Encounters

Chapter Three

"Whoa, what's up Red? said Gary, seeing her expression the next morning.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Or nothing you want to tell me?"

"Nothing I want to tell you. Get lost, Gary, I'm not in the mood."

"I can see that, Red." He plonked his bum on her desk. "Come on, tell Uncle Gary."

"No."

She typed furiously for a minute until Gary took hold of her wrists and lifted her hands from the keyboard. She twisted out of his grasp with a snarl.

"Hey, take it easy. I just didn't want you to break the keyboard."

"I'll break it over your head if you touch me again."

Gary held his hands up in a surrender pose. "Gotcha." He leaned toward her and smiled. "You look stressed. How about a back rub?"

"See previous warning about touching and keyboards over the head. Go away Gary, I have work to do."

"Whatever you say Red. You know where I am." He grinned and flipped his hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah. Don't hold your breath."

*

"So are you going to tell me?" asked Mike, after they had eaten dinner in silence.

"What?'

"Cass. If I didn't know better, I'd say you had a vendetta against that plate."

Cassandra looked up, right into Mike's blue eyes and sighed. "I've just had a bad day, Dad. Nothing I really want to go into."

Mike coughed and gathered the plates up to stack into the dishwasher. "A problem shared and all that?" he said, hoarsely.

Cassandra sighed. "I had a bit of an argument with a friend, that's all. He said I - well, he said he doesn't like me flirting as it could give the wrong impression." That wasn't exactly what Amitiel had said, but she thought it was close enough.

"I see." Mike stroked his chin and studied her across the table. "Tell me - does this friend of yours flirt?"

Cassandra didn't need to think about that one. "No. He's a sarky little swine."

Mike laughed and coughed again. "Maybe he's just looking out for you?"

"Maybe. But I don't need or want him to. I'm a big girl and I can flirt with whomever I please."

"I know you are, and of course you can. But perhaps he knows that a lot of people can take a bit of harmless flirting and turn it into something much bigger."

Cassandra sighed.

"It's obviously getting to you, fighting with your friend. Maybe you should call a truce? He probably thought he was acting for the best."

Cassandra smiled. "How d'you you always know what to say?"

Mike spread his hands. "I was young once too!"

*

Cassandra had the house to herself at the weekend as Mike's team were playing away and he and his friends had decided to make a weekend of it. She'd just settled on the couch in her pyjamas with her favourite film and a big bowl of cheese doritos when the becoming-familiar silver ball spun in.

"Oh, what? What now? I don't want to come on board."

The ball pulsated, but didn't relay any message and she looked at it curiously.