Chapter 21

Sparkling eyes met mine as I glanced up from my empty plate, and I rolled my eyes at Bree's mischievous grin.

Polina laughed softly.
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed the meal" Polina said with a small smile and I smiled in response.
I was grateful for the lighthearted moment after the morning's drama.

As we finished up, I remembered Jason's request and I immediately turned to Bree.

"Hey, Bree? Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

Bree raised an eyebrow but nodded.

We thanked Polina for the meal and Bree led the way to the living room.
"What's up?" she asked, plopping down on the couch. I sat down beside her.

I took a deep breath, choosing my words carefully.
"It's about your dad. He wants to have a barbecue this weekend and really wants you to be there" I said and she rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to," she said and I sighed.

"I think he's just trying to make amends, Bree" I said, trying to convince her.

Bree's expression turned skeptical.
"What makes you think that?" she asked and I looked away.

I hesitated, unsure of what to say.
"He just seems really sincere about it. And I think it could be good for both of you to spend time together. Remember your promise to try before we came here?" I asked her and she nodded.

Then she sighed, looking slightly unconvinced. "I don't know, Andy. I'm just - still so pissed at him" she said and I offered a sad smile.

I took her hands in mine.
"I get it. I really do. But maybe this could be a step towards healing? For both of you?" I said.

Bree looked at me for a long moment before nodding slightly.
"Okay, fine. I'll think about it." she said and I smiled in relief.

"That's all I can ask for." I said and she gave a small smile.

"It won't just be me and him, yeah?You'll be there too, right?" she asked and I nodded.

"Every step of the way" I said and she sighed in relief.

We sat there and talked about some other things for a bit before she suddenly had an idea.

"Want to go shopping?" She asked and when I saw the excitement in her eyes, I knew I couldn't say no.

"Hell yeah" I agreed.

Sha squealed slightly. The sound of shopping got her excited every single time.

"And then maybe we could go to the movies after?" I suggested and she nodded like an eager child.

I chuckled.

"Okay, let's go change then" I said and dragged her up.

We made our way to our rooms to change our clothes into something more appropriate and of course, I finished before her.
So, I made my way to her room, knocked and entered when she told me to.

"Oh hey" she said as soon as she saw me.
I took in her appearance.

"Bree, that's such a gorgeous dress" I said and she smiled as she twirled around.

"Thank you," she said.

"I'm almost done," she said as she searched for something.

"What are you looking for?" I asked and she frowned.

"A bracelet" she said and I froze.
Could it be?... Did Violet not return it?

"I could have sworn I put it here" she said as she sighed and turned to another place to search for it.

I decided to help.

"Can you tell me how it looks so I can help to search for it?" I asked.

"Yeah. It has, um… like diamonds and emeralds but it should be in a white box with my initials in it." She explained and I froze.
Shit. Violet, that fucking bitch.

I started to search for it too, praying to God that Violet actually returned it.

Just as I was about to give up, she exclaimed.
"Found it!" She said and I sighed in relief before turning to her to see her wearing it.

"Thank goodness" I said and she smiled.

"It's odd though. I don't remember putting it here" she said, pointing to where she found it. I hummed in response.

I shook my head. The nerve of that girl. She probably did that intentionally.

Finally, she was done and we made our way downstairs.

A driver was ready for us. I looked at her in surprise.

"Oh, I called him when we were in our rooms" she explained and I nodded in understanding.

We greeted the man and entered the car, settling in comfortably.

He turned on the engine and we were on our way.

As we drove to the mall, Bree chatted excitedly about what she wanted to buy. She was determined to find the perfect outfit for her next night out. There was a club opening coming up and she aimed to dress to kill, and I was happy to help her search for it.

When we arrived, we spent hours browsing through stores, trying on clothes, and laughing together. It was exactly what we both needed after the drama of the past few days.

After a few hours of shopping, we decided to take a break and grab some ice cream. As we sat down at a small café, Bree suddenly looked carried away.

Just as I was about to ask what was going on, she nudged me and whispered, "Oh my god, look at him!"
I followed her gaze to a guy sitting across from us, typing away on his laptop. He was admittedly so cute.

Bree started to giggle and whisper to me, "I'm going to go talk to him in a minute."

"You're going to leave me?!" I asked, my voice hushed to a whisper and my eyes widening.

"Look at him!" she whispered back and I looked at him again. Okay okay. I get it.

"Go get him, roomie" I finally said and she giggled in response.

We chatted and enjoyed our ice cream for a bit, with Bree occasionally glancing over at the guy and smiling. He looked up and caught her eye a few times, smiling back at her.

Finally, after a few minutes, Bree got up, winked at me and walked over to his table.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked, and even I could feel the heat from her stare all the way from where I was seated.

The guy looked up, startled, and then smiled.

"Not at all," he said, scooting over to make room for her.

As they started talking, I could see the flirting escalating. They laughed and joked, touching each other's arms and playfully teasing each other.
I watched in amusement, happy to see Bree having so much fun. She was really in her element.
I checked the time and saw that we needed to get going.

After a few minutes, I got up and walked over to their table.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I've got to steal her away for a minute," I said, smiling at the guy.

He looked up at me, slightly surprised, and then nodded.
"No worries," he said, smiling back at me.

Bree playfully rolled her eyes as she got up and I pulled her apart.
She whispered to me, "Andy, stop being possessive."

I chuckled and whispered back, "We've got to go. The movie is starting soon" I said.

She groaned.
"Fine, just give me a few minutes to say bye" she said and before I could say anything else, she basically ran back to him.

She grinned mischievously and started chatting with him again, laughing and flirting shamelessly. It had to be her favorite thing to do. I sighed and watched in amusement for a few more minutes before I realized her while saying bye thing was taking too long.

I went over to the table again and grabbed her hand.
"We should get going, Bree. We don't want to be late for the movie." I said.

She pouted, but eventually stood up.
She smiled at the guy and skillfully grazed her hands on his.
"Hey, it was great talking to you," she said.

He smiled back and stood up, walking with us for a few steps.
"Yeah, same here. Maybe I'll see you around?" he suggested.

She grinned.
"I think that can be arranged." she said and the guy chuckled before going back to his seat.

As we walked out of the café, Bree turned to me and whispered, "I got his number."

I raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Nice work."

Bree smiled, looking pleased with herself. "Thanks. I'm so going to text him later." she said I laughed.

"No more Gaston?" I asked, teasing her.

"Nope. I like Dominic more" she said and we both laughed.

I shook my head.
"You're impossible." I said as we settled into the car.

We rushed to the movie theater, making it just in time for the start of the film. As we settled into our seats, Bree leaned over and whispered, "Thanks for today, Andy. I really needed this."

I smiled, squeezing her hand.
"Always" I said and she smiled in response.

The movie started, and we both got lost in the story, relishing in the much-needed distraction from the drama that had been going on over the past few days.

By the time the credits rolled in, I was wiping tears off my face.

"I can't believe you cried" Bree mocked me, as she stared at me, nearly on the edge of bursting into laughter.

I ignored her and dried my face. Finally, people started leaving so we got up as well.

By the time we made our way outside, I was okay again.

"Do not speak a word of this to anyone" I told her and that was all it took for her to start laughing.

"Oh, you know I will definitely tell everyone and anyone that will listen" she said and I groaned.

"Come on Bree. Please" I begged and she kept laughing.

"Tell me one thing though. Why were you even crying? It wasn't even that sad" she said and I huffed in frustration.

"It was! You are just made of ice. I'm sure there were many other people there who cried" I argued and she shook her head.

"It was literally a comedy, Andy. Admittedly, they added a little sentimental thingy to it but it was funny all in all!" She said and I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Fine. It wasn't sad" I said, pausing to look at her, before continuing. "Someone was probably just cutting onions" I said and she started to laugh again.

It was hard not to join her and I slowly found myself breaking and on the edge of laughing when a voice put a stop to our laughter.

"Andy?" The person said.

I froze. I knew that voice anywhere.
But how was that even possible?

We both turned around to see the source of the voice.

"Oh shit" Bree muttered under her breath.
You can say that again.

I was right.
It was Peter. And he had company.
How lovely.