To Love And Be Loved

Chapter 36

"Are you going to marry him?" Hannah asked.

"What?" Cass wiped sweat from her brow and put her hands on her waist. "What makes you say that?"

Hannah shrugged. "Snow White married the prince and they lived happily ever after." She dug the soft brown earth with her small hands as Cass handed her the rose stalk.

"You have been watching too much Disney movies." She watched an earthworm wriggle in the hole she'd just dug. "And why am I Snow White, by the way?"

"You cant be Cinderella because you don't have any evil step sisters or step mother. You cant be Rapunzel because you aren't locked up in a tower and you hate your hair long. Snow White seems the closest."

"That's very... Aha, If I'm Snow White, then you're a dwarf, right?"

Hannah laughed as she patted the earth around the last of the newly planted flowers. "Gabriel should be the dwarf."

"I'm going to tell him you called him a dwarf when he gets back."

"I'm sure he wont be upset."

Cass squinted at the morning sun. It was getting hotter. "Come on," she said as she removed her gloves.

"Where?"

"To my room. Let's go call Victor."

Cass raced Hanna up the stairs to her room. She dialled Victor's number and put him on speaker. She made him sing one of his songs to them. He made Hannah laugh when he called her lass and swapped the lyrics of his song for funny ones. Finally, it was time for Hanna's ballet class and she reluctantly said good bye.

Cass got onto her bed when Hannah left and took the phone off speaker. "She likes you."

Victor laughed. "Everyone likes me. If you don't like me, be prepared to be struck down by the brilliance of my smile. I'm on my way to the studio, I wish you were here."

Cass smiled and laid her head on a pillow. "Me too."

"I might not be free for the rest of the day. How about I come see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is Saturday. I'll be working."

"I'll come by."

Cass raised her eyebrows. "How would you that? I wonder what would happen after yesterday. Everyone is talking about the mystery girl. "

Victor laughed. His laugh was warm and it made Cass' lips lift in reply. "You'll make a great celebrity, Cassie."

"Okey dokey."

"Tell me something. Sam is boring me to death with his guitar riffs and Layla is convinced I'm an alien."

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"Anything. Tell me you'll see me tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tell me you'll see me the next day."

"I'll see you the next day."

"And the day after that."

"And the day after that."

"Cass." Cass heard her mother call her name. "Got to go. Bye."

"Good bye, Cassie."

Cass got off the bed, out of her room and down the stairs. Her mother was at the doorway, her car key jingling in her hand. "I'm going to drop off Hannah. Tell Gabriel to clean his room when he gets back. It looks like a toxic dump site in there."

"Alright," said Cass as she returned to her room. She was folding up the clothes that were going to be laundered when her phone ping. She crawled onto the bed and checked the notification, it was an e-mail. She sat back on her bed and opened it. It was empty, save for an attachment. She clicked it and watched the contents with her hand over her mouth.

He was terrible to look at in the video. Not in a slick way, but in a sweaty, spoilt way. Like a shiny apple with rotten insides. She kept playing it over and over again and each time she thought about the party at his loft.

This was who he had been.

This was who he might be again.

Did it really matter? She thought.

She watched it over and over. He looked younger and there was an empty look in his face that scared her. She couldn't hear the song he was singing, the noise from the crowd was deafening. There was an intensity to his movement that screamed of something alien. Drugs. A thousand camera phones captured the moment as he leant against the microphone stand. Then, his fall, that was almost in slow motion. And the feeble attempt his hands made at getting up. And the concert officials that carried him off stage, like a bundle of rags, his head lolled back and his dreadlocks hanging from his head and pointing towards the floor like tendrils of smoke.

Her heart beat against her ribs, convulsively. She tried replying the email but she couldn't. It was an Anonymous Mail.

She switched off the phone and closed her eyes. She had an eerie moment of foreboding. A voice in her head screamed danger and regret. But she didn't know what to think. She kept remembering the way she felt whenever he kissed her and the feel of his hands on her.

Perhaps, she was going to regret it but right then, in that moment, she let herself imagine it was all some fantasy. And there would be a happy ever after just like in Disney movies.

Hey guys, right now, we can safely say that Cass has had enough warning. But can you blame her? And who do you think sent that video?
I hope you liked this chapter, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading.
❤❤The_kiddler.