For anyone who has checked out the Lie To Me A-Z promo, how much do you love the letter V?
Thanks to everyone for your reviews! I hope everyone is still enjoying this story! :D
She stood in awe of her surroundings, the room was small, quite quaint in fact, and the small chairs had pretty flowers attached to them. She stumbled forward to inspect the flowers closer, feeling a steady hand at her waist making sure she remained upright.
"Alright darling, I know I'm gorgeous but no need to fall head over heels for me." She couldn't help but laugh at Cal's cheeky comment. Using his hand to pull her up, she steadied herself while his other arm snaked around her waist. Twisting in his embrace she faced him, still laughing from his joke. Feeling more confident from all the alcohol she had consumed she leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. He didn't have time to respond as she moved away as quickly as she had moved in.
"Ooh look at the altar!" Gillian ran from Cal's arms up to where the Elvis impersonator was standing. A white arch was situated behind him, lined with the same flowers as the chairs. "It's so lovely, Cal."
"If you say so." He was looking around the room, clearly unimpressed with what he found.
"I did the whole big white wedding with Alec." That caught his attention as he brought his gaze back to her. "That didn't work out so well. Neither did your wedding with Zoe. Maybe we had it backwards, the bigger the wedding the worse the marriage. Maybe this small chapel is what we needed."
He nodded along but she could tell he didn't fully understand where she was going with this trip down memory lane. He was just trying to make her happy by agreeing with her. Alec would never have done that, he would have told her she was talking nonsense and made her go back to the hotel. Not Cal, he was standing beside her and letting her have her fun. That's why she loved him so much.
She spun around to face him once more, spotting Reynolds sitting in one of the new chairs, his new friend sitting on his lap and whispering in his ear. Reynolds isn't going to be the only one getting lucky tonight, she thought as she dropped onto one knee in front of Cal and grasped his hand.
"Will you marry me, Cal?"
"Foster stop messing around, we should head back to the hotel." He tried to move away but her grip on his hand held firm, forcing him to turn back to her once more.
"You're my best friend and I love you." She stood up now, only inches separating them. She could see the alcohol effect had worn off on him slightly but he was still fighting to find a response.
"Marry me Cal!" The slightest nod of his head was all it took for her to jump into his arms, calling for Elvis to quickly marry them.
"You need a marriage licence." She felt her bubble burst at the minister's words. Her bottom lip began to quiver before Elvis continued hastily, "just fill out some of this paper work and it costs a bit extra, but anything for the lovely lady right?"
It amazed her that even in her inebriated state she was still able to get married. What a great town! Finally she stumbled up the aisle and took her place next to her husband-to-be. The ceremony itself was a blur. All she could remember was Cal's face smiling back at her. She could hardly remember seeing him happier.
"You may now kiss the bride." The only part she did hear, as she felt Cal's lips slide over hers. The celebrations came next, a lot of back slapping and handshakes. Being as intoxicated as she was images flashed by, hugging Reynolds, leaving the chapel, the trip back to the hotel, trying to upgrade to the honeymoon suite, and finally time came to a standstill as they stood facing each other in their new room.
She felt his arms wrap around her to find the zip of her dress and as it fell to the floor and they fell to the bed, she prayed the alcohol would allow her to remember this moment.
Gillian woke with a start, the brightness of the room overwhelming her. As reality hit her and her memories faded, she turned to the empty bed beside her, buried her face in the pillow and sobbed uncontrollably.
She had the same dream every night since she handed over the divorce papers to Cal. Although she knew it wasn't just a dream, but the memory of her wedding night. She had been the one to initiate it by proposing to Cal. She had practically forced him! When the tears had subsided she risked a glance at the clock. 12.09.
Groaning she sat up in the bed. She had barely moved from this spot in the past few days, not answering calls from anyone, and she wasn't even in contact with Ria. She had no idea what was happening in the Lightman Group or even with Lightman himself. He called everyday at 3 o clock and at night at 10 o clock. Of course she never answered.
A loud clatter startled her from her thoughts and she heard someone curse downstairs. The sound of someone climbing the stairs followed and Gillian began to panic. She tried to jump from the bed but was so tangled in the sheets she ended up falling to the floor, her legs still wrapped in the sheets.
"Dr. Foster? Are you ok?" Ria Torres' voice called out to her from the doorway of the bedroom. Gillian whimpered in response, prompting Ria to run forward and help her boss back into the bed.
"I'm fine, I just heard someone downstairs and panicked. Got myself tangled up." She sat back against the headboard, closing her eyes. "Why are you here Ria?"
"You haven't been into work for the past few days and when you're not there, you usually call me to check up on things." Even with her eyes closed she could tell the young girl was holding something back.
"That's not all is it?"
"He's beginning to worry us. He's irritated all the time, more than usual anyway, and he's missing things. Simple micro-expression's that even Loker is catching before him."
"Who is?" It was a lame shot but she felt marginal satisfaction in pretending she didn't know Ria was talking about Cal.
"Dr. Lightman, your husband or did you forget?" Her tone was harsh causing Gillian to open her eyes and gaze at her. Ria was genuinely worried about Cal. Remembering what Cal had been like after his first wife left, Gillian couldn't really blame her.
"I gave him divorce papers."
"When?"
"Four days ago."
"That explains his reaction to her so." This peaked Gillian's interest. Who was her? Sensing her boss' reluctance to ask the obvious question, Ria continued.
"Poppy. The day we solved her case she came with Loker and I to the address given by her best friend, when we returned to the office later we found Cal sitting in his library holding a bunch of papers and something else, but he hid that before we could see it. Well the little sex kitten was so happy to have her money back she was all over Cal and I swear I've never seen him react like that.
He pushed her out of the office and told her to get out, said she had ruined everything. Of course I didn't know what 'everything' was at the time, but I guess that it was you. He felt that Poppy had ruined his marriage. Did she?" Gillian shook her head, breaking eye contact with Ria.
"No. I think I did though." She felt her body begin to shake as she fought to control her emotions. Ria wrapped her arms around Gillian's trembling form, trying to soothe her.
"Maybe it's not too late."
"What if it is?" Ria laughed, releasing Gillian from her grip.
"Trust me, you haven't seen him the past few days. It's not too late."
X
Gillian raised her trembling hand and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Checking her watch she saw it was almost 10 at night, surely he wasn't still in the office. Her phone rang in her bag and as she fished it out she realised why he wasn't answering the door.
"Hi Cal" she spoke gently into the phone. She could hear his surprised gasp, he had gotten used to only reaching her answering machine. "Open the door for me, please?" There was a moment of silence on the other end before she heard him clattering through the house to fling the door wide open.
He pulled her to him, holding her against him forcefully before he came to his senses and took a step back. Looking bashful he stepped aside, allowing her to go in. They moved silently to the living room, Gillian noting how strange it was to be back here. Memories of their date night flooded back to her and caused a lump to rise in her throat. They both sat on the couch, angling their bodies towards one another, but still maintaining their distance.
"I'm so sorry Gillian." His voice was low and she could tell he was deeply affected by everything that had happened.
"Do you remember much of the wedding?" Her question shocked him and he just nodded in reply, obviously curious to see where this was going.
"I was the one who asked you to marry me. You were hesitant at first but I practically forced you." Shocked, he jumped forward on the couch, catching her hands in his.
"I don't remember that. I remember how beautiful you looked when you asked me to marry you, I remember how happy I felt saying the vows, and I even remember the indecent display from Reynolds and that woman, but there was no forcing done."
"But I-"
"I love you Gillian. It's taken me a pretend marriage that turned real to realise it, but I do. I love you."
The tears she had been fighting began to slowly fall. Cal tracked one tear's progress down her cheek before wiping it away with his forefinger and moving his hand to cup her cheek. She leaned into his palm, trying to think of an appropriate response.
"I love you too."
"Oh thank God." She laughed at his enthusiastic outburst and watched as he turned away to reach for something.
"I bought this the day you gave me the divorce papers," he smiled at her as he placed a small jewellery box into her outstretched palm, "I found the change of name forms and I wanted to make a gesture of my own. That I wanted the marriage to be real."
Her heart beat faster with every passing second as she tried to comprehend everything he was telling her. He had found the forms, he wanted to be married to her, he loved her. Whilst still trying to take it all in, Cal moved from the couch to rest on one knee in front of her. He took her free hand in his and with his other hand flipped open the jewellery box to reveal the most beautiful engagement ring.
"This time I'm asking you. No-one is being forced to do anything here. Just me asking you. Gillian, will you marry me?"
She threw herself into his arms and began pressing kisses along the side of his face. She felt his arms wrap around her and she tried to calm her breathing so she could give her answer.
"Y...y...ye...yes!"
Cal pulled back to take the ring from the box and slide it onto Gillian's finger. She had never removed the wedding ring and was glad to see Cal hadn't either. He bent to place a kiss on the finger and slowly raised his head and placed a kiss on cheek, before moving to capture her lips.
The kiss left her dizzy and she glad to see it had the same effect on Cal. Her hands tangled in his hair and his hands gripped her at the waist. He stood, bringing her with him. Literally weak at the knees from the force of his kisses, she let him guide her upstairs, never breaking their embrace.
He paused at the top of the stairs, unsure of where she wanted to take this. Impatiently she pushed him backwards into his bedroom, moaning into his mouth as his hands found the zip on her skirt.
"I'm sorry, Cal." He moved his head from where he had been planting soft kisses to her neck and looked at her puzzled. "I'm sorry for the last few days, I over-reacted-" He stopped her by the press of his lips against hers over and over.
"We both made mistakes and said things we didn't mean. But you just agreed to marry me, making me the happiest man in the world, so I couldn't care less, Foster."
"Lightman. Gillian Lightman, remember?" she replied as he lifted her up, both groaning as her legs wrapped around his waist. He lay her down gently on the bed, following her down with gentle words of love and worship that ghosted across her flesh, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. Although the goosebumps may not have all been from just his words.
Ok guys, the next chapter is gonna be the last! Please review and let me know what you think of the penultimate chapter
:D