Clean

Bree wasn’t sure if she should head straight to the backyard or knock on the front door, so she played it safe and knocked on the front door. A few seconds later the door flew open and her heart kicked into gear. She was a little nervous about this barbecue, about the amount of people who might be there but she was looking forward to it too.

“Hi Mrs. Benn, how are you?”

“Brianna how many times do I have to tell you?”

She knew what she wanted but she didn’t think she’d ever be able to call her anything else despite the fact that they were both adults now.

“I know, sorry.” She apologized. “I brought this.”

She handed her the trio of dips and chips she’d made that morning, an old family recipe.

“Oh thank you.” She took the tray from her. “You can head out back, everyone is back there.”

“Do you need any help?”

“No, no go ahead.”

She shooed Bree to the glass door sliding it open so she could slip through. When the door closed behind her she was at the mercy of the crowed, looking around trying to spot anyone she might have known. Jamie spotted her the minute the backdoor slid open and she walked through. Standing on the top step looking out on a crowd full of people she didn’t know or recognize he could see her looking for a lifeline so he followed his gut and gave it to her. Excusing himself from his friends he moved towards her, watched her face as she registered his movements and when she smiled over at him he couldn’t help but smile back.

“You look a lot like someone I used to know.”

He cracked his joke; even as lame as it was she laughed and instantly felt calmer.

“Hi Jamie.”

“Hi Bree.”

They both looked at each other for a second, feeling each other out and when he’d finally had enough he reached over and pulled her into a hug. This is so strange Bree thought as she slid her arm around him, when had he gotten so big? And why did he smell so good? She pulled back and looked up at him, even from her vantage point on the steps she still had to look up.

“You really grew up didn’t you?”

She’d seen him on TV a few months back, during the Olympics, but she was still having a hell of a time connecting the man in front of her with the boy she knew all those years ago.

“I think we both did.”

“I guess we did.”

Jamie looked at her, up close for the first time in years. Her hair was shorter now, artfully cut to her shoulders and nearly as dark as his own but in the sunlight you could see that lighter bits that framed her face. She was wearing a pair of dark denim jean shorts and a white V-neck; simple and effortless the way he remembered her and the complete opposite of most of the women he knew now.

“So your mom tells me you’re a pretty big deal now Capitan.”

Jamie laughed with a roll of his eyes.

“What else is she telling you?”

“Oh you know all the juicy stuff.”

His mom had told her quite a lot actually, especially about the not so nice girl that she’d met when she’d flown down to see them earlier that year but she figured she’d keep that to herself.

“Well that’s embarrassing.”

“No its not, its sweet.” She started. “She’s really proud of you guys, she just wants everyone to know.”

“Trust me I know.”

His mom had always been a little embarrassing about these kinda things but she meant well so it was hard to get mad at her over it. Jamie looked around, waiting to see if she had brought anyone with her.

“Did anyone come with you?”

“No, just me.”

“Good.” Jamie nodded. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to some people.”

She followed him down the steps and back to where she’d seen him come from. Offering her the seat he’d abandoned he introduced her to his friends; a few of them she even recognized from years ago.

“I’m gonna go grab a drink, do you want anything?” he offered. “Beer? Cooler?”

“Water if you have it.”

“You sure?”

Bree gave him a smile and a nod before he disappeared towards the house. When she lost sight of him she looked around the spacious backyard. She recognized a couple more faces, didn’t know if they’d recognize her but it was strange, like seeing your youth through a blurry mirror. A body dropping into the seat next to her pulled her attention back and when she looked over the pretty blonde shifted in her chair, crossing legs that were a mile long.

“I’ve never seen you before.”

Well she’d never seen her either but she felt that was stating the obvious.

“I live next door.” Bree informed her. “Brianna.”

“Jamie’s never mentioned you.”

“I haven’t seen him in years so that’s not surprising.”

She looked her over, up and down till Bree felt a little uncomfortable. She had no idea what was going on but she was sure she wasn’t going to like it.

“Well try not to get in my way sweetheart.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know you heard me.” She moved in closer to her as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “I was here first and I didn’t just spend the last few weeks bumping into him to have you come along and ruin everything.”

To say she was shocked was the understatement of the century. Is this how people behaved around him now? Did this woman really think it was okay to walk around talking to people like this?

“Listen sweetheart…” Bree began. “I have no clue who you are but I don’t appreciate your attitude.”

As she opened her mouth Bree continued.

“As for Jamie I can only hope that he’s smart enough to see through whatever it is you want.”

“Don’t you worry about what I want, just worry about staying out of my way.”

Was this girl crazy? She was genuinely concerned she might be and was about to tell her just that when she heard footsteps behind her.

“Hey Heather.”

The minute Heather heard Jamie’s voice Bree watched everything in her change, her posture straightened out and the smile snapped onto her face so fast it had to have hurt.

“Hi darling.” She started. “I was just getting to know your old friend.”

Jamie looked over at her, handing her the bottle of water he’d gotten her. Something was going on, he wasn’t stupid and though Heather could change face in a second, the tension in Bree’s shoulders spoke volumes. With nowhere to sit he slid his hand behind Bree, bracing himself against the back of her chair.

“I’ve known Bree since we were kids.”

“Was she like your babysitter or something?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well she’s obviously way older then us.” Heather stated with an obnoxious flair of her hands. “I was just curious.”

Way older was an obvious exaggeration but she knew it was a dig to rile her up, a pretty transparent one at that.

“Sadly no.” Bree explained. “You can’t babysit a kid who could wrestle you down despite being three years younger then you.”

He’d always been bigger then her, even then and she would have made a terrible babysitter. Sensing the uncomfortable conversation that was probably going to continue if she stayed Bree re-capped her bottle of water before abandoning her seat.

“If you’ll excuse me I’m just gonna grab something to eat.”

She turned towards the barbecue, made it a few steps before she heard Heather call out again.

“It was so nice to meet you.”

She waved her off without saying a word before making her way to the tables set with food. For the life of her she’d never understood women like Heather. They did whatever they could to tear people down when all she really had to do was be nice. Lord knows she was more the pretty enough to get what she wanted if only she had a heart to reflect that.

“I see you met Heather.”

The look on Jordie’s face told her all she needed to know when it came to his thoughts on Heather.

“Oh yeah she’s a treat.”

“She’s been following him around all summer.” He explained popping some chips into his mouth. “He’s not interested but I don’t think he has the heart to tell her.”

“Well something’s never change.”

Jamie had been the same way when he was younger. He’d never wanted to hurt someone’s feelings unnecessarily and you really had to push him to react. He wasn’t a pushover by any means but he never set out looking for confrontation.

“I guess that’s true.”

By the end of the night, once mostly everyone had cleared out Bree made her rounds, saying goodbye. Just as she slid through the backyard door, moving across the lawn towards her own house she heard her name and wasn’t surprised to find Jamie trailing her. After the run in with Heather she hadn’t really seen too much of him but he hadn’t purposely avoided her either, he just hadn’t been able to get away. Bree paused waiting for him to catch up to her.

“I went looking for you to say goodnight but no one could find you.”

“Yeah sorry…” he apologized. “Listen I don’t know what happened but I’m sorry about Heather.”

Bree could still see her looming by the fence, watching them closely.

“Don’t worry about it.” She brushed it off. “She’s pretty hung up on you though.”

“She’s pretty hung up on my money.”

There was no need to sugarcoat it, a girl like that he could smell a mile away by now, a lesson he’d learned the hard way more then a few times.

“She’s pretty hung up on your face.”

She had no idea what had possessed her to say that, she’d really just blurted it out but if her face was half as red as his then she knew she was in trouble.

“Ah, I mean…”

Well she meant what she said but that weird, why was she so weird around him now?

“I didn’t invite her.”

He didn’t know why but he felt like he needed Bree to know that. Honestly he didn’t even know how she’d heard about this but she’d shown up with one of his friends and then there had been no way to get rid of her.

“And you might not get her to leave either.”

Heather’s eyes were locked on them two of them and if she was a cartoon she’d probably have steam coming out of her ears.

“Can I be honest with you?”

He nodded so she continued.

“If your not interested in her, you need to let her know.” She advised. “Because she might end up running off someone you’re really interested in later.”

That was all she was going to say. He was a grown man and he’d make his own choices but this was her subtle way of letting him know that’s what she’d tried to do with her.

“I think I might take you up on that.”

“I know its none of my business but…”

She was just looking out for him.

“Can we forget about Heather?” he brushed off. He didn’t wanna talk about her anymore, he was more interested in Bree. “Did you have fun?”

“You have no idea.” She confessed with a laugh. “It was nice to hang out with someone who isn’t in her seventies.”

Or just having fun without the looming presence of sickness. As terrible as it might be it was the first time since she’d been in Victoria where she’d felt like herself again. Like the weight of everything she was dealing with was gone and she was free.

“Then we should do it again.”

“Yeah?”

“Unless you’d rather spend your time with Jordie.”

The look on his face made her laugh, like spending time with his brother as the worst thing he could imagine.

“Well Jamie you know where to find me.”

Yes he did.

And with a quick smile and a hug he watched her disappear into her house.

Notes

You guys are amazing! <333