Fic: Greek-The Following Semester; Chapter 3, Part 2: Back to Square One
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“Can I stay with you again tonight?” Ashleigh asked Rusty in his room that evening.
“Ash, you’re my girlfriend, you don’t have to ask,” Rusty said with a smile. “You can spend the night with me whenever you want.”
“I love you,” Ashleigh said with a smile and kissed him. “I’ll be up pretty early in the morning; Casey, Katherine, and I are having a girls’ day out tomorrow and we’re going to Pittsburgh.”
“That’s nice,” Rusty said. “Any particular reason you’re going there? Isn’t Pittsburgh about three hours away?”
“Casey’s going to be interviewing for a job on a national campaign,” Ashleigh said. “Katherine’s from around there, and she set up an interview for her.”
“That’s awesome,” Rusty said. “I think she’d be great on a campaign.”
“Me too,” Ashleigh said. “Just don’t say anything to anyone about it just yet, especially Cappie. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure I was even supposed to tell you.”
“Wait, she hasn’t told him yet?” Rusty asked.
“She wants to make sure this is what she wants and it’s going to go through before bringing it up with him,” Ashleigh said.
“I guess I can see that point,” Rusty said. “Cappie’s thinking the exact same thing about the job he applied for.”
“Wait, Cappie applied for a job?” Ashleigh asked.
“Yeah, and it’s one that will involve a lot of traveling, but it’s something that would be really good for Cappie,” Rusty said. “He’s waiting for the right time to tell Casey about it.”
“I just wonder what’s going to happen if his job and her job don’t exactly cross paths,” Ashleigh said. “Casey’s job would involve a lot of travel, too.”
“I have a good feeling they’re really going to make it work this time, regardless of what happens with these jobs,” Rusty said. “They’ve been through way too much to let it all go now.”
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The next day, Casey, Katherine, and Ashleigh made their way toward the restaurant in Pittsburgh where Casey was supposed to meet for her interview. A few minutes after they arrived, Katherine saw a man she recognized walking over to them.
“Mr. Burnett,” Katherine called and waved at him. He walked over to Casey, Katherine, and Ashleigh.
“Well, you can’t be Charlie’s niece,” Mr. Burnett said to Katherine. “My, you’ve grown since the last time we saw you.”
“I’d like you to meet my friend, Casey Cartwright,” Katherine introduced. “Casey, this is Mr. Thomas Burnett, hiring manager for the campaign.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Burnett,” Casey said, shaking his hand. “Thank you so much for meeting with me on such short notice.”
“It’s a pleasure,” Mr. Burnett said. “Charlie Parker and I have been friends for years, and when he said Katherine had a political-aspiring friend, I was rather excited. We’re looking for some young faces to work on the campaign. Shall we go inside and discuss some things?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” Casey said. She turned to Katherine and Ashleigh. “Thank you guys again for coming. I’ll catch up with you in a while.” They said goodbye and Casey went inside the restaurant with Mr. Burnett.
“Well we’ve got some time until Casey gets out of her interview,” Katherine said to Ashleigh after Casey left. “What do you want to do?”
“You’re the one who’s from here,” Ashleigh said. “What did you like to do here growing up?”
“I’m actually from a town about fifteen minutes away, but I came into Pittsburgh a lot growing up,” Katherine said. “We have to go to Mount Washington, but after Casey finishes her interview. Since her interview is a business lunch, why don’t we just go get something to eat ourselves? I can show you my favorite sandwich shop in the city.”
“Sounds awesome, I am kinda hungry,” Ashleigh said, and they began walking down the street.
“It’s called Primanti Brothers,” Katherine said. “They have some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. I actually used to work there for a little while in high school.” (A/N: Primanti Brothers is a real sandwich shop in Pittsburgh, but I haven’t been there.)
“I’ve never been up here before,” Ashleigh said. “Which is a little strange actually since I grew up about two hours away from here.”
“Oh, where are you from?” Katherine asked.
“I’m from a tiny town in Maryland that’s literally in the middle of nowhere,” Ashleigh said. “There are probably more farm animals than people, and we have one red light.”
“Really, I never pictured you as the typical small-town girl,” Katherine said.
“In a way I was growing up,” Ashleigh said. “But you know how college is, it changes people.”
“We should really spend more time together back at CRU,” Katherine said. “We see each other at the Kappa Tau house a lot, but we barely know each other.”
“Yeah, I guess we’ve only known each other through Casey,” Ashleigh said. “With her gone, Rebecca’s the only close girlfriend I have at CRU. I guess I never realized how small my circle of good friends was until Casey, Calvin, and Cappie left.”
“I think it’s good to have a small circle of close friends,” Katherine said. “I wish I had that; I always have been the person that has many acquaintances but few friends. But that’s starting to change a little. Casey is actually one of the few real friends I have, and we just became friends last year. And then I started seeing Walter, which is the first guy I’ve had an actual relationship with.”
“I can honestly say I would have never pictured you two together,” Ashleigh said. “But you seem really happy together, which is great.”
“Walter’s the guy that seemed so wrong for me at first, but once we got to know each other better, he turned out to be just what I needed,” Katherine said.
“That’s what I think about me and Rusty,” Ashleigh said. “I never thought we’d be right for each other at first, but it turns out we balance each other out well.”
“I guess we both got lucky enough to get great guys in our lives,” Katherine said. “Feels great, doesn’t it?”
“Definitely,” Ashleigh said with a smile as she and Katherine arrived at the sandwich shop.
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“I think a job like that would be great for you,” Evan said to Cappie. After Casey and the girls left for Pittsburgh, Evan and Cappie met up to go golfing.
“I think so too,” Cappie said. “I’m just afraid of how Casey’s gonna take it. Is she gonna think that by taking a job like this, I still don’t want to grow up? Because that’s not true.”
“I think you being interested in this shows you have grown up,” Evan said. “You enjoyed your time in college, and you want to help future generations have the same experiences as you. Casey’s gonna be happy for you when you tell her.”
“Thanks, I hope you’re right,” Cappie said, taking a swing at his golf ball.
“I am,” Evan said with a smirk. “And besides, you know Case and I are friends, but you need to think of yourself a little too, not just her.”
“Funny, that’s exactly what Rusty said,” Cappie said with a laugh. “It’s rather odd to see you two thinking alike. By the way, what exactly happened when he went with you up to your parents; neither of you really told me.”
“I guess you can say we became non-enemies,” Evan said. “We’re not best friends or anything, but we sorta run in the same circle now. He’s dating Ashleigh, who’s good friends with Rebecca, who’s good friends with me.”
“Is that really all you’re going to be with Rebecca is good friends?” Cappie asked.
“For now, it is what it is,” Evan said. “But I did want to ask you something.”
“Shoot,” Cappie said.
“You were with Casey’s parents over Christmas, right?” Evan asked. Cappie nodded, looking somewhat curious about Evan’s question. “How exactly did you make them like you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cappie asked. “Am I not likable?”
“No, I didn’t mean that,” Evan laughed. “How did you get them to accept you as their daughter’s boyfriend? That kind of like you.”
“I guess I just showed them that I love and care about Casey,” Cappie said. “And getting them a little something for Christmas probably helped too. Why the questioning about Casey’s parents, though?”
“Well you know Rebecca’s grandma is the new house mom of ZBZ?” Evan asked. Cappie nodded. “She cannot stand me. I’ve tried being nice and proving that I’m a good friend to Rebecca, but nothing’s working. Anytime she answers the door at ZBZ, she won’t let me see Rebecca, and when she does see us hanging out, she gives me the deadliest stares. I swear one day she’s going to kill me in my sleep.”
“As long as you never tell her where you live and lock your doors at night, I don’t think she’ll kill you in your sleep,” Cappie said. “So you want to make Rebecca’s grandma like you? Does this mean you want to get back with her?”
“I want to have that chance,” Evan said. “Rebecca’s grandma is one of her closest family members, and I need to prove to her, and Rebecca, that the jerk I was last semester is not who I want to be.”
“Honestly, I think it’s just going to take time to prove yourself,” Cappie said. “But you could do something to show her that you care about Rebecca. What about going to dinner and talking with her?”
“I already went to dinner with her, Rebecca, and Ashleigh at the beginning of the semester,” Evan said. “Which was when she started hating me.”
“I mean, ask her to dinner without Rebecca or anyone else,” Cappie said. “And just try to reason with her. That’s what I would have done if Casey’s parents didn’t like me. Well that and get Rusty to talk to them, but Rebecca doesn’t have any siblings, so that won’t work for you.”
“I’m not so sure if she’ll agree to go to dinner with me,” Evan said. “Like I said, I’m pretty sure she wants to kill me. But I guess it doesn’t hurt to try.”
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“Hey, they return,” Rusty said as Casey, Katherine, and Ashleigh came back to Kappa Tau later on that evening. “How’d everything go?”
“It went great; I’ll talk about everything at Dobler’s,” Casey said. “But I need to talk to Cappie first. We’ll meet you guys at Dobler’s.” Rusty, Ashleigh, and Katherine left the room and Casey turned to Cappie.
“So the real reason we went to Pittsburgh today was I was interviewing for a job,” Casey said.
“That’s great, Case,” Cappie said excitedly. “What is it, and did you get it?”
“It’s an assistant position on the National Popular Vote campaign, and yes I got it,” Casey said with a smile. “It actually seems like more of a paid internship type of job, but it’ll help me get my foot in the door and learn about campaigning.”
“I’m really proud of you,” Cappie said, hugging her. “Don’t underestimate it so much; it sounds like an entry-level job to me, which is bigger than an internship.”
“It involves a lot of traveling, though,” Casey said. “I don’t want to drag you into moving around again if you don’t want to.”
“Case, you’re not dragging me into anything,” Cappie said, still holding her in his arms. “I love you and I want to be with you so much, and since I don’t have a real job of my own right now, I’ll travel with you. It’ll be great to go out and see the world with you.”
“Are you sure?” Casey asked. “I know you want to find a great job of your own, and how can you do that if we’re going to be gone so much?”
“I promise you, I’m sure about this,” Cappie said. “And I’ll just look online and eventually I’ll come up with something. But now’s not the time to discuss my joblessness. Tonight, it’s time to celebrate your new job.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this yesterday,” Casey said. “And thanks for being supportive; I love you.”
“It’s okay, it was a nice surprise for me,” Cappie smiled. “And how could I be anything but supportive; this is going to be great for you. I love you, too.” They kissed and then headed to Dobler’s to meet everyone.
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“I got a job!” Casey said excitedly as she and Cappie walked into Dobler’s. Rusty, Ashleigh, Beaver, Katherine, Rebecca, and Evan were at a table. “I’m working as an assistant on the National Popular Vote campaign, and I’ll be traveling all over the country and helping develop campaign strategies in different states.”
“That’s great, Case,” Rusty said.
“And I’m going along for the time being,” Cappie said. “And I’ll probably be spending my free time on Monster dot com.”
“But even though we’re both leaving again, we still don’t have a place of our own to call home,” Casey said. “This is going to involve a lot of traveling for me and we’re not going to be in one place for very long.”
“We could always do what April and Tobias did and go mobile,” Cappie said. “Get a camper-trailer and live wherever we park for the night.”
“Honestly, that sounds a bit too redneck for you guys, no offense to your parents, Cap,” Ashleigh said. “And besides, how do you not feel like you have a place to come back to here?”
“You know that room you’re staying in this weekend is not being used,” Rusty said. “The stuff in there is just storage some of the guys put there. I’ll make them move it.”
“Well, I can’t think of any other place I’d rather call home,” Cappie said, looking at Casey. “What about you, Case?”
“I love it here,” Casey began. “But won’t it be like we’re back to square one again? I thought the point was to break out of the comfort zone we seemed to have locked ourselves into here.”
“We are breaking out of that zone, Case,” Cappie said. “You’re going to be working on this campaign, and I’m going to find myself a job somehow. But it’s like Bon Jovi says, who says you can’t go home? We’ll be gone a lot, but this is home to us. We’ll be here with our friends on our time off.”
“Plus, why spend money on an apartment when you’re not going to be there very much, anyway?” Rebecca put in.
“I guess you’re right,” Casey said.
“We are,” Ashleigh said with a smile. “Welcome home, guys!”