Zoe left the room soon after Cal fell asleep. It was customary at this stage. Whoever was where they shouldn't be got up and left. She cast a quick glance at her ex-husband before closing over the door.
OXOXOXO
When he woke the next morning he felt marginally more refreshed and less fatigued than the previous day. He supposed it would take a few days for the jetlag to fully wear off. He sighed linking his hands under his head. The office. It was once his respite, his safe haven and now, somehow, it was the last place he wanted to go. But he knew he'd have to.
OXOXOXO
Cal spent the morning in Zoe's house with Emily. He made breakfast, they watched TV and talked more about her college course. She too asked him where he'd been and he gave her the same response as everyone else who had asked.
"Dad, come on. I'm not a child, you can tell me…"
"It's not important love. Important thing is that I'm back, yeah?" Emily shrugged and nodded.
"I guess so. But why won't you tell anybody?" she asked, deciding not to let him off so easily.
"I will. When the time is right." Emily nodded.
"Gillian, right?" Cal shrugged his shoulders, his hands clasping together irritably.
"Maybe," was all he said.
OXOXOXO
He had hoped he would be able to dodge into his office that afternoon without being seen but that hope was vanquished when he ran into Tom, on his way from Gillian's office. He said hello and hoped that he'd be able to keep walking but Tom stopped him.
"Gillian told me that uh, now that you're back, I need to get you to sign off on some figures for me." He spoke with confidence but Cal could tell he was a little bit reluctant. He nodded his head and pointed toward the office.
"Come on in," he said pushing open the door and heading for his desk. Tom followed across as Cal plopped down in the chair, his trademark slouch. He pulled a pen from the cup on the desktop.
"What am I signing? And where?" he asked disinterested. Tom dropped a folder to the table and sifted through it, pulling out a thin printed document.
"Payroll. And just at the bottom. Under Gillian's name." Cal nodded, glancing down through the figures quickly, noticing that both Loker and Torres were getting paid slightly more than when he left. Everything else seemed to be perfectly fine. He traced his scrawl across the page under Gillian's name. He looked up at Tom who smiled politely back.
"So how long have you and Gillian been dating then?" Cal asked casually.
"Little over a year." Cal nodded his head and handed Tom the paperwork.
"Be good to her," he said in a low voice and he watched the ghost of a smirk cross Tom's face.
"Thanks," he said, picking up his folder and heading for the doorway. Cal watched the way he walked, back straight, chin up. He had that air of importance about him, the air that Gillian liked. In normal circumstances Cal would say they were well suited were it not for the fact that last 'important' guy Gillian had dated had been her drug addicted ex-husband. Cal figured that it might have been inevitable but he neither liked nor trusted Tom Lowy.
OXOXOXO
He was reviewing case videos when Gillian stopped by.
"I didn't even realise you were here until Tom told me," she said smiling. She sat down on a chair facing his desk, two coffees in her hand. She passed one to him which he took, offering his gratitude. He took a sip and smacked his lips together.
"God I missed coffee…" he said offhandedly and he could tell by her face that once again she was dying to ask where it was he had been. But she didn't. There was a knock on the door and Torres entered, holding a folder of her own. She stopped when she saw Gillian.
"Oh, sorry. I can come back…" but Cal shook his head and waved her in. She directed him to a saved video file on the company desktop which he opened on the big screen in the office. It was for a separate case that Torres was working on about an internet bullying incident. They watched it straight through and Gillian was the first to speak.
"Well he's clearly lying when he says he didn't 'stalk' her. And when he says he didn't see her at the party. But he's also showing what I think is sadness when you ask him about Tonya's rape… What do you think Cal?" Cal nodded his head.
"You're right," he said quickly, standing up. Gillian frowned and Torres mirrored it.
"Is that it? You have nothing else to add?" she asked incredulously. Cal slipped one arm into his jacket and then the other before answering.
"Not at the moment Torres but as you might have noticed I am incredibly jetlagged…" On that note, he headed for the doorway and slinked out before either could say another word. Torres looked at Gillian.
"What the hell?" she said.
"Your guess is as good as mine Ria…" Gillian said sighing. She was worried about him.
"He was lying when he said he had jetlag. You saw that right?" Gillian stood up, straightening down the line of her dress where it had creased from her sitting position. Ria asked her again and she wheeled around.
"Yes Ria I saw that. I've seen everything on his face for the past two days. And that's how I know that something is wrong. But it's nobody's business but his so let's just stay out if, ok?" Ria nodded her head and skulked from the room, tail between her legs.
Gillian felt kind of bad for yelling at her. After all, she herself had absolutely no intention of staying out Cal's business herself.
OXOXOXO