Chapter 15
Emmy
Ouch. That’s the first thought I have. I will not be drinking shitty box wine ever again, and I mean it this time when I say never again. My body creaks as I stretch and sit up. I look to my side and see the painkillers and water, Cas must have left them for me last night. I smile to myself as I down them both. Today is the day Cas takes me out on our first date, my stomach flips at the thought. Part of me feels terrible for drinking last night, I had all intentions of just having a nice meal at Hayleigh’s house until Pete had walked in with two of the shittiest box wines there ever were. I drank the rest of the water and decided to hit the shower, but as I get out of bed, I notice a box on my dresser with a note on the top. I open the note first;
Emmy
I bought this for you to wear to our date tonight, no pressure if you don’t like it. Be ready for 5 pm
Cas x
I pick up the outfit that Cas bought me as a gift. It is a pair of jeans that look like they will fit perfectly and the most beautiful emerald green cashmere sweater I have ever seen. Tears sting my eyes at his thoughtful gift, no one has ever really done anything like this for me before. My phone beeps and I put the clothes on my bed.
Hayleigh
I hope you’re ready because I have pastries and coffee lady. Be there in 5 x
I try to think back to last night and whether or not we made plans with each other or if Hayleigh is just deciding to pop round.
Me
Did we have plans? Forgive the brain fogginess I blame the shitty box wine…actually I blame Pete! Haha x
Hayleigh
Yes, we made plans! Hmm brain fog or Captain Cock fog? We have shopping and the salon before your big date. P.S I’m here x
My face flames at the memory of last night and Cas helping me upstairs and me calling him Captain Big Cock. I’m going to kill Hayleigh for that one. I hear Cas open the door to Hayleigh and decide to leave them chit chatting for a bit while I grab a shower and get dressed. I finish up and go downstairs. My stomach flips at the thought of seeing him, but when I get down there, he’s nowhere to be seen.
Hayleigh rounds the corner “Well if it isn’t little miss wino. Don’t look so disappointed to see me, or is it because Captain Big C…”
I don’t let her finish what she’s saying before I rush at her and cover her mouth with my hand. She licks my palm and I snatch my hand away as she cackles at me.
“Urgh Hayleigh, you tramp, I can’t believe you licked my hand!”
she cackles some more.
“Yeah, well you were trying to shush me. Don’t worry, he isn’t here, he told me to tell you that he needed to run to the site for something, but that he will be back in time for your date,”
at this she waggles her eyebrows ridiculously. I laugh and grab my bag, shouting over my shoulder, “Well hurry up then we’ve only a few hours to shop and then you can help me get ready for my first date with Cas”
**********
We head to my favourite shop, a little out of the way boutique called Carly’s Treasures, which has unique pieces ranging from the smallest to the largest. She caters to all. We walk in, and Carly says good morning and tells us to shout her if we need anything. We spend the next hour trying new outfits because Hayleigh thinks you can never have too many options. She convinced me to buy matching underwear even though I told her there was no chance we would do anything more than a first date tonight. She just laughed in my face.
After shopping some more, we stopped at a little coffee shop for a break. Hayleigh sat down and looked out of the window. Now that I really looked at her, I saw she looked tired and sad. Our coffees get brought over, and Hayleigh doesn’t even notice. Then it dawned on me that we hadn’t recently talked about anything but my situation and Cas.
“Hayls, are you okay?”
She doesn’t hear me, completely lost in her thoughts. “Hayleigh,”
she startled and turned round to me, plastering a smile on her face, but I knew her better than anyone else.
“Sorry Em, I was in a world of my own then. So, tell me what Cas has planned for tonight?”
she waggles her eyebrows at me.
I shake my head. “No way, Hayleigh, we aren’t skipping over this. Tell me what’s going on with you? Normally, you can’t stop talking about the wedding or Pete. You look so sad.”
She looks down at her coffee and swirls it around in the mug. For a minute, I don’t think she will say anything, but then she speaks so quietly that I don’t quite register it at first.
“I think Pete’s cheating on me, Em, and I don’t know what to do about it”, I sit there slack-jawed at what she has just said.
I shake my head not believing what she is saying. “Oh, Hayleigh no, he loves you. What makes you think he’s cheating?”
and just like that the sadness is gone and Hayleigh doesn’t stop.
“He isn’t talking to me anymore, and I don’t mean talking as in everyday talking, I mean really talking to me. We go to bed and we go to sleep, we haven’t had sex since you left the house, and that was months ago, Em! Also, he’s been going out at night, telling me he’s going to the gym, but I don’t believe him! All the signs are there and I don’t know what to do about it!”
she’s breathing heavy as she finishes what she’s saying.
I wrap my hand around hers on the table, “Have you asked him?”
She looks up at me, tears shining in her eyes, “Yeah, I asked him, he just told me I was being paranoid and that I should know he wouldn’t cheat and then he just walked out. He didn’t even have the decency to finish the conversation with me”
“Is there anything I can do? Why don’t you come stay with me for a few days?”
She shakes her head sadly, “No, Em, it’s fine, honest. Anyway, enough about me, you have a big date tonight, and nothing would make me happier than for us to go to the salon and get pampered and preened”
She smiles brightly, even if it’s fake. I can see her pain, I know she wants me to go along with it, so I smile right back, “Ok, in that case, let’s get going!”
We must have spent about an hour and a half in the salon, and I felt like a new woman once I finished. Hayleigh had the girls do our makeup and I almost didn’t recognise the woman staring back at me. My hair fell in waves to one side while the other side was pinned back, and my eyes were framed with a smoky brown colour that made the greens of my eyes pop.
We go outside only for Hayleigh to come to an abrupt stop in front of me, I bumped into her back and then looked around her to see Pete and Count Dickless waiting against Pete’s car outside the salon. Pete held a bouquet of flowers for Hayleigh and she melted as soon as she saw him, he smiled at her but I noticed it didn’t reach his eyes, my attention was dragged from them both to Chad when he cleared his throat.
“You’re looking good, Emily. Are you off anywhere nice?”
I steeled my spine and raised my chin, I felt every bit as confident as I looked “Yes actually, I’m off on a date”
a shadow crossed his face before he smoothed it into one of his smiles I didn’t give him the satisfaction of an explanation, instead turning to Hayleigh I said “Are you heading back with Pete?”
my meaning was clear, did she want an out.
She nodded “Yeah I’ll head back with him”
she squeezed me tight “Thank you for today, I needed it”
she whispered.
Pete was watching intently, “Do you need a lift back, Emmy?”
I shook my head, “no thanks, Pete, I drove us here so I’m good,”
he dipped his head at me. I said my goodbyes, minus Count Dickless, and headed on back home all the while unable to shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
I returned to the house and took Scruff on a quick walk, Cas wasn’t back yet, so I had enough time to prepare for our date. The flutters in my stomach increased at the thought of it. On one side I was excited but on the other I was scared. Would he have a good time, or would I be boring? Was I pretty enough or was I everything Chad ever said I was? What if we got on the date and it turned awkward, and then he would want to get away from me, then I couldn’t live with him anymore, because it would just be uncomfortable, and I’d have to move out. Great now I’m talking myself out of the date and talking to myself in my head…my phone beeps.
Hayleigh
Stop overthinking, I can practically hear you from here (smiley face) p.s everything is ok now we made up (devil face emoji)
Me
You know me so well (angel face emoji) I’m really glad you guys made up, I’ll text you tomorrow xx
I get dressed in the outfit Cas picked out for me and grab my bag from my bed just as a knock comes from my bedroom door. I opened the door and found Cas holding a bouquet of Iris flowers. His eyes travel slowly up my body, his gaze scorching my skin and heating me from the inside. Our eyes meet and my breath catches at the desire swirling in his eyes.
“You’re so beautiful”
he whispered three little words but their meaning wasn’t quiet. I could hear my heartbeat work overtime and my first thought was to tell him I wasn’t anything special or deflect with a joke, but the sincerity in his voice gave me pause and instead I found myself saying “Thank you”.
“Here, these are for you. Are you ready?”
he handed me the flowers and we headed downstairs. I made myself busy by putting the flowers in a vase with some water, and I needed to do something to give myself a bit of pause to try and calm down. My whole body shivered as I felt him come up behind me, he put his hands on my shoulders and leaned in next to my ear “Are you having second thoughts sweetheart?”
I shivered again, but it had nothing to do with my being cold.
**********
Cas drove us to our official first date, I kept sneaking glances at him, part of me wanted to see if he had any of the nerves I had and part of me was worried he was going to shout ‘ha jokes we aren’t really going on a date’, but the more we drove the more nervous he seemed. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, and his eyes were so laser-focused on the road ahead that I worried he would burn a hole through the windshield. I didn’t dare speak in case I accidentally made him swerve off the road. After what seemed like forever, he finally spoke, “We’re almost here”, he sounded so vulnerable, I hope he wasn’t second-guessing our date.
I watched out the window as the Spark’s Aquarium came into view and gasped. I knew instantly that he had chosen this place based on our game of questions and answers. A feeling ballooned in my chest and tightened my throat, the familiar burn of tears started behind my eyes.
He noticed and I could have kicked myself because he read my reaction as a bad thing “Shit Emmy don’t cry. We can go somewhere else, it was a stupid…”
I didn’t let him finish before I took off my seatbelt and threw my arms around him.
I held him tight as I whispered to him “Cas I…it’s perfect”
I felt his arms wrap around me and hold me back.
“Come on, let’s get inside and start our date”
we got out of the truck and I see the times up next to the entrance doors “Erm, Cas? You realise this place closed an hour ago?”
he just winked at me and grabbed his rucksack from the back seat of his truck. He held his hand out for me and I slid my palm in his, my stomach doing somersaults from the nerves. We walked through the Aquarium doors and my eyes drew to the massive tank behind the welcome desk. Inside, a thousand different fish must have been swimming at leisure. It was mesmerising to watch and I immediately felt at ease; watching fish swim was beautifully calming.
“Emmy?”
the moment was broken when I realised Cas had been talking to me.
I blushed “Oh I’m sorry, I was lost in my head there”
He chuckled at me, “Don’t worry about it. I was telling you that Lacey works here and I arranged for us to have this place to ourselves…well obviously apart from the night staff, but as far as other people walking around that Aquarium, it’s just us and this picnic”
he held up his rucksack and my heart melted a little bit more. Cas wasn’t dangerous in the sense of being physically harmful, but he was dangerous for the heart, mine especially.
“We’re going through the shark tunnel, and then when we get to the stingray tanks, we will have our picnic before exploring. How does that sound?”
He held out his hand, and I took hold of it and squeezed it a little. I nodded and smiled at him, not trusting my voice to not waver with what I was feeling.
We walked along taking in all the marine life in each tank. We saw everything from cleaning shrimps to puffer fish to a 65-year-old sea turtle named Mr Muggins. We finally arrived at the shark tunnel, which was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. The sharks swam lazily above us, big hulking bodies gliding effortlessly through the water. I could see Cas put the bag down out of the corner of my eye and stare all around him. Just as in awe as I was, I returned my attention to the sharks.
“So, how’s the wedding planning coming along?”
Cas’s voice boomed in the confined space.
I nearly jumped out of my skin, we both burst out laughing “Jeez Cas you scared me half to death”
I walked over to where he was now sat watching the sharks with an amused smile “Well there isn’t any planning to do, Hayleigh has wanted to marry someone since she was a little girl so she’s had it planned out for years”
we both laugh “mind you earlier today I thought she was going to tell me it was called off. She and Pete have been having some issues, he’s been distant with her, but she texted earlier to say that he made it up to her, so…”
I shrugged. Something had been bugging me about the whole thing but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
Cas shocked me with his next question, “Do you trust Pete?”
he said it so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him, but hearing him ask me triggered something inside, and I wasn’t quite sure how to answer him. “I know you’ve known him longer than you’ve known me, but I just want you to be careful, Emmy, can you do that for me?”
his stare was intense.
“I trust you Cas”
I didn’t ask him what made him ask me, I had a feeling it was for the same reason I couldn’t quite place the feeling I had, but then again maybe it was just because he was Count Dickless’ brother. Cas stood up and held his hand out, I took it ready for the next part of our date.
As we approached the stingray tanks, we heard something that stopped us in our tracks. Cas swore under his breath and before I could ask what was wrong, a flurry of blonde hair hurried towards us. I registered at the last minute. It was Lacey who had ground to a halt in front of Cas.
“Holy shit I am sooo sorry CJ! Hey Em! Anyway, yeah, so, I may have double booked the Aquarium and right now instead of a nice romantic evening surrounded by stingray you’re surrounded by a bunch of beavers! Not the animal beaver though, that would be weird, I mean the children.”
She finally took a breath and looked to Cas nervously.
Cas rubbed the back of his neck and turned to me, a blush creeping across his cheeks, “Emmy, I had this really nice romantic night planned for us, but someone…”
he glared at Lacey, who had the decency to shrink back a little “promised we’d be alone. We can go somewhere else if you want to, I can…”
I cut him off with a kiss to his cheek “Don’t even think about it. If there is one thing I know from Scouts, Cubs and Beavers, it’s that they have an amazingly fun time doing all sorts of different activities. Let’s join in,”
I turn to Lacey “, That’s ok right?”
She breathed a sigh of relief “Holy shit, yes of course it’s ok! Two of the parents dropped out of helping tonight making us short, so if you both wanna stick together you can take a group for the first activities”
she smiled bright and bounced away.
Cas looked after her smiling “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her do anything slowly. Ever.”
We both laughed. “Well, last chance to drop out and do something else?”
I shook my head, “I’m right where I want to be, Cas”, that made him smile.
**********
“Ok kids listen up! We’re going to break off in different groups and you have all been given your name tags. Team Nemo is with CJ & Emmy, team Dory is with me, team Crush is with Dom. Remember your treasure maps, and the first team back is the winner. Ready…steady…GO!”
Cas was already herding team Nemo together “Ok kids, battle plan time. Everyone else seems to be going straight for the Shark Tunnel and starting there, but I say we start by the Sea Turtle Shelter and then head backwards. At the same time, everyone else will be busy trying to squeeze into the same area, we will be free to explore!”
he smiled triumphantly and I could hear the kids whispering between themselves about how awesome he was. It was a different side to him that I’d never seen before and I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him. My ovaries just about exploded when he bent to pick a little girl up so she had a closer look at the Sea Turtles.
“You’re pretty good with the kids”, we’d taken a break once we finally reached the Shark Tunnel.
Cas smiled at me “, Probably because I’m on their wavelength”, he laughed at himself, but it was more depreciating than humorous.
I cupped his face, “You don’t give yourself nearly as much credit as you should.”
We stood there looking into each other’s eyes for what felt like hours. His eyes dropped to my lips and back up to my eyes, so quickly if you blinked you would have missed it. There was nothing more than I wanted to do than kiss him. We both gravitated towards each other, his lips brushed mine so slowly before a shriek broke us apart. We turned to see our entire group looking at us giggling and pointing. I blazed bright red just as we heard Lacey bellow about hotdogs and the kids took off running towards where she was. Cas cupped my face and turned me to face him. He wasted no time in kissing me again, soft and slow, his tongue ran along the seam of my lips and I opened for him. This kiss felt different, somehow it felt like everything was right in the world.
We finished our date in the aquarium, Cas holding my hand the entire way home. I twisted our hands and watched them linked together, his tan against my pale skin felt intimate but somehow right, like it was always meant to be. We pulled up outside the house, and I noticed my bedroom light had been left on, but I could have sworn I had turned the lights off before we left for the aquarium. Cas started to get out of his truck but I couldn’t move, something felt off and I got that feeling again on the back of my neck, that prickle that felt like someone was watching me. I watched Cas walk around to my side of the truck, but I was still rooted in the spot. He opened my door and I could see the concern etched on his face. I slowly pointed up to my window and Cas followed my line of vision, his brow creasing in confusion.
My words left in a whisper, “Cas. I didn’t leave that light on.”