Surprise in Vegas - Chapter Two
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Hope you like this chapter as much as the first. :D
Silence reigned in the hotel room for the next few minutes. Gillian continued to stare at their hands while Cal lay back and stared at the ceiling, both trying to recall what happened. Finally giving in to the suffocating silence, Cal spoke.
“Do you remember much from last night?”
“We went to a bar.......it had purple walls, the chairs were purple, hell even the drinks were purple. After that I don’t remember anything. Not even the name of the bar.”
“I’m not being smart luv, but I think it was called Purple.” She laughed out loud at his comment, catching him by surprise. Judging by her raised eyebrows she surprised herself as well. Soon she was shaking with laughter and the sound was so infectious he couldn’t help but join in.
The merriment didn’t last long and soon both were back to worrying about this situation they had found themselves in. Cal squeezed his eyes shut tightly trying to remember the previous night. The purple bar......then where? There was another bar - no, a club. There was a club next. Images of dancing with Gillian flitted into his mind, watching her as she spun away and back into his arms. He smiled at this new found recollection and continued to delve deeper into the murky hung-over waters of his brain for more memories.
After the club there was......food!!! Gillian was hungry so they stopped to get something to eat. The four of them ate and then.....wait four? They had entered the club as a trio but Reynolds had made a “friend” and she came with them to get something to eat. That’s right and while they were eating someone dressed as Elvis came in which set Gillian off into giggles and she had invited him to sit with them.
Cal was getting excited as he remembered more and more. The Elvis turned out to be a minister at one of those small chapels and asked would they like to see it. Cal could remember vividly now, he must have been sobering up at this stage of the night. Ok morning. The chapel wasn’t far but he could see Gillian shivering in the cool morning air and he had put his arm around her without thinking, pulling her close to him.
The memories were rushing back to him now, each bombarding into the last. The chapel had been so “cute” as Gillian called it and there were flowers everywhere. Fake flowers, but still, they were nice. She had been in awe of the place. Really it was a rundown old shack with plastic flowers adorning the rickety chairs but the mixture of alcohol, fun and freedom she had felt made it look like a palace. It was a mixture of those things as well, that probably caused her to turn to her best friend in the world, drop to her knee, and propose. His reasons for accepting were similar. And so the Elvis impersonator married them while Reynolds and his new “friend” got cosy before eventually taking off back to the hotel.
Cal opened his eyes and he was back in the hotel room, a panic stricken Gillian Foster lying beside him, her tense body language a contrast to his memories of their love-making just hours earlier. Oh god what had they gotten themselves into?
“Cal?”
“Mm hmm”
“I’m gonna get dressed now so....you know.....close your eyes.”
“Foster after what happened last night and this morning I don’t think you need to be modest.” He chuckled but turned away from her none the less. After much rustling of clothes she finally sat on the bed again. Cal took this as his opportunity to throw his jeans and a shirt on. Turning around he found her looking at something.
“I think I just found out wedding photo” her voice was barely more than a whisper as she handed him the photo. The two people in the picture smiled up at him, grins as wide as could be and crinkling around the eyes. Genuine happiness. He was interrupted by the phone ringing. Gillian yelped and threw her hands up to her head to block out the noise.
“Make it stop!”
Cal grabbed the receiver, eager to stop the ringing for fear of a grumpy best friend. For fear of a grumpy wife, an annoying voice in his head reminded him.
“Ello”
“Lightman, you sound about as good as I feel.”
“Reynolds. Good morning to you too. How much do you remember of last night?”
“Oh you mean the night you and Gillian got married?”
“Yep that’s the night I was indeed referring to.” Turning to Gillian he mouthed he remembers and turned back to continue his conversation with Reynolds. Gillian meanwhile began to throw their clothes into bags, neat packing be damned.
“Well Lightman you really know how to enjoy Vegas, check out is in 15 minutes and our flight leaves in an hour. I’ll see you and the wife downstairs in a few minutes.”
Deciding to reprimand Reynolds at another time he just hung up the receiver and helped Gillian haphazardly throw their clothes into the bags.
X
Forty minutes later all three were sitting waiting to board their plane. Gillian had remained quiet the entire time, only stopping to say they would “sort it” when they got home. What she meant by sort it, Cal was unsure of. Cal’s phone began to shrill in his pocket and Gillian responded exactly the same as in the hotel room.
“Seriously Cal, make it stop!” Cal’s smirk changed to a smile as he noticed the name on the phone was his daughter.
“Hey Em”
“CONGRATULATIONS!!! Oh my God Dad I can’t believe this! This is amazing. I mean I always thought you and Gill would end up together but MARRIED!! I’m so happy for you, Dad, really!” Cal couldn’t keep up with her as she kept on taking about her happiness and how she knew this day would come.
“Wait, wait, wait, Em. How do you know about the wedding?” At the mention of wedding Gillian spun around fixing him with a withering glare.
“Duh...the text I got from Gillian. I mean it was very early when I got it here, which is why I’m only replying now.” Cal pointed to Gillian’s phone knowing she would instantly understand. Emily kept on chatting as Gillian flicked through her messages coming across her most recent one to Emily announcing her and Cal’s marriage.
“Ok Em I gotta go but we’ll talk when I get home ya?”
“Ok Dad. Oh I told mum, I hope you don’t mind. She didn’t seem too happy, thought that maybe you and Gill had gotten too drunk or something. Whatever about you Dad, no offence, but Gillian is more sensible than that. I told her this is the real deal.”
“Ok Em, we’ll talk when I get home. Love you”
“Love you too Dad. Oh tell Gillian I love her too. Byee!” When his daughter eventually hung up Cal felt the colour drain from his face. Zoe knew. That wasn’t good. They were supposed to go back to Washington, get a quick divorce and no-one would be any wiser. But if Zoe knew....
“Cal....” Gillian’s soft voice pulled him out of his silent panic as she placed her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
“Zoe knows. She knows Gill. What will she do if she knows I got drunk and married some girl in Vegas?” Cal was so blind with worry he missed Gillian’s slight wince when he called her “some girl”. She quickly recovered, knowing he was just worried about Zoe and what kind of problems she would cause for Cal with Emily.
“I already convinced her to not move to Chicago. She was willing to take my daughter away before but after finding out about this......God Foster she’s gonna take Emily away” Gillian had never seen Cal so emotional before, especially in a public place like the airport terminal they were currently in.
They sat in silence as they both brainstormed for ideas on how to keep Zoe from using this to take Emily away from Cal. As an idea settled in Gillian’s head she looked over at Cal. He was biting his lower lip, worry etched all over his face. She released a heavy sigh before she spoke.
“We pretend”
“Sorry luv?”
“We pretend Cal. We go back to Washington, pretend we realised we were in love and got married. Few months down the line things don’t work out exactly right and we divorce. Zoe will be none the wiser.” She smiled reassuringly at him hoping he would accept this idea.
She wasn’t expecting his hug, or the ferocity with which it came. Clinging to his shirt she tucked her head under his chin as he embraced her, expressing all his gratitude in that one hug.
“We pretend. Anyone ever tell you that you’re a genius Foster?”
“No but people say it to you all the time, I was beginning to wonder what it felt like.”
“You wouldn’t mind doing that for me?” His tentative smile was the most adorable thing she had ever seen and she couldn’t help but chuckle at it.
“Torres and Loker will be suspicious about it. Especially seeing as you’re not the best liar luv.”
“Depends on the lie, Cal. We’ll manage. I can stay in the spare room on nights Emily isn’t there and on nights she is,” she paused taking a breath, “we share. No funny business ok?” He nodded enthusiastically, happy with this plan of hers.
“And what about Reynolds?” His question was the only thing that had been bothering her. How would Reynolds convince Torres and Loker he was telling the truth about their marriage?
“We say he wasn’t there. Hope they accept that and any time they bring it up around him we try to intervene. It’s the best shot we have Cal.”
She was right this time. Who was he kidding, she was always right. Smiling at her as their flight was called he reached into his pocket and took out the small band he had removed in the hotel room. Returning his grin she too reached for the previously removed ring. Cal took the ring from her, sliding it onto her finger before sliding his own on.
“Does this mean I have to stop calling you Foster?” She slapped his arm before clasping his hand with hers, interlacing their fingers, and moving off to find Reynolds and board the plane home.
Chapter Three
Silence reigned in the hotel room for the next few minutes. Gillian continued to stare at their hands while Cal lay back and stared at the ceiling, both trying to recall what happened. Finally giving in to the suffocating silence, Cal spoke.
“Do you remember much from last night?”
“We went to a bar.......it had purple walls, the chairs were purple, hell even the drinks were purple. After that I don’t remember anything. Not even the name of the bar.”
“I’m not being smart luv, but I think it was called Purple.” She laughed out loud at his comment, catching him by surprise. Judging by her raised eyebrows she surprised herself as well. Soon she was shaking with laughter and the sound was so infectious he couldn’t help but join in.
The merriment didn’t last long and soon both were back to worrying about this situation they had found themselves in. Cal squeezed his eyes shut tightly trying to remember the previous night. The purple bar......then where? There was another bar - no, a club. There was a club next. Images of dancing with Gillian flitted into his mind, watching her as she spun away and back into his arms. He smiled at this new found recollection and continued to delve deeper into the murky hung-over waters of his brain for more memories.
After the club there was......food!!! Gillian was hungry so they stopped to get something to eat. The four of them ate and then.....wait four? They had entered the club as a trio but Reynolds had made a “friend” and she came with them to get something to eat. That’s right and while they were eating someone dressed as Elvis came in which set Gillian off into giggles and she had invited him to sit with them.
Cal was getting excited as he remembered more and more. The Elvis turned out to be a minister at one of those small chapels and asked would they like to see it. Cal could remember vividly now, he must have been sobering up at this stage of the night. Ok morning. The chapel wasn’t far but he could see Gillian shivering in the cool morning air and he had put his arm around her without thinking, pulling her close to him.
The memories were rushing back to him now, each bombarding into the last. The chapel had been so “cute” as Gillian called it and there were flowers everywhere. Fake flowers, but still, they were nice. She had been in awe of the place. Really it was a rundown old shack with plastic flowers adorning the rickety chairs but the mixture of alcohol, fun and freedom she had felt made it look like a palace. It was a mixture of those things as well, that probably caused her to turn to her best friend in the world, drop to her knee, and propose. His reasons for accepting were similar. And so the Elvis impersonator married them while Reynolds and his new “friend” got cosy before eventually taking off back to the hotel.
Cal opened his eyes and he was back in the hotel room, a panic stricken Gillian Foster lying beside him, her tense body language a contrast to his memories of their love-making just hours earlier. Oh god what had they gotten themselves into?
“Cal?”
“Mm hmm”
“I’m gonna get dressed now so....you know.....close your eyes.”
“Foster after what happened last night and this morning I don’t think you need to be modest.” He chuckled but turned away from her none the less. After much rustling of clothes she finally sat on the bed again. Cal took this as his opportunity to throw his jeans and a shirt on. Turning around he found her looking at something.
“I think I just found out wedding photo” her voice was barely more than a whisper as she handed him the photo. The two people in the picture smiled up at him, grins as wide as could be and crinkling around the eyes. Genuine happiness. He was interrupted by the phone ringing. Gillian yelped and threw her hands up to her head to block out the noise.
“Make it stop!”
Cal grabbed the receiver, eager to stop the ringing for fear of a grumpy best friend. For fear of a grumpy wife, an annoying voice in his head reminded him.
“Ello”
“Lightman, you sound about as good as I feel.”
“Reynolds. Good morning to you too. How much do you remember of last night?”
“Oh you mean the night you and Gillian got married?”
“Yep that’s the night I was indeed referring to.” Turning to Gillian he mouthed he remembers and turned back to continue his conversation with Reynolds. Gillian meanwhile began to throw their clothes into bags, neat packing be damned.
“Well Lightman you really know how to enjoy Vegas, check out is in 15 minutes and our flight leaves in an hour. I’ll see you and the wife downstairs in a few minutes.”
Deciding to reprimand Reynolds at another time he just hung up the receiver and helped Gillian haphazardly throw their clothes into the bags.
X
Forty minutes later all three were sitting waiting to board their plane. Gillian had remained quiet the entire time, only stopping to say they would “sort it” when they got home. What she meant by sort it, Cal was unsure of. Cal’s phone began to shrill in his pocket and Gillian responded exactly the same as in the hotel room.
“Seriously Cal, make it stop!” Cal’s smirk changed to a smile as he noticed the name on the phone was his daughter.
“Hey Em”
“CONGRATULATIONS!!! Oh my God Dad I can’t believe this! This is amazing. I mean I always thought you and Gill would end up together but MARRIED!! I’m so happy for you, Dad, really!” Cal couldn’t keep up with her as she kept on taking about her happiness and how she knew this day would come.
“Wait, wait, wait, Em. How do you know about the wedding?” At the mention of wedding Gillian spun around fixing him with a withering glare.
“Duh...the text I got from Gillian. I mean it was very early when I got it here, which is why I’m only replying now.” Cal pointed to Gillian’s phone knowing she would instantly understand. Emily kept on chatting as Gillian flicked through her messages coming across her most recent one to Emily announcing her and Cal’s marriage.
“Ok Em I gotta go but we’ll talk when I get home ya?”
“Ok Dad. Oh I told mum, I hope you don’t mind. She didn’t seem too happy, thought that maybe you and Gill had gotten too drunk or something. Whatever about you Dad, no offence, but Gillian is more sensible than that. I told her this is the real deal.”
“Ok Em, we’ll talk when I get home. Love you”
“Love you too Dad. Oh tell Gillian I love her too. Byee!” When his daughter eventually hung up Cal felt the colour drain from his face. Zoe knew. That wasn’t good. They were supposed to go back to Washington, get a quick divorce and no-one would be any wiser. But if Zoe knew....
“Cal....” Gillian’s soft voice pulled him out of his silent panic as she placed her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
“Zoe knows. She knows Gill. What will she do if she knows I got drunk and married some girl in Vegas?” Cal was so blind with worry he missed Gillian’s slight wince when he called her “some girl”. She quickly recovered, knowing he was just worried about Zoe and what kind of problems she would cause for Cal with Emily.
“I already convinced her to not move to Chicago. She was willing to take my daughter away before but after finding out about this......God Foster she’s gonna take Emily away” Gillian had never seen Cal so emotional before, especially in a public place like the airport terminal they were currently in.
They sat in silence as they both brainstormed for ideas on how to keep Zoe from using this to take Emily away from Cal. As an idea settled in Gillian’s head she looked over at Cal. He was biting his lower lip, worry etched all over his face. She released a heavy sigh before she spoke.
“We pretend”
“Sorry luv?”
“We pretend Cal. We go back to Washington, pretend we realised we were in love and got married. Few months down the line things don’t work out exactly right and we divorce. Zoe will be none the wiser.” She smiled reassuringly at him hoping he would accept this idea.
She wasn’t expecting his hug, or the ferocity with which it came. Clinging to his shirt she tucked her head under his chin as he embraced her, expressing all his gratitude in that one hug.
“We pretend. Anyone ever tell you that you’re a genius Foster?”
“No but people say it to you all the time, I was beginning to wonder what it felt like.”
“You wouldn’t mind doing that for me?” His tentative smile was the most adorable thing she had ever seen and she couldn’t help but chuckle at it.
“Torres and Loker will be suspicious about it. Especially seeing as you’re not the best liar luv.”
“Depends on the lie, Cal. We’ll manage. I can stay in the spare room on nights Emily isn’t there and on nights she is,” she paused taking a breath, “we share. No funny business ok?” He nodded enthusiastically, happy with this plan of hers.
“And what about Reynolds?” His question was the only thing that had been bothering her. How would Reynolds convince Torres and Loker he was telling the truth about their marriage?
“We say he wasn’t there. Hope they accept that and any time they bring it up around him we try to intervene. It’s the best shot we have Cal.”
She was right this time. Who was he kidding, she was always right. Smiling at her as their flight was called he reached into his pocket and took out the small band he had removed in the hotel room. Returning his grin she too reached for the previously removed ring. Cal took the ring from her, sliding it onto her finger before sliding his own on.
“Does this mean I have to stop calling you Foster?” She slapped his arm before clasping his hand with hers, interlacing their fingers, and moving off to find Reynolds and board the plane home.
Chapter Three