Bru's Thumping-Hearts Universe

Last Concert

Please note that this story is not tagged “Advanced Bru readers”.

I knew it was a big mistake to go on stage again after I had stopped touring when Covid-19 struck. The last two years had been the best of my life and I had absolutely no wish to resume my stage career as Daisy Sweetheart, the soppy singer/songwriter. Especially since it was obvious that this concert would be a disaster. I hesitated before going onstage but my manager gave me a shove and I walked out there. If only I hadn’t swiped that book from my sister five years earlier.

You Can't Hide Your Secret Forever

During lunch break high school freshman Tom was sitting on a bench outside, reading a sports magazine (but with the edge of a Penthouse sticking up), alone as usual. Well, as usual as it could be the fifth day of term. Tom was not a popular boy. Small, ”dainty” and with golden locks that was rather longish. There really was nothing wrong with Tom except that he was terribly shy and new in town. He had lost his parents and the only relative was a cousin of his mother's. Matthew and Martha were considerably older than Tom’s parents but they considered taking care of Tom as their duty. Tom had all the material support he could wish for. However, they didn’t really care for him and since they never had had any children of their own they didn’t understand him at all. So the less he bothered them the happier they were.

Anyway Tom was sitting there ostentatiously reading a sports magazine featuring baseball. Tom was quite a good baseball player and had great hopes to get onto one of the junior teams. However, if you looked closer you could see the edge of a Penthouse sticking up behind the magazine. Not that Tom was interested in the pictures. Actually he found the sports magazine much more interesting and if he wanted to look at naked girls internet had an abundant supply and Matthew and Martha had no clue how to restrict his access. No, Tom had arranged the Penthouse very carefully to throw off any suspicions about what he had hidden behind the Penthouse. His real secret was much worse, something that absolutely NO ONE must know. Tom was totally absorbed by the latest “Thumping ❤❤, Broken ❤❤, ❤❤United” book, according to some the soppiest, most braindead romantic drivel ever written. Tom just couldn’t get enough of it.

“Thumping Hearts, Broken Hearts, Hearts United"

Having your best friend die is rather unsettling, especially if it quite literally is in your arms.

Mary and I had been talking in the office when she suddenly had a massive heart attack, uttered a few confused words about me and heart and then collapsed. I caught her but before I, or anyone else, could do anything it was too late.

She was a great loss not only to me personally and for her family, her husband Pablo, sixteen year old José Maria and fourteen year old Cory. The publishing company we worked for, “Descartes Publications”, was just as badly hit. Mary had been the “handler” for one of our most profitable authors and she had kept the contacts with the anonymous author very close to her chest. As it turned out she was the only one in the company that knew the true identity of “Corazón Tenderheart” (or as on the books Corazón Tender❤), bestselling author of “Thumping ❤❤, Broken ❤❤, ❤❤United” series of books. In my opinion the soppiest, most braindead romantic drivel ever written, or at least published.

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