Billy Caspian has always been a person who goes where the wind takes him. Due to his travels, he has connections everywhere. He picks up jobs along the way, some of them legitimate, some less so. Whenever his “friends” need something transported, he is the go-to guy.
Six Weeks Earlier…
It all began with a sneeze. A rather loud and obnoxious sneeze. The kind that wakes the bats in the belfry above the church. The kind that makes even ghosts start at the sudden onslaught of noise. The kind that leaves ears ringing once a person has finished expelling all that air.
Why he sneezed, he did not know, but upon entering Eloise C. Vanderburg’s Home for Books, Billy Caspian let out a wallop. Perhaps it was the dust from all the books donated by the royal family. Perhaps he was catching a cold due to the frigid temperatures. Perhaps it was something else altogether.
He wasn’t superstitious by nature, but he heard at one time or another that a sneeze could be brought on if someone was thinking of you. Perhaps that someone was a beautiful, red-haired, freckle-faced ex-girlfriend who just so happened to be perched on the edge of the lime green couch in the entryway of the public library.
It was a pleasant surprise. While he hadn’t left the lady in question under the best circumstances, he had always found her to be stimulating company in more than one way. She could talk the ear off an elephant, her stories complete with wide brown eyes and wild hand gestures, compliments of her Simtalian heritage. She could also stir emotions in the depths of his soul and send tingling pleasure to all his nerve receptors. She was breathtaking and brilliant with a dash of Bernish temper and a smidge of Simtalian generosity.
Today she was more fire than anything else. He didn’t blame her. He hadn’t treated her well and that was an understatement. She came at him with a right-handed slap followed by a surprise left hook. Billy rubbed his jaw.
“Nice to see you too, Red.”
He tried not to smile. She hit him with stunning force. It hurt to stretch his mouth muscles. She nursed her gloved hand and glared.
“Oh don’t even…” she sputtered. “Really? After all this time, you’re going to call me Red.”
“It’s fitting,” he smirked, and then winced. “Is it not?”
‘Red’ was his affectionate nickname for her back when they were dating in Lucky Palms. She had liked the name as he tenderly nuzzled her ears and kissed her cheek. Now, she looked about ready to pulverize him. He took a step back in defense, feeling like he would rather face the full wrath of the Racket crime family at the moment than the ire of Kassiopeia Fullbright.
“Really? And I suppose I should call you ‘jerk-faced buffoon?’ Or is ‘half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder‘ more suitable?” she looked almost pleased for using a Star Wars insult.
“So I wasn’t the best boyfriend,” he added. “Maybe I should call you by your name… Kass.”
“Wasn’t the best?” Kassiopeia Fullbright threw her hands high in the air in exasperation. “Billy, you were the worst… the worst of the worst… the absolute worst… the way you treated me… GAH! … was inexcusable… and you… you… you just can’t come waltzing back into my life and… wha? What are you doing here?” she narrowed her eyes.
“Well,” Billy said, straightening his uneven scarf. “I live here.”
“In the library?” her voice leaped an octave.
“No,” he laughed, shaking his head. “In Hidden Springs… I… this is the place… where I got the commission… the job I wrote you about…”
“In a cryptic letter that was left the night after I got so freaking drunk that I took my top off,” Kass shrieked, immediately flushing nearly the same shade as her hair, and reining her arms in so as not to draw any more attention to herself.
“Yeah… about that…” Billy began and trailed off, trying to smother a smile.
“Gah!” Kass reached out and hit the man in the chest. “You enjoyed it! You actually enjoyed it!”
“Well… what’s not to like?” he eyed her up and down, knowing his comment would likely get him punched. He lifted his hands. “In my defense… you initiated that.”
“But you could’ve stopped me,” she sighed, a sadness creeping into her tone. “And you didn’t have to leave me.”
Kass looked at him, expectantly, as if waiting for an apology or an explanation. Her brown eyes filled with a familiar look of regret with a twinge of despair. Her arms hung at her sides, and her hands were relatively still. Billy realized the full weight of his choices in that moment. He hurt her. He had really hurt her. She was a “good time” for him, but to her, he was so much more. He knew that now. He knew that then, but he hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself. He hadn’t wanted to admit how much he liked her, beyond the scope of her good looks and their great chemistry. He hadn’t wanted to admit how much he was starting to care. Too much. And if he cared, inevitably, he would have to open up about who or what he was, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that. That’s why he left.
“You. Used. Me.”
Each word was punctuated, but he heard no malice in her tone, only sadness. She was right. He did use her. He used her for his own gain and pleasure, when it was convenient for him. If his relationship with his other ex-girlfriend had been any proof, he didn’t do commitment. One night stands, flings, rebounds, and love affairs… that was what he was good for. Long-term, serious relationship, and dare he even hope, love… true love and devotion, just wasn’t his style. Guys like him didn’t get the girl at the end of the day and he knew it. He should never have started something with Kass. If his other ex-girlfriend was regret number one, his relationship with Kass was regret number two.
“And then you slept with her…” Kass said, tears welling in her eyes.
“Who? Glory Ann?” he puzzled. “Naw… I stayed over at her house because I wasn’t feeling well after I arrived to help her out.”
A variation of the truth… he hadn’t slept with Glory Ann, but he wasn’t about to explain why he stayed in her bedroom.
“You expect me to believe that?” Kass narrowed her eyes, the tears slipping through her lashes as she gritted her teeth and balled her hands. “And not Glory Ann… the other woman you were with… her!”
Somehow he knew exactly who she meant – her best friend, Ayesha. Billy ran a hand through his hair. The haunted house felt so long ago, and the girl took off for the Middle East so he never saw her again. How could he have known Ayesha was Kass’ best friend? The woman had enough problems of her own for him to stay mixed up with the likes of her, and it had been his time. Ayesha fulfilled an urge. Nothing more. How could he explain that to Kass though without telling her the truth about himself?
“Will you…” he reached to lay a hand on her arm, and she jerked away. “…have coffee with me?” he asked earnestly. “Tomorrow?”
Maybe between now and then he could come up with a good enough version of the truth, one that explained enough and gave Kass some closure, but one that didn’t involve him revealing his whole life story.
“No!” she exclaimed. “Whatever you have to say you can say now!”
“Red…” he stopped himself, and pressed his hands together as he couldn’t believe what he was about to do. “Kassiopeia?” he softened his tone. “Please? Have coffee with me tomorrow? If you’re still in town… are you…” he frowned as he realized he didn’t know what she was doing in Hidden Springs. “…staying?”
“I…” she hiked her chin in the air. “I’m here with my dad.”
“I figured.”
“Well… don’t figure… you and I… don’t have anything to do with one another anymore.”
“We’re having this conversation.”
“This conversation is over.”
“Kass…” he lowered his head. “Please… I know I don’t deserve…”
“Damn right… you don’t deserve…”
“…even to be in your presence let alone have a conversation with you again beyond this one,” he was groveling and he knew it, but it was the only way he could make things right. “…but I’m asking you… to please let me explain myself… tomorrow… over coffee?”
She flexed her wrists and contemplated his request. He kept his head down, hoping she would oblige his request. As her father descended the staircase from the second floor of the library, Kass looked over her shoulder, hurriedly. Billy could feel his throat drying out and his heart began racing as he suddenly felt very nervous. He had never met Kass’ father before, and she wasn’t exactly forthcoming about their relationship if he remembered correctly.
“I have your number,” she said, her tone clipped as she brushed past him. “I’ll think about it.”
Kass walked to her father and said something in a hushed tone, as she escorted him from the library. Billy was struck by the image of father and daughter, and felt a warming sense in his chest. Kass was beautiful and kind… he could tell by the way her arm wrapped around the man’s shoulder as she helped him into the parked truck in front of the library, and he could tell that the man loved his daughter by the way he tiredly smiled up at the girl when she shut his passenger side door. Billy felt… almost… jealous. He should’ve taken the time to get to know Kass’ dad properly, and he should’ve treated her better. As he walked from the library to his own parked car, completely forgetting what he came to the library for in the first place, Billy had a feeling he would spend the whole night regretting the girl who got away. He only hoped she would call him in the morning.
Author Note: Thanks for reading. Billy Caspian and Kassiopeia Fullbright happened upon one another when she was passing through Hidden Springs, Simnadia in game, and I decided to write it into the story. Originally, this chapter was supposed to fall at the end of I&S and after the latter part of FRWL, but I ended Gage’s story right where it needed to be, and ended I&S prematurely. I debated about including this chapter at all in CFT: TAT, but I decided I couldn’t let a perfectly good chapter go to waste, plus it fits well after the last chapter with Gage – 1.65 Overwhelmed. I figured out a way to work in my unpublished chapters of I&S into TAT, though it required some finagling. I’m pretty happy with the result. Again, I tried to write this chapter in a manner that was easy to understand even without having read I&S, but if any of you are confused about details, feel free to ask questions. I added the line about “facing the wrath of the Racket crime family” as a tribute to CFT as this is after all, Generation 1 ½. Hope you enjoyed.
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