! BAD GIRLS ! BAD GIRLS !

( a sex and the city fic )

CAFE CAFE
new york, new york
7:30am

"i can't believe you're thirty-six today!" charlotte exclaimed as she hugged me.

"i can't believe i'm up this early." samantha groaned.

i leaned into charlotte's comforting hug, "i feel old." i complained.

"you are not old. i hate that women in their thirties have to feel so old." miranda said as she sipped her water. she had been extremely opinionated recently, more than usual. my guess was the baby.

"it's because women in their twenties are taking over," carrie reasoned. "think about it. guys our age aren't looking for women our age. they're looking for...women their age," she said as she pointed at the twenty-something models who walked in.

"take richard for example! he was practically all over that twenty year old during our threesome!" samantha exclaimed.

charlotte looked around noticing all of the looks, "their encounter." she announced before turning to samantha, "encounter."

"whatever. so what's the birthday girl got planned for tonight?" samantha asked me.

i shrugged, "well. there's work, then there's my apartment where a chocolate cake is waiting for me." i told them.

charlotte's face turned into a big frown, "you're kidding? all alone on your birthday?"

"yeah, so what? i was alone on my birthday last year. and may i say that it was extremely comforting." i told the girls.

"but it's your thirty-sixth!" the brunette pointed out again.

i looked around, "okay we've established that. i think that the entire place knows i'm thirty-six now."

"sorry." charlotte said sheepishly.

"sometimes an alone birthday is fine! i spent my entire birthday sitting at a table waiting for all of you to show up." carrie recalled as she looked at us expectantly.

"and we'll make it up to you, i promise." miranda said with a nod.

i dug into my waffles, in my own bubble before charlotte's loud voice shook me into reality. "i'll take you out to dinner! just the two of us at il cantinori."

"the italian restaurant? dakota's favorite restaurant?" i questioned.

charlotte shrugged, "maybe. but who cares! it's your night."

"well thanks char. would you girls want to go?" i asked the other three though they immediately fired back a laundry list worth of excuses. "it's fine, it's fine. just the two of us, charlotte."

IL CANTINORI
new york, new york
7:30pm

wearing a yellow turtle neck paired with a sleek white maxi skirt and black ysl boots, i walked in alongside charlotte who was weirdly walking way ahead of me.

as i finally caught up with her, i was greeted with my friends at the large round table. in front of me sat, carrie, aidan, miranda, samantha, dakota, charlotte, stanford, and jemma. i couldn't help but smile brightly as i saw the group of people.

"you little sneakester!" i said to charlotte as she pulled me into a hug.

"happy birthday, jamie. thirty-six has never looked better on anyone else." she said, whispering the number 'thirty-six.'

hours later, we were all sat around the table, completely stuffed. dinner had been absolutely wonderful and now we were just chatting and just as i was ready to ask for the check, the staff headed over, a red velvet cake in their hands.

"happy birthday to you," they began to sing.

i watched as those at the table sang along before hearing a certain voice singing caught my attention. a particular voice that had a hint of an accent. a texan accent.

i looked up and saw duncan taking a seat next to aidan as he continued to sing along with the group. i couldn't help but allow for the sour look on my face to be seen.

his past actions started clouding my mind, overtaking the ongoing song. "blow out your candles!" i heard a worker yell out to me.

"yeah, make a wish." said carrie as she rubbed my back.

"what?" i asked before nodding. "sure, yeah. okay." i replied before closing my eyes and leaning forward towards the lit up cake. i made my single wish, it was quick and the only thing that'd been heavy on my noggin recently. for a family, a healthy marriage, a guy who wasn't only attracted to twenty somethings. is that so hard to find nowadays?

"whoo-hoo!" miranda exclaimed as everyone clapped.

"and how old are you now?" the texan accent asked.

i shot duncan a glare, "older than twenty-five. that goes past your limit, right?" i said referring to the girl he started seeing after me who was twenty four.

he let out a sigh, "very funny." he said sarcastically.

"you all dig in, i'm going to the bar." i said as i left dakota in charge of cutting the cake. passing by duncan, i made my way to the bar. "can i just get a lemon drop?" i asked the bartender who nodded before preparing my drink.

"what was all of that? now i only like twenty year olds? you make me sound like some...creep." duncan said from behind me.

i rolled my eyes as i took a seat on the barstool. "duncan. how do you expect me to feel? you went to date amelia after me, you broke up with her and came back to me, then you lied about having drinks with her?" i recalled. "oh and, i saw her by the way, she definitely has a boyfriend. one that isn't you." i pointed out.

he scoffed, "clearly it isn't me. i told you, amelia and i were going out to drinks as friends."

"you didn't have to lie about it," i shot back.

"you're right. and you didn't have to wait until the last minute possible to tell me that you kissed your ex." he retorted.

"we're seriously going that far back?" i asked.

he nodded as i was handed my drink.

"you know what, i'm not here to argue. aidan mentioned that he was coming here with carrie to celebrate your birthday so i figured i'd stop by and send my love. but clearly it's no good here." duncan said as he backed away, his hands held up in surrender. "happy birthday, jamie." he said as he walked out of the dimly-lit restaurant.

i let out a heavy sigh as i threw back some of my lemon drop. a blonde man who was sitting next to me looked over, "happy birthday jamie. i see my love is no good here," he said, clearly mocking duncan.

i let out a chuckle at the man's teasings though i also couldn't shake the feeling that he looked familiar, but i couldn't add up where.

"but seriously, happy birthday." he said. "how old are you anyway?" the man asked.

i shook my head, "didn't your mother teach you that asking someone's age is rude?"

"she did. but i think that in the event of a birthday, you have the right to ask." he replied.

"fine. thirty-six." i said truthfully.

the man referred to his own age, "thirty-six." he said as he held one hand to his heart and the other one was extended for me to shake.

"i'm jamie." i said as i shook his hand.

"brad." he replied smoothly. "now what exactly is in a lemon drop?"

it hit me who he was. the actor, brad pitt. i could almost feel my throat go dry as i tried to act as relaxed as possible around the well known celebrate. "it's just vodka with a hint of that lemon citrus to help with the flavor." i said as i looked down at the halfway drunken drink. "you're more than welcome to have some."

this seemed to have caught brad's attention. "are you sure? i don't want to take the birthday girl's present to herself. especially after an argument like that."

"i wouldn't have offered if i didn't mean it," i told him.

the man looked between me and the drink before he downed the rest. "it's definitely on the sour side."

"but it helps with the vodka taste." i reasoned before seeing the brown liquor in his cup. "what's that?"

"scotch." he replied as he held out his cup for me.

i took a sip, allowing for the malt liquor to run through my mouth, it left a bit of a burning sensation as it did so. "tasty." i said.

he shook his head and let out a soft chuckle, "you hated it. i can tell."

"dammit, i've got to get better at hiding my facial expressions." i complained as i looked up at him.

his eyes then flicked from my eyes down to my lips and then back up again. that action did not go unnoticed by me. i noticed the way he looked down at my lips and i knew what he was thinking.

my heart rate had picked up now as i felt us inching closer together.

the two of our bodies were now practically touching. "i'm going to ask you a question and i want you to be completely honest with me." he said, his voice lower than before.

"ask away," i said. my voice barely a whisper.

"if i said i wanted to kiss you right now, what would you say?" he asked, sounding rather hopeful in his words.

"i'd say that it'd be a perfect way to celebrate my birthday." i responded and that was all of the words he needed to hear. his lips quickly crashed onto mine, pulling me into a heavy yet gentle kiss.

as it began to get more heated the bartender knocked on brad's shoulder. "hey, i can't have this at the bar. either move it outside or put a stop to it." the man advised harshly.

"we're going, we're going." brad said as he got up from the barstool, leaving two twenty dollar bills under his glass.

"i can't go, my friends are here. to celebrate me, it's my birthday." i told him.

"thanks for the tip." the bartender said to brad, interrupting my conversation.

brad shook his head, "i'm paying for her drink."

hoping that my makeup wasn't smudged or that my look wasn't completely disheveled, i left the restroom and walked over to the table where my friends seemed to be ready to leave.

"hey, where have you been?" carrie asked me.

"yeah, we looked at the bar for you and you weren't there." charlotte quipped.

"i uh-" i choked on my words as i saw brad leaving the restroom and heading for the door. he gave me a small smirk as he left. "i had to use the restroom," i lied.

"for that long?" miranda whispered.

"what'd you get to eat? the spaghetti? i won't be having that." samantha said in a hushed tone.

i laughed softly, "yeah, i don't recommend." i was going to tell the girls about what happened between brad and i but no good would be done if the others at the table heard it as well. "but thank you all, seriously. this has got to be the best birthday ever." i said truthfully, though my mind kept drifting to two things. brad and the restroom.

housekeeping notes !

brad is now here everyone, i repeat brad is now here. would love to hear everyone's thoughts on him.

if you missed the note on my message board i'll say it here: after taking time to plan out what will be happening chapter by chapter- i've come to the find out that this book will be concluded at 54 chapters. meaning we have 20 more chapters to go and i promise you all it won't take that long!