AMA - The Divorcee: Day 12

"I hope you have a good explanation. Maddy didn't want to talk to us and just slammed her door shut." Mr. O'Brien tells you.

"I'll be glad to explain. Would you guys want to have lunch with us?" You ask them.

"We already ate. We're only here to hear if you have a sufficient explanation as to why our granddaughter won't speak with us." Mrs. O'Brien tells you firmly.

"Mary's just being polite. We haven't eaten yet." Mr. O'Brien refutes Mrs. O'Brien's statement. "What're you having?" Mr. O'Brien asks, getting a scolding from Mrs. O'Brien for agreeing. "He's going to tell us what happened anyway. I'd rather be sitting down and eating when I hear it." Mr. O'Brien tells her, making Mrs. O'Brien just sigh in defeat, before they both walk towards your dining table.

"Wait, is no one with Maddy?" Viv asks, after realizing that Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien would be sitting down for lunch with all of you.

"She locked herself in her room. We tried talking to her but she just told us to go away." Mr. O'Brien answers Viv, obvious concern for her granddaughter in her tone.

"I'll stay with her, just to make sure she doesn't try to leave your apartment without telling you." Viv tells them, to the confusion of the O'Briens. "I'm just trying to prevent a scenario where we have to do a search party later." Viv explains.

"Maddy wouldn't!" Mrs. O'Brien reacts in shock, but immediately stands up in an attempt to go back to their apartment.

"Her first reaction was to leave the apartment building into the city alone. If she finds out you're not in your apartment, she might try and make a break for it." Brooke points out.

Mr. O'Brien immediately grabs his keys from his pocket and throws it at Viv.

"309." Mr. O'Brien tells her. "Let them handle it, Mary. They know what's going on. We don't." Mr. O'Brien adds.

"Do you guys have an external fire escape?" Viv asks.

"Not in Maddy's room, no. There is one near the dining area. Same as here." Mr. O'Brien answers her.

"Wait, let me go. I saw what happened, so I don't need to hear that part of the story from Jay. Plus, I don't know what made her leave the apartment building, so maybe I'd be less threatening to talk to if she wants to open up." Brooke tells Viv, and Viv just nods and gives her the keys to the O'Briens' apartment.

"Shouldn't Dad go?" Stella asks.

"I think it's best if Maddy does get some alone time for now, and not have Jay possibly escalate the situation." Brooke answers Stella. "I'll just be there to guard her possible escape routes anyway. Which one's her room?" Brooke asks.

"First door on the left." Mr. O'Brien answers her.

"Same side as Stella's room. Got it." Brooke says before standing up, bringing the ice cream with her, to walk towards your apartment door to leave. She pauses for a moment to address you. "Oh, and Jay, don't change whatever you said to Maddy from earlier so they understand what happened." Brooke advises you.

"If anything goes missing in that apartment, young lady; I--" Mrs. O'Brien starts to warn Brooke, but stops upon seeing Brooke was already walking out of the apartment to go to Maddy. Instead, she turns to you. "It's time you tell us what happened, young man." Mrs. O'Brien tells you.

You recount the relevant parts of what happened to the O'Briens, telling them that Maddy was made aware that everyone already knew of her crush for you, including you; and that it was this that caused her to get embarrassed and leave the apartment building to try and go into the city alone. Mrs. O'Brien couldn't help but hide her face in her palm as she tells Mr. O'Brien that she knew this would happen.

"What happened downstairs?" Stella asks.

You tell them what happened, not editing what you told Maddy to get her to calm down but apparently making things worse. As you finish your story, everyone facepalms as their reaction. Mr. O'Brien even laughs out loud, making the other girls laugh too, including Mrs. O'Brien.

"Am I missing something?" You ask them.

"Good job, Romeo." Mr. O'Brien teases you.

"Richard's sarcasm aside, you did the right thing, young man." Mrs. O'Brien tells you, seemingly approving of your approach. Now you're even more confused about what you did, if Mrs. O'Brien agrees with it.

"We spoiled him." Cassie tells Stella.

"We did, didn't we?" Stella asks back.

"What's going on? What'd I do wrong?" You ask them.

"You basically rejected her, dingus." Viv points out.

"No~! I explicitly said that I just can't date her right now. Not yet. Not if her family disapproves." You correct Viv.

"Exactly." Viv immediately responds.

"You kinda did reject her, Jay. If I was Maddy, that's how I would have interpreted it too." Cassie tells you.

"Kinda? He basically told her he isn't dating her until pigs fly!" Stella shouts out in annoyance of you.

"What did you want me to tell her then? Lie?" You ask your daughter defensively.

"No! Of course not! You could have said you'll just face the consequences of dating her, or maybe you're willing to hide your relationship from her grandparents and her parents until you find a way to get them on your side. You know? Passion? Romance? Something!" Stella answers you, and you begin to realize why exactly Maddy may have been turned off by your calm response. Your look of realization isn't lost on anyone.

"Now he gets it." Viv says with a chuckle.

"I was just trying to be rational about it." You defend yourself. Although, you realize that Maddy's a teenager, maybe a logical or rational approach wasn't exactly what she'd consider as romantic.

"You did the right thing, young man. Our son would be furious if he found out that you did any of the things your daughter suggested." Mrs. O'Brien tells you in approval as she eats a satay skewer. Mrs. O'Brien's approval of your actions pretty much removes all doubt in your mind that you fucked that one up with Maddy, just as Brooke predicted they'd make you realize.

"Here I thought you'd be the one to make a move on our granddaughter." Mr. O'Brien says, still laughing. "It's good to know Maddy has the balls to be honest about what she wants though." Mr. O'Brien adds, sounding like he was taking a dig at you, before slurping up some Pad Thai.

"Mr. O'Brien, you were the one who told me to quote, 'not fookin dare', end quote." You remind him defensively.

"I'm her grandfather. Of course that's what I'd say." Mr. O'Brien says, and you can't deny that you understand where he's coming from. "If I didn't fookin' dare when I liked someone though, I wouldn't have been able to marry this beauty." Mr. O'Brien adds, seemingly flirting with his wife.

"Oh, stop it, Richard!" Mrs. O'Brien tells him, although it's obvious she's enjoying it.

"Wait, so you're fine if I date, Maddy?" You ask your two elderly neighbors.

"Obviously not!" Mrs. O'Brien answers you.

"Like I said before, don't you fookin' dare." Mr. O'Brien tells you, but the way he says it is completely different in tone. He even gives you a wink this time that signifies he didn't really mean his more menacing delivery a couple of days ago.

"I saw that!" Mrs. O'Brien reacts.

"That's because I wanted you to see." Mr. O'Brien playfully antagonizes his wife, making her roll her eyes.

"Come on, Mare. Maddy's an adult now. She should be able to make her own decisions and her own life choices. By the time we were eighteen, we already eloped and traveled around the country. She deserves to at least choose what she wants to do with her life." Mr. O'Brien argues.

"Don't you think I know that!?" Mrs. O'Brien replies in irritation, her voice raised. You and the girls just look awkwardly as Mrs. O'Brien doesn't seem to treat this argument as playful anymore. Mrs. O'Brien looks around the table, seeing your paused looks. Viv even has noodles sticking out of her mouth since she paused mid-slurp. It seemed Mrs. O'Brien realized her outburst and was about to calm herself down, but Mr. O'Brien didn't give her a chance to.

"If you know that then why be against it? Don't get me wrong, I was against him going after Maddy too; but if it's Maddy that wants to try it and pursue a polyamorous relationship like we did back in the day, why not let her?" Mr. O'Brien asks his wife.

"You think it's that easy!? You think our son's going to just let his daughter date a man twice her age?" Mrs. O'Brien asks her husband in frustration.

"He could be my age for all I care! At least it's something! He doesn't let any of them date! He doesn't let any of them do anything! That's not how you raise your children!" Mr. O'Brien finally raises his voice as well, and you wish to intervene and calm things down, but it seems the old couple have been holding on to this conversation for a while... and the dam just burst in your dining area.

"How the fuck should he raise his children then!? The way we raised him? Dropping him off to whoever was willing to take him while we did drugs and hosted key parties?" Mrs. O'Brien asked Mr. O'Brien with venom. You tried to calm her down, but there was no stopping her now.

"For the billionth fucking time, Ricky! Connor hated us for that! I know you know it wasn't easy for me to turn into this bitch so that when our son asks our neighbors how I am they'd say I'm a stickler for rules or I'm a judgmental cunt. I don't need to remind you the fucking reason I forced you to run and become a Board member of this goddamn apartment building. Our son needed to think we finally fucking grew up into the responsible normal parents he wished he had." Mrs. O'Brien lets out in a raised voice, and Mr. O'Brien was about to respond but Mrs. O'Brien wasn't done yet.

"Don't you fucking dare tell me I'm wrong!" Mrs. O'Brien shouts, preventing Mr. O'Brien from arguing his side. "I'm the one who fixed shit with Connor! I'm the one who swallowed their pride! I'm the one who reached out to him and apologized! I'm the one who promised him we would change! I'm the fucking reason he even considered to let Maddy stay here! I'm the fucking reason you even have grandchildren that knows who the fuck you are!" Mrs. O'Brien continues in seething anger.

"I am not losing the opportunity to continue seeing my grandchildren just so that you can continue fighting OUR son! Just so that you can relive our youth vicariously through this young man! I'm not fucking having it, Ricky!" Mrs. O'Brien shouts at Mr. O'Brien, before standing up abruptly from the table to walk away.

Mrs. O'Brien pauses, and stops mid-stride. She doesn't look back at the dining table where all of you still are, but she addresses Mr. O'Brien one last time after taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

"I grew up Ricky. I had to. It's time you fucking did too."

CHAPTER 136.1

What happens next?

Ice Cream for the Doldrums

The following chapter is written in 3rd person POV, following Brooke and Maddy

"Wow. Viv read you like a book." Brooke addresses Maddy, who was carrying her suitcase out of her room. Brooke was sitting on a chair she carried from the dining area in front of the apartment door so that Maddy couldn't leave.

"Ms. Brooke? Why are you here?" Maddy asks in surprise.

"Your grandparents wanted to find out what happened to you, and since they haven't had lunch, Jay decided to invite them to stay and talk. I didn't need to hear that part of the story, and I already ate; and, most importantly, I wanted to make sure you were okay... so I went here instead of staying there." Brooke explains to her.

"I'm fine." Maddy lies.

"I can see that." Brooke replies with an understanding nod, not wanting to aggravate Maddy. "Going somewhere?" Brooke asks with a friendly smile.

"Yeah. Home." Maddy answers unfazed. "Can you get out of the way please, Ms. Brooke?" Maddy asks her politely.

"How about we talk first? Get to know each other." Brooke asks Maddy.

"Sure. Okay. Hi. I'm Maddy. I'm the girl whose feelings aren't taken seriously because people think I'm a naive child who grew up sheltered and stupid so she doesn't know that what she's feeling isn't genuine. Nice to meet you. Goodbye." Maddy tells Brooke in frustrated sarcasm.

"Hi, Maddy. I'm Brooke. I'm the girl whose feelings aren't taken seriously because I'm a naive and hopeless romantic that falls for assholes so easily they'd rather ask for forgiveness than stop themselves from cheating on me. It's nice to finally meet you too." Brooke matches Maddy's sarcasm.

"I-uh..." Maddy stutters, not sure how to reply to Brooke's retort.

"Relax. I thought we were just sharing our personal hang ups. I wasn't trying to be witty or clever. Just honest." Brooke assures Maddy, and Brooke's honesty seems to make Maddy realize that Brooke isn't her enemy.

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you, Ms. Brooke. It's not you who I'm angry with, and you didn't deserve that." Maddy apologizes to Brooke.

"I've said worse when I was angry, Maddy. So no harm done. Apology accepted." Brooke tells her with a comforting smile. Maddy doesn't look at Brooke though. She's just staring off into space, deep in thought.

"Ms. Viv figured out I wanted to run away?" Maddy asks.

"She thought it was a possibility. I did see you running off into the street before Jay grabbed you, so I thought it was a possibility too." Brooke answers her. "You want to talk about what happened?" Brooke asks.

"Not really." Maddy answers, rubbing the side of her arm in discomfort at the situation.

"I brought ice cream." Brooke persuades Maddy with a perky tone. "We don't even have to talk about it. We'll just share this pint until you feel like not running away anymore." Brooke tells her. Maddy's unflinching. She doesn't move, and her grip on her suitcase seems to tighten.

"You're going to have to decide quickly, Maddy. Unless you want to eat cookie dough soup." Brooke tells her with a friendly smile.

"Cookie dough?" Maddy's eyes perk up at the thought, and her grip immediately loosens.

"Yep. Cookie Dough Ice cream. For when the power of one comfort food isn't enough." Brooke answers her with a playful smile, almost like she was advertising the ice cream flavor.

"I've never had cookie dough ice cream before. Mom and Dad always got us the low fat artisanal stuff." Maddy shares.

"Those are good too. I actually go for those under normal circumstances. When I'm trying to cheer myself up though?" Brooke shares before shaking the pint of Cookie Dough Ice Cream in her hands. "This baby never fails..." Brooke tells her, and it gets a shy smile out of Maddy.

"... To make me regret eating it the next day since it goes straight to my thighs." Brooke jokes, making Maddy awkwardly chuckle. "That guilty feeling takes my mind off of what got me into eating ice cream in the first place, though. So that helps. Then I start exercising to take care of the guilt of eating ice cream, and those are whole new endorphins to keep me positive." Brooke then explains. "I have this whole thing down to a science, if you haven't noticed." Brooke jokes, making Maddy chuckle once more.

"So~, what do you say? Worth a shot?" Brooke asks her. Maddy bites her lower lip, while she processes and considers all her options.

...

"Worth a shot." Maddy answers Brooke with a friendly smile. Brooke stands up and offers Maddy the pint of ice cream. Maddy's about to grab the pint of ice cream but Brooke pulls it back at the last second.

"Trade me for it. Suitcase for Ice Cream. Deal?" Brooke asks her, and Maddy just smiles and nods, before handing over the suitcase she dramatically packed to Brooke. Brooke hands over the ice cream in exchange for the suitcase. The two ladies stand in front of each other after the exchange, waiting for the other to initiate what to do next.

"How about you grab yourself a spoon then we can eat this in your room?" Brooke asks her. Maddy nods in approval of that suggestion, before walking off into the kitchen.

"Would you like a big spoon or small spoon, Ms. Brooke?" Maddy asks her.

"No spoon for me. Looking after my figure." Brooke jokes, causing Maddy to stare at Brooke's body. "Really though, that whole pint is yours. Don't worry about me." Brooke snaps Maddy out of her trance, and makes her blush in the process.

"Don't judge me if I get myself a big spoon, okay?" Maddy asks Brooke shyly.

"I don't judge, Maddy." Brooke assures her. "Although, you have to promise me to go to the gym later to workout if you're going to finish all of that in one sitting." Brooke tells her in coach mode.

Maddy pauses at the suggestion, realizing what Brooke's suggestion will entail. She bites her lower lip, unsure of what to do.

"Relax, Maddy. I'm kidding. If you don't want to go. You don't have to." Brooke tells her, upon seeing the hesitation in Maddy's demeanor. "We can worry about your thighs once you've actually finished that ice cream." Brooke jokes, bringing Maddy back to a less hesitant position.

Maddy leads Brooke into the O'Briens guest bedroom, where Maddy's been staying the past couple of days. Maddy sits on the single sofa chair in the room, before immediately opening the pint and taking a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, moaning in satisfaction.

"Oh~! This is so yummy!" Maddy says in elation. Brooke just smiles before she puts down the suitcase.

"I'm glad you like it." Brooke tells her with a smile, before looking around the room Maddy was staying in. She noticed it was still pretty bare, and didn't really reflect that a teenager was staying there.

"Can I sit here and put my feet up?" Brooke asks Maddy if she could sit on her bed, and Maddy just mumbles a "Yeah, mmhmm", while she spoons some ice cream in her mouth. Brooke takes off her shoes and sits on the bed with her feet up, and her back resting on the headboard. She then taps the space on the bed beside her to tell Maddy to do the same.

Maddy gets up from the sofa chair and sits on the bed with her feet up next to Brooke. Maddy offers Brooke the ice cream, but Brooke respectfully shakes her head, and assures Maddy that the whole pint is hers if she wants it, which gets a smile out of Maddy.

"It's not because you just don't want to share a spoon, right? I can get you one if you want." Maddy asks Brooke, the latter sentence being garbled by her mouthful of ice cream.

"No. Seriously, it's yours." Brooke answers Maddy. "I actually bought it for Viv. She called and messaged me last night but I was already asleep. I heard from Tanya what happened, and talked to Jay about it a bit before coming here, so it seemed like it sorted itself out." Brooke explains, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah. Ms. Viv is Mr. Craig's girlfriend now. I think they made it official this morning." Maddy confirms to Brooke.

"I heard." Brooke tells Maddy.

"Did you also hear that all you have to do to be Mr. Craig's girlfriend is--" Maddy was about to ask before Brooke silently asked her to stop by placing a hand on Maddy's thigh.

"That's something Jay has to tell me himself." Brooke tells Maddy with a reassuring smile, before shutting down that conversation entirely by going back to the original topic of Viv and Jay becoming official. "I'm honestly happy for Viv. She doesn't show it when she's around him, but she was actually really excited at the idea of falling in love again. Her last relationship didn't end so well." Brooke shares

"Really? I haven't actually heard that story. What happened?" Maddy asks curiously, before eating another spoonful of ice cream.

"It's not my story to tell, so I won't say the details. Let's just say her feelings weren't reciprocated." Brooke tells Maddy.

"Oh. Same as me then." Maddy sighs in dejection, gobbling up another spoonful of ice cream.