NOTES: Thanks very much to all who have reviewed and are patient enough to stick with this! All comments and criticisms are most welcome.
DISCLAIMER: LWD is not mine.
The re-Dereking started early.
"Wake up!" she said, as she stepped into Derek's room. There was a protesting mumble from under the sheets.
Undeterred, Casey pulled the curtains back with a purposeful swish, flooding the room with light and causing the mound of bedclothes to flinch.
She tapped her foot and waited. A few moments later, Derek emerged from the tangle of sheets, glaring somewhat blearily at her.
"You know, this is usually the part where I wake up. Screaming," he informed her.
"I'm disappointed," she said. "I thought it took more to scare Derek Venturi, Afficionado of the Horror Movie, than little old me."
"You seriously underestimate yourself," he said. He rubbed a hand over his head and yawned. "Y'know, for some weird reason, I think I'll skip the Tofu Charms this morning. Catch up on some sleep." He lay back down and turned away from her.
She didn't budge. Seconds later, Derek sat up in the bed again. "I'm going to put this in terms you should be able to understand. That was your cue to leave. The exit is downstage right."
Casey cleared her throat. Carefully casual, she said, "I'm going to the mall."
He made a 'so what?' face. "Great," he said. "Don't worry, I'll leave some tofu for you."
"You know," she said, drawing patterns on the carpet with her foot, "mom told me about...Her."
"Do not engage," he muttered to himself. "If you ignore it, it will go away." He caught Casey's eye. "Eventually."
"Mom told me she works in a boutique."
He stared up at the ceiling, obviously following his own advice.
"Don't you think it's about time you got over this...shop-phobia you have?" she asked kindly.
His head slowly turned towards her. "I don't have shop-phobia," he said very carefully, as if Casey were stupid.
"Great!" she said, closing the trap. "Then there's no reason for you not to come with me!"
"None," he agreed. "But I'm still not going."
She crossed her arms. "That's okay. I can wait." She sat down at the end of the bed.
"Fine," he said. Without taking his eyes away from her, he slid down in the bed. Casey waited a few minutes, just long enough to give him the impression that he had won, before she brought out her secret weapon – the magazines. She flicked through the pages as noisily as possible.
"Oooh, you'll never guess who got together!" she said.
There was a heart-rending groan from under the covers. She smiled triumphantly.
"Okay...and you stand – here!"
"Why?"
Casey ignored this question in favour of smiling at passing shoppers, and handing out –
"...flyers about your stupid play?!"
"It's not stupid," Casey hissed, keeping her smile resolutely in place. "Hi there, if I could have just a minute" –
"You know, everytime I think there's no way you could make this visit suck more, you just" –
He was interrupted by the ringing of Casey's cell phone.
"Here – can you hold these?" she asked, shoving the stack of flyers towards him with one hand, and rummaging in her bag with the other. When the flyers were not taken, she looked up at him.
Derek stood with his arms folded.
"What?"
"I'm guessing that not even your little lap dog does this willingly," he said.
She stared consideringly at him. The phone had stopped ringing, but neither seemed to notice. "What do you want?" she asked.
"Lunch," he said quickly, almost speaking over her. "You're buying. And," he held up a warning hand, "it has to be tofu-free."
"Deal," she said, handing over the flyers.
She dug out her phone just as it started to ring again.
"Hey, Marla!" she said. "How are...okay – slow down...let's talk this through calmly, and see if we can fix it..."
Five minutes later and the problem was almost resolved. "...and offer them free tickets to tomorrow's show," Casey advised.
Marla sighed. "Thank you," she said. There was a murmur in the background, and she laughed. "Your boyfriend says hi by the way," she said. "Is your brother fixed yet?" Casey opened her mouth to correct her, but Marla quickly said, "Sorry, sorry – I mean, stepbrother."
"Getting there." Casey half-smiled as she watched Derek dispensing flyers to two giggling teenage girls.
Marla sighed. "If you want, I could fix him, and you could come in and fix all the booking problems."
"Isn't your dating schedule a little busy at the moment?" Casey asked, because Marla's schedule always was.
"Oh! That reminds me – there's an after-show party tonight. Are you and Chris coming?"
"I don't know – maybe. It depends on Derek."
"It's going to be a great party," she tempted. "Hamlet's going to be there!"
"So you'll finally see if it's meant 'to be – or not to be.'"
There was a pause. "Okay - you're not allowed make any more jokes like that," Marla said. There was more murmuring in the background. "I'm going to put you on to the boss," she said. "He needs to ask you a few questions about your un-surprise presentation."
"Casey! Hello!" Mr. Tremblay said cheerfully.
"Mr. Tremblay," she smiled.
"How is your stepbrother?" he asked. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"We're doing a little last-minute advertising," she replied. She squinted - Derek was now surrounded by a small circle of girls.
"Casey," he said reprovingly, "you should take things easy. You work too hard."
She made a non-committal noise, and moved slightly, to get a better view of Derek.
"Now – about your bouquet...which would you prefer – roses, or lilies? Or would you prefer different flowers?"
"Mr. Tremblay – you really don't have to make a presentation to me. Really. I love drama – I would have done all this anyway," she protested.
"But that's why I want to do it," he said. "Now – roses, or lilies? If you leave it up to me, I might make a mess of it."
She smiled. "I'm sure whatever you pick will be beautiful."
"Ahh – Casey must feel very secure to let me surprise her," he teased.
"That rates pretty low on the surprise scale. I think I can handle it," she said.
After saying her goodbyes, Casey hung up and made her way over to Derek. She was pleased to note the depleted stack of flyers.
"Does anyone else need one?" she asked, holding up the remaining leaflets. She was met with blank stares.
"It's really good," she said enticingly. "A dark study of human passions and" –
The girls began to disperse.
"Remember – the Tremblay Theatre! Doors open at eight!" she called after them.
"You really know how to judge a crowd," Derek remarked.
Casey sighed, then brightened. "At least they took some flyers. From you. A lot of flyers..." She eyed him speculatively. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Oh no - you and Rover are on your own tomorrow," he said. "...and where are you going? In case you've forgotten, you owe me lunch."
Casey paused at a shop entrance to say, "I'll just be a minute – promise."
Forty-five minutes later, and she had proof that phase two had been a success.
"Casey – I'm tired. I'm hungry. I'm sore from being pinched in inappropriate places," he paused, "though that was enjoyable at the time...My point is – I'm not really in the mood to watch you try to decide between two identical t-shirts."
"They're not identical," she objected. "This one has a subtle pattern, see?" She held it out for inspection.
"Well, now that you point it out I realise that...I still don't care. Can we go yet?"
"In a minute," she said vaguely. "Can you hold these for me?"
She thrust the two t-shirts in his direction.
"...No," he said, almost experimentally.
She turned and frowned. Derek stood before her with a weird, ecstatic look on his face.
"That – felt really good," he released a shuddering breath. "Ask me again!"
"Derek!" she shook the t-shirts in his direction.
"No!" he said again. He blinked. "Wow – that felt just as good as the first time." He shook his head and walked away.
"Hey! Where are you going?" she demanded, chasing after him.
He stopped at the shop entrance. "I'm done here," he said, enunciating clearly. "I'm done with this" – he gestured between himself and Casey, "retraining programme you've created." He leaned a bit closer and said, confidentially, "A word of warning – I've decided that passive resistance doesn't suit me. I've entered the active resistance stage. Good luck."
He sauntered off
"Wait – what are you talking ab" – Casey began, as she followed...only to be cut off by the shop alarm.
She looked from the approaching security guard, to the t-shirts still clutched in her hands...and finally at Derek, who waved smugly before walking away.
"He just left you there?! Oh my God, Casey – are you okay?" Christian asked, his hands shooting out to check her for damage. Aside from a slightly dishevelled appearance, she seemed okay. Better than okay – she was practically vibrating with excitement.
"No – he came back," she assured him, brushing him away almost impatiently.
"At least" –
"Eventually. And the security guards even apologized, once he explained what had happened."
"Really?" he asked, doubt in his voice.
"Well," she said, "he did say that he was my carer, and that the trauma of our parents' death in a freak shopping accident had caused me to become a kleptomaniac. They were very understanding then."
"That...is completely horrible and unbelievable," Christian said.
"I know! I mean, me and Derek – related?" She snorted at the thought.
He blinked. "The rest of it isn't horrible and unbelievable?"
"Well, yes," she admitted. "But it's also classic Derek!" At his still confused look, she spelt it out. "He's BACK!"
She pulled him into the kitchen – "Look!"
He stared at the tofu-full trashcan. "He threw out our food?"
"And he blackmailed me into buying 'normal' food." She smiled widely. "Phase two is a complete success!" She waited. "Aren't you going to congratulate me?"
"Congratulations," he said. "You've succeeded in turning a seemingly okay guy into a terrible excuse for a human being."
She inclined her head modestly, before getting back to business. "Now that he's totally focused on annoying me, instead of brooding about Her, it's time for the final phase."
"Waitaminute – so phase two was all about making him focus on you?" Christian asked.
"Yes," Casey said, her voice broadcasting 'isn't it obvious?'
"But – I thought...you hated it when Derek focused on you?"
She blinked. "...we all have to make sacrifices," she said eventually.