CALL ME

Casey and Robert sat silently for most of the plane ride to Cleveland. Cappie had actually thrown her IPod and headphones in her bag so it gave her an excuse to not have to talk to Robert. They went straight to the corporate office when they got off of the plane.

"This could be a long night, sorry Case," said Robert as they opened the door and walked in.

For the next two hours Robert sat diligently at the computer trying to fix the servers and get things up and running. There wasn't much for Casey to do the first hour. But she was slowly getting to enter more and more things as Robert made progress. She was thankful that he was so into his work. It was like he went off to another world when he was at the computer. He barely said two words to her.

Finally he sat back in the chair and sighed.

"I think I've done just about everything I can do tonight," he said. "Why don't we call it a night and go and get some dinner. I'm starving."

"OK," Casey replied. She was very hungry herself.

The two of them got into the rental car and drove to the Blue Pointe Grille, a restaurant not far from the hotel they were staying at.

They ordered their meals and began to awkwardly sip at their drinks, each really not knowing what to say. Casey finally decided to break the silence.

"So how much work do you think you have left?" she asked.

"Um," said Robert as he thought about it. "At least three or four more hours. But if we get in there early enough tomorrow we should be able to make the six o'clock flight home."

"That's great," Casey replied. "I'm glad you've been able to figure things out."

"Of course I can figure it out," Robert replied. "That's why I'm the director."

Casey just nodded her head at his last cocky remark. There was nothing really for her to respond.

"So I got to finally meet that Cappie character," he said taking a sip of his beer.

"He's not a character," said Casey sternly. "He's my fiancé."

"Who cares," said Robert in a disgusted tone. "The guy is a deadbeat. You could do so much better."

Casey was torn on how to respond. On one hand she wanted to change the subject and not talk about her love life with her boss. But on the other hand she wanted to defend Cappie to this douche bag.

"You know you're only with him because you're pregnant Case," he said. "I mean, take one look at him compared to you. There is no comparison. He's one lucky bastard for trapping you to be with him."

"Excuse me," said Casey raising her voice a bit. "How dare you say these things to me! I've never dealt with anyone more unprofessional in my life."

"Sweetheart we are not on the clock," he said reaching across the table for her hand. "This is more of a date than a business meeting."

Casey pulled her hand away from his quickly and leaned back in her chair.

"You are making me really uncomfortable Bob," she said. "I would really appreciate it we don't talk about my personal life."

"Fine," said Robert putting his hands up where she could see them. "I'm sorry. I just got a little carried away. It's just hard for me to look at someone as beautiful as you and see you with someone like him. You're supposed to be with someone like me. Someone rich, handsome, and powerful."

"Well I thank you for your concern," said Casey. "But it really isn't needed. I love Cappie and I would love Cappie whether I was carrying this baby or not."

"Yes, but you still have issues with him not having a job," Robert replied with a shrug.

Casey took a deep breath as she looked at Robert.

"You're right," she said. "If there is one thing I could change about him is his focus when it comes to getting a job."

"Oh the joys of love," said Robert with a smile.

"Speaking of love," said Casey. "We've never talked about your personal life. You sure know enough about mine. What is going on with yours?"

Robert let out a little chuckle.

"Well I haven't talked about it because there is nothing to tell," he replied. "No girl has captured my heart since Sandy."

Casey looked at Robert as he got a solemn look on his face as he said her name.

"Who is Sandy?" Casey asked.

Robert looked up at her. She could tell his eyes had changed to a much softer tone. Whoever Sandy was, she really has an effect on him.

"Sandy is my wife or ex-wife, however you define it," he said softly.

"What do you mean?" Casey asked.

"She passed away from cancer over a year ago," he replied. "It was a really emotional time to go through. That's probably why I poured so much time and energy into my work. It helped me with her loss and being able to move on."

Casey instantly felt bad for Robert. She couldn't even imagine what he had to go through with his wife being sick and then passing away. Robert's hand was still extended on the table. She reached her hand up on the table and covered his.

"I'm really sorry," she said softly.

"It's OK," Robert replied trying to toughen back up. "That's in the past. It's time to move forward now."

"Yeah but it must be hard-" said Casey.

"It is," Robert interrupted her. "But can we not talk about it. It's still a pretty sensitive subject."

"Oh, OK," Casey replied.

Moments later their meals had arrived. Casey took her hand off of Robert's as the waitress set her chicken alfredo in front of her. The two of them talked mostly about work during dinner. Robert paid for the meal on the company's tab and the two of them headed to the hotel to get some rest.

"So what time should I aim to be ready in the morning?" asked Casey as they approached her room.

Robert thought about it for a second.

"I would say to be ready around eight," he replied. "We can then go downstairs and get some breakfast before heading over to the corporate office."

"OK," said Casey. "Well here is my room, 525."

"What is my number?" Robert asked checking his room card. "530, so I'll be down the hall if you need anything."

"I'll be fine," said Casey as she put her card key in to open the door.

"Hey Casey," Robert said approaching her.

Casey turned to face him.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, I guess," said Casey giving him a quizzical look.

"I just want to make sure two things from tonight stay just between the two of us," he said. "The first is about Sandy. No one around the office really knows about her and I really don't want a lot of people to know."

"OK," said Casey nodding her head. "And what is the second thing?"

"This," said Robert as he pulled Casey towards him and began passionately kissing her on the lips.

Casey tried her best not to respond. She tried to push him off of her but he was stronger than she anticipated. Finally, he broke away. Casey stood there completely speechless.

"Goodnight," he said with a smile as he hurried down the hall and into his room.

Casey walked into her room and sat down on the bed.

"Ew, ew, ew," she said taking her hand and wiping off her lips trying to get the feeling of Robert's lips off of hers.

The feeling was nauseating. Why in the hell did he have to go and do something like this? He took advantage of her letting her guard down once he told her about his wife. Casey became upset with herself. She never should have let her guard down. Casey kicked her shoes off and walked into the bathroom. She splashed her face with some water in the sink trying to calm herself down. She needed this job. Her health insurance benefits were going to kick in next week and since Cappie didn't have a job there was no way he could get any health benefits. Casey rubbed her stomach thinking about the baby. The baby deserved everything she could possibly give her. She became even more nauseated thinking about putting up with Robert's advances just to provide for her child. But as a mother she has to make sacrifices and do everything she can for the baby. Casey took her clothes off and got into the shower, hoping she could wash Robert off of her. She stood in the shower letting the warm water run down her body. She eventually noticed the water was beginning to mix with her tears. She couldn't help but cry. She was really in a situation no one else would understand. As she continued to wash in the shower Cappie's ring tone was playing loudly on her phone out in the bedroom. But Casey didn't hear it. And even after her shower Casey never listened to the voicemail he had left her. As soon as she got her pajamas on she collapsed into the bed and cried herself to sleep.

A/N: So it certainly seems that everyone either hates Robert or thinks he's a douche bag......which is a good thing because that is the kind of character I want him to be LoL

And this chapter probably didn't help his chances of gaining any popularity......haha.

Off to Chapter 38............

P.S....Aha Shake Heartbreak.....how crazy is it that Robert entered the story the same time you broke up with a guy named Robert??......hope everything is OK!