the back-up plan

chapter 4.

briar pov
"why do you need a support group?" jessy asked with a confused look as we walked home from the coffee shop we had spent the past hour in. "well you're not very supportive," i laughed softly. "what?" "you just told me that if i breastfeed my 'girls' are gonna wind up looking like empty tube socks." "hey, i'm just being honest," she defends, "and don't even get me started on what childbirth does to your bladder." "what does it do to your bladder?" at this point i feel like she's making it sound more dramatic than it actually is. it doesn't seem that bad. she laughed loudly then paused, "oh. i think i just peed a little bit."

"i don't think i'm pregnant anyway. doctor says it'll take a few tries. something about frozen sperm being lazy," i shrugged as we approached a local street market. she pointed at it then looked at me, "oh, come with me for a minute. i have to make some muffins for some bullshit teacher appreciation day." "you're gonna make muffins?" i asked in disbelief. "oh hell no. there's a place here that sells them. i pick out the worst ones and i pretend i made them. come on." i rolled my eyes jokingly and make my way over.

"okay, which is the ugliest?" she mumbled before picking one up. "seems like a lot of trouble for something so trivial." "welcome to motherhood," she rolled her eyes as i picked up a few of the samples and started eating them. i started to look around at all of the different stalls until my eyes landed on him. the guy that tried to steal my cab. i picked up the basket containing the rest of the samples, not taking my eyes off of him, "there's that guy." "what guy?" she turned away from the muffins and looked at him too. "the one selling cheese. i know him." "he's hot," she commented while focusing her attention back on the muffins.

"he sells cheese?" "you sell hamsters," she said, making me laugh slightly. "can i help you ladies?" a blonde woman standing behind the muffin stall asked. "no. we're good thank you," i replied, glancing at her for no longer than a second then looked at the guy again. he really is hot. "like what you see?" the blonde continued, almost making me choke on the small pieces of muffin in my mouth, "what?" "just talking about the muffins." right, there's muffins here. so many to choose from. i looked down at the table, admiring all the different kinds.

"hey you," she said happily to someone approaching, receiving a "hey," in response. i looked up to see who she was talking to. what? i wanted to know. it was him. we made eye contact for a few moments before he spoke, "hi. what a nice surprise, how did you know i worked here?" "i didn't," i laughed slightly, still eating. dang these muffins are good. "oh, okay. did you follow me here?" "follow you? to the farmers' market? are you kidding me?" i continued laughing in confusion, "no, we came to buy muffins. you were here, tell him," i pointed at the woman at the stall. "well you better buy something, you ate all my samples." oh shit. i looked at the small basket in my arms before setting it down on the table quickly.

"well it's really nice to see you but i never got your name. i'm myles," he said, holding out his hand which i took in mine and shook it while replying, "oh, briar." "briar," he repeated softly. "i'm jessy," she interrupted, "so how do you two not know each other?" "he stole my cab," i answered right as he said, "she stole my cab." "oh, okay."

"we should go," i turned to her quickly. "we should?" "yeah, we have that important thing." "well can your important thing wait just a few minutes? i'll give to a taste of my cheese," myles said again. what did he just say? jessy and i both looked at him with confusion looks until he continued, "i can rephrase that."

myles pov
"okay. this is our basic chèvre. probably our best seller and the cheese that started it all, as they say. these are our surface-ripened cheeses. these are fantastic. and these are the aged raw milk cheeses. now-" i cut myself off as i noticed briar and her friend looking uninterested, "this is really boring, isn't it?" "um, no!" briar said while her friend said yes. "well this is isaiah. he works for me," i mentioned, motioning at isaiah who was standing behind the table. he and briar exchanged hi's and names as they shook hands.

"can i give you a sample box?" i asked her, changing the subject yet again. "um, i'm okay." "you're not lactose intolerant, are you? i hate that," i asked with a laugh. "hey. you're still coming over tonight, right?" shelby asked, approaching us. ugh. why right now? why while i'm talking to briar? why couldn't she just stay at her dumb muffin stand? "i- um, yeah. yeah," i answered, stumbling over my words as i looked at briar. "we should go," she turned to her friend, "are you ready?" "i want a sample box," she whispered, receiving a sigh from briar, "okay. well i gotta go. bye." i took a few steps towards her as she started to walk away. i wanted to tell her to wait but she was already gone, "uh, bye." i watched her walk away then repeated quietly to myself, "bye."