Cassandra’s POVOn the weekend, I went to visit Stella and her mom, Julia. I stopped by the flower shop on the way to pick up some orchids, since I knew they were Julia’s favorite flower. I also put together a little gift basket with some bath bombs and scented lotions, as well as a lavender candle.“You shouldn’t have,” Julia said when I gave her the gift. “Really, Cassandra, that’s so thoughtful.”“Don’t mention it,” I waved my hand dismissively. Stella mouthed ‘thank you’ as she served us tea. I was happy to see that Julia looked well. A little pale and fragile, but she was clearly on the mend. I’d always been really fond of Julia. Stella’s parents divorced when she was very young and her dad took off, never to be heard from again. So Julia had been a single mother most of Stella’s life.We chatted well into the afternoon and ordered Chinese take-out for dinner. Shortly after dinner, Julia began to doze off, so Stella covered her in a blanket and Stella and I went upstairs to her be
Cassandra’s POVI woke up early, just as the sun was rising. Waking up early was something I did out of habit. During my marriage to Jordyn, I always got up before him. I’d carefully crawl out of bed so as not to disturb him, and creep into the kitchen to make him breakfast. I’d put on the coffee and cook him up something I knew he enjoyed: waffles with extra crispy bacon, omelets with extra cheese and mushrooms, oatmeal with raisins and chocolate chips. I did it out of love. He worked long days and I enjoyed having a nice, hot breakfast waiting for him when he woke up.Stella was fast asleep beside me, snoring and occasionally smacking her lips. I knew it was insanely early and I didn’t want to wake her, so I pulled back the covers and stretched my arms over my head. But as I crept out of bed, Stella rolled over and peeked at me with one open eye.“Are you nuts?” she mumbled. “It’s not even 6 am. What are you doing up this early?”I shrugged. She was right. What WAS I doing up that
Cassandra’s POV Stella and I pulled up to the office building and parked in the underground parking. Since it was Sunday, there were tons of open parking spaces so we parked close to the elevator. Stella frantically pressed the button, and for a brief moment, I was seized with panic. Memories of being trapped in the elevator at Jordyn’s office flashed through my mind. The confined space, the feeling of suffocating, the intense squeezing in my chest. But I took a long, calming breath. It had been an accident, being trapped that day. A one-off. ‘You’ve ridden the elevator thousands of times and HAVEN’T been stuck,’ I told myself. Besides, what was I going to do? Never ride in an elevator again? “Come on,” Stella urged the elevator, pressing the button like a mad woman. “That won’t make it come any faster,” I told her. “Yeah, well, it won’t make it come any slower, either,” she quipped back. We were both on edge. Seei
Cassandra’s POV I whipped out my phone. “Who are you calling?” Stella asked, as I searched my contacts. “Jordyn,” I replied. “What? Why?” Stella asked, concern in her eyes. I knew what she was thinking. She thought I had reverted to calling Jordyn because I was upset and seeking comfort. But that wasn’t the case at all. “We need to let him know that our designs have been stolen,” I told her. “This could impact our collaboration and the entire fashion competition. He has a right to know.” Stella frowned. “I suppose,” she said reluctantly, but I heard the hesitation in her voice. “Just remember, he still thinks you’re a personal assistant.” Right. For a brief moment, I’d almost forgotten that as far as Jordyn was concerned, I was just a low-level employee who was overseeing some of the project while our chief designer was away. “Okay,” I said as I hit the call button. “I’ll tell him you called me in
Cassandra’s POV By mid-afternoon, our team had assembled in our vandalized office. They all had the same reaction when they saw the mess: wide-eyes, a gasp, then a sad, sympathetic look. “We’ve hired a cleaning company,” Stella told them. “But Cassandra and I cleaned out the boardroom and studio as best we could. It’s not ideal, working under these conditions, but it’s the best we can do right now.” Once everyone was there, we told them the bad news – that the draft designs had been stolen. “We don’t know who stole them or why,” I told the staff, “but we can assume they intend to use our designs. As such, we can’t wait for the fashion competition to reveal our concept. We need to get some of our designs out to market as quickly as humanly possible.” Everyone nodded, although they looked apprehensive. “Not ALL the designs,” Stella interjected. “Just a few. So the first step is to decide which designs we can re-draft and p
Cassandra’s POV My eyes fluttered open but it was too bright so I closed them. Where was I? The room smelled of disinfectant. Confused, I opened my eyes again. I was shocked to find myself lying in a hospital bed. Disoriented, I struggled to understand. But then the memory flooded back to me. I’d been in the studio, sleep-deprived and exhausted when suddenly, I’d become very dizzy. ‘You must have fainted,’ I thought to myself. “Cass?” I turned to see Stella sitting on a chair at my bedside. She stood up and came to me when she saw that my eyes were open. There was someone standing behind her. I quickly realized that it was my brother, Cameron. “Jesus, Cassandra,” Cameron said. “You gave us quite a scare.” “What happened?” I asked. How did I get from the studio floor to a hospital? I looked at my wrist. I was hooked up to an IV. Stella saw the shocked look on my face. “It’s okay
Cassandra’s POV “Familiar how?” I asked Cameron. He shrugged. “I can’t explain it,” he said. “But the whole thing just felt off. I mean, they’re good designs. Fabulous, actually. Very creative. As I looked through them, though, something just wasn’t sitting right. So I went to your office to show them to you.” “Do you have the designs with you?” I asked. “Of course,” Cameron said. He opened his briefcase and pulled out a large folder. Cameron handed me a folder just as Stella let out a huge yawn. “Excuse me,” Stella said, covering her mouth. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked a little woozy.“Stella, please,” I told her. “You need to get some rest.” Stella hadn’t worked for three days consecutively like I had, but she was close. She’d pulled some really long days too. I was worried about her. I’d made a huge mistake, one that had landed me in the hospital. I didn’t want the same for her. Stella yawned again. “Maybe you’re rig
Cassandra’s POV“Dillon?” I gasped. Dillon was the last person I expected to see in the hospital hallway. I felt even worse now that I’d ruined his shirt. “What are you doing here?”He smiled, the half-empty Styrofoam cup of coffee still in his hand.“I came to see you,” he told me.My stomach did a little flip-flop as he flashed me his boyish grin. He looked good, in navy pants and the crisp white shirt. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. If not for the massive coffee stain on the front of his shirt, he’d look like he just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine.He came to see ME? Actually? I wasn’t expecting that. I knew that Dillon and I had grown increasingly closer over the past few weeks. In fact, I was starting to think of him as one of my best friends. But I was surprised that he’d come all the way to the hospital just to see me.Surprised and somewhat confused…“How did you know I was here?” I asked, flummoxed.“Cameron told me,” Dillon said matter-of-factl
Cassandra’s POV“Come on! It’s staring!” Stella squealed, motioning for us all to join her. We were at Dillon’s, eagerly awaiting the start of the televised red carpet event for the launch of Lucinda Starke’s new movie. True to her word, Lucinda had ordered a custom dress from Hot House Design to wear to the event. I’d worked tirelessly on the dress myself, making sure that it was perfect. Now it was time to watch her prance down the red carpet in it.It was a Saturday night, and we were only a couple weeks away from our vacation now. Dillon was back to his old self and had been given the green light from the doctor to go on a holiday. I hadn’t told Stella about my strange phone call with Jordyn regarding the fashion show bill. The phone call had been almost a week ago, and despite his promise to pay the bill, I kept getting calls from the venue.I tried to push the stress aside so I could really enjoy the evening. Dillon had cooked us all his famous lasagna, and we’d eaten outside, si
Cassandra’s POVI asked the person on the phone to clarify. What did she mean Jordyn hadn’t paid the bill! I asked for the amount of the bill and balked. It was a massive amount of money, since the venue included décor, food, lighting, and drinks. Jordyn had arranged everything, promising to foot the bill, as per our collaboration. And clearly, he’d spared no expense.Don’t get me wrong, the venue had been magnificent and Jordyn had really outdone himself. But I never, in a million years, would have made some of the choices he had if I’d known we might have to pay for it.I thanked her and told her that I would take care of it. I hung, feeling upset. Hot House Flower didn’t have that sort of money just sitting around. But as co-signers of the event, we were on the hook for the bill if Jordyn’s company reneged on the payment.Which it looked like they were.My mind spun. Sure, we had a company account, but paying off a bill that large would put a massive dent in our company funds, and w
Cassandra’s POVLisa! Of course!“Come in,” I said, smiling. She was the wife of the man Ellie had been cheating with. I’d sat with her and consoled her while we talked about men and how awful they could be. I’d given her my number, hoping that we could become friends, but I’d never heard from her.What was she doing here in my office though? I told her to come in.She came and sat at my desk, a troubled look on her face.“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.“It’s no bother,” I said kindly, my curiosity piqued.“I thought about doing this over the phone, but I figured it was best to do it in person.”She reached into a briefcase at her feet and pulled out some papers. She placed them on my desk, spread out, and then shook her head.I stared at the papers, shocked. They were…my sketches. The design sketches that had been stolen the night of our office robbery.“Where did you get these?” I asked, my eyes fixed on the sketches.“I found them. In his drawer
Cassandra’s POVI closed down my computer for the day, happy to be done work for the day. I was bringing Dillon dinner at his house, even though he was more than capable of cooking again. He’d been home for over two weeks now, and he was back into his old routine, with a few modifications. He still had to take it easy when it came to physical exercise, and he wasn’t supposed to work too much, but he was getting better day by day.I brought him supper every day after work. It was the least I could do, since he’d looked after me when I was ill. Besides, I liked being at Dillon’s house, and I looked forward to it every day. Honestly, I think he liked being taken care of, which was why he hadn’t offered to cook dinner yet. He was milking it a bit, the whole ‘me looking after him’ thing. I was happy to do it though. It felt nice, taking care of Dillon after everything he’d done for me.We’d talked about having me stay with him, at his house, while he recovered. But I ultimately thought it w
Dillon’s POV“Vacation?” Cassandra asked, an amused look on her face. I blushed. What the hell had I just said? Of all the things I could say to her, right in that moment, I asked her to go on vacation?I felt like an idiot. I’d made a promise to myself when I’d found out she was kidnapped. I promised to tell Cassandra how I really felt. This whole business with Laura had stirred up some unexpected emotions in me, bringing me back to a time I wanted to forget. Plus I was emotional from the medication.But none of that changed how I felt about Cassandra. My feelings for her were so strong, so real, and so all-consuming.I loved her. I’d always loved her. And I always would.The night I met Laura at the law school mixer was the night I’d found out that Cassandra was engaged. I pretty much NEVER had one-night stands. I was more of a relationship type guy. But seeing Cassandra’s engagement splashed all over Facebook, well. It hurt. I felt like I’d lost her, forever. She was getting married
Dillon’s POVShe was so cute when she ate soup, Cassandra. I watched her from my bed as she tried to delicately slurp the soup from the spoon, dripping some onto her chin. I’d been bracing myself for the conversation we just had for days, ever since I learned that it was Laura who had swooped in and given me the blood I needed for my transfusion.I hadn’t even seen her, though, Laura. She left long before I was awake that night. She just sort of slipped in and slipped out, just like she had all those years ago. Or at least, that’s what it felt like.I rarely thought about those days. Sometimes it felt like it hadn’t even happened. One minute, I was flirting with a pretty woman at a law school mixer. And the next? I was sitting in a café being told I was going to be a father. I’d been so caught off guard, so overwhelmed. And then I’d been overjoyed.That was the part I left out while I told Cassandra the story.The news that Laura was pregnant had hit me like a bolt of lightning, but on
Cassandra’s POVI felt my jaw drop wide open.What did he just say?Laura had been…pregnant? That wasn’t the reason I’d been expecting. Dillon fell silent, staring out the window. My thoughts whirled.“And the baby was…” my voice trailed off.“Mine,” Dillon finished, a finality in his tone.“Oh my god, Dillon,” I said, reaching for his hand. “What happened? To the baby, I mean?”For a brief moment I wondered if Dillon had a child. I mean, it was possible, I supposed. I wasn’t naïve enough to think he’d never been with a woman before. And accidents happen. So it was plausible that Dillon had a little kid out there, running around somewhere in the world.But then why wasn’t he with his child? No. I shook my head. Dillon would NEVER abandon his own child. He was loyal to a fault. I chastised myself for even thinking that way.“It was an accident,” Dillon told me. “I barely even knew Laura. We just…we hooked up one night at a college party and then bam, out of nowhere, she called me up to
Cassandra’s POVIt wasn’t until a week later that I finally got up the nerve to ask Dillon about his ex-wife, Laura. Dillon had been recovering for the better part of the week, and I didn’t want to disrupt his progress. He was mostly asleep anyway, drifting in and out of dreams, seeming a bit dazed and confused. So I waited until I felt like he could handle the emotional weight of the conversation.“Hello beautiful,” Dillon smiled at me as I came into his room. Cameron and I had been taking shifts at the hospital, making sure that at least one of us was always there for him, although, in all honesty, I was there the most.He was sitting in his bed, looking quite good. The color had come back to his face and he was no longer hooked up to the machines. He wasn’t quite well enough to go home yet, but he’d been transferred out of intensive care and now had a room with a window. He’d still need to stay another week or so in the hospital so he could be monitored, but he looked more like hims
Cassandra’s POV“There she is. My beautiful wife,” Dillon teased from his hospital bed, winking at me. He was trying to make a joke about the fact that I was pretending to be his wife, but hearing him say the word ‘wife’ cut my heart like a knife.He was looking much better though. The color had returned to his cheeks a bit and his complexion was less gray and pasty. He was sitting up, still hooked up to an assortment of machines. But he was awake and lucid.I paused at the door. Part of me wanted to run to him and take his hand in mine. I wanted to rest my head on his chest and have him stroke my hair.The other part of me?It wanted to slap him hard across the face.“What’s wrong?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “I was shot, remember. I’m not contagious. Come. Sit.”He patted his bedside, searching my face. I tried to move, but my feet wouldn’t budge.“Dillon,” I said. I wanted to ask him about Laura, but he was still hooked up to machines. He’d just gone through hell, hell that I’d c