Pursuing Brylee

Having left a toxic relationship, Brylee isn’t thinking about joining the dating scene again so soon. That won’t hold Ryan back from pursuing the woman of his dreams and becoming the man of hers.

It was early February in 2019. Brylee was sitting in her car outside of the hotel that she was going to be staying the night at with her ex-boyfriend, Matt. Matt was outside, breaking the seal. As she smoked her last cigarette for the night, Brylee wondered what the hell she was thinking when she agreed to get a room and drink with her ex. It was obviously for the company, but every time Matt would get drunk, he would get all emotional and tell her that he wants to make their relationship work and that he wants to be the best father he can be for their 2 year old son, Zak. It sounded like a nice thought, but it’s a thought only triggered when he’s intoxicated. Brylee knows by now that it’s all talk anyway. In the 2 years they have been together, she has experienced nothing but talk and disappointment. Again, why is she here?

Brylee checked the time on her phone and seen she had a message on Connected. The message was from a guy named Ryan Pierce. “What’s up?”, the message read. Brylee responded with the generic “Not much, what’s up with you?”. Just then, Matt finally returned. They grabbed the rest of the stuff they needed from the car and took it upstairs to the room. Brylee received another message from the Ryan guy but decided she’ll just reply to his message tomorrow. She was used to late night messages from random guys on her social media page, so she didn’t think too much about who this Ryan guy was or why he was reaching out to her. All she knew was that she was ready for bed.

The following afternoon, Brylee was eating lunch at home when she got another random message. It was from a woman this time. She glanced at the message before reading it and seen Ryan’s name. Her heart dropped. At first, she thought the lady was Ryan’s lover or something, trying to confront her. The lady just stated in her message that she works with Ryan Pierce and is trying to help him get a conversation going with Brylee. Thank goodness. She asked Brylee to just talk to him for a bit and see where it goes and also asked her not to mention her messages to Ryan. Brylee thought this was sweet, but a little strange. Yet, she was intrigued at the same time, because this guy knew nothing about her and he apparently had been talking to his coworkers about her. Although she wasn’t really interested in dating at this point, Brylee figured the guy deserved some acknowledgment for his effort. She went ahead and sent him a message and apologized for not getting around to messaging him back last night. While waiting for his response, Brylee went through his Connected profile. He’s good looking, she decided. Appears to be single, which is good. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with people. He has a couple kids, Rachel and Jack, and he looks to be a very involved father. Also good. Already a few steps up from Matt. It didn’t take Ryan long to message back.

Brylee and Ryan continued talking and when Ryan saw the opportunity, he asked her out. A concert was coming up at a nearby venue the day after Valentine’s day. A band that they both liked was headlining, so Brylee accepted the date. They were both looking forward to it all week, but when the day came, Brylee didn’t feel like following through with plans. A random wave of depression hit her. She was lying in bed a couple hours before show time and told Ryan she wasn’t going to make it because she had to work. It was a flat out lie. Brylee honestly didn’t want to commit to a 4 hour date with someone she had never met before. What if she didn’t like him? What if he didn’t like her? 4 hours is a long time to be with someone if the vibes aren’t right and she had been in a situation like that before. Awkward. Also, going through a break up with Matt (AGAIN) just had her feeling closed off to any socializing in general. She felt guilty about bailing last minute, but was hoping that Ryan would be understanding. He wasn’t, but they got through it anyway.

A few days passed and Ryan and Brylee are still talking. Brylee was getting ready to start the morning shift at work one day, messaging Ryan as he was getting ready to head into work himself. She looked up briefly from her paperwork at the register and there he was. With a big smile on his face and redbulls in hand, Ryan approached the register that was already open for business and said good morning to Brylee. Her heart skipped a beat. He was even better looking in person. The conversation was brief because he was running a little late, but she let him know when he left that it made her whole day when he stopped by like that.

They set up another date which Brylee followed through with this time. They seen a movie together and didn’t have a plan for after, but they both didn’t want to end the night there. The night was still fairly young and they were really liking each other’s company. They set out on a drive going nowhere specific. After about 25 minutes into the drive, against Brylee’s own rule about first dates, they decided to go to a small bar up north to get a couple drinks. It was getting late pretty quick, so Ryan took Brylee home after their drinks. Unfortunately, they both lived with family so they had to be considerate when it came to being out late. They pulled up to Brylee’s grandparent’s house. It was time to go. Ryan gestured for a hug, which Brylee gladly gave him. As she opened the door to hop out of the truck, Ryan grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a kiss. He must have had more liquid courage than she thought. For seeming like a shy guy, he sure didn’t hesitate to make that move. At this point, Brylee was really regretting not following through with the initial first date they had. Oh, how perfect that would have been.

Another date or two later, Ryan and Brylee went on a long drive after Brylee’s shift at Lincoln Oil around 3am. They drove around and talked for hours. Brylee asked Ryan about how he found her. He briefly mentioned it before, but she liked hearing about it, hoping for more detail every time.

It all started with their several mutual friends on Connected, where he first seen the face he quickly fell in love with in his “suggested” list. He looked through her photos and posts and decided that he HAD to talk to her somehow. He wanted to meet her for the first time... in person. He didn’t want a social media love story. He was aiming for a more old-fashioned way. Ryan confessed this time around that on his lunch breaks for work, a couple weeks before he reached out to her on Connected, he went to the Lincoln Oil gas stations up north that have the little Quigley’s Subs restaurant in it, hoping to find her. The second or third day of eating Quigley’s for lunch, he spotted a coworker that Brylee had posted several pictures with on Connected. He found the right store, now all he had to do was find the right time. A week before he first reached out to her on Connected, he claimed to have stopped by the station when she was there. Brylee doubted it at first, but then it clicked in her mind.

He was the good looking guy who came in with his kids a couple weeks prior. What really caught her eye was the hoodie he was wearing. Her favorite band. She recalls him standing in line, occasionally smiling at her. She was really hoping he would have ended up at her register so she could address the hoodie, but her coworker ended up checking him out instead. She remembered thinking: “Damn. Well, he’s probably married anyway.” Nope, Ryan definitely was not married. He was there for her and she didn’t even know it.

When Brylee asked why he didn’t tell her all this sooner, he said he didn’t know how she would handle it. Would she be flattered? Would she be creeped out that he tried so hard to talk to her, a girl he didn’t even know? He didn’t want to scare her away. She was shocked to learn all this, but very flattered that he was persistent in getting to her. It made her feel special. To her, it was like a fairytale story, every girl’s dream. A stranger was going above and beyond just to talk to her when her actual boyfriends in the past couldn’t even buy her dinner. This Ryan guy must be “the one”.

Ryan and Brylee’s relationship evolved rapidly. A little over a year later, they got a house together. They got engaged and were married two years into their relationship. Brylee found someone who gave back more than he took. Someone who sought her out and genuinely loves and cares about her. It was the happy ending Brylee had given up hope on, but ended up getting sooner than she ever thought possible. Within two years, they built a life together and went from wanting to give up on love, to finding love and loving life.

Author's Note

I’m open, let’s hear it! Any good advice would be appreciated.

Reviews

[Chris]

Here it is early morning coffeetime. I did read it through. What I liked was that it worked out. What I disliked was the "stilted" wording... think - he said, she said going on behind your eyes. A lot of the wording you use feels forced, not natural - to me. I understand the realness of the situation you are endeavoring to create, but I don't feel the flow. If you read it aloud - slowly - how does it feel to you? This is NOT a dig, if you didn't have a clue I wouldn't have finished nor spoken up. You bring chars to the table that people want to invest in, care about. The situation is all to real. The "feeling" of reality is what good storytellers bring to their work - you CAN do that.

[Ash Hoskins]

thanks for the feedback! i’ll have to work on that.

[Franky]

I like it! I hung on every word and sentence. You are a good story teller...

The one bit of critical advice would be to follow through a little on the feelings each had. What was the kiss like describe it. What were the feelings like after the first date or two. You should follow through with the emotions. The feelings.

[Ash Hoskins]

very good advice!!! thank you much

[littlekinglord]

I love this story, I think you should maybe write a sequel or something else kind of similar because this story is off the hook.

[Ash Hoskins]

thank you much! i plan on writing more soon.