The Baker

Chapter 56

"Are we going to talk about your birthday at some point?" Ben asked as he flipped through a script. He was sitting up in bed reading it, while Cassie was getting ready for bed in the bathroom. He heard her incoherent grumbled answer, then looked up from his script to watch her walk out of the bathroom. 

She took off her robe and revealed her nighty he had gotten her for Christmas and hung the robe on the closet door next to his. She looked like she was just going to get into bed, but Ben quirked up an eyebrow when she suddenly started crawling up his body. 

He let her gently take the script from his hands and set it on the bed (generous enough to mark the place he had been interrupted at), while she got comfortable straddling him. He hummed in appreciation as he started running his hands up her soft legs and ending at her ass, cupping it firmly. 

"So?" He asked. "Your birthday is next week. What would you like to do?" She hummed in thought, before telling him, "First, I want to ask you something. Then, I'll tell you what I want to do." Ben looked at her oddly, but shrugged and said, "Alright. Ask away." 

He hadn't noticed she was keeping one arm behind her back, until she brought around a letter. His face gave away that he immediately knew what it was. "Why didn't you tell me?" She innocently asked. She wasn't mad, just a bit worried that he wouldn't think to tell her about this. 

"I...I was embarrassed," he mumbled. "That's not exactly something you want to go flashing around, is it?" Cassie tsk'd, then took out the already opened letter. She held it up in front of him and said, "Babe, this is amazing! No, it's not the nicest letter and I'm sure it's not what you had expected to get back from him, but it's pretty cool!" 

Ben let out a light laugh and asked, "How?" She got off his lap and curled up to his side, while unfolding the letter. Ben lazily put his arm around her waist and listened as she told him, "Julian Assange basically told you not to do this movie and you're doing it anyways. This is awesome!" 

He chuckled and placed a kiss on her head. "He could ruin our lives, you know," he told her. "Leak out every bit of information about us to the world." She shook her head and kissed his cheek. "He wouldn't," she assured. "He seems pretty chill about it all. If you go through with it I mean." 

Ben furrowed his eyebrows and told her, "Of course I'm still going with it. Do you not think I should?" Please tell me you think I should, he begged to himself. I still need to pay off a certain ring that is resting beautifully on your finger. 

"Why would I think that? Ben, I want you to go for it. You do what you want to do, okay? I would never stand in the way of that." Ben sighed and placed a small kiss on her lips. "I know you wouldn't, baby, and I'm sorry for making it sound that way. This role has just gotten me so stressed out...I don't know." 

Cassie turned a little more towards him and asked, "What's stressing you out?" He took a deep breath and let it all out, before starting, "Well, first, there's this damn letter. If the person I'm portraying doesn't want me to portray them, then how do I still do it? Second, there's the accent. I know I can do decent impressions, but this is different." 

She hummed in thought, thinking about what to say, until he interrupted her thoughts by saying, "Anywho, what are we doing for your birthday? Your big twenty-seventh birthday...good god and I'm going to be thirty-seven in just a couple months. How does it feel being in love with an old man?"

Cassie laughed and ran her fingers through his hair. "It feels amazing," she told him, before placing a kiss on his lips. "And you're not old. And I don't want to do anything for my birthday. I want to stay in and pretend like it's any other day."