A Surprise ⇢ Callum Ilott

TWENTYTHREE

"Can I draw on your cast, please?" Alex politely asked and sweetly smiled. "Because it's looking really boring now."

Catherine looked at him. "As long you keep it nice and friendly, be my guest," she answered. "So, no dicks."

"Oh, Cate, I would never do that." He tried to sound convincing, but he knew Cate knew better. The sweet smile on Alex face turned into a cheeky smile.

"But for real, you can draw on it, but keep it nice and friendly. I have this beautiful cast, it's pretty solid concrete, and I'm pretty sure I can knock you out with it. So, be aware," she seriously told him.

Alex chuckled. "You don't trust me, do you?"

"Nope."

"Good thing to know," he said offended. "Do you have a black marker?" Catherine was shaking her head. "Alright, I will get one from my room," Alex said.

Catherine yawned and nodded. "Shall we go outside? I need my daily dose of vitamins, and since the sun is shining here after a shit load of rain."

"As you wish, princess."

She straightened her face and sighed annoyed. "I swear to god, Alex. You are this close to welcome a punch in your face."

Alex laughed, and they went to Alex's hotel room to pick up markers and something to drink. Unfortunately, George couldn't join them in the afternoon due to his work. The terrace was again filled with people, Tuesday was the last day off for the teams. Catherine managed to claim a seat; a corner sofa under a tree.

"Any preferences on the Alex art?"

Catherine took off the arm sling. "Do whatever you want," she said. Alex nodded and started drawing something on the cast. "You know, this is bothering me for a while now. What if The Rock, or someone else who is really bulky, brakes his arm? They need a cast too, but it's just...they have huge arms. That must look weird as fuck. Mega cast arm, massive around the biceps."

He snorted. "Sometimes I don't want to know what is going on inside your head," Alex admitted.

"But for real, that must look weird," she said and looked at Alex. "I just keep thinking about it."

"You are weird."

"Thanks."

Alex smirked and concentrated on his artwork on the cast. "Cate, you never told me how you even met Callum. You suddenly are in some kind of relationship drama. I am confusion."

A sigh rolled over Catherine's lips. "We met a few years ago, obviously. It was at a race of George."

"Hmm-hmm."

"But you know, who was I? Anyway, as you know, Vince got married a few months ago. He's my cousin-in-law or whatever you call him now. So I met Callum at his wedding, he happened to sit across the table from me," Catherine told. A weak smile was covering her face, it was a great way to meet Callum. "Before I continue, I have to say that Masha tried to set me up with a dude, that is why I didn't sit with my family at dinner. That dude sat next to me, I didn't pay any attention to him."

"Because you were distracted by Callum," Alex filled the story in.

Catherine was shaking her head. "Nope, I got distracted by someone who was about to eat, but whose food fell off his fork," she smirked. "Callum saw it happening as well, we were the only two who saw it. We chatted the whole evening and yeah, that's how it started."

"But how did you keep in touch? I mean, it must be odd for Callum to date literally the female version of George." Alex looked at Catherine for a few seconds.

"He didn't know I was George's sister. And who cares whose sister I am? It's not like George's career is added some spice to my life, no offence," Catherine muttered. "Callum and I got pretty tipsy at the wedding, he didn't have a place to stay because it was too late to find a taxi or whatsoever, so he slept on my couch that evening. The next morning we had breakfast, and it was over. A few weeks later, I was working, got called by a guest, found Callum between the guests and we started to date."

He nodded and started a new drawing. "This is one of the best ways of meeting the love of your life. Fairy tail worthy story."

Catherine snorted. "Love of your life... I wish I could call him like that, well yeah, he might be it," she said and looked at Alex. It looked kind of adorable how focussed he was on the drawing. "I enjoyed the time we have spent together. Callum feels so right, everything feels so right when I am with him, but again, if faith doesn't want me to fall in love, then it should it be that way."

Alex stopped drawing, and his eyes shot up to his best friend. "Now you're talking bull crap, Catherine."

"It is what it is," she shot back. "I mean, I get a fucking accident, I lose the guy I like, I probably never get to work as chef again, what's next?" Catherine sighed. "I should have contacted Callum, I know that, but my phone broke, and that was the last thing on my mind at that moment."

"But you could have asked George to message him..."

Catherine groaned annoyed. "Why keeps everyone saying that? I know I could have asked George to do that, but I wasn't thinking about it. It sounds so selfish, but for once, I have chosen for myself. I have worked myself into a burn-out over the past few years, and I was lucky enough to discover about it at an early stage, but it could have been worse."

"Still no reason to not contact important people," Alex bitchy said. "You could have injured more badly, you could have died. If someone cares about someone, they want to know and understand what is going on with that person."

It was silence. Catherine tightened her jaw and stared in front of her. Of course, she knew Alex was right, but it felt like no one would understand her. If Catherine was honest, she would be angry as well if someone did this to her. It felt like it all made sense to her, but not to others.

❉

A questionable look was resting on Callum's face, he didn't want to see her, but he couldn't stop looking at her. Catherine looked more rested, he couldn't place his finger on it, but she looked different from the time they met. Like she was fresh, reloaded to work hard again, rested and more beautiful.

"You need to stop staring," Marcus chuckled when he noticed Callum looking at Catherine.

Callum broke the stare and looked at something else. He chewed on the inside of his lip.

"What is holding you back from forgiving her?" Mick curiously asked. "Because we all know how badly you want her back."

Marcus squeezed his eyebrows together and looked at Mick. "Mate, isn't this obvious to you why-"

"Shh, I want to hear it from him, not you," Mick interrupted Marcus stubbornly.

"What is she doing with Alex?" Callum tilted his head and looked back at Catherine and Alex. "Since she arrived, Alex is hanging around her like he is her boyfriend, but he has a relationship with Lily, so I'm confused." He sighed. "You know what, I don't care. I was just a phase to her."