Her Fear Of Falling Again

Chapter 9

~ Present Day ~

It's been a month now since Cassie had heard or spoken to Sebastian. Cassie had begun advancing in her career. She was now handling bigger clients, not on her own but with a team of other more experienced lawyers. She had experienced going out with them to bars and meeting clients at country clubs but part of her still missed the Hollywood scene. She missed scripts and prepping for roles. She didn't miss auditions as she would go to a thousand auditions before being called in for the tiniest of roles. But she couldn't help but miss the work aspect. Call timesheets and traveling and never really knowing what to expect with each movie she did.

*Bzzz bzzz* her phone began buzzing in the pocket of her jeans. Cassie looked at the caller ID and her face lit up. "Hey, dad!" She says smiling. "Hey, sweetheart. Are we still on for dinner tonight?" her father asked. Cassie and her dad had met at least once a week. It was a tradition. They would do a meal and some sort of activity every week hence Cassie never felt lonely or in need of a relationship. Her dad was her best friend and her everything. No matter how busy work was, he would try to squeeze time in to do something with her. "Yes of course, are you kidding me?" She says. "Okay great, I got tickets to the Lakers game and I thought we could do that after dinner." He says and waits as Cassie lets out a shriek. "Dad, you are the best you know that? Wait are you sure you're going to be able to do this? Work won't call you in?" Cassie asked as she was pretty used to her dad's schedule. There was a time they packed up their picnic and rushed to the hospital where they continued their picnic date at her father's office desk after he completed a 3-hour procedure. The life of a surgeon is so unpredictable. "We'll just have to see." He says. "It's the Lakers dad." She reminds him. "I know honey. I'll see you tonight."

Cassie walks into the restaurant to see her dad had already picked out a nice corner for them and had ordered her favorite glass of Sauvignon Blanc. He had on a Lakers hoodie and blue jeans. They greet each other and catch up as they always did. They shared a pizza, their favorite plain cheese pizza. Mr. Rowan Cassie's dad was never a big meat fan and that was something he passed on to Cassie. They shared similarities in everything except the color of their skin as Cassie was biracial and her dad was white. This was always a blessing and a curse especially when she was younger. People either thought that she was adopted or sometimes people were concerned that she was being kidnapped.

"Dad, I'm going to place our orders and I'll be back," Cassie says as she goes over to the counter to view the menu and place the order. Little did she know that Sebastian Stanley loved pizza too and was at the same joint about to order takeaway for his late-night work when he saw her sitting with an older man in his 50s, at the corner table. He noticed that they were affectionate to each other and had concluded that that was the man Cassie was seeing. The one she kept turning him down for.

"So, I guess I really wasn't your type huh." He says, startling Cassie. She turned around to see Sebastian in casual jeans, a plain white tee, and a denim shirt unbuttoned, standing behind her in the queue. "What is with you and sneaking up on me like that. You startled me dammit." She scolds and shoves him lightly which caused him to chuckle a little. "I never saw you as one who dated older guys." He says. "What are you talking about?" She asks confused by his statement. "I get that you turned me down cause you were seeing someone else, I just didn't think that you were seeing a much older guy." He says gesturing to Mr. Rowan. Cassie turned to see him gesture to her dad and couldn't help but burst out in laughter. "I love this. This is hilarious." She laughs again as Sebastian just stared at her clueless. "Sebastian, that's my dad." She says as soon as she realizes he was not laughing with her. "Your dad? No, he's not." Sebastian says in disbelief. "Why not? Cause he's white?" She asks, waiting for his response. "Well.." he didn't know what else to say.

"Oh my gosh, Sebastian. I'm bi-racial. That's a thing you know." She says a little annoyed that he was not as open-minded as she thought. "That's not all, he looks... He looks really good and you said I'm not your type, it would make sense if you were maybe into older guys." He says.