Learning to be Beautiful

Learning to be Beautiful ~23~

The morning was peaceful. My mom had let me sleep in until ten because Pierre didn’t want me at the agency until five, and Gavin was over for brunch. I hadn’t known that my best friend would be joining us for our mid-morning meal until I had started trudging down the stairs in a pair of sweat pants and a tank top and my hair looking like a bird had nested in it the night before.

“Doesn’t someone look radiant this morning?” teased Gavin as he looked up at me from the bottom of the staircase. He was near the front door and was removing his shoes.

“Gav?” My voice was still mildly raspy and thick with sleep. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that any way to be greeting your best friend? You’re breaking my heart, Ais.” Gavin put on his best puppy-dog face before grinning widely and pulling me into a bear hug. “Good morning!”

“Good morning, you big lump. Now get off of me.” To anyone else but Gavin my words would probably have sounded really rude, but he responded as he normally did.

“Well alright then, turkey legs. I didn’t enjoy hugging you anyways.”

We mock-glared at each other for a few minutes, before smiling knowingly at each other and moving into the kitchen where my mom was flipping two Belgian waffle makers simultaneously.

“Go-od morning, sleepy-head!” Mom chirped happily, reaching into a nearby cabinet and taking out a stack of plates. “Would you mind setting the table?”

I shook my head and ambled over to set the small table near the windows and began to place the plates. Gavin had been over so many times before that he automatically began to help me set the table, taking silverware out of the drawers and setting glasses filled with orange juice next to the plates.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, yawning as I raised my hands up, palms facing the ceiling, in a stretch. I hated that it took me forever to properly wake up, even after ten hours of sleep.

Gavin shot me a bright grin and winked one warm, brown eye, “Don’t mention it.”

Brunch started soon after when my mother carried a large plate of waffles from the kitchen island to the breakfast nook. Very few words were exchanged, and any speech that did escape was either muffled, garbled, or incredibly brief. It wasn’t until the plate of waffles had been exhausted, and the last drop of syrup had been sopped up from our plates that we leaned back in our seats and actually talked.

“What are you doing today?” Gavin was leaning far back in his seat with his hands settled comfortably behind his head.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek for a few moments before answering. I felt really guilty for not hanging out with my best friend more often. Most summeris in the past had been ‘Gav and Ais’ time. We were inseparable most of the time, only apart at night or when one of us was sick.

“Pierre wants me in later on today, but we can hang out until then, if you want? You could even come with me to the agency and we could grab some dinner afterwards.”

Gavin’s brownie-colored eyes brightened considerably at the mention of food and he nodded his consent quickly. “Sounds good to me.”

I took a quick swig of orange juice before standing, “Great, I’ll get ready and we can do something.”

He didn’t bother answering, but leapt up and started gathering dishes to bring them to the sink.

I hurried upstairs to shower and get dressed and was back down within half an hour. My hair was still slightly damp, so I pulled it up into a messy pile at the back of my head.