Telephone Call
Characters
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| Kieran Collins | Brooke Bishop |
Kieran spins the business card between his fingers, a glass of scotch in one hand as he gazes over the picturesque view of Central Park from his penthouse's living room window. Night hasn't completely fallen yet and the sky hovers between that deep blue and purple that isn't quite dark but the sun no longer shines down and vampires can emerge from their homes and their shelter and the shadows. Taking a drink from the glass, Kieran turns and strolls to the couch. He props his feet up on the coffee table, turning the card over in his fingers another time or two.
The vampire sets the glass on the table and pulls out his iPhone. He's smirking by the time he dials the number, holding the phone to his ear and listening to it ring on the other end.
**
"Touch of Magic. Brooke Bishop speaking." The call is answered formally after the second ring. She didn't recognize the number, and no name was forthcoming on her call display.
Brooke is back in her apartment this evening, after a hectic day of keeping one of her starlets out of the tabloids for clubbing a little to heavily the night before, and making phone calls and setting up meetings for the reading by Sera Roche.
Tucking the phone between her ear and her shoulder, she moves through her little kitchen and pours herself a glass of wine before returning to the couch.
**
"Good evening, Miss Bishop," Kieran greets her with a smile in his voice, and matching formality in his voice. The brogue is there, soft and rolling. He leans back against the couch, tilting his head to gaze up at the ceiling as he holds the phone to his ear.
"Kieran Collins. We met at Flanaghan's, if you remember? I'm a friend of Sera's?" The smile on his face can be heard in his voice.
**
The second she hears the voice, her breath catches in her throat and she nearly drops the glass of wine. She gets it set on the table just seconds before she lets it go, and breathes a sigh of relief when she doesn't knock it over.
"Mr. Collins," Brooke says, gulping a little. It's on the tip of her tongue to say something stupid like 'it'd be hard to forget you'. Instead, she says, "I recall. How are you this evening?" She's trying so very hard to be schooled in her emotions, but she can't help the leap-beat of her heart when she hears the brogue.
**
The vampire can hear the soft catch in her voice, and his grin broadens. He does like the effect that he knows he can have on women.
"Please," Kieran speaks in a friendly, if somewhat lilting voice. "Call me Kieran."
Beat.
"I'm doing well, yourself?" He lifts his glass and takes a swallow. "I'm not calling you at a bad time, am I?"
**
Brooke whispers the name into the phone, softly, in a somewhat awed voice. She's very thankful he can't see the flush in her cheeks, or hear her heart as it races.
What is he doing calling? Sera's not possibly right, is she?
"I'm… fine, thank you." Allowing a beat so she can breathe, she shakes her head. It takes a second for her to realize she's acting foolish — he can't see her. "No, of course not. Was there something I could help you with?"
**
The whisper of his name and the tone of her voice makes Kieran bite the inside of his cheek. What she doesn't realize is that she's quiet enough, practically holding her breath, he can hear her heartbeat.
She's adorable. This has promise.
"I hope so," Kieran says, his voice lifts up a bit teasingly. "Otherwise I'm going to feel like a complete idiot for calling you."
**
It's likely a very good thing Brooke doesn't realize he can hear the rapid leaping beat of her heart.
Her throat feels surprisingly dry as his voice takes on a teasing tone, and she reaches for the glass of wine. Taking a very small sip from it, she sets it carefully on the table in front of her again.
"I have a feeling that you've never once felt like an idiot in your life," she shoots right back at him, feeling a bit bolder now that she's not staring into those hauntingly blue eyes.
**
Tilting his head as though he can see across the ether and on the other end of the telephone, Kieran calls to mind his memory of the red head. He tries to imagine how she might be sitting, what the look on her face might be … what she's wearing. His memories however keep settling on legs that go on forever beneath a gold dress.
He chuckles. "Really?" The question is amused. "Are you so certain of that?"
**
"Positive."
Beat.
"There's something about the way you carry yourself that says there's not a chance in hell you've ever felt like an idiot." Not like her.
Brooke draws her feet up onto the couch, slightly under her. She's rather comfortable, but if she knew what the man on the other side of the phone was thinking, she'd be flabbergasted.
The brogue in his voice is already making her squirm a little.
**
Kieran lifts a brow even though the woman can't see it on the other end of the phone. He crosses one ankle over the other, balancing the half-full glass of scotch on the couch cushion beside him. "You were paying attention to how I carry myself?"
Beat.
"What else were you paying attention to … Brooke?"
**
"I'm a very observant person," Brooke points out. She can barely hear him moving as he crosses his legs, but she assumes that he's trying to get comfortable. "It comes with the territory of my profession."
Not always, but it was her event so she was particularly observant of everything.
When he says her name after the pause like that, she can feel the tingles starting. Her voice catches in her throat for a moment, and she closes her eyes.
Good lord, Brooke, he's just another man.
"Your eyes. You have rather expressive eyes, though your smile doesn't reach them often."
**
"The territory of your profession…" Kieran drawls. He still has the card within reach, and he lifts it, twirling it through his fingers again. Stopping when he can read the front of it. "Would that be the promotional aspects or the parts where you have to make sure your clients are well behaved?"
Drawing a light breath, Kieran exhales it slowly, a carefully time exhalation of air. "What do you do if they misbehave? Do they often misbehave?" Oh, he's definitely got something of a lilting tease to his voice now.
"An astute observation. Perhaps I need more reasons to smile with my eyes as well."
Beat.
"I find that a drink with a beautiful woman is helpful with that."
**
"Yes."
Beat.
"The latter mostly, but it helps to keep an observant eye on the promotional aspects as well to ensure nothing is going wrong." When Brooke can talk business, she's completely calm and rational.
Until that lilting brougish tease comes into his voice, and she about melts.
"I spank them," she quips, not at all being serious. As though she could possibly spank any of her clients and still hope to have a job.
The lightness, and quippy laughter to her voice comes to an immediate halt as he mentions a drink. Gasping, she pulls the phone back to stare at it.
Well Sera did say he was taken with you. You're the one that chose not to believe her.
Grabbing the wine glass quickly, she takes a rather long gulp of it, and then breathes a quiet, "Oh?"
**
"Truly?" Kieran asks. He sits up a bit, taking another swallow from the drink. "What do I have to do to be a client, then?"
He waits for his words to sink in, the flirtation behind them to penetrate her thoughts, and then continues. "Oh, yes."
Another pause, this one an intentional break in conversation while Kieran listens for her reactions and waits for her to regain her bearings.
"Could I interest you in joining me for a drink and giving me a reason to smile, Brooke?"
**
All thoughts of speedily replying 'only if they're really naughty' or 'you just have to ask' flit right from her head when it sinks in that he's actually asking her out.
Brooke finishes off her wine, which leaves her feeling even more light-headed than she already was. Licking her lips before she sets the glass down, she gives herself a brief moment to collect herself.
"You could…"
Beat.
"I mean, I'm interested."
**
He suspects that he's taken her off-guard with his request, though he wonders why she thinks he might be calling otherwise.
A bit of an enigma Brooke Bishop is. That's perfectly fine; Kieran likes solving puzzles.
"I'm glad to hear it." Finishing off the rest of the scotch in his glass, the vampire sets it aside and sits up. "Brooke, would you join me for a drink? This weekend perhaps?" He doesn't need to check his schedule because he checked it when he decided to call the woman tonight.
**
"Yes."
Beat.
"No. One second."
Brooke leans over the couch, cursing as she nearly tumbles off of it, and digs for her iPhone in her purse. Scrolling through to the calendar, she checks the weekend, and blinks.
Wow. I actually have a Friday night free?
"Is Friday alright? Otherwise, I can try to rearrange things for a night that works better for you…"
Stop it, Brooke, you sound desperate now…
**
He can hear the rustling and shuffling, followed by the cursing and Kieran bites the inside of his cheek again to stop from laughing. The vampire doesn't know what's going on, but he can imagine the woman trying to stay in place wherever it is that she's sitting.
"Friday is perfect for me," Kieran says, "So long as you don't mind a later start? I can pick you up around nine, or we could meet if you'd feel more comfortable?"
**
"Nine works." That gives Brooke time to get home, shower and change, which means she'll be in a much better mood after trying to find office space that's even remotely affordable.
Could always just set a laptop up on the dining table…
"You can pick me up."
Beat.
"Just give me an idea of where you're planning on taking me, or the dress code?"
**
Kieran loves that the woman is not indecisive at all. She could play hard to get, and depending on his mood, he might enjoy it. It might also annoy him. Then again, this isn't about getting that close and intimate just yet; this is only the beginning of the game. To see if he might enjoy her company for a spell … or if he might just enjoy her.
"The Cellar," Kieran answers promptly. No reason to keep the locale a secret. "We can relax and talk."
They could do that at a restaurant as well, but Kieran does know how this game is played. Besides, The Cellar will not have the same pressure and expectations, and he did only ask her to join him for a drink. If he's still interested, he'll ask her to dinner after.
**
"Perfect."
Brooke actually loves The Cellar, and enjoys the fact that despite it being upscale, it's got a relaxed atmosphere. It's one of the few places she loves bringing potential clients to in order to sign paperwork.
And she knows just what she's going to wear.
Jotting the location down with the time in her calendar, she drops back onto the couch and lays there staring at her ceiling with a bright smile on her face.
After rattling off her address in Brooklyn, she allows a pause so he can figure out timing before she says, "If it's easier, I can meet you there."
**
After writing down her address, Kieran offers, "Why don't we compromise? I'll send a car for you and we'll meet there?"
That does give him a little extra time to feed and get ready for a night out.
**
He's offering to send a car? Brooke's well aware that he's supposed to be some rich playboy and all, but she still stops to blink at the offer.
"Compromise works," she replies almost breathlessly. Brooke's really going to have to wear something that will make him look twice now. Perhaps three times, even.
**
It never occurs to Kieran not to send a car. If he can't pick her up in person, that's truly the next best thing.
The breathlessness to her voice makes him smile. "You'll see that I'm very good at thinking on my feet, and not so bad at compromise either." The words are simple and innocent, and yet somehow, Kieran manages to layer them with double meaning and sultry innuendo.
**
The words, simple as they are, cause her to gulp and really wish she'd brought the whole damned bottle of wine out to the little living room. Licking her lips to moisten them before she speaks, Brooke gives herself a two count.
"I have no doubt that you're very good at a great number of things, Kieran."
**
She is absolutely delicious and that's only over the telephone. Her reactions are so delightful. With his heightened hearing, Kieran can hear them all. Every sigh, every gasp, every swallow. Every thump of her heart out of time.
"I don't like to brag," Kieran says with no small amount of smugness. "But we should leave some things to the imagination, yeah?"
**
Brooke laughs, partially at the smugness, and partially because she wants to tell him that she's got a really vivid imagination, and she can already guess at what he's great at.
"Then don't," she teases in return. "My imagination is surprisingly good. Especially considering I've read every single one of Sera's books."
**
There's not even a pause before Kieran shifts, tilting his head back again. He snorts and laughs. "Sera has a bit of a vivid imagination herself."
And a knack for describing things far too effectively. He doesn't speak those words aloud, because he knows it would be in poor taste and form to comment on or in any way imply a level of intimacy with Sera beyond friendship when he's asking Brooke out.
"Do you believe everything you read?"
**
"Only when the authoress herself tells me a bit of her past history, and how accurate things are," Brooke replies without missing a beat. She's not at all certain if she's trying to unnerve him, or just see how much truth there was in Sera's words.
"Otherwise, no. I deal with keeping things out of the tabloids on a daily basis. I'd be a very poor PR Manager if I did believe everything I ever read."
**
Brooke can't see the brow rise, as Kieran considers the new information and wonders what his Child was up to.
Is up to.
"I do hope she emphasized the good parts." He could mean that as a suggestive double-entendre, or not. He wonders how much and which parts of their 'story' Sera shared with Brooke. "Possibly only the really good parts." He's certainly teasing her now.
**
"She told me enough for me to know that her descriptions are accurate." That's all Brooke's saying on the matter, though now she's extremely curious to know just what those really good parts he's eluding to are — beyond his physical features that is.
"But I'd pretty much surmised that already when she indicated that you were the model for John Drake."
**
"It was payback, I think. I said something about never being caught reading one of those sorts of novels so she decided to put me in one instead," Kieran chuckles. That's the reason she gave, he doesn't think at all that's the real reason, or it's only part of the real reason.
The teasing lilt is back in his voice. "Did I make a good model?"
**
"Exceptional," Brooke breathes, closing her eyes and recalling what he looked like in person. Every curve of his lip, every slight twinkle in his eyes, feeling his muscles beneath his shirt.
The silence goes on for a little before she clears her throat. Pushing up off the couch, Brooke does move back toward her kitchen to pour herself another glass of wine.
"You know, as far as romance novels go, Sera's really are the best and most historically accurate."
**
Kieran listens to the silence with a bemused smile playing over his lips. He can almost imagine what the woman is thinking about. He hears the creak and shuffle and then footsteps and assumes she's walking across the room. "Joining me back on earth then, instead of picturing me shirtless?"
He's shameless, he really is.
"Are they? What makes you so sure?"
Beat.
"That they're accurate."
**
Brooke can't help but laugh at being caught thinking of him without his shirt on. Granted, that wasn't all she was imagining, but he doesn't need to know that. "Yes, yes I am."
Beat.
"Because I'm a bit of a history buff, and know a great deal about the periods she writes about. The accuracy in the clothing and mannerisms is phenomenal. Granted, I suppose I can't really say that the romance is accurate, but it's the little things that make the story easier to slip into."
**
"You know what they say? Imagination usually trumps reality," Kieran teases. "I do hope that you got it mostly right."
Beat.
"Did you get the mole on my shoulder?" He really is having too much fun with the woman.
"That is an amazing coincidence," Kieran remarks. "I'm a bit of a history buff myself. If all else fails, I suppose we'll be able to discuss our favorite eras and lament about how unruly today's kids are." He chuckles softly, because he is aware that he looks no older than 30 (although he has managed to pass himself off as a young looking 35 with no particular effort on his part), and those sorts of remarks often earn him scathing looks from those 'older' than he is.
**
"I'm a firm believer that it's the other way around," Brooke replies. "Reality is far better than imagination."
Good lord. How is it he's affecting me so easily through the phone?
It surprises her that they seem to have the history in common. "At least we won't be without conversation entirely then," she agrees. "And I believe the term is 'entitled'. They're not so much ruly as they think the world owes them everything for doing very little."
**
"Have you ever put that theory to the test?"
Kieran shrugs though the woman can't see him. "Entitled. Unruly. Misinformed idiots who are going to learn a few hard lessons from life."
Beat.
"I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about. Look at us already."
**
"Not so far," Brooke admits.
"Then again, it's not every day that I happen to meet the man who was the actual model for the imaginary one." Her voice is soft, quiet, and has an almost timidly teasing quality to it. She's likely pushing the conversation further than it should go, but she'll pass it off as the wine making her a little bolder.
"I am looking forward to it."
**
Kieran smiles, impressed with her wee bit of boldness.
"Testing the theory or having drinks with me?"
**
"Yes."
Beat.
"To having drinks," Brooke replies after the pause. "Testing the theory…"
There's a second beat as she takes a sip of the wine, and smiles.
"That'll just have to wait."
**
"Yes." It's Kieran's turn to pause, a sly smile still playing over his features. "Miss Bishop, it will."
Beat.
"I look forward to seeing you on Friday night. Nine o' clock. I hope you don't have a curfew."
