Two of You

Chapter three: Fun

Lydia's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her alarm. She smiled, still reeling from her date the previous night. She shook her head in an attempt to stop herself from enjoying the feeling too much as she turned off the alarm. She went into the bathroom to relieve herself and brush her teeth then she trotted downstairs to make breakfast. When Koala came down, dressed in her school uniform she was surprised to find a feast waiting for her.

"it must have been a really good date" she teased as she sat down on the kitchen counter.

"it was. He told me things I'm not sure any woman who's dated him has ever known."

"Did you kiss?"

"I don't kiss and tell" Lydia smiled before taking a sip of her coffee.

"that's what you say when you didn't" Lydia chuckled and they continued eating breakfast until it was time to take Koala to school. Just before they got to the high school, her car showed an incoming call on the screen.

Brent calling...

She quickly glanced at Koala.

"answer or I will"

Lydia took a deep breath.

"Freeman"

"let's grab breakfast" he said.

"I've already eaten. My sincerest apologies."

"I should apologise for not calling sooner. Are you going to work?"

"It's my day off. Wanna do something fun?"

"Meet me at The Freeman"

"Family hotel?"

"You remembered"

"Yes. I'll drop off Koala and take a quick shower. Meet in an hour?"

"sure"

It was an hour and a half later when she finally arrived at the hotel. She was visibly sorry when she came practically running towards him.

"You look... so amazing. You don't even have to apologise" Brent said, looking at her with smitten eyes. He locked his hand with her and led her to the best restaurant in the hotel. It was empty.

"did you book out the whole restaurant or is it just a slow morning?"

"All for you milady"

"can we get drinks and Ice cream? ooh, can we get tortilla chips too?"

"Xavier makes a killer gelato" Brent smiled.

"ever had fun with peasants?"

"I don't use that word to describe people who are financially unable"

"sorry... but have you ever had fun with normal people around? no private affair, no restaurant shut downs?"

"Yes. my 21st birthday, I went to Filthy with my brother"

Lydia felt she'd heard those words before but she shook the thought as soon as it came.

"Do you trust me?" she suddenly burst out.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do. You. Trust me?"

Brent took a deep breath. He nodded and looked at her curiously.

"call your driver. This date is mine now"

"hmm... what is this this delicious disappearing sponge?" Brent asked as he stuffed his face with cotton candy. Lydia gave a sympathetic laugh.

"wait... you never had cotton candy?"

"was I supposed to?"

"it's not as much a necessity as it is a want" She giggled. It was strange to see how clueless he was when it came to normal things. She walked to the lady at the ice cream maker.

"Two mountain soft swirls dipped in chocolate and peanuts. If you dip an extra two times with each ice cream, I'll make it worth your while" she ordered putting her money on the counter as she spoke. A customer walked by them on his way out.

"Bryan or Brent Freeman? I would have never imagined I'd see you here with us peasants"

"it's Brent. What is it with normal people calling themselves peasants?"

He suddenly noticed Lydia as she came with the cones.

"I should have figured it was a woman. Good seeing you man. You're my idol"

"Here's my card, call me and say your reference is cotton candy" The man took the card and shook his hand before leaving.

"Does that happen often" Lydia asked.

"no"

"are you allergic to peanuts?"

"no. but why in the world would they put peanuts on chocolate? peanuts are the lowest of all nuts"

"exactly. that's why we peasants can afford them"

"That sounded rather pompous of me"

"Kinda... But I understand you don't do it on purpose. Bite it and judge later"

He loved it, and loved tasting a cherry slushie (but despised the brain freeze it caused him). Within the mall, there was a little arcade shop, which Lydia led Brent to. They tried the driving game, that Brent turned out to be really good at, and he won enough tickets to exchange for a robot chicken which they named Clark "because it clucks" and Lydia exchanged her tickets for a pen that could read aloud. They took two photos at the sketch photo booth before they left the arcade and took one photo each. They then went to Budgies to have a few drinks.

"You don't seem to care about money."

"I grew up with only a limited amount. I have money now but I only use it when I have to and I never forget where I came from"

"I didn't realise that you could have fun with less than a thousand bucks" Lydia's eyes widened.

"how much was your allowance at seventeen?" she giggled.

"two thousand"

"a month? " she laughed.

"No. A week. Mother said we had to feel what it was like to be poor before we could experience being rich" Brent said, trying his best to relate to her. She laughed so hard her Pina colada came out of her nose. He pinched the bridge of his nose in embarassment.

"before I met you, being rich didn't feel like such an embarassment"

"You're not embarassing. It's so cute that you haven't had real fun yet and today was just a tease." Lydia smiled. She realised that they were both on drink number three, so she signalled the waiter and asked for a bill.

"hey. what's your name?" Brent asked the waiter.

"my-my name is Frank, sir" he replied.

"I hate that name. What do you do for fun?"

"I drink and play pool"

"pool? you act like a swimming pool for fun? isn't that weird!" Lydia burst into laughter.

"No, Brent. He means Billiards"

She shook her head knowing that she had her work cut out for her.

"Lydia, can we go play swimming pool? It's one of my strong suits"