Unexpected

Part 8: Time Away

Showing up at Cassian's door, Helen tries to calm herself and prepare for whatever he's going to say.

"Where are we?" Daphne asks as she looks up at her Aunt.

They had gone home to change and yet it doesn't change how both of them feel.

"My boyfriend's...his name is Cassian."

"You have a boyfriend?" It nearly breaks her heart to hear Daphne seem less enthused.

"Yes. He's really nice. I think you're really going to like him." She tries to hype her up, but it seems it's not working.

"Helen! Oh! Daphne. Hi, I'm Dr. Shin, but you can call me Cassian or Cass if that's easier to remember." Cassian smiles kindly and Daphne- in a polite, but snotty way- makes a point.

"Nice to meet you Dr. Shin." He stares at her, blinking a few times at the sound of her anger and wonders why she seems to dislike him when they briefly met after the hostage take over- and even then it wasn't anything she'd write home about.

"Well, when you're ready." He says and allows them to come inside. His flat and all it's grandeur instantly annoys Daphne. It's echoey and obnoxiously spacious- normally it would intrigue her to run around and dance, but compared to Max's smaller, close quartered apartment where she feels welcomed and loved- she hates it. "So, how was your night?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about briefly."

"Okay? Everything alright?"

"Sort of. Um...Daphne, could you give us a moment, Darling?" Helen asks sweetly. "Here, you can watch shows on my phone or listen to music- I may have a game or two on there."

Looking at the phone- Daphne really doesn't know what to do with it. Her father had an old tech flip phone and her grandfather only used the house phone.

"Here, turn it on like this" Helen shows her with the side button. "Swipe up and put in this number- 8286- and voila. Just swipe and click an app you want to use. Okay?"

She ushers her towards the couch and thenshe and Cassian head into his bedroom.

"She seems...different." Cassian says. "When does she head back?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about."

"Well that doesn't sound good."

"For certain reasons, I have decided to keep Daphne with me."

"For how long?"

"Forever." She says and watches his face change ever so slightly before he puts that charming smile back on.

Out in the living room, Daphne stares at the screen of little boxes. She never used this kind of technology in her hands before. Her grandfather was very strict in what she could do and when her father was home- they were outside gardening or playing games. In school, they stuck to book learning and at times would allow the students to use one of the computers to look up something for an assignment.

"Face...book?" She quietly says and presses the blue tile. The screen turn white with a blue strip on it and Daphne watches as pictures of people she doesn't know pop up with videos, pictures and blips of verbiage complaining about this or that and what not. Making it to Helen's profile, she notices that the picture is of her and this Cassian guy. Clicking on the picture- very few people have liked this photo. Swiping to the next one, she finds more people have liked and commented on it. It's one of her laughing.

Max Goodwin:
Nice to see I take good photos.

Helen Sharpe:
You do...not that you should be using my phone!