In Our Heads

Chapter 22

"Hello?"

"Hey!"

He rolled his eyes at Amber's bright voice; he could practically hear her smile.

"Why did you call me?" he asked.

"Oh– Dad wanted me to ask if we could borrow your paint sprayer and extension ladder?"

He furrowed his brows. Were they repainting their house or something?

"Why? What are you guys doing?"

"I don't know. He had a meeting so he left without explaining and the guys he hired will be here in a bit and they'll be picking it up."

He chuckled.

"Well, yeah. I'm sure it's not a problem. I'll let the guards know to hand it over."

"Great. So... anything interesting happening today? Any dates with Theodore?" she asked.

"No." He chuckled. "Also, you know I don't have time for that."

"He's handsome. He's going to find someone else and you'll be super upset," she sang.

"Bye, Amber." He laughed as she began to protest but hung up anyway when the doorbell sounded.

Figuring it was Jonathan, he walked into the living room, grabbed his keys and locked up before heading to the car. They stopped at the gate where he let the guards know where the stuff was so they could hand it over and then they left to head to his lesson.

After finishing the lesson, he did not have to go anywhere because he was told his parents and the meeting were in the same building. He headed downstairs to the lobby accompanied by the man who had come upstairs to look for him but slowed when they reached the restaurant entrance, and he recognised the people at the table his parents were with.

The Gilmores sat across his mother and father with Ryan seated beside his parents. Cassian gave a breath of disbelief and, just for a second, considered walking away, but knew that would both embarrass and completely piss his parents off. So, he took a deep breath, gave a nod to thank the secretary for accompanying him and then made his way into the restaurant. He stopped at the table smiling at everyone like he was happy to be there.

"Good afternoon, Mr Gilmore, Mrs Gilmore... Ryan," he greeted.

"Hello Cassian, you look nice." Ryan's mother smiled at him.

He thanked her returning a compliment about her necklace because he had noticed it gleam when she moved. He added a compliment towards her husband when he noticed the rare Rolex vintage on his wrist which made Cassian's breath catch for a second. There were only 12 in the world, they were only distributed to drivers and racing teams, and had never been sold publically. It was incredible seeing one in real life.

"A man of taste. See that, Ryan?"

Cassian chuckled when Ryan frowned.

"He only cares about cars," Mr Gillmore explained.

"I'm sure cars are great," Cassian replied as he took a seat beside his mother.

Everyone began to speak and order casually while Cassian mostly avoided looking at Ryan who would smile every time their eyes met. Cassian was doing a great job of being interactive and friendly even though he just wanted to leave.

When their food arrived, everything continued the same way, and the distraction of pretending to be having a great time made his nausea somewhat subside so he could take a few bites of food, until the topic of conversation eventually shifted to him and Ryan.