Chapter Five

Brooke still gets sad and pissy. The people in town talked behind her back, and she was on the verge of almost closing her firm. Her entire life, all Brooke ever wanted was to start a firm of her own, be successful, have a husband who loved her, and a house with a backyard where their kids could play and grow in a loving environment. In other words, a perfect apple pie life. For the past few years, she was sure she was about to achieve her dream by marrying Greg, but to her horror, she’d been living in a fantasy. A fantasy that came crashing down right in front of her own eyes when her ex-fiance had cheated on her. In front of her! At their wedding! 

As if that was not enough, Brooke’s asshole of an ex had the nerve to spread rumors around the town that Brooke was too vanilla in bed, making that the reason why Greg had to turn to his secretary to satisfy his needs. Moreover, the man had even threatened her clients and forced them to terminate their contracts with Brooke’s firm. The remaining two clients had initially agreed to stay on board but later suspended their contracts temporarily giving some bullshit reason about management changes. Between everything that was going on, Brooke was barely holding on, trying to be brave, refusing to give Greg any inch of satisfaction. 

This morning Brooke was headed for the Caffine House cafe where she was supposed to be meeting Beth and Steve. The cafe was their go-to spot whenever they wanted to chat or hang out before going to work. It was ten minutes from her apartment so she had decided to walk instead of taking her car. She was planning on leaving soon for Austin, or even Houston, where she had some friends who could help connect her with some clients. Maybe that would help kickstart her work. She was praying hard that the plan would work, or else she was going to have to shut down her business. 

Brookewas still engrossed in her thoughts when she heard someone snicker behind him. She turned around to find two elderly women sitting on a bench nearby, whispering. She was sure they were talking about her. She walked towards them, sick of the constant gossiping, and observed that when the women saw her coming towards them, they had immediately schooled their features, a look of guilt on their face for being caught gossiping. 

“Is there a problem, ladies?” Brooke asked them, voice hard as steel. 

“No,” one of them squeaked when called out.  

“No problem.” She was trying hard to look everywhere but at Brooke. 

“Then what was all that whispering about?” Brooke asked, folding his hands, trying to look intimidating. 

“Oh, nothing. Just discussing the weather and all. It’s really hot, right Silvi?” The other woman responded, eyes darting around and speaking too fast.

“Yeah exactly. So we were just…”

“Cut the crap,” Brooke growled angrily. She felt smug when the women immediately shut up and looked at her, eyes wide, clearly petrified. “Let me tell you what’s going on. That bastard Wilson goes around spreading rumors about me and you people - who have nothing left to do in life except for poking your noses in other people’s lives - are having fun snickering about me behind my back.” She was now shouting. A few passersby gave her a look, and she took a deep breath before smiling sweetly at the ladies. “Oh by the way, how is your husband treating you, Silvi?” 

“H-he’s very good to me, I’ll have you know.” Silvi, the one with the pink scarf answered. 

“Aww...that’s so sweet,” Brooke cooed. “Well then, from what’s being said around, why don’t ask your friend, Lily, here about just how good he’s treating her in bed?” He smiled, satisfied at the look of horror on both their faces. “Have a good day.” Brooke dismissed them and left, listening to the yelling match that started just a second after. 

Payback’s a bitch baby. Brooke thought to herself, happy that she’d gotten revenge. She was sick and tired of everyone gossiping about her constantly. 

Brooke reached the cafe and saw Beth and Steve were already waiting for him at their table under a huge umbrella. It was their reserved spot, to the left of the door of the cafe. The cafe had a big front yard, many tables situated around, and inside was a huge dining hall. It served as both a cafe and a bakery. The cafe was previously a house, which had been converted into a cafe when the last owners died. Miles Longhorn, one of the veterans, had bought the place to start his business and try to settle into civilian life. It was an instant hit among the locals. More so for Brooke and the gang because it was kind of a midpoint for them. All their workplaces were equidistant from the cafe. 

“Morning, moody girl,” Beth yelled, as soon as she saw Brooke turn around the corner and enter the cafe. 

“Don’t call me that,” Brooke glared at her friend. As soon as she stepped near their table, Beth got up and pulled her in a tight embrace. 

“It’s so good to see you back, Brooke.” Beth whispered.

Brooke was touched. She hadn’t exactly acted like a good friend when she refused to call Beth back and ignored her kocks on her door. Yet, Beth never complained, not even once. 

“Thanks, Beth. For everything.” Brooke replied.

Beth broke their embrace and gave her a bright smile. “It’s all good, my friend.” Both of them took a seat on the table.

“Not everything,” Brooke grumbled, scrunching up her face as she thought back to the incident that happened a few minutes back.

Steve could sense his friend wasn’t in a good mood. “Well, someone’s in a mood. What happened? Why the poop face?” 

“The gossip girls, man. People shouldn’t laugh at others when their own houses are on fire,” Brooke grumbled.

“Wow...pearls of wisdom, girl. Who was it this time?” Beth asked while signaling for Alaina, the cafe barista. 

“Right here, sweetheart.” Steve called when Beth didn't speak, calling for Alaina.

“Let me guess, was it Silvi, whose husband is having an affair with her widowed friend Lily?” Steve asked, keeping his voice down. 

“How did you know?” Brooke raised an eyebrow.

“Well, let's just say we live in a small town and after you, theirs is the only gossip that’s been going around. And while yours is true, poor Silvi might be doomed,” Steve chuckled, cracking open the bottle of water and gulping it.