Half a World Away

10 - Cassidy

The darkened cinema lit up brightly as the credits rolled on the screen. As if mechanically, Cassidy moved to clear the rubbish from the seats after the last patron had exited. Footsteps approached, startling Cassidy from her silence. Lucas walked towards her slowly and cautiously. Ignoring him, Cassidy returned to her task at hand.

"You've ignored my messages all week," Lucas stated quietly, standing at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the rail.

"Maybe because I have nothing to say to you," Cassidy retorted not looking at him.

"I thought you had fun with me," Lucas replied.

"What if I did," Cassidy shot back, giving in and looking at him, "It doesn't matter. You were only using me."

"That's not true," Lucas whispered as he started to ascend the stairs towards her.

"Just admit it," Cassidy snapped, after the previous night's events, she was in no mood to play games with anyone. "You were using me to get closer to Jasmine. Don't worry, I'm used to it."

Cassidy pushed the bag of rubbish into Lucas' hands and brushed past him, exiting the cinema.

"Seven is clear," Cassidy spoke into her headset. She stormed down the long hallway to the entrance. "I'm just taking a bathroom break," Cassidy whispered to Dean who was working on the entrance collecting guests' ticket stubs.

Before Dean could reply to her, she wandered to the back, staffing area and disappeared into the women's bathroom. Cassidy closed herself into a cubicle, sitting on the lid of the toilet. Pulling out her mobile phone from her pocket, she stared at the empty screen.

C45510Y: I'm sorry.

Tears welled in Cassidy's eyes as the silence of her phone surrounded her like a dark hole sucking her down. Her entire world felt like it had stopped spinning. She wondered how she had become so invested in an unrealistic life. So much for her resolution that morning in the shower to forget him. It seemed to be more difficult than she believed.

"Cass," a soft voice came from outside the stall. Cassidy recognised it as Gabrielle, another staff member. "Dean asked me to check on you. You've been in there awhile."

Cassidy quickly wiped away the rolling tears from her cheeks.

"Yeah, I'm actually not feeling too well," Cassidy replied, standing up and opening the door to speak to Gabrielle. "Can you please tell Dean I had to go home?"

Gabrielle regarded Cassidy, who hoped it wasn't obvious that she had been crying. She knew she was kidding herself, her eyes were blood shot and puffy.

"Sure," Gabrielle muttered as she left the bathroom, giving Cassidy one last sideways glance of concern before the door closed behind her.

With a deep breath, Cassidy quickly retrieved her bag from her locker and left the cinema building, making sure to avoid both Dean and Lucas.

An hour later, at home curled in her bed, Cassidy was stirred by the all too familiar PING of her phone. It was Dean, checking up on her. Refusing to reply she placed her phone back on her bedside table, pulling her doona up around her for comfort and warmth. Cassidy closed her eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep.

When Cassidy opened her eyes again the sun had set and the darkness of night surrounded her in her bedroom. She felt groggy even after having been asleep for a few hours. Reaching out with a waving hand, Cassidy grabbed for her phone. The bright white light lit up the room like lightning in a storm. Cassidy squinted at the sudden illumination, waiting for her eyes to adjust. It was eight o'clock at night and Dean would be home shortly.