Nothing Goes As Orchestrated

First thing Monday morning, Cassie and Angie were sitting in Vanessa's office at work. For the last half hour they had been going over what Cassie had missed the previous week and what needed to be done as soon as possible. When they finished with that, Vanessa sat back and looked at the girls across the desk.

"So, I'm assuming you two have talked about the sister magazine?" she said.

The girls both nodded, "Yes," Angie said, "And we want to do it."

"Good," Vanessa said, "I figure you two will need some time to get things figured out, so I don't expect the first issue to be ready to go out until the end of summer. If you can do it before, that's great. But don't rush yourselves."

They nodded again, "What about our current jobs?" Cassie asked.

"I don't want you to feel overwhelmed, but for now, I want you to focus on what you need to get caught up from your week off, and then next week we'll start training other people to do your jobs," Vanessa said, "The only part I haven't figured out yet is who is going to take over your interviews. You're by far the best at that and it's going to be hard to let you go."

"Well," Cassie said, "What's our budget for the new magazine look like?" she asked, "Maybe once we get everything rolling, we can hire some people to help the two of us out so we can still help you out here."

Vanessa smiled, "This is why I've always liked you. You can think on your feet and solve problems logically. Not to mention the fact that you're also one of the hardest working people here, along with myself and Angie and a couple others," she said, "We'll sit down either later this week or early next week and work the budget out together."

They talked for a little while longer before Cassie and Angie headed back to their desks. Cassie's was no where near the nightmare she'd dreamed of coming back to and for that she was grateful. Everything was organized and the truly important things had been taken care of, thanks for Vanessa's management style. Because of that, Cassie didn't feel the need to rush through anything just to get to the next.

Just before she was about to break for lunch, her phone vibrated against her desk. She picked it up and looked at the text message. Dinner? was all it said.

Smiling to herself, she typed I think you may be a bit confused. It's lunch time. and pressed send. Moments later her phone vibrated again but this time it wasn't a text message. She pressed the talk button and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she said.

"I'm well aware of what time it is. I was asking if you wanted to have dinner tonight."

"Most nights I want to have dinner," she replied.

"You're such a smart ass," he said, "With me, Cassandra. Do you want to have dinner tonight with me? At a restaurant."

"As friends?" she asked with a quiet sigh.

He sighed as well, "Yes, as friends. You can even pay for your own food if you want," he said.

"Okay," she said, "Where should I meet you?"

"I can't pick you up?"

"Where should I meet you?" she repeated.

"I'll text you in a little bit. I gotta go," he said hurriedly and hung up.

Cassie set her phone down and went back to work. It wasn't long before her stomach started to growl and she quickly finished what she was working on. Just as she was heading for the door, her phone buzzed. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she read the message and she all but ran to Vanessa's office.

"I just got a message that said if I want to interview The Matches that I'd better do it soon because time is running out. Nessa, you have to let me. You know how I feel about that band. Remember how jealous I was when Justin gave the interview to you a couple years ago?"

"How could I forget?" she asked, laughing, "Who did you get this message from? Is it legit?"

"I have a contact at their old label who is friends with the band's manager. They keep me updated on important things like this. Please can I do this? It's my last chance!" she begged.

Vanessa laughed again, "Alright Cassie, calm down. I'll get it set up for you," she said.

Due to how excited she was, Cassie let out an unintentional squeak, "Thank you so much Nessa! You're the best!" she exclaimed.

The rest of the day went by quickly and before she knew it, she was walking into Toshi Sushi. After looking around for minute, she walked over to a table sat down.

"You look nice," she said, "New shirt?"

"Yeah. I bought it yesterday," he replied.

Cassie nodded, "I like it," she said, "Where's the little lady tonight?"

"Work until nine and early class in the morning," he replied, "How was your day?" he asked, changing the subject.

"It was good," Cassie said, picking up the menu, "Angie and I told Nessa that we want to do the sister magazine, but we're not even starting on that for a couple weeks, which is no big deal. We're just excited that we get to do it," she said.

Alex nodded, "Yeah, it sounds cool," he said.

"And I got this weird text that led to me begging Vanessa to let me interview The Matches. Since she loves me, or possibly just wanted me to shut up, she agreed and got it all set up. So I'm going away for the weekend."

"Can I come with you?" he asked.

"No."

He sighed, "Why not?"

Cassie looked at him over the top of the menu, "Do you really think that would be a good idea?" she asked.

"Actually, I do," he said, putting his menu down, "Don't you think we could benefit from getting away from everyone?" he asked.

"Need I remind you that there is no we?" she asked, "And on top of that, I'm going there to work. It isn't social time. You should know by now how seriously I take my job."

Alex sighed, "I do. But you're doing one interview? You're going to have some downtime if you're there for the whole weekend. Wouldn't you like to spend that time with me?" he asked.

Their eyes locked across the table and after a full minute, Cassie let out a loud breath, "I fucking hate you sometimes," she mumbled, pulling her phone out of her purse and dialing a phone number.

"Hey Cass, what's up?" Vanessa answered.

"Hey, um, you haven't booked my flight yet, have you?" she asked.

"No, I was going to do it first thing in the morning. Why?"

"I was thinking I would drive instead," she replied.

"You really want to make that drive alone?" Vanessa asked and Cassie stayed quiet, "You're taking someone with you, aren't you? Cassie, I know we're friends and all, but the magazine isn't going to pay for you to take a guest on a business trip."

Cassie sighed, "No, I know that, Nessa. My guest will pay whatever the difference is between the one bed and the two beds, if there even is one," she said.

"Do I want to know who you're taking?"

"No," Cassie said, shaking her head, even though Vanessa couldn't see her, "You don't want to know."

"And by that, I know who you're taking. Do you think that's a good idea?" Vanessa asked.

"There's only one way to find out," she replied.