After this round of international check-ins I feel like I should start greeting you in different languages! Keep 'em coming, according to the stats there are far more people in here.
Guest: Hola! It's freezing in this part of the world, figured we could all use some heat!
Tori: I had a lot of fun writing this, patting myself on the back for that office banter
Kathy: Hi there, from the other side of the pond.
Ready for more Cal and Gillian fluff?
As a man with a lot of women in his life, Cal was an expert of passive shopping.
Furniture and houseware shopping with Zoe when they had gotten married had been harder than he had imagined, mostly because in her vision for their family house there didn't seem to be much space for his ethnic collection, and they had literally argued over who deserved the biggest book shelf between his psychology and human sciences books or her legal texts. But he had learned the good strategy of proposing alternatives, including options suitable for him when possible; he would still not get his way sometimes, but he couldn't be accused of just not wanting to be involved or avoiding a fight, all the while preserving a healthy amount of his masculine pride and not just rolling over.
With Emily it had been a lot easier, especially when shopping had been mostly for her rather than with her. Nobody would have believed his ex-wife if she had dared to tell people that he had fallen into some kind of addiction or baby stuff when their daughter was a newborn, buying outrageous quantities of little socks, bibs and caps and anything else he could get his hands on. Cal knew there were a couple of boxes in the attic with the baby collection, something he was never going to part with if he could help it. Then there had been the toys, the funny part, even though he had struggled to understand why Emily needed a dozen different dolls that all looked the same to him. Before his divorce, shopping for Emily had been mostly an affair between her and her mother, but afterwards he had been forced to start playing the difficult balancing act of helping her find her own personality while making sure things didn't go off the rails.
Then there was Gillian, who didn't need any hand holdings and knew better than to put him through the ringer. Cal certainly wasn't going to make a peep when it came to clothing, after years he was yet to find a single item in her wardrobe that he didn't thoroughly appreciate. Mostly, when she went out for something she already had a good idea of what she was looking for, a level of efficiency that had naturally evolved given her frantic and unpredictable schedule. She more than made up for it when it came down to buying groceries, when she would usually leave him to buy boring stuff such as vegetables and fresh produce while she wandered around the sweets and candy aisles.
But all those years of preparation, decades of training in various situations, didn't account for much when it came to car shopping.
Gillian had put it off for a few days, prioritising catching up with work over having a mode of transportation. Cal had had no intention to rush her; he didn't mind lending her his vehicle if she needed and he certainly had no objection to the fact that, being her main ride, he pretty much had to be with her most of the time they were not at work. That meant spending every night with her, driving to the office together regardless of their respective schedules and enjoying the quiet of the empty office at the end of the day before driving home if one of them had to wait for the other to wrap up.
Of course, he understood that she did need to have her own car and had been pleased when she had asked him to tag along when she had finally gotten to it. What he hadn't expected was for it to be so difficult, mostly because Gillian seemed to be determined to make it as easy as possible by going with the newer model of the car she had before. She may have been a sports fan but a car was just a means of transportation to her, so as long as it was safe and up to code she didn't care all that much for it.
Which didn't go well with Cal, especially since he had expected to play a role in the selection once she had asked him to go with her.
"C'mon Gill!" He whined, not for the first time as she eyed yet another boring sedan. "It's your new car, live it up a little!"
"I don't see the point Cal, it's just a car." She huffed, keeping her eyes on the grey Subaru in front of her as she mumbled further. "It's not like I plan on driving recklessly over the limits or do something crazy like going off the road at full speed." The she looked up at him, daring a smile at his stoned face and disbelieving expression. "Too soon?"
"Way too soon," Cal hissed in response.
Gillian did see that she might have pushed a little too far, so she quickly went closer to him and took his hands, squeezing tight as she looked at him with pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry, of course it's not something to joke about." Cal shook his head slowly as to say that no, it really wasn't, then he mumbled something that was probably a reproachful remark and pulled her closer, staring down at her with a serious expression. "And of course, safety is paramount so let's look for something with all the best features. How does that sound?"
Cal nodded in agreement, still taking a little longer to let go of her, but when he pulled away he looked less tense and willing to go back to their playful interaction as before.
"I'm just saying," he muttered then. "There's nothing wrong in looking for something that catches your attention, something with style to make a statement, and some power under the hood."
"You mean like the 1973 Ford dusting up in your box after the crash last year?"
Once again Cal was baffled by her tone and reference, less drastic and dramatic but still too close to a sore spot not to leave a mark. Getting the car fixed after that case had been a painfully expensive affair and yes, he had kept it safely locked up in the garage ever since.
"Feisty, aren't we love?" Gillian smirked absently, moving closer to a dark blue Hyunday. "What did you have for breakfast this morning?"
"You," she replied with a knowing look, and as much as that stirred something below his abdomen Cal had to roll his eyes at her.
"And yet, you wouldn't listen to me." He pouted. "Why did you even ask me to come if you don't care about my opinion?"
"I needed a ride," she answered absently, then leaned down to look at the inside of the car and Cal was suddenly distracted by the way the rear of her body stuck out as she did so.
Bloody woman! He thought, licking his lips as he looked down at her. Stared would have been more correct, although he didn't realise how truly distracted he was until he heard Gillian calling his name with increasing volume.
"Cal!" Eventually he blinked and gave her a duh expression, easily revealing where his attention had been. "How about that one?"
She pointed at a red car parked in the back corner of the dealership showroom, walking past him so close that her body brushed the front of his, making him shiver. He watched her go by, convinced that she was swinging her hips a little bit more than usual, and the realisation that she was openly and shamelessly teasing him in a public space started to dawn on him. It was a crazy thought, but it really didn't take an expert to see what she was doing. Normally he would be all for it, teasing and seducing Gillian was one of his favourites, but while he could get away with actually doing something about it at home - or in the office, under the right circumstances - to do that to him there was downright cruel.
And sexy, so incredibly sexy.
After giving his right leg a quick shake, Cal quickly followed her to the car she had been pointing at and even though he was quickly losing interest in the task at hand he made sure to get as close as possible as she inspected the vehicle. One of the salesmen spotted them and started to walk towards them, but he realised who they were and wisely turned around. If there were two people who weren't going to fall for any salesman pitch it was them, and they had already made it abundantly clear with the first two people who had tried approaching them. The first one, a young man who clearly thought in terms of commission more than anything else, had left muted and on the verge of tears after Gillian had swiftly put him on the spot for the way he was embellishing the car, and the woman who had tried after him was probably still locked up somewhere private reconsidering her career choices, dealing with Cal's remarks.
"This looks nice!" Gillian cheered as she opened the door of the red convertible and sat on the edge of the seat. "What do you think?"
It wasn't a sports car, nothing flashy or in your face - that wouldn't have been her - but it did look more exciting than others she had been looking at thus far. Not that any of that fully registered for him. Cal watched, her legs sinuously leaning out of the car while she stretched her upper body over the dashboard, her top sliding upward just enough to reveal the laced hem of her underwear. The image itself was enough to make his blood boil, then he had to add to that the knowledge that she was doing it on purpose. I think I'm gonna get in there with you, pull up the cover and have my way with you right here! Cal thought to himself as he swallowed down a lump of lust.
"How do you go from that," he pointed at the boring grey car she had been looking at for nearly half an hour, "to this?"
"You don't like it?" She pouted, sitting properly and holding the steering wheel, well aware of the fact that with him standing up just above her he had a perfect view of her cleavage.
"I don't have to like it, love," Cal conceded, starting down exactly where she wanted and marvelling at his own ability to keep up with the conversation. "It's your car."
"Well yeah, but you're entitled to have an opinion. After all you'd be riding in it too, maybe even driving it…if you behave."
Cal's breath itched, and something else in his body reacted to the subtle implication of her words. But mostly he smiled, because at that point things were going well past the sexual innuendos and teasing. It was so much more than that: it was the easiness of their relationship, the rekindled chemistry between them and how they balanced each other out most of the time while still enjoying moments like that, when roles shifted and he was the one trying to keep it proper while she played her cards and pushed it further.
He had joked in the past about her not being a good girl, and still did sometimes when things got particularly heated in the bedroom, but in reality she really was. A good person, to be more precise: someone who would almost always put others first, go the extra mile to help and then try to downplay her efforts. She still was, she always would be, but with him she felt free and confident enough to let out a side of her that others would never get to see, not even imagine…
"Marry me, Gillian."
Her hands froze on the steering wheel, her whole body tensing up in surprise. Gillian turned slowly, looking up at him with an expression that to call surprised would have been an understatement. Cal had no idea where that had come from but it tasted right in his mouth nevertheless, and he thoroughly enjoyed the way she looked at him, how her skin seemingly blushed and paled at the same time as the meaning of his words hit her.
"Are you out of your mind?!" She gasped then, not quite the reaction he had imagined but then again, he hadn't been ready to ask either so who was he to judge? "Cal, what-" On unsteady legs, Gillian got out of the car and stood up in front of him, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the people nearby who were staring at them, having heard her outraged response but not this outrageous question. "Cal, we just got back together. There is still so much we have to go through-"
"Ok, you're right, love." He cut her off, his face a strange mix of amusement and acceptance, but no sign of regret or disappointment whatsoever. Then he took her hand with his and put the other one on her shoulder, holding gently. "Move in with me then."
"Cal, I-"
It was impossible for Gillian to find words, let alone coherent thoughts. She hadn't recovered from the impromptu question and he had hit her with another bombshell, not to mention the way he was looking at her nearly made her cry on its own right. Cal waited, patient and understanding, seemingly calm even though inside he was an utter mess of emotions, gently bringing their joined hands up to her face to stroke her cheek.
"I'm sorry love, I don't honestly know where that came from. And you don't have to answer." He was trying to reassure her, to take some of the weight off of her and, incredibly, he was succeeding. "Or you can say no if you want, that's fine…just as long as it doesn't mean you don't want to be with me at all. But I love you, I just got you back and I think it's about time we stop playing it safe and we take this step together. Move in with me, or let's a new place together, I don't care, I just want to-"
"Yes," Gillian eventually found her voice again, although it wasn't easy given how he had launched into that passionate speech. Cal stopped and exploded into a smile, the hair in his beard parting to show his lips, and as much as she loved all of that she also knew she had to make things clear. "To move in together. Your house…our house. I can't think of any other place I would want to call home."
Cal's smile grew even bigger, his eyes sparkling and, much to Gillian's amusement, he finally let go of the sudden terror he may have just destroyed his second chance with her. He wanted to kiss her, she wanted him to kiss her and then more but that was not the time nor the place, and it was more than ok for them to wait to celebrate. Stil, Cal gently kissed her cheek then the palm of her hand, slowly letting it go as she stepped closer and hugged him briefly, giving absolutely zero shit about the people around them staring at the strange couple.
Slowly, regretfully, she stepped back but recaptured his hand and pulled him with her back to the convertible, resuming her inspection as if they hadn't just made one of the biggest - yet another - decision of their lives.
"But just so we are clear," she said then, something in between an admonishment and an invitation, "you're gonna have to clean up the garage and make some space because I am not leaving this one parked outside."
Edit/authors note: I just want to clarify, in case I didn't make it clear enough.
Cal technically did ask the question but it wasn't really real, if you know what I mean. Gillian's reaction was obvious, she's not ready for it and Cal understood his timing was not right. But they are most definetely moving in together.