Page 10 of I Really Do

up to today, BABE. :-P Sweetie-pie?

Brooke almost dropped her phone. Anna Fourchette just called her babe. She took a few steadying breaths before attempting to muster a response.

Brooke Kent (8:18 am):

Nursing a hangover and

dragging my feet about

getting to work. And you?

Anna Fourchette (8:20 am):

Trying out some new recipes.

What is it that you do? :)

And so, Brooke’s whole day went like this. Texting Anna, asking Anna questions, answering the questions Anna volleyed back. It was easier to open up like this, less terrifying to answer personal questions when she didn’t have to see the other person react to her answers. Their questions ranged from surface level like, what’s your favorite color?(Anna’s navy blue, Brooke’s a deep purple). To obscure,who would win in a fight: Princess Peach or Rosalina?(They both favored Rosalina’s odds).

None of it was particularly deep or overly personal, but it was nice. Getting to know someone new was something that Brooke hadn’t done in quite a while and she found that she surprisingly didn’t hate it. In fact, between texting Anna and having to walk a few blocks to Vivienne’s office at lunch, Brookes’s day had flown by. Brooke logged off her work computer and quickly ate a salad for dinner. She needed to find a tux today so she could get it to her tailor in the morning if she was to have any chance that it would be ready to go in less than a week.

Anna Fourchette (5:17 pm):

Wish me luck, I’m headed to

meet up with your friends.

Brooke Kent (5:18 pm):

You don’t need luck, Anna.

They’re already big fans of you.

Anna Fourchette (5:18 pm):

Awwww thanks, pumpkin. :)

Brooke’s breath caught in her throat. Anna had spent the day calling Brooke varying forms and degrees of pet names and nicknames at all times through text. Not that Brooke was complaining, she was just worried about potentially passing out if Anna did it in person. If just reading it made the tips of her ears go red, she couldn’t imagine how strongly she would react in real life. She needed to respond, she needed something to call Anna in return. Babe would never roll off Brooke’s tongue and she knew it. Babe suited Anna. It suited her bubbly personality and constant smile, but Brooke was more reserved than that. Her parents had never done pet names. It was always Augustus and Sybil.

“My dear?” Brooke said aloud to herself in her kitchen, tasting the words in her British accent. No, that wasn’t it.“Sweetie?” She sounded like a patronizing grandmother at best. She thought of Anna and smiled.“Darling?” Oh, that was quite nice. Brooke worried at her bottom lip as she typed her response.

Brooke Kent (5:22 pm):

Not a problem, Darling.

Dots appeared under Anna’s name and lingered for a moment before disappearing altogether. Instead of responding, Anna just loved the text message. There was something even more rewarding about that little heart than anything Anna might have responded with. All that was left to do was track down a tux and pray that her friends wouldn’t say anything embarrassing about her while they were out with Anna.

At the third shop she went to, Brooke found a tuxedo jacket that she liked that wouldn't require much in the way of alterations. The waistcoat that came with it was so close to having been made for her that it would fit her perfectly with only two darts, and the pants were a slim enough cut that they wouldn’t need to be altered at all. Fortunately, she already owned a tailored tuxedo shirt.

Vivienne Carlisle (7:43 pm):

You’re buying a black tuxedo,

correct?

Brooke Kent (7:43 pm):

Yes. I’m purchasing it now.