I have a bit of free time, so I figured I'd make you guys happy and write the next chapter.
DramaticStarlet answered the trivia question correctly, so my next one-shot will feature her. It should be up in the next couple of days, depending on how fast she gets back to me. When she does, I'll post a new question.
And guys, enjoy the fluffiness in this chapter, because the bad stuff is happening soon. Mwahahaha!
Chapter 9
June 2013
I heard a knock on my apartment door, followed by another softer one. It was Shane and Lisa, coming to our place for dinner. Lisa's birthday was the following day, but it was her mom's turn to have her, so Caitlyn and I had organized a small birthday party for her.
While I went to get the door, Caitlyn threw a sheet over the pile of presents we had on the coffee table. I know it's a poor disguise, but it didn't have to be totally conspicuous. It would fool a five-year-old.
Or at least that was what we thought. When I opened the door, Shane walked in first, handed me a covered dish that I assumed was his famous cheesecake, and kissed me. Lisa just ran in, and yelled "Presents!" as soon as she saw the pile.
"Damn!" I heard Caitlyn say from the kitchen. Nate shushed her and she giggled. Cue rolling my eyes. They were having another couple-y moment. I hope Shane and I aren't like that.
Lisa tore the sheet off the squealed when she saw all the presents Caitlyn, Nate, and I had gotten for her. I knew Shane had even more for her at home because I helped him get them. She was one lucky kid.
"Lisa, what did I tell you?" said Shane using his father voice. Lisa retreated from the table immediately, and then ran over to me, hugging me tightly.
The doorbell rang again, and Lisa answered it herself.
"Jason! Marti!" she yelled. They both hugged her, but didn't hand her any presents, saying that those were going on the pile. Lisa pouted but forgot about it immediately when my cousin Kana arrived.
"Kana!" Lisa yelled (again). She was way too excited. But then again, what normal five-year-old wouldn't be excited when all of her favorite grown ups (her words, not mine!) were together to celebrate her birthday, not to mention all the gifts we'd gotten her? If it wasn't for Shane being a strict parent, Lisa would be spoiled rotten. Well, she partially was. After all, there was a huge pile of presents for her sitting in my living room!
Kana walked into the apartment, setting her purse down in the middle of the floor. I glared at her, because she knew I was OCD and hated when she did that, but she ignored me. After going around and saying hi to everyone (and interrupting Nate and Caitlyn's make-out session in the kitchen in her Kana fashion), she came over to me.
"I refuse," I said to her. She rolled her eyes and picked up her purse, hanging it on the coat hangers by the front door.
"Better?" she asked. I smiled at her and opened my arms, and she hugged me tightly. I saw her at least once a week, but we were still like that.
-WTD-
A couple of hours later, we were sitting down at the table, Lisa at the head of the table, a cake with five lit candles in front of her. We were singing happy birthday to her (well, more like Shane, Nate and Jason having an impromptu concert for her while we just looked on) and the smile on her face was the biggest I'd seen yet.
She knew that after the cake came the presents – that was why as soon as she blew the candles out she ran to the living room and grabbed the present closest to her. Our pile was organized carefully in a sort of tower, meaning that if she took the present from the bottom the whole tower would come tumbling down, which it did. Lisa was soon covered in presents, squealing in glee. Yes, she was actually happy to be completely buried in presents. There's Lisa for you.
Shane came after her, laughing while taking the presents and putting them back on the table. I helped too, and soon we had the present situation under control. Lisa proceeded to open the present at hand, ignoring the rest of us. She would grin if she liked it, and thank whoever got it for her (under Shane's orders), or scrunch her nose and subtly put it on the pile of unwrapped presents. Shane still told her to thank whoever got it, but she wouldn't do it with as much enthusiasm. It's not like we were offended, because she still got everything she wanted, and we still got her everything she needed. Well, everything Shane said she needed – mainly clothes that he didn't want to buy himself, and we didn't want to let him buy them either.
This went on for quite a while, as she had a lot of presents, but once she was done, Shane allowed her to open only two presents to play with, so she chose the Barbie doll Caitlyn got her and the Barbie bedroom set I got her. While she played, we sat at the living room, watching her and carrying a conversation. Well, Nate, Caitlyn, Marti and Jason were talking – Kana was playing with Lisa, Shane was watching them, and I was just thinking about stuff. Mostly about Lisa and what had been worrying me for quite a while now – her mom and everything that was going on with her.
I pushed the thoughts out of my head. It was Lisa's birthday, the worst day to be all contemplative. That could be saved for some other day. I turned to Caitlyn and the rest and incorporated myself in the conversation – that should distract me.
After the party, Shane and I were cleaning up the living room while Caitlyn and Nate did the kitchen (Hmm… I wonder if it turns them on or something. They spend a lot of time in there). Lisa had fallen asleep on the couch, Kana was watching TV, and Jason and Marti had already left, saying something about it being late and them being tired. Uh-huh, yeah, sure. We all knew that's not what they meant. (A/N: Sorry XxxJoJonasxxX! I had to! Hehe)
Shane and I were still picking up wrapping paper scraps when Caitlyn and Nate left the apartment. Why was it everyone was going off to "have a good time" (Yes, I mean it in the double-sense of it) and we were here cleaning up? I frowned as I thought of this, until I came up with a better plan.
I approached Shane quietly, placing my hands on his back and rubbing it slowly. He turned and looked at me curiously, but didn't push me away. Using my best sultry voice, I said: "You know, if Nate and Caitlyn are staying at his place…" I started. He raised his eyebrows at me, and I turned away a bit. "Never mind. It wouldn't be a good idea."
I tried to hold back a smile as he took a step closer to me. It was working perfectly. He grabbed my waist and gazed intensely into my eyes. "Why don't you let me decide?"
"Well, I just figured since Lisa was here… " I trailed off, and when I heard him take a big gulp, I knew it worked. Ha, men were too easy!
I smiled sweetly at him, but inside, I was jumping for joy. I don't feel very comfortable sharing this, but we hadn't had sex in about two weeks and I was missing it. That's kind of an understatement, actually.
Anyway, we took Lisa to Caitlyn's room, where she could sleep that night. She was so out of it she didn't even notice we'd moved her. Then, Shane and I went to my room, and well, you know what happened then.
-WTD-
I woke up the next morning in Shane's arms. I smiled and kissed him, making him stir a bit, but he didn't wake up. I put his shirt and a pair of shorts on and went to Caitlyn's room to see if she was up. She wasn't there, so I checked the living room next, where I found her playing with her toys.
She had opened every single toy she'd gotten last night, and when she saw me, this look that was a mix of guilt and sadness appeared on her face. When I smiled at her, though, she looked relieved and continued playing.
"You know your dad won't like all this, Lisa," I said, trying to be as disciplinary as possible. She pouted at me, so I shrugged and went on to the kitchen. Man, I was a softie.
I made breakfast while Lisa played in the living room. I could hear her making up dialogue for her toys. She would make different voices for each character, and from what I could hear, it sounded like a soap opera.
I could hear when Shane woke up because Lisa gasped as soon as she saw him. I exited the kitchen to see if I could bail her out, but I knew Shane wouldn't be too hard on her. He might be the strict one of the gang, but he was still really nice.
I watched him as he sat down on the couch next to Lisa. "Kiddo, what did I tell you about opening all the presents before we got home?"
She pouted at him, but it didn't work. "I'm sorry, daddy."
He smiled at her, knowing she meant it. That was when I chose to interrupt their father-daughter moment and take out the plate of pancakes I'd just made, setting it on the dining room table.
Shane stood up and kissed me, and I kissed him back tenderly. "Morning," he said.
"Mmhmm," I said against his chest. He was hugging me by the waist, and I was enjoying our closeness.
-WTD-
When I got to work that morning, I saw the next issue of the magazine on my desk. The staff usually got the issue a couple of weeks before it hit the newsstand. I was really excited to see it, so I grabbed it and ran over to Caitlyn's desk, where I saw her sleeping with her head on the desk.
"Man, how long did you go at it last night?" I asked smirking at her.
She groaned and looked up. I showed her the magazine, and she grabbed hers excitedly. I sat on the edge of her desk and we looked through the magazine together, commenting on the things we liked or didn't like.
When I got to the article, I was grinning like a fool. That is, until I saw the beginning of it – something I had not written. I skimmed through the rest of the article and realized it was completely changed, and Shane's words had been twisted around completely.
So that was what Vanessa meant when she said I had no say in this, I thought, finally realizing how obvious this had been all-along. Crap, crap, crap, I repeated over and over in my head. Shane couldn't see this! He'd think I'd written that!
And I couldn't show him the magazine because it was in our contract. I could tell him about it, but I'm scared he won't believe me. The only thing I could do was go to Vanessa and complain, but would it work?
I still had to give it a shot. So I walked over to her office and knocked on the door determined to fix this. She opened the door, then narrowed her eyes at me.
"What do you want?" she said.
I shoved the magazine in her hands, open to the article. "That's not what I wrote."
"Tough luck, kid. That's the business. Either you do as I say or you leave the job." With that, she closed the door.
Shit, I thought. What am I going to do now?
--
And there it is! Lovely drama we've all been waiting for. Right? Anyway, please review, and go check out my new stories and the trivia question! By the way, this episode features Kana's Mirror. She was the 100th reviewer. Hopefully, we'll find out who the 150th is with this chapter!