Temptation

Rejection: Denied

It's been three weeks since the two run-ins with Benedict. Cassie avoided her usual café in the mornings and afternoons, but one day decided to take a chance and go in. She didn't spot him once and that was two weeks ago. 

She completely forgot about him after that, never taking her time to think about it, but focused solely on her job and getting the kids through testing. She attended her AA meetings once a week, had an appointment with her social worker and passed (per usual), so she didn't really have time to think about him. 

Anna thought he was a dick and vowed to kick his ass if they were to ever came across him. Cassie said she wouldn't stop her. 

To move on with her life even further, Cassie decided to expand her horizons and start going out with Anna. She didn't want to be afraid to go out anymore, nor did she want to spend the rest of her life making sure she was home in time to have dinner with her mother as if she were sixteen. Plus, her mother is driving her crazy more and more everyday. 

"I swear, once this year is up and I can be on my own, I'm sticking her in a home," Cassie vowed. Jess laughed and clinked Cassie's glass of Coke with her glass of beer. "So, how's Roger?" Cassie asked. Roger was Anna's fiancé of three years. She thinks Anna is going to go crazy if she doesn't get married and have kids soon. 

"He's...Roger," she told her. "Still scouting after the next Babe Ruth. I don't understand baseball, I really don't. I know you both tried to get me into it, but I just can't. Now, football..." Cassie laughed and shook her head. Roger was a baseball scout, so he travelled a lot, which was part of the reason their wedding has had to wait so long. 

The wedding was actually set; they had a venue, the guest list, bridesmaids/groomsmen, and where to have their honeymoon. All they needed was a bachelor and bachelorette party, which Cassie has happily planned out as the Maid of Honor. All they needed was a date. 

Anna's phone started vibrating on the table, interrupting their conversation. It was Roger, so naturally, she excused herself to go answer it. Cassie leaned back in her chair and looked out over the beach from her table. She was surprised how close they were able to build this place next to the ocean. If there's ever a tsunami, they're screwed. 

She was just finishing off her Coke when another was placed next to her. "Oh, thank you," she said, while setting her empty one off to the side. She pulled over her new one, but noticed this had a cherry on top. That meant it was a Roy Rogers. 

"I'm sorry," she said, "but I didn't order..." She looked up and saw one particular British man staring down at her. "...this. What are you doing?" He sat down in the empty seat next to her and said, "A Roy Rogers. That's what you ordered the night we met. I know because I asked the bartender for possible future reference, if I had succeeded in asking you out again, which...I clearly didn't." 

Cassie shook her head at him. "Well, you did at one point," she told him, "but you fucked that one up." He sighed. "I'm a dick," he told her. "I'm a pathetic excuse of a man for doing what I did. I realize it's not what I said, but what I didn't say. I was just...shocked is all." 

"Some people usually are," she told him. "But you just...ugh, never mind. I don't want to see you, so please leave." Ben shook his head and gave her a small smile. "You don't understand," he told her. She crossed her arms and said sharply, "I understand enough, I've had to deal with it my whole life. Now, please, leave." 

He was about to say something else, but a voice suddenly shouted, "You better not be who I think you are!" Both heads turned to Anna walking furiously towards them. Ben quickly stood up and backed away from the table when she kept getting closer to him. She ended up backing him into a table. 

"Are you Ben?" She asked, practically in his face. He nodded. "Are you the one that didn't respond to her when she told you she was five years sober?" Again, he nodded. "Then you better leave before I make you leave! I am a woman on a wedding hiatus and desperate to have a baby shoved in my vagina, so I can guarantee you will loose if you pick a fight!" 

Ben looked at a loss for words. When he looked over to find Cassie's eyes as a plead for help...he saw she wasn't there. He quickly scanned his eyes around the room, then saw her walking towards the ocean outside. "Cassie!" He called, before slipping past Anna and running outside. 

"Cassie, let me explain," he begged as he got closer. He looked behind him and saw Anna sprinting towards him. "Oh, fuck," he breathed in a panic. He quickly got in front of Cassie and stopped her from walking. Before she could protest (and before Anna would send him to a hospital), he said at a million miles a second, "I wasn't surprised about your confession, but more about that you told me you would go out with me and I don't mind that you can't have an actually drink, I just want to take you out and like I said, something about you attracts me and you're beautiful and please give me a chance!" 

Cassie sighed and started to think. She could see the anxiousness in his eyes, but she assumed that was because Anna was getting closer and closer. She took a deep breath, looked around in thought, then said, "No." 

Ben thought the blow to his side was just a reaction to getting rejected again, but really, it was Anna knocking him down. "We were the only girls on the football team in high school," Cassie informed Ben, who was on the sand and clutching on to his side as Anna easily stood up. "Maybe this is enough to make you stay away now?"

Ben struggled, but got himself up pretty quickly. "Nope," he panted. "Now I know you were in Football, which means you're into sports. That's just another thing I know and I plan to learn much more." Cassie huffed and asked, "How? By stalking me?"

He shook his head and told her, "By simply taking you out and getting to know you. Unfortunately, tonight is no good because I'm with my mates, but how about tomorrow? I know this great Italian place." 

Cassie really couldn't believe this. He just got Rugby tackled because he wouldn't stay away and he's still after her. "Come on," he said, "I'll buy you all the Roy Rogers' you want. Maybe even a Shirley Temple or two, but we can't get too crazy. It's only the first date."

For the first time since he's popped up in her life like this...she genuinely smiled. She didn't believe he liked her, but this proved her wrong. "You don't...you don't mind that I can't drink?" She timidly asked. Anna gave him a stern glare, but he ignored her and said, "Not at all. Just another thing I've learned." 

"You just got rugby tackled," she pointed out. He took a step towards her and asked, "Shall I take one more? Or two? How many more for you to say yes?" Cassie looked down at the ground for a moment, then looked back up to him. "I think one is enough," she said. "But I don't want to be pressured for a second date. Understand?" 

He nodded furiously with a wide smile. "Of course, of course! Just one is all I'm asking for and we'll see where it goes from there. If it's not meant to be, then it's not meant to be. Alright?" She took a deep, deep breath, then said, "Alright. Tomorrow. I'll give you my number and address inside." 

The three of them walked back inside and she wrote down her information on a napkin. He gave her a promise that he'd call her tomorrow to confirm everything and after a deadly glare from Anna, they parted ways to their separate tables. 

"I can't believe him," Anna scoffed. "I can't believe he still asked you out after that. I can't believe you said yes. Then again, I would have bitch slapped you if you didn't. I want to bitch slap you now for saying yes!" Cassie was thoroughly confused. "Should I have said no--?"

"No! You're lucky you said yes or I would have slapped you into next week!" Cassie giggled, "What's up with you and slapping?" Anna slapped her arm. Cassie laughed and picked up the Roy Rogers she was now thankful for. She took a sip and smiled. God, she loved these. 

After she finished her sip, she looked behind her and spotted Ben smiling at her. He held up his own Roy Rogers and gave her a wink while happily noting that she finally looked back.