Looking Beyond

Chapter 7: Breakfast

     On the weekends, Dan enjoyed the quiet in the house while drinking his coffee. It would be at least another hour before anyone else would join him. He was especially thankful for the quiet on this particular Saturday – he had something special he wanted to plan. After he made a few phone calls, he went back into the kitchen to start breakfast. He doesn't remember how it came to be that he was the one making breakfasts on the weekends. At this point, he just does it. As much as the party animals in the house bother him at times, he knows that the weekend breakfasts help their hangovers. He looked at the clock. It was eleven-thirty. 'Brea's usually down here helping me with breakfast. I wonder if she's okay.' He thought and shook his head. 'I can't blame her after last night.' To stand Brea up on her birthday was one thing, but to bring another woman back to the house you shared with her was beyond adding insult to injury. He decided to give Trevor hell about it later.

     Midway through cooking the bacon, Erik and Savannah stumbled into the kitchen and sat at the breakfast counter. "Coffee." Savannah muttered as she held her head.

     "Rough night?" Dan asked, sliding a mug of coffee and two Tylenol capsules over to her.

     "You have no idea." Grumbled Erik.

     "Sweet nectar of the hangover gods!" Savannah spoke to her mug as she drank from it, washing the medicine down.

     Dan chuckled. "If you didn't drink so much, you wouldn't need to drink so much coffee to feel better.

     "That's blasphemy Daniel!" Savannah placed her mug down.

     "Erik, do you mind getting Jacob? He said something about needing to be somewhere later this afternoon."

     Erik's eyes glanced at Savannah who was herself glancing at Dan. He sighed. "Sure Dan. I'll be right back." Erik trekked himself up to the stairs leading up to Jacob's room in the attic. "Forget this, I'm not climbing all the way up." He stopped high enough on the stairs to see the lumpy outline of Jacob buried beneath his blankets. "Yo Jake! Wake up! Dan's got breakfast!" He waited for the lump to move, so that he was certain Jacob was awake. The blankets shifted and Erik saw two pairs of feet stretching out from under the covers. "No way..." Erik abruptly dashed down back to the kitchen.

     Savannah was twirling her hair as she drank the rest of her coffee. "Thanks for making this Dan."

     "No problem Sav. Anything to help you drunks sober up." He flashed her a grin and winked. "Is Jacob heading down?"

     Erik raised his eyebrows. "Jacob had company over."

     "No he didn't. He got back the same time I did last night. He didn't leave his room." Dan insisted.

     "Well, you explain to me why there were two pairs of feet at the end of his bed."

     "Well, I think it's nice to see that Jacob had a friend over. You said that he took his divorce pretty hard, right Dan?" Savannah asked.

     "What are you guys talking about?" Brea stumbled into the room.

     "You need tell me all about last night!" Savannah squealed. "It must have been incredible if you ditched us for it."

     Dan eyed her up and down. "Brea, why are you wearing Jacob's clothes? And did you get a haircut?"

     Erik covered his mouth. "I don't believe it!"

     Brea ignored Erik, like she usually did, before answering. "I was locked out of my room last night. Jacob was nice enough to let me stay with him."

     "But you were with Trevor!" Savannah blurted out. "You cut your hair without me???"

     "I don't want to talk about it." She reached under the stove and pulled out a cookie sheet. "I'm just gonna take a couple of plates upstairs." She took two plates from the stack on the counter and loaded them up with food.

     "Good morning people!" Trevor bounded into the kitchen. "How's everyone doing this fine day?"

     Brea scowled and clenched the makeshift tray tighter. "Why would you care?" She brushed past Trevor on her way back to Jacob's room.

     "What was that about?" Trevor called after her.

     Dan looked at Trevor. "I can't imagine why she'd be pissed at you. You stood her up – on her birthday. THEN you brought someone else back here! Hell, I'm pissed at you too!" He stormed off to the office and slammed the door shut.

     Savannah tried to piece everything together, despite having a headache. "Wait. You stood her up? On her BIRTHDAY?"

     "Oh shit! That was last night wasn't it?" He ran his fingers through his curly black hair.

     "It was mine too. Thanks for showing up." Erik piled onto his guilt.

     "I thought it was next Friday."

     "Way to go. Now it'll be another five years before she asks a guy out." Savannah grumbled.

     "It was supposed to be a date?" Trevor hung his head. "I'm a real piece of shit. I didn't even know she liked me like that."

     Erik stared blankly at him. "Seriously? You didn't know she liked you like that? Bro, the whole house knows."

     "We flirt! That's what we do! I didn't know she meant any of it!"

     Savannah sat upright, her thoughts tumbling from her mouth. "How the fuck did Dan notice Brea wearing Jacob's clothes and haircut, but not me flirting with him? What the hell?"

     "Wait for it." Erik warned Trevor.

     "Why the hell was Brea wearing Jacob's clothes?" She stood up, ready to storm upstairs and demand answers. She'd tear Trevor a new one later.

     "Vannah-Girl, leave her alone. She's eating breakfast with Jacob. I'm sure you can find out all of the details in a bit."

     "Fine." She pouted. She looked back up and saw Trevor still standing there. "How the hell could you do that to her? You brought someone else home after you stood her up? What's wrong with you?"

     "I forgot! I'm sorry! I'll make it up to her!"

     "Good luck with that bro." Erik refilled his plate with eggs.

     "You have no idea what you've done, do you?" Savannah shook her head. "It took her five years to feel confident enough to even ask another guy out, so yeah, last night was a big deal for her. She plays it off and jokes around, but she hasn't had the greatest experiences of guys treating her well."

     "Bring-bring! Hello pot? This is kettle calling." Erik spoke to himself.

     Savannah rolled her eyes at Erik. Lately he'd been getting cranky the mornings after they had 'help each other out.' She felt that it was best to ignore him. "You might not be able to make this up Trevor." She took a bite of the eggs Dan had made. "Freaking orgasmic!" She swallowed her bite and continued. "I don't even know if I want you to try to make it up to her."