Surprises

Cassandra was sitting in the brown leather chair closest to the floor to ceiling window in the apartment that she shared with Jonathan. It was a little past one o’clock in the morning and she wanted to see Jon as soon as he got home. Normally she would’ve waited until the next morning, but tonight the boy’s twenty four fame win streak had come to an end, so Cassandra thought staying up would be the best.

After she had finished flipping through the current People magazine, she placed it down onto her lap and began to shake her head. “There is no way that you can compare Kim to Kate,” she whispered to herself. “Kate is married to a prince and Kim is dating some rapper that got drunk and ruined a teenage popstar’s moment.”

Tossing the thin magazine onto the floor, Cassandra started to flip through her new Glamour, which had arrived in the mail just that morning. Half way through the magazine and one page into an interesting article, Cassandra heard a key turn in the lock on the door. Flipping down the corner of the page she was on, Cassandra stood quickly and set the magazine and fluffy blanket she was using on the chair. Cassandra had got halfway to the front door when Jonathan finally got it open, and with one look at his face she raced towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Feeling him rest his head on her shoulder, Cassandra ran her fingers through his hair.

“Thanks for staying up,” Jonathan told her.

“Any time Jon, any time.”

Pulling away from the embrace, Jonathan let his equipment bag hit the ground before looking at her directly in the eyes. Cupping her face in his hands, Jon rubbed his thumb over the smooth skin of her cheek. “It’s not just today either, it’s always. Now, when we were kids, and I hope in the future. Thanks,” he told her before leaning down and kissing her.

The kiss lasted for ten or so seconds before Jonathan pulled away from her. Becoming panicky, he backed away from her before grabbing his bags and retreating to his room. Throwing his things down on the floor, Jon sat on the edge of the bed and placed his head in his hands. “What did I just do?”

● ● ●

For the past few days, Jonathan and Cassandra had done nothing but ignore each other. Although not intentional, Jonathan found it easier to dig himself deeper into hockey and pretend the kiss didn’t happen. Cassandra on the other hand couldn’t wait to talk to Jonathan about it, but figured giving him space was better. If she was being honest with herself, the kiss was really their first. Even though the two had slept together, Cassandra wouldn’t count the drunken kiss, and what followed after that, a first in any way.

Cassandra had spent the entire day primping for her date with Austin, hoping that tonight would be the night when he would ask her to be his wife. She knew that they were young, but they were in love and that was all that mattered.

After arriving to the restaurant and being seated, Cassandra waited until Austin arrived. After waiting for close to an hour and Austin not showing up, Cassandra left a ten dollar bill on the table and left. Once she got out to the parking lot she saw Austin pacing alongside of his car.

“Nice of you to show up,” she shouted to him as she pulled the keys from her bag. Heading toward her car, she heard footsteps following behind her. “Please, just leave me alone,” Cassandra told him a she wiped a falling tear off of her face.

Austin grabbed her hand and pulled her to face him. “I know you’re upset, but I have to tell you something. I didn’t come in because I’m not sure how to .. tell you. I’m nervous.”

“There nothing to be nervous about,” Cassandra told him. Maybe he would still ask, but him being nervous prevented him from doing it inside in front of a bunch of people.

“These past two years have been great, fabulous even, but things have changed .. we have changed. You’re twenty two and I’m twenty four, and it’s time I settle down,” he explained to her.

“I couldn’t agree more,” she said with a growing smile on her face.

“I’m glad you see things that way,” he told her as he took a deep breath. “I just hope that you see that you aren’t the one I will be settling down with.”

“Wait, what?” Cassandra asked as she pulled her hand from his. “I don’t think I get what you are saying.”

“My girlfriend from when I was younger, who I had dated before you, has come back into my life. I realized that, as much as I love you, I will love her more.”

“Oh, so you’ve been stringing me on for this entire time! You had no intention of marrying me, or having kids with me?!” Cassandra asked him, starting to get angry.

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess so,” he told her.

“Thanks, thanks a lot,” Cassandra said as she turned back around, facing the direction of her car. Once she had unlocked the door and threw her bag in, she turned back towards him. “I hope you have a great future and, oh yes, fuck you!”

After getting in her car and leaving the restaurant parking lot, Cassandra headed over to Jonathan’s house. Parking down the street, Cassandra didn’t realize that Jonathan had guests over until it was too late. After finding Jon amongst the throng of people who had filled in house, Cassandra quickly pulled him aside and threw her arms around his neck, not wanting to let go for anything.

“What happened?” Jonathan asked. “I thought that everything was supposed to be good tonight?”
Cassandra couldn’t answer because she had started to cry again. Jonathan grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her up the stairs and into his room. Sitting down on his comfortable bed, Jonathan joined her after getting her some tissues.

“Okay, tell me what happened,” he told her.

After Cassandra had retold her story to Jonathan, she found herself tucked into his arms with a bottle of wine being passed between the two of them. How it got there, Cassandra didn’t know, nor did she care. After a while the wine how settled into their systems and the friendly caresses were leading to something else. Kissing had started between them shortly after that and then Jon began taking off her shirt and the rest of her clothes.

When Cassandra woke up the next morning she was naked, wrapped in Jonathan’s navy blue sheet, with the hockey star right beside her. Slipping out of bed, Cassandra quickly put her clothes back on before heading back to her apartment. Knowing that she would see him later in the summer, Cassandra convinced herself that leaving was the right thing to do.

Cassandra was wrong though, because six weeks later Jon was back in the States and she was pregnant.

Cassandra had busied herself throughout the day by shopping along Michigan Ave. with Elina, Julia, and Abby, who was toting along Madelyn. Jumping from store to store, Cassandra couldn’t believe that she was here. She had a daughter with one of her best friends, she had a new group of friends that treated her spectacular, and she was in one of the prettiest cities she had ever been in.

Stopping in the Burberry store, Cassandra bought a new scarf and a beige trench coat. Once she had finished checking out, she followed Abby into Baby Gap while leaving the other two behind.

Once they had finished their shopping trip and Cassandra got Penelope to sleep, she decided to cuddle up beside her daughter on the big bed and took a nap as well. The next thing Cassandra knew, she was being woken up by the door being closed shut. Looking at the alarm clock beside her, Cassandra couldn’t believe that it was two o’clock in the morning. Making a pillow wall around Penelope, Cassandra pulled her messy bedhead up into a ponytail before walking into the living room.

“Hello?” She called out.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” Jonathan said as he poked his head out from the kitchen.
Walking to where she was, Cassandra saw that Jon’s long, black pea coat, his suit jacket, and his tie were all thrown onto the kitchen table. The refrigerator door was open and Jonathan had half of his body in there, obviously looking for something.

“Can I help you find something?” she asked him.

Cassandra had scared Jonathan, which was obvious considering he hit his head right off of the top of the fridge. Turning around, Jon had given her a cheesy grin. “Yeah, were is the mayonnaise?” Jonathan asked her.

“Top shelf on the left,” she told him as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. After saying goodnight, Cassandra began walking back to bed, but quickly stopped and turned back. “Jon,” she said once she stepped on the cool kitchen tiles. “We need to talk.”

“About?” Jonathan asked, looking up from his sandwich that was sitting on the counter.

“About the kiss.”

“What about it?”

“What do you mean “what about it?” Cassandra asked. “It’s a big deal! You can’t just kiss me one minute and then act like I don’t exist the next. We were getting along perfectly and then you kissed me, and I kiss you back, might I add, and then you go and ignore me. I just want to know what’s up.”

“Okay, take a deep breath,” he told her as he set the butter knife down beside his sandwich. “I, how do I say this .. I have fallen in love with you over the years. It’s crazy, I know, but I can’t help how I feel. You’ve given me so much over the years, a daughter and so much more, that I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry if it made you feel uncomfor-”

“I love you too,” Cassandra told him, before standing up on her tippy toes and pressing a kiss onto his soft lips.