Hello hello.
Tina: well, I am flattered. I hope the older stories still hold up. I think Cal is holding is own too, he'd be more than justified in losing his cool at this point.
6
They enjoyed the night, so much so that they repeated the routine for the following two, partly due to the increasingly cold weather. Winter was near and the temperatures were already there, and as much as Cal favoured having Gillian spending time at his place, the warm and sensual capacity of her bath tub could not be beaten on a cold evening.
He remembered well that at first, when the nature of their relationship had changed, intimacy had not come all that natural to them. It had been surprising for both of them, especially considering most people considered them to be very touchy and physically comfortable as friends, but as much as their first kiss had been breathtaking, other types of physical connection had taken time to develop. The first morning after had been the stuff of nightmares and for a while Cal had thought they weren't going to make it past it, but little by little they had found each other by letting go of some fears and trying to understand what was comfortable for one another. They had been together for around 9 months by then and those problems seemed like a lifetime away, helped in large parts by things like taking baths together to talk about themselves and their feelings, getting to know each other on an even deeper level.
Those long talks had strengthened their bond over the months, especially when they hit a rough spot: a difficult case, some tension in the office when they didn't see eye to eye on how to proceed, or something like Burns' return. That night, after much needed tension-releasing sex, they talked late into the night until Cal fell asleep, leaving Gillian in awe of how his serene sleepy expression, almost like a sweet child, nearly brought her to tears.
They didn't speak of it again after that, there was no need for it. In the following days they didn't see Burns around, security in the building didn't flag anything about unwanted visitors and the matter was considered fully closed, allowing them to get back to work and their lives without any distraction.
It was Friday afternoon and Gillian's attention was nowhere near the report she was supposed to read. For longer than she'd cared to remember weekends had been a lonely affair, between her difficulties with Alec first and then Burns, who usually had to work at least one day no matter what. She used to tell herself that she didn't mind, that it gave her time to do research and look after work stuff she had not been able to get done during the week, but since she had been with Cal she had re-discovered the true value of weekends. Most of the times they were doing something together, something they didn't have time to do during the week like going to an exhibition or a museum, knowing they needed to balance whatever ugly side of humanity they had come across; they would go to brunch, taking short road trips when the weather was nice and more often the not Cal went along with some of her childish ideas like going to the zoo, out of the sheer fascination he had for the happiness it gave her.
They didn't have anything planned for that weekend, as much as they wanted to take back control of their lives they hadn't had time to talk about it all that much, but she had been thinking about organising a little office get-together for Thanksgiving and it was probably time to start looking around for inspirations. She was just thinking about how to break the news to Cal, imagining in detail how the conversation would go: he'd protest the idea itself of course, especially with the Christmas party already in the works much to his dismay, then he would listen to her reasoning and grumble more objections before eventually agreeing under the condition that he didn't want to be involved. Gillian knew she'd be taking advantage of his inability to say no to her - or to Emily, who of course would play a big part in setting things up - but she also appreciated that he always made her work for it no matter what, maintaining the balance in their relationship.
Eventually, with those thoughts taking the lead inside her mind, Gillian realised that the report would have to wait until Monday to get her undivided attention and that all she could think about was sharing her plans with Cal and get their little dance underway. She got up from the couch and went looking for him, but he wasn't in his office; next she peaked her head in the lab but he wasn't there either and she started to walk down the hallway to get to the break room, confident she'd find him there making himself a cup of tea to his likings. He wasn't there either, only Loker munching on a sandwich that made her stomach growl, and she asked him if he knew where Cal was.
"I think he might be in the lobby. " The young man said with his mouth half open. "Detective Carlson came looking for him."
Gillian thanked him, not without a smirk to his careless chewing, then headed towards the entrance. The name of the detective didn't ring a bell, at least not in relation with any of their current cases, so it was likely something new coming their way and as silly as it was the first thing coming to her mind was the hope that it wasn't something big enough to force them to work the entire weekend. When she turned the corner she saw Cal standing in front of another man in a corner of the lobby, and something about their interaction immediately told her that she'd better not get too attached to her weekend plans, raising all sorts of red flags. The detective was the one doing most of the talking and Cal was listening to him with a stoned face rather than the usual interest he'd have for a new case; they were in corner, away from others and indiscreet ears, and when the cop motioned to put his hand on Cal's arm as if to direct him towards the exit Gillian realised that a last minute case before the weekend was likely the least of her problems.
"Cal?" She called out, hiding the sense of urgency the dynamic between the two men immediately transmitted to her.
She approached them calmly and with her best polite smile, leading with a stretched-out hand as if she was about to simply introduce herself to a new buddying investigator. Cal caught it and she didn't miss the brief smirk on his face, admiring her resilience but also knowing it was misplaced.
"I wouldn't bother, love," he sighed then. "The detective is here to arrest me."
Interestingly enough, there was surprise on both Gillian's and the cop's faces as he spoke. Gillian had spotted the troubles brewing in the distance but didn't expect anything of the sort, and the detective appeared somewhat offended, clearly not used to Lightman's antics.
"That's not what I said Dr Lightman," he urged to clarify, mostly terrified by the sudden hardening of the woman's face. "I just need you to come with me to answer some questions."
"Questions about what?" Gillian pressed on, her eyes never leaving the detective.
"About some charges against me," Cal quipped, hands in his pockets, as if it was the most natural thing to have a chat about. "What was that again, Detective?"
"We are just following up on them at this stage, it doesn't-" He stopped, now feeling two enquiring gazes digging inside him, then he sighed and shook his head as he caved. "Assault and B ."
Cal had already been through the shock of hearing those words and he watched Gillian as she experienced the same, going from the superficial surprise to the deeper realisation of where they came from. When she processed everything she looked at him, no longer in disbelief but with pure fear in her eyes instead and Cal had to fight the urge to touch her.
"Detective, there must be a mistake-"
"It's alright, love." Cal stepped in, trying to maintain a cheerful spirit despite everything. "I'm gonna go and we'll sort it out."
"Cal-"
"I've got nothing to worry about, we both know that." He tried to reassure her with a smile and briefly held her hand, leaning a little closer to speak to her in a lower voice. "But just for fun, get me a lawyer, would you?"
Gillian nodded and squeezed his hand back, trying to force a smile heavily impacted by a series of ominous thoughts going through her mind. Then she let go, watching with a touch of dread as the detective moved on the side and once again motioned Cal to start walking towards the exit, now under the stunned look of some of the employees who had inevitably caught the unfolding scene. It was a matter of minutes, maybe just a bit more than one, but a lot of things went through Gillian's head as she watched him go and she ended on the thoughts of Cal - boisterous, cocky, unapologetic Cal - facing police questioning over false accusations made by her insistent ex-boyfriend, and before she knew it she was moving, catching up to them and politely asking the cop for a second.
"What is it, Gill?" Cal asked, seeing the fear in her face much more pronounced than before.
"Do me a favour Cal," she spoke softly but sternly, her eyes begging not to make fun of what she was about to say. "Keep your mouth shut until we get there, ok?"
To her surprise, and partially relief, Cal actually smiled sheepishly at her warning and gave her a convincing nod, then turned around and led the way out with no intention to create any problems to the detective and, most importantly, to himself.
Cal had asked for 'a lawyer' and she had invited him to stay quiet 'until we get there': none of them had clarified much else about the need for counsel but even without going into detail they both knew there was really only one option. The company lawyer was great with patents, labour laws and extensively dabbing in finance related stuff, but for something like that they needed someone who knew the man almost as much as the crime.
Understandably, kicking off the conversation with Zoe had not been easy. They had all adjusted to Cal and Gillian's relationship like grown adults, but it remained awkward on so many levels to call her boyfriend's ex-wife to inform her that her own former partner was turning her life, and by extension Cal's, into a miserable affair. Zoe had listened, sighed and mumbled a lot and probably rolled her eyes about a million times, then she had asked a few questions before telling Gillian that she was on her way to pick her up at the office. Cal had texted her right after he had left to let her know what precinct, and she wanted to take it as a good sign: if he had been detained he'd probably not be able to have his phone with him, and hopefully he was truly following her advice and playing nice for the time being.
About one hour after Cal had left with the detective Gillian got a text from Zoe and she went downstairs, meeting the woman in the parking lot and swiftly entering her car. The lawyer gave her a quick nod and asked Gillian where they were headed, then they both settled for the ride as Zoe drove off.
"Have you heard anything else from Cal?" Zoe asked, and Gillian shook her head.
"No, nothing. I told him not to talk to them until he had a lawyer."
"Good advice," the lawyer sighed and gave her a quick look. "Is he going to listen?"
"You're guess is as good as mine."
They both chuckled bitterly, having years of painful experience on the matter, then Gillian sighed.
"Thank you for coming, and I'm sorry to drag you into this."
"From what you told me it's not really something you two went looking for," Zoe objected. "Has he been in touch again?"
"No, not since Tuesday when he showed up at the office again."
"After he came to Cal's place in the middle of the night."
"Exactly, and actually we found out that night he went to my place first."
"He did?" The update clearly peeked her attention. "How do you know?"
"I ran into my neighbour Tuesday evening, he said he had seen someone knocking at my door and calling me late at night. We showed him a picture of Burns and he recognised him." Gillian went on, anticipating her next question. "I have his number if you need it."
"We might, that's certainly good to know." Zoe nodded to herself, thoughtful. "So to summarise, your ex shows up and is upset when you tell him it's over, he goes looking for you while drunk then shows up at Cal's house looking for a fight. Comes in uninvited, attacks Cal and he puts him out of commission for a while and you drive him home, but the day after he's back at it."
"That's pretty much it, yes," Gillian sighed. "Nothing else happened, until today."
"I guess the reason why he showed up in the first place was to try and get back with you?" For some reasons Gillian felt almost ashamed about that, as if being wanted was a bad thing and a fault. "What did you tell him?"
"The truth. That our relationship was over and that I am happy with someone else."
Gillian didn't think the situation called for excessive caution , her relationship with Cal was well established and with Zoe having remarried a few months later there really was no need to play coy. They've had years of tense incomprehension but they knew when to put it aside, and given the circumstances all the information she could provide were helpful.
"Did you tell him it was Cal?"
"No, I honestly didn't think we'd get past that one meeting and I didn't find it necessary to go into details." Zoe gave her a quick side look. "And yes, there's a chance his reaction might have been less pronounced."
Zoe nodded, focus rather than judgement on her face, then as she drove she asked Gillian a few more questions about her past relationship with Burns. Gillian didn't find any of them odd or out of order and answered to everything, a small complacent smile appearing on her face when Zoe finally seemed to be happy with what she had and, most importantly, already thinking about her moves.