Beyond Spain

2

Thursday arrived and Brooklyn was dreading it even though they had a plan.

The plan was simple; Don't let him annoy you. Stick to business and remember to be professional.

She went with her patients as normal but as it got closer to Dylan, she groaned.

She decided that she'd plaster a smile and just get him to talk without dissing her or her job. And she would ignored those remarks if they came, which she knew they would.

2:30pm came and Hannah announced that her 2:30pm had arrived. She mentally prepared herself.

"Good afternoon Mr Santos. I hope you are having a good one?" She said.

"Good afternoon to you too. How are you doing after our last meeting?" Dylan asked. He looked like he wasn't himself today.

Brooklyn plastered a fake smile, remembering the events," I'm very good, thank you,though I believe I should be the one asking questions."

"Okay. Shoot." He shrugged.

She started with small questions before she'd get to the big ones because she needed the patient to be comfortable with her.

Dylan seemed to be cooperating today. She wondered if he was really okay.

She asked a simple question and Dylan just shut down.

"Oh look, the time had gone so fast today. I believe that this is the end of our sessions. Till next time, adiós." He said quickly and exited, leaving Brooklyn not sure about what happened.

***
Brooklyn went home still puzzled about Dylan. Usually her patients don't dodge the question but even if they do, they don't run away. But she had to agree that Dylan Santos wasn't an ordinary patient. He was charming, confident and not to mention very annoying. God definitely blessed him with looks.

She arrived at home and as usual, Lisa was on the couch watching Bones.

Lisa was a woman of many talents; singing , writing, socially outgoing and so on. She was a loyal friend and a strong Christian woman. You could say she was the woman of proverbs 31 in some ways but without a husband. Having dated her high school sweetheart and engaged to him, she thought she had it all until one day she caught him cheating on her. They were together for seven years. Since then, Lisa had given up on love until Michael arrived and swept her off her feet. Now at 27, same as Brooklyn, she wanted to get married ASAP. And those were her words. While Brooklyn was taking her sweet time, Lisa wasn't the one to dawdle.

Brooklyn was thankful that tomorrow was Friday even though she had youth, she didn't mind it. She had decided to volunteer at youth since she was also passionate about teens, she wanted to help them. They had wanted to hire her as a pastoral counselor but she believed that was not where the Lord wanted her. Even though it was the church, she believed that she was to work with lost people out there, not with people who are already found. Even though she wasn't allowed to bring God's name into her workplace, she always prayed before she comes to the office. If she couldn't speak about God, she could show Him by her actions, as they say that actions speak louder than words.

She went to shower after she greeted Lisa. She changed into sweats and a loose white T-shirt. Deciding that she was tired of having her hair in a bun, she let it down. It was her turn to cook, she  decided to make stuffed chicken with potato wedges.

She was halfway with stuffing her chicken when she heard a knock.

"I'll get it!" She shouted to Lisa, not that she was even paying attention.

She opened to find Michael with a banquet of roses.

"Hi, Michael. Come in." She greeted him.

"Hey, Brooke. Thank you." He replied. Michael was really like a brother she never had. He had deep ocean blue eyes,and really long eyelashes. Lisa always said that when they got married and had children, she'd want them to look like him, especially if it was girls. He was strongly built and he had dark brown hair that complimented his eyes. No wonder Lisa was fawning over him.

They walked to the living room to find it empty. Lisa must've heard them because she wasn't there, probably going to fix herself up.

"Lisa should be here soon. I think she's in the shower." Brooklyn said as Michael sat down.

"Good. Because I need to ask you something." He said looking around.

"Okay. Shoot."

"Does Lisa like anyone? I mean like romantically?" Michael asked seemingly nervous. Brooklyn wanted to squeal at that moment. But she didn't.

"You can ask her out, Michael. Sheesh, why did it take you this long?" Brooklyn couldn't contain her excitement. And at that moment, Lisa walked in refreshed.

"Brooke, have you se—" she stopped midway seeming surprised. "Michael, hi. What are you doing here?"

Michael stood up and walked up to her with the flowers and Brooklyn took that as her cue to return to her chicken.

She stuff it and set it in the oven with the potato wedges also. She went into her bedroom that she and Lisa had fought over. It was the master bedroom since it was the biggest one. Somehow they had managed to compromise with Lisa. How they managed to do it, she didn't know how. The apartment had three bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen that was big enough to fit a dinner table and a small room which they converted to an office for the both of them. None of them ever worked in it, just put in their stuff that they didn't use or need.

They usually worked in their bedrooms. They converted the other bedroom into a guest room but the only person who ever stayed over was Hollyn, Lisa's sister. She loved to come and visit. Renting the house in the complex was tough the first few months because the rent was so high but it was worth it. They also had separate bathrooms. The master bedroom had its own bathroom and there was also 'common bathroom' as Lisa liked to call it.

Brooklyn opened her laptop to pass up time and settle on Netflix. She watched a random movie until the timer she set on her phone dinged.

When she came out of her bedroom, Michael and Lisa were still talking.

"Hey, Brooke. I invited Michael to stay over for dinner. I hope that's alright." Lisa said holding Michael's hand. Brooklyn didn't miss the blush.

"Of course. There's plenty of food. Though I don't know what desert should be. I think I'm going to pop at the shops for a few minutes and grab some." Brooklyn replied.

"You can go! We'll watch over the food." Lisa said a little too eager. Brooklyn eyed her suspiciously but didn't say anything.

Brooklyn grabbed her car keys and exited, leaving the couple behind and wondering if it was a good idea.

She got in her car and drove to the nearest store and only to bump into someone she didn't think she'll see ever again.

She tried ducking but he saw her and called out,"Brooklyn?"

She wasn't ready for this. She now wished she didn't come to get that stupid desert!

Now she'd done it.