They Call Us Show Girls

[KERFUFFLE]

Caden decided the best way to go about this was to ignore everything that was awkward about what was going on. It was the only real way they'd get to say anything to each other this evening. He considered saying something, but his courage faltered when she wouldn't even look at him. He thought she was attractive, and he thought she was a nice person, but perhaps it was more one-sided than he'd imagined and that she didn't really like him much at all. Eventually, he said, "Brielle, I know this isn't easy for you, but I think that it would help if you forget that we work together, and perhaps even forget that this is considered a date for a little while. Dinner with some friends, okay? I'd hate for you to have a bad evening because it's me on the other side of the table from you."

We love you, Beth <3

 

[B e t h y <3]

Brielle sighed, "Yes, well I don't like surprises, and seeing you here was certainly a surprise." She realized that he may take that as saying she didn't want to see him, and she quickly added, "Not that I don't mind seeing you... I mean you're nice and stuff. But yeah, dinner with friends..." She trailed off for a minute before standing up abruptly and saying, "If you'll excuse me, I need to use the ladies' room." SHe hurried off, trying her best not to throw up.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

"Well, ditto to that," Caden replied with an almost humourless chuckle. He motioned for her to go and said, "Sure, no problem." He sat waiting for her, anxiously twiddling his thumbs and biting his lower lip. He looked at Mei and laughed a little, albeit nervously, as he said, "Well, you said it would be a surprise, and you weren't wrong there."

 

[B e t h y <3]

Brielle made it to the bathroom, leaning against the wall, trying to steady her breathing. She couldn't go back out there. She'd just sounded like the stupidest person ever. She pulled her phone out of her dress pocket and texted Mei. It read, 'Get your `ss in the bathroom now.'

 

[Swan_Song]

&lt;3 Love for everyone!!!

Meimei laughed and said, "Yes, well, I tend to be full of surprises. Besides, it was obvious that you were happy she was here, and she was definitely checking you out. KLet's face it, you two have something going--" She checked her phone, then politely said, "If you'll excuse me, I have to use the bathroom. I'm suddenly feeling... umm... uh..." Then she darted away, calling, "I have to powder my nose!"

 

[xXMysticXx]

Eli had chuckled at Bri's reaction to seeing Caden. He himself was pretty shocked by the whole thing and probably would have had the same reaction if he was in her position. When they got to the restaurant he simply followed the girls inside and sat down at the table. He felt the pressure of the awkwardness in the air, and being his antisocial self he didn't say a word the whole time. He could tell something was wrong when Bri dashed off to hide in the bathroom but then when Meimei followed as he figured she probably would he just let it slide as their need of some girl time.

 

[B e t h y <3]

When Mei arrived in the bathroom, Bri grabbed her shoulders and said, "See, this is really not okay." She let go and leaned over the sink, taking deep breaths in through her nose, out through her mouth. "Did you think this was going to be funny? Because it's really not. I'm actually upset with you right now. What possessed you to arrange this behind our backs? Did you really think I was going to react well?"

 

[Swan_Song]

"Well, better than this. And no, it's not funny, but I'm not going to just sit by and let two people who obviously have feelings for each other miss their chance. What if you never saw him again, huh? You would always wonder "What if?". "What if he and I had been made for each other? What if we made each other happy? What if he turned out to be the one I want to spend the rest of my life with?" You'd never know, because you wouldn't have taken the chance. I know you. And if it hadn't been for this, I'm sure your ex would probably be trying to sweet-talk his way into getting in your pants. I'm not going to let you miss out on being happy, for pity's sake! I'm serious about you and Caden. Everyone sees what you two obviously can't. And if I have to bash it into your brain to make you see it, so help me God, I will." Mei crossed her arms and stared at her friend with a look of fierce determination.

 

[xXMysticXx]

Woah, all online for once!! Awesomesauace

Eli looked down at the table. He wasn't really sure what to say. He had never really spoke to Caden other than a few words in passing regarding work stuff and shows. He had no idea when the girls were going to get back. And he was hoping it would be soon. The sooner they got back the sooner they could all get out of here. The waitress came by and placed a stack of menus on the edge of the table. Eli muttered a quick thank you to her before she scurried off. "How did we get sucked into this again?" He wondered aloud.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Well, at least for a little while, we were

Caden looked up from his hands to Eli at the sound of his voice, and chuckled at his comment. "You'd be amazed at what the female's power of organisation can achieve. Somehow, we all agreed to this because Mei is, unfortunately, it seems, just very convincing. Though, I'm not sure Brielle would have agreed to it at all, had she known it was me," he replied. "Hooray for blind dates." He sighed quietly and wondered what the girls could possibly be talking about that was keeping them this long- yes, he'd figured that Mei had definitely not gone to the bathroom for its usual function. Probably them both convincing , or at least trying to, the other why they're wrong. Caden was just trying to think positively; after all, at least he knew Brielle, and that they had things in common and that they already liked each other; that was miles better than being on a date with someone who you turned out not to really like much at all. Besides, something was definitely going on here. Neither of them would have reacted this way unless something was up- either that they both really didn't like each other, or the opposite. He didn't really know, he didn't see what Mei and pretty much everybody else could see about the level of chemistry between himself and Bri.

 

[B e t h y <3]

"This is not giving me an opportunity. This is meddling. If it was meant to be, something besides a charming asian would've set us up. Nothing did. Therefore, nothing is going to happen." She turned back to Mei and said defiantly, "And I'm going to prove it. We don't have chemistry. There's nothing going on. We're just co-workers." ANd with that, Brielle stormed out of the bathroom and back to the table. She sat down, looked at Caden and said, "Sorry about that." She picked up a menu and scanned over it.

 

[xXMysticXx]

Eli gave her a slight glance when Bri stormed back to the table and sat down again. His only real response however was to Caden, "You can say that again." He mumbled. His slid over a menu for himself, but left it closed on the table's top. This date was obviously not going very well and that was what he'd been afraid of. He had always thought there had been something brewing between the other two but with the way they had been acting he wasn't so sure. They obviously had chemistry and anyone could see it, and everybody had for that matter but neither of them seemed to want to admit it themselfves.

 

[Swan_Song]

Mei shrugged and said, "Believe what you want. But I'll tell you this. I was in your shoes once, when I was in Europe, and I regret every chance I didn't take with him. Until I met Eli, I obsessed over it. And did you ever think the Follies set you up? That could easily be a sign." She watched Bri storm out, and a look of anger flashed on her face. Now, Mei rarely got angry. Usually, she was very cheerful and optimistic. But she was beyond p*ssed. So she marched out of the bathroom and went back to her seat, completely silent.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

While the guys had still been on their own, Caden had added to the conversation by taking the time to talk to Eli about the show. "I didn't see you straight after the show," he began, "So I didn't get to thank you for all the work you've done through this whole thing. You did a great job, I saw you checking everything over beforehand- about five times, I should also probably add. And this show couldn't run without you. So, thank you. I used to do a lot of what you do, and I never really felt appreciated for it, even though it's just as hard as what the girls do." Then, the girls returned, and there was an icy tension in the air- that was unusual between somebody and Mei, who almost always kept a cool head about everything. "That's okay," he said, in reply to Brielle apologising. He set his menu down in front of him for the moment and, in order to try and get some conversation flowing between himself and Brielle, and, hopefully, thaw out the atmosphere, he tilted his head to the side slightly, as if completely curious about the answer to the question he was about to ask and said, "So, Mei was awfully secretive about you. She told me nothing, so, how about you start by, oh, I don't know, telling me what you do for a living?" He offered her a brazen smile to accompany his question.

 

[Swan_Song]

Mei chewed her lower lip, obviously frustrated. In her opinion, Brielle was acting like a big baby. This was just one dinner, it shouldn't have been the end of the world. She got up from the table and went to the bathroom again, but this time she didn't come back for a good long while. When she did, she had a much calmer appearance, she the tension seemed to have left her posture. "Sorry about that," she said to everyone, before taking a sip of water. "There was a line in the restroom. They need more stalls!"

The waitress came up to the table and refilled everyone's drinks. She looked over at Caden and smiled. "Is there anything else you need? Rolls, anything like that? Or have you decided what you want to order?" She took a moment to glance at the others before shooting Caden a flirtatious grin.

 

[B e t h y <3]

Bri smiled a little at Caden's question, "Oh you know, I just dance for this really well known company. Nothing too exciting. What about yourself?" She glanced up at the waitress, looking back at Caden for his response. She refused to admitt she was jealous.

Mer, I fail. Sorry, folks.

 

[xXMysticXx]

Eli gave Mei a curious glance. He could tell that when she left she was uneasy. He noticed she seemed calmer when she came back. When the waitress came over, a tall slim busty girl with bleached blonde hair and drawn on eyebrowns and nearly half a pound of makeup plastered on her face. Eli could sense the awkwardness she was causing. "No, I think we need another minute. " he told her.

 

[Swan_Song]

The waitress Put down more napkins, leaning forward precariously, giving Caden quite a show. "Okay," she crooned, smiling at him. "I'll be back in a minute, all right?" She winked, then walked back over to the kitchen, flaunting her figure and swinging her hips.

Mei stared at the waitress with apprehension, then seemed to be relieved when she walked away. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she was hitting on you, Caden! All the makeup aside, she seemed really nice. I guess, seeing as how Brielle isn't interested, maybe you could talk to the waitress." She played with the straw in her water, then looked over at Eli. Subtly, she slid her other hand into his, giving it a squeeze.

 

[B e t h y <3]

Brielle gnawed on her lower lip, stirring her water with her straw. She cleared her throat and said, "I'm not sure what to get. Has anyone been here before?" She wanted to take the subject off the waitress, because in the reality of things, she'd rather not see Caden flirting with her all night.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Caden was glad Brielle had taken his question in completely the right way- answering sarcasm with sarcasm was always a good thing, he thought- and smiled slightly as he replied, "Oh, dancing? That's really interesting, actually. I'm a director for an also rather well known company, and I work with dancers." He had been about to make some kind of chirp relating to a joke insult about a few of the girls who he worked with- possibly Bri included- but was cut off by the waitress,who seemed incredibly keen to hear from just him what the orders were. Her over-obvious flirting was incredibly distracting- in a way that made him uncomfortable- from what she'd actually asked him, and so he was saved by Eli who sent her away for a few minutes. He couldn't help but look a little dismayed when Mei said that Brielle wasn't interested, assuming that that had been made perfectly clear during their bathroom discussion, but quickly covered it again and said of the restaurant, "Nope, never. I don't eat out much."