Repose

Fourteen

Crystal groans and holds her head in hands when she realises in her office on Monday morning that she doesn't have Calum's number. They had lightly mingled at a couple of things Michael and Luke put together, but that was the extent of it. She had a feeling she would be seeing a lot more of him. She could call Hood Motors and find a way to get to him that way, or if she wanted his personal number (which she did, this was a personal issue), she would need to message Michael. Somehow she doesn't even have Luke's number, which surprises her. She could always ask his father for it, given his office was just down one floor. The winning option in Crystal's mind is calling Hood, just because she doesn't want to run around inconveniencing other people over Calum's number.

"Hood Motors, Elias speaking, how may I help you?"
"Hi, my name's Crystal Lauderdale, I need to speak with Calum Hood," Crystal says, a little confusedly, considering reception just told her they were patching her through to Calum's office and this wasn't Calum or Maggie—who she'd also met a handful of times.
"And what are you wishing to speak with him about?" Elias asks.
"It's a personal matter, but I don't have his personal number. We do know each other, I promise," Crystal says somewhat awkwardly.
"I can't put through any personal calls on this line, he only accepts personal calls on his personal number."
"Can you put me through to Maggie Sears? That's who I was expecting to answer the phone," Crystal tries quickly.
"Uh ..." the man on the other end of the line hesitates, "I suppose."

"Maggie Sears of Hood Motors."
"Maggie!" Crystal cries out in sudden joy. "It's Crystal Lauderdale."
"Oh hi, what can I do for you?" Maggie obviously grins.
"Hey, I need to talk to Calum, but who was that Elias guy I was just talking to? He didn't wanna let me through."
"Not he. They're my assistant—"
"They didn't wanna let me through. When did you—"
"Carla complained I was working too much, so Calum got me an assistant a few months ago. They answer all the initial calls, and do all the more straightforward paperwork. They do the job I'm supposed to be doing but I don't do, because I do Calum's job."
"So what does Calum do?" Crystal asks amusedly.

"Go to meetings and sign pieces of paper," Maggie shrugs. "Before I forget, congratulations on finally meeting your soulmates!"
"Oh thank you, but who told?" Crystal asks curiously.
"Sierra told Luke, and then everyone knew, because Luke's the biggest gossip around," Maggie explains.
"I'm calling to talk to Calum about Kaitlin actually, so—"
"The contract immunity clause! Of course!"
"How did you know?" Crystal says, slightly uncomfortable.
"Carla and I are the witnesses on Calum and Ashton's contract, so we of course always know what's in their contract. Though I know for a fact that Michael and Luke also know about it."
"Do you ... have privacy?"
"Among the six of us? Not really, no. I imagine you'll fit into our circle easily in no time."

Without so much as even a goodbye, Maggie is patching Crystal through to Calum's desk phone.
"Calum Hood speaking."
"Hello, it's Crystal Lauderdale."
"Crystal, congratulations on your pairing. To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" Calum leans back in his chair a little, body relaxing.

"I wanted to discuss a clause in your contract," she says immediately. "I'm not one to normally pry in one's business like this, but I hear you make specific mention of my submissive in your contract. That's not exactly orthodox."
"Of course," Calum gulps, because maybe he's just a little scared of, or rather, intimidated by, Crystal. She was a particularly dominating dominant, like the nice version of Michael's father. "I'd like to start by saying that I do recognise that contracts are personal, should be relevant to soulmates only; so if I had any thought that it would affect Kaykay, or any of her soulmates, then I would not have considered including it."
"I appreciate that," she hums, "I'm calling more specifically because Kaitlin strongly implied that she would like a similar clause in our contract."

"Well, with all due respect," Calum starts awkwardly, "isn't that between yourselves?"
"Calum, with all due respect," Crystal huffs, "I barely know you or Ashton."
"Of cou—"
"When you created the clause, you did not have Kaitlin's soulmates to think of. Clearly, you trust them both enough to behave when they're around each other; but not enough to trust to just leave the contract as it was."
"I hope you're not insinuating that my submissive is disobedient," Calum snaps. Crystal doesn't say anything so Calum takes a deep breath and continues. "What Ashton did—"
"Baring his neck, Kaitlin told us. In her defence, she didn't believe it was her place to tell, but felt she needed to in order to make her point," she cuts him off casually.
"What he did is of course, often, a sign of disrespect and a lack of commitment, if anyone were to look at it black and white, however the context shows that Ashton did not disrespect me and he is exceptionally committed—"
"He—" Crystal tries but Calum is not having a bar of it, Crystal's comment or her chronic interrupting.

"Ashton was showing me off, or rather our relationship, because he is proud of us. He was in a safe space, where showing off the way he did would never be taken the wrong way. I feel I need to explain Ashton and Kaitlin's relationship—"
"She is Kaykay to you. If you already know what she prefers from you, there is no reason for you to change that because of what you now know her soulmate to call her," Crystal snaps.

Calum – Maggie: I'm going to need therapy.

Maggie – Calum: Stop being dramatic 🙄

"Duly noted, my apologies," Calum says quickly, "so Ashton and Kaykay met last December, when Luke brought Kaykay as a plus one to my mother's annual Christmas party—"
"What happened to Michael?"
"Luke said he was too boring, didn't want to claim him that week. The short of it is that they immediately hit it off. They're both artsy and very submissive," he explains loosely. "When they're around one another, as I'm sure you've heard, they tend to display all the most submissive traits. It's hard to explain, you'd have to see it for yourself, but they're so well behaved and so submissive. I know that they feel safe and comfortable with one another, there's not any person they feel so at peace with. I'd say that Ashton is more submissive around her than he is around me."

"That's interesting... you're telling me I should expect my extremely submissive soulmate to be her most submissive around someone else?" Crystal asks reluctantly.
"Yeah. It's might seem odd, but it'll bring you peace once you see it," Calum reassures her. "Obviously they can't live like that all the time, they need the guidance, dominance and balance we provide—don't worry about that. It just seems to be a way for them to relax and recharge, so of course I want to foster that. If he's in a safe and nurturing environment, I don't want him to be thinking of his contract. I want him to be able to let his guard down, and be authentic to himself."
"You may have convinced me," Crystal chuckles, "but I want to see it first."
"We'll have to catch up over the weekend, but lastly, I want to make clear that I give Ashton immunity with Kaykay only. If anyone else is with them—me, you, Luke, anyone at all—then the contract stands."
"I've heard more about Luke in the last week than I heard in the three months I was his lawyer," Crystal says skeptically.
"He's nice, just don't trust him," Calum chuckles, "this has been great, but I have to be getting back to work. I'll grab your number off Michael and text you about this weekend."
"Good to know, bye. I'll see you then," Crystal laughs, hanging up the phone after a lengthy but worthwhile chat.

Calum lets out an exhausted breath as he puts the phone on the hook, looking up in dismay when Maggie walks into his office with a glint in her eye.
"Sooooo, how did Crystal emotionally scar you?"
"That specific thing was after I called Kaykay her legal name, and she proceeded to talk like she was about to kill my entire family for it," he grumbles.
"Kaitlin?" Maggie asks dumbfoundedly.
"I'm telling you, do not let her hear you say that. That's for Crystal, and I'm guessing Sierra, only. Everyone else calls her Kaykay."
"That's cute," she decides.
"Can you please get Crystal's number off Michael for me? We need to catch up this weekend so she can see Ashton and Kaykay in action," Calum asks as he slowly goes back to his work.
"Get Elias to get Crystal's number. Noted," Maggie nods. Calum just rolls his eyes. "Don't give me that look when I basically do your job for you," she calls over her shoulder as she walks out.

A/N: this is five days late so I'm delivering next weeks two days early and it's a double update day woohoo read on

–Grace Williams xo