Brook Catches A Break Thanks To Kenny

Brook shut her eyes and couldn't help but wince, "Ah shit...Rachel is going to tear me a new one," The girl whispered out before pulling herself out of her car, not wanting to be considered late by a second longer than this. She rushed into her office building and ran up a few flights of stairs, slipping into the office area, trying to sneak into her personal office without being seen. She slowly looked around and other than a few of her co-workers, Brook didn't see her boss, "Okay...nice and easy," Brook grinned as she stared at her bosses empty office, "I can just say I was caught up with a client or maybe she's not even-"

"Here?" Rachel finished causing Brook to nearly jump a foot in the air while turning her head forward to see her tall, blonde boss standing in front of her. Her bright blue eyes narrowed and her arms folded over her chest, "You see, Brook, I was on time today...unlike you,"

"Rachel! Hey, I was just --" Brook squeaked out as she attempted to put on her most pleasing smile,

"Getting in," Rachel finished Brook's thought for her, "Come with me," She sternly said while spinning around and craning the finger at the woman.

"Yes, ma'am," Brook mumbled back while following the woman sluggishly, feeling like a child about to be scolded.

Rachel confidently strode through the room towards her office in the back, even though Rachel had only taken over a few months ago, she ran the place like she was in charge for years. Her no-nonsense attitude, impressive work ethic, and great sales persona made her the perfect person to run this section of LQT.Inc. At least, that's what Mindy suggested to Brian when Rachel showed up demanding another switch up in her career. Brian's older sister had worked in just about every section of the business twice, and she'd excelled in every way until she finally got bored and decided she needed a change. Brian may have always been irritated by working with his sister, but he preferred this over her working directly on the board with him.

Rachel opened the door to her office and stepped to the side letting Brook enter before her. Brook slid into her seat and waited patiently as Rachel shut the door behind her and walked over, sitting down in her seat while resting her arms on her desk with an expectant look. "I can explain," Brook merely stated,

"Can you? Because what it sounded like out there, you were going to tell me a lie," Rachel frowned,

"I...I, er, yes, okay...fine," Brook admitted, "I was, but only because I didn't think you'd be accepting of the truth," Rachel let out an unimpressed exhale and leaned back in her seat, lifting her hand, silently telling her to explain, "Okay, Ms.White --"

"Brook, please...you're still a friend, call me Rachel," Rachel lightly interjected,

Brook let out a nervous breath and nodded, "Rachel, I was late today because I had to take care of my niece this morning. My brother-in-law was...in desperate need of a babysitter and...well, they're family, how could I refuse?"

"Brother-in-law?" Rachel curiously asked with a raise of her brow, "You mean Kenny?"

Brook cocked her head, surprised that Rachel so easily remembered the man, "Y-Yes...he just moved in with me,"

"Mhm," Rachel nodded back, looking completely understanding, "Why didn't you just call and tell me?"

"I'm sorry, things got so busy, I was cooking breakfast, then getting Ellie set up in the living room to keep her entertained until Kenny got up -- back," Brook swiftly corrected, "I wasn't paying attention to the time and then I just...drove in, I'm very sorry, it won't happen again,"

Rachel let out a small smirk and leaned back in her seat, "How is Kenny?" She asked with a soft voice, "I haven't seen him in a very long time,"

"He's...handling," Brook honestly replied, "He's a very good father, but he's still dealing with his grief over my sister,"

"Of course," Rachel nodded back, "He has...moved on though? I mean, I imagine after multiple years he's found himself, someone to spend time with," She asked after a moment,

"No," Brook replied with a small awkward shift in her seat, "He literally just moved in yesterday and, uh...I-I don't know what his relationship status is right now. All I know is that he's still very lost with the death of my sister, so, I don't think so,"

"Hmph, well, an interesting choice for him to move in with a single woman," Rachel smirked before letting out a small laugh, "Ah, so it was a family matter, well...okay, I'll give you a pass this time, but if you find yourself in this situation again, I expect a call telling me you'll be late,"

"Yes, I swear, this won't happen again," Brook quickly nodded back,

"Good," Rachel easily replied, "Well, you're free to go and get to work," The blonde simply stated while reaching over and pulling out a pile of papers from her desk, "Shoo," Rachel said with a small wave of her hand. Brook nodded while jumping to her feet and turning to leave, yet just as she opened the door, Rachel looked up and smirked, "Oh, and Brook, please tell Kenny I said hello,"

"U-Uh...sure, Rachel, I'm sure he'd love to hear from you," Rachel looked back down at her paperwork without a word, though a constant smile remained on her lips.

Brook left the office feeling most uncertain with the whole series of events. Zoey never mentioned that Kenny and Rachel had some sort of personal relationship growing up, she assumed his friendship with the family started and stopped with Brian. Beyond that, she wasn't a child, Rachel couldn't have been more obvious with her thoughts on her brother-in-law. Stepping into her own office Brook fell down into her chair, attempting to put the situation aside only for a light knock on her door to rouse her.

"So you survived a stare down with the ice queen herself," Her co-worker, Louis, teasingly stated as he walked in and pulled himself out of a chair, sitting down opposite Brook's desk. Louis was one of Brook's closest work friends. Having joined the company just around a year ago, Brook and Louis struck up a quick, playful relationship at the office. Often running little challenges on who the better salesperson was, and also looking out for each other, working together in some instances.

Yet, Brook couldn't say she exactly saw Louis as anything more than a friend. She'd readily admit that he looked quite attractive, his light brown hair was always well maintained and his green eyes did have a certain allure. Moreover, he was one of the few guys that never had to try to make her laugh or feel charmed. Still, there was something inside her that just couldn't take a chance to step over that line.

Brook looked up and gave Louis a half-smile, "You know, I remember when I was younger and all I heard was how fun Rachel White was, turns out that must have been a load of bullshit. No way she even knows what the word fun means," Brook joked with a small shake of her head,

Louis let out a hearty laugh, "I don't know, I think the problem could be, you don't have the right parts she likes to have fun with,"

"Yeah no shit, the parts she wants to play with belong to my brother-in-law," Brook scoffed as she pulled out a binder from her bag and laid it open on her desk, "Ken may have made me late today but he also saved me, I guess I'll call this one a wash,"

"Whoa, whoa, wait, Rachel White has the hots for your brother?" Louis asked, leaning in a bit closer in interest,

"In law," Brook added before shrugging her shoulder, "And yeah, she wasn't exactly coy when she realized that Kenny was at my house, all too interested in finding out if he was single and if he was looking. Apparently, I need to make sure he gets the message that she says hello,"

"Brook, you just got handed a golden egg!" Louis exclaimed with a wide grin, "You need to set those two up!"

"First off, Kenny didn't move in with me so I could go set him up on dates. He's here to get his life back in order so he can get back on his feet for his daughter," Brook sharply retorted, "Second, why do I want to set Kenny up with Rachel White?"

"First off, she's your boss, so anything you do to help her the better for you in the long run. Second, you're family with Kenny, if those two got serious, that means you'd be a part of the White family! Think about it, you'd probably get this branch of the company once Rachel gets bored and leaves! Then you could always promote someone to help manage the place...you know, a good friend or something...who could use a good pay boost," Louis suggested with a playful roll of his eyes,

"You're a fucking riot, Louis," Brook muttered back, "I gotta get to work, you should do the same before she comes down on you next,"

"You're probably right, but I'm telling you, think about it Brook," Louis tacked on as he got up and headed out of Brook's office.