I hope you enjoyed the confrontation, I thought it was much needed.
Mary; I guess the image I had in mind mostly for Cal here was the beginning of the last scene in Sweet Sixteen, before Gillian tells him the truth. I didn't want to make Gillian a complete badass, there was enough in here that was pushing the character beyond what we've always seen and as much as I am sure she could be resourceful I couldn't see her expertly handling a gun.
Eteri; more aggressive?! I'll keep that in mind for the future!
JustMyPillow: I backed myself into a corner with this explanation while I was writing, but I did want to keep something that would be very "Gillian", with her being selfless to help others.
Now, is it really all good between them now?
Very few words were spoken after that last embrace, one that was far more comforting and less desperate than the first one they had shared. It was a return back to normal hug, like the ones they've had many times before; clinging to each other, giving and receiving comfort and support in equal amounts.
Then, after a while Cal felt her body becoming heavier, her breathing slowing down and turning into a quiet humming and her arms loosen the grip around him. He smiled to himself then pulled back slowly, just in time to see Gillian's eyes flutter and fight to stay open.
"You need to sleep, love," he whispered then, moving his arm around her waist for support. "And to shower. Definitely, to shower."
There was no protest coming from her, neither verbally nor physically. Gillian knew she did need many things and with food taken care of already, hot water, soap and sleep were definitely top of the list. Exhausted, drained in her body and mind, she let Cal guide her through the house, noticing how it looked and smelled different, cleaner and tidier, and she leaned a little more on him as if she wanted to thank him for the service. Once they got to her bedroom Cal let go of her on the door after making sure she had enough strength to go about her business on her own, then he went back to the kitchen and washed up dishes and glasses while he listened to the water running in the bathroom.
Gillian came back after nearly one hour, still looking tired as hell but at least more like herself. She didn't seem to know what to do with herself though, as if she thought he'd expected her to pop back once she was done for some reason. Cal took a good look at her, mostly to make sure she was alright, like her not entirely sure what was supposed to happen next. She didn't need to say she didn't want to be alone, and neither Cal had to ask if she was ok with him sticking around. However, going from those silent thoughts to actions, let alone words, was not as easy as it might appear.
Then Cal took the initiative, mostly because he had more energy between the two of them, although just barely. He walked up to Gillian and placed a hand on the small of her back, gently using it to guide her back to her bedroom.
"Get some rest, Gillian," he instructed as they stood on the door of the room. "I'll be in the guestroom."
Gillian nodded, her eyelids heavy and nearly closing on their own as she managed to mumble "goodnight" in a barely audible voice. Cal kept a watchful eye on her as she stumbled her way to the bed, then rolled his eyes when she laid on top of the covers as dressed as she was. He grumbled something to himself and approached the bed, gently pulling the covers from under her and tucking her in the best he could. By the time he had done that Gillian was deep asleep, unsurprisingly, so Cal switched off the bedside lamp and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Making as little noise as possible he went around making sure the house was ready for the night, and when he was about to switch off the lights in the entrance he noticed the backpack Gillian had been carrying with her throughout her "adventure". It really was none of his business, but Cal felt he was entitled a peek if anything to see if she still had the firearm that was registered to him. He picked up the bag and brought it to the guest room, leaving behind switched off lights and locked doors, then sat on the bed and put the bag in his lap. It didn't seem too heavy but even without looking he could tell the gun was in there, and a worried smile came to his face when he checked and found the chamber was empty and the safety was still on. Thank God Gillian hadn't needed to use it! Then he found some loose cash, a lot of cash really, the burner phone, a flashlight and gloves, and a first aid kit. The last thing he found, bungled up in a sticky and smelly ball, were bloodied bandages and discarded medical tape. Terrifying thoughts hit him once again: she had been out there for days, chased by professional killers, with that very badly assorted array of objects. The only one that could have truly helped in case of immediate danger was the gun, and judging by the way he had found it Gillian wouldn't have gotten much benefit out of that either.
Cal let out a long sigh and shook his head, doing his best to focus on the notion that none of that mattered anymore because she was safe now, sleeping peacefully in her own bed just next door. It wasn't as big of a relief as he thought it would be but it wasn't the worst thing to keep in mind before going to sleep. He put everything back inside the backpack and tossed it somewhere on the floor, then kicked off his shoes and took off the shirt abandoning those by the foot of the bed before getting under the covers. He didn't think the long nap he had taken earlier would have posed any trouble to more sleep, much like Gillian he was exhausted and even if he too needed a shower his body was sending clear signals that rest was the main priority.
Cal laid there in the darkness of a room he knew fairly well, staring at the wall in front of him knowing Gillian was on the other side, and with that thought he easily slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep.
The noise was too weak and too short for him to wake up, he didn't move a muscle and instead just kept sleeping and snoring softly. What woke him up was the shit of the mattress, the sudden weight next to him and something disturbing the absent hold of his arm on the pillow. Before he even opened his eyes, Cal picked up on the smell. He had sensed it earlier, when Gillian had come back to the kitchen after her long shower; coconut and mint, her shower gel, mixed with the fragrance of her shampoo which he had never been able to identify and yet liked so much.
Cal opened his eyes and before they could adjust to the darkness he felt a gentle and widespread pressure on his chest, then all he could see was the back of Giilian's head as she laid next to him. She didn't switch on the lights, she didn't say a word: she just nestled against him finding her own way to fit with the way he had been laying down in the bed, snuggling in until her back was resting on his chest. Cal didn't move at first, making sure she finished doing whatever she had in mind and found the position she wanted. Once she was settled and stopped moving, he carefully moved a little closer and wrapped his other arm around her, their hands finding each other on the other side as their fingers intertwined and they both went back to sleep.
When she opened her eyes and found herself in a room invaded by sunlight, Gillian struggled for a few minutes to figure out where she was. Her bedroom was usually plunged in the dark, that was the way she liked it, and all that light was disorienting. Not to mention the fact that in her sleep, no matter how deep and resting, she had been visited by extremely vivid images of the past few days that forced to remember the reality of the fact that she had made it home safe and sound. However, what really threw her off was the fact that the protective feeling of Cal's body wrapped around hers was gone.
Gillian sighed and stirred in the bed, which now she knew was the one in the guestroom, then turned around. He wasn't there, just a big empty spot. She sat up on the bed and looked around, noticing her own backpack on the floor but nothing of his in sight. She smiled to herself still, then her eyes caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall and she audibly gasped when she saw it was nearly 1pm. She shouldn't have been that surprised perhaps, but she had never been a late sleeper and she immediately felt that she had more than one reason to get out of bed.
When she left the room Gillian went straight through the living room into the kitchen, expecting to find Cal there, busy at the stoves and ready to either lecture her on the fact that she needed to eat or make fun of her for having slept so much.
But he wasn't there.
The coffee pot was full and ready, there was a covered pan on the stove with scrambled eggs and mushrooms inside and the table was set for one person to eat.
But he wasn't there.
What was there was a piece of paper, a page from the notebook she kept by the phone in the entrance, scribbled in Cal's as always unexpected neat and clear handwriting. Stay home. Eat. It said, as if the two things were related. I took the gun, waisted with you anyway. Gillian smiled at the message at first, thinking those few words truly embodied him and his thought process. But after a while her smile faltered, realising how disappointed she was that he had deprived her of the experience of waking up together and wondering why he had done so.
Ignoring the second instruction on the paper, Gillian had a passing thought about the whereabouts of her cellphone, until she remembered she had gotten rid of it not long after she had called him to ask for more days off. Then she went for the landline and selected Cal's number from the list, nervously tapping her fingers on the table while she waited. He didn't pick up, after a while the voicemail recording came up and she hung up without leaving a message. She put the phone down then picked it up again almost immediately, thinking about it for a few seconds before dialling another familiar number. This time she did get a response, with Emily nearly screaming in her ear the moment she heard her voice. Obviously the girl knew something had been going on but Gillian doubted Cal had told her the full story, so she played along as best as she could to reassure his daughter that everything was ok.
Before Gillian could figure out how to ask without creating any panic, Emily offered the information she was after. Cal had been home early in the morning, he had taken a shower and changed and then said he was going to work. Emily asked if she was going to the office too and Gillian glanced at the message Cal had left, then said that she was going to take the day off and get some rest. The girl seemed extremely pleased with that piece of news, so much so that Gillian had to wonder if she hadn't received instructions from her father to keep her away from the office if needed.
Eventually, as much as she liked talking to Emily, Gillian had to find a polite way to dismiss the girl. Regardless of Cal's will and instructions she did need to eat and get as much rest as she could to get back on track with her life, but that didn't mean that there weren't other things on her mind. Once she hung up with Emily, Gillian went back into the kitchen to heat up the food and the coffee, all the while still holding the phone and trying Cal once more. Once again he didn't pick up his phone and she started to grow a little restless, then she thought about calling the office.
It shouldn't have been a decision to ponder for so long, however she didn't know where that could lead. Gillian didn't know what, if anything, Cal had told people at work about what had been going with her. She imagined they all knew something, they must have if Reynolds had been around the office, and if Cal had gone to work they probably knew she was back. But no matter what, there were still a lot of things to consider, and she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to face her employees, even if it was to reassure she was ok. Not until she and Cal had done talking about it.
Gillian decided to try Cal three more times before calling the office, and to eat first before trying again anyway. There were a lot of things she had to sort out: she needed a new phone, to buy groceries and arrange for the back door to be fixed, all things she could use as time spacers in between calls. It was random, but it was a semblance of organisation she needed back in her life.
It was mid afternoon by the time she called him twice, contacted the locksmith and ordered a home delivery of groceries. He hadn't responded, call number three was fast approaching and Gillian really felt like cheating her own timetable and skipping to calling the office, worrying about buying a new phone later. She sat there on the couch with a glass of wine, the phone in her hand, wondering why Cal wouldn't respond. He might have been busy, it was easy to imagine work hadn't really gone on as normal while she was away so he was probably trying to reel things in before she would come back to the office. It was a reasonable guess, however Gillian didn't believe much in it, despite the fact that she struggled to see how he could be avoiding her after likely having spent the past two days desperate to hear from her.
She was still weighing those thoughts in her head when someone knocked at the door, and she immediately let out a long sigh of relief. However, when she got to open the door it was nearly impossible for Gillian to hide her disappointment in seeing Torres standing there.
"Ria?"
"Oh my God." The young woman needed no invitation to step forward and give a quick hug to her boss. "Thank God, you're ok!"
"Uh, yes. I mean," Torres pulled back and Foster absently touched her own hip, "mostly."
"Lightman said you were home but not much else. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."
"Cal- I'm sorry, c'mon in." Remembering her manners, Gillian stepped aside and invited her in, looking at the woman's cast with a guilty look all over her face. "I'm so sorry about that Ria."
"It's nothing, and it wasn't your fault." She meant it, clearly the thought anybody but herself was to blame had never crossed her mind. "How are you? We tried asking Lightman but, you know him."
Gillian nodded, thinking that at times like that she wasn't entirely sure she did, then waved her hands at her visitor.
"Everything is fine, I just needed the day to get some rest and fix a couple of things around the house." Torres nodded knowingly, then Foster asked. "Cal was at work?"
"Yes, he's been in the office all day." Gillian didn't know if that revelation made her feel better or worse. "He came in early, had a quick meeting to tell everybody you were ok and taking the day off, then he's been busy with meetings all day." She chuckled. "He was saying something about the fire extinguishers when I left."
Gillian had to chuckle too, although wondering where all the zeal of him came from. Then she did what she did best, what came most naturally to her, and asked Torres to catch her up on what had been going on at work. Ria was more than happy to oblige, unlike Cal she didn't have a bone to pick with her boss and felt no confusion over the relief for her being back. Naive as she was, she had no idea that Gillian was mostly extrapolating information about Cal's behaviour from her words. According to Torres, all things considered Cal had been acting normal all day, focused on work with no excess and without hiding away from people. That little detail left Gillian confused; it both explained, and didn't, why he had been avoiding her calls.
Once the news report was over Torres said she'd better get going, joking about the fact that if Lightman had found she had been there bothering Gillian when she was supposed to be resting she'd pay a high price for it. Gillian joked along as he accompanied her to the door, teasing that he probably had expected Torres to stop by and take the burden of checking up on her away from him, but within she still found it strange.
When Torres left she went back to the phone and tried Cal once more, ending up with the voicemail yet again. As the last resort, Gillian called the main number of the office and prepared herself for the inevitable conversation with Anna, who was never shy in asking questions no matter the situation. Eventually, once the assistant was satisfied with the fact that she was indeed ok, Foster asked if she could patch her through to Cal's office, only to be told he had just left while they were on the phone.
And that was it, for no. Is Cal avoiding Gillian? Why would that be?
Only two more chapter to go.
Chapter 13: 9 Crimes (it's a song by Damien Rice, I strongly suggest to check it out)
