Love Me? Like You Do.

Chapter 3

"You said that? You seriously said that? Tell me you didn't say that." said Amanda earnestly. Brielle sighed. Why did she always ruin everything?

"I'm sorry Amanda. I was so surprised that he asked me, I messed up." she said, looking at the menu. "Everything is so expensive here, I don't have any cash, just a ten thousand dollar cheque."

"Its alright. Lunch is on me." said Amanda calling the waiter. "We'll have a chicken lasagna for her and a crab salad for me."

"I love you so much." said Brielle resting her chin on the table, as the waiter walked off. Her empty stomach growled in agreement. She had taken a shower and changed into more presentable clothes after class. But it had done little to ease her fatigue. Amanda pushed the glass of orange juice towards Brielle. She gratefully took a sip.

"Brie you need to take better care of yourself. Is it necessary to go for the morning jogs? You are quite thin anyway."

"I like feeding the swans." said Brielle pouting.

"The swans live by the lake full of food. They can swim, they have beaks, they can catch their own fish." said Amanda. "They'll be all right. Just don't over work yourself on weekdays okay?"

"Okay." said Brielle softly.

"Now, tell me you didn't tell Zachary he is creepy and asked him to shift back." said Amanda reaching out to hold Brielle's hand across the table.

"I did Amanda. i'm sorry. He was breathing down my neck and making me uncomfortable. He's not very good looking up close you know."

"He's not?" asked Amanda raising her eyebrows.

"Oh who am I kidding? He's hot, unfairly handsome. I ruined my only chance of ever going out with him." cried Brielle burying her face in her hands.

"So you told him he's a bit of a creep. That's okay. Go and apologize. Say you were really nervous and said stuff you didn't mean. If he likes you enough, he won't mind."

"Amanda, he glared at me, got up and left. He left the lecture midway just so he could get away from me." 

"Ah well. Its not your fault if he's easily offended. There's more fish in the sea." said Amanda optimistically.

"He hates me." said Brielle tearfully. "I  hate myself."

"Brielle, he's not worth it." consoled Amanda. Brielle never cried. It must be the hunger getting to her. Luckily, their food arrived just then.

 "Oh my god! This is a lot!" exclaimed Brielle, tears forgotten.

"Its not a lot. Dig in." said Amanda with a smile. Brielle loved to eat, but the poor girl could never catch a break. Ever since her parents had passed away, she'd given up eating a lot of things that reminded her of them. She rarely ate anything that she used to enjoy sharing with her family. Sadness could do many things to people. Making them dislike what they once loved was one of its effects.

Amanda had to thank the swans though. They kept her happy, even though she was sleepy and tired throughout the day. 

"Amanda, you won't guess who I ran into this morning." said Brielle amidst swallowing large spoonfuls of lasagna.

"Who?"

"Jack Dixon, you know the guy who owns the Dixon enterprise? Professor Rishi said he saw me on TV..." said Brielle non-chalantly.

"You ran into Jack Dixon, the Dixon, Brie you don't just run into billionaires. You were on the telly? What have you not told me?"

"Oh this morning at the park I..." Brielle started.

Amanda listened carefully to Brielle's story, her eyes widening with every sentence. When her story was over, as was most of her lunch, Amanda started to speak, and it was difficult to stop.

"You tell me about the fiasco with Zachary but neglect to tell me about Jack Dixon! Girl, get your priorities straight. This Dixon fellow is the one to crush on. He's the hottest person in business catalogs. He's the only reason I even read them, though my Dad thinks I'm doing research. Dixon is a Greek God and he's got cash, Brie, billions of it. I'd go after him myself if I wasn't engaged to the man I'm madly in love with. Oh my goodness Brielle! How are you so calm?"

"I never liked him that way. Zachary was the only one I ever liked." said Brielle.

"You are so adorable." said Amanda sighing and returning to her salad. "I know you'll never be happy until you make it up to Zachary. I'll speak to him after lunch on your behalf."

"Really?" said Brielle happily. "Thank you so much! I love you."

"Say that to Zachary next time okay? I'll arrange a date for you guys." said Amanda smiling. Brielle was never the one to run after superficial things anyway. 

Brielle glanced at her watch. It was already three o' clock. 

"Amanda, baby, I need to run." she said picking up her bag. "I'm late for work."

"Yeah, go on ahead. I'll ask David to pick me up. After all what are fiance's for, right?" said Amanda. "Be careful okay, bye."

"Good-bye, thanks for everything." said Brielle as she rushed out of the restuarant.

She broke into a run on the pavement, various thoughts racing through her mind. It was her interview day to work as a waitress in one of the best hotels in the city. If she did well on the interview, she would be hired. The pay was good and she wouldn't need to work the other two jobs anymore. Impressing the manager was her first priority.

Brielle reached the pristine glass doors of the twenty storey hotel at the corner of the street and nervously stood. Taking a deep breath she strode through the automatic doors. She walked up to the receptionist for directions.

"Good morning Ma'am." said the man merrily at the counter. "How may I help you?"

"I'm here for a job, as a waitress, for the hotel's family restaurant." she said shyly.

"Oh yes. Name please?" he asked searching through names on a clipboard.

"Gabrielle Dane."

"Ah yes. Turn left on the fourteenth floor." he said ticking her name off. "Best of luck."

"Thank you." said Brielle, walking off to the elevator.

She pressed the button and waited. The doors opened after a while to reveal a lady pushing a trolley full of breads, sausages, cheese and other breakfast items. Just then, several things happened at once. 

The woman accidentally shoved the trolley out of the elevator with a little too much force. The trolley whizzed past Brielle, as the woman lost control and tripped.

Brielle reacted quickly. She grabbed the woman by her shoulders, before she plummeted to the ground and steadied. She immediately ran after the runaway food carrier. Brielle caught the handle and yanked the trolley back before it could crash and shatter the glass walls of the lobby. She sighed as the glass reflected herself back at her without as much as a scratch.

The onlookers clapped as Brielle let out a huge sigh of relief.

A man with the badge "Head Manager" written on it approached Brielle as she stood still to catch her breath.

"Miss Dane, you are hired." he said briskly. "Can you start today itself?"

"But, what about the interview?" she asked surprised.

"Not needed. We need people like you." he said with a smile.

"Thank you! I'd love to start today." she said happily, looking outside the glass doors. She could have jumped for joy. She stopped when she saw a black Sedan park in front of the hotel and the smoldering Jack Dixon walk out.

A/N: I love you guys. Thanks for reading and supporting this story. :-)