Marcus glared at Cassie who sat with a smug look on her face. “Aww, come on Marky! You can’t be that mad at me! I apologized for my immaturity, didn’t I?” she whined.
“You betrayed my trust, Cassie. It cannot be labeled as immaturity. You had physical intimacy with my best friend behind my back while being engaged to me. I can’t forgive that,” he argued angrily.
“So have you, Marky. You had more physical relationships in the last 2 years than I ever did,” she pointed out angrily.
“Not while I was engaged to you,” said Marcus, banging his fist on the table and standing up. “If you don’t leave my room this instant, I will,” he said, striding out angrily. Cassie shrugged and got up to follow him out.
“Give me a tour of your gallery. I’ve been dying to see your latest series,” she said eagerly, totally ignoring his threat. This was what he hated about her the most. She never had the basic courtesy to listen to others. It seemed as if nothing had changed with her!
“Get out while I’m being nice. There’s no place for you in my life, Cassie. What we had is over and I’m not interested in you,” he hissed menacingly. Cassie glared at him, looking more determined than ever.
“You can’t get rid of me so easily, Marky. Your mom wants us to get married and we will,” she threatened before storming out. Marcus sighed with relief finally seeing her leave, hating the nickname more than ever. He wondered how he could tolerate it before! He was extremely upset with his mom for bringing Cassie back into his life. Maybe it was time for a confrontation that he had been trying to avoid for the last few weeks. When his mom kept calling him, he was sure that something was up with her. Now he knew exactly what his mom was up to. With the new turn of events, all his plans of taking Cara out on a date crumbled to dust making him very upset. He didn’t trust Cassie and her mom and neither his own since she was more inclined towards the mother-daughter duo than him. He needed to start making fresh plans now since he couldn’t avoid the dinner party tonight. He decided to take Cara with him as his guest and announce his relationship with her in front of everyone. He still had an hour at hand and quickly completed his work before going to look for Cara.
Cara was too upset to concentrate on the work assigned to her and therefore started making mistakes while entering the data. Thomas yelled at her every now and then for her carelessness, making her wish to just leave everything and go home to aunt Maggie and her family. Her heart felt heavy and she didn’t wish to stay here a minute longer.
“What the hell are you typing, Sullivan? If you can’t do this much, then go clean the walls instead of wasting my time here,” yelled a furious Thomas, glancing at her screen. The software beeped with the incorrect data entered and the machine gave a system error. Thomas was furious with her while she cowered with fright.
“What the hell is going on here? Mr. Murphy, who gave you the authority to speak to Cara in this manner?” echoed Marcus’s booming and angry voice from a distance. Thomas trembled to see him at the door.
“She’s unable to do the basic data typing work, Mr. Donnelly. I’m surprised how she found an entry here. She isn’t even an art graduate!” complained Thomas, standing up and defending himself in front of his boss. Cara looked down guiltily, knowing that it was all her fault.
“She isn’t a worker here. She’s my guest. I sent her to look around since she was bored. C’mon Cara, we’re going home,” he said, holding out his hand to her. Everyone’s jaws dropped at his confession while Thomas looked ashamed of himself.
“I’m sorry, sir. I had no idea,” he mumbled, looking embarrassed. Cara wanted to vanish into the air at being the center of all attention. Marcus caught her hand and pulled her away with him without a word. On the way, they met Mr. Warnock who had been evading Marcus ever since that incident in his room. Marcus stopped, releasing her, and turned towards the man.
“I’ve summoned you twice, Mr. Warnock. What you did today is unforgivable!” said Marcus solemnly. Mr. Warnock’s eyes widened and he glanced at Cara with dread.
“I’m sorry sir. I’ve realized it now,” said Mr. Warnock.
“Cara’s my guest here, Mr. Warnock. Why did you compel her to serve coffee in my room? You placed me in a very embarrassing situation indeed. I’m unable to overlook your carelessness this time,” said Marcus, making Mr. Warnock feel guilty.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Donnelly. I’ve realized my mistake. It won’t happen again.” Marcus nodded and grasping hold of her wrist, he walked out of the art center. Cara tried to keep pace with him as he led her toward his car. She was glad that the dreadful day was over. Although she was bursting with a lot of questions, she didn’t want to discuss them with Marcus. She was hurt and waited for him to apologize and clear the air. She expected an explanation from him for Cassie’s reappearance in his life but strangely Marcus didn’t utter a single word as he furiously drove away from the art center, not even casting a glance towards her.
He parked the car in front of his granny’s house. “Why are we here?” she asked with dread. Did he bring her here to help Maria?
“Mom has invited you as a guest,” he said curtly, climbing out. Cara alighted from the car, deep in thought. She knew that his mom didn’t invite her willingly. She wanted Cara to help Maria.
“I don’t want to go. Please, Marcus, I think I’ll go home,” she protested. Marcus handed his apartment keys to her.
“Meet granny and if you want to leave, you can. I’ll join you later,” he said. Cara took the keys and nodded her head. She would do just that. He stormed towards the sprawling house that was bathed in bright lights, with a lot of cars parked in the driveway. Marcus frowned wondering just how many guests her mom had invited and why! It couldn’t be just a family dinner as he couldn’t find Lucas’s car anywhere around. He pressed the doorbell with Cara nervously standing beside him, her heart hammering in her chest out of fear.
The door was opened by a grim-looking Maria who just glanced in her direction with dread and walked inside without a welcoming word. It was strange since she always spoke to Cara whenever they met. Marcus scowled all the more as he led her inside. “We’ll meet granny first,” he said curtly, looking around for his granny. However, the whole place seemed to be teeming with only his mom’s friends and there was no sign of his granny anywhere. He didn’t see his brothers around as well. Maria had disappeared back into the kitchen without greeting them which was the strangest thing happening. Marcus avoided his mom’s friends and led Cara towards his granny’s room. To his surprise, he found his granny lying on the bed.
“What are you doing here, granny? Are you unwell?” he asked, sitting beside her. Cara too pulled a chair and sat down. Granny smiled at her and she smiled back. It was a silent welcome making Cara warm up to the old woman.
“I had a mini heart attack last week,” she informed him. Marcus’s mouth hung open with shock.
“How is it that no one informed me?” he demanded, looking hurt.
“Nicholas was away on a tour and so was Lucas. Sienna was busy as Alexia was down with the flu. Your mom tried your number a few times but you might have been busy as well,” said granny. Guilt washed over Marcus’s face and he caught his granny’s hands in his.
“I’m so sorry, granny. I thought she was calling because of something else,” said Marcus feeling guilty.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine now. Maria took care of me. You were right in your thoughts, Claudia called you because of something else,” said granny with a deep sigh. Marcus scowled more as he now knew what her mom had been planning.
Suddenly the door opened and his mom rushed inside. “Mark, when did you come? We’ve been waiting for you for so long.”
Marcus looked at her as a feeling of dread swept over him. “Just, mom. Who’s waiting for me?” he asked in a bored tone. His mom totally ignored Cara and pulled Marcus away with her while Cara tried to hide and be as inconspicuous as possible.
“What are you up to, mom? I don’t have time to meet your entire group. Why are they here if this is just family dinner? I don’t see any family members here,” he grumbled as he walked out. The moment he stepped out of the room, Cassie’s mom, Malory Thornton greeted him and hugged him, taking him by surprise.
“It’s so good to see you, Marcus! Cassie has been so upset for the past three years. I’m so happy that you two are back together,” she said, releasing him at last. Marcus immediately went stiff and the scowl deepened further. What the fu*k was happening here? He never said that he wanted to patch up with Cassie again? He glanced at the smug expression on his mom’s face.
“I’m sorry, aunt Malory, I’m not ready for a relationship with Cassie yet,” he started but Malory Thornton caught his arm and led him towards the guest room.
“Please Marcus, I want you to clear your differences with Cassie. She’s gone through a lot and I can’t see her wasting her life because of you,” she said. The moment Marcus entered the guest room, he froze seeing Cassie sitting on the bed and waiting for him!