Somebody Like Me

Eleven: The Elephant In The Room

Staring at the blank document which lit up her laptop screen, Cassie let out a soft groan, struggling to come up with words to fill the screen. She had been at it for most of the day, with her report due that evening, she had spent a while working on it, but still the words were hard to come by, something which resulted from her mind being elsewhere. It wasn’t the first time, with her pregnancy and her relationship with Sergio at the forefront of her mind, she had found focusing on her work hard, and whilst it irked her, she doubted that it was something that was going to go away quickly.

Typing another sentence into the report, she mouthed the words quietly before the sound of someone knocking on her office door reached her, causing her to startle before she lifted her head, her eyes settling on Mia who stood in the doorway, a warm grin perched on her face.

“I didn’t mean to scare you” she mused “I was just wondering if you could tear yourself away from your laptop for long enough to grab some lunch” she added, moving to settle down in the seat on the other side of Cassie’s desk.

Cassie, who’d been perusing her latest sentence, mulled her friend’s offer over briefly before she shook her head. “I really need to get this finished” she mused softly “And I’m having a little trouble with it. Can I take a raincheck?” she added, peeking at Mia.

Mia spared her a soft look before she shook her head. “We don’t have to go out” she noted softly “But I am going to insist on you eating something. You’re carrying something pretty important, Cass” she added, her eyes briefly peeking down towards the front of Cassie’s blouse.

Cassie followed the line of her friend’s stare before she let out a soft sigh, something which made Mia smile before she pushed herself up to her feet. “I’ll head down to the café and collect us something to eat” she announced “Do you have any preference?” she asked.

Cassie shook her head. “I’ll eat anything” she mused softly.

Mia offered her a slightly dubious look before she nodded her head. “Alright” she mused softly “I’ll be back in a few minutes” she added before she stepped out of the room. Cassie watched her go briefly before she flicked her attention back towards the screen of her laptop, wordlessly ruing her inability to get her mind to focus on her work.

~#~
“So, how are things going between you and your sort of boyfriend?”

Cassie, who was pushing the last of her salad around its bowl, looked up at the sound of Mia’s voice before she shook her head, her cheeks tinting a soft shade of pink. It had been a pleasant hour, with Mia insistent that the two of them had lunch together, they’d settled in Cassie’s office and the brunette was pleased that they had. Mia had provided a pleasant distraction, something which Cassie had been looking for.

“What?” she spluttered softly.

“How are things between you and Sergio?” Mia posed, her eyes narrowed slightly on her friend. She knew that it wasn’t something that Cassie liked talking about, since she had started to see Sergio, she had been particularly cagey whenever Mia tried to raise the topic, but still the blonde woman wanted to ask, even if it wasn’t Cassie’s favourite topic. She wanted to make sure that Sergio had good intentions towards her friend and their baby.

Cassie, who was messing with her fork shyly, shrugged a little. “It…it’s awkward” she admitted softly “I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s been great when it comes to the baby, but things between us aren’t great” she added gently.

Mia tilted her head, wordlessly encouraging her friend to keep talking.

“Neither one of us was looking for anything overly serious” Cassie mused, still twisting her fork absently in her hand “Not straight away anyways and now, with the baby on the way, we’re stuck in limbo with neither one of us quite sure what to say to the other” she added, her green eyes briefly peeking up towards Mia. She knew that it wasn’t going to be simple, with the baby on the way, things between her and Sergio were likely to be complicated for a while, but she didn’t quite know how to broach the subject, not sure of what she would say to him.

Mia mulled over her friend’s words for a couple of seconds before she tilted her head. “Do you like him?” she posed softly.

Cassie blinked, slightly surprised by the question, before she peeked down towards her desk, her cheeks tinting a soft shade of pink, something which made Mia smirk. “You do, don’t you?” she quipped.

The blush on Cassie’s cheeks darkened slightly before she nodded her head, something which made Mia reach her hand across the desk, offering Cassie’s fidgeting extremity a small squeeze. “You know that you have to tell him that, right?” she posed, her tone deliberately soft and comforting. She knew that it wasn’t Cassie’s forte, the brunette had a tendency to be shy, but still she wanted to encourage her to talk to Sergio, even if there was a chance that the defender didn’t quite feel the same way, she doubted that they could avoid the conversation forever.

Cassie, whose eyes were fixed on her desk, shook her head. “I think we both know how that conversation goes, Mia” she mumbled with a small shake of her head.

“I don’t think we do” Mia countered softly “And I don’t think you will know how it goes until you quit avoiding it and just ask the guy what it is he wants to do about the two of you. It’s the elephant in the room, Cass, and until you and Sergio get up the nerve to talk about it, and I mean really talk about it, it’s going to be awkward between the two of you” she explained softly.

Cassie was quiet for a couple of seconds, something which encouraged Mia to offer her hand another gentle squeeze. “You don’t know how he feels, Cass, and until you talk to him, you won’t find out” she mused kindly.

Cassie offered her a slightly dubious look before she shook her head. “What if he doesn’t feel the same way?” she mumbled softly.

“Then you figure it out” Mia quipped “I mean, of course it will be strange for a while, but, between the two of you, you’ve made something pretty special and I am sure that you’ll figure it out for bump’s sake” she added, her voice bright and confident.

Cassie spared her another uncertain look before she let out a small sigh, nodding her head in agreement. She knew that Mia had a point, until she and Sergio spoke, things between the two of them would be awkward, but part of her was scared about the conversation, not quite sure what she would say to him. She knew that she had a depth of feeling towards him, she had for a while, but still she was apprehensive about admitting it, not quite sure how he would react.
♠ ♠ ♠
Thanks to FootieJo and Jayme112234 for the comments :)