Lovely Arrangements
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Year 1 Months 8 & 9
Life was unfair. Simply unfair. Why was it that the one girl he's been smitten with was married? To his chagrin, they worked together, and he couldn't avoid her. Not that he wanted to, but how would he complain freely or get depressed? He couldn't.
"So what do you think? She's cute right?" Caitlin said with a mischievous smile.
"Who?" he asked, trying to focus on the sea of people ahead.
"The red head," she pointed to a petite woman with red hair eating with a group of co-workers.
He shrugged, "Sure, she's cute."
"I dare you to go talk to her."
He looked at her sideways, this whole thing was a bad idea, "I don't know what to say."
"Since when are you the shy type? Get your butt over there and ask her out!"
He sighed and despite his better judgment he got up and made his way to the red head.
"What are you looking at?" Caitlin heard a curious voice behind her.
"Come take a seat," she motioned, "look," she pointed at Jax who was attempting small talk with a cute red-head.
"Finally moved on, I see," Cisco said to himself.
"Man he just has terrible taste in women, doesn't he?" Wally chimed in as he sat with the group.
Caitlin turned briefly to her colleague, "What do you mean?"
"Well —"
"So, that turned out to be a bad idea," Jax came back with a sigh. "That cute red-head's name is Megan, and she —"
"Has a boyfriend named Conner," Wally said.
"And you know this, how?" Cisco asked, while eating his lime jello.
"Jessie," the young engineer shrugged.
Caitlin frowned, "Sorry about that, I'll do my research next time," she told her friend apologetically.
How could he say 'don't bother' without sounding mean? "It's not a big deal," he said with a small smile.
"Hey there's a lot more fish in the sea," the lead engineer placed an arm around his friend, "at least now you're in a position to start looking."
Jax nodded.
Caitlin was a bit confused, but when she turned to Wally his response was a simple:
"Don't ask."
{-}
"This is probably the third woman she tries to set him up with," Cisco said in between chuckles. Oh the irony of it all.
Barry, who had tried to eat his lunch in peace, only nodded.
"Kinda sad though, now that I think about it," he took a second to ponder on the turn of events, but quickly resumed his chuckling, "and poor Caitlin has no idea. It's hilarious, she thinks she's helping, meanwhile the guy is nursing a broken heart."
The CEO released a sigh, "Do me a favor," he started, "don't tell her."
Cisco frowned, "Tell her what?"
"That Jefferson was infatuated with her."
The engineer looked at his friend running theories in his head as to why Barry would not want Caitlin to know, and the most plausible of the theories brought a big grin to his face. Oh this would be good.
"Scared she might consider this 'infatuation' thing Jax has for her," he said with air quotes.
Barry gave his long-time friend a deadpan expression and suppressed a scoff. "I'm going to completely disregard that comment just now."
"Just sayin'. It didn't seem like you were all that worried before," Cisco bit into his burger and continued, "can't say the same after I saw you lose it when Caitlin almost drowned."
"Hardly," the doctor said coldly.
"I was getting my camera ready in case resuscitation was needed. You know mouth-to-mouth, the heat of the —"
"I don't want her to know because she'll worry," Barry cut him off. The last thing he needed was to feed more of Cisco's fantasies. He seemed more like a schoolgirl wishing her romantic fantasies came to life, than any woman he's ever met.
The engineer finished the last sip of his coke, "What do you mean she'll worry?" he asked with curiosity.
Must he explain everything, Barry suppressed an annoyed sigh. "Caitlin will worry about his feelings, feel guilty, and wonder how to help him move on."
"It seems she's already doing that last one."
Barry nodded, "Perhaps, but she's doing it as a friend, not as someone responsible for his feelings."
The engineer eyed him suspiciously. Since when had the doctor become an expert in all things Caitlin. Maybe they got a lot closer after the pool party. It certainly seemed that was the case if neither was bothered by their intimate positions after Barry's rescue.
"Fine, I won't tell her."
Good.
"But I gotta ask, what happened after we all left?"
The CEO felt his eyebrow twitch.
{-}
"What about that journalist that came in to ask about energy sources?" Caitlin asked as they sat in the empty cafeteria.
"Linda? Nah, I don't think we'll click," Jax wasn't sure what had changed. Just a few weeks ago he was devastated at the realization that Caitlin was in fact married and taken. Even if it took a while for his heart to catch up with that fact. Now, even though there were some painful pulls at his heart sometimes —especially when saw Caitlin smile at her husband (insert gag)— he didn't feel as heartbroken as he once did.
The woman released a sigh, "Well that's all I have for now."
"Good, because trust me I'm booked," the engineer gave her a smirk.
Her eyes narrowed questioningly, "Jax," she began sternly, "is there something you're not telling me?"
The man shrugged, "I may or may not have a date tonight."
"No way!" She said with a grin full of excitement, "Do I know her? Is she an engineer? Did I introduce you to her? With one of my dares I mean."
Jax laughed, "Calm down woman!" He said teasingly, "I met her grocery shopping, she came to visit some friends, and I agreed to show her around."
"Name? Tall or short? Hair color? What does she do for a living?" She narrowed her eyes and pulled out a notebook out of thin air.
Cisco and Barry who were walking towards the Engineering room looked at each other and then back at an excited Caitlin.
Jax scratched the back of his neck, "I don't know a whole lot, just that her name is Sarah, she's blond, short-ish?"
Before Caitlin began with her next round of questions, Cisco stepped in.
"Did we just walk into the Spanish Inquisition here?"
"More like a Jax inquisition," the thermodynamics expert said with a grin. He turned to the two men and locked eyes with Barry.
Jax had always been indifferent to Barry. Just another faceless boss. Even when Cisco and Barry were close, Jax had never paid the CEO much attention. Not until Caitlin that is. He knew since the very beginning that he had no chance with the woman. She was married, off the market. An affair wasn't an option, he wasn't raised that way, and he was sure Caitlin would behead him if such a proposal was made.
Barry was generally quiet and reserved, he had a reputation for having high expectations, and according to Jessie, was a tyrant. That had never been an issue to Jax, he didn't have to deal with him directly. However, when he had seen him around the halls, walking with his entourage or alone, it was clear that the man meant business and there was no room for warmth, kindness, or humanity. So he was surprised that someone as bright and kind as Caitlin was married to such a man. Had he not heard it directly from Barry, he probably wouldn't have believed it.
And yet, throughout these months, it was clear that even if their romance wasn't the kind sappy novels were written about. There was something there. There was a certain gentleness in the CEO's eyes when he looked at Caitlin...and of course the cold chill he felt whenever they locked gazes, especially if the woman in question was near him. Today being an exception. It seems that there was this mutual understanding between them. There was no competition (not that there had ever been one), and he didn't have to feel uneasy any longer.
"Jefferson," Barry acknowledged with a curt nod.
Jax hid a small smile, "Jax, please call me Jax. Jefferson feels weird, you sound like my uncle," he turned to Caitlin, "doesn't he?"
She opened her eyes wide, "Yes! Always so formal," she validated. "Yet again, Dr. Stein is just so polite."
The thermodynamics engineer chuckled, but cleared his throat quickly to regain a semblance of seriousness.
Barry just looked at the two briefly and nodded. "Goodbye Caitlin," he began walking away, but slowly added, "bye Jax."
{-}
She could feel the beginning of fall coming. It was just the beginning of September, but the weather was definitely changing. Good riddance. Summer had never been kind to her.
She stretched her arms on the couch and looked around, letting out a satisfied sigh. Cleaning was done and she had left some food for Barry once he came back. As usual, he worked even on Saturdays. Yet, he seemed to not mind it, so she hoped it wasn't too bad. And now, at last she could start with her movie marathon, as a celebration to herself after a summer of hard work, school, and a few adventures.
She was preparing her repertoire of movies, when her cellphone rang.
"Hi Jax, is everything okay?" her big sister instincts kicked in.
"Yes, yes, just a question, is bringing a rose on the third date too gag worthy?" He'd been way out of touch in the dating scene. Not that he would tell Cisco or Wally any of this.
Caitlin brought a hand to her mouth, suppressing a giggle, "Uhm, is this the girl you met at the grocery store?"
"Yep, the one and only."
"And did she seem like the flower type?" She got the feeling, the woman wasn't based on the brief interaction that Jax recounted.
"Well…" he hesitated, "I don't think so."
"There's your answer."
"Thanks!" He said and quickly hung up.
Ok, now she could go back to her movies.
{-}
What a day. He wasn't too fond of reviewing new applicants for the hospital, but it was necessary. He didn't want to get stuck with brown nosing interns the other hospitals left behind. Now he was ready for a relaxing shower, a good book, and —
Were those sobs?
He entered the house tentatively and saw Caitlin in the living room crying her eyes out.
A sense of alarm washed over him and he made his way to her, keeping a small distance. He wasn't that great with people crying, much less women.
"Cai—"
"It's not fair," she said in between sobs with a hint of anger at the screen. "It's not fair Barry!"
He looked at her strangely. Why didn't they give training for this in medical school?
"He loved her! He was by her side for over a thousand years and she didn't know."
He turned slowly to the screen, which was already rolling out the credits to whatever movie Caitlin was watching.
"Right…" he said slowly.
"All this time she hated him. All this time, her hatred kept her going, but he loved her."
Maybe he should just go back to work…
"And then he had to watch her fall in love with someone else, I just…" and there she went again crying her heart out.
He sighed. "Caitlin it's just —" he didn't finish that thought. He was pretty sure Caitlin was very much aware this was simply a piece of fiction. But for the life of him he would not contradict her. Not now, if her red rimmed accusing eyes kept looking at him like that.
"It's sad Barry, when you love someone and that's just not enough," she said with a hint of melancholy, almost as if she was too familiar with the sentiment.
"Maybe, you should watch something a bit more light-hearted," he suggested.
Caitlin wiped away the tears and gave Barry a mischievous look. A look he didn't like.
"Would you like to watch the next movie with me?" she said innocently.
And it was times like this where he wished he was still a bachelor. He could always refuse. It wasn't like he hadn't refused Caitlin on other occasions. Yet, there was something in her eyes, that he couldn't quite pinpoint, that made him not want to disappoint her.
After a moment, he sighed tiredly, "Promise me it won't be a sad movie," there were only so many tears he could deal with on a given day.
Despite her red rimmed and teary eyes, she grinned widely and jumped from her seat.
"Oh it's one of my favorite movies, and it's so beautiful, you'll love it!"
He wasn't so sure about that.
Just like that his plans of a relaxing shower and a good book for the evening...vanished.
{-}
"I want that melody to play on my wedding day," she said dreamily.
He eyed her from the corner of his eye, "It's nice, I suppose,"
She turned to him as if he had slapped her in the face, "Nice? Nice!? No Barry! The Merry Go Round of Life, is a beautiful and magical masterpiece," she exclaimed emphatically. "It transports you to this place where everything is possible. Where everything you've ever dreamed of is at your fingertips." She even reached out and touched the nothingness ahead of her as if it were a magical object.
Barry would never admit to it, but Caitlin was absolutely right. That piece did have that effect and so much more. "And I take it, this has nothing to do with the animated main character you've been so vocal about for the last two hours."
She grinned at him playfully, "Having the right partner just adds to the fantasy, don't you think?"
He remained silent thinking about her words.
"Now the ending song, Promise of the World," she said softly, "that one is so sad. For the life of me I don't get why they chose that as the end song."
He concealed the faintest curve upward of his lips. He was bracing himself for another Caitlin speech.
"I mean, the movie had such a beautiful ending, but I just don't get it," she continued on, speaking in depth about her analytical viewpoint of the song, and the longing that was at the heart of the melody.
He didn't understand Japanese, so there wasn't a whole lot he would say about that. Lest he upset her. She wasn't joking when she said this was one of her favorite movies. Not for the first time he noticed how pretty she was when she smiled. There was something that just lit her up from the inside. Particularly when she spoke about things she was passionate about.
This movie being one of those such things.
"Hey at least you're not crying over this one."
She quirked her head to the side. "I figured I'd made you uncomfortable enough with my gushing over Howl."
He rolled his eyes. "Thank you for taking pity on me."
"You already took enough for the team today," she picked up the popcorn bowl and headed to the kitchen.
He followed suit, taking the empty glasses of juice. It vaguely crossed his mind that he was becoming too lax with his 'no food in the living room' rule.
"Any chance you will relax a little now that fiscal year has ended?" she didn't want to be overbearing, but despite his nonchalant attitude over work, the guy needed to rest.
"Other work needs to be done," he said simply.
She finished washing the dishes and turned to him with a serious expression, "There's more out there than just work."
He raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "That's rich coming from you," she was notorious for barely being at home due to her three jobs when they first moved in together. Now there was only the one with the engineering trio, but that aside, she was as much of a workaholic as him.
She crossed her arms defensively, "Well, some of us don't have a choice in the matter. You do."
He leaned against the counter, and studied her, "Could it be that you're lonely?"
Caitlin blushed and waved her hand dismissively, "It's not that," she had lived on her own for a number of years. Living with Barry wasn't that different, there was a lot of respect for each other's independence and privacy. However, the time they spent together was more amicable as of late. In fact, as he opened up a little more, they shared good conversations, "I just worry about you," she ended softly.
"You worry too much."
They walked back to the living room and sat on opposite sides.
"Maybe I do," she conceded, "I know you're an adult and are more than capable of looking after yourself, but there's more to life than just work," before he could argue further, she pressed on, "just promise me you'll think about it."
He looked at her earnest honey brown eyes, and reiterated that she worried too much. Even so...there was this tiny, real tiny, part of him that found it oddly endearing.
"Fine," he said. "Speaking of life outside of work," he pulled an invitation from his suit jacket and handed it to her. "We have a Fall Gala next month, it's one of the major events for networking and fundraising for the hospital chain."
She took the invitation tentatively and studied its contents. She'd never been to a gala or any formal party for that matter. She wondered why Barry was inviting her. Sure they were married, but they were far from being the epitome of a married couple.
He sensed her hesitation and added, "You don't have to attend if you don't want to."
She looked up at him quickly, "No, no, it's not that, I just," she hesitated with a bit embarrassment, "I've never been to one of these before."
"It's like any other party, food, drinks, people," he added with a shrug.
"Barry, it's gala, so it's not like any other party," just because she hadn't been to one didn't mean she'd never heard of them.
"A bit fancier than others," he agreed. "But they're just like any other event."
It was evident these things bored him.
"The fact that I'm organizing this one notwithstanding," just remembering that annoyed him slightly, he could be doing much more important things than organizing a dumb party. But it wasn't like he could say no to his father, or rather, the president of the Allen Hospital Group, "I think it will be a good change of pace for you," he said, "you'll get to meet other people in the field, and see another part of that medical world you're so fond of."
"That's right!" She finished enthusiastically. "Now I need to think about all the logistics," her gears were turning, and Barry could see a world of thoughts swirling through her eyes.
She got up and started walking in the direction of her room, "First things first, what am I going to wear," she mumbled to herself.
A well-then expression made its way to his features. Clearly, he was forgotten in favor of a party that was a whole month away. Trust Caitlin to worry about the oddest things. Now that he had the living room to himself, he looked around to see if there was anything for him to do. To his surprise, even though he'd lived in that home for several years, there wasn't much in there to call it his.
Maybe he should start looking at retaking a hobby or something. It had been far too long since he worried about something that wasn't work related.
"What are your thoughts on red?" his wife said, coming back into view.
"What about red?"
"Stand up for me, will you?"
He did as she asked and stood up. She took a few steps towards him and started looking him up and down. He gave her a funny look, not that she'd notice, and he couldn't help himself from asking, "Are you checking me out?" he teased.
She smiled sideways with a faint blush, "Of course not. I'm just trying to find your color."
Because that made so much sense.
"And since when do you have a sense of humor?" she said with a raised eyebrow.
He smirked, "Who says I didn't?" It was strange to him how easy it was to talk to Caitlin, in ways he wasn't quite used to talking to others. They weren't friends or anything of the sort, and yet their dynamic seemed so seamless sometimes, as if they'd known each other for years. Which was ridiculous, because he'd never seen her before in his life.
He suspected that the reason their relationship was so seamless was largely due to her. It was her blatant honesty and transparency that somehow compelled him to reciprocate.
{x}
I had refrained from adding author notes because I wanted to have a "cleaner" layout of the story...but I miss you all!
With that said, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to read this story. I know it's the definition of a SLOW BURN, and that's completely intentional. Hang in there...the time is coming...
And a very special thanks to those that have taken the time to review it, feedback is love :) Shyesplease, Orihime-18, XWF1000, Rosewelllostcause, Snowbarrybarchie, Hanabatake, Guest, and NNathann.
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Stay tuned, the next chapter is one of my favorites.