DISCLAIMERS: in Part 1

Hidden Desires, Part 17

©2003 -Vertigo-

Brooke practically ran home, and when she got there, Harriet was waiting with baited breath.

"Oh, good! I just made some tea, I'll go get you some." she said excitedly, patting the sofa where she just got up.

Brooke smiled, sat down and sighed happily. She was feeling very good, and her mother didn't seem to be a bother. In fact, she couldn't wait to tell someone what had happened.

"Here you are," Mrs. Hewitt returned with a cup and sat down next to her daughter. "So, is Cayden well?"

"Yes, she's fine now." Brooke replied with a smug smile.

"Honey, you look like the cat that ate the canary! What happened?"

Calmly, Brooke sipped at her tea, placed the cup down gently, then threw her hands in the air excitedly. "She kissed me again, and this time she meant it!" She declared happily.

Harriet frowned. "Brooke, she's sick, you could have caught something. Do you think that was wise?"

"Well, actually, she was hung over. She really wasn't sick." Brooke admitted with a guilty grin.

"She's a drinker?" Mrs. Hewitt asked in alarm.

"I don't think so, not after how sick she was. Anyway, that's not the point, the point is that she kissed me and she was sober and she wants me!" Brooke beamed with excitement.

"The kiss told you all that?"

Brooke blushed and blinked rapidly. "Uhhmm, well, not exactly, but trust me, she wants me. I know."

"Did she tell you? Are you just guessing, Brooke?"

"No, she didn't actually tell me per se.... but ... Mom, trust me, please." The blonde was becoming uncomfortable. Her need to tell someone started fading fast as she realized she couldn't explain herself.

"If you say so." Harriet blew on her tea and sipped it, looking sideways at her daughter. "Was she rude to you this time?"

"You have no idea." The blonde rolled her eyes.

"Brooke! Why do you stand for such nonsense? I know you like her, but is it worth it?" Harriet was getting concerned.

Brooke snickered. "She thinks she's tough, but she's not. Not to me anyway. Sure, she's impossible, and she was horror stricken that I was there when she got sick. I tell you, I was nervous at first, but I seemed to know just what to do. Good thing daddy gives you such a hard time, I must have learned a thing or two, because I turned into you for a few moments there." The blonde shivered.

"Oh, you stop that young lady. I'm not all that bad." Mrs. Hewitt joked.

"Well, I did, and it was eerie." Brooke teased.

"Did she at least thank you for helping her, or was she mean the whole time?" Mrs. Hewitt was liking Cayden less and less, but it didn't look like Brooke was going to give up any time soon.

"No, but if you knew her, you wouldn't expect it. She should be grateful I came when I did, her door was wide open, any lunatic could have wandered in." Brooke smiled to herself at Cayden's comment about that very thing.

"I thought you told me she wanted you there?" Harriet asked with both eyebrows raised.

Brooke looked guilty again. "Ok, she didn't. Her roommate and her friend asked me to take care of her, they were both working. It was the least I could do, after all, she got so drunk because of me."

"Why do you say that?"

"She freaked out after she kissed me last night and got really drunk over it."

The older woman couldn't hold her tongue any more. "Brooke, this doesn't sound like someone you should be getting so serious about, It sounds like she doesn't want you around."

Brooke smiled at her mom. "I thought so too, but I can tell you for a fact, that she wants me as much as I want her." Oh, boy does she...

"Soo, what about the kiss?"

"That kiss", the blonde took a deep breath, " it was unreal. It started off as a dare, and then... wow, she lost control, took my breath away. I could hardly stand up." Brooke recalled dreamily.

"A dare? This is sounding more and more distasteful to me. Honey, I don't like this at all."

"Oh Mom, it's okay. I won't get hurt. I promise." Brooke reassured. "Yes, she's a toughie, and she's going to fight me on this, but I know what I'm doing."

Harriet stared thoughtfully at Brooke. Her daughter was totally enamoured, if not already in love with Cayden. The shop keeper wasn't what Harriet wanted for her daughter, if anything, her instincts wanted to keep Brooke as far away as possible. However, Brooke wasn't giving up. There had to be something about Cayden that was attracting Brooke, and Harriet promised her support. "I've never seen you so determined before in your life. I wish you luck baby, but be careful. Cayden doesn't sound to me like she's all too willing to give you a chance."

"She'll have no choice when I get through with her." Brooke said with an evil chuckle.

*********************

Cayden peeked at her alarm clock wearily and groaned. It was too early to be up, but with all the sleeping she did the previous day, her body refused to lay there like a lump. She tossed and turned, eventually earning a dirty look from La La who jumped off of the bed, stuck his tail in the air and marched out of her room. "Good, you were getting hair on my pillow anyway." she muttered, finally sitting up.

Blue eyes scanned the room, looking for something of interest before Cayden finally succumbed and turned on the Tv. She searched the channels but at 5 in the morning, all she found were paid programming and old Munsters reruns. She stopped changing the channels and her eyes widened as she became deeply involved in a Bowflex infomercial. "Now, THAT is hot." she said to herself, lusting first over the machine, then over the woman demonstrator. "Her too." She propped the pillows up behind her and watched with enthusiasm. "She has the same abs as Brooke. I wonder if Brooke has this machine? No, she doesn't look like a jock, then again, she's a blader, that's sorta jockish." Cayden didn't even realize she was instantly thinking about Brooke not five minutes after she opened her eyes or she would have stopped herself. She was too engrossed in the program to notice. "Hey, I wonder how much one of them costs? If it can make me look like that..." she stopped talking when the woman with Brooke's abs reappeared. "Mm, mm, mm. Just look at her. Brooke has bigger boobs than her, but they certainly have the same body. I wonder what Brooke does to keep herself looking like that? Must work hard. Probably more than just rollerblading. I should start working out, I'm not fat or anything, but I could use a few muscles." Cayden drifted off into a pleasant daydream of herself with sculpted muscles, and as soon as she imagined herself showing off in the park, Brooke popped up.

In her daydream, the tall brunette didn't hate Brooke, in fact they embraced and kissed like lovers right there in the park. They held hands as they walked, hip checking each other playfully and stopping every so often for a kiss. Her heart began fluttering, her insides felt warm, and her mouth was dry. Cayden cut the daydream off with a shiver. "Ooh, that was weird." She complained to herself with a grimace. They were unusual feelings, ones she'd never experienced before and she had to think about it for a second. "I don't know if I like it or not." she mentioned to the dark room. She climbed out of bed and stretched, trying to shake loose the strange happenings inside of her. Her mind wandered briefly back to the daydream, the part where they were kissing, and she froze in place when all the odd feelings returned. Taking a deep breath, the tall woman forced the whole thing into the back of her mind and went to make coffee.

***********************

Harriet and Bert ate breakfast in silence, with Bert glancing over the paper every so often to give his wife curious stares. She was acting rather quiet, and while that was perfectly alright with Bert, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on. He figured, she'd be chatting his ear off with the latest in Cayden news, and truth be told, he really wanted to know. Cayden was a mystery to him, and he was really interested in her, and whatever was happening between Cayden and Brooke. Of course he couldn't act like he was interested, so he went back to staring at the stock market page like he cared.

"More coffeee dear?" Harriet asked, rising to get herself some.

"Sure." Bert pushed his cup towards the edge of the table and watched his wife pour a healthy stream of salt into it. "Harriet!"

Mrs. Hewitt looked down and blushed. "Oh my! I'm sorry, I'm a bit distracted." She hurried to put the cup in the sink.

"Do you mind telling me what it is?"

"If I tell you, then it will make you mad and I don't want you interfering." She replied.

Bert stared at her in confusion. "What?"

Harriet sighed and sat down. "Well, alright, but you have to promise not to do anything first."

Mr. Hewitt narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I'll do no such thing. You tell me first, and then I'll decide whether or not I should do something."

The older woman sucked in her lips, fiddled with her robe, then sighed again. "I don't like that Cayden."

"What? I thought you liked her? What has she done?" He asked, already mad.

"Now, she hasn't done anything really, it's her behavior. I don't like how she's treating Brooke, it's disturbing me." She said in almost a whisper.

"Explain yourself." Bert demanded, smacking his newspapaer onto the table. If someone is mistreating his daughter, he wants to know it.

"Calm down, dear, Brooke says she's alright with it so we should be too. At least we can't tell her we're not." Harriet said, adding a soft smile at the end.

"What is Cayden doing that disturbs you?"

"She's rude."

Bert blinked several times. "Harriet, rude isn't the end of the world." he leaned back in his chair in relief. "The way you're acting, I thought the worst!"

"Well, she doesn't want Brooke around and Brooke is insistant that this woman wants her. I don't know how she can think she does."

"Why does Brooke insist?"

"They had this kiss, apparently it was rather good."

"A kiss?" Bert asked puzzled. "Since when does a kiss allow Cayden to mistreat Brooke?"

"Brooke says she nearly fainted but honestly, a kiss isn't everything."

"She nearly fainted?" Bert asked with concern. "From a kiss?"

"That's what she says. I suppose this Cayden is a good kisser, but..."

Bert mulled it over. There was no excuse for bad behavior when it came to his baby, but Brooke isn't stupid. As much as he hated to admit it, she's an adult and can think for herself. He could recall a few kisses in his time that made him lose all sensibilities and he cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment. His daughter was usually a good judge of character, except for Grant. He'd never figure that one out. Maybe Brooke was in love? That could do all sorts of wierd things to a person. Even acting rude. Hmm. He began to wonder if maybe Cayden was in love with Brooke and didn't know how to act. He could feel his own jumbled, whirlwind of emotions like it was just yesterday when he fell in love with Harriet. He smiled when he recalled their first kiss. "Have you ever nearly fainted from my kisses?"

Mrs. Hewitt blushed. "Bert!" she giggled.

"Well?" He asked with a smirk.

"Perhaps." Harriet said into her coffee cup.

Bert smiled smugly. "So then, you know what it's like. It's hard to ignore that feeling." he thought for a moment. "You say she insists Cayden wants her?"

"She says she has proof. Swears by it."

"You know Harriet, maybe Cayden's scared? Maybe Brooke nearly made her faint, did you think of that?"

Harriet's eyes widened. "Well, no..."

"It could be." he said seriously.

"Are you talking from experience?" Harriet asked with a sly smile.

Bert stood suddenly, picked up his pants and shook his head. "No! No... I was just saying... you know..." he explained badly as he ran from the room.

Harriet giggled. I do suppose its possible. Maybe I'm getting all upset for nothing. Brooke is an intelligent young woman, and she says she knows what she's doing.... maybe I need to meet Cayden again. Yes, I think Cayden should come here for dinner very soon. I'll know if she's in love with Brooke then.

*************************

Cayden holed up in her room while Wade readied himself for work. She didn't want to talk to him and she knew he had a LOT to talk about. He was going to talk mercilessly about the previous day and she didn't want to discuss it. She had no idea what happened, how or why either. All she knew is that Brooke had her where she wanted her at any given time. It frightened her to know that Brooke was able to do that. No one ever made Cayden do what she didn't want to, not even her parents. They always let her decide for herself once she was old enough to make proper choices. It spoiled her, she was used to getting her way. Sure, she let Wade and Jodie think they got their way, but if she really didn't want to do something, she didn't. Now Brooke, she had Cayden doing things the tall woman would never do willingly. Why didn't I fight harder? Why did I let her control me? Why didn't I just throw her out of the damned house?

The shop keeper waited for Wade to leave before she left her room, and then she went for more coffee. Dressed in gym shorts and a ratty T-shirt, she dropped into the sofa and sighed. And that daydream... what the hell was that all about? I don't even like Brooke! The tall woman frowned at herself, it wasn't true. Yeah, so, I like kissing her, I like it too much. She hugged herself as she remembered how it felt to kiss the blonde. But I don't like her! She argued against the feeling she experienced during, and after the kiss. I'm just horny. That's all it is. I need to have sex, and this thing with Brooke will pass. Satisfied with her observation, Cayden turned on the television to dismiss the whole thing.

Sometime later the phone rang and the tall woman was going to let the machine pick it up but a weird feeling made her get it. "Hello?"

"Oh, Cayden?" Denise asked, seemingly flustered.

Cayden felt almost let down hearing Denise. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I didn't know you were home today, I was all set to leave a message." She chuckled. "You confused me."

Cayden grinned, knowing that feeling well. "It's my day off on Sunday." she explained.

"Cool! I was just calling to see if you wanted to do something later, but since you're home now, you wanna get together?"

Cayden looked down at her clothes and frowned. "I'm kinda in my PJ's."

"So, it will take me a bit to get there, you want me to bring something to eat? There's a great deli right on the corner."

Cayden's stomach growled at the mention of food. She tapped her finger on her leg as she pursed her lips in thought. "Yeah sure, what the hell."

"Great! See you soon!" Denise said happily and hung up.

Cayden sat there in silence wondering what had just gotten into her. Wade and Jodie say I shouldn't just sit in front of the television all day. Yeah, that's what it is. I'm sure it will be cool hanging out with Denise. She stood up slowly and went to change her clothes. It'll do me some good.

******************

Brooke opened the bathroom door in time to see her father run by, blushing and holding his pants up high. She snickered and made her way into the kitchen where she smelled bacon and coffee. Her mother was sitting at the table with a far away look in her eyes, and she prepared herself for the impending conversation. "I saw dad was pretty flustered, how much did you tell him?"

Harriet jumped a little in surprise. "Oh, good morning honey," she said happily and got up to make Brooke breakfast.

Fred came trotting into the kitchen and made himself comfortable by curling up on Brooke's foot.

"Mom, you don't have to cook for me, coffee is fine. You didn't answer me, how much of last night's conversation did you share?" The blonde reached down and brought the dog up onto her lap.

"I told him what I needed to tell him." The older woman replied, setting a cup down in front of Brooke.

"Hmm, well, why was he holding his pants? He only gets like that when sex is involved."

Harriet colored slightly. "Oh, that. Never you mind dear, it wasn't you."

Brooke grimaced "Nooo, mom... you guys and sex... blech." she made a sour face and stuck her tongue out.

"Your mother's not a virgin Brooke." Mrs. Hewitt teased.

"You only had sex once, and I thank you for it."

Harriet giggled. "Okay dear. So what are the plans for today?"

"I don't know. I was thinking about calling Bev, maybe having lunch or something."

"Bev? Isn't she the odd woman you work with?" Harriet asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mom, even you know not to judge a book by its cover. Yes, she appears a little odd, but she's a wonderful person."

"Yes, you're right, I only met her that once... it wouldn't be fair."

Fred, sat up and put his tiny feet on the table in search of something to nibble.

"Mom, is there any bacon left?"

"Now, Brooke, he only has two teeth in his head, how do you expect him to chew it? It's not good for him anyway."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "And I suppose cookies are? He makes do." She argued even as her mother handed her a piece of bacon.

"You're not here a week and you've already spoiled him." Harriet said with a soft smile.

"He's 84 years old, he deserves it." Brooke countered, breaking of a little piece and watching Fred gnaw on it happily. "Mom, what are you going to do when he ... you know..."

Harriet stood up and smoothed her housecoat nervously. "Don't talk like that. He's perfectly healthy."

"Dad will go apeshit."

"Brooke, I said stop talking like that." The older woman said sternly.

Brooke kept quiet, but thought about it anyway. If anything was to happen to Fred, her parents would lose it. "What if we get another dog, you know as a playmate for him." Brooke figured, having another dog as backup wouldn't hurt.

"A playmate? Honey, Fred can hardly walk let alone chase a puppy around the house. No, not a good idea."

"I suppose you're right." The blonde agreed out loud, but still schemed on the inside. You wouldn't mind a friend would you buddy. she thought, while kissing the old dog on the head.

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