthday was in January, and it seemed odd to be to be crossing officially into "late 20s."

We got to the restaurant to meet up with Lauren, Kinsely, and Alex a few minutes before 8.  Alex and Lauren were there already and had gotten us a table.  I noticed that they seemed to be sitting a little closer than necessary, and Lauren shifted to the side a little when she saw us walking up.  Interesting.

Kinsley got there a few minutes later, and we quickly ordered drinks and appetizers.  I went with water for the moment, because I didn't feel like needing to be carried home tonight.  We enjoyed our dinner and it was nice to see Lauren, Kinsley, and Alex again.  Between Lynn's accident and wrapping things up at work, it had been over a week since I last saw them.

Kinsley and I went to the bathroom after we ate.  "So what's going on with Lauren and Alex?" she asked me as we walked.

"I was going to ask you!" I exclaimed.  "I caught them whispering twice."

"She's giggling at him," Kinsley said.  "Lauren doesn't giggle."  I agreed.  I filled her in on how they were sitting when Brody and I arrived.  "I'm going to ask her," she decided.  "Later, obviously."

I made Kinsley promise to fill me in.  I hoped there was something going on.  I loved the idea of Lauren and Alex.  We swore we'd let each other know as soon as either of us found something out.

"What are your plans for the weekend?" Brody asked as we left.

"Sleeping!" I responded immediately.  "And being lazy.  This week was insane, and I still don't feel caught up on my sleep from last weekend."

"No kidding," Brody agreed.  "And that sounds like an excellent idea.  Want some company for your weekend plans?"

"Yes, please," I replied.  "Can we stay at your house?  I feel like being out of the city will help me relax and be lazy.  I won't be tempted to do anything crazy like go to the gym."  

"Good idea.  We should stop and pick up some groceries so we have food and don't even have to leave the house if we don't want to," he suggested.

"Perfect. This is going to be the best weekend ever."

Brody raised his eyebrows.  "It doesn't take much to keep you happy, huh?  A few groceries and no plans."

We stopped at my house so I could get clothes and stuff for the weekend, then stopped for groceries.  We were settled on Brody's couch with a movie by 11pm.  I laid with my head in his lap, not even watching the movie.  I closed my eyes as his fingers moved through my hair absently, dragging lightly across my scalp and neck.

"I've seen you almost every day this week," he mused, snapping me out of my near-sleep daze.

"Mmhm," I replied sleepily.  "It's been awesome."

"It has," he agreed.  "I wish I could see you this often all the time." 

I ended up falling asleep, and woke up when Brody stood.  "Sorry," he said softly.  "I was trying not to wake you, but we might as well just go to bed."  I nodded and yawned as he offered me a hand and pulled me to my feet.

Once I was in bed, I fell asleep almost immediately and I'm pretty sure I didn't even move until I was woken up by Brody's phone ringing early the next morning.  I rolled over, confused by the sudden intrusion into my sleep.  Brody was already sitting up.  "Sorry," he said, grabbing his phone and heading into the hallway.  I groped on the nightstand for my phone and saw that it was barely 7am.  I groaned and rolled over to go back to sleep.

I have no idea how long Brody was on the phone, but it was long enough for me to fall back asleep.  I woke up again when he sat down on the edge of the bed next to me.  "Liv?" he said softly.

"Hmm?" I said groggily, squinting against the light filtering in around the curtains.

"I've got to go into the office for a little bit," he said.  I rolled onto my back and saw he was already dressed in a button down shirt and dark wool pants.  "I have an angry client.  Stay here and sleep.  I shouldn't be more than a couple hours.  I'll call you if it'll be longer, but I should be back by 10."

"Okay," I said.  "Good luck."

He smiled wryly.  "Thanks, I'll need it."  He kissed me and left, and I went back to sleep easily.

The next time I woke up was when Brody climbed back into bed with me.

"You're back," I said unnecessarily as he settled behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist.  "How's your client?"

"Less angry," he replied, pressing his forehead against my neck.  "I think I fixed it, we'll see.  I can't believe you're still sleeping."

"I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted to sleep and be lazy all weekend."

"I guess not," he said.  He moved his forehead from where it was nestled against my neck and replaced it with his mouth.  His lips slid along my neck from near my shoulder up towards my ear and he said softly, "But I want you to be awake now."  As he spoke, he trailed his fingertips across my hip and down my leg, then back up it. 

"You might be able to convince me that being awake is a good idea," I said, arching my back slightly as his hand slid up my stomach, under my shirt.

When Brody was done convincing me that being awake was definitely a good idea, I finally dragged myself out of bed.  We took a ridiculously long shower together, and by the time we made it downstairs, I was starving.  We made a delicious brunch of omelets and french toast and then settled onto the couch to spend the rest of the day being lazy.

We spent most of Sunday morning being lazy too, and Brody's phone was mercifully quiet.  He deserved an uninterrupted day off, and I was crossing my fingers and hoping that it would stay quiet for the rest of the day for him.

By lunchtime, though, we were both getting tired of being lazy.  It was sunny and reasonably warm outside, so we decided to go for a walk.  I don't care if it's a total old married couple thing to do...going for a walk on a weekend afternoon is the best.

I admired the other houses as we walked around.  "I love this neighborhood," I said.  The houses here were spaced quite far apart, with big yards and mature trees.  It was just far enough out of the city to have some space and quiet, but close enough to be convenient, most of the time.  "If I ever got tired of living in the city, I'd want to live in a neighborhood like this."

"Oh yeah?" Brody asked, looking at me.  "With 2.5 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence?"

I rolled my eyes.  "No to the 2.5 kids, yes to the dog, and maybe to the white picket fence.  Depends on if it goes with the house."

Brody nodded.  "Duly noted.  You seem like more of a 4 or 5 kid person anyway."

When I looked at him in horror, he had to stop walking because of how hard he was laughing.   "Relax, I'm just kidding," he assured me, once he had gotten himself together.  "No kids?"

I shrugged as we continued walking.  "Someday, I guess.  But not any time soon.  And definitely not 4 or 5!  More like one.  Maaaaaybe two.  Depends on how much I like the first one."

"So the fence depends on the house, and Kid #2 depends on Kid #1.  I feel like I should be taking notes.  Does Kid #1 depend on how much you like the dog?"  He was smirking at me, and I smacked him in the arm.

"Kid #1 depends on how much I like his or her potential father," I replied, returning his smirk.   "What about you?"

He answered without even thinking.  "Kids?  One, someday. And a dog, maybe two."

"Hmmm, that's not what I would have thought," I replied.

"Oh really?  What would you have thought?" he replied.

"Let's see...for you I'm thinking 4 kids--all boys, of course, 3 cats, and a chain link fence because you have horrible taste."

Now we were both laughing.  "Careful," he warned me.  "Those 4 boys, 3 cats, and chain link fence could someday be yours too.  What's that say about your taste?"

"You want to have a chain link fence with me?" I teased, not quite able to bring myself to confirm that maybe, someday, he might want to have kids and pets and a house....with me.

"No!" he exclaimed, still laughing.  "I hate chain link fences.  We can have whatever kind of fence you want, as long as it'll contain the dog and it's not chain link."  I grinned at him.  "What?" he asked.

"You're already letting me call the shots for our hypothetical future home.  That doesn't bode well for you."  He chuckled.  I paused, then said, "And you're also talking about our hypothetical future home.  And dog."

"Yeah, I guess I am," he said.  "Is that weird?"  We had both stopped walking, and he was watching me carefully, gauging my reaction.

"Kind of," I admitted.  "But not bad weird.  It's just weird for me to talk about the future.  I've actually never had the 'future' talk with a guy before, even kind of joking and casually like this."

"Not even with John?" he asked curiously.

"No...it just never really came up.  This came up so casually I almost didn't even realize we were doing it until you said the boys, cats, and chain link fence could be mine someday.  Which, by the way?  No thanks!"  I laughed, uncomfortable with how serious the conversation had just gotten.  Brody and I had gone from 0 to 60 incredibly quickly, and as much as I hated to admit it, I loved the idea of our house, our kids, and our pets.  But that thought freaked me out a little too, and I was getting a little squirmy under Brody's serious gaze.

He grinned, reading my discomfort.  "Hey, don't look at me like that," he said.  "The 4 boys, 3 cats, and chain link fence were your ideas."  When I relaxed a little, he put his arm around my shoulders and we continued walking.  "Seriously though, Liv.  I like talking about the future, but I promise I won't ask you to marry me next week, okay?  I think I'll wait at least another month."   

"You can't say 'seriously though, Liv' and then make a joke!" I said, laughing.  I was grateful that he seemed to understand that it was the conversation that made me uncomfortable, not actually thinking about the future.  I liked thinking about it, but saying it out loud made me anxious.  Even though I had stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop, I couldn't help not wanting to jinx anything.

I snuck my arm between us so I could wrap it around Brody's back as we walked.  "Your neighbors are probably rolling their eyes at us," I hypothesized, as we walked down the road with our arms around each other.

"Nah, they're too busy with their 2.5 kids and dogs," he replied, tightening his arm around my shoulder and kissing the top of my head.

I pressed my body closer to his as I thought about someday having kids.  The thought made me smile, though it was slightly overwhelming, and I decided to stick to focusing on the present for now.