Caroline in Richard's Mother's Womb
Chapter 14
All the passion that Caroline and Richard had for each other that had been pent up for so long was suddenly released. They kissed as if there were no tomorrow, as if nobody and nothing else in the world existed.
"Mmm…"
"Mmm…"
"Mmm… Richard…"
"Mmm… Caroline…"
"Mmm… do ya wanna…?" moaned Caroline.
"Mmm… wanna what…?" Richard groaned, totally aroused, as he eyed the couch.
"Mmm… start dating…?"
"Mmm… dating…? Mmm… Oh… yeah sure…"
Caroline pulled back a little "What did you think I meant?"
Richard leaned in to kiss Caroline again "Mmm… what you said… mmm… is exactly… mmm… what I thought… mmm… you meant…" he lied.
Just then, Del walked by, and discreetly knocked on the office door. "Uh… guys…? Next time you might want to close the door." Embarrassed, Caroline and Richard pulled away from each other, and tried to straighten up. Del quipped to lower the tension "You know, you guys should be more careful… the sprinkler system is tied to a heat sensor."
Richard tried to explain "Uh, Del, we were just…!"
"Yeah…!" Caroline added.
"I can see" concluded Del.
Gathering herself together, Caroline asked "Did you stop by for a reason, Del?"
"Yeah, the big brass has decided to hold a meeting for everyone in the conference room upstairs in five minutes. Sorry about the short notice."
"Del, by 'big brass', do you mean Vanessa?" asked Caroline.
"Yeah, apparently Sis has some news she wants to spread. See ya up there" Del said as he left.
……
As Caroline and Richard approached the upstairs conference room, they heard a lot of voices from the people already inside.
"Sounds like most of the people are already here" remarked Caroline.
As they neared, they heard a "Shhh…", then silence.
As the passed through the door, everyone started clapping.
Del, his sister Vanessa, even his brother Garner, as well as all the other cartoonists, and Charlie were in the conference room.
"What is this?! What's going on?" asked Caroline.
The applause died down as Del started to speak "Caroline, we, at Cassidy Greeting Cards, just wanted to congratulate you. As of today, 100 newspapers are publishing "Caroline in the City"! Good going, Care!" Everyone started clapping again, and cleared a path for Caroline and Richard to a table, where they saw small cardboard cutout Caroline, who was saying "100! Way to go!", and a frosted cake, with "100" decorated on top. The "1" was a flower stem, with a tiny flower petal "head" on top, and tiny "arm" leaves on either side. Both "0"'s were flower petal faces.
"I bet I know who decorated the cake!" laughed Caroline.
"Guilty!" admitted Audrey, creator of "Flower Friends".
Del interrupted the celebrations for a short speech. "People! People! Before we start eating cake, I would like to say a few words. This little lady" Del said as he patted Caroline "has been through some hard times. But she came back to Cassidy, worked hard and persevered, and has become a success again." He handed her an envelope. "Here you go, Duff. Congratulations."
"What's this?" Caroline queried, as she took the envelope, opened it, and found a key inside.
"It's the key to your new, larger office. It's up on this floor. I know the two of you have been cramped downstairs." Everyone applauded, Caroline thanked Del, and gave him a quick hug.
Vanessa cleared her throat. "Caroline, as president of Cassidy Greeting Cards, I just want to say - we took a chance on you, paying you when no money was coming in. Well, we can all see that you're going to more than pay us back. We feel you deserve something more in return." Vanessa handed Caroline another envelope, and congratulated her.
Caroline opened the envelope. "A raise? A raise?! Oh Richard, I got a raise!" She turned and gave Richard a quick hug, then turned and gave a quick hug to Vanessa. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Everyone applauded, then started demanding "Speech, speech, speech!"
"Thank you, everyone, thank you. I just want to thank Cassidy Greeting Cards, for giving me this chance. I want to thank Del, for having faith in me. But most of all, I want to thank Richard. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you." Caroline waved the envelope. "I just want to say, I'm not the only one getting a raise today. Richard, part of this is going to you!" Everyone applauded, then Caroline concluded "Okay, it's time for cake!" She went and started cutting the cake.
Caroline cut and placed the pieces on paper plates. Each person would come up, congratulate Caroline, take a plate and plastic fork, then go back to a clique of people for small talk.
As she cut, Del came up to her and quipped "Are you sure this was a surprise Caroline? I mean, it seemed like you were already 'thanking' Richard before the party."
"Del!"
"Alright, alright. Just having a little fun."
……
This office party, like all office parties, lasted only a few minutes. Caroline and Richard were the last two people there. Neat freak that she was, Caroline had stayed to clean up, and Richard was helping.
"Caroline, before all our stuff gets moved to our new office, maybe we could get back and continue what we started. After all, one good raise deserves another" Richard quipped, the double meaning obvious.
Caroline stopped cleaning for a moment, turned to Richard, and became serious. "Richard, I want to go slow. I want to make sure everything is just right. If things go wrong,… I'm afraid… I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it."
Richard became equally serious, and tenderly stroked her cheek. "Fast… slow… we can go any speed that you want, Caroline. You're worth waiting for."