Ryan wrapped his arm around Cassie's waist and pulled her higher and closer to him. He tilted her chin up to him and kissed her slowly, letting the passion flow between them. She melted into his arms as his tongue danced slowly across her lip and over her tongue. She loved kissing Ryan…..she wasn't sure why, but it felt so right. Ryan broke the kiss and caressed her face.
"You are the most intoxicating creature I've ever met…." He said as he pushed her hair behind her ear. "I love you Cass…" His voice was so soft it took all Cassie had in her to hear it.
"Ryan…" Cassie didn't get to finish what she wanted to say for Ryan pressed his lips to hers again, his fingers entwined in her long blonde hair holding her to him. When they separated she finally managed to whisper "I love you too." She looked up at him to see his eyes dancing in the thin candle light. Cassie shivered though she wasn't sure if it was from the damp river air or the revelation she'd just uttered. She reached up and covered Ryan's hand with her own.
"Your hands are freezing." He whispered as her fingertips grazed the back of his hand. He released her hair and grasped her hand in his drawing it to his mouth where he placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. He brought it down and grasped her other hand and placed them in his coat pockets, in an effort to warm them with the help of his own. Cassie leaned back into his chest and sighed as they stared out onto the beautiful Parisian view before them. They'd lost track of time when Cassie shivered involuntarily.
"We should probably head back…." Ryan whispered to Cassie, his breath hot on her ear. "You're shivering."
"No I'm not." Cassie said, her voice heavy and a little drowsy. She felt Ryan move behind her and felt his chest heave as he laughed at her.
"You're practically asleep!"
"No I'm not…" Cassie shivered again. The fog had crept up around them and made the air extremely chill.
Ryan and Cassie walked back to the front of the park where other couples, equally armed with baskets and blankets were waiting for the carriages to take them back from whence they came. Ryan helped Cassie climb in and they rode back in relative silence, only broken by their occasional soft kisses. When the carriage stopped, Ryan and Cassie got out and started to walk the two or three blocks back to their hotel.
"This night was absolutely spectacular, Ryan." Cassie said as they turned a corner and entered a narrow alley that Villefort had shown them. The alley led right up to the side entrance of their hotel. Cassie stopped and turned to face Ryan. He was such a spectacular person, planning all this out for the two of them, spending lord only knew how much for it.
Cassie grasped the tie as it hung haphazardly from his neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him. She threw her other arm over his shoulder as his right hand went around her waist. His fingers were massaging the back of her neck gently again as he pressed her closer to the wall of the alley and intensified the kiss they were sharing.
Cassie thought she was going to pass out her knees were so weak and she found it hard to draw a full breath. While one hand was at the back of her head keeping her in the lip-lock she'd initiated, Ryan's other hand was slowly working it's way to the small of her back where he could raise her higher and deeper into the kiss. She moaned as the passion increased…the night couldn't get any better.
Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist as she threw both her arms over his shoulders and spun her around, forcing a laugh from her. She buried her head against his neck and laughed as he spun her again. She was glad he had a hold around her waist for she was sure she'd collapse if she were to try to stand on her own.
Suddenly a sound alerted them that there was someone else in the alley.
It sounded like a trashcan getting knocked over. Cassie and Ryan turned to the sound but couldn't see much in the inky blackness. Cassie's breaths were coming rapidly both because of what she and Ryan had been up to and because of the fright she'd just received. The fear slowly ebbed away when two cats rushed past their feet.
"Let's go inside…." Ryan and Cassie ran down the alley and into the hotel, up the stairs and into the hall where their rooms were. Ryan walked down the hall and dropped Cassie off at her room. "I'm glad I planned tonight the way I did. I had a lot of fun tonight Cass."
"I did too…" Cassie said as she leaned against the door frame. "It was incredible…thank you so much." She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek before she stepped farther into her room. She took only a few steps in and noticed two envelopes on the floor of her room. One was definitely from Mia, as it was written in a blue marker in her funky writing. The other was blank. Cassie tore into the envelope and quickly scanned the letter over. She caught the door with her foot before it swung shut and vaulted into the corridor where Ryan was only halfway to his room. "Psssst!"
Ryan turned to see Cassie waving him back to her room.
"What's up?" He said when he got back and saw the intense look on her face.
"Read this…" Ryan took the paper from Cassie and read it over.
Cassie:
I'm spending the night with Matt. If you can help it, don't let Ryan come down here. Matt brought him some stuff so he can go to bed. It's in the bathroom. He can sleep in my bed tonight---I won't be needing it.
Mia
P.S.—Villefort stopped by tonight after you left….he's weirding me out.
"Well…." Ryan said trying not to smile. "I guess that could have been dangerous if I'd have gone down there…eh?"
"Very." Cassie closed the door as Ryan entered their room and took in the relative state of chaos. "I know it's a mess, but we have no rules or room inspections so…."
"Cass, it's fine." Cassie went to the bathroom and saw that Matt had indeed brought Ryan some clothes for the night.
"You can change in here—I'll change out here." Cassie smiled sheepishly as Ryan went into the bathroom to change out of his dress clothes. Cassie was just pulling her t-shirt over her head as she heard the door open behind her.
"Are you decent?" Ryan's voice asked.
"Decent enough." Cassie turned to find him smiling at her. She was wearing a gray t-shirt and a pair of red and green plaid boxers. She turned as she was pulling the clips from her hair. She brushed past Ryan as he dropped his dress clothes into a chair. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom brushing her hair as he folded his shirt and pants and laid his tie over them. When he turned she was braiding her hair over her shoulder. She tossed the brush onto the counter and wound an elastic band over the end of the braid. He stared at her as she flopped onto the bed and grabbed at the letter she'd thrown at the foot of it. She tore into it and scanned over the pages, her face suddenly becoming downcast.
"What's up?" Ryan asked as he came closer.
"Villefort." Cassie sighed as she folded the letter back up. "He just wanted to check up on me…and my singing. He's just terrified that I'm going to slack off now when we've come so far."
"Why would he think that?"
"I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to figure it out…" Ryan sat on the edge of the bed and watched as she tossed the letter back on her bedside table and stared at it.
"Don't think about it. You're not slacking off….no less than the rest of us anyway." Cassie rolled over and smiled, though it seemed strained. Ryan got up and turned the overhead lights off, then headed back to where Cassie was staring up at the ceiling. "Alright, time for bed." Ryan said as he pulled the covers on her bed down and pulled them up over her. He tucked them up under her chin and smiled down at her. "Sweet dreams." He made to turn off her light and go to Mia's bed but she stopped him.
"Ryan…." He turned back and could only just barely make her out in the dim lights from the street outside. "You---I mean,---Would you stay here?"
"I'll be here, don't worry…."
"No, I mean, in bed….with me." Ryan grinned slightly and moved back to Cassie's bed where he crawled in beside her.
"You know, I could get used to this…." Ryan said as Cassie lay in the crook of his arm, her head pillowed against his chest.
"I hope you do."
The two of them fell asleep shortly after.
The next morning Ryan awoke to see the sun just filtering down through the windows of the hotel. At first he looked around and wondered who had trashed his room, then he looked down and saw Cassandra curled up against him. He smiled.
"Well, that explains that wonderful warm feeling against my chest." He stroked a strand of hair off her face and watched as she rolled onto her back. "Hmmm…." He leaned up over her and placed a slow kiss on her lips. When he looked down at her again she was looking at him.
"What was that for?"
"I don't know…doesn't it make sense to want to wake up and kiss the beautiful woman whose bed you're sharing?"
"I don't know…does it make sense to want to wake up and kiss some beautiful woman whose bed you happen to be sharing? I've never been in that situation before." Ryan laughed.
"I should hope you've never been in that situation." He laughed as he kissed her again. "You're such an incredible woman….what did I do to deserve you."
"I don't know…but I'm sure we'll think of something." Cassie said pulling him into a deep kiss.
Cassie and Ryan finally got out of bed a few hours later when Mia came in.
"Shit!" Cassie and Ryan sat up quickly, Cassie trying to straighten her shirt, where Ryan had pulled it up. Mia had turned to the wall when she'd come in and seen the two of them involved in a heavy petting session. "I figured you two would have gotten that out of your system last night!"
"What are you doing back here?" Cassie asked, a little annoyed at Mia's intrusion.
"Well, this is my room…and it is morning…." She crossed over to her bed and grabbed up some clothes to wear for the day as she was still wearing her Sponge-bob Square-pants pajamas. "I mean, I only said I wouldn't be needing my bed last NIGHT. It's definitely not last night anymore." Ryan just shook his head. "By the way, Villefort and Giles are filing everyone down into the conference room to do some rehearsals….we've got to be packed by tonight and ready to leave for the Opera House tomorrow morning…they're at least giving us all day to get ready."
"Well, I guess that's my cue to go prepare for today." Ryan said shrugging at Cassie. "Villefort must have gotten to Giles last night."
"I guess." Cassie said. Ryan kissed her goodbye and went back to his room, his dress clothes under his arm. "Mia! I hate you so much right now!" Cassie said flinging a pillow at Mia.
"Gah!" Mia said as the pillow hit her in the chest. "It's not my fault! You two are like little spider monkeys…you're all over each other."
"Well we weren't!" Cassie got out of bed and grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt from her suitcase. "I mean, we didn't do anything until this morning!"
"Oh, so you got a quickie? That's no good…"
"Amelia Jane Cartwright!" Cassie turned quickly, the look she shot her friend could have stopped a bull. "I'm not the one who left a note for my room mate saying I wouldn't be needing my bed last night!" Mia turned towards Cassie a smug grin on her face as if trying to remember something.
"You're right….that was me!" She said, an irresistible grin passing over her face as Cassie threw another pillow at her. "HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, Cassie….don't be mad at me."
"I won't be if you tell me what the hell happened last night!" Cassie smiled broadly as Mia patted the edge of her bed. The two girls launched themselves onto the bed and giggled.
"OK, so here's all the sordid details….
Matt and I left shortly after you and Ryan. We ended up going to this Cabaret last night and then for a really long walk down along the river. It was so funny we were singing and laughing and having a great time. Then we ended up walking back down this narrow little street about two blocks from here and we passed by this alleyway. Well, right across the street there was this couple and I mean OH MY GOD! I didn't know two people could get more connected! I mean, her leg was up over his hip and she was pushed up against the door of this house. So Matt and I dodge into the alley because it was just too comical a moment to pass up. Well, the funny thing was, this couple wasn't the only one practically having sex on this street….there was another group farther up the street and we could hear the girl laughing and giggling and then we heard her moan really loud. But we couldn't see the second couple, just the first one. Well, the next thing you know the scene across the street is getting like REALLY HOT and Matt and I just can't help but stare."
"Mia! You didn't!"
"Oh yeah we did….I mean, anyone willing to do that in public is asking for an audience….we weren't the only ones watching though, there was another couple that stopped and was just watching! It was nuts. I mean, it was like they had some sort of animalistic, primal power over us."
"Oh my God…"
"Yeah, so the guy finally manages to extricate himself from the girl long enough to get inside."
"They weren't having sex on the doorstep, were they?"
"No, but they were damn close….I think his hand was definitely where it didn't exactly belong."
"OH MY GOD! AND YOU WATCHED?"
"Can I finish?" Cassie nodded. "Well, anyway, Matt and I made a run for it and made it back here, but oh my god by that point we were so horny we could hardly stop ourselves. So we went back and I remembered that you and Ryan were probably going to be coming back soon so I quick wrote you a note and put it on the floor and then got some stuff for bed while Matt collected some things for Ryan to wear. That's when Villefort came to the door….while I was getting ready. He asked if you were back yet and then left….I guess he figured I was getting ready to go to bed because he slipped the letter under the door before I went back to Matt's room."
"Oh…." Cassie looked over at the letter on her bedside table. Mia got up off the bed and made for the bathroom. "Hey, wait…so what happened after you went back to Matt's room?"
"Oh, we had hot passionate monkey sex until the sun came up." Mia responded as she turned the corner.
"WHAT?" Mia laughed. Cassandra's mouth hung open and her eyes were wide with the casual ease with which Mia had just said the last words. "Mia! What the hell has gotten into you?" She leaned backwards and fell off the side of the bed.
"Dude, chill out! We did NOT have hot passionate monkey sex." Mia said laughing harder as Cassie picked herself up off the floor. "At least not until AFTER the sun came up." Cassie fell back to the ground. "I'm kidding Dorkbag!" Mia sat on the floor next to a very shocked Cassie. "Remember how the last time….at the lake house…I said we almost went to third?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, we almost went home."
"You're joking again, right?"
"Nope….I realized that what we were doing could have serious repercussions and called it off….so we went to third instead."
"Mia—" Cassie breathed.
"Well, that's only the nineteenth time you've said my name this morning. Wanna try for a record?"
"Well?" It was Mia's turn to fall backwards.
"Cassie…I've never felt anything like that before in my whole entire life."
"I should hope not you horn dog….you're a virgin."
"Oh Cassie…" Mia sat back up and looked her friend in the eye. "It was absolutely incredible…I may go back tonight! Because if THAT was that good…imagine what making love is like!" Cassie pushed Mia back down and got up to finish getting ready for the day as Mia lay on the floor cackling.
Cassie went down to breakfast and found Mark sitting in a far corner drinking hot tea.
"Good morning Mark, how's it going?"
"Fine Cassie…yourself?"
"Great." Cassie had left Mia in the room singing some perverted song in the shower. She was still trying to eradicate the dirty pictures running rampant through her brain. Ordinarily she wouldn't have had a problem with everything, but she was having problems with the pictures and the early hour of the morning with which they came. "Have you talked to Villefort and Giles this morning yet?"
"No, not yet…I was going to go right after breakfast." Cassie stirred some sugar into her coffee and looked out the window. "Would you care to join me?"
"Sure…that would be great." Cassie only ate a little bit. She was still full from the dinner the evening before. She and Mark left for the conference room and entered to find Villefort and Giles yelling at one another.
"—but they're children Rick! You can't expect them to sing like Broadway professionals! Nor can you expect them to have the discipline!"
"I can and they must if they are not to embarrass themselves here! In two weeks time they perform on the stage of the Paris Opera House and if they screw up, if even one voice is out of tune someone here will know it and we'll be laughed out of Paris before the beginning of the Second Act!"
"Ahem…" Mark cleared his throat slightly and both men turned towards them.
"Oh, Cassie, Mark….we didn't realize you were here." Mr. Giles said standing and crossing to the door behind them. "Mr. Villefort and I were just discussing some things."
"We can come back later." Cassie heard Mark say from beside her. "We were just eating breakfast together and figured we'd come down." Cassie was staring at Villefort who was sitting at the large conference table glaring at her, his emerald eyes seemed to glow gold with fire and something she couldn't quite get a read on. The sleeves on his dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows and she could see his forearms flexing as he flipped a pen in his fingers.
"No, that won't be necessary." Mr. Giles said. "Since the two of you are here together, we might as well have you sing—"
"The Phantom of the Opera." Villefort interrupted. "The title song…." Mr. Giles went to the piano and sat down. He pounded out the first few chords and Cassandra sang, just as she had the day she had first auditioned for the role of Christine. Her voice had grown stronger, more powerful and sweeter with the evening practices she and Villefort had been conducting and now, when she hit the difficult run at the end, she hit the final note without a second thought. She watched through out the piece as he again scribbled something on the page, only looking up during the run to engulf her in his emerald eyes.
"Very well done, Cassandra. Very well done indeed." Mr. Giles said wiping his brow.
"Yes…very well done, Cassandra." Mr. Villefort said quietly. "Watch your breathing though." Cassie frowned. It seemed she'd never be good enough for Rick Villefort….he'd always find something to fault.
"Mark, you're voice seems a little weak. Is anything wrong?"
"No sir. I think it's just an atmosphere thing…this hotel isn't exactly conducive to a good performance."
"Well, as long as you're sure everything is OK….you two may leave. You know what to work on. Be ready to depart for the Opera house by nine o'clock tomorrow. We move in to the dormitories there before noon and we've got to try to get all the scenery set up before our first rehearsal."
"Yes sir." Cassie and Mark echoed before they left the room.
"Well done Cassandra. See you tomorrow."
"Later, Mark." Cassie went back to her room and out onto her balcony. She didn't exactly feel like packing and leaving the opulent hotel this instant. Mia was gone…probably gone to eat breakfast. Cassie picked up her the book she'd been reading and read into the afternoon.