The Baker

Chapter 51

Cassie was never a heavy packer. She found life to be much easier to pack light and if she forgot something, then she didn't worry because she can always buy it at a nearby store. Even packing for a two week vacation, she only had about three bags. It seemed a little too light for her, but she didn't care. The lighter the baggage, the easier. 

As soon as she was packed and ready to go, she called a cab and was off to the airport. This was her and Ben's two weeks away in New Zealand and she couldn't be more thankful for it. After that whole thing with her mom and her Uncle Bob getting together, combined with the stress of the bakery, she needed a week of piece and quiet with her man. 

Not to mention, just two days after they come back, Julie and Kelly will be staying with them for a couple weeks. Kelly was already extending her stay for an extra week, which was perfectly fine with Ben and Cassie. 

Once she got to the airport, Cassie grabbed some coffee and took a seat at the gate. Her flight doesn't leave for another hour and a half or so, but she always had to be early to airports because you just never know how it'll be. 

While she waited, she sent Ben a quick message saying she was going to be boarding soon. He sent back a simple, "I can't wait to see you." Cassie hummed to herself and set down her phone. Ben's been acting awfully strange these past couple weeks. He's been in New Zealand, but whenever they call or Skype, he would act weird around her. 

She doesn't want to say he's been distant, but that's exactly it. His answers were short, his eyes never made contact with hers, and when he did speak in a full sentence, he would stumble over his words. This was not Ben at all and she couldn't help but wonder why. 

Unfortunately, she didn't have to wonder any longer, as she made the horrible mistake of googling him. She never does it, partly for her sanity and partly because Ben thinks it's creepy, but she couldn't help herself this time. If something was in the tabloids and it was bothering him, she had to know. 

Rumors were flaring up again about him seeing another woman. This time, it wasn't Alice Eve, but Evangeline Lilly. Apparently, she played an elf alongside Orlando Bloom. Cassie loved the Hobbit movies, so she immediately recognized her and Tauriel. 

Cassie knew she shouldn't let this bother her because it wasn't true. Ben was not the kind of man to hurt anyone he loves so deeply like that. He's made of sugar and puppies and rainbows and unicorn milk. Obviously, that didn't help the lingering thought in the back of her head about how Evangeline was much prettier and skinnier than she was. 

She spent the rest of her time reading articles and looking at pictures of the two. Of course, Cassie was mentioned in these articles, but was often referred to as "clueless" and "blind with lust" to see that any of it was true. 

That was her thought process the entire flight. No amount of movies or airplane music could get her to stop thinking. She trusted Ben, but she didn't particularly trust the women around him. She doesn't consider herself the jealous type, but when your boyfriend is the most sought-out man in England, then you kind of have to be on guard. 

And as if things couldn't get any worse, she had to be stuck with those thoughts on a plane...for 23 hours and 16 minutes. Had she remembered when googling that the flight was so long, she wouldn't have read all those articles and engraved those images into her mind. 

The worst part about her flying was that she never slept on a plane. She doesn't know why, but it's always been a thing with her. She could take enough sleeping pills to tranquilize a horse and she still probably wouldn't sleep. 

She distracted herself as much as she could, even by writing a little bit, which she hasn't done in an age. She also found herself planning out some ideas for a restaurant business and laughed at herself for it. She took the liberty of naming it "Silly Worthless Ideas" because that's all they were to her.