Complicated Love Pt. 02

Decision made, he got up to take a quick shower and then drive down to Chris' place. Gavin needed answers, and he needed them soon.

---

Cassie giggled when she saw James drag Ann, protesting, into the shallow creek with him. Even though he was sick, he was more energetic than all of them put together. Ann stood in the cold water, supporting her excited father and shuddering as the cold water ran over her legs. Sarah, his nurse, was screaming at them to come back, and James was jovially telling her to loosen up and join them.

She leaned back against a tree and surveyed the scene in front of her. Despite the loud complaints, laughter and concerned shouts, Cassie found it peaceful. She had not felt so peaceful in years.

Smiling, she got up to join them, and relieve Ann. James joyfully put his arm around her, and allowed a disgruntled Ann to escape to the picnic blanket to get a cup of coffee and a sandwich.

"Isn't this refreshing?" James asked Cassie, wiggling his toes in the water.

"Yes, it is." She replied, smiling up at the man leaning on her. She felt so comfortable around him, and wanted to take care of him. He constantly teased her, laughed with her and treated like a daughter should be treated. It saddened her to think that he had very little time left, but she pushed those dark thoughts to the back of her mind and just enjoyed her day with him.

She was glad she had agreed to do this. So very glad.

---

Chris looked out the window, in the direction Ann, Cassie and his father had left in the morning. He had been invited too, but he declined. He turned his head back to his laptop and sorted through his correspondence, approving documents and checking specs.

A knock on the door interrupted him. Mrs. Potts pushed her head in through the door and announced, "A Mr. Gavin Lester here to see Mrs. Quentin."

A puzzled frown appeared on Chris's face. He was not overly fond of the guy, and after listening to Cassie this morning, even less so. It escaped him as to how a guy could spend years with Cassie and not realize how special she was. Of course, Chris told himself, he was just being brotherly when he said this. Cassie deserved better.

"What should I say, sir?" Mrs. Potts asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Tell him I'll be down in a minute." Chris said, as he closed his inbox and made to go downstairs.

Gavin was waiting in the living room, and gave Chris a small smile when he walked in.

"I came to see Cassie," Gavin said, wishing Chris would go away. He didn't like the guy one bit.

"Well, Cassie's out, so you might tell me. I'll pass the message on," Chris replied, watching the other man stiffen at the suggestion.

"Its personal," Gavin said shortly, not wanting to tell Chris anything.

"I'm her husband. You can tell me anything."

That did it. Gavin burst out, "I don't think you and Cassie have a real marriage."

Chris just sat there for a minute, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. How did Gavin find out?

"Our marriage is as real as they come." Chris said quietly, his eyes intent on Gavin's face.

"No it isn't, and don't you deny it. Cassie just doesn't behave like she's married to you. You two act like you're friends. Cassie always had this spark in her eye when she talked about the one guy whom she dreamed of settling down with, and that spark just isn't there when she talks about you or when she looks at you. I know Cassie, she would never settle for anything less than what she had dreamed of. That's why I'm so sure."

Gavin was surprised at the words that came out. Yet, they were all true. The expression on Chris' face just confirmed it.

"Come to my office." Chris said finally, "We can talk there."

Gavin nodded unwillingly and followed Chris up the stairs.

Once inside his office. Chris closed the door and sat down behind his desk.

"What do you want?" he asked tiredly. He wasn't sure he wanted Gavin knowing anything about this.

"The truth," Gavin said, looking Chris in the eye.

"My father is dying. He wanted to see me get married. Cassie got to know. I proposed, a purely platonic, business marriage and Cassie accepted," Chris said, not mincing words.

Gavin leaned back as he took it all in.

"So you and Cassie are just friends?" he asked after a long time.

"Yes," Chris replied.

"Good." And with that, Gavin left the study, the house and drove back to his apartment, satisfied and oddly elated. Cassie wasn't attached in any way that mattered. Strangely, that made him happy, and excited.

Chris, on the other hand, sat there worried. He had a feeling that things had just taken a turn for the worse.

---

The next two months were the most tiring, and probably the most enjoyable two weeks in Cassie's life. She spent every day with James and Ann, and James never ceased to amaze her. She discovered that he played Latin guitar, sketched and wrote poetry. How one man could have so much zest for life, she could not understand. Even the bady days weren't so bad. Surrounded as he was sometimes by IV tubes, almost dwarfed in his large bed, he still managed to smile and joke around.

Chris, on the other hand, had been quiet and supportive, attentive but distant. She wished he would come and spend time with them, she felt sure that it would do him good to spend time with James. Chris abstained from doing so, or at least while she was around, and this worried Cassie.

The only time Chris spent with his father was about two hours in the evening, when he shooed everyone out and talked to his father alone. Cassie did not know what they talked about, but she did know that James was sad at the end of it and she had even caught Chris quietly crying sometimes.

She wished she could help them, but she couldn't. Ann tried too, but she was unsuccessful. However, the rest of the day was spent having fun, doing childish things and finding a lost, innocent joy in them. Cassie had never smiled so much.

This way, the days melded into weeks, and the weeks melded into a month. Strangely enough, Gavin had begun to talk to her quite often, and came down every weekend without fail. He had never been this attentive before she got married. Cassie supposed that he missed the friendship more that she was away.

She took an almost guilty pleasure in this. Guilty because she was happy that Gavin was calling; guilty that she welcomed his attention although she was married. She told herself that this was merely a charade, but that didn't help. She still felt guilty.

The animosity between Chris and Gavin didn't help either. They were friendly enough, but there was something in the air when they spoke or met that hinted at wariness. Cassie, being the sensitive person she was felt this and wished that it didn't happen.

Melissa had gone to France for a three month assignment after the wedding, so apart from emails, they couldn't keep in touch much. One day, when Cassie came down, she found Ann in the kitchen with Jessica, baking.

Ann and baking was a very strange combination, and Cassie went to investigate.

"It's Chris' birthday today." Ann explained as she tried to mix the batter, a smudge of flour across one cheek. "We usually don't celebrate it, because he's always so busy, but this time, because he's at home, I thought a cake would be nice."

"I would be," Cassie agreed, "But let's keep it a surprise. And let me mix, you're getting more batter out of the bowl than in it."

Ann sheepishly surrendered the mixing bowl and said that the surprise idea was an excellent one. They were just thinking how they could get Chris out of the house for a while when he came down, fully dressed, to go to the office.

Cassie and Ann looked at him in surprise.

"Why are you going today?" Cassie asked. She knew there wasn't any pressing business.

"Just a deal that needs to be wrapped up," Chris said while eating his breakfast which was on the table. "I'll be home by the evening."

"Okay." Cassie and Ann said. Their problem of getting Chris out to make the arrangements was now solved.

The women giggled computationally when Chris left the room. It certainly was going to be an interesting evening.

---

Chris sighed and ran his hands through his hair. It had been a trying day. He had wrapped up two deals and was working on the intricacies of the third one and he was tired. He wished he were back at home, where now he would be talking to his father.

He groaned quietly and got back to work. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could get out of here.

Just as he was finishing up, Frieda walked in with a sheaf of papers in her hand.

Chris barely looked up as he told her to leave them on his desk. He heard the click of the office door, and assumed she had let herself out.

Which was why he gave a start when he felt soft hands on his shoulders, kneading his tired muscles?

"Frieda," Chris said, leaning back against her, "thank you so much. I needed that."

Frieda chuckled and continued kneading, soothing his shoulder muscles that had cramped up from him typing too much on his computer.

When she felt Chris began to relax, Frieda subtly altered her touch. It was now a sensual caress, and Chris began to feel the stirrings of lust. He had not had any relief since he had gotten married, and now, he needed the release that he knew Frieda could give him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice whispered, 'You're married now, it isn't right,' but he firmly pushed it away. It wasn't a real marriage anyhow.

He spun around in his chair so that he faced her. He slowly pressed kisses to her stomach, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath the cloth of her shirt. Frieda smiled knowingly and began to undress slowly, each article of clothing sliding off to reveal more and more of her beautiful body.

She removed her shirt first, to release her breasts encased in a lacy bra. Her skirt came off next and revealed her naked sex. Frieda never liked wearing panties. Leaving her shoes on, she bent down between Chris' legs and slowly unzipped him. He was warm and hard beneath his trousers.

Nimble hands released him and a warm mouth engulfed him. Chris sighed in pleasure and gripped Frieda's head, setting a rhythm. Oh, she was good. Chris could feel her wicked tongue work magic on his aching hardness, sucking and licking with abandon. Before he could lose himself and gain his release, he pulled her off him.

He wanted to prolong the pleasure.

He stood and undressed quickly, and led her to the large couch in one corner of his office. He sat down, and leant back while Frieda straddled him, settling herself atop him and slowly engulfing him into her soft warmth.

It started slowly, softly, but soon built into a storm, hard and rough, violent and passionate. At last, they both reached their peak and climaxed together, Frieda slumping against him as she felt him spending himself inside her.

"We forgot the condom," Chris whispered into her ear, his voice a rasp.

"I'm on birth control." Frieda told him, stroking his hair back and nibbling on his shoulders. "Now, why don't we go to my apartment? I am offering dinner and more sex. Or just more sex."

Chris chuckled and replied, "Dinner and more sex sounds good, but I won't stay the night."

Frieda smiled and untangled herself from his body. Grabbing some tissues from a drawer, she quickly cleaned both of them up and slipped into her clothes. As Chris dressed himself, she whispered, "You never do," and only she heard the wistfulness and regret in her voice.

---

Cassie, Ann and James spent the day in a flurry of activity. The living room was decorated with streamers and balloons, unearthed from a musty carton in the attic.

Cassie and Jessica made a large birthday cake with 'Happy Birthday Chris' written on top in chocolate lettering. A special dinner was made and presents were bought and wrapped.

Everyone chipped in, and finally, Cassie had to forcibly make James sit down before he exhausted himself while making the preparations. When dusk approached, the air was filled with anticipation and everyone was waiting for Chris to come home.

But he never came.

From 6 it became 7, then 8 then 9. The hours passed and still no sign. Cassie was worried that maybe he had hurt himself or was in trouble and kept trying to reach his cell but to no avail. He wasn't picking it up. Ann, who had a much better idea as to what her brother might be unto sighed and tried to get Cassie to stop worrying.

Finally, at half past nine, James and Ann had dinner, looking dejected, but Cassie refused, saying that she would wait for Chris.

Ann tried to reason with her, but Cassie was stubborn.

At half past ten, Cassie made James go to bed, with a half-hearted promise to wake him when Chris returned. Ann went to her room, storming about her brother and Cassie settled in the dining room to wait.

Two hours later, when Ann came down for a glass of milk, Cassie was fast asleep on the table, with two empty plates and dishes of food around her. Ann shook her head and went up to call her brother and give him a piece of her mind. He still was not picking up his phone. Disgusted, Ann went to bed, thinking about a hundred different ways to kill her brother.

And she meant to make it painful. Very painful indeed.

---

Chris woke up to find Frieda draped over him, snoring gently. Blinking his eyes rapidly to focus, he gently pushed her off him. He looked at his watch. It was four in the morning. Shit. He was supposed to have been home hours ago.

He quickly got up and after a fast wash, he got himself dressed and out of the apartment. Frieda, sated, slept through the whole thing.

At this time, the roads were empty, so he was able to make it home faster than he would have been able to had it been a little earlier. When he pulled up in the driveway, he found Ann at the door, waiting for him. He gulped when he saw the expression on her face. When she was angry, his sister could be very dangerous.

He parked the car and was hardly out the door before Ann dragged him inside none to gently. She shut the door behind him and dragged him to the dining room. He wondered why she was taking him there, and why she was not yelling at him yet when he saw what was inside.

The room was decorated with streamers and balloons; the table was set for an elaborate dinner and a large cake which read 'happy Birthday Chris' dominated the centre of the table. But he saw all this only momentarily. From the moment he entered, his gaze was fixed on the woman who was sleeping on the table, her head cushioned in her arms.

"She's not even had dinner yet," Ann hissed at him. "The least you could have done was call. Dad and I are used to you doing this, but she is not. You should have seen her today. She was really looking forward to this. And after all she did, you don't turn up."

"But I didn't know," Chris said, in an urgent whisper so as to not wake Cassie. "You guys never do this. Usually it is just me eating one of your inedible cakes for breakfast. Heck, even my presents are mailed."

"Yeah, so we wanted to act like a family today, what's so wrong about that?" Ann retorted furiously. "Anyway, I don't want to hear anything else from you. I do not want to know where you have been or what you did. I just want you to wake Cassie up, feed her and get her to sleep in a proper bed. She refused to go up when I tried to take her."

And with that, Ann stalked out of the room, leaving Chris behind in the dining room feeling guilty.

Now that he saw all this, he wished he had not stayed over at Frieda's. He wished he had not ever met Frieda. What made him feel awful was the fact that Cassie had foregone food just so she could eat with him.

Sighing, Chris went over to the table to wake Cassie. He shook her gently, shushing her when she woke up, startled.

"Sh, it's only me," he said as he pushed her back into the chair. "You didn't have to wait for me you know."

"It was your birthday. It's no fun if you spend it alone." Cassie smiled at him sleepily. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah..." Chris started to say, but thought better of it. "No actually. So let's heat this stuff up and have something to eat, okay?" Cassie nodded and rose to help but Chris pushed her back into the chair again. "I'll heat everything, you just sit down," he said.

Cassie was so tired that she just nodded and put her head down on the table again. Chris heated everything up and they had their food. The food was excellent, and he told her so.

"Jess and I made it, and Ann made the salad." Cassie said, blushing when he delivered the compliment.

Chris's eyebrows rose, "Ann made it?"

"Yeah," Cassie said a small grin on her face. Suddenly, she yawned.

Seeing that, Chris ate fast and made her do the same. He made her sit down while he put away the dishes and then practically carried her up the stairs. He made her undress and get into bed before he changed himself. When he came out of the bathroom after changing, he found her curled up on the bed with the blankets tucked around her. She looked like a small child. She looked adorable.

Smiling at the picture she made, he got into the bed and turned lay on his back. After a few minutes, he was surprised to find that she had rolled over to him in her sleep, and was now sleeping with her head pillowed on his shoulders. It felt nice. She was not like Frieda, all angles and bones. She was soft, like a teddy bear.

He turned gently to avoid waking her up and put his arms around her, pulling her close. Before sleep overtook him, there were only two thoughts in his head. One, that this was probably one of the best birthdays that he had ever had and the other that Cassie, was a very special woman, who didn't deserve to wait for anyone.

Anyone at all. Especially him.

---

Cassie woke up the next morning in a warm embrace. Chris' embrace. For a moment, Cassie just wanted to stay there; it felt so comfortable and safe, but that moment passed quickly enough. She scrambled out of bed, waking Chris up in the process.

"Morning," Chris mumbled sleepily, before turning to his other side and going right back to sleep.

Cassie heaved a sigh of relief. A dark blush covered her cheeks and she did not want Chris to see her like this.

Composing herself, she quickly dressed and made her way down. To her surprise, no one was there. When she checked her watch, she knew why. It was nearly nine in the morning. Jess would just have come in now, and Ann and James would be out on their walk.

She spied two covered plates on the table, and a pot of coffee. She sat down to a breakfast of toast, the only thing Ann claimed she could make, while she tried to figure out what was happening to her.

Yes, what was happening to her. Ever since she had started staying here, he had noticed a side to Chris that she hadn't ever seen before. The fun and highly caring side. A side that she very much liked and felt attracted to. She was confused. She was supposed to like Gavin, but here she was, fantasizing about Chris. It just didn't make any sense to her at all.

"Why do I always get attracted to the men I can never have?" she thought to herself as she bit into her piece of toast. For both Gavin and Chris were people she couldn't have. Both of them would never look twice at someone like her, and while they might be her friends, they would be nothing more.

She groaned and stopped chewing on her mouthful of food. Waking up today in Chris's arms had felt so good, so right, and she wanted to wake up in his arms every day. And therein lay her folly, wishing for things she could never get. She swallowed her food before burying her head in her hands.

She needed to get her feelings sorted out, and fast, before she did something she regretted. Before she did something to alienate both Chris and Gavin. Before she lost herself.