Page 55 of Jockstraps & Newspapers
"Elliot!"She glanced up from the keys in her hands.
"I figured, since I was getting keys, might as well ask them to copy the set to my place for you as well.I don't mind not getting a set to yours, cause, you know, it's also Lily's office, but my place is just my place."He opened the door and motioned for her to proceed through the door."Wanna see it?"
"Ha!Want to see it?Of course we do," Lily flung herself into the hallway, pajamas and flops fluttering with movement as she raced to the stairs of the complex.Elliot beamed, watching Cass grab the keys to the apartment and closing the door behind her.She pulled a single key off her ring and passed it to him.
Elliot's face fell into a puppy dog expression of shock and awe.She pressed it into the meat of his palm."I want to share more of me with you, so we don't always have to go back to your place.My place works too.I just need to get the bumpers for the frame."
He squeezed the key, "Thanks."
"Yeah, I realized most of us started on this expectation that you always tell me stuff to use for my job.And I realize now how unfair that is.And despite my need to know stuff, probably related to feeling lied to by sisters and my need to not burden you, thanks to my parents making my sharing feelings feel like a trouble… sorry, Lily and I were therapy unscrambling my brain this morning, but it's unfair to you to expect you to give me everything without giving you some of me.So…what do you want to know?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it as he stared pensively across the hall.Then, with a wide smile, he looked at her, "You asked me when we first met for a juicy secret.What's one of yours?"
Cass snorted, nodding toward the stairs Lily disappeared down.A juicy secret.Well, that's a funny thing…she had a good fair few.The only one that might get her in trouble like Elliot's secrets, however, that one… it was extra juicy.She squeezed his arm."That's only fair.Uh, well, okay, a juicy secret.When I was writing the article that got me the interview with Pearson?I dug into the tech crisis hitting the magic engineering field—what I didn't tell him, in order to get access to the chatroom server where I found all my evidence, I slept with the server owner's daughter, broke into her laptop while she was sleeping and made myself an invisible admin."
"Cassie!"he gasped.
"What?I was single and undercover work was the only way to get what I wanted for the truth…I wasn't backed by a massive paper with lawyers back then.It was me and my readers," she cackled.
"Who are you and where is the newsie who hated having a good time?"he teased, squeezing her arm back.Cass glared at him as he tossed her a flirty wink.
"That Cassie wasn't working at Salamander full time."She hip checked him teasingly as they trotted down the steps.
"So, you got the job?"
"Yeah, I got the job," she exhaled heavily."I'm a real journalist now."
"Cassie," he laughed, spinning her out onto the sidewalk before grabbing her by the hips."You were always a journalist, just now you got a w-2!"
She tossed her head back, a full belly chortle broke from her mouth."I know!I know…but before all I wanted was to be some big name.To mean something…but now…"
Cass trailed off, looking into the cloud filled sky.Fluffy, white, cotton candy balls of condensation, floating by them and cooling the air by blocking the sun for only a moment.The world slowed down as she returned her gaze to him."But now I have some perspective, I guess."
"What do you mean?"He cocked his head.
"I wanted all of that, the name in lights, my picture in the paper, fame and notoriety because I thought I didn't mean anything.That's not true anymore, I don't think that anymore…I guess, I realized I wasn't missing anything, I was just not seeing it clearly."She stopped mid-step as she came to the parking lot.A teal siren was draped over the hood of a SUV scandalously, leg propped up, chin in her palm, and smug smirk.
"Your carriage, madam!"
"It's red," she rolled her eyes, peeking up at Elliot.He stood proudly, one fist to his hip in a power stance."Thank you."
"It's your signature color, can't have my girl driving in anything else."
Chapter twenty-five
Getting back something lost
Elliot
Elliotglancedfromthefield as a pair of sneakers moved into his line of view.He dropped his knees to the grass and sat back on his calves.Staring up at Renner, he squinted in the sun.Sweat burned his eyes as he brushed his floppy, drenched hair back through his horns.
"You got visitors."Renner nodded toward the track around the field.Two Minotaurs stood near the fence, smiling sheepishly.Elliot climbed to his feet, grabbing his towel and bottle."Anything I should be worried about?"
"What do you mean?"Elliot dried off his face with a swipe of his terrycloth towel.
"Your brother's been stabbed," Renner raised his own bottle to his lips and took a heavy gulp.
"H-how did you know?"Elliot glanced around.The whole team was in individual strength training, scattered across the field.
