When Aaron and Sabella heard the news Aaron picked up Cassia in his arms and swung her around in wonder with Cassia giggling happily.
"Put me down Aaron," Cassia finally said.
Aaron did so but kept an arm around her waist holding her close.
"I'm so glad you are joining us," Aaron said.
"I knew you would be," Cassia said. "We can talk later though, as I don't want Alastair to overhear and make wrong assumptions. I wouldn't trust him not to eavesdrop to tell you the truth. Also, Petra might overhear us, but on accident instead of deliberately. She would never spy on us."
"Unlike your brother," Sabella said her tone rather annoyed.
"Yes, well, Alastair never has understood that women need privacy and trying to explain to him that I'm an adult hasn't done any good, but he knows that if I catch him at it the least he's going to get is his ears boxed.
"So what about your job?" Sabella questioned.
"I've already sent in my resignation," Cassia explained. "They'll probably just assume I found a better offer, though they'll probably be surprised if I don't ask for references."
"You probably should ask for references, even if you never use them," Dave suggested. "It's good to avoid any suspicions and that's what you would normally do if you leave a job you've had for years."
"I suppose," Cassia finally agreed.
"Are you sorry to give up your job?" Aaron asked.
"Not at all really," Cassia said. "It wasn't exactly my dream job, though it was mostly OK. One of the reasons I won't be sorry to leave is I have this coworker that's been asking me out for the last couple years and it is nothing but an annoyance. He's the type that I would never date."
"What type?" Sabella asked curiously.
"The conceited, arrogant, full of themselves type who only talk about themselves and their desires. This guy thinks he's so attractive that no woman can resist him. No matter how many times I tell him no he'll ask me again within a week. I think he considers me the one that got away since I've actually told him no on multiple occasions. I believe that he actually thinks I'm playing hard to get when I'm just trying to get rid of him and being polite about it doesn't do any good," Cassia added.
"I don't blame you for turning him down," Dave grimaced. "I hate that type. If I was free to date I would never do so with that type of woman, though I admit it seems to be more common in men. The I am irresistible to the women of the species type or men type as the case may be. They probably think oh I'll just keep asking until she gives in and that woman usually ends up changing jobs or finally reporting that man or woman."
"I nearly did that, but unfortunately, he's my supervisor and I hated to go higher up," Cassia said with a grimace
"Well, it would be considered harassment," Aaron suggested.
"I still hated to report him, as he would've made my life hell or at least more difficult then it was. If I'd been married at the time he probably would've left me alone, though he has absolutely no morals or ethics at least from what I have observed," Cassia said.
"Well, we will get married at some point if you want, but in the meantime, we'll just go somewhere else and you can forget about him," Dave promised.
"I'll be happy to, but with my luck he'd show up at some point by sheer accident," Cassia said.
"That sounds extremely pessimistic," Sabella said.
"I think I have a right to be with this guy," Cassia snorted. "He's like some kind of evil entity, a dark shadow that just hangs in the air seeming to be watching. He just has this aura and he can also sneak up on you and scare you half to death, which is something I think he secretly enjoys."
"Well, he definitely sounds like some kind of predator," Aaron said. "I'll be glad for you to get away from him. He probably has the power to get you fired if you filed a report against him for harassment."
"That's definitely one reason I never did," Cassia said. "He can certainly scare the stuffing out of you. Still, he doesn't matter anymore and he's going to find out at some point that I quit. Probably sooner rather than later. I almost wish I was around to see his reaction."
The subject was changed as Cassia didn't want to talk about her supervisor that had been basically stalking her. Instead they started talking about where they wanted to go once they had taken care of business at the resort and sold it off.
"Are you sure you don't wanna keep it and just put someone else in charge?" Cassia asked. "I mean that's what most owners do just put someone competent in charge of the resort so they can take care of any problems. You then can pay them a decent salary with maybe bonuses for certain holidays like Christmas when most people need the extra money to buy presents for their family."
"That's not a bad idea guys," Sabella said. "We can keep an eye on it and if whoever we choose turns out to be incompetent they could just be fired and someone else chosen like the deputy manager."
"I suppose we could try it that way," Dave mused. "We've never done it that way as we usually just sell whatever business we are running, though I've always hated the thought of putting the employees out of a job. It's not like it pays only minimum wage like a fast food restaurant. Those employees depend on the pay they make. We'll give it a try," Dave decided.
"Sounds good to me. It's not about the money either," Aaron told Cassia. "We have plenty of that already it's just that it gives us something to do so we're not too bored."
"Of course, we do make money from it, but that's not the main concern," Dave said.
"I do understand," Cassia said calmly. "You might have plenty of money but it helps not be bored for a few decades anyway, but eventually you tire of it, which is why you usually sell whatever business you are running."
"We did have a lot of fun times though," Sabella said smiling as some of those happy memories came into her mind.
"True, we did. We also had some frustrations as well," Aaron said with a smile.
"I would think that goes hand-in-hand with any business though," Cassia said. "Good times, frustrations, joys and sorrows."
"True," Dave said with a smile at Cassia's astute observation. "I think we'll take a break from doing something like that again for at least a few decades. We'll probably travel some if that's OK with you Cassia. The three of us have done it before and then we settle somewhere have some children."
"I think we need to have children as soon as we tie the knot for my sister's sake at least. She doesn't know about that thing," Cassia said referring to their immortality without actually saying the words in case somebody nosy was listening, namely Alastair. "So she has no idea that..."
"Yeah, I believe we all understand what you mean," Dave said and the other two nodded. "If that's what you want I think we will be happy to accommodate you and have a few children sometime in the next few years. We can travel after they are grown-up or even while they are growing up so long as we only have a couple."
The four continued to discuss it quietly before shelving it for a later date.
~~~Dave, Sabella, Aaron, Cassia~~~
"So you are leaving then?" Petra said as soon as she and Cassia were alone.
"Listening in on our conversation on the porch the other night?" Cassia asked her with a raised eyebrow surprised at her sister's words.
"No of course not. I would never do that unlike our troublesome brother. I just know you," Petra said. "You just want some alone time with your lovers."
"I must correct you Pet. We're not lovers, at least not yet. We certainly want to be, but I thought it was more important that I come home to tell you about it before we went there. You were more accepting then I expected, our brother on the other hand, is a pain in the rear."
"You're right, Alastair is being particularly obnoxious," Petra said.
"That's the understatement of at least the last decade," Cassia said sitting on her sister's bed with he back against the headboard with her sister in the same position beside her. "I was really hoping to introduce him to Sabella, Dave and Aaron, but I suppose that's not gonna happen, not right now at least."
"I'll take care of him, even if I have to kick him out of the house," Petra said determinedly. "I'm tired of dealing with him quite frankly."
"Definitely can't blame you there," Cassia acknowledged.
"So where have you decided to go? Back to the ski resort?" Petra asked.
"While that has been their home for awhile we're not going back there right now, as they have someone competent running the place. As the owners they don't necessarily have to get involved, as that's what managers are for. We were talking about going somewhere warm like some tropical beach, but it hasn't really been decided. We're still talking about it."
"So I hope you will also discussing marriage," Petra said and Cassia rolled her eyes.
"I don't think we're ready to take that step yet," Cassia told her sister. "While I have nothing against marriage our relationship has just begun and while I know we're compatible I just don't think we need to worry about it right now. We need time to solidify our feelings for each other. Whenever we're ready to get married you will be invited, Alastair on the other hand, will not unless his attitude improves."
Petra visibly winced at that, but had to acknowledge that their brother's behavior did not warrant an invitation as he would only try to disrupt things.
"I know that will likely hurt him," Cassia said having seen her sister wince and knowing exactly what her sister was thinking, "but it's not like he wouldn't try to disrupt the ceremony at this point in time. I would love to have him there to support me, maybe even be best man, but I think I'm gonna have to choose someone else.
"I hate to agree, but I do," Petra said. "You certainly have a right to invite whoever you want whenever you get around to getting married and having children, even if that's a year from now."
"It probably won't be more than a few months, six months at the outside," Cassia said. "Technically, we've only known each other for less than a month and I just want to make double sure I'm not making a mistake.
"I think that's very smart," Petra approved. "It's clear to me though that you adore them and they adore you. Even their wife Sabella seems approving which is unusual in my experience. When there's another woman in the mix they usually want to keep their men all to themselves.
"Yes, the three of them are unusual in a lot of ways," Cassia acknowledged not bothering to mention that Sabella had never actually married either one of them. Petra was right though they were rather unusual in a lot more ways than she'd ever be aware of, Cassia added in her thoughts. "That's one of the reasons I like them so much they seem to get along great with each other for one thing and that is so unusual. There is no arguing over which duties they are performing and they just automatically help each other. You know, I met Aaron at the front desk where I checked in and apparently, it wasn't one of his normal duties. One of the employees was out on some kind of an emergency leave and so he just took over without complaint. They all live together in this small cabin that some of the guests want for privacy whenever they check in. It's really cozy and the one time I was there it had a roaring fire going at one end of the living area."
"Well, it sounds like they're very agreeable with each other unusual for any man," Petra said.
"There're certainly worlds ahead of a certain supervisor," Cassia said her tone rather scathing.
"So I wonder if he's seen your resignation yet?" Petra said who knew all about her sister's problem.
While Cassia hadn't told her sister about her resignation Petra knew her a little too well.
"It doesn't matter if he has. He can rage all he wants," Cassia responded pertly. "I was already considering quitting just because of his antics, but this gave me a legit reason to do so. I can always get another job down the line if I want."
"Now you have two handsome men to protect you from people like that," Petra said.
"True," Cassia acknowledged. "Being married to two influential men will solve a lot of my problems in that area. That they are also financially powerful will only help. I have no idea how much they are actually worth, I just know they have a lot of money. I don't really care about the amount actually."
"You never did so long as you had enough to live on," Petra acknowledged.
Her sister didn't care about money like so many people did so long as she had enough for food and clothes and other necessaries. That was her sister all over. She was generous and kind, but wasn't obsessed with being rich like so many people, mostly men.
"I've got to get going. I'm meeting the others at their hotel room. We're going to tour the city, perhaps go to some of the sites while they're here," Cassia said.
Cassia let Petra know she was excited to see them, spend time with them while they toured the city, just by her expression alone.
"You go," Petra laughed. "It's clear to me that you're eager to get out of here and see them. I, for one, can't blame you. At first, a new relationship is exciting and new, but then it usually calms down."
"I love you sis," Cassia told her sister as she kissed her cheek.
"I love you too little sister," Petra said affectionately. "I hope to hear from you soon."
"Don't worry so much. I'll keep in contact. I'll let you know how things are going," Cassia promised. "You have relieved my mind to know you approve of Dave and Aaron. It's only your opinion that matters on that subject, as you are a good judge of character. Alastair would tell me he didn't like them just because he doesn't want me to get with anyone, so I don't count his opinion in this case."
"Wise," Petra decided. "He would make you miserable without meaning to if you listened to him and broke it off."
"Believe me, I know it," Cassia snorted. "Let me know of his reaction once he finds out I'm gone."
"I will," Petra promised. "It will probably be explosive."
Cassia simply nodded with excitement in her eyes and went to get her things and use the bathroom before she headed out to her car that had been stored in the garage while she'd been gone.
~~~Dave, Sabella, Aaron, Cassia~~~