Lunch at Viv’s, Pt. 2

Now that the main dishes have arrived, and there was a pause in the conversation anyway, everyone starts digging in on the delicious meal prepared by Viv’s staff. The table was mostly filled with expressions of pleasure after every bite. After everyone had given their positive review of their meal to each other, as well as sharing bites of their orders so everyone could try something different, everyone got back into the groove of conversing again.

With the help of food on the table, the topics of conversation shifted, ranging from cooking, to their respective diets, and then workouts. Stella mentioned she and Cassie need to go practice soon, or their volleyball coach is going to kill them when training camp starts again. They planned to work their practice in after your morning runs together starting this upcoming week, so you’ll have some alone time during the days you don’t go to the gym.

Gym days have also been set when Brooke suggested you guys drop by more often. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are Gym days, while Tuesday and Thursdays are for runs. Brooke suggested that you, in particular, should drop by the gym more often than the girls do to see better results, and since they’ll be practicing on some days leaving you alone, Brooke’s volunteering to train you on those days too, free of charge. You really couldn’t say no to that kind offer.

Tanya also mentioned to everyone that she’ll be sleeping at your place once her daughters are back from her parents next Saturday. Stella and Cassie were excited at the idea and even told Tanya she didn’t need to wait until next Saturday to start doing so.

“Yeah, Tanya. If you want, you can start sleeping at our place already. I was going to offer it this morning, but I wanted to see what the girls thought first.” You tell her.

“Really?” Tanya asks excitedly, and you and the girls nod. Tanya does tiny claps of excitement as a response to this development.

“Wow. Already moving in with him after one date? I’m really starting to think you have a magic between your legs.” Brooke jokingly teases you, making Tanya laugh, but you rub your nape again out of embarrassment.

“More like his phone.” Stella jokes under her breath and she gets immediately nudged by Cassie in the ribs. Thankfully, Brooke wasn’t able to hear it.

“I’m not moving in with him, just sleeping over.” Tanya explains, but Brooke just has an expression of ‘Yeah, right.’ on her face.

After some time, you notice Viv and Celeste exit a room with a camera crew, and you all wave hi to the two of them. Viv gives the table a two finger salute before she heads off to return to the kitchen. You just begin to realize it now, but Viv is really serious looking when she’s at work. Then again, I guess that’s normal when you’re managing the kitchen at a restaurant. Meanwhile, Celeste stops by your table with her camera crew.

“Hey guys! Would it be okay if we interview you about your dining experience?” Celeste asks in a professional manner.

“Of course Celeste.” you answer.

The five of you glowingly talked about your dining experience at Viv’s restaurant to Celeste, while the camera crew behind her filmed your answers. Celeste asked questions ranging from the quality of the food which you all thought was some of the best in the city, to the ambience that you all thought was pleasantly homey and relaxed, the decor which you guys thought was very in theme with the restaurant but still sophisticated, and your general opinions about Viv’s new restaurant which you all just thought was stellar.

After Celeste wrapped up her questions, she had a few seconds to hang out before she had to go to other tables to ask them questions. “Hey aunt Celeste, if you work for a magazine, why are you guys taking videos?” Stella asks.

“Oh, print media’s dying. The magazine’s just basically for selling ad-space while also advertising for our website, and not the other way around like it used to be. We do videos we upload to YouTube and our website to generate some ad money and get subscriptions in best case scenarios.” Celeste explains.

“Oh~, that makes sense. Like what Bon Appétit did.” Stella replies.

“Yeah. That’s just the business model now.” Celeste confirms. “Thankfully our boss isn’t a racist.” Celeste says under her breath, but her cameraman chuckles a schadenfreudian chuckle upon hearing it. “That was obviously off the record, Greg.” Celeste tells her cameraman who gives a thumbs up that he understood.

“I’m Brooke by the way. Nice to meet you, Celeste.” Brooke greets Celeste.

“Hi! It’s nice to finally meet you too! Heard a lot about you from everyone last night.” Celeste greets back, leaning in to hug Brooke who was sitting down. “Anyway, we’ll go interview a few more tables. See you guys later.” Celeste says before continuing with her job.

“I’m guessing that was your cousin?” Brooke asks and you nod. “She’s gorgeous.” Brooke observes, and you instinctively nod your head to agree, making Brooke raise an eyebrow in curiosity, but she doesn’t follow up on it. “Her ass needs work though.” Brooke adds, and Stella couldn’t help but suppress a laugh at that assessment.

“I’m beginning to think you’re obsessed with butts.” Stella comments.

“Well, yeah. Not gonna deny that. It’s one of the few parts of your body that men are attracted to that you can actually work on to be more attractive. Nose, lips, tits… plastic surgery; but your butt? You squat enough and it’ll look phenomenal.” Brooke explains her bias.

“Careful Brooke, your insecurities are showing.” Tanya half-jokes.

“You're insecure about your butt!?” Stella asks in disbelief, as someone who openly adores Brooke’s behind.

“Oh, the exact opposite. It’s the one shallow thing I’m proud of. The things I listed earlier, you know, the tits, the lips, and nose? Had work done on all of them already. That’s what Tanya was saying about my insecurities. It sucks when you don’t see yourself as beautiful or sexy when you look in the mirror.” Brooke admits.

“You’re beautiful Brooke. I hope you feel more confident about that now, but if you still don’t, at least know that we all find you beautiful. Inside and out.” You say to try and cheer her up. Brooke blushes a bit at your compliment.

“Bold of you to hit on a girl in front of your girlfriends, loverboy.” Tanya jokes, making Brooke blush even more.

“He’s just being a sweet talker. I’m sure you’re all used to that by now.” Brooke tries to deflect.

“Him being sweet? Yeah, we’re used to it. Him being a sweet talker though? Not so much.” Cassie replies.

“Yeah. Jay’s more of an ‘honest’ type; which, luckily for him, ends up being sweet.” Tanya follows up.

“I don’t think my Dad even knows how to flirt.” Stella teases, getting a laugh out of Tanya and Cassie.

“Your girlfriends are pretty good wingmen, you know that?” Brooke asks you with an awkward laugh.

“Oh? Are they wingman-ing me? I-uh, I was actually just being honest Brooke. I wasn’t hitting on you.” you tell Brooke, who immediately blushes and has a hint of disappointment on her face thinking maybe that you kind of rejected her.

“Not that you’re someone I wouldn’t hit on! I mean, like I said, you’re beautiful! Any man would be lucky to go out with you. So, please don’t take what I said the wrong way. I was just—”, “Being really bad at flirting.” you try to explain in a panic, not wanting to exacerbate Brooke’s insecurities further, before Stella cuts you off with a joke to stop you from digging a bigger hole for yourself. Stella’s joke does get a chuckle out of everyone, so you heed her advice and zip it.

“Well, if Stella’s right about you being bad at flirting, then I guess Tanya and Cassie weren’t lying about you just being honest.” Brooke comments. “So thanks for honestly thinking I’m beautiful, Jay.” Brooke adds, blushing a bit from having such an intimate conversation so openly.

“Adding another hot girl to your harem, Daddy?”