Chapter 8
'Neal sure knows how to throw a party' Lydia Jordan said as she popped a spear of asparagus wrapped in prosciutto into her mouth and hummed in appreciation.
The small group of women, who were assembled around her, nodded in agreement, raising their glasses in a cheer to the host.
'Wait a minute!' Sara countered with mock annoyance. 'What's all this about Neal? How do you know I didn't make those asparagus… thingies?'
There was generalized chuckling and eye-rolling as Elizabeth spoke up, eyebrows raised in skepticism.
'The fact that you're calling them asparagus thingies, for one thing' she said knowingly.
Sara grimaced as if she'd just sucked on a lemon and downed the rest of her drink.
'Fine… if that's how you're going to be' she declared, pretending to be put out by her best friend's comment. 'I'll go see if there's any more of these… cheese bite things' she said, grabbing an almost bare platter off the table and heading back towards the kitchen for a refill.
Try as she might, she couldn't pull the wool over the eyes of this knowledgeable group of women; they knew all too well who was responsible for ninety percent of the food preparation in the Caffrey home - and it wasn't Sara Ellis.
Sara weaved her way through the group of guests, noticing nothing but happy faces as she slipped into the kitchen where the men seemed to have congregated in great numbers, laughter echoing loudly.
Neal was holding court near the kitchen island, surrounded by Peter, Mike Miller, Jeff Mason, Sam Jordan and Bryan McNamara, his latest hire at the June Ellington School of Art. Everybody had a drink in hand, including Neal and no one would suspect he was drinking fizzy water instead of gin and tonic. He sipped slowly as one would do with a cocktail and he always used the same kind of glass he used for mixed drinks whenever he poured himself one - a small concession to the uneasiness he still felt when it came to his forced abstention from alcohol.
He lifted his glass in a salute to his wife as his eyes met hers and she smiled back, happy to see he was having such a good time. After all the crap with Caitlin and the constant worrying about his mom, she was relieved to see he could still enjoy himself - even if it was for just a short while.
Sara opened the fridge and began poking around the dozen or so plastic containers on her search for more of those… cheese things that seemed to be so popular. She felt a gentle tap on her rear end and turned to find Neal's face smiling down playfully at her.
'Can I help you find something in there?' he teased, leaning into the fridge and purposefully crowding her, making it hard for her to manoeuvre.
'It's okay, I can manage' she said, a little too curtly. After all, she could certainly open a plastic container and load up a plate of appetizers without anybody's help, thank you very much.
'What's the matter?' Neal asked, sensing some tension in his wife's body language.
'Nothing…' she mumbled but he wasn't buying it and she knew it.
She caved. 'Okay, why does everybody always assume that you're the one who made all the food. I did cut up the cheese for the cheese platter and what about the veggies…'
Neal grinned, amused by the fact that she would find such an assumption annoying… or even surprising.
'Come on Repo, be honest. You didn't even know what those chicken appetizers were called' he said playfully, running his hand up and down her backside and giving her another playful slap on the rear for punctuation.
She scowled back at him, unimpressed with his cockiness and yet, she couldn't help but smile in response. He always managed to get her to relax whenever he called her Repo - a term of endearment he'd coined back when they'd first started seeing each other, all those years ago.
She remembered the first time he'd called her that, late at night in the city archives as she helped him pore through countless files during the Adler case. 'So tell me Repo' he'd said with that annoyingly glib grin of his. 'Why are you helping out?' He'd said it without much forethought, referring back to his earlier description of her position at Sterling Bosch as a high class repo man - something she had absolutely taken exception to. And yet, as they'd sat there that night, surrounded by mountains of files and photographs, he'd managed to say it good-naturedly with all the Caffrey charm he could muster and she'd realized from the get-go that she kinda liked it — despite trying very hard not to.
These days, when he murmured it, it was always said with a great deal of playfulness and affection - and that naughty sparkle in his eye. She couldn't help but relax whenever she heard it, Neal's deep, rich voice caressing the pet name and making her feel special - and tingly all over.
Throughout the years, Neal had resorted to plenty of pet names for his wife - as a matter of fact, he seemed to have one for every occasion.
Over time, like many married couples, they'd both fallen victim to overusing the term 'honey'. One might say it was their biggest concession to the humdrum nature of domesticity. It was used frequently in everyday conversation — although neither Neal nor Sara had fallen prey to its shorthand 'hon', preferring to leave that term of endearment for the exclusive use of the Burkes. The simple yet sweet 'honey' seemed to flow easily in conversation and it was just a way of letting each other know there was love and affection between them, no matter how mundane - or serious - the discussion they were having.
'Sweetheart' was reserved for when Neal was feeling particularly protective or romantic - a sweet, loving term of endearment meant to convey all the love and affection he had for his wife. He used it sparingly, considering the fact that, as she'd reminded him frequently, Sara Ellis might need his love, she might want his undying devotion and she might crave his adulation but she sure as hell didn't need his protection.
'Babe' was limited to those moments when Neal was pleading his case for something he wanted - badly. Usually, it involved a request for some sexual favour although the term had been used on many occasions to help Sara snap out of a bad mood. In those situations, the word was spoken with longing, often drawn out 'baaaabe' as if pleading for her to understand where he was coming from or to get her to, please, see reason. Most times, it had the desired effect and therefore, Neal had kept it in his repertoire, calling on it regularly, as the situation required.
'Baby' on the other hand, was usually reserved for the bedroom - but the timing had to be right on that one, considering the fact that, in everyday life, Sara found the term rather sexist and somewhat chauvinistic. But when Neal used it in that breathless, halting voice of his just as he began to lose control between the sheets… well, it was hot as hell and the sound of his rough voice as he murmured it was usually enough to put her over the edge. And Sara wasn't about to complain about that.
Despite her expressed limitations for the use of the word, there was definitely a double standard as far as 'baby' was concerned. Sara used it too… plenty. Usually when she wanted to convey some empathy for what Neal was going through, when she wanted to coddle him or coax him into something he didn't really want to do. Or she'd call him 'sweetie'… and he actually let her. But her favourite pet name for Neal was 'Caffrey'; she'd called him that since they'd first met and it was tantamount to his use of 'Repo'; both nicknames spoken with just a touch of whimsy and the playfulness that best defined their relationship.
Finally, there were the terms of endearment neither one of them would touch with a ten foot pole - unless it was done in jest, of course. Words like 'darling', 'dear', 'doll' or, heaven forbid, 'lover' which Neal had commented sounded like a bad porn flic. References to food such as 'pumpkin' or 'sugar' were also non-starters. They were adults after all and both Neal and Sara shied away from such monikers when referring to one another.
But Repo… well Repo seemed to fit like a glove; it was a pet name just for her and Sara was reasonably sure Neal had never used it when whispering sweet nothings to his previous paramours. It was all hers and it was always spoken with a tinge of humour and gentle ribbing, complimenting the playful banter that had always existed between the two of them. It was one of the ways Neal had found to coax his wife off her high horse when she got annoyed or impatient and it worked like magic.
Every. Single. Time. Including this time.
'So… where are they?' she asked, falling prey to his charm and that twinkle in his eye.
'What?' he asked, seemingly forgetting what they'd been talking about.
'The cheese things' she said with an exaggerated pout.
Neal's smile grew and he reached in around her for one of the containers, pulling it out of the fridge.
'Right here' he said, his voice rough. He rubbed up against her and winked, his eyes remaining glued to hers.
Sara swooned.
WCWCWC
Mindy Miller looked around, searching the room with her eyes.
'I was hoping I'd see Liam tonight' she told Sara. 'You know, I really miss having him around the house.'
Sara nodded; she felt the same way about Cody. 'He was here earlier; he decided to go over to Will's party, after all' she explained, matter of factly.
'Oh…' Mindy said, at a loss for words.
Sara picked up on something in her friend's eyes. Surprise? Confusion? Consternation?
'Why? What's wrong?'
'Nothing… it's just that… Cody's at that party, too.'
Sara's eyes grew. She wondered if Liam knew that his ex would be there when he'd decided to head out. Surely, Will wouldn't have kept it from him and anyway, why shouldn't Cody be at the party? The two of them shared all the same friends, had hung out with the same kids all through high school. Their first face to face since their breakup was bound to be awkward but the two men had to bump into each other at some point, why not now?
'Oh…' Sara uttered just as Mindy had a moment before. 'So, how's Cody doing? Is he liking Columbia?' Sara asked, with a tinge of nostalgia.
She loved the young man who'd been a permanent fixture in their house for going on five years: five Christmases, five summers hanging out together, five birthdays shared with each other, Liam's in the spring, Cody's in the dead of winter. Cody Miller was a sweet, thoughtful guy and he and Liam seemed to be a match made in heaven, at least that's what it looked like to all those around them.
Although she and Neal had been supportive of Liam's decision to break up with Cody, Sara had to admit to a certain sadness at the news. But like all parents, all that really mattered to the Caffreys was that their kids be happy. Hope seemed to be settled in her relationship with Cameron, proudly wearing his ring and seemingly on the brink of making a big announcement any day now and Liam… well, Liam looked happy enough with his new life in Syracuse although it was hard to tell for sure, considering his rather quiet, brooding temperament. The young man had a tendency to keep things to himself and not share his thoughts and woes quite as easily as his sister did. Luckily, Neal had a knack for breaking through the silence and get to whatever might be bothering him and Sara took solace in the fact that her husband would share any news he might uncover.
When Sara had walked in on Liam a few days earlier, talking to his new boyfriend on the phone, she couldn't help but pick up on something, a certain lack of enthusiasm for the new man in his life. She'd shared her observation with Neal and he'd reminded her that, as parents, they couldn't live his life for him and that if Liam said he was happy… well, they would just have to take that at face value.
'Cody's doing great' Mindy said with pride. 'He seems to really be enjoying his classes and he's still working part-time for that computer company he had a job with last summer.'
Despite the boys' breakup, Mindy and Mike Miller had remained good friends with the Caffreys; Mindy, in particular, had really bonded with Sara following her kidnapping ordeal a few years back. As a criminal lawyer, she'd helped Sara navigate the complicated legal system as she sought justice against the man who'd sexually assaulted her. Since then, they had remained close and the two women had not so secretly mused about the possibility of becoming in-laws someday. Now, that didn't look like it was going to happen and the two women had been disappointed at the sudden and definitive end to Liam and Cody's relationship.
'Is he seeing anyone?' Sara asked, curious as to Cody's status.
'He went on a couple of dates just before Christmas but with a couple of different guys from university. Nothing serious… yet' she explained.
Sara waited for the unavoidable question.
'What about Liam? Has he met anyone in Syracuse?'
Sara swallowed and looked over at her friend. 'He's been dating this guy he met in one of his business classes. His name is Todd.'
'Oh' Mindy replied, looking disappointed.
'They're young, Mindy' Sara reminded her friend. 'Who knows? Maybe Liam will move back here after university and… well, none of us knows what the future holds, right?'
'You're right. I'm glad Liam's met someone. He's a wonderful young man, he deserves to be happy.'
'So does Cody' Sara added with a sad smile. 'Let's just hope they both find what they're looking for.'
WCWCWC
Like any good party worth its salt, the music and voices grew louder as the evening progressed — due, in part, to the levels of alcohol being consumed and the excitement and anticipation at the imminent arrival of the new year. Liam had been having an okay time, reminiscing with his old high school buddies and getting the scoop on what everyone was up to. After high school, they'd all gone their separate ways and it was nice to reconnect with his old friends and teammates. Of course, the fact that Liam was playing forward for the Syracuse Orange gave him somewhat of a rockstar status and he was enjoying the attention for a change, the tension in his shoulders finally abating now that he'd finally gotten that first awkward face to face with Cody out of the way. Despite the stimulating conversations, he was having a fair bit of trouble concentrating, his eyes constantly roaming the house in search of the young man who, he was realizing, still had a firm grip on his heartstrings.
The two men had chatted for a while and Cody had even suggested they catch up properly and meet up for coffee before Liam headed back upstate the following weekend. Liam had felt his heart thumping wildly in his chest and he'd given his ex a rather vague response… we'll see… yeah, sure… maybe… In fact, he wasn't all that keen on spending time alone with Cody; truth was, it was physically painful to be standing so close to him and not be able to reach out and touch him, whisper in his ear, place a sweet kiss on his cheek or bring his arm around him and pull him close. It was probably best to avoid contact, at least until they had both completely healed - something Liam was beginning to think might never happen.
He glanced down at his phone, seeing another text appear from horny Todd. The young man had been in touch all night and as the evening wore on, his texting had morphed into something more akin to sexting - a sure sign Todd was over imbibing at the family get-together he was attending back home in the Denver suburb of Englewood. The more Liam thought about it, the more he wondered if his dalliance with Todd Greenway wasn't just a transition relationship and nothing more. Pining for one guy while dating boyfriend number two just didn't seem right. When he got back to Syracuse, he resolved to sit with his boyfriend and have a serious talk about the status of their relationship; maybe it was time to let go.
He punched in a happy face in response to Todd's latest indecent proposition and tucked the phone back in his pocket, his eyes roaming the room, looking for Cody once again - something he'd been doing all night.
'Liam!' he heard from the nearby kitchen, the familiar voice of his best friend.
He made his way to find Will, noticing his gait was a little off; he was six Stellas in and if he wanted to be able to walk out of there under his own steam, he'd better slow down.
'What?' he shouted back, over the loud music.
'Can you go down to the basement and get the bottles of champagne from the fridge?' Will asked from his spot at the kitchen counter where he was refilling bowls of chips and pretzels.
'I wrote down the ones you need to bring up' Will continued, barely audible over the sound of the thumping beat. 'Don't take my dad's good stuff!'
He folded a bright yellow piece of paper into an airplane and sent it Liam's way as Liam caught the airborne note and giggled - yeah, six was pretty well his limit.
Will's dad had a full blown bar down in the basement as well as a wine cellar and a couple of extra fridges for extra storage when they entertained. The man was quite a wine connoisseur and his wife… well, she was a connoisseur of lunchtime martinis which extended to before dinner drinks and a couple of glasses with dinner and… so on and so on. She was nice enough but Liam had never seen the woman stone cold sober in all the years he'd been hanging out at the Allenby house.
Next to the laundry room, where Mrs. Allenby washed Mr. Allenby's tidy whities, was a state of the art entertainment room complete with a pool table and a hundred inch flat screen that was the envy of the neighbourhood and the definitive place for the guys to watch the big games.
Liam opened the door to the basement and closed it behind him, sighing as the loud voices and music receded, a welcome relief. He'd just stepped off the last step and turned the corner when he found himself walking straight into Cody and he let out a little yelp in surprise.
'Cody!' he called out. 'You startled me.'
'Sorry' Cody said, holding up a handful of champagne bottles. 'Will sent me down here to get the champagne before midnight.'
Liam frowned as he replayed the conversation he'd just had with his best friend.
'That's weird. Will just… he just sent me down here to get the champagne' he said slowly, his mind catching up to the words he was speaking.
He looked down at the note in his hands - not a list of bottles at all but rather a short note.
'GOTCHA! Now, don't come back up here until you two have talked things out'
Liam let out a strangled chuckle and showed the note to Cody who promptly broke out in a grin.
'How much do you want to bet that door is locked' he said, pointing to the door at the top of the stairs.
Liam climbed the steps and tested the theory, not surprised to find they'd been locked in. He gave a few cursory knocks, the sound of his voice drowned out by the loud, blaring music coming from behind the door.
'Come on guys, open up!' he shouted as loud as he could.
He turned back to look at Cody who was standing there with a puzzled look on his face.
'I think we just got punked' Liam said as he let his body slither down and settle on the top step of the staircase.
Cody seemed to be taking it all in stride; apparently, he wasn't terribly upset with the turn of events.
Liam made his way back down the stairs. 'Why do I have a feeling this is payback for locking Jake and Renée in the field house last summer?'
Cody grinned back, holding up the champagne bottles in his hands. 'At least we won't get thirsty!'
WCWCWC
A group of somewhat intoxicated partygoers traipsed through the Caffrey kitchen, lined up one behind the other like cabooses on a train, all of them wearing goofy party hats and tiaras and blowing noisily into their noisemakers. Neal and Peter stood back and chuckled at the sight of them as midnight drew near.
'Guess I'll be handing out a few of those taxi chits before the night is over' Neal commented with a wide grin.
As the only stone cold sober individual in the house, he was still finding a way to enjoy himself, living vicariously through his guests — some of whom had clearly over imbibed. Peter lifted his beer in a toast and Neal brought his glass up to join in.
'Five minutes, everybody!' someone's voice was heard calling out from the other room.
'I had better go find my wife before the bell tolls' Peter said as he followed the train out to the living room in search of Elizabeth.
Neal sighed loudly and looked around at the half eaten food and half empty bottles and glasses littering the counter. It would be a short night and they still had to get themselves organized for brunch with his mom in about twelve hours.
'There you are' came Sara's familiar voice as she wandered in. He picked up on just a hint of lilt in her voice, the way it always got when she'd had a couple of drinks.
She made her way to the refrigerator and poked around the back, coming up with a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne and pulling it out with a flourish.
'Ta da! Just for us' she exclaimed as Neal smiled sweetly. There was a certain nostalgia associated with not being able to imbibe like everyone else but he reminded himself that there were so many worse things in life - like not having this amazing woman to share his New Year's Eve with.
Sara smiled broadly, her eyes bright and shiny, the candy apple red dress she was wearing very festive and showing just the right amount of cleavage. She looked amazing and Neal wasted no time in bringing his arms around her waist as she struggled to get the bottle open.
'Stop it!' she giggled as she struggled to reach for a couple of special champagne flutes in the cupboard - the special ones, the ones from their wedding.
He laughed heartily and they moved together towards the cupboard, voices growing louder in the front room as everyone began the countdown to midnight.
'Hurry' she urged as Neal pulled away just long enough to pop the bottle open and began pouring the bubbly into the two flutes she was holding in her hands.
He took one of the glasses from her hand and brought his other arm to snake around her waist, pulling her closer.
'To a brand new year' he said tapping his glass against hers.
Sara nodded. 'To a wonderful new year… together' she added as she brought her lips to his, humming as he kissed her soundly.
He pulled away, that goofy look still on his face.
'I love you Repo' he whispered as Auld Lang Syne was heard echoing through the house.
WCWCWC
The boys had decided to make the best of a bad situation and they'd uncorked a couple of bottles of champagne, each of them sipping away on a bottle of bubbly as they chatted lounging on one of the leather couches in the entertainment room. It had been close to twenty minutes and still no one had come to rescue them - not that either one of them was complaining.
The sound of muted music was heard along with the hoots and hollers of those partying immediately above their heads. Liam was beginning to relax, the champagne going to his head - as champagne always did. Their conversation had grown more free and easy as time passed and they'd been exchanging anecdotes about their first few months at university, comparing notes on who had the most inept professor.
'So what happened after that?' Cody asked, beginning to relax.
'Nothing, the guy never noticed it and he just kept teaching' Liam said with a giggle.
'You're kidding, he taught the whole class like that?'
'A bunch of us took pictures' Liam said, his eyes bright. 'A few of the guys actually posted them on Twitter.'
'Oh my god! Did they get into trouble?'
'How's he gonna prove who did it?' Liam countered. 'Oh, wait a minute I have it on my Twitter feed.'
He began scrolling down on his phone, bypassing three more drunk texts from Todd and arriving at the photograph of his economics professor walking around the front of the large classroom with toilet paper hanging out the back of his pants. He chuckled, handing his phone over to Cody.
Cody laughed loudly in that carefree way Liam loved so much and he watched his ex-boyfriend's eyes light up in amusement as he studied the embarrassing photograph. God, he missed that carefree laugh and he got an overwhelming urge to reach out and kiss those lips… just once.
They grew quiet, the mood conducive to some more intimate sharing and Liam couldn't help himself any longer; he slid in a little closer to the other man, close enough to feel the heat radiating off his body.
'Are you… dating anyone?' he asked, a question that had been burning on his tongue all night.
'Nothing serious. I went out with exactly two guys since we broke up' Cody said with a smile. 'No sparks… yet.'
'I'm sorry' Liam said, although he definitely was not sorry in the least.
'What about you?' Cody asked, still cradling Liam's phone in his hands - a comforting connection to the young man sitting beside him.
'I've… I've been seeing this guy off and on' Liam confessed, skirting the truth. Suddenly, it had become really important that Cody know he still had feelings for him.
'It's nothing serious… just a few dates' Liam added, in an attempt to downplay his budding romance with Todd Greenway.
Cody nodded and looked into Liam's eyes, the sexual tension growing between them. There was silence, except for the loud voices coming from upstairs and the constant beat of the bass from some old Cars song - Will had always been retro when it came to music.
'The truth is… I miss you Cody' Liam said, his voice quiet.
He heard Cody sigh loudly. 'We knew breaking up wasn't going be easy.'
'I know… but I thought… you know, that my feelings might fade with time' Liam admitted. 'But since I've been back… I … I just can't seem to stop thinking about you' he said as the music cut out and they heard voices counting down to the new year.
10… 9… 8…
Cody leaned in a little closer and Liam's hand came up to touch his cheek as their eyes met, pools of desire.
7… 6… 5…
'I miss you too' Cody admitted, his voice soft.
4… 3… 2…
There was a soft beep emanating from Liam's phone and the two of them froze, their lips a mere inches apart. Cody's eyes were drawn to the screen he was still cradling in his hand and his face grew serious as he stared down at the incoming message.
Liam frowned, wondering what had happened to change the mood so drastically. Just a second ago, they were on the verge of kissing and now, Cody was recoiling, pulling back.
'You son of a bitch!' Cody shouted as he threw the phone at Liam, leaving him perplexed for a brief moment.
Cody was instantly on his feet and was running up the stairs before Liam knew what had happened. He could hear him banging loudly against the basement door and he heard the door open, Cody's footsteps growing dimmer in the distance.
He glanced down at his phone, as he clued in to what had just happened. Damn champagne making him so mellow; why hadn't he seen this coming?
Sure enough, the alert of an incoming text appeared on the screen, just the first few words of Todd's latest indecent proposal but more than enough to draw a very vivid image.
'Next time, I'm going to tie you to the bed and —'
'Shit!' Liam called out, slamming his phone against the nearby wall.
TBC
