Chapter 2 - The Offer

Derek and Casey still had their hands interlocked as they walked out of the bar and onto the street. When they were far enough away, Derek dramatically let go of Casey's hand and wiped his own along his pant leg.

"God, your hands are sweaty."

Casey narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. "Are you going to explain what the fuck that was, Derek?"

They were still walking down Burrard street and it was so crowded, Casey had a hard time keeping up with Derek as he sprinted ahead.

"Derek, are you going to say anything?" She yelled after him.

Derek stayed silent and kept walking until they reached the waterfront. Finding an empty bench, Derek sat down, grabbing onto the bench on either side of him, letting out his frustration.

"Ughhh!"

Casey had a flashback to her adolescence, to when she heard that sound almost daily. Derek was angry, and when you heard Derek make that sound, the last thing you wanted to do was to push him. Knowing this, she stayed quiet and kept her eyes on the ocean. She could see seals poking their head out of the water in the distance and her face lit up at how cute they were.

Derek finally looked at Casey, observing her as she looked across the horizon.

"Beautiful view, isn't it?" Derek asked, stretching his arm out along the bench behind Casey.

"Breathtaking" Casey answered. She turned her head to look at her step brother.

"How have you been?" She asked.

"Fine."

"Yeah, I can see that." Casey snorted.

"How's your girlfriend?"

"James. It's James." Casey corrected.

Derek chuckled and it made Casey smile as it was a sincere laugh.

"Sorry," Derek cleared his throat, " Ehem. James."

Casey turned her entire body towards Derek and crossed her legs on the bench. Her eyes narrowed at him and she adjusted her dress.

"Why do you say it like that?" She asked.

"Because he's ridiculous." Derek stated.

"Why do you all hate James?!" Casey was getting worked up and Derek could tell because her hands were in the air as she expressed her words.

Derek sighed, "Seriously?"

Casey nodded her head signalling him to continue. "First off, all he talks about is money. How much money he has, how much money he spent, how much money he makes…"

"He's well off…" Casey interrupted.

"And insanely insecure Case. Every time I see you two together, he's extremely possessive and jealous of every person who looks in your direction. And he's not emotionally mature. He doesn't know how he feels. In fact, I've never heard him start a sentence with I feel…"

Casey made a face "Look who's talking, Derek! How is this any different from you?"

Derek's expression suddenly changed and there was an unrelenting look that took over his facial features. His eyes focussed and dark, he spoke.

"I'm a man, Casey. Your "James" is a boy. I know what I feel, I just don't like to express it. Don't you dare compare us. He decided to move to Vancouver for an opportunity at a Law Firm and he didn't even tell you! You heard from Emily. On top of all that, you took a contract to be here so he can decide if he wants to have a future with you…"

"It's an experiment." Casey stated angrily.

Derek's eyes softened now, "We're all sick of his bullshit. Aren't you, Case? What's your limit?"

Casey shook her head and grinned as if she was trying to convince herself "It's going to work out, I can feel it."

Derek didn't want to take this any further. It was useless.

"Since you know how you feel and what you want, Derek, are you ready to explain what happened at the bar?"

Derek let out the breath he was holding. He turned so that he was now also crossed legged on the bench facing Casey.

"I… regret letting Sarah go."

Casey made a sad face.

"No. Don't do that. See? This is why I didn't want to tell you! You're looking at me like you're watching an ad for saving tortured animals."

Casey laughed and put her hands over her mouth. She composed herself, dropped her hands and revealed her newly composed face.

"Ok. Now I'm looking at you neutrally. Go for it."

Derek laughed, "You weirdo."

"Go on." She prompted.

"... I think I finally realized what she meant to me when I saw the wedding invitation today. I was mad when Nathan asked if he could date her, but I said yes because I didn't want her to think I wasn't over it. And now she's marrying the guy? She's found a replacement for me and I haven't even been on a serious date since we broke up."

"I see." Casey said, "Which is why you lied and said I was your fiancé"

Casey couldn't even make it through the sentence without blushing. Stop it! Stop, Casey!

"But Case, I could see it in her eyes, she's not over me!"

"Derek!" Casey exclaimed, "Just tell her how you feel!"

"I can't do that. It's too late for confessions, but I know that the fact that I decided to propose to someone else is driving her crazy. I bet you she's thinking about it as we speak, why her and not me."

Casey's face scrunched up in confusion.

"So what's your plan then, Derek?"

"To pretend like we're engaged to get a reaction out of her."

"And where do you think that's going to get you?" Casey asked.

"If I know Sarah at all, she's going to question her relationship with Nathan once she sees how happy I am with you. It's going to kill her and she'll come back to me asking if we have a chance of making it work before she gets married."

"Derek I'm not doing this. It's not right."

"Case, please, just until the wedding. If she breaks up with him sooner, it's over."

"What do I get in return?"

He smirked and put an arm around Casey "the pleasure of being in a relationship-"

"FAKE relationship!" Casey interrupted, pushing his hand off her shoulder"

"Fake, relationship with Derek Venturi."

-— -— -— -— -— — -—-— -— -— -—

Who does he think she is? A fake relationship with her stepbrother? That's insane. If he really wanted Sarah, he should go tell her. What if George and her mom heard? They would have a heart attack.

Casey ran down Burrard street to get to the restaurant where she was meeting James.

She turned right on the corner on 1st street and entered the restaurant. Before she could even spot James, he raised his arm up to get her attention. Walking over to the table, Casey took off her jacket and sat down. The way he was smiling at her made Casey's heart melt.

He doesn't only care about money. Don't let Derek get into your head Casey.

"Hey, so glad you're finally here. I was looking at the wine menu and I was thinking of getting a bottle of white for us to share? I think it would go great with fish."

Casey's nostrils flared. Yuck, he knew she hated fish. She glanced at the menu written on the chalkboard above and realized this was a fancy tapas restaurant.

"Sure," she grinned, "anything you like."

James put his hand up to signal the waitress over.

"Hi. We'd like to start with a bottle of white wine around the… 75 dollar mark?" James' voice went up at the end to ask Casey what she thought.

As Casey opened her mouth to speak, James interrupted pointing to the menu. "This wine sounds fantastic. Let's get that. And also, can we have a glass of Champagne each before the wine? This one." James pointed again to the menu.

The waitress scribbled down the name of the Champagne and walked away.

"It's not Champagne unless it's from France, am I right?" James chuckled.

A look of disgust appeared on Casey's face. Her mind referred to an episode of Suits. That's such a Louis Litt thing to say…

"How is your stepbrother?" James asked.

Casey took a sip from the water glass in front of her, "He's alright. A little torn up over a girl."

James rolled his eyes. "Sure."

"What was that for?" Casey asked.

"The way he looks at you, Casey, I doubt there's another girl. That's just a made up story to get your sympathy."

Casey couldn't believe what she was hearing. Wait, did James notice the looks Derek gave her too?

"Are you jealous, James?" Casey asked.

Maybe Derek was right.

"No, I just don't think all his intentions are necessarily 'brotherly'." James stated.

Casey watched as the waitress brought two glasses of champagne and placed them gently on the table. They were going to discuss this later.

"Have you decided on what you'd like to order?" The waitress asked.

"Honey, have you checked the menu?" James glanced at Casey.

"Not really, I just know that since we're drinking I would love some fries."

"Fries." The waitress wrote down.

"And I'll just order a bunch of random things to try, what do you say?" James looked at Casey.

Casey nodded. He could have let her have a moment to look at the menu. It's fine Casey, it's fine.

James held up the menu, "let's have the Brussels sprouts, the halibut ceviche, the beet dip, the hummus and…"

Casey looked up from her drink. Fries. He's forgetting the fries.

"Let's not get the fries huh?" He asked, looking in Casey's direction. "I rather we try something new."

Don't kill him. You're in public Casey. You don't want a criminal record Casey.

Casey smiled the widest she could to hide the fact that she wanted to murder her boyfriend, "Sure, anything you say."

"Alright," the waitress began, "We'll have this out for you soon."

She turned to walk away but before she did, the waitress looked back at James. "By the way, I love your shoes!"

"Thanks! They're Dior!" He gushed.

Casey heard Derek's voice in her head. "We're all sick of his bullshit. Aren't you, Case? What's your limit?"

This was it.

-— -— -— -— -— -— — -— -— -— -— -—

Derek heard the microwave beep for the second time. There were no sports on TV so Derek settled for something he could half listen to; Pawn Stars it was.

Throwing the remote on the couch, he walked over to his microwave and took out his nachos. Opening the fridge, he grabbed the salsa and began pouring it directly from the jar onto his plate.

The doorbell rang.

Derek sighed. "Isn't this day over yet? He grumbled.

Walking over to the door he looked into the peephole.

"Casey...what a surprise."

Casey was standing at his door with her pink luggage by her side. Her eyes were teary and red.

"I'll do it Derek. I'll be your fake fiancé."

Derek leaned on the door and motioned for her to come inside.

"What changed your mind?" He asked.

"James and I broke up."