“Act like you love me, please,” the woman said to a single dad in the park, then his reaction cha
The Mask of Protection
Brooke made it exactly five days before she had to use Julian’s number.
It happened on a Friday afternoon when she was in the middle of helping a vet tech student learn how to properly restrain a very uncooperative beagle for a blood draw.
The clinic receptionist poked her head into the exam room with an apologetic expression.
“Brooke, there’s a guy in the waiting room asking for you. Says he’s a friend and just wants to talk for a minute.”
Brooke’s stomach dropped because she knew exactly who it was without having to ask.
She finished up with the beagle, washed her hands, and walked out to the waiting area.
She found Derek sitting there, holding flowers like that would somehow make his showing up at her workplace less inappropriate.
When he saw her, he stood up with a smile that probably looked charming to anyone who didn’t know better.
“Hey Brooke, I know you’re working but I wanted to apologize for being pushy at the park. I brought you these to say sorry. Can we grab coffee after your shift?”
Derek said this like he hadn’t completely ignored her boundaries for months.
Brooke felt her co-workers watching this interaction, which made everything ten times more humiliating. She kept her voice low but firm.
“Derek, you need to leave. I’m at work and this isn’t appropriate. We’re not getting coffee. We’re not getting back together. Please stop doing this.”
Dererick’s smile didn’t waver, but something cold flickered in his eyes.
“I just want to talk Brooke. Five minutes, that’s all I’m asking. You owe me that much after a year together.”
The phrase “you owe me” made Brooke’s skin crawl. That had been Dererick’s favorite manipulation tactic, implying she was being unreasonable by having boundaries.
She pulled out her phone and texted Julian before she could second-guess herself.
“He’s at my work. Can you help?”
Julian responded within 30 seconds.
“Address? I’m coming now.”
Brooke sent him the clinic location and then stood there making awkward small talk with Derek.
She tried not to panic, telling him she really couldn’t talk during work hours and he should leave.
Derek was in the middle of a speech about how he’d been thinking about their relationship and realized what he’d done wrong when the clinic door opened.
Julian walked in, still wearing his kitchen uniform with his name embroidered on the chest.
Brooke had never been so relieved to see someone in her entire life.
Julian walked straight up to her and kissed her cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Hey babe, sorry I’m late. Got held up at work.”
He turned to Derek with a pleasant smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Oh hey man, you’re that guy from the park, right? Derek? I’m Julian, Brooke’s boyfriend. Did you need something?”
Derek looked between them. Brooke could see him processing this, trying to figure out if it was real or if she’d called in reinforcements.
He ended up just mumbling something about being in the neighborhood and wanting to say hi before leaving the flowers on the counter and walking out.
The second he was gone, Brooke sagged against the reception desk.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know who else to call. He just showed up and wouldn’t leave and I panicked.”
Julian waved off her apology.
“You don’t need to be sorry. That guy needs to learn what no means. Are you okay?”
Brooke nodded even though she was shaking. One of the other vet techs came over.
“Girl, that was your ex? He gives me the creeps. Good thing your boyfriend showed up when he did.”
Brooke didn’t correct the assumption because it was easier than explaining.
That became the pattern over the next three weeks. Derek would show up somewhere Brooke was, she’d text Julian, and he’d drop whatever he was doing to come play protective boyfriend until Dererick left.
It happened at the grocery store on a Tuesday evening, at her apartment building on a Saturday morning, and at the coffee shop where Brooke met her friend for brunch.
Every single time, Julian showed up without complaint, even when it meant leaving work early or rearranging his schedule with Iris.
They started hanging out even when Dererick wasn’t around, just in case he showed up.
They grabbed coffee between her shifts and met at the park with Iris, who was absolutely delighted to see Miss Brooke again.
Somewhere in all of that, the line between pretending and reality got really blurry in a way that scared Brooke more than Dererick’s persistence.
Iris was the first one to call it out.
It happened when they were at the park for the third weekend in a row. Brooke had brought dog treats to practice training with a client’s puppy she was helping socialize.
“Daddy, is Miss Brooke your real girlfriend now or are you still pretending?”
Iris asked this while throwing a tennis ball for the puppy. Julian looked at Brooke with a panicked expression before trying to explain.
“We’re friends, Iris. I’m just helping her with something, remember? We talked about this.”
Iris gave him a look that was way too knowing for a six-year-old.
“But you smile different when she’s here. Like how you smiled at Mommy in the pictures. That’s not pretend smiling. That’s real smiling.”
Julian didn’t have a good answer for that, and neither did Brooke.
They just changed the subject and pretended the question hadn’t landed like a bomb in the middle of their carefully constructed denial.
The truth was Brooke had started having feelings for Julian that went way past gratitude.
She could tell he felt something too based on how long he’d hold her hand when Dererick was around.
She noticed how he’d text her good morning even on days they weren’t meeting up. She saw how he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention.
But every time Brooke thought about actually dating him for real, she’d remember how Dererick had started.
He had begun with all charm and attention, making her feel special.
Then slowly, that had turned into control and isolation. He made her question her own judgment about everything.
