To Love And Be Loved

Chapter 28

The moment Cass awoke, she knew Victor was gone, even before she opened her eyes. Her hand, still outstretched across the bed was empty, no fingers were interlaced with hers. She sat up slowly, and let out a yawn. He must have drawn the curtains back before he left because the windows were open and bright bars of sunlight illuminated the room and striped the bed.

She felt very rested and wondered why. Maybe it was because she had slept quite earlier than was usual the previous night. It was only when she stood up and put on her glasses that she noticed her bedside clock. It was nine a.m. There was a folded piece of paper on the clock. She picked it up with a smile hovering around her lips; so Victor had left a note. She opened it; his handwriting was a rough slanted cursive. It looked like he was signing a signature with each word.

It read; You don't snore, thank God. But your alarm is horrible. It sounds like a wounded animal.
P. S. Our kiss was great. We should do it again.

Cass put a hand on her mouth and laughed. She felt absurdly happy that she had raised Victor's spirits. He wasn't himself when she had seen him the previous night.

"Cassie?" said Gabriel from behind her door.

"What?"

"Are you... Did you just wake up?"

Cass got off her bed and went to her door. Gabriel was behind the door when she opened it. His hair was wet; he had just taken his shower.

"Yes," she said. "Is something wrong?"

Gabriel squinted his eyes. "Its nine a.m. You are like a punctuality freak. How is it that you aren't up before seven on a Tuesday?"

Cass shrugged and gave a shaky laugh. She started to tell Victor about her alarm but she stopped herself. Of course she couldn't tell Gabriel that Victor had spent the night. He'd probably freak out and then the probability of their mother learning about Victor would be higher. And Cass wasn't ready to tell her mum about Victor. She had no idea how she would react.

"I've just decided to take things more easy, you know?"

Gabriel shook his head. "No, I don't," he said.

Cass crossed her arms across her chest. "Gabe, whats with the questions? Cant I wake up late?"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. This is a plus for me actually?"

Cass frowned. "How?"

Gabriel had already started walking towards the stairs. He leaned against the banister and turned. "Oh, you get to cook breakfast."

"What? Why? Where's Zara?"

"Zara went out with mum. She only made Hanna's breakfast."

Cass groaned and fell back against her door. "God."

Thirty minutes later, Cass was in the kitchen staring at the charred mass in the frying pan.

Gabriel was beside her, stroking his chin. "Hmm, is this how omelet is supposed to look like? Because I know omelet isn't supposed to look like this. Omelet smells better and looks better and I'm sure tastes better."

"At least the coffee came out well."

"That is the extent of your culinary expertise."

"Shut up."

"Haha, at least we've got toast."

Cass walked to the dinning area and drew a seat. She sat down and cradled her coffee in her hands. She watched as the liquid swirled in her favorite cup. Gabriel sat next to her, his phone was in one hand while he held a toast in the other. "Who are you texting?" Cass asked.