A Jock in the Machine Ch. 06

'You haven't... just raw fish...' Tim let go of her. He stumbled a few steps back, massaging his forehead with his fingers. 'Sushi is not just raw fish, Cass. That settles it! We're having sushi and you get no say in the matter! My treat.'

Without waiting for her to even respond, Tim took hold of Cassie's hand and swiftly led her out the amusement park and towards the restaurant. Just raw fish, she'd said. The audacity.

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Cassie had been more than a bit reluctant at first when Tim had dragged her into the sushi place. But even she had to admit, the restaurant did have its charm. A quiet little place, decorated in traditional Japanese style and obviously build and cared for with a lot of enthusiasm. The first thing that Cassie had noticed was that immediately upon entry, some of the waitresses had recognized Tim on the spot. She knew better than to be jealous, of course, but it was such a sudden change of atmosphere. He seemed to know everyone there.

They'd sat down at a table for three instead of two, for the incredibly stupid in Cassie's mind reason that there was just no place for the teddy bear. So now it sat in its own chair to her right, patiently observing Tim and her. A waitress that she hadn't seen before had arrived, and just like Cassie had expected, recognized Tim. He really seemed to frequent the place. She'd given them each a menu, and while Tim immediately picked out what he wanted to eat, Cassie had no such luck. Everything had looked exactly the same to her.

Fortunately for her, as it would later turn out, her boyfriend was an expert at picking good food. Tim had noticed Cassie turning from page to page without really settling on anything and decided to lend some much needed expertise. Within less than a minute he'd picked for her a full meal of things he kept assuring her she'd enjoy. They still all looked exactly the same to Cassie, but his excitement at picking them was endearing.

Tim had made sure to delay some of their orders, so that Cassie would have no time to change her mind on staying. By the time he'd ordered the last thing for both of them, the first had already arrived. Tim had enthusiastically eaten his portion. Cassie not so much.

For starters, she'd never held chopsticks before. She insisted on just picking up the admittedly gorgeous looking bite-sized rolls of rice with her fingers, but Tim had been adamant - she had to learn to use chopsticks. He instructed her, of course, but even so Cassie just couldn't get the hang of it. With their second portions coming to the table, and Cassie still not having even tasted the first ones, she'd lost her patience and reached for one of the rolls. Tim would have none of it. In a much swifter motion than Cassie's annoyed reaching, Tim had picked up the sushi piece Cassie was inching towards with his own chopsticks, and just when she'd looked up at him, already annoyed, he'd put it up to her lips.

He had actually tried feeding her like a baby. In a public restaurant, surrounded by people, he had tried feeding her when she had just agreed to go so he won't be let down. If he was overstepping his boundaries, it didn't matter. The moment the small salmon filled roll reached Cassie's lips, and its aroma entered her nostrils, she chomped down on it. Tim had been right the entire time - Cassie did in fact absolutely love it.

All the annoyance of him attempting to make her use chopsticks had evaporated with that first bite. When he'd set down his chopsticks instead of giving her another, all it took was a tiny pout from Cassie to get Tim to feed her again. She no longer found it annoying. She found it cute instead, how much effort he was putting into making sure she enjoyed herself. She'd have to repay him for once.

By the end of their meal, Cassie had tried all sorts of sushi. She'd tried one with shrimp, one with just veggies, one with tuna. She'd tried them with soy sauce, with wasabi, with ginger. She couldn't really decide which one she liked the best, but she did decide that she'd be returning to the place very often.

'See, I told you you'd like it.' Tim smirked as he finally set down the chopsticks for the last time. They'd eaten everything he had ordered. 'So, which one was your fave?'

'Oh my... I really can't decide...' Cassie panted. She couldn't eat another bite if she wanted. She hadn't eaten that much in a long time, but it had all been so delicious. That just meant the two would have to find something to do to burn off all the calories. 'Maybe... the pineapple one?'

'Really? The pineapple?' Tim gave her an almost quizzical look. That one was definitely nothing special.

'I like pineapples, okay?'

'Just not on pizza, right?'

Cassie didn't respond. She bit her lower lip.

'Please tell me you don't like pineapple on pizza, Cass.'

Cassie still didn't respond, although a slight smile was creeping up on her face.

'Oh my God, Cass, I don't think I can ever eat with you again! Pineapple on pizza is disgusting!' Tim was only half-joking. He'd definitely eat with her again, but he did find the notion of putting a pineapple on a pizza revolting.

'No it isn't! It's delicious!' Cassie finally spoke up. She'd been wrong about the sushi, fine. But now he was thrashing one of her favorites. This meant war. 'Have you even tried it?'

'Of course I haven't! It's vile!'

'But you lectured me on never trying sushi! And look at that, I loved it. Maybe you're just scared you'll like pineapple on pizza!' To people who didn't know them, which was pretty much everyone in the restaurant except the staff, it looked like the two were in the midst of a domestic fight. But that was no fight. It was simply playing. At least on Cassie's part.

'That's different, I know I'm not gonna like it!' Tim waved off the thought immediately.

'C'mon, pleaseeee?' Cassie gave him her best puppy dog eyes. She knew they were working. 'I'll do anything you want in return.' She raised her eyebrow suggestively.

'Anything?' Tim thought for just a second. When he finally seemed to have an idea, his face immediately soured and he shook his head. 'No, no, I-I won't do it.' His voice had started cracking.

'Come oooon, you had some idea, just spit it out, I'll do it, and then you're eating pineapple pizza!' Cassie pressured him. Honestly, anything he wanted to do, she was up for it even if he didn't eat the pizza in the end.

'N-no, it's gonna ruin the mood. I'll eat pizza with you, ok? Just... let's drop it.' Tim was beginning to look really uncomfortable. Which only made Cassie more intrigued.

'That's not fair! You went all mysterious on me and now you won't tell me!' She was still her bubbly self, trying to get him to spill the beans.

'Promise you won't get mad?' Tim looked straight at her.

'Promise.'

'Fine.' He sighed. Man, why did his head have to go there to begin with. He was about to ruin the date, and he had only himself to blame. 'When you were gone for all those years, why didn't you call me?'

Cassie had expected something silly. Or something kinky. Or something stupid and boring. But not this. Her mouth flew agape almost immediately. Maybe she really shouldn't have pushed him as much as she did.

'No, fuck, forget I said anything.' Tim tried to amend the situation, seeing as how Cassie hadn't responded at all after a couple of seconds. And after everything had gone so well...

'No, no, it's... it's fine.' Cassie finally snapped out of her trance and looked back at him. He looked like he was ready to crumble from the pressure. She didn't want to make him feel that way, and if he wanted to know, then she'd tell him. 'I just... didn't expect that.'

'I'm really sorry, Cass, my mind just went the-'

'I said it's fine, okay?' Cassie interrupted him. She didn't continue, and only stared at him. A few seconds passed before Tim got the hint and nodded for her to keep going. 'I should be apologizing, really. I wanted to call you so much, but after we moved, we weren't sure if we'd ever come back. So my mom didn't let me call or message you at all.'

'Your mom?'

'Yeah. She said it would be easier for both of us to move on if we cut contact.' Cassie's eyes began to tear up. 'Just accept that we won't see each other again.' She wiped the tears away. 'But she was wrong! And we did see each other! And I'm really sorry I didn't call! And-'

Tim lunged over the table, planting his lips on hers to shush her. That was enough. It had been enough since before he asked his question.

'All that matters is that we're here now, alright?' He asked as they broke the kiss. Cassie nodded, still not breaking eye contact. 'I'm sorry I brought it up. We'll get pineapple pizza next time.'

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Ignoring that little hurdle at the very end, the date had actually gone rather smoothly. For a first date it was much better than either had expected. After they'd paid, well after Tim had paid as he'd promised despite Cassie's unstopping protest, the two had decided to call it a day and head home. Or rather, head to Cassie's home because as it turned out, Lara wasn't there. Which meant they had the house to themselves. Which meant things were going exactly where both wanted them to go.

They'd already begun making out before Cassie had even managed to lock the front door properly. They continued their wild tongue war and feeling up each other's bodies all the way up the stairs and down the hall on the second floor. Then, just outside Cassie's room, she'd stopped the kiss.

'I need to go to the bathroom really quick, wait for me.' She'd said as she winked at Tim. She'd then handed him the massive teddy bear she'd been lugging around all day, as well as her purse and phone. 'And no peeking!'

And so, Tim was patiently waiting in Cassie's room, sat anxiously on the bed. Cassie sure had changed a lot in the past few years, and so had her room. Tim could vividly remember her old room being a comfortable sky-blue. Her new room was anything but. The walls and bedsheets were almost blood red in color. Every other piece of furniture - the bed frame, her desk, her wardrobe, drawers, nightstands - black. The strange part was he couldn't remember seeing Cassie wear those colors at all. Maybe the people that lived in their house when they were away painted it and Cassie and her mom still hadn't had time to redecorate? Tim wasn't sure, but he knew the room reminded him of something. He just couldn't exactly place what.

Tim was busy playing with the teddy bear as he waited. Cassie had only been gone a couple of minutes, but it felt like forever, and he was already bored. And extremely aroused, her still ingrained in his mind. All of a sudden, her phone began ringing. He didn't really want to butt in her calls or anything as it wasn't really something he should do, but he did manage to get a quick glance at the screen at least. Unknown number. Eh, it was probably nothing. Spam maybe. He'd let her know her phone rang when she got back. The ringing went on for a few more seconds before it automatically cut off. And then, much to Tim's surprise, a message began playing. Voicemail.

'Uhh, hey.'

No. Way. Tim knew that voice! It was...

'It's me, Eric, dunno if you remember me.'

What! Why was Eric calling Cassie all of a sudden? And why would she remember him?

'I, uhh, got your number from the school register.'

Tim couldn't understand a thing. His head had begun spinning. This made no sense.

'Look, I uhh, what you and your mom did last week, I uhh...'

What Cassie and Lara had done? With him? What could he mea- No. Surely not. Please not that.

'I kinda loved it. So I'm calling to ask if you, uhh...'

No, no, no. NO! Anything but that!

'If you'd like to fuck me again.'

The sound of the message ending beeped across the room. Tim stood in complete shock. Emotions swirled inside him, hurt, anger, despair, denial, everything. He couldn't take it. He didn't want to believe it. But he'd just heard it clear as day.

The tears were already gushing down his face as he ran out of Cassie's room, down the stairs and out the door. He ran as quickly as he could, heading home. Partway through, his phone rang. He knew who it was. He didn't answer.

Cassie had just gotten out of the bathroom, wrapped in just a large towel. She hadn't actually showered, but wanted to surprise Tim, and maybe get him into the mood more. She'd tiptoed to her room, eager to spook him, but when she had slammed the door open, he wasn't there. She'd shouted out loud, maybe he was somewhere else in the house. No response came. She'd dived for her phone in confusion, wanting to message him to find out where he was. Instead she'd found one missed call and one voice mail. The moment she'd heard Eric's voice on the other end of the message, everything had connected in her head. She had broken down crying, barely able to ring Tim up to try and get ahold of him. He didn't pick up.

Tim barged through the front door to his house. He threw his shoes to the side as he slammed the door shut. His mom tried asking what was going on, but he cut her off, shouting at her to not let Cassie in and that he never wanted to see her again. His phone was ringing the entire time. He ran straight upstairs, locked himself in his room and turned his phone off. He didn't want to even hear it ringing. It only reminded him of what he'd just heard. He spent the rest of the day, and the entire evening sobbing and beating himself up over how stupid he'd been, until finally he tired himself out and fell asleep. His mom didn't dare disturb him once.

Jessica immediately called Lara, who was oblivious to what had happened. Upon hearing the distress in Tim's mother's voice, and finding out what he'd said, Lara rushed directly home. This was everything she was afraid of. She didn't even lock the door once she got home. Up the stairs, into her daughter's room, she found Cassie sobbing at the foot of the bed, barely able to take a breath. She had been crying for over half an hour. Lara sat beside her daughter and embraced her tight, letting Cassie cry on her shoulder. She cried and she cried and she cried. And there wasn't a single thing Lara could do to help.