{ LIVING THE POGUE LIFE }

{32}

Brie sat in the van with Sarah and Kiara going over the poorly drawn diagram John B had made to show them where the gold was hidden. They all laughed uncontrollably at the terrible job he had done of it.

"Hey," JJ called out as he came and dropped the two bars of gold onto the floor of the van, "This had better work. How are we gonna pawn this with wheat symbols on it?"

"Chill," Brie rolled her eyes, picking up the blowtorch, "It'll work."

John B and Pope wandered over from where they were messing with the equipment.

"Why am I not surprised that you can use a blowtorch?" Pope asked, clearly amused.

"What can I say?" Brie smirked, "I'm a woman of many talents."

JJ shook his head and chuckled. He picked up the goggles from the seat and held them up to his face, looking at the others through them.

"Hey, dummy," Brie called, "Come on, I need those."

He took them off and stepped closer to her, carefully sliding the goggles over her head. He brushed her hair over her shoulder and smiled at her, making butterflies appear in her stomach.

"You gonna do this or what?" He asked, motioning to the equipment set out on the floor.

Brie climbed out of the van and adjusted the goggles over her eyes. She threw the bars of gold into the tin and readied the blowtorch.

"Won't the tin just melt?" JJ asked.

"No," Brie explained, "Gold has a really low melting point, which is why it's usually just plated or mixed with some other kind of metal when used in jewellery. The tin has a higher melting point so, no, it wont melt."

JJ smiled at Brie, clearly happy with her nerdy response which made her blush. John B snickered at Pope, who was staring at Brie with a blank expression.

"I think Dr Spock over there just fell in love," John B joked.

"Shut up," Pope snapped, "I'm just surprised, that's all."

"You should learn to never be surprised when it comes to me, Pope," Brie smiled, "I think we must have established at least a hundred times how amazing I am. Now, let's get this operation underway."

She flicked the flame on, holding it close to the gold bars until they slowly started to liquify. It took just over a half hour for them to melt into one large gold coin, and Brie's arm was aching by the end.

"Ugh," she groaned, turning off the blowtorch, "Well, that's as good as its gonna get. I'm done."

They left it to cool for a while, the others heading inside whilst Brie and JJ 'stood guard' with the gold. They sat in the back of the van with the door pulled open, Brie kept her head comfortably rested in JJ's lap.

JJ brushed a hand through her hair, gently tracing his thumb over her cheek. She sighed happily and closed her eyes.

"Can you believe that we're going to be rich?" He asked. "No more shifts as a waitress or at a shitty strip club."

She hummed in response, focusing on his fingers running down the back of her neck.

"When's your next shift?" He asked.

"Tonight at the Wreck," she sighed, "And then tomorrow at noon at the club."

Now it was JJ's turn to sigh, tucking her hair behind her ear. Goosebumps rose on her arms and she shivered lightly.

"I'll walk you down to the Wreck tonight," he told her, "Then we can take my bike to the mainland tomorrow."

Brie sat up and faced him.