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I don't think I cried the next day. It wasn't the best of days, though. Some angry customer, who claimed he found a hair in his food, yelled at the top of his lungs that he would never, ever return, and frankly, I didn't care. I wouldn't want him back. He ruined the pleasant atmosphere at the Cook n' Brooke. I smashed my thumb on a door and had to tape it up, when I was in the kitchen supervising work, some hot oil sprayed on my arm, leaving three little burn marks, I tripped in the Lounge, ran into Carly (literally) by accident, and pretty much felt like I had been hit by a bus. Then it all went further downhill when my stomach started to hurt, so then I felt like I had been hit by a train. I made a breif stop in the bathroom to make sure I didn't look as bad as I felt, then I went into the lounge and crashed on the couch.
Eliza walked in.
"Brooke!" she exclaimed, "you look like you've been hit by a bus."
"I feel like I've been hit by a train," I replied, rubbing my head, which also hurt.
"Do you need anything?" Eliza asked.
"Actually yes," I moaned, "can I have a lemonade, and a chicken pot pie?"
"Sure, Brooke, whatever you need," she replied, "anything else?"
"Yeah, if you go in my purse, theres a few Tyelnol. Can I have those?" I asked, "oh, and if you see a Hershey bar in there, bring that too."
"Lemonade, chicken pot pie, and chocolate?" Eliza asked.
"It sounds good," I replied, "ooh, and check to see if we have a pomegranite in the kitchen. That sounds good too."
"Strange combination," she chuckled.
I nodded, taking the Tyelnol and chocolate bar from her. She left for a few minutes, then returned with my lemonade and chicken pot pie.
"Thank you so much, Eliza," I said, after downing half of the lemonade and both Tylenol, "hey, if you want, you can go look in the closet in my secret room, find some board games, and we can play those."
"I have to work, though," Eliza complained.
"I'll give you the day off," I said, "I need someone to keep me company."
"All right, Brooke," she said, walking out the door. She returned minutes later, carrying a stack of board games.
"Hey, Brooke, I found this in there," she said, holding something up.
"What is it?" I asked.
"A photo album," she replied, "here."
I looked at the cover and immediately knew what it was.
"Sit," I told her, "we'll look through this."
We flipped through the album page by page. The first page was of David & me when we were still on Idol. That's when we had first fallen in love. The next picture was one that Syesha took when David proposed. The third picture was of us on tour together. The next picture showed us standing in front of the Cook n' Brooke, the day it opened for the very first time.
Okay, okay, I lied. I did cry. Those pictures were so special to me, and I had forgotten all about them.
"Brooooooke," groaned Eliza, handing me a tissue, "not again."
"Sorry," I replied, my voice tense, wiping away any tears. I flipped the page again, and I saw the entire restaurant staff, minus Eliza. That was before we had met. The next picture however, showed me, David & Eliza, the night we met. The picture after that was of the entire restaurant staff, plus Eliza.
"You put those in there?" she asked, smiling.
"Of course I did," I replied, "you're an important addition to our staff. Not to mention how close of a friend you are."
"Really?" she asked, sounding sort of surprised.
"Absolutely," I told her, "you're almost like my daughter." I laughed a little.
She laughed too.
"And you're kind of like a mom/older sister," she said, "even though I already have one of each. But Katie can be replaced."
She and I laughed at the joke. Eliza's older sister, Katie, drives her crazy.
We flipped through the photo album and discovered so much. The review from the critic Eliza waited on, pictures from the vacation David, Eliza & I went on, pictures of us next to David when he was in the hospital after having appendicitis, the picture of the Cook n' Brooke, charred & burned to the ground, the picture of the sad, empty lot, the picture of the brand new sign that said the Cook n' Brooke would be rebuilt, the photograph of the brand new Cook n' Brooke, photos from karyoke nights, the Christmas party we had, the sad day the Cook n' Brooke closed.
I was crying pretty hard by this point. Eliza got up to get tissues for the both of us.
"You know what this album needs?" I asked, sniffling.
"Huh?" Eliza asked, wiping her eyes.
"A picture of you & me, just us," I said, "go get my camera. It's in my purse."
She brought over the camera, and I once we stopped crying, fixed our hair & cleaned the mascara off our faces from crying, I held the camera out in front of us, and snapped a perfect picture.
I printed it that night and brought it the next day. I put the picture in the album, and tacked another copy on the bulletin board. I gave another copy to Eliza.
"I think we should start a scrapbook," Eliza stated, "starting today."
We went to the craft store up the street and purchased scrapbooking supplies, and we started our Brooke & Eliza: Official Scrapbook.
I knew it was one we would cherish forever.
The End.
Eliza walked in.
"Brooke!" she exclaimed, "you look like you've been hit by a bus."
"I feel like I've been hit by a train," I replied, rubbing my head, which also hurt.
"Do you need anything?" Eliza asked.
"Actually yes," I moaned, "can I have a lemonade, and a chicken pot pie?"
"Sure, Brooke, whatever you need," she replied, "anything else?"
"Yeah, if you go in my purse, theres a few Tyelnol. Can I have those?" I asked, "oh, and if you see a Hershey bar in there, bring that too."
"Lemonade, chicken pot pie, and chocolate?" Eliza asked.
"It sounds good," I replied, "ooh, and check to see if we have a pomegranite in the kitchen. That sounds good too."
"Strange combination," she chuckled.
I nodded, taking the Tyelnol and chocolate bar from her. She left for a few minutes, then returned with my lemonade and chicken pot pie.
"Thank you so much, Eliza," I said, after downing half of the lemonade and both Tylenol, "hey, if you want, you can go look in the closet in my secret room, find some board games, and we can play those."
"I have to work, though," Eliza complained.
"I'll give you the day off," I said, "I need someone to keep me company."
"All right, Brooke," she said, walking out the door. She returned minutes later, carrying a stack of board games.
"Hey, Brooke, I found this in there," she said, holding something up.
"What is it?" I asked.
"A photo album," she replied, "here."
I looked at the cover and immediately knew what it was.
"Sit," I told her, "we'll look through this."
We flipped through the album page by page. The first page was of David & me when we were still on Idol. That's when we had first fallen in love. The next picture was one that Syesha took when David proposed. The third picture was of us on tour together. The next picture showed us standing in front of the Cook n' Brooke, the day it opened for the very first time.
Okay, okay, I lied. I did cry. Those pictures were so special to me, and I had forgotten all about them.
"Brooooooke," groaned Eliza, handing me a tissue, "not again."
"Sorry," I replied, my voice tense, wiping away any tears. I flipped the page again, and I saw the entire restaurant staff, minus Eliza. That was before we had met. The next picture however, showed me, David & Eliza, the night we met. The picture after that was of the entire restaurant staff, plus Eliza.
"You put those in there?" she asked, smiling.
"Of course I did," I replied, "you're an important addition to our staff. Not to mention how close of a friend you are."
"Really?" she asked, sounding sort of surprised.
"Absolutely," I told her, "you're almost like my daughter." I laughed a little.
She laughed too.
"And you're kind of like a mom/older sister," she said, "even though I already have one of each. But Katie can be replaced."
She and I laughed at the joke. Eliza's older sister, Katie, drives her crazy.
We flipped through the photo album and discovered so much. The review from the critic Eliza waited on, pictures from the vacation David, Eliza & I went on, pictures of us next to David when he was in the hospital after having appendicitis, the picture of the Cook n' Brooke, charred & burned to the ground, the picture of the sad, empty lot, the picture of the brand new sign that said the Cook n' Brooke would be rebuilt, the photograph of the brand new Cook n' Brooke, photos from karyoke nights, the Christmas party we had, the sad day the Cook n' Brooke closed.
I was crying pretty hard by this point. Eliza got up to get tissues for the both of us.
"You know what this album needs?" I asked, sniffling.
"Huh?" Eliza asked, wiping her eyes.
"A picture of you & me, just us," I said, "go get my camera. It's in my purse."
She brought over the camera, and I once we stopped crying, fixed our hair & cleaned the mascara off our faces from crying, I held the camera out in front of us, and snapped a perfect picture.
I printed it that night and brought it the next day. I put the picture in the album, and tacked another copy on the bulletin board. I gave another copy to Eliza.
"I think we should start a scrapbook," Eliza stated, "starting today."
We went to the craft store up the street and purchased scrapbooking supplies, and we started our Brooke & Eliza: Official Scrapbook.
I knew it was one we would cherish forever.
The End.
