A Funny Thing Happened in Texas

Chapter 11

Brian sat alone in his living room petting Benjamin Cat. The other two were sleeping on the end of the sofa. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He wasn't sure how to feel about Gennie. Did she play him for a fool? Did she toy with him? Or did she just take advantage of an opportunity to see what he was really like? Or was this her way of wanting to sleep with a celebrity?

He thought about the first time he saw her, at the ramen place. Maybe that was when she realized the jokers were filming in town? And he had thought she was attractive. And if given the chance to see her again he wanted to get to know her. She just happened to make sure that he got that chance. Was that so bad? But was any of it real? Had she found out what his interests were and just mimicked them so they'd have something to talk about? No. No way. She had plenty of her own interests.

It was so much to think over. He needed time to think.

"Lucky for me, Benjamin Cat, I have two whole weeks to think all this over."

But that wasn't what he did.

For two weeks Brian actively avoided thinking about Gennie. And for the first couple of days it was difficult. He would see something that would make him want to text her and then he'd remember that he couldn't.

His friends had been pretty supportive about the whole thing. On the drive to Austin, Sal listened when Brian explained what had happened the night before. In the evenings the guys would carefully ask Brian if he had talked to Gennie. Murr came by Brian's hotel room one night to see if there was any advice he could offer.

But during those two weeks Brian had wanted to focus on the show, his podcast, and even his beer company. He had fallen behind looking over some projections and marketing for R&H. He hadn't been away from the brewery this long before and he couldn't ignore his business.

By the time Brian was heading back to his house in Arlington he thought he'd be able to just move on from Gennie. But the moment he opened the front door it was as if he was reliving that last night.

"Brian..."

He hadn't been able to say anything. And now all he wanted to do was to tell her that none of it mattered. He looked at his watch, she would be off work soon. He rushed back to his Jeep and drove as quickly, and safely, as he could.

He pulled up and saw her car in the parking lot. He saw a grocery store next door to the spa so he dashed in and grabbed a bouquet of flowers. Then he waited. He didn't care how long it would take. Finally, after about ten or fifteen minutes he saw Gennie come out the front door. He knew she saw him but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. She approached slowly and stopped a couple of steps from him.

"What are you doing here, Brian?"

"I don't care."

Her face was full of confusion.

"You don't care? About what?"

"How we met. I figure that if I'd known where to find you then I would have done the exact same thing. When I saw you at the ramen place that day I wanted to talk to you  but then you left. But if at had known where you worked or whatever, I would have tried to see you again."

"Really?"

"Do you not know how hot you are with that hair?!"

She finally smiled. He took a step closer to her.

"I tried to go back to how my life was before you. And the truth is, I missed you so fucking much. I don't want to go back to life before you. I want to have a life with you. I don't know what that looks like completely, but I have learned so much just being around you and I don't want to stop. I want you to be my girlfriend. That is, if you'll have me."

He spotted a few tears in her eyes and he definitely had some of his own.

"I love you, too, Brian."

She took the last step between them and they kissed. It felt so good to have his arms around her.

"Let's get out of here," he whispered.