Black Coffee (Brooke/Open)

[Caleb Slater]

Caleb sat at a booth alone, sipping from his black coffee and surfing the internet on his AlienWare laptop. All over the internet he saw articles about the Hart family. There was even a rumor going around that Riley was pregnant? Why couldn't they just leave the poor people alone? It was hard enough for them as it is.

Caleb had been pondering his performance at the Open Mic Bar the about a month ago. He thought he did a pretty good job, and he got good reviews, but no record deal yet. Maybe he should give up on music...

But the unforgettable part of the night was his conversation with Brooke. She was a beautiful and talented woman. They didn't say much to each other, but he felt like they connected. But that was a month ago, and they hadn't spoken since.

[Brooke Chien]

Starbucks had been sort of like a sanctuary to Brooke for months. She stopped there at least twice a day; once for her morning capicino and later at night for a nice, rich coffee. And on her days off, she stopped by even more to get a cookie or a smoothie or something deliciously tastey and sweet.

She couldn't resist the smell of coffee, the rich blend of coffee beans as they were grinded into a warm, smooth mug of a beverage. The rich harmony of smell and taste with the aroma and the active taste buds as the drink rolled into your mouth was like skipping around freely above in heaven.

And so Brooke entered Starbucks that day as she did everyday. She had just gotten out of the recording studio, tired and sleepy. Brooke yawned as she approached the front counter, ordered a nice, delicious fruit smoothie (since it was really warm out) and took a seat at a booth in the coffee house.

[Caleb Slater]

Just as thoughts of Brooke surrounded him, she sat down in the booth right in front of him.

"Brooke?" he said, standing up and walking over in the process.

She looked tired and overstressed, but still as beautiful as ever.

[Brooke Chien]

Brooke took a sip of the smoothie in front of her. It was filled with the scent of berries; rasberries, blueberries, blackberries. The scent made her feel so alive and good inside, and along with the smell of coffee that was existant 24/7 in the coffee house, she never felt so alive in her life than at that moment. It was just so relaxing to sit down finally in a chair, feel the warmth of the air around her, see so many friendly people and of course, the coffee. The delicious coffee scent.

"Brooke?"

Brooke snapped out of her dazzed moment and looked up. She saw a familiar face, a face that she remembered seeing around a week ago. "Hey, Caleb," Brooke smiled as she stood up and hugged him, "How's it been?"

Caleb had always been such a good friend of Brooke's. He was sweet, he was nice and he was charming. And even though their conversations usually had moments of complete silence, Brooke felt good around Caleb.

[Caleb Slater]

"It's been okay," he said

"I can't believe what happened to Tyler Hart. I loved that guy's music." he continued.

Caleb looked at Brooke. Although he really didn't know her, he felt a strong bond with her.

"I know this is sort of sudden... but would you like to get dinner sometime?" he asked.

[Brooke Chien]

"It's really nice to see you," Brooke said to Caleb as their conversation moved along, "Haven't seen you in such a long time!"

Brooke had always had some feelings for Caleb, yet she was not ready to really express them yet. She thought it would be much easier for them to be friends for a while, then slowly shift to dating, if they felt like it. So when Caleb asked her out to dinner, she did not know what to do. Maybe it was just a casual, friends night out thing, but it didn't sound as if that was was Caleb wanted.

"Sure, I'd love to go to dinner sometime," Brooke replied finally.

[Caleb Slater]

"Really?" he said, like a 14 year old.

"I really want to try that Fransachelli's place... I hear it is amazing," he continued.

Caleb's dreams were coming true. Finally, a glimmer of hope in his life that he seemed to be over his head in.

[Brooke Chien]

Fransachelli's; now that was one fancy, fancy, fancy resturant. Now she was sure this was no ordinary "friend" sorta thing. It was a date. I mean, what "friends night out" outing would be at a resturant with not only a fancy menu, a fancy look, a fancy chef, a really fancy price and on top of that, the fanciest name in the world?

"Caleb," Brooke said, "I just wanna make it clear that we're just friends, alright?"

'Dammit,' Brooke thought, 'If I'm wrong about all of this then that'll be quite embarassing.....'

[Caleb Slater]

"Oh..." Caleb said.

'How could I have been so stupid?' he thought.

"Yeah of course," he said.

Being friends with someone like her was enough. At least for now.

[Brooke Chien]

An awkward silence followed the scenario, which was strange to Brooke, because she had always been incredibly comfortable and calm in Caleb's presence. She had never had a single moment when she was awkward with him, and now it was occurring. Probably because romance was starting to crawl up on them. She could feel it. And yet she didn't want it to come, because she wasn't ready for a relationship. She was a busy girl with too much of a career life to settle down for a relationship. Plus, she wasn't really the romantic type. It was all just something she didn't want to explore at that moment.

"So...." Brooke said, breaking the silence, "....how's your music career coming along?"

[Caleb Slater]

"Ehh, it's coming, no record deal yet but I've gotten a few calls from Taylor's and Starfold's," he said.

"It might've worked out better if Chris Taylor's injury didn't steal the show," he continued.

[Brooke Chien]

That night was fresh in Brooke's mind. Some of the most extreme, dynamic situations, as well as the most beautiful, calm and breathtakingly moments had taken place. She remembered rushing outside along with the crowd of people huddled around Chris' lifeless body laid out on the street that night. It was not a pleasant site. There was blood everywhere, and Chris, one of her dearest friends and someone she was also very attracted to, had looked so mangled and broken up. It was a difficult situation to experience, and one she did not want to remember at all.

But the night had been filled with incredible moments as well. One of the highlights, besides Chris' performance, was Caleb's breathtakingly stunning song with beautiful lyrics and a beautiful tune. His voice was amazing, and Brooke remembered staring up at him, her eyes sparkling with light.

"Yeah, but you're really talented," she said, smiling.

[Caleb Slater]

"Brooke..." he said.

"I want to be more than just friends."

Caleb couldn't believe what just came out of his mouth. He usually didn't speak his mind like that. It was just like everything happening in the city lately, time was priceless.

[Brooke Chien]

Brooke was left in an awkward, weird silence that she could feel drift over the pair of them. She had already laid out their relationship status, and yet Caleb seemed extremely persistence in bringing up a relationship. It made her feel very uncomfortable. She did not know exactly what to say. Yes, she did have feelings for him, but it just didn't feel right at the moment to quickly push herself into a relationship she wasn't ready for.

"ummmm....."Brooke stuttered as she stared at Caleb, obviously looking very shocked, "OH look at the time. I've gotta head over to the modeling agency right now. We can, umm continue our chat later, mk?"

Brooke quickly clambered out of her seat, gave a quick wave and hurried out of the door, looking quite nervous, scared and awkward.

As she walked down the cement-paved sidewalk, the question spun in her head. She felt dizzy. She felt horrible just leaving the question hanging and basically rejecting Caleb without actually saying "no" to his question. It made her feel so bad, but she couldn't do it. And she didn't want to face it either. Even though she knew that one day they would be together, she knew that the time wasn't right.