BRIELLE

Shawn tried his possible best to lighten up the situation, but nothing he did was helping.

To be honest, I was super surprised to see him still so full of spirit, and trying to crack jokes and all that. I really didn’t know if I could be that strong had I been in his shoes.

Dylan wasn’t coping. You could see that he was struggling with himself, especially with all the things he had accused his father of, and how mean he had been to the man in general. 

It was almost night-time. I could tell that father and son needed to talk and clear things up, and so I bid them goodbye and then managed to drive myself home.

Silvie was at work when I arrived, meaning I had the house all to myself. It was so silent and gloomy, and the whole atmosphere felt like the colour grey. I turned on the TV, watched about two movies, and had dinner, but I wasn’t really able to eat much. 

I was tired, but I didn’t feel like sleeping. I stood up anyway, headed for the shower and started a bath. 

Perhaps, that will make me feel better.

The bath was warm and smelled like lilacs and honey… exactly how I liked it. I stripped, stepped in and sighed in contentment. I felt so much better already.

I sat there for almost an hour… maybe even two, just contemplating life and sipping wine.

I had honestly lost track of time, and it wasn’t until the water started to feel cold against my skin that I realised that perhaps it was time to exit the bath after all.

I padded over to the bedroom, and proceeded to dress up in my nightwear, just a plain baggy t-shirt and a pair of panties. You know, I never understood the women who wore silky nothings to bed, even if they weren’t dressing up for anyone until I tried it one time. Mm, let me tell you, those were just pure bliss, but honestly a comfy shirt was equally the bomb too, honestly. 

Just at a much cheaper price.

I collapsed on my bed with a sigh and suddenly felt like speaking to my dad, and so I reached for the phone and dialled him up. 

The line was going through but no one was answering. I frantically sat up, worried all of a sudden and made to dial his number again, when I thankfully saw that he was calling me back.

I answered on the first ring.

“Hello, daddy.” I whispered, my voice shaking slightly.

“Hey munchkin, what’s wrong? Are you alri-”

I burst into tears.

Dylan

I signalled to the bar tender for another beer even as the last bit of my consciousness argued against it.

Yeah, I know, I know. Drowning my sorrows in alcohol, really predictable move, amirite? 

Even though I really didn’t drink much, even I knew that drinking was a quick way to numb the pain and stress… at least for a little while.

Well, the second option was sex, and with the way my mind was so wrapped over Brielle, I doubted that I was going to get any tonight.

Speaking of Brielle, I had really wronged the sweet angel, hadn’t I? What apology at all was worthy enough to assure me of her forgiveness? Well, I honestly wasn’t sure it had been coined up yet, but maybe with the help of that smart man, I could do it.

What was his name again?

Was it Arotle? 

No, that didn’t feel quite right.

Aritatle?

Nope, not it.

I turned to the barman. “Yo, can you tell me the name of the smartest man that existed on the planet?”

Even in my drunk hazy state, I could tell that the poor man was looking at me like I had lost my head, or was probably growing another one in addition to what I already had fixed on my shoulders.

“You mean, Albert Einstein?” He asked incredulously while I nodded in excited confirmation. “Yeah, man. Yeah! How did you figure that shit out?”

He shot me a pointed look as he wiped a glass clean. “I mean come on man, I maybe a bartender, but that’s not really rocket science you know.”

I laughed till tears were flowing from my eyes.

This man was hilarious!

“What’s your name, man?”

“Stan.”

“So Stan, you know what I’m gonna do?” I asked conspiratorially. He shook his head. 
“I’m… I’ma gonna ask that wise man… Roberta Einstein to help me write an apology speech for a girl that I want to be mine.”

He was quite for a moment.

“And how will you do that?” He asked, this time with interest.

“Oh that shit’s easy. So my best friend Marin is a Ghanaian, and according to him, back home, there are tribes that think that when one dies, they become an ancestor, right? And these people can interact with these ancestors by pouring alcohol on the ground and speaking to them, pouring out all their hearts problems.” I explained excitedly.

“So wait, lemme get this straight. You believe when you pour alcohol on the ground and speak to Albert Einstein he’ll come and help you out?”

“Yes! Yes! You know what? I think you should quit this job and go build your own compamy. You’re so fucking smart, man.”

The bartender laughed. “I think you meant company, and yeah, I’ll do that when I’ve saved enough money, but tell me more.”

“You know, I don’t really know the details, but I’m just hoping that Roberta-”

“You mean Albert—”

“That’s what I said man, I need you to keep up. I just hope he’ll see how desperate I am and come to my aid.” I reached for the rest of my beer -it was half full- and poured the rest of its contents down to the ground.

“Heyy! I thought you were kidding, you aren’t supposed to do that man.” The barman hollered.

“Well, too little, too late.” I grinned.

“YO ROBERTA EINSTEIN! I NEED YOUR HELP! APPEAR TO ME, SHOW ME HOW TO WIN BRIELLE OVER, AND CONVINCE HER TO FORGIVE ME, BECAUSE I THINK I’M REALLY IN LOVE WITH HER.” I sat back down after my very loud declaration, a little disappointed that it hadn’t worked.

Marin, that little devil had assured me that these things worked, so why wasn’t it working for me? 

I gestured for another beer and mulled over my situation.

Wait a minute.

Dad had given me her address and had told me to go speak to her and patch things up. 

Speaking of dad, yeah, I guess you could say we were reunited, but I really don’t want to talk about that now. 

Brielle was the only one on my mind at the moment.

I stood up, said a quick thank you to Einstein and walked out of the bar, at least it looked like walking to me.

I stared at the car keys in my hands and contemplated driving over to her place, but Einstein, God bless that good man advised me not to.

Drinking and driving was very dangerous!

I guess we are ordering an uber then.

BRIELLE 

I was just about to slip into a deep sleep when I heard loud banging at the front door.

Who could it be at such a late hour?

It definitely wasn’t Silvie, cos if she had even forgotten her keys, she wasn’t expected back until morning.

I grabbed the first thing I could find, one of my heels, and cautiously crept towards the hall. I got to the front door and looked through the peephole.

I had heard somewhere that it wasn’t such a good idea to do that since bad people could spray some bad stuff into your eyes, so don’t blame me for being too overly cautious.

“Who is there?” I called out shakily.

“It is I, your prince. I have come to rescue you from this tower. Let down your hair and let me in.”

Dylan?

What was he doing here?

And most importantly, was he drunk? 

I quickly unlocked the door. There he stood leaning against my doorpost, still in his suit, the buttons undone almost to his navel, showing an impressive amount of firm, tanned skin. 

He wore the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen, a tired one, but still dazzling nonetheless. “There she is, my beautiful lovely princess.”

I would have blushed if it wasn’t for the weirdness of the situation. “What are you doing here, Dylan? How did you know where I live? And why are you drunk?”

“I’m not drunk, princess. I’m drunk in love, and let me tell you… there’s a huge difference.” He declared haughtily, as if he was offended by my line of questions.

I watched him fall on his knees, and my heart fell into my stomach in perplexity. “Dylan! What are you doing?”

“Easy, princess… don’t panic, I’m not coming to ask for your hand in marriage. I mean I will, just not yet. I’m here to apologise to you for all the things I’ve done… for all the things I’ve said, Brielle. Please find it in your heart to forgive me, because I’m not leaving here today until you do.”