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Chapter 4
Casey's POV
So much work in this office to file and organize! I need a bathroom break and if I smoked like half the people in this office did I would want a smoke break too. I probably should go back to working with George's community law firm, but I wanted the extra money criminal law gave to their legal administrative assistants that I couldn't resist the temptation to work busting perps.
"Ms. McDonald, I have some files you still need to look at when you get the chance," my boss, Mr. Shapiro told me, standing outside the bathroom door.
"I'm in the bathroom," I say, somewhat exasperated.
"Oh okay, I'll wait until you are done."
"Thank you," I breathe a sigh of relief.
A long pause occurs before he finally asks, "Are you done?"
"No!" I shout through the door.
"Is Phyllis Norris in there because I have a memo saying..."
"Go away," I say to him along with some other woman who happens to be in the bathroom too.
Mr. Shapiro walks away from the bathroom door, leaving me alone in peace with the only other woman in the bathroom with me. "Oh hey, Phyllis, you avoiding work today?" I ask her. She has been with this firm for so many years now, and she kind of taught me the ropes of this place. Of course, she has been avoiding work two out of the five days of the week because she says I do such a good job in her position. Maybe that's why I want to leave as well, I can't stand the feeling I have in taking a person's spot in an office. I mean, there is a saying "to each his own" or "to the looter go the spoils" but to avoid work because someone does it better than you is no way to live. I would not be able to live with myself if I ever did. I believe in fighting for what I believe in.
"Oh no, I'm not avoiding work today, Miss Casey, I had to go to the bathroom really badly. I always get that way when I am PMS'ing. I can't wait until menopause gets here then I won't have to worry about the bleeding every month just the chills and hot flashes," Phyllis stated, putting a colorful image in my head.
I scrunch up my face because she can't see me, and I say, "How long do you have before retirement, Mrs. Norris?"
"Well if all goes according to plan, I can retire in five years with retirement benefits from the company," Mrs. Norris replied.
"That's cool. I have to go finish that paper work for Mr. Shapiro. Toodles!" I announce, walking out of the bathroom.
Derek's POV
"Hey dude, I haven't seen you in forever. How's it been, my man?" Ralph asked, holding his hand up in a high five fashion getting ready to grasp our hands together and hug like two heterosexual brothers.
"It's been going, a little of this, a little of that, chatting with a little hottie via text message practically every night," I play off, trying to sound like a pimp, "how did you happen to find me here? I didn't think anyone would guess I would work at the high school we used to go to."
"You definitely surprised us, D man. Who is the babe you have been talking to every night?" Ralph asked, sounding curious.
"I can't tell you that, dude, you will have to wait and see because I am supposed to meet her this afternoon at 5:30 at Starbuck's. She will have Pride and Prejudice set next to her and a bouquet of daisies on the table. I apparently have to wear these Clark Kent-style glasses as well," I reveal my sexy and somewhat dorky pair of glasses.
"Cool, when did you get glasses?"
"I had them for a while, I just refused to wear them in high school because I wanted to protect my cool guy reputation."
"Dude, put them on, let me see them," Ralph coaxed, I obliged him on this, he smiles at me and says, "you do look like Superman with those on. You look even cooler in them than Clark Kent would."
I bring my hand up to back of my head and start scratching at it, "Maybe I could have had a chance with some of the newspaper girls, I always did like Lois Lane."
"Ha ha, you crack me up, man, you will always be THE MAN," Ralph remarks, punching me in the arm.
"Oh yeah, I need a favor to ask of you, dude."
"What is it, bro?"
"I want you to run interference for me. I want you to go to Starbuck's at 5:30 and see who it is. I want you also to wait for me to get there outside, kapeesh," I tell Ralph.
"Aye aye, I got that! You planning to surprise this girl or something," Ralph asked.
"Oh, something like that..." I smirk, devilishly, "just you wait and see."
"Oh okay, I'll catch ya later, bro, you probably have to get to class to teach your lessons."
I smack my hand into my forehead, "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about school. Catch ya later!" I run off to my classroom, hopefully not horribly late.
Casey's POV
Why did I get here five minutes early? How much am I willing to bet he is going to be like ten minutes late? It would be just my luck that the guy is going to be a jerk and stand me up because he has never really met me, and he probably got my phone number from somebody else who did meet me, but they realized they weren't interested me like that. OH GOD! Casey get a grip on yourself, girl. You have to have some faith in the guy. He will most likely be nervous in meeting me, but I am nervous too and put my nerves aside to risk meeting him this afternoon. I rearrange Pride and Prejudice on the table to look better suited next to the daisies. STOP IT, CASEY! You are going to make him nervous if you do that when he meets you. Chillax, breathe in, breathe out, remember your yoga workouts.
Derek's POV
"Hey, D-man, you will never guess who the little hottie is that wants to meet you?" Ralph boasted at me, looking exceptionally proud of himself.
I pretend to look surprised, "Who is it? Who is it?"
"D, it's Casey! I didn't think you could be interested in someone like her. She supposedly despised you in school, and you did everything in your power to make her life miserable."
"It is! How could that be? I didn't know I was actually talking to my step-sister the whole time. (A/N: *snickers*) There has got to be some mistake," I decide to fake looking dumbfounded as I go over to the window and plant a look of mock horror on my face as I look in Casey's direction.
"Dude, there is no mistake. What are you going to do?"
"I am going to casually walk in and strike up a conversation with her. Maybe I can rile her up enough, I could get her to back off."
Ralph smacks me on the back and pushes me into the restaurant, "Go for it, man, lay her off gently."
As soon as I walk in, I forget that little display with Ralph, and I go on with my original plan. I knew I wasn't going to reveal myself to her yet. If she knew who it was, she would know that I am the "exception" to all rules. I am casually walking over to the counter to get a coffee, avoiding looking in Casey's direction. As I place my order, I cock my head over to Casey's table and smile, knowing how much fun this is going to be.
Coffee cup in hand, I turn and walk over to where Casey is sitting. She obviously has not noticed that I am here since she seems to be staring off into space. I am standing right next to Casey, waving my hand in front of her face, saying, "Hey Space Case, you shouldn't be staring like that, your face could freeze that way."
I apparently startled her because she jumped and yelped, "Derek! What the heck are you doing here?"
"I decided to get some coffee because I have a long night ahead of me," I shrug off this question easily.
"That is nice, but could you leave? I am meeting someone soon, and I don't want him to think I am busy with someone else."
"Casey, I'm hurt, you want to brush off your own step-brother because you don't want somebody to see you with me. I didn't know you were such a snob."
"It is funny that you call me a snob because you have snubbed me more times than I care to mention."
"Not that you don't deserve it," I smartly retorted, she does not snub me like that. I am the snubber not the snubby. I pick up her copy of Pride and Prejudice, casually flipping through it, "why did you bring this?"
Casey is looking pissed as she explains, "It is for the guy that is planning to meet me so he can know who I am."
"Oh, so he is one of those sentimental types that loves to see romantic chemistry between two people who are total opposites fall in love with each other, their families are opposed to this match and try to keep them apart; however, they are both so stubborn and pigheaded that they defy all odds to be together in the end," I spout off my interpretation of Pride and Prejudice.
Casey looks at me, incredulously, "You read this book?"
I laugh, "No, I watched the movie. Kiera Knightly is hot. I was definitely turned on by a girl who speaks her mind and doesn't give in to a man's selfish desires."
"Figures! You would never sit down to read a book if you could get the gist of it in a movie," Casey sighed, looking disappointed.
"I prefer the actions rather than the words."
"Typical male response."
Shrugging my shoulders, I reply back, "Hey, I'm the average guy, I like what I see in movies, and I am a sucker for beautiful brunettes," holding up my hands in mock surrender.
"You...you...you..." Casey stammered.
"I...what? Casey spit it out. There is no point keeping it bottled up, let that rage cannon go."
Casey flips on me at that, "Shut the hell up, Derek, I hate you. If you ever want a girl to marry you, then you have to be a bit more sensitive to women. You never have been in the past, and I doubt you can show any form of sensitivity in the future " She gathers up her things and leaves the table in huff.
I watch her as she leaves. God, she is hot when she gets pissed off! I could feel the fire in her eyes burning blue as she glared at me. What does she mean I am not sensitive to women? I have been sensitive when the situation called for me to be sensitive. Of course, most of the times I have been sensitive are when I am helping out Marti. Maybe Casey just does not see my sensitive side as I want her to see it, I have done many sweet things for her in the past. I helped her out at Summer School day camp, let her go out with my best friend Sam, tried to help her ace her make-up test, came around to help with her mom's Fun Fair, called her dad when he left to catch his plane because she was so upset for him leaving without spending any time with her, and I have been there for her to get her out of so much trouble. I should maybe show her some more how much I care about her.
I am so lost in my own thoughts that I barely remember leaving Starbuck's and driving home to my apartment. I barely even noticed my phone vibrating in my pocket before it stopped. 2 New Messages flashed on the screen.
I am sorry I missed seeing you at the scheduled time.
I was there 5 minutes early, but my step-brother showed up and pissed me off so much that I couldn't be there anymore.
It's okay, cutie, I wasn't able to make it because I had a really long meeting that I could not get out of until now. I'm sorry about your step-brother I would talk some sense into him if you want me to.
If you can talk any sense into Derek that would be a miracle, there is no getting through to him.
I was very much like him before I met someone who changed my life.
Really? It is hard to imagine that you are could be an asshole like Derek.
Yeah, the person that changed my life made me want to better myself in every way. I did things out of the norm for me, and I want to thank her for it too.
Aww, you are so sweet. She would probably much appreciate it if you thanked her for helping you find yourself.
Yeah, but I was always the same around her while she unintentionally changed me. She thinks I am a jerk.
If you can show her how sweet you are the way you write to me, then you will have no problem getting a proper response back.
Thanks.
I would still like to meet you if that is okay, but I don't know when the best time is to do it.
When is the next time you are free?
Um, I will have to wait and see on that. I will message you when I get my schedule for next week.
Oh, alright, I will talk to you later then. XOXO.
:) You are so cute. I find it so easy to talk to you.
Same here. I got to go, my dinner is about to boil over the side of the pot.
I was tempted to send back a text that would say Klutzilla!, but I chose not because then she would have known it was me right away. I may be a teacher, but I am not that smart when it comes to girls especially not Casey. Maybe I should get Ralph or someone else to ask her about her secret admirer, she probably has some idea on who it is. Well, well, well I have a lot to think over, I need to go watch some tv while I think.
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A/N: I had this chapter about 75% done two days ago, and I needed to figure out how I was going to end this chapter. If you didn't pick up, I kind of made Derek sound like he was talking to you guys on what his next plan is going to be. I do have ideas of where the story is going to go next chapter, but you will have to wait until I am done. The next chapter is probably going to be up next Sunday unless I work diligently throughout the coming week after my other stuff is done.
