“You’re right.” He clapped a hand on Brooke’s shoulder. “Neither one of us are the same as we were years ago.” He watched as Brooke arched an eyebrow in his direction. “Okay, so I’ve grown up. It’s time to put away the toys and really get down to living a full, rewarding life.”

“I agree.” Brooke nodded her head, then turned to look at Peter with furrowed brows. “Wait a minute…toys?”

“That’s what James and I used to call the girls, our toys.”

“Ahh…” It was dawning on the tall woman now, “…the groupies that you played with.”

Peter was blushing, ashamed now at how he had acted in the past. “I can’t see me waking up next to the likes of them for the rest of my life.”

“Stop blushing, Peter. It’s not like you were the only one who ever slept with a groupie.”

“You didn’t.” He looked her in the eye then let his gaze drop back to the bottle in his hand.

“No, I just waited until music wasn’t the center of my life before I let sex enter into the picture.”

“Maybe that’s where I’m at now.” His voice trailed off.

“When we played together, music was everything. I didn’t have time for anything or anybody else. Sam changed all that. And let me tell you,” Brooke grinned, thinking of how Sam had opened up a new world to her. “It’s a nice place to be.”

“Well Brooke, if it makes any difference at all, I’m liking what I see in you.

“I’m glad, ’cause I’m liking how it feels.”

Peter nudged Brooke’s shoulder with his hand and winked at her. “So, you want to show me where I can sleep or what?”

“Sure, I’ll even help you get your bags. You did bring clothes to change into, didn’t you?”

Peter looked down at his larger form, then back up at Brooke. “Please, it’s not Halloween yet. I don’t want to scare anybody to death and your stuff just ain’t gonna cover it.”

After getting Peter settled in, Brooke grabbed another beer and went to her small office on the second floor of the house. With Mario at her side, the tall woman sat down in her comfortable chair and turned on her computer, while the plans for the next day’s events ran through her mind. Once the monitor screen came to life, Brooke pulled up her list of things to do and quickly perused it, mentally checking off everything that was in place for Sam’s party.

“Well, Mario.” Brooke petted the furry head that now filled her lap. “Looks like everything is on schedule and ready for Sam’s surprise.” The dog looked up with its tongue hanging out as he leaned into her gentle touch. “You like that, don’t you? You’re gonna be spoiled tomorrow with all those people here, aren’t ya Boy?”

“Woof,” was Mario’s short reply.

Turning her attention back to the screen, Brooke finished her list and gave a sigh as she read the last line out loud. “Anti-Zero performance. Hmm…well two thirds of us are here and ready. I guess I’d better check in on that last missing piece.” She thought for a minute about James and could already feel her temper rising. Looking at the clock in the corner of the screen, she saw that it was almost midnight and an idea came into her head. Logging on to the Internet, she quickly sent off a variety of funny birthday cards to Sam, listing the senders as Mario, the 300, and the ‘Dessert of the Month’ Club.

“Those should have Sam laughing. What do you think Mario?” She looked down at the dog that was curled up at her side, his head rising with the sound of the blonde’s name. Hmmm…Brooke started thinking, her grin turning a little devilish in nature as one eyebrow rose. Birthdays are for wishes…maybe I should give her something to dream about. “Yeah…” she softly uttered, nodding subtly.

Closing out the windows on her computer, she hurriedly clicked into her E-mail account. Brooke pulled up Sam’s addy from her address book, then sat before the blank page, gathering her thoughts. A few minutes later, she took in a deep breath, then her fingers started dancing across the keys, pausing only for seconds here or there before continuing on. Before she knew it, she was done. With her hands in her lap, she read the message, making only one change.

She read it over one last time just to make sure that it said what was in her heart. Satisfied, Brooke blew a kiss at the screen and sent it off to the woman she loved. Then, the tall woman took in a breath and set about doing what she had put off a few minutes ago.

Flipping through her address book, she found the phone number she was looking for and quickly punched it into the cell phone that was almost always with her.

“Okay, Mario. Let’s rattle the cage a little bit and see if the animal will come out to play.” She leaned down to give the dog a pat on the head, then sat up taking on a more businesslike and aggressive positioning at the desk.

As each ring sounded off, her level of aggravation raised one more notch. Finally she heard the ringing stop and the muffled sound of the phone being clumsily answered.

The gruff, raspy voice of a man on the decline barked out a somewhat dazed, “Yeah.”

The raspy sounding voice in the background was a total opposite with its cooing words of “Hey, where are you going?”

Brooke smiled, knowing she had definitely disturbed the man’s plans for the night. “James? It’s Brooke.”

Rolling over in bed away from his companion, James focused his hazy attention on the voice from the phone. “Brooke,” he drooled, and then quickly turned his head to the woman behind him and directed her. “Hey Baby, go get me something to drink.” He watched as she got up and walked out of the room, and then only turned back to the phone. “So, finally feeling a need for my company or is this just to tuck me into bed with a story?”

“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t forget about tomorrow night.” Brooke shook her head at his ramblings.

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, remember…A-Z for one night? You’re supposed to be here in Virginia to pay off your little debt tomorrow.” Brooke was getting angry now.

There was a disgusted intake of air from James as the words jarred his memory. “Yeah, right. A-Z,” he snorted.

“James, what time is your plane due to land?” Brooke’s anger was evident in the harshness of her tone.

“Ah…I ah…”

“I’m waiting.”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to get back to you when I find out.” He tried to evade her question.

“What do you mean, when you find out? Don’t you have the damn flight booked already?” Brooke’s nostrils flared as thoughts of his not showing up crossed her mind.

“Well, I figured that you could send the company jet…you know, sort of log it off as one of Sam’s flights.” He smirked, ” That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?”

“What?” Brooke looked into the phone she was holding as if that would clarify things. “What made you think I would do that? I forked out twenty grand to do your little project and you expect me to fly the company jet out to get you?”

“That’s my price. You know you just can’t get A-Z together for the asking. You want it. You pay for it. I’m a star in A-Z, even if it is defunct. But then again, you made it that way.”

“No,” Brooke’s voice rose with a vengeance, “My price for recording your shit was tomorrow night.” Steely blue eyes glared as she stared at nothing, but kept her full focus on the conversation and the man that irritated her to no end. “You know what? I’m not getting into this bullshit with you tonight. Have your ass ready bright and early tomorrow morning, Sunshine. Expect a car to pick you up and I’ll fly your sorry ass here.”

He laughed knowing the rage that she had worked herself into. “Face it Brooke, you’re nothing but Loran and Peter without me.”

“I’m not Loran,” she snapped. “Just be ready tomorrow morning.”

“I knew that you’d see it my way.” He laughed at her again and commented. “And remember Babe, tomorrow night you are Loran.”

“No, tomorrow night I’m Brooke Gordon…” she countered then added, “and James?”

“Yeah, Loran?”

Her anger was getting the best of her and she knew it. It was definitely time to end this conversation before she popped a vein or two. “Don’t even think about fucking me over with this. You really don’t want to piss me off.” She terminated the call, tossing the phone down onto the desk. Brooke got up from the chair with such a rush that Mario jumped to his feet and paced nervously, trying to stay out of her way.

“To think that I actually considered you a friend at one time. What was I thinking?”

Tuesday morning greeted Sam with several surprises in all of her mailboxes. First there were the funny greetings from her buddy Mario, her favorite car, then she nearly lost it with the well wishes from the Dessert of the Month Club. It was evident that Brooke was in a playful mood last night when she sent them. Sam smiled and tried to imagine the dark-haired woman. God, I would have loved seeing her face when she wrote these.

Sam pondered that thought for a moment then moved on to the rest of her E-mail. The next one was a rather plain card with only a simple line. “Happy Birthday.” She looked for a name, but there wasn’t any. Now that’s funny. Who would have? Sam thought about the people in her life and came up with a very short list that would even know her addy. I wonder… Her thoughts came to her immediate family but quickly died as she remembered her mother’s last words to her as she hurriedly left what had been her home. You’re dead to me. You died when you chose that lifestyle over a normal, healthy one. I’ll not have you infect your sister with your perverted notions. I’ve lost one daughter. I won’t lose another. The sound of that front door slamming still echoed in Sam’s head, even after four years. “Oh, Sarah…” Sam brought her hand to her mouth, stifling back the tears of a sister lost.

Sam closed out the card and looked at the sending addy for it when her mail list came back up on the screen. It was no help whatsoever. It simply read: Citizen , nothing more. Sighing, Sam pushed back the harsh memories and chose to accept that someone out there in Virginia had wished her happiness on this day.

Moving onto the next E-mail, the sender’s addy brought a smile to her face. “Brooke…” she mused out loud, then clicked on the icon to open it.

Subj: Happy Birthday

Date: October 29, 11:43:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time

From: Brooke Loran

To: Sam Moleson

Hey there, Sweetheart. Happy Birthday, Beautiful. I figured that you had already received a birthday greeting from the Z and our favorite boy, Mario, now it’s my turn.

Sam…words can’t even begin to express the love I feel when I look into your eyes. I thank everything that is holy everyday for bringing you into my life. I love you, Samantha and I always will. Have a happy birthday, love of my life, and I will see you soon, although, it won’t be soon enough. Forever could never be long enough to spend with you.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful. I Love You.

Yours Forever,

Brooke

Brooke’s thoughts and wishes for their future had definitely melted the blonde’s heart and brought her to tears of joy. God, how did I ever deserve this woman? She knows exactly what I need.

The day was an uneventful one on campus and soon Sam found herself just waiting for her cousin Crystal to pick her up at the dorm. Sam stood waiting by the window, watching for the familiar old green car to pull up, when C.C. entered the room on the run.

“Hey C.C., are you sure that you won’t come to dinner with us? You’ll miss meeting my cousin.”

“Nope,” the brunette threw her books on the bed and started looking for clothes in her drawers. The brunette reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. “I think this is yours. I guess it got in my mailbox by mistake.” She handed it to Sam.

“I wonder who…” Sam looked at the flashy cursive script on it and knew immediately. “Aunt Sandy.” The blonde hastily opened it. A smile came to the young woman’s face as she read the sentimental card. Holding it up, she offered it to C.C. “I can’t believe she’s still sending things out by snail mail. That was so thoughtful of her.”

C.C. looked at it, nodding her approval. “I’d like to meet her and your cousin someday, but not tonight. Terri wants me to meet with her and the hubby for dinner. It’s not often that they’re both off together, you know.” C.C. looked up and grinned at the blonde, “I’m sorry, but I’m sure you’ll have a blast with Brooke, besides, you know how Brooke and I get when we have dinner together.”

Sam nodded in agreement. “Not to mention the added attraction of alcohol.” She idly looked out the window and thought out loud, “I wonder if she’ll toast me tonight like she did you?”