Chapter 6

Despite what happened, weeks following that were just like how it was. It was as if nothing ever happened. Miggy still comes to work but there seems to be a swagger in him that I've never seen before. It also seemed like he had changed his whole wardrobe. He went from sexy feminine type to hot male, boy-next-door looks. It's like he's trying to show an alter ego. I have asked him about that before but he just smiles at me and says he's just trying out some stuff. I had also wanted to ask him about what happened...that kiss we shared...that passionate kiss. It hasn't happened again though and he hasn't really made any kind of move which made me think that he might have just been still tipsy from all the liquor he drank the night before. Although, when he pulled away from me, he muttered something under his breath I barely understood. I wanted to ask him about that too but from how he acts right now, it didn't seem like a big deal to him...like it never even happened in the first place. That's why I decided to just keep it to myself.

After that successful event we did for Mr. Lee about two months ago, we got more bookings and more customers had come to our shop. Some of the attendees of that particular event even came by to buy cakes or inquire about their upcoming events. We had more than we could bargain for. We even got busier than we ever did before especially because Christmas was fast approaching. We had received bookings for gender reveals, more debuts, and we even have reservations for quinceañeras. It was like Miggy was my good luck charm. I owe it to him for making all this possible. At this moment, we are working on an event that's gonna happen in two months...again. Mr. Lee's friend is gonna have his 50th birthday and we have been tasked to organize the whole thing. Miggy is in contact with the man's family and friends constantly because apparently, it's a surprise party. As always, I was in charge of the food, table settings, and cakes and cupcakes, and other minor details I can help out with. We had everything planned out.

Miggy comes into my office while talking on the phone, "Mrs. Smith, I assure you everything is good to go. I will be showing you the plans that we had agreed upon on Monday;" he paused. He looked a bit frustrated. I knew it was an important call so I just waited for them to finish. "well, of course, it would take time for me to show you the plans because I would still need to contact suppliers...the venue...we can't just plan things and not contact them ahead, Mrs. Smith. There are certain guidelines to party planning that must be strictly followed before anything can be finalized and that is what I was doing. I mean, what if what you want can't be done or would need ample of time to accomplish. I wasn't gonna show you any plans and not be sure about it." he pauses again. This time, he pulls away from the phone, covers it with his other hand, and sighs so loud I think what he just did render it useless. "Yes.. yes...yes... I'm sure of it. Yes, Mrs. Smith. All is good to go now. See you on Monday, okay?" he sighs again.

"The wife?" I finally asked.

"no...the daughter."

"Ah...I see. wait, he has a married daughter?"

"Yes, he does and she's the hardest to please. Even his wife is easier to talk to than her and get this, her mom's paying for the whole thing and she thinks she gets a say in everything."

I giggled, "well, get a grip. You're gonna hear a lot from her."

"How are the pastries, food, and other plans?" he asked coming near me.

I took the folder of drafts I had done for the cakes and cupcakes, table settings, and food menus from the caterer, "here's all of it. You can take it with you. I have a copy."

He opens the folders to take a look at them, "these are beautiful, Cassie. All the intricate details for the cake and cupcakes are outstanding. Can this really be done?"

"Yes, Actually the number fifty is just cupcakes put together though the design I had planned out is quite risky it can still be done; however, the car is what we need to work on but it's doable. Also, I have contacted the hotel for the place settings and the food. The next pages are what's available. You can show it to them on Monday;" I paused. I remembered something important to tell him and handed him another folder. "By the way, I remembered you had difficulty finding a host for the event so I took the liberty of checking on it for you. These are lists of hosts available on that day and their fees, and some also had conditions if ever you choose them to host the events."

He embraces me very tightly, "thank you! You don't know how much this helps me. The host is actually the only thing missing. You're a lifesaver."

I tapped him on the back and he pulled away from me, "You're welcome. I had time to spare so it's not really a big deal. Now if you can excuse me, I have work to do. I still need to run to the store and pick up some supplies."

I picked up my things and stood up. All of a sudden, I felt a very sharp pain in my lower abdomen. It was as if I had just been punched and that all my muscles had been crammed together into one single muscle. The pain was unlike anything I have ever experienced before. I slammed back down to my chair. I just felt my whole body go weak from all the pain.

"Are you okay?" Miggy asked.

I just nod. I wanted to say I was okay and that there was nothing to worry about but it just hurt too much that even I got worried. I didn't really how to explain the pain. Miggy stood beside me and caressed my back. From what I thought was just a muscle cramp turned worse. The pain was even more excruciating than it was a minute ago. I held on to the side of the table as tight as I could to conceal the pain but it was to no avail, "ah," I shouted.

Miggy sat me down and tried to calm me down. "Relax...just relax. breath in...breath out...breath in... breath out. relax yourself, okay? and then later on we'll go to the hospital."

"What's going on?" Stacey comes in, worried. "why was she shouting?" she asks, panting.

"I don't know. She just stood up and she was suddenly in pain;" he continued, "can you get her a glass of cold water please."

As soon as Stacey came back she had a glass full of iced water for me. By this time, the pain had already lessened. I can still feel it but it was halfway from disappearing. I drank the water they gave me and Miggy was right. It brought a calming sense into my system. I felt the ice-cold water running down from my throat to my stomach. The pain was almost completely gone the moment I drank it. A few minutes later, I was already able to relax. The pain had completely disappeared. I could finally relax.

"Are you okay? Is it still painful?" Miggy asked. He looked so worried. He didn't leave my side for a second. He didn't even bother to answer his phone no matter how important it was.

I let out a loud breath of relief, "yes, I'm fine now. Maybe, after I relax, I'll be okay to work again." I was still panting a bit though. The pain I felt may have affected me much deeper than I thought.

...Miggy...

Seeing Cassie like that made me so worried. I really didn't know what to do. It was as if my whole bodily system wanted to cry and just panic. I'm just glad I was able to keep myself calm and together.

"Okay, take a rest. We'll go to the hospital in a bit," I finally told her.

"No. I'm fine now. I just need to rest a bit," she argues.

I shook my head, "why do you always argue with me? look, I'm as scared as you were and I know you hate hospitals but I will only be relieved if I hear it from the doctor himself."

She holds on to my hand really tight, "I'm fine. You don't have to. If we go there, they'll just run some tests on me and then advise me to rest and take medication and stuff...same old procedure."

I wanted to argue with her even more but I know her; she's just scared. She's always been scared of the hospital...blood and everything else gruesome that you can think of. She's practically the only person I know who takes so much precaution she might have every kind of non-prescription drug prepared anywhere she goes. She's freakishly weird...I know.

Cassie closes her eyes in an attempt to sleep. I look over at Stacey and she gestured me out of the office.

"She hasn't had much sleep for quite some time. She's sometimes even here earlier than literally everyone else and she's mostly the last one to leave. She's probably overworked," Stacey narrated.

"Can you guys take care of things for now? I think I need to bring her home."

"I would really appreciate it if you would do that;" she continues, "I better get back to work." she walks to the kitchen, "oh by the way, please turn her wifi off. She's gonna want to use her phone instead of falling asleep but don't give her any of those pills you take. It didn't agree much with her body the first time she took it."

I smiled, "I agree."

I went back to her office. I hear a faint snore from Cassie. She really must have been tired. I went near her....looking at her very closely. I could see faint black circles under her eyes and it looks like her cheeks weren't as flushed as they were before. She really has outdone herself this time. She looks really tired but she still looks so damn beautiful. I tuck her hair behind her ear. My eyes locked on her lips. I bent down to give her a light kiss on the lips. It plastered a huge smile on my face. This time, It was clearer. I may have fallen for my best friend too.

"Do you need...any help?" Stacey stuttered.

I looked over in her direction. I didn't know what to say. It was as if I was frozen.

"Everything okay?" she asked. She didn't seem to see it.

I stood up right. "Um, yeah...I was just finding out a way to carry her to the car. She's kind of asleep," I whispered.

Stacey looks over, "you didn't give any kind of sedative, did you?"

I giggled, "No, silly. I went in here and she was already asleep. You were right. She really didn't have much sleep."

"Well, can I help you with anything?"

"You can help me carry her stuff to her car. I'll just come back for mine later."

She nods and packs up Cassie's things. I carried Cassie to her car and placed her on the front passenger seat while Stacey places her things at the back. I then drove off to her condo. She was really deep in her sleep. She didn't even wake up till we got to the parking lot of her building.

"Where are we?" She asked with a hoarse voice.

"We're in your building. I just brought you home," I had finally parked her car.

"what are we doing here? I have lots of things to do. You have to bring me back."

"Look, you're obviously not well. You even fell asleep so fast that Stacey thought I gave you a sedative. You didn't even wake up till now. You need to rest, Cassie."

"fine. did you at least bring those paper works with you?"

I got out of the car and she did the same, "the point of bringing you home was to sleep so why on earth would I bring home paperwork with you;" I went to the back to get her stuff, "you can do those in the morning. For now, get plenty of rest so you're sure to be in good condition in the morning."

She seemed to have given up. She didn't say a word. She just nods and walks to the elevator going to her condo.

"Thank you for bringing me home and for helping me a while back," she opens the door and gestures me to come in.

"You're always welcome. Where should I put these?"

"You can just leave them on the counter. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Sure. Do you have any soda?"

"Yeah, Go help yourself...it's in the fridge, she gestured me to the kitchen.

I opened her fridge and to see it stacked made me feel a bit relieved. She might have had little sleep but at least she still thought of eating. "I'm glad your fridge is stocked up."

She walks to her bedroom and closes the door behind her, "Well, it's the last thing I'd forget. I don't know though but somehow, I've had a lot of cravings these past few weeks."

"You're damn right. For the longest I've known you, I've never seen your fridge and cabinets fully stocked. Are you sure none of these are expired?" I joked. I know she'd never let food go bad. She's the type of shopper who checks almost everything about a certain product and she always makes sure that expiry dates are far away because she doesn't buy regularly. She does her groceries on a schedule.

I know it wasn't that good of a joke but Cassie didn't make any comment...hell, it's either I've gone deaf or something must have happened. She's gone completely quietly for nearly an hour and she could not have gone to her bathroom because I didn't see her get out of her room or even hear doors open and close.

"Cassie?" I called out.

She still didn't answer. I put my drink on the counter next to her bag and hurried to her door. "Cassie?" I called out once again while knocking on her door.

I tried turning the doorknob but it was locked. what could she possibly be doing there?

"Cassie!" I yelled.

"Yeah, sorry...was a bit preoccupied," she finally answered.

"What in the world are you doing there and why didn't you answer? I called out your name three times, Cassie."

The doorknob finally unlocks and she comes out wearing nothing but a bathrobe. Her hair was tied up like a bun on top of her head, showing her beautiful neck in a very sexy way.

"Sorry. I got a bit preoccupied while I was changing...the zipper of my pants didn't go down and I was...I got frustrated."She smiled, trying to assure me that she was alright but I know that she wasn't. I wasn't as convinced as she thought I would be.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm gonna go take a shower and I'll be fine. You can go home now," she pats me on the shoulders before putting her hands back in the pocket of robes. Before she could put her hands in her pocket, I saw a quick glimpse of what was inside. There was like a small rectangular box inside.

"You can go take a shower. I'll be waiting here," I wanted to ask her what that was but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Miggy, I can take care of myself from here. I'm okay now. You don't have to be so worried."

"No. I'll stay. I'm gonna wait till you're done and I'll tuck you in bed after dinner."

"So...you're gonna wait till then?" she stutters.

"Why? is there a problem? Do you have a date?" I assertively asked.

"I don't have a date and No, there is no problem. I just thought that maybe you would want to have some rest and go home. That's all."

"I'm good. You don't have to worry about me. You're gonna get sick...go take a shower. I'll take care of dinner," I take my suit off and hang it on the coat rack.

"Fine. Go nuts," she giggled before going to the bathroom.

I went to the kitchen to start cooking.