Seeing Stars
25: Bruises
"These bruises make for better conversation... You're not alone in how you've been, everybody loses, we all got bruises..."
Cassidy peeked over the edge of the couch, peering into the kitchen, moving her head around to see what had just made an awful crashing noise. Jamie shifted beneath her, moaning as she was pressing against his chest. They had spent the night on the couch; Cassidy’s small frame on top of Jamie’s massive body. And now, in that position, Cassidy would have to defend the both of them from whoever was in the kitchen.
She pushed off of Jamie, watching him turn onto his side once she stood next to the couch. Standing in only her bra and underwear, she picked up Jamie’s t-shirt from the floor and slid it over her head, successfully covering her body. And holding her breath, she slowly tiptoed to the kitchen, staying close to the wall to stay concealed for as long as possible. When she peaked into the kitchen, she felt her breath catch, clutching at her heart and walked into the kitchen nervously, remembering she was only in Jamie’s shirt.
Heather was at the stove, two frying pans over different burners, one containing hash browns and the other with bacon. “Oh shoot, I was hoping I wouldn’t wake you. I usually come over to have breakfast with Jamie…”
Cassidy smiled and sat down on one of the stools, thankful that it hid her exposed legs from Jamie’s mother. She then shook her head, shrugging her shoulders and watched as Heather flipped over the bacon. “No, it’s alright. I’m actually kind of embarrassed we fell asleep on the couch. He turned on a golf game…or whatever… and I must’ve just passed out.”
Heather laughed out loud and set the spatula down, “yeah, the boys definitely got their love of golf from their father. Me on the other hand, can’t stand it.”
“I’m right there with you,” Cassidy smiled and quickly looked to the side as Jamie strode into the kitchen.
He was wearing sweatpants, and came in shirtless, rubbing his eyes as he stood behind Cassidy, tugging on the shirt that she was wearing, “I was looking for this…” He grinned and bent forward, kissing her neck quickly and them moved around and stood beside his mother, “hey mum,”
Heather wrapped one arm around her youngest son and side-hugged him tightly as she moved the potatoes in the pan to make sure they didn’t burn, “what’s on your agenda today, Jamie?”
He shrugged and sat on the stool beside Cassidy. “I want to go see Kory sometime soon.” Jamie pushed one of his hands through his hair, messing it up a bit. Without arm rests on the stools, Jamie was able to reach over, hook his arms around Cassidy’s hips and pulled her into his lap. “Did you want to do something today,” he murmured quietly.
While Cassidy was slightly uncomfortable with the displays of affections in front of his mom, Jamie seemed at ease with his actions. She bit her lip and wiggled her hips, trying to get him to stop as he subtly pushed his fingertips beneath the hem of his shirt.
“Um, actually… I thought maybe I’d spend the day with your mom…” she paused, anxiously watching for signs of disapprovement on Heather’s face. “If that’s alright with you…”
“Are you kidding?!” Heather shrieked, putting a few pieces of bacon, potatoes, and eggs on two plates and handed one to both Jamie and Cassidy. “I’d love to spend the day with you!”
A sense of relief washed over Cassidy as Jamie held her still, while he reached around her to pick up a piece of bacon. She leaned back into his chest, earning a quick peck against her forehead, before Jamie tilted his head to the side, resting his on top of hers.
“Alright, well then I’ll meet with Kory today. And we can go out or cook something here for dinner.”
Cassidy nodded and reached forward to grab a piece of bacon, slowly taking a bite. She noticed how Heather seemed to watch them interact; the way Jamie rested his head on top of hers and the way his arm wrapped around her protectively.
Things would definitely be shared today between the two women. And Cassidy wanted it that way. At the end of the day, Heather would always be Jamie’s mother and would always be in his ear about certain things; his relationships being one of those things. In the hopes of having good comments said about her, Cassidy wanted to hash out everything that had happened, not only in the past three months, but in her life that led her to be the person and woman she was.
“I want to answer any question you have. Personal or not, I think you deserve to know the type of person your son is dating, and honestly I want us to be able to talk to each other about things. I hope that’s not too forward or anything,” the southern accent was exposing itself again, and Cassidy took a quick sip of her coffee.
After Jamie had left for the day, the weather had changed and rain began to fall. It wasn’t anything too drastic, but the drizzle atmosphere gave off a “stay at home” feel, more than a “go out and shop” feel.
Heather smiled and propped her mug on her leg. Her mind was clearly already reeling with different questions to ask. In the greater scheme of things, Cassidy still was a stranger to her. “When was the moment when you felt you truly loved Jamie?”
So she was starting off with the hard questions. Maybe from there they’d get easier, right?
Cassidy grinned slightly, to give the impression that she wasn’t nervous with the first question, but she didn’t know how well it was working. “Has Jamie told you anything about our relationship?”
Heather shook her head, and Cassidy sighed. How exactly does one begin to tell their boyfriend’s mother that she was molested in the parking lot of a bar? It doesn’t sound like the typical conversation piece.
“For the sake of being honest… I was attacked at a bar, and when Jamie got home from a road trip, he found me in a rough state. As weird as it sounds, the moment I realized I was truly in love with him was when I told him what bar I had been at. He was getting worked up, ready to leave my room and get some sort of justice for me.” Cassidy couldn’t help but smile at the memory. It was painful to have to relive the attack, but the look in Jamie’s eyes was unforgettable. “Other than my dad, I had never had a man stick up for me like that.”
Heather was quietly absorbing everything that had just been said. But her next question didn’t surprise Cassidy one bit. “Attacked?”
“Without going into too graphic of details, had it not been for the headlights of a car passing by, I would have been a rape statistic.”
Cassidy looked down at her coffee mug, gliding her fingers around the circular rim, trying to distract herself. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Heather was being eerily quiet, and it was almost unnerving that she wouldn’t say anything. But after a moment, she slid a hand onto Cassidy’s knee, squeezing it reassuringly, as if to remind her that she was still here, still surviving.
“You’re safe here, and you’re safe with Jamie. I can see the way my son looks at you. It’s a look I haven’t seen in a long, long time.” She smiled and brought her mug back up to her lips, taking another quick sip. “How many boyfriends have you brought home to meet your father?”
Cassidy tilted her head to the side and peered up at Heather, “I went on dates with guys in high school, and my dad always wanted to meet them before the date, to evaluate their intentions I guess. But Jamie’s been my only boyfriend, and the only guy I’ve actually wanted my dad to meet.”
Heather smiled again and took another sip of her coffee, maybe so it wouldn’t look like she was too pleased with Cassidy’s answers. But there was no doubt that she was. “I saw the press conference from earlier this month… the one where you were accused of being a gold digger, for lack of a better term.” She paused to gather her thoughts, “It’s easy to assume things before you’ve really met a person…”
“Mrs. Benn,” Cassidy began, reaching over to set her mug down on the coffee table, “I love your son so much, and I want you to know that I would never use him for his money or for the publicity. I hope you can see that those are not my intentions. Jamie doesn’t pay my way through school, he doesn’t pay my bills… I barely let him get away with paying for dinner on our dates.”
Heather chuckled and looked directly into Cassidy’s eyes.
“And I don’t want him too. I depend on Jamie so much, for so many different things, but I do not want to depend on him financially. He has worked hard in his career for all the things he has, and I want to do the same in my career.”
Almost immediately, Heather reached forward and wrapped her arms around Cassidy’s shoulders, embracing her tightly. The rain had finally let up and now small rays of light peeked through the clouds. Cassidy too, tucked her hands around Heather, hugging her back, feeling a sense of validation.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that Jamie has found such an amazing person. Some of his girlfriends in the past have not been my favorite.”
Cassidy smiled and picked her coffee cup back up, “and I really must thank you for welcoming me into your home and really into your life. I know it can’t be easy to meet a girl and already see her living with your son.”
She nodded her head, chewing on her lower lip. “No, it wasn’t. Honestly, when Jamie told us that you were coming up and would be staying with him, I advised him otherwise. Like I said, it’s easy to judge someone before you meet them.”
Jamie came back around the counter and handed a wine glass to Cassidy, gently tapping them together before taking a sip from his. He set it down on the counter and wrapped his arms around Cassidy’s hips, standing behind her as she began slicing a tomato. With their waists pressed together, Jamie bent down and sucked on her neck gently, groaning into it softly.
He had arrived back home just two hours earlier, after Heather and Cassidy had gone grocery shopping and had returned with ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
“We’ll go hungry if you keep this up.” Cassidy waited until Jamie unhooked his arms from around her and stood beside her, ready to help out. She slid the tomato and knife over to him as she began breading the chicken. “Also, let’s not make a habit out of falling asleep on the couch. I think your mom was a little uncomfortable to find me on top of you,”
Jamie sliced the tomato thinly, mostly concentrating on that. “She already knows we sleep together. And by sleep, I mean sleep as well as sex.”
Cassidy’s eyes widened and she dropped the chicken, punching Jamie in the arm, “what do you mean she knows?”
“I told her,” when he saw her terrified expression, he continued. “Before you came up, she mentioned something about what the sleeping arrangements would be at the house. And so I mentioned back that we had already been together.”
She hid her face in her hands, “Jamie I don’t want your parents thinking I’m a slut.”
“They don’t…” He paused and finished slicing the tomato, “I don’t think.”
Cassidy rolled her eyes and continued the work with the chicken. So it wasn’t what she was hoping Jamie’s parents knew about her. But there was no doubt that the day she had just spent with his mother, was enough for her to see that Cassidy was genuinely a good person and was undoubtedly in love with Jamie.
Within the next hour and a half, dinner was prepared and made, and now at eight o’clock, Cassidy was carrying two plates into the living room. Jamie was kneeling on a blanket in front of the fireplace, trying to get the flames to lick at the wood in its stone confinement. She set the plates down on the blanket and then picked up her wine glass, sipping it slowly as she stared at Jamie’s ass.
When he was satisfied with the fire he had started, he sat down and took a sip of his own wine, “I just lit a fire in the middle of summer. There’s something wrong with that.” He looked down at his plate and then poured himself more wine.
“It’s romantic,” Cassidy smiled and crawled towards him, sitting in between his legs with her back against his chest. She cut up a piece of chicken and set her head back against his chest, holding the fork up to his mouth.
Jamie opened his mouth and allowed her to feed him, chewing and nodding his head in approval as he tasted the Chicken Parmesan. With both plates in her lap, they began eating, only illuminated by the flames. It was easy to live this way with Jamie. In a sense, it was like they were testing out marriage, figuring out how to work together and how to depend on each other. More importantly, it was a life Cassidy saw with Jamie, and she hoped he saw it with her too.
“Jame, you smell like fish,” she murmured, taking a moment to bury her nose into his t-shirt, making sure she had correctly identified the smell.
“Well I was fishing, so that is accurate.”
She grimaced up at him and brought her wine glass up to her lips, “you need a bath.” Cassidy reached up and pushed her fingers through his hair, pressing on the back of his head until he looked down at her before she kissed him quickly, licking her lips afterwards.
In the moments after they finished eating, Jamie tugged on Cassidy’s hand and led her into the master bathroom, stripping her clothes off slowly and teasingly, eventually doing the same with his. When the bath water was drawn, they sat down in the tub together with Cassidy again sitting in front of Jamie with her back against his chest. She couldn’t help but smile when she felt his hand roam over her hips, moving up to her breasts as he leaned forward and kissed her shoulder.
Cassidy peeked over the edge of the couch, peering into the kitchen, moving her head around to see what had just made an awful crashing noise. Jamie shifted beneath her, moaning as she was pressing against his chest. They had spent the night on the couch; Cassidy’s small frame on top of Jamie’s massive body. And now, in that position, Cassidy would have to defend the both of them from whoever was in the kitchen.
She pushed off of Jamie, watching him turn onto his side once she stood next to the couch. Standing in only her bra and underwear, she picked up Jamie’s t-shirt from the floor and slid it over her head, successfully covering her body. And holding her breath, she slowly tiptoed to the kitchen, staying close to the wall to stay concealed for as long as possible. When she peaked into the kitchen, she felt her breath catch, clutching at her heart and walked into the kitchen nervously, remembering she was only in Jamie’s shirt.
Heather was at the stove, two frying pans over different burners, one containing hash browns and the other with bacon. “Oh shoot, I was hoping I wouldn’t wake you. I usually come over to have breakfast with Jamie…”
Cassidy smiled and sat down on one of the stools, thankful that it hid her exposed legs from Jamie’s mother. She then shook her head, shrugging her shoulders and watched as Heather flipped over the bacon. “No, it’s alright. I’m actually kind of embarrassed we fell asleep on the couch. He turned on a golf game…or whatever… and I must’ve just passed out.”
Heather laughed out loud and set the spatula down, “yeah, the boys definitely got their love of golf from their father. Me on the other hand, can’t stand it.”
“I’m right there with you,” Cassidy smiled and quickly looked to the side as Jamie strode into the kitchen.
He was wearing sweatpants, and came in shirtless, rubbing his eyes as he stood behind Cassidy, tugging on the shirt that she was wearing, “I was looking for this…” He grinned and bent forward, kissing her neck quickly and them moved around and stood beside his mother, “hey mum,”
Heather wrapped one arm around her youngest son and side-hugged him tightly as she moved the potatoes in the pan to make sure they didn’t burn, “what’s on your agenda today, Jamie?”
He shrugged and sat on the stool beside Cassidy. “I want to go see Kory sometime soon.” Jamie pushed one of his hands through his hair, messing it up a bit. Without arm rests on the stools, Jamie was able to reach over, hook his arms around Cassidy’s hips and pulled her into his lap. “Did you want to do something today,” he murmured quietly.
While Cassidy was slightly uncomfortable with the displays of affections in front of his mom, Jamie seemed at ease with his actions. She bit her lip and wiggled her hips, trying to get him to stop as he subtly pushed his fingertips beneath the hem of his shirt.
“Um, actually… I thought maybe I’d spend the day with your mom…” she paused, anxiously watching for signs of disapprovement on Heather’s face. “If that’s alright with you…”
“Are you kidding?!” Heather shrieked, putting a few pieces of bacon, potatoes, and eggs on two plates and handed one to both Jamie and Cassidy. “I’d love to spend the day with you!”
A sense of relief washed over Cassidy as Jamie held her still, while he reached around her to pick up a piece of bacon. She leaned back into his chest, earning a quick peck against her forehead, before Jamie tilted his head to the side, resting his on top of hers.
“Alright, well then I’ll meet with Kory today. And we can go out or cook something here for dinner.”
Cassidy nodded and reached forward to grab a piece of bacon, slowly taking a bite. She noticed how Heather seemed to watch them interact; the way Jamie rested his head on top of hers and the way his arm wrapped around her protectively.
Things would definitely be shared today between the two women. And Cassidy wanted it that way. At the end of the day, Heather would always be Jamie’s mother and would always be in his ear about certain things; his relationships being one of those things. In the hopes of having good comments said about her, Cassidy wanted to hash out everything that had happened, not only in the past three months, but in her life that led her to be the person and woman she was.
“I want to answer any question you have. Personal or not, I think you deserve to know the type of person your son is dating, and honestly I want us to be able to talk to each other about things. I hope that’s not too forward or anything,” the southern accent was exposing itself again, and Cassidy took a quick sip of her coffee.
After Jamie had left for the day, the weather had changed and rain began to fall. It wasn’t anything too drastic, but the drizzle atmosphere gave off a “stay at home” feel, more than a “go out and shop” feel.
Heather smiled and propped her mug on her leg. Her mind was clearly already reeling with different questions to ask. In the greater scheme of things, Cassidy still was a stranger to her. “When was the moment when you felt you truly loved Jamie?”
So she was starting off with the hard questions. Maybe from there they’d get easier, right?
Cassidy grinned slightly, to give the impression that she wasn’t nervous with the first question, but she didn’t know how well it was working. “Has Jamie told you anything about our relationship?”
Heather shook her head, and Cassidy sighed. How exactly does one begin to tell their boyfriend’s mother that she was molested in the parking lot of a bar? It doesn’t sound like the typical conversation piece.
“For the sake of being honest… I was attacked at a bar, and when Jamie got home from a road trip, he found me in a rough state. As weird as it sounds, the moment I realized I was truly in love with him was when I told him what bar I had been at. He was getting worked up, ready to leave my room and get some sort of justice for me.” Cassidy couldn’t help but smile at the memory. It was painful to have to relive the attack, but the look in Jamie’s eyes was unforgettable. “Other than my dad, I had never had a man stick up for me like that.”
Heather was quietly absorbing everything that had just been said. But her next question didn’t surprise Cassidy one bit. “Attacked?”
“Without going into too graphic of details, had it not been for the headlights of a car passing by, I would have been a rape statistic.”
Cassidy looked down at her coffee mug, gliding her fingers around the circular rim, trying to distract herself. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Heather was being eerily quiet, and it was almost unnerving that she wouldn’t say anything. But after a moment, she slid a hand onto Cassidy’s knee, squeezing it reassuringly, as if to remind her that she was still here, still surviving.
“You’re safe here, and you’re safe with Jamie. I can see the way my son looks at you. It’s a look I haven’t seen in a long, long time.” She smiled and brought her mug back up to her lips, taking another quick sip. “How many boyfriends have you brought home to meet your father?”
Cassidy tilted her head to the side and peered up at Heather, “I went on dates with guys in high school, and my dad always wanted to meet them before the date, to evaluate their intentions I guess. But Jamie’s been my only boyfriend, and the only guy I’ve actually wanted my dad to meet.”
Heather smiled again and took another sip of her coffee, maybe so it wouldn’t look like she was too pleased with Cassidy’s answers. But there was no doubt that she was. “I saw the press conference from earlier this month… the one where you were accused of being a gold digger, for lack of a better term.” She paused to gather her thoughts, “It’s easy to assume things before you’ve really met a person…”
“Mrs. Benn,” Cassidy began, reaching over to set her mug down on the coffee table, “I love your son so much, and I want you to know that I would never use him for his money or for the publicity. I hope you can see that those are not my intentions. Jamie doesn’t pay my way through school, he doesn’t pay my bills… I barely let him get away with paying for dinner on our dates.”
Heather chuckled and looked directly into Cassidy’s eyes.
“And I don’t want him too. I depend on Jamie so much, for so many different things, but I do not want to depend on him financially. He has worked hard in his career for all the things he has, and I want to do the same in my career.”
Almost immediately, Heather reached forward and wrapped her arms around Cassidy’s shoulders, embracing her tightly. The rain had finally let up and now small rays of light peeked through the clouds. Cassidy too, tucked her hands around Heather, hugging her back, feeling a sense of validation.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that Jamie has found such an amazing person. Some of his girlfriends in the past have not been my favorite.”
Cassidy smiled and picked her coffee cup back up, “and I really must thank you for welcoming me into your home and really into your life. I know it can’t be easy to meet a girl and already see her living with your son.”
She nodded her head, chewing on her lower lip. “No, it wasn’t. Honestly, when Jamie told us that you were coming up and would be staying with him, I advised him otherwise. Like I said, it’s easy to judge someone before you meet them.”
Jamie came back around the counter and handed a wine glass to Cassidy, gently tapping them together before taking a sip from his. He set it down on the counter and wrapped his arms around Cassidy’s hips, standing behind her as she began slicing a tomato. With their waists pressed together, Jamie bent down and sucked on her neck gently, groaning into it softly.
He had arrived back home just two hours earlier, after Heather and Cassidy had gone grocery shopping and had returned with ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
“We’ll go hungry if you keep this up.” Cassidy waited until Jamie unhooked his arms from around her and stood beside her, ready to help out. She slid the tomato and knife over to him as she began breading the chicken. “Also, let’s not make a habit out of falling asleep on the couch. I think your mom was a little uncomfortable to find me on top of you,”
Jamie sliced the tomato thinly, mostly concentrating on that. “She already knows we sleep together. And by sleep, I mean sleep as well as sex.”
Cassidy’s eyes widened and she dropped the chicken, punching Jamie in the arm, “what do you mean she knows?”
“I told her,” when he saw her terrified expression, he continued. “Before you came up, she mentioned something about what the sleeping arrangements would be at the house. And so I mentioned back that we had already been together.”
She hid her face in her hands, “Jamie I don’t want your parents thinking I’m a slut.”
“They don’t…” He paused and finished slicing the tomato, “I don’t think.”
Cassidy rolled her eyes and continued the work with the chicken. So it wasn’t what she was hoping Jamie’s parents knew about her. But there was no doubt that the day she had just spent with his mother, was enough for her to see that Cassidy was genuinely a good person and was undoubtedly in love with Jamie.
Within the next hour and a half, dinner was prepared and made, and now at eight o’clock, Cassidy was carrying two plates into the living room. Jamie was kneeling on a blanket in front of the fireplace, trying to get the flames to lick at the wood in its stone confinement. She set the plates down on the blanket and then picked up her wine glass, sipping it slowly as she stared at Jamie’s ass.
When he was satisfied with the fire he had started, he sat down and took a sip of his own wine, “I just lit a fire in the middle of summer. There’s something wrong with that.” He looked down at his plate and then poured himself more wine.
“It’s romantic,” Cassidy smiled and crawled towards him, sitting in between his legs with her back against his chest. She cut up a piece of chicken and set her head back against his chest, holding the fork up to his mouth.
Jamie opened his mouth and allowed her to feed him, chewing and nodding his head in approval as he tasted the Chicken Parmesan. With both plates in her lap, they began eating, only illuminated by the flames. It was easy to live this way with Jamie. In a sense, it was like they were testing out marriage, figuring out how to work together and how to depend on each other. More importantly, it was a life Cassidy saw with Jamie, and she hoped he saw it with her too.
“Jame, you smell like fish,” she murmured, taking a moment to bury her nose into his t-shirt, making sure she had correctly identified the smell.
“Well I was fishing, so that is accurate.”
She grimaced up at him and brought her wine glass up to her lips, “you need a bath.” Cassidy reached up and pushed her fingers through his hair, pressing on the back of his head until he looked down at her before she kissed him quickly, licking her lips afterwards.
In the moments after they finished eating, Jamie tugged on Cassidy’s hand and led her into the master bathroom, stripping her clothes off slowly and teasingly, eventually doing the same with his. When the bath water was drawn, they sat down in the tub together with Cassidy again sitting in front of Jamie with her back against his chest. She couldn’t help but smile when she felt his hand roam over her hips, moving up to her breasts as he leaned forward and kissed her shoulder.
Notes
This chapter is titled after "Bruises" by Train.
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5/2/16