Night Like That (gxg)

6. secrets at the bar

Now

Everything about Brent promised Charity that he was nothing but a fantastic person. Her initial plan to use him felt more malicious with each interaction they shared. Had she been for real? She wondered as she smiled and listened to a Brent who was animatedly talking about something that could not have been her or there.

After the movie had ended, Chastity had suggested they go out for drinks to mark something of the occassion they had had. It was also true that she wanted to make a celebration for herself. For the freindship that hadn't been ruined because of a marvelous shag neither of them wanted to talk about anymore. But then, Ivy bailed sighting it being a Wednesday and she was a woman of some decorum. Brent on the other hand said yes sighting that he had not had not had drunken fun under the Nairobi nightlife in a while.

So they ended up alone together and where Chastity had feared they would have fuck all to talk about, they ended up talking about anything and everything and the time never seem to be enough.

"You know," she said as she toyed with the olive in her empty glass, "I didn't think you were going to come here for the job. Mum said you were settling in fine with your humanitarian work."

This, it turned out, was not the thing that apparently dulled Brent's shine. Being the nosy creature that she was, her eyes perked up and her eyes shone. Instinctively, she moved closer to the man, waiting for something sort of story gold be dropped on her laps.

Brent sensed this and sighed in acceptance. "If you'd called a week before, I don't think I would have come." He finished his glass of beer.

"What changed then?" she scooted even closer, waiting for some lifetime story to rent their air.

Brent laughed and adjusted his coat. "It's actually stupid the more I think about it. Besides, I don't even think it's something I should share with you owing to... you know... how our mums want us to be together." Another laugh escaped him. "Awkward story and all."

"Eh- you don't start something all sad like that and expect a girl to just drop it. Tell me everything," Chastity encouraged. "It's night and this is the best time to share your deep secrets, don't you know? Plus, we've been drinking, I don't think it is going to be... awkward, is it?"

This appeared to gratify Brent. "Dampening the night with my sad secret tale it is then?"

Chastity nodded. "And to make it an even more serious moment, I am invoking my Girl Guides' honour code." She crossed over her heart. "I don't rememmber the words but I have the spirit.

Brent chuckled. "What?" She asked.

"Girl Guides' honour code, is that a thing?" He asked

Chastity smiled wickedly. "It was a thing when I was one. I hold true still."

Brent laughed. "Fine. I was dating this guy..." his eyes narrowed as he looked at Chastity. Chastity reckoned he was testing the waters and when she did not react, he went on. "I mean, at that point we were exclusive. We'd been arguing a lot lately and the day before you called, we'd had an explosive argument about me buying extra toothbrushes for the bathroom."

Chastity cocked her head to the side. What part of her had convinced herself that the man still had a crush on her again? "I am trying to understand this. Toothbrushes, in the bathroom."

Brent gave an awkward chuckle. "It was as stupid as it sounds. Apparently it meant I was planning on bringing people to the flat when he was not there and all that. It didn't matter what I was saying after he came to that conclusion. It was like I was arguing with a wall at that point. Then you called and asked me to come and I dropped everything and did just that."

"You know," Chastity said as she bit into the olive, "I think the argument is more telling than you realize. Had you given him reason to suspect you were planning on going on a cheating spree?"

He shrugged. "No. He just exploded out of nowhere."

Chastity nodded sagely. "Do you maybe think that he was projecting and that maybe...?"

Brent pulled his coat closer, obviously uncomfortable with the direction their conversation was taking. "I have thought about it. It's not like I'm stupid—"

"Nobody said that you are."

"—it's just that, I thought I had my forever right there and I don't know. I was suffocating him? Maybe I am reading into all this too much. His ex did cheat on him so maybe that's another factor to consider."

"Possible factor." Chastity pulled out her phone. "Let's stalk him then, yeah? See what he's up to?"

Brent sighed as he pushed her phone down. "Maybe after a week. When we are both calm about this."

A waiter came to their table and gave her another drink. It was ten and she was supposed to be at home, preparing for bed, not drinking like it was the weekend. Home though had become this place that felt foreign ever since Ivy. Everything around her felt foreign. Her insides felt foreign. She was becoming more and more restless each time she thought about Ivy or anything remotely connected to Ivy which was everything other than Brent.

"I think," Chastity said as she gulped down her drink at one clean go, "I did something horrible and now it's haunting me."

"Please. It's now time for my Scouts' honour code."

Chastity giggled and lightly jabbed at his shoulder. "It's not deep like yours. I'm very much single and in my opinion I did nothing wrong but our dynamic has changed and I had brought you here to change it – sorry by the way. But then tonight I thought everything was back to normal or now when she is not here I am thinking that maybe it's not and now I cannot comfortably sleep on my bed without thinking..."

"Mhh," he poured himself more beer. "I have no idea what you are talking about still."

"I slept with Ivy," she groaned, "and now everything feels off and I don't know. She says we are good and I want us to be good but then a part of me is out here convincing me that she has the upper hand saying that first and – ugh – I'm so confused!"

Brent fixed his spectacles, gifting Chastity a piercing gaze. "What does that have to do with me?"

She debated about having him face away so that she could tell him in peace. She chose not this route. "I brought you here purely out of selfishness but then I saw you and thought that was a stupid idea. I was planning on having you be my new flirt buddy and hopefully have it become more so that Ivy could see I had the upper hand or something?"

Apart from his eyebrows slightly shooting up, he looked impassive. "Fair enough. Do you like her?"

"What?" She moved away from him, looking to down the extra glass she had next to her.

"Do you like Ivy?" He asked again, clearly not getting the hint. Chastity thought the whole thing was verging suspiciously towards embarrassing. "It would make sense. You are friends, you've been intimate and now you are concocting very unhelpful plans behind her back to combat a problem that is probably not there."

Chastity took a moment to think through what he'd just said. She loved Ivy; that was an easy enough thing to know. It's not as though they didn't tell each other these things all the time. She wasn't sure though if she liked her in that other way and that it wasn't purely all lust for her. It was a perfectly reasonable thing to consider. Ivy was vivacious, had a wicked sense of humour and was easy to be around.

But then, she was her best friend and she was sure, somewhere in some stone elsewhere, it was frowned upon to bring sexual things into any friendship. It almost always ruined the dynamic and they had been friends for too long to consider ruining it for some more shagging.

"You know, I don't think I like her like that... reckon it's lust, honestly. I think this was just a new thing that happened between us and I don't fully get how to handle it yet."

"Perfect," Brent said as he cleared his glass and paid for the drinks. "Let's get you home then."

Chastity was not sure if Brent had been of any verbal help but it felt good to have at least shared her worries with someone who was not a stranger on Whisper.