The Day We Met (SLOW UPDATES)

6

The Next Morning

Bryant, out of habit, woke up just shy of 6AM and saw that Jess was out for the count. He smiled to himself for a moment. Jetlag. He quietly made his way to the kitchen to put on some coffee. He put his dress shirt back on over top his under shirt and rolled the sleeves up about halfway up, leaving the middle unbuttoned. He opted to straighten up the house a little bit. By then his coffee was done, so he went out onto the back porch and drink his daily dose. He left the door cracked to allow a cool breeze to find its way into their rather open living room.

Jess woke up soon after and was groggily delighted to see that Bryant had cleaned up. After pulling her hair up into a messy bun and shooting Nathan a text to bid him a good morning, she went to the kitchen and lazily poored her own cup of coffee; adding whatever amount of cream and sugar she saw fit. Bryant heard a creak from the door way and looked over his shoulder to see Jess making her way onto the porch as well, "Morning, Sleepyhead," he greeted as he raised the mug to take another swig of coffee. "Morning," she tiredly responsed. She made her way to the chair next to Bryant and sat to enjot the view with him as they sipped on their morning coffee. Jess looked over to him and asked "how'd you sleep?"

"Great. That couch you guys have is just fantastically comfortable," he explained. "Anything you wanna do today? I was thinking we could go grab some breakfast."

"Yeah, that sounds good. I need to freshen up though; make myself look presentable," she said smiling. He glanced at her with a questioning expression on his face. "What?" She asked. "Nothing," he quickly dismissed and nodded his head towards the door behind their heads, "go get ready kiddo. You know The Ruby Slipper's line isn't gonna let up any time soon."

"Ugh the line is worth it, but I still hate it. I'll be ready in ten though," she said getting up from her chair. She rested a hand gently on his shoulder and planted a kiss against Bryant's cheek on her way up as a friendly gesture, "thanks for cleaning up, B."

"I'm glad you appreciate all the hard work I put in around here," he sarcastically chirped over his shoulder as she walked away. Jess rolled her eyes and made way upstairs to get ready. Exchanging texts with Nathan in between her tasks.

"Good Morning Baby ❤️ How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good, fell asleep watching New Girl."

"I'm sorry you have to spend today alone, maybe we can ft some more later? 😘"

"Bryant and I are about to go grab some breakfast actually :)"

"Oh, sounds fun. Doesn't he have family though?"

"Out of town like my folks... and I know what you're thinking, it's nothing like that. Bryant's like an older brother to me."

"Alright I believe you. Have fun okay, I'll call you later beautiful 🥰"

"Sounds good to me babe, talk soon 🖤"

Bryant grew impatient as the clock ticking echoed from the kitchen. He made his way over to the bottom of the stair case, "Don't have all day Jess! We'll be stuck in that line for over an hour if you take any longer." She set down her phone and rummaged through the bottom of her closet to find the gray slip-on Vans she was wanting to wear. "Yeah yeah I know, just putting on my shoes," she hollered back. He was still at the bottom of the staircase as she came down. "That was longer than ten minutes," he stated. She shrugged as they walked down the hall, "I was texting Nathan."

He glanced to look at her with a questioning expression, "You sure this boy isn't gonna be a distraction for you by the time you go back school?" Jess let out a small sigh. "Yes, I'm sure. Blake wasn't a problem in highschool, why would a boy be a problem now?"

"Just checking. Don't get defensive on me, I'm not your mother," he joked, holding the front door open for her and gesturing that she go before him. "Really?" She questioned, "I didn't notice." He jokingly mocked her as they got into the car and made way to their destination.

- - -

After finding a parking spot a little over a block away, Bryant and Jess were walking towards the building admiring the restraunts comforting atmosphere as the strolled beside eachother approaching it. After a few minutes they'd made it to the front of the line to put themselves on the waiting list. The woman behind the behind the podium looked up and was immediately caught by surprise with Bryant's appearance, and her blush was evidence. "Hi," she softly expressed with a smile. Bryant picked up on her demeanor and barely chuckled to himself, "Goodmorning, just the two of us," he said glancing at Jess and back. "Of course, what's the name?"

"Oakley," he stated. "Do you know about how long the wait will be?" The woman smiled once again and only held contact with Bryant, "Well it's been thirty to forty-five all morning, but for you I can bump it down to about twenty." He just smiled softly, "Whatever works. Thank you.." he glanced at her name tag, "Felicity." He continued to Jess, "Jess, do you wanna go sit down while we wait?"

"Sure," she quietly replied, glancing a smile at the woman before the two of them walked away. As they took their seats and began to wait Jess started giving Bryant a certain look which only took him a few seconds to notice. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"That girl is so into you, B," she explained. He laughed, "No she isn't she's just being nice." Jess's mouth dropped momentarily, "You're joking right? You can't be that out of touch. She was flirting so hard." She continued after all she got in response was an expression that she received as "Oh well," and a shrug of the shoulders. Jess repositioned herself sideways on the bench to face Bryant, nudging him slightly, "You should ask her out."

"When did you become a dating expert?" He asked looking straight ahead. "I'm no expert, but it is apparent that I'm more capable of picking up on social cues and flirtatious behaviors than you are," Jess countered. "Is that so?" He said with an intrigued tone of voice. "Mhm, I'm sure of it," she insisted. Bryant held in a quick laugh and thought to himself for a moment before responding. "Ironic," he simply commented. "How so?"

"Nothing. Have you heard from your parents at all?" Jess wasn't quite sure what he meant about his comment, but she left it at that. "They called yesterday before you got to the house. Did the holiday greetings and what not. Dad's texted a few pictures, but not much else," she explained. In an attempt to get off the subject she brought up the hostess again.

"Are you gonna get her number?"

Bryant noticed her instant attempt to get out of talking about her parents, but respected it and went along with conversation. "I don't know."

"Maybe," he continued after a few seconds, "don't make a big deal out of it, Jess." The anticipation had already built up inside of her and he could tell. She tried to act nonchalant, "Oh I won't, I would never do that." Byrant scoffed and replied with his signature sarcastic tone, "Sure," drawing out the latter end of the word.

After about ten minutes the hostess came over the speaker and called for "Oakley party of two, Oakley party of two your table is ready."

Bryant sighed with a relief, "Finally, I'm starving."

- - -

Hiii I'm back :)
Sorry for the lack of updates, i just honestly havent had motivation to write but with this quarantine i have so much time on my hands. hope u like this chapter. enjoy loves ! <3