Cassandra LIVES!

[cassandra]

"Nice to meet you Blaine," Cassandra interrupted. Turning to Fiona she said, "Since you're not wanting to go the romantic route, would you mind if Kaden and I barged in on it? We've never had a real date, and I know I'd love the chance to get to know you guys better. If that's okay with everyone, I have an alternate idea. We have an an enclosed patio that we use in the summer. Would be no problem at all to set up one of the tables, and we have a short order cook on staff for simple entree's. Would you like to do that?"

Realizing what she'd just done, Cassandra blushed furiously, and turned quickly to Kaden, "I mean, of course, if that's alright with you, Kade?"

[Kaden]

Kaden looked at her for just a few seconds before shaking his head and chuckling. Shrugging, he answered, "Yeah, that's fine with me." Suddenly something came to mind. "Wait, you guys said tonight right?"

[Fiona]

"Yes, we did say tonight. Do you have another idea?"

[blaine]

"Hi, I'm Blaine. Nice to meet you too, Kaden. And you, Cass. While my evening is being decided for me, could I get a drink please? Jack Black and Coke straight up please." Blaine was beginning to feel like a paid escort. It wasn't a good feeling.

[Kaden]

He shook his head. "No, no, not at all. Just making sure." Kaden said to Fiona. Standing back up, he turned to Blaine. "Sure thing, I'll get this one. JB and Coke coming right up."

[Fiona]

Confused by Blaine's mood Fiona was glad to see customer's coming to the bar. "Blaine and I are going to go and sit out on the floor and let you work. When you get a chance, come and tell us what you're thinking Kaden." Taking Blaine by the hand she led him to a table in a quiet corner. As soon as they sat down Fiona asked, "What's wrong Blainie? You've never acted like that before."

[blaine]

"You've seen me be an asshole plenty of times, Fiona. Nothing new, and the matter is I don't want you to see me as 'Blainie,' your overgrown lapdog. I want you to see me as Blaine. I want to be consulted on things as if I mattered to you. I don't want to be Donovan's stand in anymore. That's what the matter is." Blaine felt disgusted with himself more with every word he spoke. It wasn't like him. Women had never been a problem for him. It wasn't women he wanted though. It was Fiona. He had from the first time he saw her and it hadn't changed. Didn't think it ever would. Didn't mean he wanted to beg her.

[Fiona]

"Blaine? What are you saying? That you want to be with me? I'm not one of your flavors of the week Blaine. You know that. I'd demand faithfulness from you, and I'm not sure you have it to give. Then there's Donovan. I'm with him, you know that."

[blaine]

"'With Donovan? That's a joke. Is he here now? When was the last time he was here? Don't expect me to feel guilty for trying to move in on his so called territory. If he's so stupid as to leave you alone all the time, he doesn't deserve you. It's time you realized that."

[Kaden]

Coming over to the table with Blaine's drink, Kaden placed it on the table in front of him. "Here you go, Jack Black and Coke." He said, pulling a chair up to the side of the table. "Fiona, you asked me what I was thinking earlier. It really wasn't anything. For the life of me, I just couldn't remember if I'd had something planned for tonight. Doesn't really matter though, this should be way more interesting than anything I could have come up with."

[Fiona]

Fiona could have kissed Kaden at that moment. His interruption saved her from having to answer Blaine or having to confront the conflicting feelings his unexpected declaration had caused. Gratefully she turned to Kaden and said, "Well, I don't know how interesting it will be, but I think it could be fun. You know the day I've had, and it's been so long since I've had anything resembling fun. I really appreciate your opening the area for our personal use. And I'd love to get the chance to know you and Fiona better. My reception in this town wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy. It's nice to finally meet people who speak to me, don't throw vile things on me, or call me by other people's names." Realizing she was rambling to avoid having to look at Blaine, she abruptly shut up.

[cassandra]

After making sure the backup bartender had the dwindling crowd under control, Cass grabbed her own drink and headed over to the table to join the others. Confused by the look of confusion on Kaden's face, embarassment on Fiona's, and one she couldn't even put a name to on Blaine's, Cassandra sat down and tried to think how to lift the heaviness. Deciding that ignoring it might be the best course, she turned to Fiona and said, "I had the bussboys give the porch area a quick clean, and set the table. We even lit candles and made it all purdy. Turning to Kaden she asked, "is there anyway we could fix it so we can hear the jukebox out there? In case we want to dance?"

[Kaden]

"Yeah, actually. We could run the club's music through the surround speakers. They hardly get used because everyone likes the novelty of a jukebox, but dammit they're getting used tonight. We could just bring the jukebox out to the patio with us." Kaden said.

[cassandra]

"Hey, if you don't mind dragging the jukebox out there, I think that'd be great. You know what? Since Jake is handling the bar fine on his own, I'm going to go get my own girl clothes on! I can't remember the last time I had a chance to dress up! Ummm...hunny? I've got my clothes with me, but is there a place I can get dressed here?"

[blaine]

"No matter where you tell her she can get dressed, Fiona is going to tag right along to 'freshen up'. I know her. So why they're doing whatever it is that girls do when they 'freshen up', why don't you and I do the grunt labor of moving the jukebox out to the patio and whatever else they come up with for us to do?" Blaine asked Kaden. He actually did want to make the patio as nice and romantic as possible. If he wasn't going to have the chance to finish telling Fiona how he felt, then he'd show her.