Surprise in Vegas - Chapter Five
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Cal awoke with a start. He had gotten used to waking up to the smell of Gillian’s cooking so when he heard his daughter’s elephant like stomping, he couldn’t help but groan. Turning over he found his usual breakfast chef still in peaceful slumber, her lips slightly parted as she slept.
He began to mentally chastise himself for his behaviour the previous evening. Firstly embracing her so intimately when there was clearly no-one else around, of course she had noticed! Secondly for allowing himself to be that close to her whilst watching that god awful movie that Emily had picked out, and thirdly for remaining there holding her for almost an hour after Emily had pointed out that Gillian was asleep. He just couldn’t bear for the contact to end so soon, the closeness of that embrace a stark contrast to the space between them in his bed.
Gillian’s eyes began to flutter as she woke and Cal quickly clamoured out of the bed, not wanting to be caught gazing at her sleeping form. He’d caused himself enough trouble as it was. Married to his best friend, a woman he was increasingly feeling attracted to. Of course he’d always thought she was beautiful, who wouldn’t, but these new feelings were more than her physical beauty. She constantly made him laugh, challenged him intellectually and she kept him grounded.
Sighing he moved into his bathroom and started to run the shower, hoping to wash away all his problems with the rest of the grime. He emerged some time later to find Gillian’s pyjama’s already folded neatly on the bed and the chattering of excited voices from downstairs.
“Come on Gillian, that doesn’t count.” Cal stilled as he approached the kitchen, eager to hear what the two women were discussing.
“It’s counts for your Dad and I, Emily, and that’s all that matters.”
“But it wasn’t a proper wedding. You didn’t get to wear a nice dress and your families weren’t there. You both deserve something bigger.”
“Emily, we both did the big wedding thing and look how well those turned out. Small and simple, I think that describes your father and me perfectly. So no more on this, ok?” Emily sighed and mumbled something that may have been ‘fine’, Cal couldn’t be sure. Deciding to make his presence known he swaggered around the corner with a happy smile on his face.
“Morning all! Hope we all slept well.” Emily mumbled a reply, a deep scowl covering her face. She brightened immensely though when she saw her father lean in to place a lingering kiss to Gillian’s cheek.
“Morning luv.” He mumbled, carefully avoiding eye contact with his wife. He slid into a seat beside his daughter as a plate of food and a fresh cup of coffee was placed in front of him.
“Dad I’m going to the mall after school with some friends. I won’t be home for dinner but I won’t miss curfew. Ok, thanks bye.” Emily began to make a hasty retreat from the kitchen but was unsuccessful as Gillian stepped in to block her path.
“I thought you were on my side Gill?” She whined as Gillian shot her a sympathetic smile and Cal began his interrogation.
“Who are these friends? Where exactly are you all going? Where are you eating dinner?” The questions continued to flow and Emily was only allowed to escape when Cal felt he was satisfied by all her answers.
“Thank you.”
“Hmm?”
“For stopping her from leaving. We make a pretty good team.”
She laughed, offering him a gorgeous smile as she swept from the room. Cal felt his heart skip a beat as he reached out to hold onto the chair in front of him, afraid his knees would give way without sufficient support.
He closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment to pretend it was all real. That he really was married to this beautiful, intelligent, and funny woman. For a moment everything seemed right and then the moment was over. He pooled his features into a neutral mask as he made his way to the car to begin his day.
X
Loker was beginning to annoy him. Alright he annoyed him regularly but the pangs of frustration he was feeling towards the young man were coming with increasing frequency today.
“What’s the matter boss, wife keep you up late last night?” Eli’s reaction to his own question let Cal know that he at least regretted the question, but Cal wasn’t going to let him get away with it so easily.
“Loker, what my wife and I get up to in our spare time is absolutely none of your bloody business. It’s not all about sex, something you’d be well advised to remember and further more,” he paused for dramatic effect before shoving Loker towards the door, “piss off.”
Loker merely smirked as he side-stepped Gillian whilst exiting the office.
“Hey Mrs. Boss, you know where I can find Ria?”
“She’s reviewing some tapes from the Roberts case. Did you finish the vocal analysis on that?”
“Yep just running through it with that grump you call a husband.” Gillian giggled at the young man before turning to Cal.
“You ready?”
“Ooh big plans tonight?” Eli apparently didn’t know when to learn as Cal fixed him with a withering glare, building up to another rant before Gillian stepped in.
“Goodnight Eli.” Loker smirked at the couple before hastily departing. Cal followed Gillian towards the building exit, careful to keep his distance tonight.
“What did Loker do to annoy you this time?”
“Does he actually have to do anything?” Cal growled. He was surprised to at how close she was when she replied, her breath floating across his cheek as she spoke.
“You need to loosen up Cal.” He could swear he saw her wink at him as she placed a feather light kiss on his cheek, before moving away and climbing into the car. He was pretty sure no-one was around to see that either. What was she up to now?
X
Dinner was a quiet affair, his mind completely preoccupied with her behaviour earlier. He didn’t know why she was so quiet but he didn’t spend much time focusing on that.
“More wine?” Her voice broke through his contemplation and he nodded his reply.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“Would you like me to get you drunk?” Her answers were becoming more and more vague and he could swear there was a hint of playfulness in her voice. He decided not to question it and just enjoy whatever it was she was up to.
After dinner they finished up the second bottle of wine in the living room before moving on to scotch. They began reliving stories from the early days of the group, when it was just the two of them and a lot of financial problems.
“She did Cal! Zoe hated me! She would come home every day and glare at me until I left.”
“Maybe she hated that we got to sit around the kitchen all day in our sweats. You never wear your comfy clothes to work anymore.”
“It would be highly unprofessional of me. Don’t you like my office attire?” She wriggled her eyebrows at him as she did a twirl to show off her current fashionable piece.
“I just think you look a lot sexier when you’re more comfortable and in your sweats.” He regretted the words the minute they left his mouth.
“Cal....”
“Sorry luv, it’s hard to get out of the habit of complimenting you when no-one’s around. I sometimes forget you’re only my fake wife.” He smiled at her, hoping to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation.
“Do you want this to be more than fake, Cal?”
So much for diffusing the awkwardness.
Chapter Six
Cal awoke with a start. He had gotten used to waking up to the smell of Gillian’s cooking so when he heard his daughter’s elephant like stomping, he couldn’t help but groan. Turning over he found his usual breakfast chef still in peaceful slumber, her lips slightly parted as she slept.
He began to mentally chastise himself for his behaviour the previous evening. Firstly embracing her so intimately when there was clearly no-one else around, of course she had noticed! Secondly for allowing himself to be that close to her whilst watching that god awful movie that Emily had picked out, and thirdly for remaining there holding her for almost an hour after Emily had pointed out that Gillian was asleep. He just couldn’t bear for the contact to end so soon, the closeness of that embrace a stark contrast to the space between them in his bed.
Gillian’s eyes began to flutter as she woke and Cal quickly clamoured out of the bed, not wanting to be caught gazing at her sleeping form. He’d caused himself enough trouble as it was. Married to his best friend, a woman he was increasingly feeling attracted to. Of course he’d always thought she was beautiful, who wouldn’t, but these new feelings were more than her physical beauty. She constantly made him laugh, challenged him intellectually and she kept him grounded.
Sighing he moved into his bathroom and started to run the shower, hoping to wash away all his problems with the rest of the grime. He emerged some time later to find Gillian’s pyjama’s already folded neatly on the bed and the chattering of excited voices from downstairs.
“Come on Gillian, that doesn’t count.” Cal stilled as he approached the kitchen, eager to hear what the two women were discussing.
“It’s counts for your Dad and I, Emily, and that’s all that matters.”
“But it wasn’t a proper wedding. You didn’t get to wear a nice dress and your families weren’t there. You both deserve something bigger.”
“Emily, we both did the big wedding thing and look how well those turned out. Small and simple, I think that describes your father and me perfectly. So no more on this, ok?” Emily sighed and mumbled something that may have been ‘fine’, Cal couldn’t be sure. Deciding to make his presence known he swaggered around the corner with a happy smile on his face.
“Morning all! Hope we all slept well.” Emily mumbled a reply, a deep scowl covering her face. She brightened immensely though when she saw her father lean in to place a lingering kiss to Gillian’s cheek.
“Morning luv.” He mumbled, carefully avoiding eye contact with his wife. He slid into a seat beside his daughter as a plate of food and a fresh cup of coffee was placed in front of him.
“Dad I’m going to the mall after school with some friends. I won’t be home for dinner but I won’t miss curfew. Ok, thanks bye.” Emily began to make a hasty retreat from the kitchen but was unsuccessful as Gillian stepped in to block her path.
“I thought you were on my side Gill?” She whined as Gillian shot her a sympathetic smile and Cal began his interrogation.
“Who are these friends? Where exactly are you all going? Where are you eating dinner?” The questions continued to flow and Emily was only allowed to escape when Cal felt he was satisfied by all her answers.
“Thank you.”
“Hmm?”
“For stopping her from leaving. We make a pretty good team.”
She laughed, offering him a gorgeous smile as she swept from the room. Cal felt his heart skip a beat as he reached out to hold onto the chair in front of him, afraid his knees would give way without sufficient support.
He closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment to pretend it was all real. That he really was married to this beautiful, intelligent, and funny woman. For a moment everything seemed right and then the moment was over. He pooled his features into a neutral mask as he made his way to the car to begin his day.
X
Loker was beginning to annoy him. Alright he annoyed him regularly but the pangs of frustration he was feeling towards the young man were coming with increasing frequency today.
“What’s the matter boss, wife keep you up late last night?” Eli’s reaction to his own question let Cal know that he at least regretted the question, but Cal wasn’t going to let him get away with it so easily.
“Loker, what my wife and I get up to in our spare time is absolutely none of your bloody business. It’s not all about sex, something you’d be well advised to remember and further more,” he paused for dramatic effect before shoving Loker towards the door, “piss off.”
Loker merely smirked as he side-stepped Gillian whilst exiting the office.
“Hey Mrs. Boss, you know where I can find Ria?”
“She’s reviewing some tapes from the Roberts case. Did you finish the vocal analysis on that?”
“Yep just running through it with that grump you call a husband.” Gillian giggled at the young man before turning to Cal.
“You ready?”
“Ooh big plans tonight?” Eli apparently didn’t know when to learn as Cal fixed him with a withering glare, building up to another rant before Gillian stepped in.
“Goodnight Eli.” Loker smirked at the couple before hastily departing. Cal followed Gillian towards the building exit, careful to keep his distance tonight.
“What did Loker do to annoy you this time?”
“Does he actually have to do anything?” Cal growled. He was surprised to at how close she was when she replied, her breath floating across his cheek as she spoke.
“You need to loosen up Cal.” He could swear he saw her wink at him as she placed a feather light kiss on his cheek, before moving away and climbing into the car. He was pretty sure no-one was around to see that either. What was she up to now?
X
Dinner was a quiet affair, his mind completely preoccupied with her behaviour earlier. He didn’t know why she was so quiet but he didn’t spend much time focusing on that.
“More wine?” Her voice broke through his contemplation and he nodded his reply.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“Would you like me to get you drunk?” Her answers were becoming more and more vague and he could swear there was a hint of playfulness in her voice. He decided not to question it and just enjoy whatever it was she was up to.
After dinner they finished up the second bottle of wine in the living room before moving on to scotch. They began reliving stories from the early days of the group, when it was just the two of them and a lot of financial problems.
“She did Cal! Zoe hated me! She would come home every day and glare at me until I left.”
“Maybe she hated that we got to sit around the kitchen all day in our sweats. You never wear your comfy clothes to work anymore.”
“It would be highly unprofessional of me. Don’t you like my office attire?” She wriggled her eyebrows at him as she did a twirl to show off her current fashionable piece.
“I just think you look a lot sexier when you’re more comfortable and in your sweats.” He regretted the words the minute they left his mouth.
“Cal....”
“Sorry luv, it’s hard to get out of the habit of complimenting you when no-one’s around. I sometimes forget you’re only my fake wife.” He smiled at her, hoping to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation.
“Do you want this to be more than fake, Cal?”
So much for diffusing the awkwardness.
Chapter Six