Teddy and I were bantering ( "doing a small discussion" as he would say ) about which of the various outfits we had previously matched and laid out on my bed should I wear tonight when the shrill ringtone of my phone pierced through our conversation. I pressed a finger to my lips, motioning him to be quiet while I answered the call. My younger baby brother crossed his arms and pouted at me, seemingly offended by the rude interruption.
Weird. I've never seen this phone number before. "Hello?"
"Hey, sis. Remember me?" A familiar low chuckle rumbled through the call from the other side of the phone.
What the- "Andrew? Is that you?" I didn't even bother masking my surprise and excitement upon hearing from Justin's older brother. Intrigued by my sudden agitated pacing and change of tone, Teddy inched closer and strained his ears to listen to our conversation.
"Yeeeet. I'm sorry that I didn't get around to tell you that I've changed my number. My ex boss kinda threw my phone against the wall when we had...an argument," he answered sheepishly. I raised my eyebrows at Teddy, which only piqued his curiosity further.
I've always known his job was a challenging one; but, to this extent? "What you really meant was he got caught cutting off too much budget on the building materials again and was throwing a tantrum about it, wasn't it?" I could practically imagine his shoulders slumping as his defeated sigh reached my ear. "I'm glad that you left the company though. Justin told me you're quite content with working at your current company," I looked over and found Teddy waving a black leather mini skirt in my face.
"Oh my, the company I'm now working in is a far cry from my previous one. Appreciative boss, friendly colleagues, higher salary... I couldn't believe my luck, really," he further elaborated with much enthusiasm. "Enough about me! I was calling to invite you to my wedding! I know you went shopping with Justin and my mum for preparations, but are you coming?"
I had to stifled a laugh at his nervousness, but I guess a little teasing wouldn't do too much harm. "Well, I didn't receive any rose-scented wedding invitation with my name printed in calligraphic golden letters on it..." Walking over to my bed, I pointed at a pair of white washed ripped blue jeans which Teddy shook his head at.
He laughed easily before continuing. "C'mon; you're definitely invited because you're family."
A small smile slipped from my lips as my heart felt warmer at the mercy of his choice of words. "Speaking of family; where's my little guy?"
"Ah...he's actually with me for this whole time. I'm gonna put you on speaker in a second..." Placing the phone on my bed; Teddy approached it cautiously, peering at the phone screen as he did so.
"Knock knock." I rolled my eyes at Andrew's trick.
"Who's...there?" Teddy asked timidly.
"UNCLE ANDREW!!!" The childish adult hollered through the phone, his booming voice successfully boosting the child's already high energy levels to overflow. Teddy shrieked at the sudden increase of volume and ducked under the covers of my blankets before reducing to an uncontrollable pile of giggling mess. "Helloooo~" My baby brother greeted his unrelated by blood brother fondly.
"Awww...hello to you too~" Andrew cooed back, his evident adoration lifting the corners of Teddy's small mouth in an instant. "How are you doing, little guy? How's Bubbly your goldfish?"
"I'm doing great! Don't worry, Bubbly is still alive!" Teddy answered cheerfully. Before I could stop him- "Oh, oh Andrew; today is a BIG day for Levy! Levy is gonna have a date with Book! Do you know I am in charge of her choice of clothes?"
"What??? Levi is going on a date tonight???" Oh shit- "Holy moly Levi! Why didn't you tell me this!"
"We're just getting to know each other. Trust me, it's not that much of a big deal..." I slapped my forehead to brace myself for what was going to happen next.
"Oh no no no. Mum told me her drilling didn't work and Justin absolutely refused to let me in for any juicy gossip at all! When are you bringing your girlfriend back to meet us? Which base are you on now?" Okay, now they're acting a little too much like family.
I decided to take a roundabout approach. "Chill, dude. She's not my girlfriend..."
Yet.
"...and no; no base yet and Teddy is here, for god's sake," I pinched my nose in mild frustration. God forbids Teddy knows what does that mean.
If anything, Andrew has just gotten more excited at my response. "Ask Book if she wanna come to my wedding too! She's invited as well! I'll let mum know that you're going on a date tonight (thank you for telling me, my little guyyyy)! See ya~" Just like that, he hang up on me as sudden as he called.
I muttered to myself, "She's Brooke; not Book."
"BIG DAY FOR LEVY!!!"
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At eight o'clock sharp, seconds after I had knocked on Brooke's front door; I was brutally attacked by a fierce, rib-crushing hug that nearly sent me toppling down the narrow steps.
"Levi!!! I thought you had forgotten to pick us up!" I stared at the Egyptian girl blankly. What's happening? I looked past Rey and...
...found a blushing angel with her cheeks so red that she resembled a freshly blossomed rose.
I had never seen Brooke wore any dresses to school before. Wow, the view was just...breathtakingly beautiful. The dress hugged her curves; curves that I've never know they exist until today; in all the right places. Her bare shoulders gleamed under the pale moonlight; the creaminess of her skin a wonderful contrast to the baby pink hues of her dress, which stopped short above her knees, exposing her equally exquisite lower thighs. Upon noticing my blatantly open stare, she dipped her head a little lower, the ends of her ears tainted a furious bright red. Oh, how I ached to cross the distance and tucked the few stray strands of her hair that had escaped from her crown braid behind her ear to enjoy the adorable blushing mess before me.
"...take care of them, alright? Levi? Levi?"
"Yes?" I startled.
I didn't realize Stacy had joined Brooke and Rey. She looked like she wanted to suppress a laugh. I knew because I recognized the same look on Brooke's face when she would curled both her upper and bottom lips inwards to stop her laughter from spilling out of her luscious lips...lips that looked so soft and dewy to my eyes...
I blinked to get my train of thoughts back on track. Focus. Quit getting carried away.
"Oh, don't worry Stacy. We're in good hands. Levi's more responsible than any of us here," Rey broke away from me and gave a reassuring pat on Stacy's arm. Brooke was busy twiddling her fingers behind her back.
"No drunk driving, okay?" Stacy made me promised to her before bidding us goodbye. "Have fun, girls! Please loosen my girl a little more; the poor darling needs it!"
"Mum!!" Brooke groaned as she waved goodbye to Stacy in my Prius.
"No offence; but why's Rey joining us all of a sudden?" I asked as I rounded off the corner to exit the neighborhood.
"Oh, don't mind me! I was prepping Brooke earlier and she mentioned that you're taking your car instead of the usual crazy bike so I said, why not? I could use a free ride." She looked around to better examine the interior of my car. "Ooo I love these cushions so much. Anyway, Brooke isn't exactly out yet; you know? So I figured we could stretched the truth a little bit and told her mum that we're having a girls' night out to avoid any unnecessary suspicions."
I mused as I nodded slowly in agreement. "You really thought that well." She flashed a confident grin at me in the rear view mirror before giving me instructions to drive her back home.
The conversation flowed back and forth easily between us even though I spoke little and allowed Rey to fill in most of the idle chitchat. I preferred taking my time to observe my nervous date who was gripping the hem of her dress with a ferocity so intense that her knuckles had turned ghostly white. I really should tell her to stop doing that though, for her unconscious action was making the hem to inch higher and higher up her thighs.
I gulped. For the love of God, please lend me your strength to hold back my unwholesome and sinful desires.
"Okay, stop!" Rey exclaimed jubilantly with a loud hand clap before telling me to park along the curb. I couldn't wait for her to get out of my car quick enough. I am desperate to spend some alone time with Brooke.
And Rey's free car ride had stolen eleven minutes and forty-two seconds from our date time. We waited for Rey to enter the neighborhood flanked with rows of neat houses safely before setting off for our destination.
Initially, I was waiting for Brooke to say something first just because she looked like she wanted to say something. However, I quickly learnt that she might be too high strung to utter any sentence, so I decided to break the silence first.
"Hey," I reached over and placed a hand on Brooke's knuckles. Her dainty hands had a slight chill to it. I rubbed my thumb across her knuckles to massage some of my warmth into them. "There's no need to be nervous. I promised both you and your mum to let you have a good time."
I pressed on the brakes, allowing my car to inch forward to a gradual stop in front of the traffic lights. Resting my gaze on her again, I couldn't help but appreciate how lovely she looked today.
"I couldn't...help it when you kept looking at me," she murmured shyly with her head bowed while playing with my fingers.
Ow. My heart.
Feeling my lips turning into a smirk, I lifted her chin gently and willed her to look at me. Her steely gray eyes shone like the moonbeam. "How can I not? Beautiful creations must be appreciated, am I right?" Her cheeks flashed a scarlet red at my rhetorical question. For a fleeting moment, I was expecting her to morph into her predictable form of a blushing mess. Interestingly, she surprised me with a firm gaze accompanied by a slightly shaky voice.
"You look stunning too, Levi."
I leaned in and kissed her forehead then, noting the faint but pleasant scent of chocolate that had always clung to her. Tracing my thumb along the soft curve of her face, I whispered back to her.
"How unfair of you to make my heart skip a beat; Brooke."