Intersection (18 page)

“Agent Fallon brought me.” She watched as Alex moved to the window to look for her partner’s car. “Don’t bother. I sent him home.” The agent turned in disbelief to face the teacher.

“You sent him…”

Cassidy interrupted, gesturing to Dylan as she spoke. “Yeah… you’re not running away from me again.” Alex gently scooped the boy from his mother. Cassidy’s words traveled straight through the agent’s heart. It was true. She did it again, just like she did earlier. She ran. Maybe there was work to do, but it could’ve waited until morning. She carried the boy into the spare room and laid him down on the bed. When she didn’t return immediately Cassidy made her way to the doorway. Alex was staring at the boy, her hand lovingly stroking his head. “He asked for you,” Cassidy said. Alex felt her heart sink. Her feelings for this woman and for this child who was so much like his mother were not something she had ever anticipated she could feel. The sound of Cassidy’s voice, the boy before her, the weight of Cassidy’s stare behind her, all of it reminded her of how in love she was with this woman. Slowly the agent turned “Why did you leave?” Cassidy asked.

“I had to go, Cassidy.” Alex said, armed with her own excuses. “You were…”

“I was what?”

“You were with the congressman. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Mmm….so that’s why you didn’t call?”

Alex pointed to the mess in the room. “Cassidy…I was …”

The blonde woman slowly made her way to Alex. “You thought that I wanted to be with Chris.”

“No…I just…” Cassidy raised her eyebrow at the agent. Alex took a deep breath. She couldn’t lie to Cassidy even if she tried. “You were with your family. I don’t want to come between...” The smaller woman moved so close to the agent that they were nearly touching. Alex started to ramble. “I know he loves you and it’s not….he…”

“Yes.” Cassidy agreed. Alex looked at the floor. “But I don’t love him, not like that.” The agent looked at the beautiful woman standing before her. “What did I tell you this afternoon?” Alex was puzzled and Cassidy knew the agent was rattled by her forthrightness. She pulled the agent’s face toward her own, “I said…I said I didn’t want you to let me go.”

Alex swallowed hard. She remembered and she remembered her response. She recalled everything about those hours. “Cass…”

“You said, ‘never’.” Alex looked at the teacher with a tear in her eye. “Did you mean that?” Cassidy asked searching the eyes she had already become lost in.

Alex fought to breathe. She never imagined this conversation would occur with Cassidy at its helm. The confident voice of the agent faltered now. “Yes…I did.”

“Mmm. Then don’t,” Cassidy said as Alex gave over and kissed the woman. This kiss was different. Alex felt herself being pulled under by Cassidy’s presence. There was something wonderfully tender about the way they touched, the way this woman felt in her arms. The agent felt Cassidy’s tongue dance with her own, the woman’s hands now softly running along the agent’s neck. Alex needed to feel Cassidy closer. She wasn’t certain this was the right time but she couldn’t help but allow
her hands to begin to search the woman in her arms. Cassidy sighed and the words just fell from her. “I love you, Alex,” she said. Alex pulled back slightly and brushed the hair from the woman’s eyes. She needed to slow this down, for them both, and it was much harder than she imagined it could be. “What is it?” Cassidy asked searching the agent’s expression. She was suddenly afraid that Alex was unsure. Alex immediately sensed her anxiety and kissed her tenderly. “What?” Cassidy asked again as Alex pulled back a little.

“I love you, Cassidy.” Cassidy looked at her questioning, wondering if that was so, what was wrong. The agent smiled. “No…Cassidy…listen to me… I am in love with you.”

“I am in love with you,” Cassidy admitted with confidence.

“Mmm. I know,” Alex said playing with Cassidy’s hair. She looked into the pools of green that seemed to hold the secrets to her own soul. “Not like this,” Alex said. “Let me hold you. Just let me hold you.” Cassidy would not have believed that she could love Alex more than when she walked into the apartment just a short while ago. It was ironic that she realized she was in love with Alex while she was standing in the congressman’s room. As he spoke to her; she felt love for him, but she wished Alex was there to hold her. Now, as Alex stepped back from her own desire to ‘love’ Cassidy, Cassidy knew she had fallen instantly deeper into this woman’s grasp. “Alex…”

The agent pressed a finger to Cassidy’s lips and led her to the bedroom. Cassidy couldn’t breathe. She felt a longing for the woman next to her that she had never experienced. Her breath could not seem to fill her lungs and her entire body seemed to tingle with energy. Alex smiled as she pulled Cassidy close to her. “Sleep now,” she said.

Cassidy could not imagine how that would be possible. “How am I supposed to sleep?” The teacher asked the strong but gentle form holding her.

Alex chuckled with understanding but she knew this was not the time for them. No matter how badly she wanted to
feel Cassidy now, they were both emotionally and physically exhausted. She played with the blonde hair that cascaded onto her chest and felt Cassidy begin to drift away in her embrace. “Never,” the agent said.

“What?” Cassidy mumbled as she helplessly faded into sleep.

“I will never run away from you again,” the agent whispered. “Never.”

A light tug on her sleeve woke the sleeping agent. She struggled to open her eyes. “Alex,” the small voice seemed to almost be asking if it was really her. Alex’s heart skipped realizing Dylan was standing next to her bed, his mother wrapped in her arms and a wave of panic swept over her. She hadn’t even thought about the possibility that Dylan might see them and she had no idea how he might react, much less his mother. Gently she tried to pull away from Cassidy but the woman beside her tightened her grip. “Hey, Speed Racer,” was all she could manage as her voice trembled slightly.

She suddenly felt Cassidy move and a chin came to rest on her chest. “Dylan?” Cassidy called over to her son, making no move to release her grip on the agent. “Did you have a nightmare?” The agent couldn’t move, couldn’t think. A warm surge of emotion seemed to be rising through her, filling her senses in a way that no words could ever hope to describe. There was no question now in her mind, Cassidy O’Brien loved her. Right here in this simple moment Alex Toles felt more loved and more at home than ever before. Dylan moved closer to the agent and Alex propped herself up a bit. The boy’s eyes were wide, but it was the fear solicited by a bad dream that drove his expression. As Alex moved to lift him onto her bed she realized that like his mother, he seemed to be completely unfazed by the two sleeping beside one another. He moved between them and Alex thought she might explode from the emotions
that filled her as she watched Cassidy brush the hair from his small eyes.

“Just a dream, sweetie,” the small woman beside her said lovingly, comforting the boy. Cassidy looked up to Alex who was sitting against the headboard. Instantly the teacher saw the agent’s reaction. It touched her. She had always wished that her family could be this way. When she was pregnant with Dylan she would imagine that she and Chris would do these things together; that having a child would begin to settle him; but that never came to pass. She knew that he loved them both in his own way but the congressman was always preoccupied with other things and he lacked the ability to be still in any moment.

“It’s all right, Speed Racer,” Alex said. “Do you want to sleep here with your mom?” He nodded and Alex starting to pull herself off the bed when a small hand grabbed her shirt and pulled. Cassidy watched her son position himself firmly against the FBI agent and realized he had fallen in love with Alex as much as she had.

Cassidy watched the agent’s expression as Alex laid down beside Dylan and accepted his small head onto her shoulder. She could tell that Alex was clearly overwhelmed by his gesture. The agent had worried about coming between Cassidy’s family just hours ago. She smiled at the woman holding her son, her green eyes twinkling the message that she could not convey in words. ‘This
is
my family,’ she thought. If Cassidy had allowed herself even one moment to think, she would’ve asked herself how she could be so sure of something in such a short time; something completely different than she had ever expected. Dylan quelled all of her reasoning. Children often saw what adults failed to allow themselves to believe. Cassidy knew that. As she laid her head back down, placing her arm over the son she loved more than life, she gently grasped the agent’s hand. “I love you,” she said softly as all three drifted back to sleep.

Alex smiled at the sight before her as she maneuvered off the bed. She silently shook her head, wondering how in the world her life could’ve changed so much in less than a week. A small sigh escaped her as she forced herself to remove her stare from the sleeping pair. Somehow she knew this was not the last time she would look at the picture in front of her and that left her feeling incredibly grateful. Making her way to the small kitchen, she picked up the pot of cold coffee, poured it in a mug and threw it into the microwave, retrieving it before its signature beep blew through the apartment. She made her way back to the mess of files that still littered her living room. Plopping down on the couch that seemed to consume her when she sat on it, she sipped the coffee. She grimaced as it trickled down her throat. “Terrible,” she muttered, accepting it to her lips for another sip. She picked up a random file and began scanning it. Then she had an idea. She pulled the photos from several files and lined them beside one another on the coffee table. They were surveillance photos of the press taken at the congressman’s events over the last few months. She leaned over the table and concentrated on the faces. Her eyes were almost slits as she brought her face within inches of the photos. “That’s Carl,” a small voice said moving alongside the agent.

Alex jumped and coffee splashed on her face. Dylan giggled. “What?” The agent asked now, perplexed by his statement.

“Right there,” he pointed to a face that appeared in one of the photos. “That’s Carl!” He said in his typical ‘don’t you get it’ manner.

Alex lifted the picture and studied it closely. The faces were small but she could clearly make out the face the boy had pointed to. “Dylan,” she started cautiously, “Do you know this man?”

“Can I have juice?” Was his response.

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes,” she said leading him to her refrigerator. She opened the carton of orange juice and sniffed. Her eyes watered at the strength of its smell
alone. “Ummm… no juice…ummm…How about… well,” she looked through her cabinets as a pair of small eyes followed her nervous pacing. “I have…. Yeah… I have this orange drink… uh stuff?” She pulled down some packets of powder and held them up with some reservation for the boy’s approval. Dylan shrugged his agreement. Alex set about stirring the packet into some water. “Dylan,” she said as she handed him the glass, “who is Carl?”

He shrugged again. “I dunno…some guy.” Alex wasn’t sure where Dylan recognized the man from but she wasn’t ready to write it off. “Does he know you?”

“Sure,” Dylan said sipping his drink. “Can I watch cartoons?”

Alex took a deep breath and looked at the boy. The agent in her wanted to press harder but as she watched him explore the tiny sugar crystals that rose to the top of his glass with his finger, something else took over. She scratched her eyebrow and chuckled. “Sure… Come on.” She led him to the television and flipped on a station with cartoons. She started back to her former task, but a glimpse of Cassidy sleeping in the other room made her stop momentarily. She smiled at the sight of the small blonde woman sprawled across the bed before making her way back to the couch. She started rummaging through the files until she found the one that she hoped was there. ‘Carl Edward Fisher’. “Who are you, Carl Edward Fisher?” She whispered to herself opening the file. “Twenty nine. Huh,” she grabbed a piece of paper and followed the words with her index finger. “Stanford…..Photographer….Christopher O’Brien for Congress.” She stroked her chin in thought. “Dylan,” she called to him. “Did Carl take pictures of your dad?”