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. “Although~, that guilty feeling does take my mind off of what got me into eating ice cream in the first place. 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 it 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 into 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.

“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, right? 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, am I 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. If you think about your own self-interest, you will definitely 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 been introduced 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 granddaughter.

“Can I have some of that ice cream?”