The Hook-up

Chapter 12

Bruno saw Phil and the rest of his entourage walk out of the club as he finished his cigarette. "So are you two done?" Phil asked. "I told you it would be a waste...did she yell and scream like the others?"

Bruno shook his head still in shock about how the last conversation just went. "Umm...no...she was cool."

"She was cool?" Brody asked.

"Yeah. Straight up. She was like oh, no big deal. Just don't marry them."Bruno responded walking toward the car.

"I must have under estimated her." Phil responded.

"Do you even remember how we met?" Bruno asked.

"Yeah...you met her at Fred Segal..." he answered.

"No dude. That night after I broke up with Giselle...she was the one that came home with me."

"Oh shit....the one with the horrible extensions?" Brody wondered out loud.

"They weren't that bad! They felt super nice in bed." Bruno answered.

"Oh god, bro. Serious?" Eric asked him.

"Yeah!" Bruno laughed.

"What is her last name, Bruno?" Phil asked. "I feel like I know her face from somewhere....now that you say she was the girl with the extensions..."

"Holt...." Bruno responded. "Wait....." he racked his brain for a few seconds trying to put the pieces together. "Like Richard?" he asked.

"That's who it is! She was the girl that sat in the waiting room with her books!" Eric exclaimed.

"The one with the glasses?" Bruno asked trying to remember if he had seen Lauren wear glasses. Oh...when she gets tired..."Why didn't she say anything?"

"Who knows...." Eric said. "I mean...it wasn't the best place you've ever been."

"And that's why she was so cool with it all...." Bruno put everything together remembering the small girl with bright purple hair that sat in front of her father's office the day he was dropped from his first record label. The sad look she gave him as she saw him walk past him with small tears in his eyes. She gave him a reassuring smile that made him realize that things were shitty at that moment, but they would get better eventually. Her hair and her sincere smile helped him write a few songs as he moved on. But he never thought he would see her again. Or have to deal with that horrible man again. How do I even deal if I have to meet him? What do I say? Oh, sorry. I'm a star now, suck on it? Or do I just ignore it all? Like what do I do? "And why she didn't tell me what her parents do. She knew that it would make things really weird...."

"What are you going to do when you get back?" Brody asked.

"I don't know...ask her about it? I don't even know what to do..." Bruno responded. "I'll think about it later. We have a lot of interviews tomorrow...."

**

Bruno looked at Lauren's bright clean car as he drove past her apartment on his way back home a few weeks later.Why doesn't she drive something fancier? Why is she living here of all places? I thought I knew her...he thought deciding to put things away and go to her apartment without calling her. He looked at the flowers he had bought her sitting on his passenger seat smiling. I've got this. He said to himself holding the small bouquet of flowers knocking on the door. Caitlin opened the door taking the flowers.

"Oh, how sweet...thanks." she laughed yelling for Lauren.

"Oh....I didn't know you were going to come over!" she exclaimed dropping her book running to him to hug him. "I missed you."she whispered in his ear.

He grit his teeth whispering back into her ear, "I missed you more, Elle." they pulled away from each other smiling at each other.

"What's going on?" she asked him watching Caitlin leave the room. "Oh, thanks,Cait..." she saw the flowers sitting on their table. "You just don't seem as cheery as you usually are...even yesterday when I talked to you..."

"Oh...come on..." he said taking her hand leading her to the porch. He felt his cigarettes trying to stop the urge to smoke knowing that he was really stressed out about the impending conversation.

"Bruno...what the hell is going on?" she asked. "I told you what happened was okay."

"It was okay because you already knew me, Laur. When were going to tell me who your father was?"

"Oh....yeah...that..." she looked down trying to figure out what she was going to say. "Umm...I was hoping never." she tried to crack a smile to make him more comfortable. "Bruno...I had no idea who you were until I saw you at the bar....I swear."

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Bruno...so many people have come in and out and I just...it's hard to keep count. But the second I heard you singSeven Nation Army...I almost had to leave. I remembered my dad saying you were so good. Like he wanted me to meet you but you were there and then you weren't. It was like someone moving in the middle of the school year. You were there and then you weren't. He said he hated doing it. He saw that you had it in you....I promise...." she said taking his hand seeing that he was kind of hurt by their previous non-existent relationship. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's okay...." he said in a defeated tone. "Lauren..." he looked up at her trying to decide if he was going to tell her how he felt about her the day he was dropped.

"Yeah?" she asked giving him a concerned look wrapping her arms around herself shivering.

"Here..." he took his jacket off wrapping it around her. She smiled at him sweetly leaning her nose into it. "Did you just smell that?" he asked her jokingly.

"I might have..." she laughed.. "But you were going to tell me something...."

"Oh...yeah....Laur....do you remember that one demo I played you, the Leave the past behind me one?

"Sing a little of it...." she asked. He sang a few lines trying to see if she remembered it.

"Yeah...I remember that one. I like it." she smiled.

"I wrote that after a girl with purple hair and pink flip-flops gave me hope that things would be okay." he replied leaning in to kiss her.