People Change

“Oh, dear, I’ve lost Lanie,” Sydney sighed as she grabbed her purse and stood up out of her patio chair. She looked around at the people still at Jimmy’s barbeque, even though it was going on eleven at night. Jason was still there, as was Brian—unfortunately, Sydney couldn’t help but think—Johnny, and Lacey. Johnny and Lacey were preparing to leave however, saying their final farewells to Jimmy and Leana. Sydney blew a mouthful of air out in exasperation, wondering where the hell Lanie could be.

Sydney wandered into the house, stepping briefly into the kitchen. Lanie definitely wasn’t in there. All Sydney knew was that Lanie had gotten pretty drunk; of course, she hadn’t been the only one. Jimmy and Brian were the only guys who remained decently sober; all the girls, except Lanie of course, hadn’t drunk much at all. Sydney headed upstairs to the bathroom, wondering if maybe Lanie had passed out in there.

But nope, Lanie was nowhere to be found in the bathroom or the hallway. Just on a whim, Sydney walked over to Jimmy’s spare bedroom and pushed the door open. She had to slap a hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing at the sight in front of her.

A pile of clothes sat at the foot of the bed. It was extremely difficult to miss Lanie’s neon pink shorts peeking out from beneath what appeared to be a pair of blue jeans. And lying there, on the bed underneath the plain burgundy sheets, were Matt Berry and Lanie, obviously naked and extremely passed out. Lanie lay curled up on her side, her head resting on Matt’s chest. She hugged the sheet against her chest, and as usual, she was hogging most of the covers. Matt barely had enough covers to shield his body from the waist down, but he was too passed out to notice. And judging by the small smile on each of their lips, they hadn’t passed out without doing the deed.

Sydney snickered as she stepped back and closed the door. She went back downstairs, deciding that it would be impossible for her to take Lanie home now. Johnny and Lacey had already left, leaving Jimmy and Leana free for Sydney to say good-bye to.

“Listen, Jim, Lanie’s totally passed out with Matt in your spare bedroom,” Sydney began, still giggling. “And trust me: you’ll need to wash the sheets.”

“Oh, come on!” Jimmy exclaimed in mock anger. “Good luck with that, Lee.”

“So, I’ll probably just leave her here, if that’s alright with you,” Sydney continued, smiling at Jimmy’s outburst.

“Of course we don’t mind,” Leana answered with a smile. “I’ve stolen Jason’s keys anyway; he’ll probably have to stay the night too.”

“Just tell her when she comes down in the morning to call me and I’ll come pick her up,” Sydney said. “I can leave Janice in charge of the bakery, I suppose, for at least a few minutes.”

“Alr—” Jimmy began, but Brian cut in before he could continue.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” Brian said quickly, stepping swiftly up to the three of them. “I can just take you back to your flat. You can leave your keys with Jimmy, and Lanie can take herself home in the morning. So you don’t have to leave the bakery, you know.”

Behind Brian’s back, Jimmy shot Sydney a stern look. Sydney sighed and looked at Brian.

“Yeah, sure,” she answered begrudgingly with a shrug. “Here, Jim.” She dug her keys out of her purse and handed them over to Jimmy. “Don’t be mean to Lanie, either, about the whole Matt thing. She’s sensitive when she’s hung-over.”

“Got it,” Jimmy said, taking Sydney’s keys and stepping forward to embrace her. “Get home safe, make sure you lock the doors behind you, and don’t let those God damn unicorns stab you in the eyeballs with their horns.”

“I never do, Jimmy,” Sydney answered as she hugged Leana. “Bye, Lee, hopefully we can get together sometime for a girl’s night out or something. We could invite the other ladies and just make a night of it.”

“Sounds great, Sydney,” Leana agreed. Jimmy and Leana said their farewells to Brian as well, and then the two of them walked out to Brian’s SUV.

“Sydney,” Brian said about ten minutes later as Sydney turned to slide out of his vehicle. He reached out and snagged her arm in his hand, and Sydney turned back to face him, looking like she really didn’t want to be there. Quite honestly, she didn’t want to be there at all. “Is there anything I can possibly do to make you forgive me?”

Sydney had never seen Brian look like he did right then. His warm chocolate eyes pleaded with Sydney’s cold icy ones for just one break, just one hint at earning her forgiveness. His eyebrows furrowed together over his eyes in a desperate sort of way, and Sydney realized that Brian knew he’d run out of options. He’d bought her flowers, rescued her when she needed it, taken her out on a lunch date—even Sydney couldn’t deny that she’d enjoyed his company then—and really just tried to prove her wrong when it came to how big of an ass he was. And still, Sydney hadn’t forgiven him.

Sydney just smirked. “Drop dead,” she answered jokingly.

Brian grinned too, letting Sydney’s arm slip from his fingers. But all too soon, his fingers clenched closed, trapping her hand within their grasp now.

“No, I’m serious about this,” Brian replied sincerely, his grin fading into a more somber expression. “How about a date? I mean a real date this time, though, not just a lunch date get-together deal. An actual date.”

Sydney couldn’t believe it. Well, she could believe Brian asking her out on a date, but what she couldn’t believe was that she actually wanted to say yes. She wanted to go on a date with Brian, if only for one date and one night. No matter how much she fought it and denied it, she couldn’t help but feel relaxed around him. He could make her laugh, and actually tried when it came to earning her forgiveness. He wasn’t constantly staring at her body, either. Sure, she’d caught him scanning his eyes up and down her body a few times, but it wasn’t constant. Maybe, just maybe, he deserved another chance.

“Sure,” Sydney answered, the word flowing surprisingly easily off her tongue. “Here.” Going with the flow, she pulled a pen out of her purse, grabbed Brian’s hand, and quickly wrote her cell number on his palm. Flushing slightly red as she realized what she’d just done, she quickly slid out of the SUV, but before slamming the door shut said, “Call me.”