Page 41 of Brooke's Bliss
Gemma waved her off.“No.I’ll handle it pro bono, but Iwant you to have realistic expectations.It’s going to take a couple of weeks.This is not a quick process.”
Brooke wiped away a tear and swore she wasn’t going to cry.“I will.I feel like I should do something.Fight for my career.”
“Do you want your job back?”
“No.I could never work there again, but how can I let themget away with it?”
“Then we’ll start the process, but it’s an uphill fight.Have you thought about trying to find a job in LA?Or London, maybe?You knowyou have some impressive connections.Stef alone could get you on somewhere.”
There was a reason she hadn’t wanted Stef to help.“Then I’mthe nepo hire or the girl whose rich uncle bought her a spot.”
“And you prove yourself,” Gemma countered.“Look, Brooke,I’ve literally been on the other side of this.I was pushed out of a job for aperson who had way less talent than I had.Less education.Less work ethic.What she did have was a very wealthy dad.So I loathe people like that, but Idon’t know what I would have done if I had connections.You have the right touse what you have as long as you prove yourself once you’re there.”
“And if I need some time to think about what I want to do?Iknow I should find another job as quickly as possible,” Brooke began.
“Or you could give yourself the summer to figure things out.What’s your lease situation?”
“Oh, Ami sent me a text late last night asking if I wasstaying because she’s got someone willing to pay three hundred more than me,”Brooke explained.It was one of the many revelations waiting for her thismorning.
“We’ll send someone to pack you up.”Gemma started makingnotes in a small book.“I’ll call Seth.I assure you he can have someone overthere by this evening.Give me a list of things, or do you trust thisroommate?”
“Ami doesn’t want anything I own.She’ll point it all out.Ican pay…”
Gemma groaned.“Stop.See, this is the independent womantrap.I’m going to tell you the secret I’ve learned.You can be independent andneed help.Your friends and family aiding you isn’t about you being weak.It’sabout your family being strong.So toss those thoughts right out, and now we’refull circle and you’ve answered your own question about how you can have likedthe sexual encounter and still hold your head up as a woman.Because it hasnothing to do with your independence.It has to do with your needs.There isnothing stronger than being open and honest about your needs.You found two menwho made you feel safe enough to let go.”
Nope.She was crying.Damn it.Gemma was right.“They did.Ifelt free.”
“Because you found something good.Do not let anyone takethat from you.Don’t let shame lead you.Tell your brothers what happened andwhy you feel like you can’t fight.Let it be their choice to give youpermission to move forward or to ask for you to sacrifice this for their kids.And then when you know what you want, we go to Stef or Seth and make a plan.”
It felt like failure, but she wasn’t going to argue withGemma.“You came here after you got fired.How long was it before you knew itwas right to stay?”
Gemma seemed to think about it for a moment.“I suppose whenI looked up at the stars and I really saw them for the first time.I laid backon the grass outside of Jesse and Cade’s cabin and I realized I never lookedup.I never let myself be.I was so worried about the future that I had neveronce enjoyed the moment.The present is all we truly have.The past is sweetmemories and the future, well, it comes faster and faster now, and then it’sthe present, and I was still moving the goal posts.I’m still ambitious, but myambitions are about helping people more than acquiring a bunch of stuff thatwon’t make me happy in the end.I love this town.I love my husbands.I lovethat my mom is healthy and happy.And I love me now in a way I did not before,and D/s helped me find all of those things.Because D/s taught me to trust notonly my partners, but myself.Tell me something, and be honest about it.Evenif it’s only with yourself.How did it make you feel?”
“Powerful.Beautiful.Worthy.”She dabbed at her eyes withher napkin.“But I don’t see how I could make it work with them.”
“You don’t have to.Sweetie, when was the last time youweren’t working toward a goal?”
You are going to college, kiddo.I do not put on thatsheriff’s uniform so you can work at Stella’s.
Don’t you worry about a thing, Brooke.Rye and I willmake sure everything is okay.All you need to worry about is getting into agood school and getting a good job.
Oh, they hadn’t meant to do it, but her brothers had flippeda switch inside her with the words.They were trying to let her be who shewanted to be, but in trying to do that, she’d simply wanted to make them proud,and that had become her ambition.“I don’t remember.”
“Then breathe, Brooke.You are in a unique position.Youdon’t need a job right this second.You can take some time and enjoy a summer.”
“I kind of have a job, not that it pays much.Cleo asked meto take over the wardrobe department for the rep theater.She’s under theimpression that I’ll be gone in a couple of weeks, but I don’t think she’d beupset if I stuck around.”
“And how does that make you feel?”
Brooke shrugged.“I used to love costume design, but by thetime I got into Parson’s, I was set on high fashion.”
“Because you loved it?”
“Because it was the best.”
“The best for who?”Gemma asked, but kindly.She reached outand put a hand on Brooke’s.“I have seen so many people come to Bliss to findthemselves.Stop listening to the negative voices in your head.Stop listeningto a society that will never serve you properly.I wanted to be the best.Thebest lawyer.The most successful person my family had ever produced.I figuredout the only thing that matters is being the best Gemma I can be.The bestfriend and partner and daughter.The best me possible, and I work on it everyday.And I’m still sarcastic and I still don’t want kids, even though I love myfriends’ kids to death.I didn’t fall into some small-town dream life.Blisshelped me make my own paradise, one I built from the ground up, but it startedby figuring out who I really was.Who I am.Just because you grew up heredoesn’t mean you’ve ever once given in to the real magic of this place.So takethe summer and see Bliss through new eyes, and maybe you’ll find a new you,too.”
She squeezed Gemma’s hand.“Do you think I should suck it upand apologize to my brothers?”
