heya :) sorry it took me so long to upload this chapter and sorry it's a little short. but i promise to try and make it up to you all with my next chapter. i'm back at uni now (yuck) so finding time to write is a little more difficult. thanks to all of you though, who still take the time to review. cos reviews make my day all that more awesome :) don't own Lie to Me

***

'Morning.'

'You're late.'

Gillian rolled her eyes.

'Wow, you're in a great mood aren't you Cal?'

He took a step forward and tilted his head to the side.

'My mood is perfect thank you. Why are you so late?'

'It's none of your business.'

With that she turned and walked towards her office. He followed closely behind.

'It's that Alec fellow isn't it? You were with him.'

'Not that I should have to tell you but yes, we did have a date last night.'

'And how does that make you late this morning?'

Now he was just teasing. She couldn't help but blush at the true meaning behind the words.

'Cal, don't you have some work to do?'

As soon as he left she breathed a sigh of relief. Talk about an interrogation. Just as she was beginning to think she was safe, he poked his head around the door.

'Oh, forgot to tell you the real reason I sought you out this morning. Need you to look at this video with me.'

Sighing again she stood up and followed him out the door. He led her to the viewing room, grinning the whole way. He did love to tease her. Plus, she had the cutest angry face.

***

As she stood watching the video she thought about the relationship she had with Cal. It was bizarre and far from normal. They loved each other, she was sure of that, but not the conventional type of love. No, it was more of a love that came with being deeply intrigued by someone, by wanting to know everything about them. She certainly couldn't work it out. He annoyed the hell out of her, yet she loved him for it. He was fiercely overprotective, yet she loved him for that too. And he was a complete and utter ass sometimes, yet she couldn't help but love him through all that shit too. His faults were some of his best attributes. Gillian realised how crazy her thoughts sounded and she was a psychiatrist. She was the one who supposed to make sense out of things like that. Then how was it that she seemed even more confused?

'Um, love?'

'Huh?'

He smirked.

'Still thinking about this morning are we?'

She punched him in the arm.

***
Escape. Freedom. Home. Those were all the words Cal now associated with the Lightman Group. Well, escape and freedom he associated with every place, as long as it didn't involve Zoe. Their marriage was deteriorating. He could see it happening right before his eyes. As the fights grew more frequent, the less he cared. The more he saw her lie to him, the less he cared. And the more time he spent with Gillian, the less he cared. In his subconscious he knew the amount of time he spent with Gillian was one of the contributing factors. Not that he ever blamed her. It was just that Zoe and him had nothing in common anymore, besides Emily. Well, if he was truthful with himself they had certain attributes. Stubbornness, over confidence, the need to always be right. The love of playing the game. But none of these were positive things, none of these were going to help him save his marriage. So he decided to push all the problems to the back of his mind. The day was his escape and the night had become his hell. Light and dark. Gillian and Zoe.

***

Now it was Gillian's turn to get Cal's attention. She decided squeezing his sides was the best option.

'OI! What are you doing?'

'Getting your attention clearly. I was talking you know.'

He smiled apologetically.

'Sorry love. Just got a lot on my mind.'

She had seen him like this more and more lately. He would go into this trance like state, deep in thought. He always put on a front but she could see something was wrong. But she could never quite figure it out. It was like doing a puzzle and then finding out one piece was missing. The puzzle could never be completed. And neither could her conclusions about Cal.

'Want to talk about it?'

'Nah, nothing much to say. I'm fine.'

She raised her eyebrows at him but let it go.

'Well as I was saying, there is a hint of contempt there. But it seems directed towards the Judge which is strange. I think we should look into any relationship they might have.'

'Yeah sure. You and that new guy, whatever his name is, Laker or something, can go.'

'It's Loker, and ok. We'll be back in a couple of hours.'

'Ok.'

She turned and walked out the door, taking the little warmth he had left, with her.

***

'I can't do this anymore.'

'You can't do this? What about me? Jesus Christ Zoe, I come home and get continuously attacked by you for being a bad human being. Is there any quality I possess that you actually like?'

'At the moment? No.'

There stared at each other, each face mirroring the other. Anger, disgust, contempt. And sadness. Sadness at knowing this was it, the final straw. At knowing there is nothing left to fight for, there was no point.

'I'll get one of my friends to draw up the papers.'

'As long as we get joint custody of Emily I'm fine with that.'

'Of course.'

He grabbed the bag he had packed a few days earlier. He knew this moment was imminent, so he had been prepared. As he turned to leave he saw Emily peering around the doorway, her face covered in tears, her eyes red and swollen.

'Daddy?'

She ran into his arms. He hugged her tight, not wanting to let go. Stroking her hair he thought how she was the most important thing in the world to him, and as long as he got to see her still, everything would be ok.

'I'll be back. I promise you I will. I'll never leave you. I love you Em.'

And with that he untangled his arms from his daughter and closed the door behind him.