A Bit of Tomorrow

Thirty-First

Ellis

I ended up not bringing the contract with me. Now, I'm here with Cassy having dinner. She kept talking about the book she was writing, my mind kept wandering around and oftentimes I found myself not listening to what she was saying.

"I'm nearly finished with it though. I'll turn it in for editing probably in the next two weeks." She said, cutting through her homemade steak. She learned the recipe online, she said she needs to learn how to cook especially when she's about to turn thirty in two years.

"That's good." I nodded warily at her, "But, how do you plan to publish it? Have you contacted a company already?" I asked her, careful not to slip.

She shook her head, "No, I haven't called any of them yet. I don't think I'll be signing with the one's I've met with. Will your company accept me?" she suddenly said. I felt stiff all over and I looked up to see her face. She was laughing. Okay, she was joking. No need to feel too pressured about it.

"Our company would be lucky to have you." I simply stated and gave her a warm smile. She returned the gesture to me and we went back to eating. Silence filled the air, the only noise that was surfacing was the cling of the utensils that we were using.

I cleared my throat, "The thing is..." I began, Cassy directed her gaze to me motioning for me to go on.

"The company wants a contract with you." I said in one go. I was expecting her to show a different expression-a way more different reaction than the smile that I saw her wearing now.

"Really??" she asked in surprise,

I nodded intently, "Yes, they do."

"I'd love to sign with you." She stared at me, wiping her mouth.

"You're serious?" I verified the words that I just heard from her mouth.

"Yes, but just like any other company that asks me to sign with them, I take a lot of time to consider it." She deflated, "I'll think about it, Ellis." She redeemed herself and gave me a sweet grin.

"I just don't want to make the same mistakes that I've been doing for the past years of my career." She shrugged and I agreed.

"I won't rush you, Cassy of course. Take as much time as you need." I assured her, and as much as I wanted those words to be a reality. I really want the best for her.

I'm repeating it, I don't want her to go down just because I did one stupid mistake-not in this lifetime. If it means risking, I'll jump the rail for her. She needs her career intact, after seeing her so broken and down because of the issues swirling around, I can't bare another second seeing her like that again.

"What was that again? Who got engaged?" I diverted the topic to avoid any unnecessary conversation mishaps with what we were talking about earlier.

Her eyes flickered to me and a smile drew on her lips, "Leah, a friend of mine. His long-time boyfriend proposed-finally."

"You seem overly ecstatic about it I see," I perk an eyebrow up.

"What do you mean? Of course, I'm overly ecstatic. I mean, she's finally getting married. God, you don't know how much hardships they had to go through upon reaching this stage." She said as she stood up to put our plates over to the sink. I followed her actions and picked up the glasses and walked behind her.

"Hardships?" I ushered for her to continue talking. We reach the sink and set the utensils on it. She turned to me as I leaned on the sink crossing my arms.

"They were high school sweethearts and broke up when senior year came-for I don't recall what reason. After college they practically found themselves with each other again. Leah's dad wasn't really with the idea of them dating that's why they had to keep it lowkey." She began explaining with her little gestures that I found really cute.