Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 14)

Ch.60 Sudden envy

At Gabi's bar, Brooke held her phone up in front of Ross who she was filming his interview for her blog as she listened to what he had to say.

"I mean, I knew everything about my mother, but-" he breathed, "How could I have not known that she kidnapped poor Linda Samson?"

After that, Brooke stopped filming as she set her phone down.

"Perfect," she smiled, "That was great, Ross."

"Really?" he smiled back.

"Yeah. Thank you so much for doing this interview. I mean, I know it can't be easy to talk about what happened."

They both exchanged smiles when Ross spoke- "You know, it's weird. I just... I feel safe with you. I mean, I know I can trust you with my story but- I don't think I've ever felt comfortable with anyone before."

"Wow," Brooke remarked astonished "I'm uh- I'm flattered."

At that moment, Aaron entered the bar and spotted the two of them who didn't notice him coming in.

He gave a small chuckle, "It's not just because we're friends. You're a fantastic writer, and I love your blog. Have you ever considered making your blog into a podcast? Maybe Calvert Industries could be your sponsor now."

"How altruistic of you, Ross" he gave a fake grin which caught their attention "Hey, Brooke, I hate to ask this of my most loyal customer but, the keg-room door is jammed again. Would you mind since you have such skilled hands?"

"Not a problem" she nodded with a smile "And it'll only cost you two beers."

After she left the scene, Aaron turned his now death glare at Ross who had gotten up from his seat with a sneaky smirk on his face.

"I told you to stay away from her" Aaron growled.

"Oo, what a threat" Ross mocked, "Tell me, Daniel, how hard was it to blow off Brooke the other night? It must have been really painful, wasn't it? It must have been hard for you to look into her sad puppy dog eyes and know that it was all your doing."

"Oh, careful, Shawn" he gritted his teeth "I may not have magic here, but I have a handy baseball bat that would get the job done just as well as a fireball."

"Swing away," he sneered, "But you don't want the curse broken any more than I do. And now that my dear Linda is free, you're outnumbered."

"Oh, so you and Morgana are working together now. Why?"

"Oh, that's cute. You think I'm going to villain monologue for you? Please."

He gathered his jacket from the chair before turning back to Aaron.

"Oh, and tell Brooke I'll call her later" he noted, "So that we can, you know, finish the interview."

And with that, he walked past Aaron while purposely bumping into his shoulder as he walked out of the bar.

(Flashback) After watching Delilah disappear, Brooke hurried to the campsite where she ran up to her friends as she stopped to catch her breath.

"Guys!" she panted.

"Brooke, what's wrong?" Darling asked.

"It's Delilah," she continued to pant "We ran into the Wonderlandians in the woods, and when they had to go back to Wonderland, Delilah jumped in after them. She didn't say why, but she looked like she was in a hurry to go after them."

"That's odd," Daring remarked puzzled, "Why would she want to go to Wonderland?"

"I was hoping Cory could point that out."

"I'm sorry but, I don't know why she would go to Wonderland" Cory answered.

"In that case," Brooke sighed, "I'm gonna find out. I'm going to Wonderland to get her back."

"I'll go with you," Danny offered.

"Thanks, Danny, but I think I can handle this on my own."

"Brooke, let him go with you," Darling suggested, "You guys may have a better chance of finding her if both of you went. Besides, Wonderland can be dangerous, it's always best to go with someone."

"Fine," Brooke sighed as she turned to Danny "Let's go."

As they stepped away from the group, Brooke pulled out an object from her satchel. It looked like a playing card with a unique design, but she knew that just like the hat, it could also open a portal to Wonderland. All she had to do was swipe it in the air in front of her and just like that, the portal opened.

"Let's do this" Danny breathed as they stepped into the portal and disappeared.

Now sitting at the counter of the bar, Brooke had her headphones on while typing on her laptop, not knowing that someone was watching her from the side. After seeing that she was being watched, she turned to see that it was a young businesswoman with long red hair and freckles who motioned her to take off her headphones.

"New Order?" she pointed to the song Brooke was listening to.

"Yeah."

"'Bizarre Love Triangle' is like my third favorite New Order song."

"Yeah, totally," Brooke smiled, "Their best is-"

"'Temptation'," they bother chorused as they let out small laughs.

"Yes!" Brooke pointed with a grin "Most people say 'Blue Monday'."

"Well, most people would be wrong."

"Ain't it the truth," she giggled when she held her hand towards her "Hey, I'm Brooke."

Nora," the woman smiled back as they shook hands.

Just then, Aaron stepped out from the back room and walked up to them from behind the counter.

"Nora," he spoke a bit surprised, "Brooke, you two have met? That's uh- that's great."

"Oh," Nora pointed to Brooke "You're that Brooke? Aaron told me you wrote Shannon's favorite book."

"Oh, so you know Aaron and Shannon?" Brooke commented.

"Nora's a lawyer" Aaron stated, "She's the woman that I hired to help get Shannon back."

"Not just a lawyer-" Nora added to Brooke "I'm also Shannon's mother."

At that moment, Brooke felt her stomach dropping as her eyes widen and her jaw dropped an inch.

"You're uh, Shannon's mother?" she remarked surprised as she turned to Aaron who stood there awkwardly.

"Um, Nora," he spoke, trying to change the subject "What are you doing here? I said that I was gonna drop off all the custody paperwork after my shift."

"Yeah, I thought I'd get a jump on it," she replied, "And that way I'd be all caught up and we'd go over it tonight. You have the papers here?"

"Uh, yeah, it's right..." he bent down and picked up a box that was filled with files as he placed it in front of her "Here."

"Well, thank you," she thanked as she turned to Brooke "Brooke, it was great to meet you."

"Yeah, you too," Brooke mumbled with a small smile.

"I'll see you tonight, Aaron" Nora declared as she took the box and headed out the bar.

"So uh- that's Shannon's mother, huh?" Brooke muttered.

Even though he knew it wasn't true, Aaron had to go along with it as he gave a nod.

"Yeah," he sighed.

"I had no idea she was so... cool... and successful."

"Trust me, it came as a surprise to me, too. Until this morning I hadn't seen her in 10 years."

Brooke forced him a fake smile as she looked back down at her laptop screen as she tried to keep her jealousy hidden. Now that Aaron's ex- love was back, she didn't know how she was going to handle it.