I wish I owned them, but I don't. Dick owns 'em.
Casey walked inside the house and immediately plopped herself down on the couch. She was exhausted. The smell coming from the kitchen, though what that something was she couldn't quite make out. She shrugged off her coat and kicked off her shoes, leaving them where they landed.
As she walked into the bedroom, she realized something was off. Everything was clean. Furniture had been dusted, the carpets had been vacuumed, and her clothing had been hung up in the closet. The bed was made, her pajamas were no longer on the bed where she had left them, and she couldn't see her slippers next to the bed. "Alex?" she called.
"Yeah?" Alex answered from the bathroom.
"What happened to our bedroom?"
"Be right out!"
Casey sat down on the bed and tried to wait patiently. Court had taken a lot out of her, especially given the similarities between what Robyn had gone through and her own personal experiences. She was exhausted. Coming home to find that Alex had cleaned the entire house was a bit unnerving. She didn't know why she was bothered by it, but it annoyed her. She knew Alex hadn't done it to upset her, but she needed to talk to her before this became a common thing.
"Welcome home," Alex said when she stepped out of the bathroom. "Dinner should be ready in half an hour or so."
"Where are my pajamas?"
"Laundry basket. I was going to do a load tonight."
"And my slippers?"
"Just under the bed. Why?"
"Are you planning on cleaning up after me forever?"
Alex sighed. She had no idea what was going on, but Casey was clearly upset about something. "I had some free time this afternoon and decided to clean the place up a bit."
"A bit? A bit? Alex, the house is spotless."
"So? Is that a bad thing?"
Casey folded her arms across her chest. "Why did you clean up my things? It's not like they were lying all over the house or anything."
"I feel better when I have a clean house. Casey, what is this?"
"I just don't like people cleaning up after me. I'm not a slob. I can clean up after myself."
Alex rolled her eyes. Were they really fighting about this? "I know you can. I just got into a groove cleaning and grabbed your things, too. Like I said, I feel a lot better when I'm in a clean house."
"Alex, the house looks like it's ready for Home and Garden Magazine to come in here and photograph it. It's too clean. How can you live like this?"
"How can you live with your things just tossed on the most convenient surface?" Alex asked. Before Casey could answer her, she held up her hands and stood up. "I'm going to check on dinner. I'm sure it's almost ready."
Casey stayed on her spot on the bed for several minutes after Alex walked out of the room. Had she overreacted? She was pretty sure she probably had, but she couldn't make herself feel bad about it. She was completely drained and knowing that Alex thought she couldn't clean up after herself really bothered her. It would have been okay if Alex had simply tidied up a bit, but the extent to which she'd gone was ridiculous. Casey didn't think she could live in a house where nothing was ever allowed to be out of place. They were going to have to work out some kind of compromise.
Walking out into the living room, Casey realized that compromise was going to have to come sooner rather than later. Her coat was hanging up in the closet, her shoes were on the shoe rack by the door, and her briefcase was on the desk in the corner of the living room. It was too much. She pulled her coat out and put it on.
"Where are you going?" Alex asked, coming out of the kitchen. "Dinner's just about ready."
"I need some air."
"Casey, it's almost nine-"
"Alex, I need some air!" Casey yelled. She walked outside and slammed the door behind her.
Alex jumped at the loud bang as the door slammed shut. What the hell had just happened? Had she taken the cleaning too far? She looked around the house and sighed. Casey was right. The place really did look like it was ready to be showcased in a magazine. She'd always liked to keep things clean, and it had driven many people away. After the last one, she'd vowed to tone it down a notch. "Guess I didn't manage to do that so well."
She sat down on her couch and pushed her hair out of her face. Keeping her place clean was a habit she'd developed when she was very young. By keeping things in her bedroom in order, she was able to control one simple thing in her life. Her parents controlled everything else. The only thing she had control over was how clean her room was. At least, that's what her therapist had told her. And if she really thought about it, she knew her therapist was right. The shrill beeping of the smoke alarm in her kitchen pulled her from her thoughts. She ran into the kitchen and saw smoke coming from her oven. "Shit," she muttered, running over and turning it off. "There goes the casserole." She grabbed her oven mitts and turned off the stove, then opened a window and ran out of the room to escape the beeping smoke alarm.
Her front door opened at the same exact moment the smoke alarm stopped beeping. Alex jumped up and turned around to see a dripping wet Casey walk inside and shudder from the chill.
"It's May. Why is it forty degrees out?"
"Because it's pouring," Alex said, grabbing the fireplace remote and turning it on. She led Casey into the bedroom, quickly pulling off her wet clothes along the way. "Come here," she whispered, sitting Casey down on the bed and handing her a dry pair of pajamas. Once Casey was dressed, Alex led her back out to the living room and they sat down on the couch. Alex rubbed her hands up and down Casey's arms, trying to warm her up. "You were walking around in forty degree weather in a freaking downpour for two hours. Where did you go?"
"Y-your firep-place has a r-remote," Casey said through chattering teeth.
"Yeah. It comes in handy for times like this." She offered Casey a small smile and pulled her close, hoping to use her body heat to warm her. "What were you doing for two hours out there?"
"Thinking."
"Care to share what you were thinking about?"
"Just that I feel bad for how I reacted earlier. It was way over the top. I am so sorry."
Alex smiled. "When I was twenty-one, my therapist told me I had control issues, that I like to keep things really clean. I'm a bit OCD about it."
Casey looked over towards the stairs to the bedroom, where a line of her wet clothing littered the way. She cocked her head towards the trail and looked at Alex. "Well it can't be that bad."
"I had more important things to worry about. You were soaking wet and shivering." She shrugged as she gave Casey a gentle squeeze. She frowned when Casey rested her head on her shoulder. Her girlfriend had definitely overreacted earlier. Something had happened today. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Casey just shrugged and moved a little close to Ale. "I'm fine. It was just a really long day."
Liar, Alex thought. She rubbed Casey's back and shoulders for several minutes. "Well, I nearly set fire to my stove. Again. So what do you say we just order Chinese?"
"It's almost eleven. I have to be in court at nine and I'm exhausted."
Alex stood up and pulled Casey with her. "Okay. Bedtime."
"If you want to order Chinese-"
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
They walked into the bedroom and Alex changed her clothes. After brushing their teeth, they climbed into bed. Alex switched off the light and was surprised at how quickly Casey snuggled up against her. Yes, something had definitely happened today. "Goodnight, Casey. I love you."
Casey wrapped her arms around Alex and gave her a tight squeeze. "I love you, too."
Alex combed her fingers through Casey's hair. It was taking her a long time to fall asleep. After several minutes, she gently kissed Casey's forehead and was relieved to find the woman finally out. "Whatever it is that happened today, what ever it is that's got you so worked up, you can tell me. Whenever you're ready, I'm here. I promise."
Casey heard a knock on her office door and before she could answer, Arthur Branch walked in. "Hello. What can I do for you today?"
"Word has it you just finished with Robyn Malone."
"Yeah," Casey said with a sigh. "She gave her testimony today."
"How did it go?"
"About as well as it could go considering she had to tell the jury about how Stevens chained her up in his kitchen and tortured her." She looked down at her notes and shrugged. "Jury seemed to buy it though. Closing arguments are tomorrow."
Branch nodded. "You ready for them?"
"As ready as I can be."
"Nail this bastard, Casey."
"I will."
As soon as he left, Casey fell forward and rested her head on her desk. Robyn's testimony had brought back a lot of old memories she didn't like to think about. She was dreading tomorrow. Having to remind the jury just what that monster had done to Robyn was going to be hell for everyone in that courtroom. Well, except for Stevens and Langan. Langan seems to get off on it. At this point, she just wanted the trial to be over. Once she managed to get through her closing arguments, she had the weekend off. She'd already made that call. Now it was just one more day of hell. She wiped away a few tears and returned to her paperwork. One more day, and then she could spend the weekend with the woman she loved.
