AMA - The Divorcee: Day 12

"Nah. Viv was undeniably, unambiguously, unequivocally, and indisputably... rejected." Brooke says dramatically, but chuckling as she does so. "I wouldn't even call yours a rejection. Jay did say he was willing to explore your feelings for each other. There are just complications that you and he need to figure out first." Brooke tells her.

"I know~. It's just..." Maddy admits, but she can't seem to form the words to why she's feeling rejected.

"You just wish he didn't care about those complications and said he'd date you no matter what, right?" Brooke asks Maddy, who doesn't answer. She just continues to eat ice cream.

"You have to see it from his perspective too, though. If he does something stupid, he's not just going to lose you -- he's going to lose the trust of your grandparents, which could lead to his girlfriends losing a friend they want to keep hanging out with. More than that, you might lose your opportunity to be independent from your overbearing father." Brooke points out, making Maddy look at her in surprise. "Tanya told me about it." Brooke explains how she knows.

"So I am being a stupid and naive little kid." Maddy says dejectedly, and Brooke can't help but smile, making Maddy confused at Brooke's expression.

"You know, this is the first time I've been on this end of the conversation. Where I'm not the one eating ice cream and beating myself up for not making a relationship work. So please don't take my amusement the wrong way, I just feel like life prepared me for this." Brooke says with a chuckle, before wrapping her arm around Maddy, and making Maddy rest her head on Brooke's shoulder.

"You're not a kid, Maddy. You're a grown woman that can decide for herself what she wants in life." Brooke assures Maddy. "Even if that's the case though, you're still learning about stuff. I don't want to give away my age, but I'm sure I'm older and supposedly wiser; and, I have to say, I still don't really know anything. You're not alone in that." Brooke tells her.

"In fact, Jay would probably be Exhibit A in terms of not knowing what to do in certain situations, and he's twice your age." Brooke jokes, making Maddy chuckle too. "So you have that in common with him, at least." Brooke adds while rubbing the side of Maddy's arm.

"I know what it's like to want grand gestures and be swept off your feet by romance. I've experienced those; and, don't get me wrong, they're great in the moment -- but grand gestures aren't relationships. Grand gestures don't prevent someone from falling out of love, or prevent them from hurting you. As much as I agree with you that if he did like you back, he should've just said that he liked you and that you guys will find a way to make things work with your grandparents and parents and whoever else would be against it; a part of me also sees the fact that he cares for your current relationship enough that he doesn't want to potentially lose it by promising you something without considering the consequences. It shows he doesn't want to half-ass a relationship with you. He wants to make sure it's going to work." Brooke points out.

"It's not the most traditionally romantic response, but it is romantic in its own way." Brooke adds. Maddy puts the ice cream down on the bedside table and hugs Brooke, resting her head on her chest.

"It's really nice to finally meet you Ms. Brooke." Maddy tells her, tightening her hug. Brooke rests her chin on top of Maddy's head, and the two girls just bond in silence for a while.

The silence is eventually broken by the sound of the apartment door opening, and the voice of Mrs. O'Brien calling out to Maddy.

"Maddy?" Mrs. O'Brien asks upon swinging the door open. Brooke immediately motions herself to stand up from the bed, but Maddy doesn't let her go. "Are you feeling better, dear?" Mrs. O'Brien asks Maddy, and Maddy just nods while her head is still resting on Brooke's chest.

"I don't think we've formally met yet, I'm Mary." Mrs. O'Brien introduces herself to Brooke.

"Brooke." Introduces herself with a friendly smile.

Mrs. O'Brien just observes her granddaughter hugging Brooke in the bed, obviously having been comforted by her. Mrs. O'Brien glances at the pint of ice cream in the nightstand next to her.

"Can I have some of that ice cream?"

CHAPTER 137.1

What happens next?

Girl Talk, Pt. 2

The following chapter is written in 3rd person POV, following Brooke, Maddy, and Mrs. O'Brien

"That fucking idiot! Using you as a way to mess with Connor. It's fucking infuriating."

Mrs. O'Brien vents in frustration before aggressively spooning some ice cream into her mouth. Mrs. O'Brien's on the bed with Maddy and Brooke, angrily soloing the remaining contents of the pint of cookie dough ice cream. Maddy has a look of surprise on her face, caused by the sheer amount of swearing her grandmother is doing, this being the first time she's ever heard her do it.

"Are you talking about Grandpa Rick, Grammy? Why? What happened at Mr. Craig's place?" Maddy asks her grandmother.

"Your grandfather, boneheaded as he is, tried to argue for that young man to start dating you like it's so simple and--" Mrs. O'Brien recounts, to her granddaughter's horror.

"Oh my God! Are you serious!?" Maddy reacts in shock, before taking a throw pillow they set aside and covering her face with it.

"I think that's a good thing, Maddy." Brooke assures Maddy.

"That's so embarrassing! Getting your grandparents to convince someone into dating you." Maddy shouts, muffled by the throw pillow. "If he doesn't want to date me, he doesn't want to date me!" Maddy adds in frustration.

"HA! As soon as Richard gave him the signal it was fine with him, he seemed excited enough at the idea." Mrs. O'Brien reveals, making Maddy release the throw pillow and look at her grandmother in a mixture of surprise, doubt, and hope. "Don't look at me like that Madeleine, I am not letting you date a man twice your age." Mrs. O'Brien tells her sternly.

"Grammy~" Madeleine groans pleadingly to her grandmother.

"Don't start with me, Madeleine. This is not a discussion. Your father will take you home as soon as he finds out that we're not protecting you the way he wants us to." Mrs. O'Brien tells Maddy.

"Then I won't go with him! I'll stay with you and Grandpa Rick!" Maddy argues to her grandmother.

"Then what, Maddy? Do you think your father's just going to let you? What about your sisters? What if he won't allow us to see them again? Do you want us to choose between you and them? Connor will never forgive us if he thinks we turned you against him." Mrs. O'Brien argues back.

"I've always been against him!" Maddy confesses in frustration, and Mrs. O'Brien can't help but pity her granddaughter.

"Oh, Maddiecakes." Mrs. O'Brien says, before giving Maddy a kiss on the forehead. "We fucked up with your father, and you and your sisters are suffering the consequences. It's our fault that your father is so strict with you girls. He still hasn't truly forgotten about our transgressions, and we're still very much on a short leash with him. I don't want to lose the chance to see you girls grow up, just so your grandfather can relive his glory days and mess with Connor through that young man you seem to idolize." Mrs. O'Brien tells her granddaughter.

"I hate being in the middle of this." Maddy says in frustration.

"Welcome to my world." Mrs. O'Brien reacts with sarcasm, before scooping in another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

The three women just lay in bed for a few more minutes, not talking to one another. Brooke has an obvious question she wants to ask, but she feels like it isn't her place. Mrs. O'Brien is finishing up the remainder of the ice cream, while Maddy's still stewing after finding out that she's been put in the middle of her grandfather and father's feud. Something she's just beginning to find out.

"Grammy?" Maddy finally voices out.

"Yes, dear?" Mrs. O'Brien asks, before setting aside the empty carton of ice cream on the nightstand.

"Why is--" Maddy started asking, but she was cut off by a knock on the door.

"I'm still furious with you, Richard! Don't fucking open that door!" Mrs. O'Brien shouts from the bed, but the door slowly swings open anyway.

Mrs. O'Brien chucks the empty pint of ice cream towards the door, hitting the doorframe, and the spoon making a clanging noise as it hits the door and the floor.

"Grammy!" Maddy shouts in shock at Mrs. O'Brien's aggressiveness.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry!" Mrs. O'Brien hears a female voice from behind the door.

"Why'd you open the door!?" Another female voice shouts, scolding the one who apparently opened the door despite Mrs. O'Brien's warning.

"Who's there?" Mrs. O'Brien asks from the bed, and the door slowly inches open once more, before Cassie peeks her head in the small gap that they created, still fearing that Mrs. O'Brien might have extra ammunition.

"Hey~, Mrs. O'Brien. Sorry to bother. We just wanted to see how Maddy was doing?" Cassie says from the small gap in the door she opened. The head of Stella peeks in right below her, and Viv's head peeks in below Stella's as well.

"Come in you guys. I've calmed down thanks to Ms. Brooke. I'm sorry for overreacting." Maddy says from the bed, before waving for them to enter the room.

The three girls enter the room, and Viv and Stella noticeably look at the empty carton of ice cream on the floor,

"That almost hit you in the face." Stella jokes to Viv, revealing it was Viv who opened the door earlier. Viv just answers her by expressing an awkward look on her face.

"I'll buy you another pint, V. Don't worry." Brooke jokes to Viv, who immediately smiles upon hearing Brooke's statement.

"Mah man!" Viv happily reacts, winking at Brooke and doing finger guns.

"I'm sorry for taking your ice cream, Ms. Viv." Maddy continues to apologize.

"I'm not sorry for chucking at you." Mrs. O'Brien immediately adds, getting a "Grammy!" from Maddy in reaction.

"It's fine, M. I'm sure B bought that as a pick-me-up pint. Therefore, it served its purpose if you're actually doing better now." Viv assures Maddy, and Maddy nods to assure Viv that she's doing better.

"Even better, the carton of ice cream Brooke is going to get me would be a congratulatory one instead. There's an ice cream shop in the city that makes Birthday Cake flavored ice cream. Wink, wink. Nudge nudge." Viv tells Brooke suggestively, who just rolls her eyes to say she got the hint.

"I'm sorry if I made today about me too. We should be celebrating your relationship with Mr. Craig, instead of you guys worrying about me." Maddy tells them.

"Oh, we have ways to celebrate that. Trust me." Stella jokes suggestively which makes Cassie push her face playfully for not reading the room.

"We're not celebrating until Jay's official with everyone!" Viv announces with conviction. "That means you, B." Viv says while pointing at Brooke dramatically, the latter just chuckles in amusement.

"And you too, M!" Viv adds, dramatically changing her pointing stance to a new one, while she gives Maddy a playful but still reassuring smile, which Maddy returns. Doubting, but hopeful. Maddy's reaction pushes Viv over the edge and takes her encouragement a bit too far.

"Once the three of us are official, the second batch of girlfriends will have our own orgy! A foursome that puts the original one to shame!" Viv shouts proudly, forgetting who else was in the room.

"NO YOU WILL NOT!" Mrs. O'Brien shouts defiantly, to the horror of Brooke, Cassie, and Stella; who didn't want to make Jay's already strenuous relationship with Mrs. O'Brien more strained... or possibly having something else be thrown at them.

Maddy, surprisingly, just laughs Viv off.

"She's just being a character, Grammy. She's not as loose as she makes herself out to be. She's actually hesitant to sleep with Mr. Craig, despite what she's saying now." Maddy tells Mrs. O'Brien, making Viv give her an appreciative smile.

"I still don't buy what you're selling, Maddy. Viv's the same girl that got Cassie and Tanya to make out with her when they were drunk." Stella points out. "Oh! Lest I forget! She made me make out with her when I was drunk and half-naked too!" Stella added after remembering about that part of their night out.

"This whole relationship with Jay is actually all a scheme so I can sleep with all of you. Mwahahaha." Viv says jokingly with an evil laugh, making Mrs. O'Brien crack a smile, before catching herself and showing an expression of distaste.

"Viv." Brooke addresses her, to get her attention to the stern look she was giving her.

"Right." Viv acknowledges. "I'm sorry about that, Stella. Cassie. I was being an asshole and I manipulated you into a situation that you guys weren't comfortable with just because you were drunk. It won't happen--" Viv started to apologize, before Cassie cut her off.

"Relax, Viv. Just ask me nicely next time." Cassie tells Viv with a wink.

"Hoe." Stella tells Cassie jokingly. "Ow!" Stella reacts after Cassie slaps her on the side of her arm. "I was kidding!" Stella shouts at Cassie. "Also, don't expect me to make out with you again, unless Dad's around." Stella tells Viv, who nods in understanding. Stella and Viv smile at each other, finding the humor in that agreement.

"Um... Where's Mr. Craig?" Maddy asks the girls shyly.

"He's with Mr. O'Brien. They went out for a 'walk and talk'. Your grandpa said he can't go back here until he's back with Mrs. O'Brien's favorite donuts." Stella answers Maddy.

"I hate that that fucker knows me so well." Mrs. O'Brien says annoyed, but it doesn't miss the notice of the girls who are standing that there's a hint of a smile on her face.

"If all it takes is donuts, Mrs. O, then we'll buy you some of those everyday if you can be a little more lenient with Maddy." Viv says to Mrs. O'Brien. "By the way, Back Alley Bakery's Angel Donuts? Impeccable taste Mrs. O. Even I've heard of it from the opposite side of the country." Viv tells her with an 'OK' hand signal and a nod.

"I am not going against her father's wishes." Mrs. O'Brien states.

"Her father's wishes? Not yours?" Viv asks with a sly smile.

"I don't think there's a difference." Mrs. O'Brien says adamantly.

"Oh~, but there is." Viv replies with aplomb. "If her father changes his mind, that means you'll be willing to let Maddy date?" Viv asks Mrs. O'Brien, who scoffs in response to Viv's audacity to think that that would ever happen.

"You only ask that because you don't know my son. If you did, all of you would know there's no chance of that happening." Mrs. O'Brien.

"Grammy..." Maddy then starts to say, after hearing her grandmother's statement. "Why is Dad so paranoid about us being with boys? I mean, I know Tricia's pregnancy scare contributed to that, but he's been paranoid even before that. You even said earlier that it was your fault he's so strict with us." Maddy prefaces.

"What happened that caused my Dad to be that way?" Maddy asks her grandmother.

CHAPTER 138.1

What happens next?

History

"He thought I was cheating on Mary with multiple women." Mr. O'Brien tells you, after asking him why his son was so protective of his daughters.

You and him have been walking for a few minutes now, to buy Mrs. O'Brien's favorite donuts, which he said was a few blocks away from your apartment. You thought a few meant around three or four blocks, but that was debunked five blocks ago. You actually offered to drive before you left, but Mr. O'Brien said it wasn't far, and that he liked to keep active in his old age. You're not complaining though, it has given you an opportunity to talk with him and find out more about Maddy and her relationship with her parents... and now, her Dad's relationship with his parents.

"He said the first time he saw me with another woman was with one of his friends' moms. I'm not even sure which of his friends' moms he was talking about. Most of them were his friends' moms." Mr. O'Brien admitted. If it wasn't for Mrs. O'Brien confirming that he and Mr. O'Brien used to be swingers, you would've been horrified at the nonchalance he said that statement. You assumed that's how he was able to hook up with so many different women that he doesn't even know which friend his son was talking about.

"We used to host key parties back in the day. I think Mary mentioned it when she was shouting at me to grow up." Mr. O'Brien adds, chuckling to soften the severity of Mrs. O'Brien's admonishment earlier. "It was easier when Connor was younger. We would send him to one of our friends' homes who was attending the party. They'd hire a babysitter to look after their kid and ours during their sleepover while we did our thing, and no one was the wiser. It's how Connor made most of his childhood friends." Mr. O'Brien explains.

"We found out that he discovered me sleeping with one of his friends' moms one time he went home during one of our parties. Since I kept the apartment while Mary went with the guy who's key she got, Connor only saw me doing it. Multiple times, based on what he told us later. He kept his discovery to himself for a long time though, not addressing me or telling his mother what he found out so that we could explain to him what was going on. When he did tell us, it was already too late. He--" Mr. O'Brien was explaining before being interrupted by a car horn as we were passing the crosswalk.

It was apparently a taxi who honked his horn at us to speed up crossing the street. Mr. O'Brien was having none of it though. Mr. O'Brien slams the taxi's hood with his hand and shouts, "I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!" to the cab driver, who responds by honking his horn even more obnoxiously. You eventually got Mr. O'Brien to give up his recreation of Midnight Cowboy and cross the street with you and lead the way to the donut shop you and he were going to.

"And they wonder why they're getting slaughtered by Uber." Mr. O'Brien says in frustration, and you can't help but agree with him. Still, that was going off topic.

"You were saying about your son not giving you a chance to explain?" You ask Mr. O'Brien to get him back on track.

"Connor told us after he graduated college that he was joining the army. A slap in the face to Mary and I, since we've protested against every war this country's decided to start since we were teenagers, and he goes and does that. The day he told us that, and that he was moving away from us, was when he told Mary and I that he knew about my... 'infidelity', as he put it." Mr. O'Brien continued to explain after your reminder.

"Mary and I tried to explain to him at that point, but the damage was done. He held onto his anger and resentment for too long. When we explained to him what it was I was doing... what Mary and I were doing, it just made things worse. Us being furious at the time we tried to explain probably didn't help things, since the conversation that preceded that was him telling us he joined the army. So, you know, we didn't exactly explain it to him in a calm manner." Mr. O'Brien says, chuckling at the end to soften the pain that recounting this story might be causing.

You keep silent as Mr. O'Brien recollects himself after explaining to you the situation between them and his son. He finally opens a door to a fancier looking bodega called Back Alley Bodega and Bakery.

"Oh, and being high on coke at the time probably didn't help either." Mr. O'Brien adds out of nowhere before walking inside the bodega. Before you could give a proper reaction to that added tidbit, someone from the bodega calls out to Mr. O'Brien.