The Neighbor II

Ridiculous

"You," Ben growled as he looked at Sarah. She gripped on to Ben's arm and held on to it. "Mom," Cassie gasped, "dad...Sarah." She gulped as she looked at her family...ex-family, she likes to say. Ever since the trial, she'll never see them the same. 

She then looked to Tom and said, "What...what are you doing?" He looked to Sarah, then her and asked, "What's wrong?" He had to play this cool, but he was internally freaking out. This is exactly what was not supposed to happen!

Look at him, he thought as he watched Ben burn the heat of a thousand suns into his soul, he knows. He fucking knows. "That's my sister," Cassie said. "My parents...what are you trying to pull?" Ben wrapped his arm around Cassie and put his free hand on top of Michael, who was still in her arms. 

"I'm not pulling anything," he said. "I'm simply dating Sarah. I didn't know you were sisters, I swear. I would never put you in this position." Ben looked at him curiously. "What position?" He asked. Tom looked confused, so he explained, "You said you would never put her in that position." 

Tom gulped. "Can we all just...stop," Patricia said, not taking her eyes off her growing grandson in Cassie's arms. "This is your Michael?" She softly asked. "He's so big." Michael leaned his head on his mom's shoulder and held on to her shirt. 

"Mommy," he whispered. "Who that?" Cassie ran her fingers through his hair and said, "This is your grandma. But she's leaving now. So is your grandpa and aunt." They all looked at her in mild shock. "Cassandra," her mother gasped. "I have every right to see my grandchild!" 

"After nearly two years?" Cassie asked in disbelief. "I don't think so." Ben rubbed Michael's arm and said, "Mikey, go watch over your sister." Cassie set him down and he ran off into their bedroom without question. "Sister?" Patricia asked. 

Cassie went up to Ben's side and said, "We have a week old daughter. Not that you would have bothered to know. But I'm sure Sarah did." She gave her sister a pointed look. Sarah started to stutter something, but then Michael came running back to the door and said, "Autie! Come play!" 

Ben and Cassie shot up their heads to Sarah and Tom. "Autie," Ben said with an edge to his voice. "I assume that's a form of aunty." Sarah and Tom both tensed up. This was giving Ben all the information he needed. 

Sarah told him everything, he thought to himself. Tom isn't a manufacturer. He's something far worse and a very big threat to me. "So this has been going on for a while then, if my son can say auntie," he told them. "I don't think we need to discuss this here," Brian said. 

"Oh I have nothing to discuss with you," Ben told him. "I'm talking to me neighbor. As a matter of fact, maybe you should just leave." Brian looked to Cassie, who just held on to Ben's arm and looked down.  Brian sighed. "Come along, Patricia," he said. "Sarah, Tom we'll be here two more days if you need anything."

Tom nodded and said, "Thank you, Brian." Brian then turned to Ben and Cassie and just shook his head, before taking Patricia's hand and dragging her away. Tom, Sarah, Ben, and Cassie were staring each other down in the hall. "Michael," Ben said, "go back to your sister for me, buddy." 

Michael took off again, leaving the adults alone. "I should fucking sue you," Ben said. "She is a threat to my child. We have a court order, she can't be near Michael." Tom scoffed, then told him, "She was near him when she showed up at the restaurant you took him to. You didn't seem to complain then."

Ben took a huge step towards him and was practically chest-to-chest. "How did you know that?" He lowly asked. "Were you following me?" Tom didn't answer, just stared back. Ben huffed, then turned his gaze to Sarah. 

"I know you blabbed your mouth," he growled. "Who did you tell? Him?" Cassie came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Sarah, what did you do?" She asked, as she saw the familiar guilt in her sister's eyes. 

Sarah looked to her, to Ben, then to Tom and back to her sister. "I'm trying to protect you, Cass. You, Michael, and Jess--." Ben moved dangerously close to her and sinisterly whispered, "Do not ever say my children's names again. Don't you ever say you are protecting Cassie or our kids because you're not!" 

Cassie gently pulled on his shoulder and he stood back. Sarah was on the brink of tears. Tom rubbed her back, then said, "Go inside, I'll be there in a minute." She quickly went inside the apartment, leaving Tom to deal with this. 

"You need to back off, Ben," Tom warned. "You don't know who you're messing with. Ben gave a small smirk. "Oh, I think I do," he said. "You are not who you say you are, Hiddleston. I can see it in your eyes, in your posture. You are not a manufacturer, but someone very important. Someone who should be very careful not to get in my way."

Tom stepped up, until they were face-to-face. "Is that a threat?" He asked. Ben chuckled. "It's friendly advice that I highly suggest you take to heart. Or something else will." Tom's eyes widened. This was the Ben Carlton he was trying to expose and he did it right in front of his wife!

Of course, when he looked to Cassie, she seemed unfazed. "Ben," she said, "let's just get inside." Ben gave Tom a quick once over, then followed his wife back inside the apartment without another word. He knew he would be in even more trouble if he did. 

Tom, in the meantime, was obsessed over Cassie. She didn't react. At all. This was the dark side of him and unless she sees it every night, this is should have shocked her. Unless...no, that's ridiculous. She wouldn't be covering up for Ben...would she?