Coming Home

Cassadee walks into her workplace on the Monday after Dave’s wedding to find a tiny bouquet of flowers sitting on her table. She wondered what she did to Derrick to make him get her flowers, but when she flipped the cardboard card open she wasn’t met with the cursive handwritten note that she expected.

Instead what greeted her was scrawny, almost childish looking handwriting.

“Sorry for almost sexually exploiting you.”

The note was accompanied by an almost hilariously hand drawn ugly stick-man drawing of two people having sex followed by a gigantic cross over it.

Cassadee couldn’t help but laugh at the crudely inked note, accompanied by perfect roses- even though she could barely remember forgiving Tobias in her half-drunk stupor.

“Ew what’s that,” commented Caleb as he walked into her office cube, and grabbing the card.

“From Tobias,” laughed Cassadee. She watched as Caleb’s face soured.

“So that’s why Derrick was so pissed,” he commented, putting the card down as if it was poisonous. Cassadee shrugged, putting the flowers upside down, wedging it between some books.

“Well, yeah I guess.”

Caleb’s eyes followed her flowers downwards as her office cubicle filled with that sort of poisonously overpowering, but pleasant smell that flowers tend to produce.

“They last longer dead.”

“Jeez Cass.”

“I don’t want them to droop! Plus they look kind of cool hanging like that.”

She noticed Caleb still hanging around, shifting his feet and turned back to him. He had a sort of sheepish but also forlorn expression on his face that Cassadee didn’t understand.

“What is it?”

“I’m moving.” Caleb stopped speaking for a moment to look up at his best friend, who had a sort of incredulous look on her face- the expression that slowly spread itself across her cheeks.

“Lee said yes?”

“Yeah… Turns out those 10 panels he told me to do was for something cute he planned for me. He had them printed and framed and gave them to me.”

Caleb looked down again, shuffling his feet. Cassadee couldn’t help but smile for him, her heart bursting with excitement the way a friend would.

“And, someone wants to publish my book,” Caleb said again, sheepishly.

Bursting into screams and laughter, Cassadee got up on her feet and practically yanked her friend of his feet as she enveloped him into a very excited hug. It was funny, how happiness worked. How you are so easily impressed upon by other people’s success, that for a moment you forget everything that belongs to you. In a way, that was how Cassadee had always wanted her friendships to be like- and she was glad that Caleb, Angela and Jared were still living testaments of her ability to love and cherish.

“God Caleb,” she screamed- completely oblivious to the stares around them. Most of them knew of their friendship, but a lot of the older people still saw them as kids. But Cassadee didn’t care.

“I’m so shit-faced proud of you,” she whispered into her ear, shaking him. Caleb smiled into her shoulder before letting her go.

“You aren’t mad? You know, Angela and I are both kind of moving to New York,” he winced, trying to avoid the phrase ‘leaving you again’. Cassadee blinked, wondering how he could think about her even when she was so insanely happy for him.

“Derrick left me in pieces Caleb. But you, I’m so damn proud of you. Of course I’m not mad,” she replied, sitting down, brushing her hair off her faces. Caleb tried not to think too hard about what happened 5 years ago, but the pain she felt still smarted, and everyone could see that she wasn’t alright with it.

“We’re leaving the day after Dave’s wedding,” he finally said.

“One last day,” smiled Cassadee, although in her heart, there was a dull ache that reminded her that with Caleb and Angela gone, there would be 2 less people to remind her of home.

~

Jared walked into the pub, his throat burning for a drink. He had gone for a week without one since the wedding and since college was getting slightly stressful, he figured he deserved one. He passed by tables of chatty, slurry words and slid into a booth seat.

“Just a beer today Alfred,” he muttered, eyes dizzy from the neon strobe lights. He noticed someone sliding next to him without ordering anything and turns to him.

“Hey,” said an attractive guy, his voice resonating deep from his stomach. Jared narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him, before his mind zoned in onto the wedding.

“Hey, Derrick hates you.”

“Tobias,” grinned the man, sticking his hand out. There was an impish and playful gleam to his eye that attracted Jared to him. Returning the handshake, Jared introduced himself.

“Do you need anything from me Tobias? Specifically?” Asked Jared, curiously staring at Tobias.

“Yes actually,” Tobias jerked his thumb to a secluded booth at the back of the bar.

“Cassadee is there. Writing something. She’s drinking a milkshake,” he says again, grimacing at the thought of her drinking a milkshake. Jared looked in the direction Tobias was pointing and sure enough, he saw the tiny girl’s miniature frame, with a gigantic yellowish-brown milkshake sitting next to her as she wrote something down thoughtfully.

“Sure knows how to pick places for inspiration,” muttered Jared. Cassadee was queer, but she had gotten even weirder after he had seen her. There was something stable, yet slightly off about the way she functioned- seeking for answers in all the wrong places that seemed to offer her satisfactory results.

“Yeah… I’m gonna go apologise for what I did at the wedding… She looks like she hits hard, if she hits me, you can come over to fix things okay?” Tobias said, eyes flicking towards Cassadee.

“Do you like her or something?” Jared asked, eyes narrowed. Tobias looks flustered for a moment, as if confused at Jared’s question, before returning to his poised demeanour.

“I do dirty shit for FF,” he shrugged, his eyes reflecting some sort of anger, then remorse- as if he was accepting his fate.

“So you’re their little prostitute,” Jared smiled, leaning back as his beer came sliding to him. Instead of looking insulted, Tobias smiles a little.

“I am what Derrick is for the NDP. We have pretty faces. Derrick doesn’t know it yet, but unless he can prove himself, they’ll use him like the way they use me. Get the chicks, get the public’s attention, and attract them like how moths are attracted to light. Then while they’re attracted to you, you singe them to get their votes.”

“Ouch. Are you even allowed to tell me that?” Jared asked, slightly stumped by Tobias’ intelligence and the brute honesty in his words. Instead of walking off, Tobias grabs Jared’s jug of wine and takes a meaningful sip, eyes never leaving Jared’s. Gulping, Jared just keeps his eyes fixated on Tobias’s hair.

“Let’s just say I play for both teams,” says Tobias, smiling a smile that made Jared’s heart do a funny squeezing thing before walking in the direction of Cassadee.

~

Cassadee takes a sip from her gigantic milkshake before sighing. She feels like a child sitting at a gigantic booth, a notepad on the table and a pen balanced on one hand. Suddenly she sees Tobias sliding in opposite her. She looks at his green eyes, somehow the light of the bar makes him easier to look at. He grins at her and she can only return that smile by rolling her eyes.

Cassadee: Thanks for the flowers, Caleb found your little drawing fabulous.
Tobias: I can charm anyone as long as I don’t have to do it with a pen.
Cassadee: You could do loads of things with a pen.
Tobias: Let’s keep this conversation away from sticking things up butts and vaginas okay?

Cassadee gives a quick, light laugh as Tobias looks at her notebook.

Tobias: I hate to state the obvious but are you having a milkshake, in a bar?
Cassadee: The Red Thorn serves the best and cheapest shakes in town.
Tobias: Who the hell puts a choice for milkshakes on their drinking menu?
Cassadee: I’m kidding. They serve Irish Cream shakes, and I didn’t feel like going for full alcohol today.

Cassadee slides her glass over to Tobias who takes a sip and cringes.

Tobias: God. You’re like a kid.
Cassadee: I do look like one.
Tobias: A very attractive one.

Cassadee sighs and looks at Tobias, suddenly aware of how his allure seemed to be non-existent ever since she saw him at the bar.

Cassadee: Yes Tobias?
Tobias: Sorry for that day.
Cassadee: You mean for almost screwing me in the garden in front of all my brother’s friends? No problem.
Tobias: You sure know how to hit it where it hurts.

Cassadee laughs again, trying to swallow the painful memories of his words.

Tobias: Politics tends to do that to you.
Cassadee: Me? Or you?
Tobias: Both of us. They use me, to get to fantastically good looking revolutionaries like you.
Cassadee: What are you saying?
Tobias: What you did, on that article about Derrick. It was brave. NDP was and is really shaken by it. I for one, think you are an impeccable writer. The other political groups however, think that it’s just you being bitter over your tiny little break up and childishly going against your ex-boyfriend’s political agenda.

Cassadee tries again, to swallow the ugliness of what he says by chugging down a huge mouthful of her shake. She bites the inside of her mouth to relieve some of the tension in her.

Cassadee: So… how does you seducing me fit into this?

Tobias gives a strangled laugh before reaching over and tipping Cassadee’s shake into his mouth before licking his upper lip like the drink burned his mouth.

Tobias: They thought that if I had sex with you, you’d put in a good word or two about the FF.

Cassadee almost breaks her pencil into two, thinking about how useless and malleable her sexuality as a female seems to these politicians.

Tobias: Don’t be mad.
Cassadee: Would it be cruel to say that this has happened twice already?
Tobias: Let me guess, the NDP used you?
Cassadee: Young love, it is too much like lightning. But so iconic- everyone loves the idea of me being tragically in love with Derrick.
Tobias: Romeo and Juliet?
Cassadee: Reality.

Tobias laughs before stopping himself and sombrely looking at Cassadee.

Tobias: This won’t stop you know.
Cassadee: I know. Hey, I’d like to interview you.
Tobias: I don’t think I’m the-
Cassadee: Rubbish. Isn’t this what they wanted Tobias? I think the public deserves to know a little more about this stupid little game.

Tobias gives a wry smile, and his smile seems to connect to Cassadee’s.

Cassadee: Tell your boss. I’ll meet you at your office on Monday. I only expect you, and you only.
Tobias: I do like females who call the shots.
Cassadee: Shake on it or nothing.

Tobias shakes Cassadee’s hand before looking down at what she’s writing.

Cassadee: It’s a wedding gift. For my brother.
Tobias: An obituary?
Cassadee: Funny. I’m thinking of the perfect way to describe love, have Caleb sketch it out, then print it onto those fancy boards.
Tobias: And you decided to come here for inspiration? With an Irish Cream milkshake?

Cassadee gives Tobias a pained look.

Cassadee: It’s the only place where thinking of love doesn’t hurt.