Authors: Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough
"Claud? Are you alright? How come you didn't tell me you
got fired by that arrogant ass?" She straightens up and
looks across the table.
"I thought I had told you. I'm not upset that he fired me. I'm
just absolutely pissed! When he told me that Marissa finally checked out his ex's house and said that she wanted
it too, and was going to try to
make the mother of his children homeless and barely give
her any money to live on, that did it for me! And before
any of you ask, you’re damn right I anonymously got a
message to her about his Swiss bank accounts after he fired
me. She deserves way better than that!"
"I already knew you had when I looked at your face." Caleb
raises his hand up as if he's in class, which had me cracking
up. "Yes Caleb?"
"I have a question if you don't mind my asking, Claudia.
Have you always been gay or is that something you just
recently figured out? It sure would have saved me a lot of
heartache in college and wasting so much time looking for
someone as exquisite as you, since you obviously were
never going to give me a chance."
I've never seen Caleb seem as serious as he is at this moment. Cash and I are waiting for Claudia to say
something, but she's just sitting there speechless and not
even blinking.
"Why would you be looking for someone like me, if you hate me so much?" She's staring him down and he's not
flinching.
"You honestly think I hate you? I've been crazy about you
since the day I met you in college! So, are you going to
answer my question or not?" She finished her drink and
slams the glass down.
"I'm sorry you wasted so much time Caleb, because yes, I'm
into women. I hope you find the exquisite woman you're searching for, because it is definitely not going to be me.
” She looks over at me, “I’m heading to the ladies room and would love it if I could
have another drink sitting here for when I get back. Olivia?
Didn't you say you needed to powder your nose?"
I didn't, but I knew that meant girl talk time. I can't for the
life of me figure out why she didn't tell Caleb the truth. Claudia glares over at Cash, silently telling him with her eyes to not
tell
him the truth and she walks towards the
bathroom. I look over at him and shrug my shoulders and
follow her.
I walk into the bathroom and Claudia is staring into the
mirror with tears in her eyes that haven't fallen yet.
"Claud? Why did you just lie to Caleb like that?" Here
come the tears.
"Trust me. I did the best thing for both of us. I was so mean
to him and took advantage of the crush he had on me, and the last thing I want is to start getting excited about some guy or him thinking he has a chance with me. You know
I'm all about my career right now, O. I don't have time for
dating or a social life."
"Wow! Whose turn is it to join the nunnery now? You're
serious, aren't you? When was the last relationship you were
in? Your last date? The last one I remember you having
was in college and you never really gave me any details if I
remember. You seemed all hush hush about it." She turns
around and points her finger at me, which has me backing
up.
"What's with all of the questions? Geez. I feel like I'm in
the middle of an inquisition! Let's get back out there; I
need to dance or something to blow off some steam. Surely,
that live band is finished setting up by now."
I'm staring at the door that she just stormed out of, wondering what in the hell was wrong with her. She's
never brushed me off like that without telling me what she
was thinking.
I walk back out to the main room and Cash is sitting alone
at the table and I see Caleb and Claudia on the dance floor,
dancing to a slow ballad. They’re dancing as close as they can get to
each
other. I can immediately see their attraction for one another from across the room. Surely, Claudia feels the attraction they both seem to have for each other.
Cash stands up to pull my chair out and I sit down still
watching them on the dance floor in shock at what I'm
seeing, and I look over at him and he looks like the cat that
swallowed the canary.
"What did you do, Cash? I can tell by the look on your face
that you did something." He grabs my hand and kisses it
and is still grinning.
"Let's just say that I finally gave her a taste of her own
medicine. Finally! When she stormed out leaving Caleb
speechless I laughed my head off. Can you believe she told him she was gay? I know that the stare down she gave me
was a warning to not tell him that she was lying." Oh no. I
know exactly what he did.
"You didn't! Oh, Cash! She's going to kill you! She
wouldn't even give me an answer when I asked her why she
lied to him."
I noticed the song has ended and the band is playing a more
upbeat song and the two of them seem to be having some
fun, they're even laughing.
"Yes, I did! I told Caleb flat out that she was lying and that
she uses it as an excuse to not get involved with men. The
look on his face when I told him was priceless! I can't
believe I finally pulled one over on her!"
He sounds like a little school boy who finally had his
chance to stand up to the biggest bully in school.
"Cash! What is he going to do? Did you two ever get to
talk about your problem with each other?"
He starts drawing light circles under my palm, which is
making me want to go home now and take him to bed, but
it'll be hours before we head home.
"Yes, we forgave each other and he's happy I met you and
is very jealous that he didn't meet you first. I think we’re on
the right track again. He also said that he was glad to have
his big brother back, which is all because of you my dear. I
didn't realize how much I had missed him until today." He leans forward and takes my breath away with a kiss that didn't stop until we were both moaning.
"Oh, you're distracting me, but I like it. How much longer do
we have to stay?" His intense stare is giving me a tingling
sensation all over my body. He leans back to whisper in my
ear.
"We could leave now if you want. I believe we've already
taken care of what we were sent to do. All you have to do is
say the word, Liv."
He starts kissing me behind my ear and starts slowly trailing little butterfly kisses down to my collar bone. I
open my eyes and remember that we are in a public place,
which pulls me out of my dirty thoughts of what I want him
to do to me next.
"Cash. We are out in public and what about Claudia and
Caleb? We can't just leave them here."
I look out at the dance floor and they are heading back to
the table, all out of breath from dancing and they're both
laughing at something. Claudia seems to be in a better
mood. Possibly because she thinks she doesn't have to
worry now about Caleb having feelings for her anymore.
"Why aren't you two love birds dancing with us? The band is pretty good." They both down their drinks and ask for another one. Looks like they've kissed and made up, not
literally, but dancing has definitely improved their moods.
"Liv and I were thinking about heading home, if you two
didn't mind. I can have my driver come back and get you two and take you back to the house, or I'll pay for a cab to
take you both home and have someone take your car to
your house, Claud. It's up to you." What Claud said next
shocked me.
"I'm having a blast! How about you Caleb? I can get a ride
home in the cab and Cash, if you don't mind, have someone
take my car to my house." After her debacle all day she wants to stay? Where did Claudia go? 20 personalities
of Claudia. Meet personality 17.
"Cash, I know you two had plans. Really, Claud and I are
having some fun finally, now that the cat is out of the bag.
She promised to hook me up with some of her single
friends from work. It's great to finally have a friend that is a
girl, without having to worry about feelings getting in the
mix. I'm just glad that we can finally move forward now."
I know she missed the wink he gave Cash, but I sure didn't
and he saw that I saw what he did and he dropped his eyes.
Now I see how Cash said he was paying her back, and I'm not too crazy about it and hope that she doesn't get hurt in the process.
Do I follow the friend code and tell her what the brothers talked about, or see if she figures out what's sitting right in
front of her, who happens to be a great good looking guy
that has been crazy about her for years?
Knowing that she might have someone to spend some time with while I'm at Cash's, makes me feel better, but she thinks
that this whole "I'm into girls" thing is going to keep her
safe from getting hurt. I'm just going to have to play this
one by ear.
"Okay, then Liv and I are out of here. You guys have a good time and I'll tell the front desk that everything is on
me. Whatever you two want."
He pulls me up from my seat and hugs Claudia bye and
even hugs his brother, but I see him whisper something in
his ear and Caleb grins from ear to ear. I hug both of them
and we head to the limo. When we got in, I asked Cash what
he said to Caleb and he winced, realizing that I saw the
exchange.
"I told him that I can't wait to hear how this all plays out
between him and the ice princess."
"Cash! I know she seems cold but she does have feelings.
Do you not remember her crying just this morning over me
getting my hair cut? She donated her hair too! If she gets
hurt, I swear I'm going to..." He shuts me up by kissing me
and waits for me to calm down.
"Liv, do you know what I see happening? You don't
know their history and Caleb wasn't lying when he said he
has been pining for her all of these years. Every girl he's
dated has always favored her in some way, but they just
weren't her. She was mean to him when we were in school and he still loved her! Let him have some fun with this. I promise, he has no intention of hurting her. I think he just wants to show her what she's been missing out on. I know
she's more than just your best friend and I love her too, but I
would never let anyone hurt her."
"Ah. So you're playing match maker here. I hope it doesn't
blow up in your face, Mr. Kingston!" I know how he loves it when I call him that.
"Oh, you're in trouble for that. You know what that does to
me!" He pulls me into his lap and starts kissing me slowly
all over my face, but I can't quit worrying about Claudia.
"You really don't think he's going to hurt her? Normal Ice
Princess, as you call her, is one thing but Hurt and Pissed
off Angry Claudia, is more vicious than you can even
imagine. You realize that, don't you?" He pulled my chin up
to his face.
"Sweetheart, Claudia gave me the best gift I could ever ask
for and that is..." Kiss... "you"... Kiss... "My angel." "Do
you honestly think I would pay her back by hurting her? I
should give her all that I own, because you are worth way
more than anything in the world." Deeper kiss that has me curling my toes and sighing. "Trust me on this, Liv. Do you
trust me?" Oh, indeed I do.
"Yes. I trust you and I guess I will help you and Caleb in
this wicked game you two are playing that looks like it might turn out in her favor. At least I pray it does."
I snuggle in closer to him, letting his embrace warm me up.
I'm just going to have to let it go. Claudia is a big girl and
she can take care of herself. I'm just hoping that this doesn't
come back on me, if it doesn't turn out the way the guys
think it will.
"Cash?"
"Yes."
"Have I told you lately that I'm absolutely crazy in love
with you and that I thank God every day that Claudia got
me out of bed that day I ended up meeting you?" He pulls
me in even closer.