People Change

Jimmy pulled Sydney out of her bedroom and over to the little kitchen area. He pushed Sydney down into one of the chairs sitting at the kitchen table and grabbed a glass from one of the cupboards. Sydney’s eyes followed him as he stepped over to the sink and poured her a glass of water. Her hand subconsciously rubbed a spot on her forearm where a bruise began to develop. Carl grabbed her forearm to drag her into the bedroom, and he hadn’t exactly done it delicately, either.

“Are you okay?” Jimmy demanded, handing Sydney the glass of water. She didn’t answer his question, instead taking a sip of the water. Suddenly, she looked a little disappointed and blinked down at the glass before sliding her gaze to the cupboard right next to the refrigerator.

“You need something stronger, don’t you?” Jimmy asked sympathetically. Sydney nodded and handed the glass back to Jimmy. He sighed but dumped the water out and grabbed a smaller glass to pour some scotch in.

“You’re such an alcoholic,” Jimmy continued as he put a few ice cubes into the glass and poured the scotch expertly over the foggy crystals. “Scotch is not the answer, Syd.” But he handed the glass over anyway, and Sydney took a grateful sip of it.

“You’ve rubbed off on me,” Sydney replied, speaking for the first time since Jimmy and Brian arrived. Jimmy leaned back against one of the counters and shook his head. Sydney nodded knowingly back, taking another sip of her alcohol.

Sydney and Jimmy looked around at Brian as he stepped into the kitchen. A brilliant black and blue bruise began to erupt around his left eye. Other than that, he appeared unscathed. Immediately, Sydney put the glass down on the table and rose to her feet, advancing towards Brian.

“That was extremely foolish of you, Brian,” she snapped, grabbing his shoulders and steering him over to the table. She shoved him down into her vacated seat and headed over to the refrigerator. “Carl is three times your size. There was no chance that you’d beat him. You’re lucky you didn’t get beaten to a pulp. You could’ve gotten really hurt, but you just got a black eye, so you best be counting your lucky stars. Your guts could’ve been smeared from here to LA, but for some reason they aren’t and I’m not entirely sure that I’m happy about that.”

Sydney snatched an ice pack out of the freezer and shooed Jimmy away from the sink to grab a towel from the cupboard. She wrapped the towel around the ice pack and advanced towards Brian again. Glaring at Brian out of icy blue eyes, she pressed the ice pack against his eye and held it there. But Brian just smirked.

“You’re concerned about me,” he said smugly. Sydney opened her mouth to retort, but snapped it shut seconds later. Blood flooded her face and she pursed her full lips as she, too, realized that she was actually concerned about the asshole in front of her. Jimmy winked at Brian behind Sydney’s back.

“Oh, damn, look at the time,” Jimmy said loudly. “I really have somewhere to be. Sydney, could you please take Brian back to my house so he can get his SUV? Thanks a lot, sis.” Jimmy hurried over and kissed his sister’s cheek before hurrying towards the front door.

“But—I—Jimmy!” Sydney sputtered, but Jimmy was gone before she could protest. “Here.” Sydney grabbed Brian’s wrist and pressed his hand against the ice pack on his eye. “Hold that there. Guess I’ll have to save the scotch for later.” She looked wistfully at the glass still sitting on the table before grabbing it and putting it beside the sink. Then, she seized her purse from the counter and turned, glaring at Brian.

“Aren’t you a little grateful that I beat that guy up?” Brian asked hopefully as he rose to his feet. Sydney ignored him as she walked towards the front door. She slipped a pair of plain black flip-flops on and wrenched the front door open. She stepped out onto the landing and allowed Brian to step out of the apartment before slamming the door shut and locking it.

“A little,” Sydney admitted as she stepped down the stairs, her flip-flops slapping against the metal steps. “But that does not mean I forgive you,” she snapped, whirling around and jabbing a finger angrily into Brian’s chest. He held both hands up in surrender, his eyes widening innocently.

“I understand perfectly,” Brian answered before pressing the ice pack against his eye again. Sydney scowled at his mock-innocence and whirled back around, stomping the rest of the way down the stairs. “But I think I deserve something in return.”

“Like what?” Sydney asked as she led the way towards her Taurus. She dug around in her purse for her keys and finally found them so she could unlock the car.

“A date,” Brian answered simply. He smirked when Sydney’s spine went rigid. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder at him. Her blue eyes practically flowed over with ice crystals.

“No,” she growled, and Brian tried not to think about how her tone of voice kind of turned him on. “Get in the fucking car and shut your trap, or I’ll give you a black eye to match the one you’ve already got.” She slid into the driver’s seat and Brian climbed into the passenger seat obediently. But no way was he going to “shut his trap”.

“Don’t I deserve something, though?” he wheedled as Sydney pulled out into the street. The date comment really seemed to have pissed Sydney off: her knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

Sydney mumbled something that sounded remarkably like, “a swift kick to the balls” but Brian couldn’t be sure.

“I didn’t mean a date like a dinner date, with the candles and the waiters and reservations and fancy dress stuff,” Brian continued. Pretty soon, Sydney’s gaze would start to freeze the windshield. “I just meant a nice little lunch date. There’s a great deli near here that’s really good. Maybe sometime next week we could just eat lunch together. Nothing romantic or anything.”

“Whatever,” Sydney answered, glaring over at Brian as she stopped at a red light. “Wednesday next week.”

“I’ll come pick you up,” Brian offered.

“Fine,” Sydney replied. “Be at the bakery at noon.”