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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 21, 2015 12:41:04 GMT
Admittedly, it was maybe not the wisest decision that he had ever made. Not because he had regretted going with Eliot, but because he knew that it was something that had clearly been a problem with Amber. Eliot had struck a nerve, reminding him that something like the poker night wasn’t something that he normally did – it was something that he thought Amber had wanted him to do. And maybe Eliot had been right about that too – maybe he was trying so hard to make her happy with the way that things had been for the first few months of their relationship that he forgot who he normally was. It was, he admitted, a little like he had lost a sense of balance he traditionally had in his life. It was difficult to take work and the future of his career seriously when there wasn’t a place to blow off steam; at least to blow off steam in the way he was the most familiar with.
Amber had grown up in a way that he had to admit that he hadn’t. At least not yet. She knew what it was like to be in adult relationship and be more than happy to accept the routine that was the most comfortable for her. Brandon just worried that it wasn’t the same routine that he was the most comfortable with. If it had been a business dealing then he would have looked for a compromise, a mutually beneficial way to ensure that both parties were happy and making money. It just wasn’t that simple – and he didn’t know how to find out how to make it simple.
After parting ways with Eliot and his gaggle of women, Brandon had let himself back into the Penthouse, hoping that there was a potential to at least see Amber; to try and figure out if she was truly mad at him for leaving her with a room full of people he had barely known, or if she was mad because he left with Eliot.
He found her still up and waiting for him. “Hey,” he greeted her with a small smile. “Thanks for taking care of everything earlier.”
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 21, 2015 13:20:51 GMT
Amber had spent a good portion of the time after Brandon left being angry. Cooper Benson had seen to cleaning up after she'd broken a bottle in the garbage can from sheer force of throwing it in there. Everyone had dispersed after that. She'd contemplated going back to her apartment, complaining to Cassidy and having a few drinks and evaluating her relationship. But instead, she'd decided to stay in the Penthouse. And now, at some absurd hour of the morning, she was there, with her phone pressed to her ear, lecturing some poor girl at the Paris office regarding some information she'd been emailed during the course of the night in French. Someone had warned her French would be useless to her after high school, but no one had actually expected Amber to do anything that had to do with fashion.
"I'm not sure what it is I'm looking at. Perhaps you sent me a draft. Actually, I am praying to God that you sent me a draft, because if this is your idea of acceptable work, we have to re-evaluate everything going on in Paris." It occurred to her, mid-rant, that she was being too harsh. She was taking out her frustrations on this poor girl who was just trying to do her job. She glanced up when Brandon greeted her, holding up her index finger. "Listen," she sighed. "I might just be exhausted, I'm sorry. I will look at it again tomorrow with fresh eyes and have Cassidy get back to you with my comments...Okay. Yes. I'll speak to you in a few hours, I'm sure." She watched Brandon for a moment, shifting her weight back and forth as she listened to the woman on the other end of the line. "Au revoir," she muttered, ending the call and dropping her phone onto the couch.
"Hi," she greeted. "Yes, well, Cooper helped me clean. And Riley and Adam were eager to get out of here, anyway."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 21, 2015 13:46:36 GMT
He couldn’t remember the last time he had heard her speak in French, let alone fluently. A smile made its way to his lips and he had to quickly remind himself that this wasn’t going to be a situation where he could just smile at her and charm his way into her forgiveness. Though, he supposed, it wasn’t going to hurt to try. “I forgot that you spoke French,” he commented, trying to put off whatever he was going to say that was going to set her off.
Taking a seat in the chair to the side of the couch, he looked over at her and tried to figure out his next move. “Everything going well at work?”
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 21, 2015 14:17:12 GMT
Amber eyed Brandon for a moment before she put away a few of the pieces of paper she'd taken out during her phone call. "Yes, well, I also took it for three semesters in college, I've actually gotten pretty good at it. As for work, I'm pretty sure that I just threatened to fire a woman in the Paris office, despite the fact that her work was fine and I don't actually know if I have the authority to do so. Once she figures that out, I'm sure I'll have a wonderful meeting with Human Resources coming up," she nodded.
"Did you have fun?"
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 21, 2015 14:48:45 GMT
Fun was such an interesting choice of word. It had been fun to go out, have a few drinks, play wingman and flirt for no reason other to try and see how many women he could get to latch onto his friend. But admitting that it had been fun might have been seen, indirectly as it were, that he was having fun without her. That he had more fun out with Eliot tonight than he did staying home with her and her friends playing a game of poker - which he was still sore about losing to Riley Nicholls.
Amber's admittance that she had nearly fired a woman who had done nothing wrong made him realize that she was probably taking a lot of her anger with him out on people that she shouldn't, and so he justified that if there was ever time for them to fight over this, then now was the time. "I really was going to call you tomorrow. You didn't have to wait for me. It's late and I'm sure you have other things that you'd rather be doing."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 21, 2015 15:19:04 GMT
Amber glanced at him and nodded. "I'm sure you were going to call," she admitted. "But I know myself, Brandon, and if I'd gone home I was going to get in my head and I was going to get more upset. And then I would have instructed Cassidy to hang up the phone every time you called, which I'm sure is really just going to make things worse," she admitted. "And I'd rather be here so that we can talk about it than at home, in a bad mood, having trouble falling asleep because you're not there," she admitted.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 21, 2015 15:26:51 GMT
He shook his head, knowing that despite the fact that she said going home would have been worse he wasn't sure it was. "Why are you upset? Is it because I left you to fend for yourself with all of the people that you had invited over to my Penthouse?" He regretted it as soon as he said it. He hadn't meant to be so defensive about the attendees of their little poker night, but what he had thought was just going to be a casual game between friends had suddenly turned into an awkward situation where Amber had invited Adam Tyler back into their lives. So what if it was just one game? It was the principle of the matter that should have been considered.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 21, 2015 15:45:05 GMT
Amber scowled at him. "I invited Riley because it came up when I was out with the girls and she said she liked poker and she's been having a bit of a rough go of it, so I thought I'd be nice. She's dating Adam. I'm sorry, from now on I'll ask permission," she snapped. "And no, I'm not upset about that. But I'll make a deal, it won't happen again and in turn you let me know when Eliot Quinn is going to be dropping by so I can get as far away from this place as possible. Because even though I want you to have a good time, Brandon, I don't exactly love it when he traipses in here with his desperate and vapid pieces of arm candy and convinces you that you'd rather be out with him and them than here with me."
"And I'm not going to tell you not to, because I trust you - I actually do. But I don't trust them and I sure as fuck don't trust him and I don't want to be left sitting here looking like an idiot when you walk out the door with them!" she spat out. "It's one of the worst feelings," she muttered. "You looked me in the eye the other night and you told me that I was being ridiculous for thinking I was too boring. So what was tonight? You being upset that I invited people you don't like. Fine, kick them out and yell at me about it. But don't walk out."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 21, 2015 16:09:09 GMT
She was right, maybe she should have asked permission. As much as he wanted her to feel comfortable in the Penthouse, the bottom line was that it was his home - it always had been. While she had been off in California making a life with someone else, he had been here. It didn't seem unfair to be a little protective of the company that was brought into his own home. Especially when said company were people he hadn't wanted to let into his home, let alone his life. "So I'm supposed to play nice with Adam Tyler but you can't give Eliot the benefit of the doubt for one night? Amber, I could really care less about what you've read in the gossip columns, or what Riley Nicholls said that he did. You and I should both know from experience that people aren't always the most reliable sources when it comes to sharing their opinions and stories of people they dislike. If I listened to half of the things that people said about me, or even about you, we would be in a very different place right now."
But what kind of place were they in? They seemed to have started to spiral in the direction of the same arguments again and again. Something was going to need to change soon. "I still stand by what I said - I don't think you're boring, Amber. I think you've picked up some pretty unexciting habits, but I really thought that we could still go out together. I thought that I had made a pretty concious effort to prove to you that I'm more than happy to take you out on real fucking dates, but apparently that's not enough. You want to be the couple that sits home and is just over the moon to curl up on the couch and say that's good enough - but it's not fucking good enough. That is boring. That is asking me to be something that I'm not."
He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "But you know what's the worst part of the entire thing? I would love to go out with you. I have no problem kicking Eliot aside and going with you - but that doesn't mean that I'm not still going to go out with him either. And like I said, you've always been welcome to join us."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 21, 2015 16:39:02 GMT
For years, Amber had known that the only person that she really loved was Brandon Finn, and in turn she knew that was dangerous because he was the only one with the power to hurt her. Possibly, what hurt the most this time was that she knew that he was right. "For the record," she said gently. "I don't dislike Eliot because of gossip columns or secondhand stories. I dislike him because he makes me uncomfortable - and before you say that he's no worse than you or anyone else we know used to be, it's a feeling in the pit of my stomach that makes me dislike him. And frankly, I doubt he likes me much either. Because you're right," she admitted.
Looking away from him, she chewed on her lip. "I never meant to make you feel as though the person you are isn't who I want. You've always been the only person that I wanted," she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes closed for a moment, willing her not to have an emotional reaction - trying to find the piece of the old version of her that wouldn't cave in front of him or let herself show that she'd been too badly hurt. "But you're right," she repeated. "Maybe what I'm asking for isn't good enough."
"It's late," she nodded, not wanting to actually look up at him again. "I should go."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 21, 2015 17:04:46 GMT
It seemed like a silly reason to dislike a person, just based on a feeling that you had. "Are you really willing to continue having this argument over who I'm friends with? I had a life without you when you were in California, and just because you're back doesn't mean that I have to change everything that's happened in the last ten years. I'm sorry that you don't like Eliot, I truly am, but I don't know what you want me to do."
She made an effort to excuse herself and he sighed again, not wanting her to leave in the middle of the conversation. If they were going to have it out, they just need to do it now. There wasn't any sense in saving it all for another argument later. "No - you should stay," he advised her. "If this is such a big deal then you should stay and we should work it out. Here's the part where you're supposed to yell at me for being an asshole and I'm supposed to say something that I'm going to regret later."
He stopped, shaking his head. "What it seems like you're asking of me is to be someone you think that I should have grown into. This is who I am, Amber. It's who I've always been. And I've always wanted you to be there beside me, but I can't promise to be someone you think that I should. A lot has happened in ten years and it was stupid for us to think that we didn't have any catching up to do."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 21, 2015 19:04:50 GMT
Amber chewed on her lip and new that he was right. And she was even willing to admit that she should have given Eliot the benefit of the doubt even though she really stood by her instincts on that one. "I don't want to yell at you for being an asshole," she said. Sitting down on the couch again, she took a deep breath. "You're right, I can give Eliot the benefit of the doubt. But I don't expect you to stay in with me every night, I'm not asking you to be someone that you aren't. I'm sorry that you think that I am."
"Brandon, I used to have so much fun when we were younger. Staying out all night, drinking, flirting. I used to get into a lot of trouble, but it was always fun," she nodded. "And if you want to do that again, I think it could be great. But you're right, we missed ten years of each other's lives and I don't think we're going to get caught up when we're shouting over the music just to be heard. But we can do both. I wasn't being fair in asking you to pick one or another."
She looked up at him and tilted her head. "But Brandon, don't say that this is who you've always been. Because the man you are now is very different than the version of you that I said goodbye to ten years ago. And I don't know if you don't believe that because you don't want to let go of that or because you don't think very much of it. But ten years ago, I don't think you would've told me to stay and have it out with you, and that's something."
"If it means a lot to you that I give Eliot a chance and come out with you, then call him up and tell him we're going out tomorrow night. And if he proves me wrong, you win."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 21, 2015 19:56:56 GMT
He hadn’t been expecting her to concede so easily. It was probably a statement to the fact that they truly had grown up over all of this time. Something about that thought made him realize how much he wanted to fight to keep her part of his life, even if it meant having a few spats along the way. He got up to move over to the couch beside her, placing his arm around her and pulling her close.
“And if I’m wrong,” he was throwing the ‘if’ out there, hoping that he truly was, “If I’m wrong and Eliot is as bad as you say he is – then we never have to do it again. But I won’t give up on trying to get you to come out with me.”
He wasn’t sure that there was ever a world in which he would volunteer to give up the parties in exchange for staying home every night of the week, but if it meant making Amber happy and it meant that they could avoid more of these fights in the future, he was willing to compromise. “I’ll make a conscious effort to try and stay in more too, though. We’ll make our own exciting activities here instead.” Brandon smirked at the last part.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 21, 2015 20:22:38 GMT
When he put his arm around her, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in and curled into him. "You know I like the idea of going out with you," she pointed out. "I do. I remember what it used to be like, getting all dressed up and waiting to see how much I had to tease you until we ended up back here," she smirked. "Sometimes we didn't even make it back," she nodded, shifting slightly to press a kiss to his neck. "I think I remember how to be exciting, Brandon," she teased.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 21, 2015 20:28:30 GMT
He turned and looked down at her, smirk still poised on his lips. "You know," he started, "I'm sure I can remind you. We could even get started now."
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