It would be a day of research. Monday's often were. He welcomed the distraction that it would afford. He had made it to his office without running into Gabe or the others. He felt like that was a small victory. His secretary greeted him with a slight nod and handed him a folder as he reached out to open his door. Normally, they would talk a little, but she was on a call. He stepped into the room and Uriel was sitting in his seat.
"Hello, Uriel. What are you doing here?" Cas asked as he made his way over to the desk.
Uriel got up and made his way to the window. "Gabe told me to get the group together for dinner tonight."
"So, why didn't he just ask himself?."
"Oh, you know." Uriel turned back to Cas. "He was pretty sure that you would say no to him."
"I would." Cas nodded as he spoke and turned to his desk.
"He said that he would rely on my charm to make dinner happen." Uriel's lips quirked up into a slight smile.
"Really,Uriel, when did you become such a tool to flattery?" Cas laughed then and took a seat. "You are not that charming."
Uriel joined him then, taking a seat on the other side. "I am totally charming." He laughed. "In fact, I think that my charm is the very reason that you all value my friendship so much."
"Actually, it is your humor. You are, quite literally, the funniest person that I know." Cas smiled over at him.
"No, that distinction belongs to Gabe. Well, maybe you too after this past weekend." Uriel leaned back into the chair.
"Care to share some details? Gabe has decided to only send me one short video as an explanation." Cas ran a hand through his hair. "I find it a bit tedious."
"Sorry, no explanation for you. I have been sworn to secrecy."
Cas looked at Uriel with some confusion. "Really? Don't make me pull the best friend card."
"Ha, you would pull that card. No, you get to wait. I wouldn't worry about it, Cas. The video is harmless. The night was fun, and you were among friends." Uriel stood to go. "Enjoy the moments."
"I might if I had a clearer memory of what they were."
"So, dinner is happening tonight. We are going to meet Gabe's girl." Uriel smiled as he left. "I'll text you the details."
"I can hardly believe that someone finds him tolerable." Cas smiled back.
"Well, we keep hanging around him, what does that say? I do have to wonder about her. She can't be normal, right."
Uriel left and Cas was able to linger for a bit in the moment, before diving into his research.
Lunch, he decided, would not be at his desk. There was a small cafe down the street that they sometimes visited. He wasn't looking for company, but he was looking for a good salad. He let his eyes scan the room for a booth when he saw Sam in the distant corner sitting by himself.
He wandered over to join him. "Hello, Sam." He motioned to the other bench and added, "Want company?"
"Oh, hello, Cas. Yeah, sit. I just ordered." Sam leaned back casually giving off a welcoming vibe.
He noticed that there was an air of seriousness lingering on Sam's face and wondered about it. They hadn't talked much before about anything too deep. He had known Sam for a year, and anytime the conversation turned serious, Sam redirected. He had noticed that Sam was quite capable of turning a question that was about him or his past back on the questioner, until they were no longer talking about him at all. It made him the kind of friend that was a good listener, but it limited his relationships when his friends could not reciprocate, be there for him too.
"What's up?" Cas decided to toss out. "You look stressed."
"Nothing, just lost in thought." And just like that he redirected. "How are you doing?" It was a simple enough question, but Cas decided that he wanted to stay on the other path.
"I'm fine. Really, what's bothering you? Talk."
"Really, Cas, nothing. It was a long weekend. I am just getting myself back in the zone." Sam tossed out a smile, but Cas could see something under it. "So how's the research going?" There it was again, the redirect.
He huffed out a resigned breath and started to answer when the waitress showed up at the table. She slid over the mug of coffee and beamed a smile directly at Cas. Her long, chestnut hair hung down around her shoulders. She was attractive and, as always, very interested. "The usual, Cas?" She had the order pad in her hand and was already writing down the order before he could reply.
"Yes, thanks. Looks busy today." He tossed out with a smile.
"Everyday, sugar. Story of my life." Her eyes swooped over to Sam. "Oh, my. I totally forgot your drink. What was it again?"
"Just water. No worries," Sam said with a look at Cas' coffee.
"Coming right up." She was gone in a rush, but was distracted from her path to get water by the demands of several tables. Cas could almost literally see her forgetting.
"Seriously, you have to let her down." Sam drew his attention back.
"What?"
"Really, you don't see it?" He sent a pointed look at the coffee and then at the waitress.
Some dawning realization was forming, but Cas responded, "No way. She is just friendly."
"Okay, if you say so." Sam just smiles and enjoys the moment.
"Well, I am not saying a thing. Besides, she makes the best coffee. I don't want to mess that up."
"Haha, anyone can make that coffee. Hell, Dean can make that coffee and my brother is not skilled in that department. You just don't like disappointing people."
The mention of Dean made Cas want to dive down a different path of conversation than the one that they had been on, but he didn't know how to keep from being obvious. Before he could form a coherent thought the waitress was back sliding the water over to Sam. She didn't linger this time though.
"Maybe you are right. I do hate disappointing people. Better to avoid." He lifted the coffee to his lips and drank down half of the dark liquid before setting it down again.
His words seemed to draw Sam down a different path. "So, um, maybe it wouldn't hurt for me to talk about it a little." He seemed to hesitate.
Cas just sat there letting the silence draw Sam out. He didn't find silence to be awkward; it comforted him. Too many people felt the need to fill too much silence with pointless noise. After a few beats, Sam continued.
"I asked Jess to move in with me."
Cas interrupted, "Congratulations."
But before he could say more Sam held up a placating hand and added, "She didn't say yes."
"Oh."
"Well, she didn't say no exactly either." Sam ran a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture, before continuing. "She said that I need to finish the restoration on the house first."
"Oh, is that a big deal?" Cas knew that Sam had an old house on some acreage outside of the city. His commute was a bit more than most would find reasonable, but Cas could see the benefits of escaping the rush of the city. Sam had even talked about all of the work that he and his brother had done on the old place.
"Hmm, it's complicated." He paused and Cas made a point of looking down into his coffee so that Sam would feel comfortable continuing. "You see, my dad died just before I joined the firm. He left us the house. Dean said that he didn't want to live there, but he was willing to help out with the repairs, 'Too many demons there' he said."
"I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't know," Cas said.
"I don't talk about it. Dad and I weren't close. That man didn't have a loving bone in his body, but if you ask Dean you'll get a different perspective. Well, that would happen if Dean actually talked. You think I don't share? Dean is the poster child for repressed feelings." Sam was interrupted by the food's arrival.
"There you go boys. Can I get you anything else?" She smiled extra big at Cas, but he was brusque.
"No." She seemed deflated as she walked off.
"Well, I said let her down, not be rude." Sam waved off at her retreating form.
"Huh, oh." Too late to fix that now. "So, was the house in need of a lot of repairs?" Cas could redirect too if he needed to.
"Yes, would be an understatement. We should have torn it down and started over, but we are both a little too sentimental for that. We have fixed up the whole thing except for the section off of the back hall."
"What do you have to do there?"
"Major work. It was completely destroyed by a fire."
"Oh, that sounds like quite a job. Why don't you just hire some people to come in?" Cas was about to toss in an offer of personal help, but then he remembered that he was not exactly skilled in the manual labor department.
"It isn't the work so much as what it represents." Sam seemed uncomfortable, but he continued. "The fire is what caused my mom's death. So that section of the house, it just…"
"Oh, my. Oh, Sam, I don't know what to say."
"I know, this is why I don't share. My life is..." Instead of finishing the sentence he shrugged in resignation.
"Maybe that is why you should share."
"Well, it isn't exactly an easy subject to fall into." Sam seemed to be trying to lighten the mood so Cas sent them down the path that began the talk.
"So, does Jess understand the situation?"
"Quite well. She thinks that it is necessary because we are holding onto it too much. She wants the job done, because she thinks that it is the closest thing to therapy that Dean and I will ever get. She means well, but Dean isn't ready, and if I do it alone, it might affect him."
Cas was ready to lighten the mood a little more, so he figured why not redirect in a way that will kill two birds with one stone, "So, what's happening this Friday?"
"What do you mean?" Sam looked at him, confused, then finding the new thread of the conversation, "Oh, you mean with you and Dean?"
This sounded ominous to Cas, you and Dean… Although, he had to admit that he liked that they were paired up, even if it was only in a sentence.Sound casual, like you know what is happening. "Yeah."
"Hmm, I don't know. That's between you two." Sam smirked, like he knew something.
Cas muttered with resignation, "Seriously, why can't anyone just give me a straight answer?" He looked down at his plate then, frustrated.
"Sorry. I'll tell him to call you."
Oh, shit, no. "Oh, no, don't bother him. I'll just figure out what is up some other way."
"Really? That sounds like a solid plan." Sam laughed at Cas then and added, "Stop stressing. I'll let him know that you need to talk to him."
"No, don't phrase it that way. I just don't remember all of the details from that night." Cas fidgeted then started scooping up forks full of salad. No eye contact.
"Well, don't look to me for any clarity. I had just as much fun as you and some things are just better off forgotten." Then after pausing for a beat, "We need to probably get through this meal a little faster. Duty calls you know."
"Yeah, more eating, less talking." Cas felt mild waves of nausea just swirling around inside him at the thought of Dean calling him. Maybe Sam will forget to mention it, not likely. Maybe he'll just text. That would be easier, less personal. But maybe he secretly wanted it to be personal. Maybe he kind of hoped for a lot of things. He smiled a little as he rushed through the rest of the meal, anticipation leaving him both a little scared and excited in equal measure.