Come Around

When Monday morning came, Cassie dragged herself into the office to, once again, be greeted by a messy desk. Justin was nowhere to be found. She sighed and took a seat, sorting through the things that were carelessly strewn everywhere. The longer she waited, the more frustrated she became.

After about half an hour, Vanessa came up next to her and Cassie looked at her, "I'm about to scoot and slam this shit," Cassie said.

"Where to?" Vanessa asked.

"The fucking garbage can," Cassie said, "This is everyone else's crap. Why is it on my desk? This is such bullshit."

Vanessa laughed, "You know who you have to thank, right?"

"I have a pretty good idea. He's not here though and apparently there's something he needs to talk to me about that is just so important that he couldn't call. He had Angie deliver a message," Cassie said, rolling her eyes, "That fucker better bring me coffee. And not that Starbucks garbage."

"Did you hear what he did to Angie?" Vanessa asked.

Cassie nodded, "Yeah. What's his problem? Ang showed me those designs she did and they were really good. How could he not like any of them?"

"I don't know."

"Why do I have the feeling I'm going to end up punching him in the mouth?" Cassie asked.

"Because you probably will," Vanessa said, laughing, "And I'm sure he'll deserve it, unlike last time."

Cassie grinned, "He deserved it last time, trust me."

The girls laughed and carried on conversation while Cassie slowly sorted out the things on her desk. Most it was garbage and the few things that weren't could have easily been taken care of by whoever had left them on her desk.

When Justin finally arrived, Vanessa had already found her way to her own desk and was working diligently and Cassie's desk was more organized than ever. She had found and labeled plastic work baskets in hopes of not coming in to find her desk a mess again.

"My office, Cassandra," he said as he passed by her desk.

She stood and followed him, taking a seat across the desk from him. She waited patiently while he turned his computer on and took some things out of his desk.

"Where's my coffee?" she asked.

"Who said I was bringing you coffee?" he asked.

"Well, I guess I just assumed that since you needed me here on a Monday morning for something so important, and then you showed up late, that there would be some good coffee involved," she said.

Justin laughed, "You know what assuming does, right?"

"Yeah," she said, "It makes an ass out of you."

"And me," he said.

"Exactly."

"Wait, it's supposed to be you and me. Not all on me," he said.

"Mmm," Cassie said, "You know, no one is ever going to learn how to do their job correctly if you keep telling them to just throw shit on my desk. But if you insist on continuing that, I have baskets now. So can you at least tell people to read the little labels and put things in the right place so I don't want to kill everyone when I'm here?"

Justin waved his hand, dismissing what she said, "I heard you're dating someone," he said.

"Is that what this is about?" she asked, "I'm not discussing my personal life. It's not anyone's business except my own."

"He's someone you interviewed. You have to keep business and personal separate, Cassandra," he said.

"I am."

"Clearly, you are not."

Cassie sighed, "I am very much keeping them separate. Or at least I was before this conversation. I didn't even know who Alex was when I interviewed All Time Low. And when I met him, I actually felt great disdain for him."

"So what changed?" he asked.

"He's very persuasive," Cassie said, "I'm not discussing this any further."

"You can't date him," Justin said.

"Why not?"

"I already told you."

Cassie sat up straighter and looked Justin in the eye, "Show me in our personnel policy where it says that I cannot date someone who has ever, or could potentially ever be interviewed for an article in our magazine," she said, and Justin said nothing, "You can't, because it doesn't say that anywhere. I know my rights, Justin, so don't even try to pull that bullshit with me."

He sighed, "Most people don't talk to their superiors in the workplace like that."

"Then write me up for insubordination," Cassie said defiantly, "But you still can't dictate what I can and can't do in my personal life."

"I'm not going to write you up. I'm just trying to explain to you that you're not being very professional," he said.

"And how is that?" she asked.

Justin slid a folder across the desk to her. Cassie picked it up reluctantly and opened it, scanning the first page. Her eyes widened as she got to the end of it.

"The reason I asked Angie redesign our website is because we're going to be in the studio with All Time Low for part of their recording process and our site needs to be able to integrate that. Since your article was such a big hit with our readers, naturally, you're the one who will be there conducting in depth interviews, live chats, et cetera."

"Give it to someone else," Cassie said plainly.

"Nice try," Justin said, "You've already had a very successful interview with them and they're clearly comfortable with you, so it's yours. Angie will be there with you. She'll be getting her assignment later."

"Can't Nessa do it?"

"No, Vanessa can't do it. She's very busy with quite a few other things," he said.

Cassie sighed and stood up, leaving his office and returning to her desk. There was a beautiful bouquet of irises, orchids and lilies waiting for her when she got there. She searched for the card and when she found it, she slid it out of the envelope.

It's only you, beautiful, or I don't want anyone. If I can choose, it's only you. -A.

She smiled as she read it, scooping the flowers up off her desk and walking out of the office without a word to anyone. Her mood had instantly improved.

When she got home, she kicked her shoes off and went into the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers before heading upstairs. She entered her room and smiled at the sleeping boy in her bed. Very quietly, she tiptoed across the room and carefully knelt on the bed next to him, leaning down and pressing her lips to his.

"Mmm," he mumbled after a moment, returning the kiss before opening his eyes, "I wouldn't mind if I was woken up that way every day," he said.

"Well, I'm sure I could arrange something with Jack if you'd like," she said.

Alex laughed and pulled her down gently, her head resting on his bare chest, "I'm sure you could too. But I actually meant by you," he said.

"Thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful," she said, smiling.

He kissed her forehead, "Not nearly as beautiful as you," he said, his fingers finding the hem of her shirt and pulling it up, "Why are you so clothed?" he asked.

"I had to go into work. Justin needed to talk to me about something," she said, gently swatting his hands away and pulling her shirt back down.

"I'm half naked," Alex said, pouting, "It's only fair that you are too."

Cassie laughed, "You just want to see my boobs."

"So? I like them. Is there a problem with that?" he asked, sliding his hands up her back and bringing her shirt along.

"There might be," she said as she let him remove her top.

Alex smiled and buried his face in her breasts. She very gently ran her fingers up and down his spine. He shivered very slightly after a few minutes and lifted his head.

"God, those are so nice," he said, wrapping his arms around Cassie and pulling her to his chest once again. "So what did Justin need to talk to you about?" he asked.

Cassie wrinkled her nose, "I'll tell you later. I don't want to talk about work," she said, knowing she would have to have a conversation with him about it later. "I just want to cuddle with you right now."