28. Cassie
28
CASSIE
O ne Month Later…
Ring, ring… Ring, ring… Ring, ring…
“Urgh, Benji, you'd better wake up.” I shove him over to the other side of the bed. “I still don’t have a cellphone, so it’s yours.”
I haven’t had one since the kidnapping. I don’t know what Alex did with my phone. He probably tossed it somewhere on the way to the jungle, to be honest, and I really don’t care. I haven’t missed it one bit. I might never have one again. If I can travel the world without needing to be in touch with people, then I can’t see another time when that will change. I’m freer without it.
“Who the hell is calling?” Benji moans. “Don’t they know how early it is in Italy? This is like torture.”
“I don’t know if we told anyone that we were coming to Italy,” I remind him. “They might still think that we are in London. Or maybe they think that we followed through on our original plan to see some of Africa. If I can’t keep track of us, no one else will.”
Benji nods in agreement but continues to roll his eyes as he leans across to pick up his phone. “Hey, Max, how are you?”
I already know that this isn’t going to be a chat I need to hear, and I’m awake now, so I might as well make a move. Once I’m dressed, we can start planning for the day to see what we intend to see next. There’s still so much I need to explore. I head into the shower and sing to myself as I wash off the dirty night before that Max and I shared. My God, every night with him is dirty. I don’t know when this chemistry will fade a little because we seem to exist solely in passion.
“I don’t know,” I suddenly hear Benji stating, getting closer to the bathroom door. “I’ll just go and speak with her.”
I flick the shower off but remain where I am, standing naked and proud as Benji pokes his head around the door. Immediately, his jaw slackens and his eyes glaze over. I don’t think he even knows what he came in here for.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him with a giggle. “It seems like you wanted to talk to me about something?”
“Er, oh, right, sure.” Benji shakes his head to remind himself what he’s in the bathroom. “It’s your father…”
My face falls. I already know that this is going to be serious judging by Benji’s expression. For one horrible moment, I suspect that something else has happened to a member of my family. We’ve been lucky. The gang haven’t gone anywhere near the Joneses since me, but there has always been a fearful voice at the back of my brain worrying that it isn’t over.
“He really wants to see you, Cassie. And I mean really wants to see you. I think he’s getting a bit stressed that he hasn’t yet.”
Oh! So this is a bit more serious than just another phone call. Now my family want to see me, and I suppose I do owe them that much. I can’t keep hiding forever. And if the gang hasn’t been noticed since that day, then maybe it would be safe… I definitely would be safe with Benji by my side. He’s always making me feel like I’m okay, no matter what.
“What about the press, though?” I half-whisper to Benji. “I still don’t want to be on TV again. Can we avoid that?”
“Your father has already said that he will make sure there are no cameras around. No one from the TV show and no one from the media either. We can certainly make sure that it’s a private meeting, shrouded in secrecy. Whatever you need.”
The thing is I do kinda want to see my family. I’ve missed them a lot, and if we can make sure that it’s all behind closed doors, then I could use a visit with them. As long as we could return to our travels afterward. I don’t want to give that up.
“If we go back to America, will we stay there? Or will we continue on exploring the world?” I ask him curiously.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. We will continue our travels. This will be just a detour. A little moment out.”
I nod eagerly. “Sure, why not? I need to introduce you to my father, anyway. I’m sure he’s eager to meet you.”
I haven’t told any of my family that we are together, but I’m sure they can assume as much. I don’t think it’s that much of a secret. I’m not sure how they will feel about him. I’ve never brought a guy to meet my family before, but it doesn’t bother me. Even if they do manage to find some flaw in the most perfect man ever, I won’t listen. I trust my own judgment enough to know that Benji is the right person for me. I don’t need anyone to tell me what to think or feel. I don’t need to hear the opinions of others because I have my own voice and my own mind. I feel my own truth very strongly.
God, I really have come out of my shell, haven’t I? I never thought that I would end up this person, so confident in myself. It’s awesome. I wonder what my family will think of the new me. I hope they’ll like me and respect who I’ve become. I was definitely quieter and more internal before, less sure of myself and who I was. I like who I am these days.
Benji hangs up the phone at the end of his conversation and comes to check in on me. To see if I’m okay with all of this, which surprisingly, I am. With him by my side, then everything will be fine. This might even be fun, who knows?
“Why aren’t they here yet?” I ask Benji nervously, clinging onto his hand tightly. I thought that I was going to be okay with this, I thought that I would be just fine, but the longer it takes for Max to get my family here, the more anxious I become. “What do you think is going on? You don’t think that anything has happened, do you? They haven’t changed their minds?”
“Of course your family aren’t going to have changed their minds,” Benji assures me. “Plus, I would have heard something by now if anything had happened. Don’t worry, it might just be traffic or something. You don’t need to worry.”
“Are you nervous?” I turn to Benji. “I keep forgetting to ask you how you feel about meeting my family.”
“I don’t know, really,” he admits. “Maybe a little. I haven’t watched the show much with your family in it, but I’ve seen a little and they appear very intense. All of them. Plus, I don’t know how they are going to react to me, so yeah… I am.”
I grip his hand a little tighter, knowing that I’m going to have to be there even more for him than myself. As nerve-racking as this might be for me, it’s a million times worse for him. He doesn’t even know them, so this is a lot.
“Oh, my God.” All of a sudden, a noise grabs me. “That was a noise, wasn’t it? That must mean they’re here.”
My heart pounds in my mouth. My stomach flip-flops like crazy. I can’t breathe, my lungs shatter, I feel like I’m falling apart. Tears even start tumbling down my face as the footsteps start edging toward me. Oh, my God, any minute now, I’ll be back with my family at last and my life will have come full-circle. As anxious as I am, I can’t wait either.
“Nick!” I see my oldest brother first, and I tear over to him to wrap my arms around him. I can feel the intensity of his emotions as well as we connect at long last. “Oh, my God, it’s so good to see you! How are you? I’ve missed you.”
Almost instantly, any awkwardness or anxiety simply melts away. These people are my family . I know them so well. I can’t believe I ever felt weird about this at all. It’s amazing. I hug Nick, Alena, Kevin, Mom, the twins together because they still do everything together at the moment, and finally, my father. He embraces me hard and makes me feel loved.
“It’s so good to see you, Cassie,” he whispers to me. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you. I’ve been so worried about you ever since you got kidnapped, and I’ve been feeling guilty as well. It’s my fault that all of this happened.”
“It isn’t your fault,” I insist immediately. “You didn’t do this to me. It wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you at all.”
“You should,” he exclaims with sadness in his voice. “If it wasn’t for my work, then none of this mess would have happened.”
“Don’t worry,” I insist quickly. “Honestly, don’t worry. I don’t blame you one bit. And while it was horrible at the time, a lot of good came from it. You know that I found Benji from it, and I couldn’t be happier, so it all worked out well. I know it wasn’t exactly ideal, but I don’t look at it as a bad time in my life anymore. It was something that led me right here.”
Dad looks at Benji a little critically. “And he treats you well? I don’t need to worry about him or anything? Because if he doesn’t treat you like a goddamn princess, then I’ll kick his ass right here and now. Even if he’s a lot bigger than me.”
“Dad, he treats me amazingly. You have no idea. We have had the best time traveling around the world. It’s been awesome, and he’s been good to me every single day. I’ve never been treated so wonderful before. I love him.”
“At least he can take care of you. But it wasn’t exactly what I planned when I hired the company to come and save you.”
At least he doesn’t look mad anymore. He’s looking at Benji like he’s a good guy, for which I’m very relieved. My family really are pretty intense. I forgot just how intense they really are, but I’m feeling it painfully now. My mom has hold of Benji right now and she’s chewing his ear off. I can almost see the color draining from his face. As our eyes lock, I do send him a smile trying to reassure him, but I don’t know if it’s come across right. This won’t be forever, though. Just for a little while longer…
“Well, he’s going to be getting a crash course in the Jones family right now.” My father cocks a knowing eyebrow at me. “Which might scare him away. Do you think that he has a strong enough stomach for it? I’m about to find out.”
As he walks over to Benji, I get caught up by my siblings who of course haven’t had enough of me yet, so I can’t help Benji out as much as I would like to. But I think he might be holding his own, luckily, because I want to catch up with my brothers and sisters as well. I’ve missed them more than I knew I possibly could, and I love getting time with them at last.
This has been a long time coming, and I might have to ensure we don’t it leave it this long ever again. Even if I’m traveling the world, I can come back whenever I want to see these wonderful people whom I love a lot.