One Magical Winter

Chapter 8

        It was close to dinner time when Adam and Cassie woke up from their nap. There was loud knocking on there door. Adam pulled on some boxers and went to see who it was. He opened the door to find Tim standing there.

       "Was I interrupting anything?" Tim smirked when he saw how Adam was dressed.

     "No. We were taking a nap. She needed the rest. So, what's up?"

      "Well, we were all getting hungry and wanted to see if the two of you wanted to get some dinner."

        "Dinner sounds good. Let us, uh, me get dressed first."

        "Uh huh, that's what I thought. We are all waiting at my suite. Hurry up. You know how Austin gets when he is hungry." Tim left, shutting the door behind him. Adam turn and saw Cassie already dressed. She looked lovely in a yellow sweater with her jeans. 

        "Feel like having some dinner, love?" He asked, letting the pet name slip.

        "Sure. Food sounds good," she said as her stomach rumbled a little. "You might want to wear more than boxers, though. Even though you look great in just those." 

       "You think so? I didn't realize there was a dress code," he said making her laugh. "I guess I could put some other clothes on just for you." He smacked her butt as he walked passed her to get dressed. They were soon ready to join the others. Jenika had used some of her make up to help with black eye. You could still see it but it didn't look as bad with make up on it. Cassie had decided on getting some of her things whenever they headed back later. She said hi to some of the staff. Some were shocked to see the black eye, but happy to see her with somebody other than Stephen. The staff didn't really like him, either. Most had witnessed the verbal abuse and witnessed other bad treatment . The older ones had worked for her parents and wished that she would rid herself of the monster. 

         There was an older couple at the desk that stopped Cassie on the way to the dining area.

        "Hey, sweetie, we heard about what happened. Do we have this young man next to you to thank for helping you?" She asked.

        "Hey Susie, Simon. This is Adam, Tim, Chance, Austin, Oleana, Sami and Jenika. The the members of Home Free staying on the top floor. Yes, Adam is the one that threw Stephen out the door."

         Simon came around the desk and held his hand out to Adam. "I want to shake your hand, young man. I've been wanting to do that for years but this old body just wouldn't be able to take him on. Hopefully he will be smart enough to stay away, but he probably won't. It will be nice seeing Cassie smile again now that he isn't here."

        Adam smiled at the older couple. He could tell that they were close to Cassie. He watched as Susie whispered something to Cassie that made her laugh. They excused themselves to enter the dining room. Cassie found them a large table for them to sit at and were given menus.

       "So, what did she say that was so funny?" Adam asked.

      Cassie looked at him with laughter in her eyes. "She said that you were a very handsome man and that if she were twenty years younger, she would be the one sharing your bed." Adam blushed slightly as everyone else laughed. "Susie and Simon are like second parents to me. They have been with the hotel since I was a kid." 

       "I take it that most of the staff doesn't like Stephen, do they?" asked Chance.

       "There might be one or two that does. Those are the ones that he hired. The rest don't. He didn't always treat my staff that well. I'm surprised a lot of them stayed. They are loyal to me, not him. They just had to be careful in showing it for fear of what he might do. So, what does everyone want to eat? It's on the house tonight." There were protests about that but she was adamant that they weren't paying.