AMA - The Divorcee: Day 09

"If you tell me everything that happened during your night out the other night, then I might be willing to spill some secrets." Stella offers Viv a deal. Viv laughs at the offer.

"Oh please. First of all, I don't negotiate with terrorists." Viv jokes. "Second of all, I'm pretty sure you made out with Cassie during that foursome last night." Viv reveals.

Brooke gasps in shock at that revelation. Brooke looks at you, then Tanya, then Cassie, then Stella, and all of you have the guiltiest of body languages. "Hi, Chef Nguyen?" your waitress from earlier approaches Viv, blushing from obviously hearing what Viv just said.

"Is that girl summoned by sex talk? Jesus Christ." Stella comments under her breath. That poor girl must think you're all sexual deviants with how much she's heard from your table already.

"Yes?" Viv asks the waitress in a serious voice, completely changing her demeanor. "Ms. Hoffman wants to see you." the waitress informs Viv.

"Tell her I'll be in our office in two minutes." Viv informs the waitress before she slinks away, blushing deep red at what she's heard from her boss about your foursome.

"Oh man, this was fun already, and I'm still at work. If this is any indication, tonight's going to be bonkers." Viv comments, going back to her more easy going demeanor.

"I'm not drinking." Brooke comments.

"Neither am I. Pretty sure Celeste wouldn't either if she has to catch a flight tomorrow." Tanya adds, making Viv boo both of them.

"Tonight's supposed to be chill Viv, don't scare Brooke off." Tanya warns her.

"Fine." Viv answers defeated.

"Don't you have work tomorrow? Didn't you have to get here early on Mondays?" You ask her, after remembering she knocked on your door to quiet down with Cassie last week since she has to go to work early.

"Oh, that was just last week. Had to meet and negotiate with a supplier for fresh ingredients. Since that's all settled, I can come in any time as long as my sous chef's here." Viv answers.

"So what you're saying is, you can drink but we can't? Sounds like someone has to drink for the two of us, Tanya." Brooke goads Viv.

"HA! Like I'll fall for that. It ain't my first rodeo ladies." Viv says.

"That was your exact reason for us to drink more from the other night!" Brooke says.

"Yeah. Exactly. So why would you think I'd fall for it?" Viv retorts. "Anyway, I'm going back to work, but like Celeste, I'll see you all later tonight." Viv adds before noticeably changing into professional mode once more.

"It's hella creepy that she can change into boss mode in a snap." Stella observes, and Viv turns around as if she heard Stella's comment.

"By the way, your bill's been settled." Viv tells you guys with a wink before walking towards what you assume is the office area.

"She's going to be broke by their grand opening with how much free food she's giving away." Tanya comments.

"So? Where do we go from here?" Brooke asks the table.

"I kinda want to go shopping for a dress for my date tomorrow." Stella suggests.

"I'll go with you. I have an idea what your boyfriend likes." Cassie says jokingly.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I'll come with you too, in case you need a third opinion." Tanya adds.

"I guess that's the plan." you tell them.

"Oh no. Nuh-uh, papi. You can't see the dress before the date. That's bad luck!" Tanya tells you with a very serious tone.

"What?" was the only thing you can say in reaction, as you're confused if that's an actual thing.

Isn't what she said specifically for weddings?

"Looks like you'll have some alone time in the city, Jay." Brooke teases you.

"That's why we need you to keep him company. We don't want him to get bored, or lonely away from us." Cassie tells Brooke, and both you and Brooke begin to understand what it is they're doing. Apparently, Stella wasn't in on Tanya and Cassie's plan though.

"Hey! Brooke's getting a date before me at this rate." Stella says, a bit of jealousy in her tone, and Brooke blushes at the thought.

"They're just going to hang out sweetie. Your dad's allowed female friends, right?" Tanya asks Stella.

"Fine." Stella answers, defeated. "But no funny business!" Stella warns both you and Brooke jokingly.

Brooke just nods at Stella's condition and you can't help but feel embarrassed at the lack of subtlety your girlfriends are showing towards Brooke. You know they're okay with you pursuing other relationships, but for them to openly campaign for you to be alone with someone seems overboard... or is it a test?

"Well, it seems like we have a plan. Shall we go?" Tanya asks all of you, and you all stand up ready to leave. You leave a generous tip for the amount of trauma the young waitress must have suffered from hearing about all the sexual stuff from your table.

"I actually thought our waitress would appear out of nowhere again when I mentioned 'no funny business'. I guess she's only summoned if you mention something that involves actual fucking." Stella tells you under her breath.

"Bye! We hope you all enjoyed your meal!" the waitress says from behind Stella, who comically flinches from surprise.

CHAPTER 78.1

What happens next?

Wrestle Talk

"Hey, is it cool if we check this place out?"

Brooke asked you as you walked by a pretty big hobby shop that you totally didn't peg as a place she'd want to check out. Your three girlfriends forcibly split off from you and Brooke so that they could go shopping for a dress for Stella to wear on your date tomorrow evening. More so than that, you think, is that they wanted to leave you alone with Brooke for reasons you're unsure of yet.

Do they want you to pursue her? Do YOU want to pursue her?

Okay, dumb question, of course you do.

She's beautiful, a genuinely nice person based on your previous interactions with her, you get along great with her and she gets along amazingly with your girlfriends. That being said, Tanya did say you and Brooke were just hanging out as friends, so don't go beyond that for now and start flirting. Especially since, as your daughter pointed out, you're really bad at it.

"It's cool if you don't want to." Brooke continues, as you realize that you haven't answered her original question and it sent the wrong message you were uninterested to go inside.

"Oh! Sorry. I was just surprised this was a place you wanted to go to." you tell her as an excuse, although that was your initial thought anyway.

"You're an author Jay. What was the idiom about books again? Don't judge it by its cover?" Brooke replies.

"Touché." you say back.

"You still haven't answered my question though." Brooke tells you with a smile.

"Oh, of course. Lead the way." you reply.

The two of you enter the hobby shop that is filled with walls and shelves of all kinds of collectibles— from Funko pops, to RC Cars, to anime figures, Gunpla, collectible toys, board games, card games, puzzles, among others. With the amount of collectible in this place, you're even more intrigued as to what certain hobby she gravitates towards.

"Anything tickles your fancy?" Brooke asks you.

"Oh, for me personally, nothing yet. Although, since there are anime figures here, maybe they have Haikyuu!! figures for sale that I could check out and maybe buy for Stella and Cassie as gifts." you tell Brooke.

"What's a... what you said? I'm guessing it's an anime but what's it about?" Brooke asks you.

"Oh, it's a volleyball anime the girls like. I started watching it a week ago, and it's actually really interesting even for someone who doesn't really watch volleyball, since the heart of the story really just focuses on someone's love for the game." you answer Brooke.

"Of course it's about volleyball." Brooke chuckles, connecting the dots of why Stella and Cassie enjoy that particular anime.

"What about you? What made you want to check this place out?" you ask her.

"Oh, I collect wrestling figures and memorabilia." Brooke answers.

"Wait, like The Rock and Stone Cold kind of wrestling?" you ask her.

"Yeah. I grew up during the height of the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude Era, and I just never grew out of it." Brooke answers you. "You know about Stone Cold, so I'm assuming you're a little familiar?" Brooke asks you.

"I don't think there's anyone our age that doesn't know about Stone Cold Steve Austin." you joke, making Brooke nod in agreement.

"And that's the bottomline..." Brooke starts the iconic catchphrase in her best impression,

"Cuz' Stone Cold said so!" you continue with her, and you both have a laugh in the middle of the hobby shop, reminiscing your childhood.

"I have to admit though, I stopped following it once I became a dad and started college." you admit to her.

"Yeah, that happens with a lot of fans." Brooke answers.

"They become dads before they start college?" you ask jokingly, making Brooke laugh.

"No! I mean a lot of people grow out of it eventually, and it suddenly becomes uncool to be a wrestling fan once they start thinking it's 'fake' or whatever." Brooke admits.

"I always kind of knew it was fake, so I didn't give a shit. It just felt like the show wasn't growing with who I was becoming. Plus, you know, new baby and everything." you tell her.

"I completely understand that. The fact that you mentioned that it wasn't growing with you is actually very reasonable, especially if you only watched WWE. The Ruthless Aggression Era still had pretty good storylines and new wrestlers though, and I kept watching because of that." Brooke tells you.

"Yeah that was around the time I dipped out. After Austin and Rock's trilogy at 'Mania." you tell her.

You finally find the wrestling action figures section of the hobby shop, and Brooke's eyes noticeably light up at the sight of all the wrestling memorabilia. Some wrestlers you recognize, while others you have no clue who they're supposed to be.

'Must be from the more recent eras' you think to yourself.

"Who was your favorite wrestler before?" Brooke asks.

"Undertaker. His backstory was just so unique, and then they introduced Kane as his brother, and it was incredible. I was hooked as a kid from there." you answer her.

"You watched his matches with Shawn Michaels at 'Mania?" Brooke asks you.

"No, can't say that I have." you tell her.

"Dude! You have to watch those! If you're into storylines both in promos and the matches themselves, you're gonna love 'em. Their entrances alone tell a story. The light and dark theme. Shawn comes down from above while 'Taker rises up from below. I get chills just remembering it." Brooke tells you excitedly. You can't help but just smile at Brooke being so passionate about something you only have a surface level appreciation for. It's really endearing.

"What about your favorite female wrestler?" Brooke follows up. You take a little longer to answer that question since you really don't have a favorite as you remember they weren't really utilized other than eye candy when you were watching wrestling back then. Still, one name came to mind.

"Wait! Don't answer. Let me guess!" Brooke stops you from answering. "It's Sable isn't it?" Brooke guesses, and you just shyly smile that she got it correct. "HA! Typical teenage casual during the Attitude Era." Brooke says, almost sounding like an insult, but you can't really deny the assessment since you were exactly that.

"Still, can't blame you for liking Sable. Beautiful blonde bombshell, just the way Vince McMahon liked 'em." Brooke tells you.

"So you're saying Vince McMahon would've liked you too?" you asked her.

"Settle down, Jay. I just might stop believing Stella that you're bad at flirting." Brooke jokes, and you can only give her an awkward smile, as once again, you were just trying to be clever, and not flirty.

"Anyway, if I was really anything like Sable or Trish Stratus, they would've signed me when I tried out." Brooke tells you, but the last part took you by surprise.

"You were a wrestler?" you ask in surprised fascination.

"Yeah. After I graduated college, I did some indy wrestling for extra cash while I worked odd jobs here and there." Brooke reveals.

"Oh wow! That's incredible. You have tapes of some matches? I'd love to watch some of them." You tell her with genuine interest. Brooke blushes a bit at your little show of fanboying.

"I have some CDs at home of my matches, yeah. I can send you softcopies if you really want to watch them." Brooke tells you, a bit of shyness in her tone, probably because she's going to share a more intimate part of her wrestling past with you. You tell her as enthusiastically as you could that you'd love to watch her matches, which brings a smile to her face.

The two of you kept browsing the wrestling memorabilia section, circled back to talking about your shared past of enjoying Attitude Era wrestling, her hyping you up to watch the two matches between Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania, something about a pipe-bomb, and some of the newer wrestlers that are keeping her hooked to keep watching every week.

Until the conversation stops abruptly. She saw something on the shelf that just slowed down time for her. She picked up the box from the shelf with a look of awe. The box had two action figures inside of familiar wrestlers, even to you.

"Let me guess which one you're excited for." you joke. Brooke just laughs, knowing she can't really hide her excitement after finding this particular memorabilia.

"Chyna was where it's at, Jay." Brooke tells you. The box she was holding had Chyna and Triple H inside, with Chyna carrying two belts around her shoulders.

"First, and only, woman to win the Intercontinental Title. Only woman enforcer to a stable of men, and one of them was the world fucking champion at one point." Brooke continued to gush about her love for Chyna. Once again, you can't help but smile at Brooke just being incredibly passionate about professional wrestling.

"First woman to participate in a Royal Rumble. Hated being Women's Champion because she thought it was a downgrade. Fucking icon this woman. She was the whole reason I wanted to become a wrestler. She is, hands down, my favorite. Man or woman. Not even using the usual criteria of in-ring or promo ability, or being a huge draw; but just for being as groundbreaking as she was for women's wrestling. I could talk about her for hours." Brooke added.

"Don't let me stop you." you say with a genuine smile, intrigued at the stories she could tell about how much she loved Chyna.

"Oh crap, I must be boring you with this. I'm really sorry about—" she began to apologize, to your surprise.

"Woah! No way! Never feel ashamed about something you're passionate about. I'm genuinely enjoying listening. I think I'm the one who needs to apologize if the last thing I said sounded sarcastic—" you cut her off and start to apologize as well, and she cuts you off to stop you from apologizing to her, ending up in both of you just laughing at making the conversation awkward.

"Really though, thanks for indulging me and being a good listener." Brooke tells you. "We can go to the counter and I can pay for this, and maybe ask if they have figures for that volleyball anime you told me about." Brooke suggests, which you agree to and you both make your way to the counter.

Sadly, they were out of stock for any Haikyuu!! figures for you to purchase for the girls, but the clerk did say that they sold a Karasuno Banner windbreaker and you checked it out, and it was literally a black windbreaker with the kanji for Karasuno's slogan on it printed in white at the upper right chest area. If you remember correctly, the kanji translates to 'Fly', which you tell Brooke when she asks what it means.

"That's dope." Brooke says, showing her approval; and you have to agree with her, it does look pretty cool. You message Cassie what her size is for women's jackets, since you know Stella's already, and she just replies her size without asking what it was for. She did message: 'Thanks for still thinking of me when you're with such a hottie ;P'

'Sweet talker.' You think to yourself, but you're pretty sure Cassie isn't like that either, she's just genuinely a sweet girl.

After making your purchases, the two of you exit the hobby shop and ask each other where you want to go next to kill time. Brooke mentions she's good, and probably just needs to put her action figures in her car, which she says can wait for later. So you suggest finding something for Tanya as well, since you bought something for your two other girlfriends.

"Oh, I have an idea for that."

CHAPTER 79.1

What happens next?

Worth

"You're sure about this?" you ask Brooke as you stare at her suggestion for what to buy Tanya as a small token of appreciation.

"Positive. She's going to love it, I promise." Brooke tells you.

"Wouldn't she have one of these already if it's her favorite?" you reply.

"She reups on these every year, and I'm pretty sure she hasn't bought one for this year, since she usually buys these around Christmas." Brooke tells you.

"Alright. I trust you." You tell Brooke, and she just smiles back.

"Would that be all, sir?" the salesperson asks you.

"What about you Brooke? I'd like to buy you something too as a thank you for helping me with this." you tell her.

"A cup of coffee would be enough, Jay. Save these tokens of appreciation for your girlfriends." Brooke tells you. The lady helping you out raises an eyebrow at that sentence, but professional enough not to ask about it. She is trying to make a sale after all.

"Right. I guess I know where we're going next." you tell Brooke.

You address the salesperson that what Brooke picked out would be all that you're buying and she takes it to the counter for them to ring up. After you exit the store, you and Brooke make your way to a cozy coffee shop nearby for some coffee and pastries.

"I'll never understand the hype women have about make-up." you tell Brooke as you take a bite of your donut, discussing your gift purchase for Tanya, which was what Brooke described as a nude eyeshadow palette that Tanya uses almost everyday.

"You're not meant to understand it, Jay. You're just meant to appreciate it when we put it on." Brooke quips back.

"I prefer a more natural look, I guess." you explain to Brooke, who just snickers at your naivete.

"That's because you're surrounded by natural beauties. Stella? Gorgeous. Cassie? Gorgeous. Tanya? Gorgeous. So, of course you'd think something like that. For us less naturally inclined, makeup's a huge help." Brooke tells you, once again hinting at her negative outlook of her outward appearance. You put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Hey, you want to talk about it?" you ask her.

"Talk about what?" Brooke asks back.

"It just seems like you're having a tough time with how you perceive yourself." you tell her, pure concern in your voice.

"No, no. I'm sorry if it seems that way. I know I sound insecure, probably because I am, but I swear it doesn't bother me as much as I probably make it sound. Just think of it as self-deprecation more than anything." Brooke tells you.

"When did you start feeling insecure about it?" you ask her.

"When do most insecurities start?" Brooke asks back, as if the answer was obvious.

"High school?" you ask her, and she just nods while she takes a sip of her coffee. "You're going to let the opinions of a bunch of teenagers affect you for the rest of your life?" you ask her a bit harshly.

"It's not just from a bunch of teenagers though. It's from life too. I feel like my life is just a bunch of examples of I'm not good looking enough, or charming enough, or witty enough, or something else I'm not enough of." Brooke vents.