The Reunion (Liv): Not My Style

"I can't believe you chose to work when you can just hang out for the summer.  Do you know how many people would kill for a schedule like that?!"  Lauren was baffled by the fact that I had begged my bosses for some work to do to keep myself busy.  They had happily put me to work about 10 hours a week, which was perfect.

"I would hate it," Kinsley said, nodding at me.  "I get it.  I think too much when I don't have enough to do."

I laughed.  "It was great for two weeks," I said.  "But that's enough.  I never realized how many hobbies I don't have until I suddenly had time to do them.  Or not do them, as it were.  And it doesn't help that Brody works about a thousand hours a week and you guys both have jobs and boyfriends and lives and can't entertain me all the time."

"Speaking of boyfriends," Kinsley said, grinning wickedly at Lauren, "How's the cohabitation space search going?"

"That," Lauren said, sighing.  "Not well.  We found a place and we put in an offer and lost it in a bidding war.  Then we found another place, our offer was accepted, but they found significant issues with the pipes during the inspection. We looked at a rental that I really liked but Alex hated.  And then of course, a bunch of places that sucked."

"That sucks," I said, frowning.  "You're staying month to month at your townhome then, right?"

"Yeah," Lauren replied.  "But I hate being in limbo."

Lauren, Kinsley, and I hung out at the restaurant for awhile after we were done eating, finishing our drinks and chatting.  After we ate, I went to the grocery store, not in any hurry to get home to an empty house.

When I got home, I was surprised to find Brody's SUV in the garage.  "Brody?" I called, struggling through the door with grocery bags in hand.  I was halfway to the kitchen when Brody appeared from his office.

"Hi, gorgeous," he said, kissing me on the cheek as he took the grocery bags from my hands.

"What are you doing home?" I asked.  "I mean, not that I'm not thrilled to see you.  Because I am."

Brody laughed.  "A likely story.  I came home awhile ago because I wasn't feeling very well.  Annnnd then I realized I hadn't eaten all day.  I was fine once I ate, so I've just been working here."

"You need to take better care of yourself," I said, frowning at him in concern.

"Don't worry," he assured me.  "I don't anticipate it happening again.  I mean, how could it, with a fridge full of your delicious cooking?"  He squeezed my arm and kissed me, then started to put groceries away.  I helped him, putting the dry things away in the pantry while he put stuff in the fridge.  "Anyway, listen.  Pete asked me to support a charity that's important to him, and since he's important to me, I'm going to do it."

"Well, that seems like a good idea," I replied.

"I thought so," he said, grinning.  "At least until I found out that he asked me just in time for their annual fundraising event.  Which I now have to go to."

I laughed, trying to picture Brody at a formal charity event.  It definitely seemed like something he would hate.  "Well, have fun with that," I said.

"Oh no," he replied, shaking his head.  "One doesn't go to a charity event without a date."

"And I suppose that means I get to be your date, huh?" I asked.

"I'd be honored," he said with a wink.

I couldn't say no to that.  "Fine," I agreed.  "But you'll have to be reeeaaallllyyyy nice to me between now and then."

"How nice are we talking here?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow and taking a step towards me.  "Like, taking the garbage out without being asked nice?  Buying you diamonds nice?"

I laughed.  "You already take the garbage out without being asked," I pointed out.  "Diamonds aren't necessary.  How about a massage?  That seems like a good compromise."

"Well, a massage doesn't really seem like a middle ground between taking the garbage out and buying you diamonds, but I think I can handle that."

"Good!" I said.  I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stairs.

"Oh, you meant now," Brody said, feigning surprise.  "Hmmm, I'm not so sure I can--"  He stopped, laughing when I turned and glared at him.  He pulled me to a stop and tugged me closer to him, wrapping his arms around my waist and grinning at me.

"You're lucky you're cute," I told him, pursing my lips to try to keep myself from returning his smile.
He grinned wider.  "So lucky," he replied, leaning down to kiss me.

"That massage isn't happening, is it?" I asked, barely moving my lips from his.

"Nope," he replied, moving his mouth along my jaw, to my ear, and down my neck.  "Not tonight.  I owe you one."

*

"I feel like an imposter," I groaned, watching Lauren fix one last piece of hair.  She'd pinned it to one side, leaving loose waves out in strategic places.  I smoothed my hands down the midsection of my navy gown, feeling far more nervous than the situation called for.

"You don't look like an imposter," she said, smiling at her handiwork in the mirror.  "I mean, this is some of my best work."

I laughed.  "You did do a great job," I said.  "Thank you.  I would have looked ridiculous in this dress without my hair properly done."

Lauren started to respond, but a soft knock at the open door interrupted her.  "Almost ready?" Brody asked.  I turned towards him and watched his mouth drop open slightly.  "Wow," he said, looking me over.  "You look unbelievably amazing."

"Thank you," Lauren said, before I could respond.  "I've been working out."

"Go home, Lauren," I said, laughing.

"Some thanks," she huffed, gathering her bobby pins and hair spray.

I rolled my eyes.  "Thank you, I love you, now go home so my husband can properly appreciate your hard work!"

The look of horror on her face was perfect.  "I'm already gone," she said.  "I don't want anything to do with your marital appreciation."

"I wish I had more time to properly appreciate you right now," Brody told me after she was gone.  "But I assure you that I'm looking forward to getting that dress off of you later."

"I kind of like it," I said, checking myself out in the mirror one last time.  "I might just keep it on forever."

Brody frowned.  "Well, that would be tragic, though you are quite gorgeous with it on."  I laughed and nudged him out the door, thanking him as we walked downstairs.

"I feel kind of ridiculous," I admitted.  "This isn't really my style."

"You're not the only one," he said.  "I can't believe I let myself get talked into this.  Though it's a good cause and the exposure is good for my company."

"Oh please.  You can charm anyone.  I'm the idiot that will ramble and say embarrassing things.  Oh god, please promise to pinch me if I start to ramble.  Don't let me look like an idiot tonight!"

Brody laughed.  "I promise.  No one is going to look like an idiot."

When we got to the event, we immediately headed for the bar.  I was grateful to have a glass of wine in my hand, mostly because it gave me something to do with my hands.  "There you two are," came a familiar voice behind us, as we moved away from the bar.

We turned to see Pete and his wife, Serena.  "You clean up well, Pete!" Brody said, grinning and shaking his hand.  Brody kissed Serena on the cheek and then she lightly hugged me.  I may have felt awkward and out of place, but Serena looked like she knew exactly what she was doing.

We made small talk for a couple minutes before Pete dragged Brody off to introduce him to someone.  Serena and I stayed near the bar chatting until Brody and Pete returned.  "There's a surprising number of people here I know," Brody said, looking around.

"You know everyone, so I'm not sure why that's surprising," I pointed out.

He grinned.  He knew it was true.  "Walk with me?" he requested, holding his arm out to me.  I took it and as we walked across the room, Brody said, "I was so distracted by how beautiful you look that I forgot to tell you my good news."  I looked at him expectantly.  "We filled the last open position today."

"So..." I said, not sure I wanted to say out loud what I thought that meant.

"So there's an actual end in sight for my ridiculous hours now," he said.  "She'll start in 3 weeks, and I think about 2 weeks after that I'm going to start cutting down my hours and seeing how it goes.  I'm already working on shifting some of my responsibilities to the team leads."

"That is so exciting!" I replied.  "I mean, selfishly, I'm really glad that I'll get to have you around a little more.  But I'm also really excited for you.  You've worked so hard."

"Brody!" someone called, before he could respond.  Brody turned and smiled at someone.  He introduced me to the man, who was apparently a Denver Broncos cornerback.  "Your husband is the best PR I've ever had," he told me, grinning.  "And I went through quite a few before him."

"That's why I'm keeping you when we restructure," Brody said, laughing.  "I'm not going to let you run through my team."

"I told him he works too hard but he won't listen to me," the cornerback said to me.

"Join the club," I said with a chuckle.  "He won't listen to me either."

The rest of the evening was much of the same:  smiling through introductions, making small talk with the many people at the event that Brody knew, and wishing I had worn more comfortable shoes.  But the food was good, the bar was open, and I even had a little bit of fun.

"Well, what did you think?" Brody asked as we got in his SUV at the end of the night.

I groaned, slipping my heels off.  "Well, I think I need to invest in some more comfortable shoes if we ever do this again."

"Again?" he asked.

"I said 'if'," I reminded him.

"You also said 'again'," he replied, and I could see his smirk even in the dark.

I laughed.  "It wasn't so bad," I admitted.

"I agree," he replied.  "It didn't hurt that I happened to have the most beautiful date there."

I snorted and shook my head as he reached for my hand over the center console.  "Flattery will get you everywhere, I suppose."

"I can only hope," he said, winking at me.