Heartless love ( mend my heart)

Cassandra smiled as she pulled into the parking garage of her boyfriend's law firm. She was excited about surprising him with lunch from his favourite restaurant.

She was looking forward to seeing him today so she could finally catch up.

Since Johnathan had been working a lot of extra hours lately, trying to make partner at his law firm and she felt like she hadn't seen him much at all for the past several weeks.

He'd been so busy with work that they barely took time to spend any quality time together as a couple, so she hoped he would be free for lunch today.

Cassandra bounced across the parking lot toward her boyfriend's office building feeling the warm, late spring sunshine on her face.

As she neared the building, the doorman greeted her, "Good afternoon Miss Miller."

The doorman, Mr. Wilks, was a heavily bearded old man with very little hair on his head. He greeted everyone and was always polite and respectful, no matter how lowly they were.

"Good afternoon Mr. Wilks. Beautiful day today, isn't it?" she said breezily.

The doorman returned with a curt nod of his head, smiling at her, "It is, Miss Miller."

Whenever Cassandra came by, Mr. Wilks was always happy to see her, and his smile never failed to brighten her day. Gesturing for her to proceed into the building, Mr. Wilks opened the door for her.

"I do hope you have a nice day."

Cassandra laughed lightly, "You, too, Mr. Wilks."

As she walked into the building, Mr. Wilks closed the door behind. Floating through the building, she quickly got through security at the front desk and then made her way to the elevator.

She pressed the button and waited patiently for the elevator to arrive. When the doors opened, she stepped inside and pressed the button for Johnathan's floor.

When the door closed in front of her, Cassandra stood quietly and watched the numbers on the display increase, as the elevator rose fast.

The ride to the floor was quiet and uneventful, but at least it was short. As soon as the doors opened slowly on Johnathan's floor, Cassandra got out and stepped on the marble-tiled walk away.

As she walked towards Johnathan's office and turned left down the hallway, the sun streamed brightly through the large "floor-to-ceiling" windows.

She felt the excitement build as she got closer to his office. Johnathan hated surprises but, she knew he'd be happy about this one.

He had promised some quality time together but couldn't seem to tear himself away from the office. Cassandra tried to be understanding and supportive of his career.

It made sense that he would be stressed, but she wasn't too happy about the lack of time he was putting into their relationship and wished that Johnathan could let go enough to have fun and unwind with her.

As she entered his office, she sailed past his assistant, Ashley's, empty desk because, as usual, she was not there.

She was probably off gossiping in a corner somewhere with her stuck-up co-workers.

For all she knew, Ashley probably talked badly about her behind her back, but she didn't care because today was going to be a good day, and nothing was going to ruin her mood!

Stopping outside the door to Johnathan's office, Cassandra could hear voices coming from inside, and after carefully listening, she recognised them as Ashley's and Johnathan's.

They must probably be busy discussing something important, Cassandra thought.

Taking a deep breath, she lightly knocked on the frosted glass door, but no response came back except the sound of laughter. She wanted to knock again but decided against it and entered his office without his permission.

Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw there.

Perched on Johnathan's desk entangled in his shirtless arms was a half-naked Ashley. Judging by the grins on both their faces, they both looked happy with what they were doing.

Cassandra watched as Ashley pulled open the front of Johnathan's shirt, exposing more of his bare chest which instantly made the blood leave Cassandra's face.

There stood Johnathan wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and his white shirt. Johnathan himself was oblivious to Cassandra as a satisfied smile spread across Ashley's lips as she pushed her tongue into Johnathan's mouth.

His mouth moved hungrily over hers as if he never intended to stop for even a moment, making her arch underneath him, moaning.

Seeing the sight before her, Cassandra felt sick to her stomach. A tear slipped down her cheek.

Ashley wrapped her legs tightly around Johnathan's waist, as he nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck, and let his hands roam freely and unceremoniously over her body.

It looked so wrong, and Cassandra's heart was breaking with every touch.

This wasn't how the afternoon was supposed to end for them.

They should have been having lunch now.

Even though the image before her was slowly eating away at her, she couldn't turn her eyes away. She could only stand there and stare dumbfounded.

Feeling the lump that filled her throat, threatening to make its way into her mouth, Cassandra swallowed hard and tried to push down her rising bile.

She couldn't believe this was happening.

Why was this happening?

It felt as though the entire world had suddenly gone black all around her.

As her whole body shook, Cassandra unconsciously dropped the bag of food onto the floor. Hearing the noise, Ashley looked up and saw Cassandra standing there. Without much thought, Ashley immediately broke away from Johnathan.

She pulled herself away from Johnathan and jumped down from his desk when she met eyes with Cassandra. She looked just as shocked as Cassandra.

Wondering why Ashley stopped, Johnathan turned around to find Cassandra looking at him. Instantly, a look of horror plastered all over his face.

He was staring at her with his mouth hung open. For what seemed like hours, all they did was stare at each other until Johnathan finally managed to form words.

"I can explain," Johnathan said calmly, though he looked equally flustered and embarrassed.

His chest rose and fell rapidly; as he tried to calm down from his arousal.

He quickly sat upright, trying to pull up his shirt, while Ashley gathered her blouse from the floor and slowly walked out the door.

He took in Cassandra's frozen expression, her wide eyes filled with shock, disbelief, and most of all, betrayal.

"It's not what it looks like!" Johnathan blurted out as he walked toward Cassandra. It was the typical clichéd response from a cheater that had just been caught in the act.

It took every ounce of Cassandra's willpower to keep herself in check as a sob threatened to escape her mouth.

"I should have known," Cassandra said, feeling her anger rising fast as more tears escaped.

As Johnathan drew close to Cassandra and reached out for her, suddenly and without warning, she came out of her shocked state and instinctively cocked her arm back and slapped him across his flushed face.

"You cheating bastard! You can go screw yourself!"

Johnathan took a few steps back and stood in shocked silence as he rubbed his jaw where Cassandra had just struck him.

"You are a filthy, classless, bastard and I never want to lay eyes on you again!" she blurted out angrily.

"But Cassie,"- Johnathan pleaded but was quickly cut off.

"Don't call me Cassie. In fact, don't call me ever again!" Cassandra yelled through her tears as they streaked down her face. "I never want to see you again!"

As she wiped furiously at her cheeks with the sleeves of her sweater, she turned away and left the room without another word, slamming the door shut behind her and making her way back out into the hallway.

Cassandra could hear Johnathan behind her calling out her name, "Cassie?... Cassandra?... Come back, and let's talk about this!"

But she didn't turn back, and he stood there at the door, staring after her.

Johnathan watched after Cassandra left, unable to move from his spot as the realisation of what happened weighed heavy on him.

While Johnathan slowly lowered himself into a crouch against his door frame, Cassandra was already storming past Ashley's desk.

But, just a few feet away, Cassandra stopped and turned back to Ashley, who was now seated and silent. Her face flushed from the passionate embrace she had shared with Johnathan just a few moments ago.

With cold, unfeeling eyes, she said, "Oh, by the way, I hope you enjoyed my sloppy seconds because all you will ever be is somebody's side piece.

"You're nothing but a no-good, worthless whore!" and with that, she ran toward the elevators.

Tbc

Cassandra reached the parking lot and threw herself into her car, and drove off in a frenzy, screeching tires as she left. Weaving in and out of traffic, Cassandra sped toward home with a heavy heart.

Once she arrived safely back home, she parked her car and ran inside to the refuge of her little two-bedroom cottage, and threw herself down onto her bed.

The tears came fast and hard, flowing freely down her cheeks like waterfalls. They fell silently onto her pillow, staining it, as she buried her head into it.

Tears for a guy she had spent two years of her life with, only to find him entwined in the arms of his trashy assistant.

The weight on her shoulders felt like it was crushing her, as her chest heaved and her eyes burned and stung. She was sobbing so hard that it felt like someone had taken her soul from her body and was trying to wring the last vestiges of life out of it.

She screamed at the betrayal that she had just uncovered. She was so angry she couldn't think straight, as many questions plagued her mind.

Why did he do this?

How could she have been so stupid?

How did she not pay attention to all the signs?

"It's over. It's over... it's all over," she screamed as she curled further into a tight ball under her comforter.

As her head replayed the events that had transpired that afternoon, the tears continued to stream, until there was nothing left in her to cry about.

Until the sharp pain inside her heart turned numb.

Until her body stopped shaking

Until all that was left were her hiccups and her sniffles.

Finally, when her tears had stopped, and her face was wet, there came a stillness as she laid there, unmoving. As she stared at the ceiling in the darkness, she slowly drifted to sleep.

(•)

Cassandra awoke to the sound of her phone ringing.

She rolled over, ignoring whoever it was, and immediately upon opening her eyes, she began to feel the stabbing pain of betrayal flood her thoughts and emotions once again.

She hoped that she would wake up from a bad dream and all would be right in her world, but that wasn't the case.

Instead, she woke up to tear-stained cheeks and a dark emptiness inside of her, feeling more alone than she had in a long while.

Cassandra finally dragged herself out of bed and headed to the kitchen. She grabbed the ice-cold vodka bottle out of the freezer and poured herself a shot. She threw it back and felt the burn of the liquor as it ran down the back of her throat.

She was ready to pour herself another, and then suddenly her phone started ringing again.

"Who in the hell keeps calling?" she thought angrily.

Fully prepared to send whoever it was directly to voicemail and shut the phone off, Cassandra went to grab her cell. But before she pressed the hangup button, she saw her friend's name appear on her phone's screen.

Eloise Chesterfield had been Cassandra's best friend since the first grade when her family had moved just across the street from Cassandra.

They were inseparable up until just after high school ended. They didn't see each other as often as they liked nowadays due to the daily activities of adult life that took up their time.

Eloise had gotten married just a few years after graduation to her high school sweetheart, Nicholas, whom Cassandra never really cared for that much.

He seemed like a nice enough guy, but she felt like Nicholas was a little too "old school" and held Eloise back from doing what she had always dreamt of doing.

Nicholas didn't want her to go to work, so she stayed home and took care of the house like a good little wife. Eloise claims that she's okay with it, but Cassandra knew her friend better than that.

She had an independent side to her, and it's as if Nicholas had just suffocated it and put it to rest the day they said their "I do's".

Nicholas has been pushing for Eloise to get pregnant and start a family, but that was not something that she had ever really wanted in her life.

And so, the issue was causing some major conflict between the couple.

She always talked of having a glamorous job and owning her own apartment. Eloise even vowed to take Cassandra on adventures with her long into their old age.

However, when Nicholas came along, those plans changed drastically, and Eloise changed. She was no longer her old, scrappy, independent self.

"Hello?" Cassandra answered Eloise's call with a quiet, hoarse voice.

"Cassie?" Eloise asked with concern in her voice, "Is that you?"

"Yeah." came the emotionless response.

"You don't sound good. Are you okay?"

"No... not really." Cassandra sighed and then threw back another straight vodka shot with a grunt.

"Don't go anywhere; I'm coming over!"

And with that, Eloise hung up the phone.

(•)

"Cassandra, you look awful! What's going on?" Eloise blurted as she walked into the house.

"Good to know because I feel awful, too."

Cassandra's orange-brown hair was a matted mess, her mascara had streaked black marks down her cheeks, and her eyes were red and puffy.

Taking a few more shots to try and numb the pain before Eloise arrived, Cassandra also reeked of alcohol.

"Well, I went to surprise Michael at his office today at lunch," Cassandra slurred, "and guess what I saw... I caught him half-naked on his desk with that skanky bitch, Ashley," she explained numbly.

"What?" Eloise yelled out.

"Yep... he's a cheating son of a bitch, and I was too stupid to see it. Why was I so blind to see it?"

"Cassie, don't do that! You had no way of knowing!" she declared as she rubbed her friend's back.

"All of those times he claimed he was working late, I'm sure he was tangled up with that no good hag," she said through a muffled, drunken hiccup.

"I'm so sorry, Cassie. What a lousy piece of crap he is. He doesn't deserve you and honestly, never did!"

"Well, I slapped the shit out of him, and it felt great!" she giggled to Eloise. "I've never hit anyone before."

Eloise couldn't help but giggle along with her friend. She knew whatever bottle Cassandra had been knocking back seemed to be doing the job, at least for now.

However, Eloise also knew that Cassandra was going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning, and unfortunately, the emotional pain would still be there when she woke up.

"Cassandra, maybe we should get some coffee in you and get you into bed."

"No, I don't want any caffeine."

"Well, you're going to get it anyway," Eloise said and got up.

Eloise went into the kitchen and quickly made her friend a cup of coffee. But when returning with the cup, she found Cassandra already passed out on the couch.

With a sigh, Eloise threw a blanket over her and sat down next to her. As Eloise quickly drank the coffee she made, she wrote a note to Cassandra.

'Call me when you wake up tomorrow. I have something that might improve your mood a little bit. - Ellie'

Tbc

Cassandra awoke around noon the next day with a pounding headache and a queasy stomach. Those vodka shots did the trick for a good night's sleep but did absolutely nothing for her mood today.

She slowly pulled herself out of bed and went straight for the shower hoping the hot water would have a therapeutic effect on her, both physically and mentally.

After her shower, she headed into the kitchen to get some coffee when she found Eloise's note.

"Hmm, wonder what this is all about?" she thought.

Cassandra dialed Eloise's number as she sipped the steaming cup of caffeinated heaven that would have her up and at 'em in no time!

"Cassie... how are you feeling today?" Eloise teased upon answering the phone.

"Still not great. What's with this note?" Cassandra's curiosity was peaked.

"Well, you remember the band Blue Moon that we loved when we were in high school?"

"Oh... yeah! How could I forget? Geeze, we must have listened to them every single day after school. What about them?"

"They are doing a short tour here in the States, and they will be in town at the Spectrum this Friday night... and... I scored some tickets for us!"

Silence on the other end of the phone.

"Cassie, are you still there?"

"Yep."

"Okay then, did you hear what I just said? We are going to see Blue Moon in person!"

"Ellie, I don't know. That's only three days from now, and I don't think I'm going to feel up to it. Seriously, right now isn't the best time."

"Come on, Cassandra! Don't you get it? This is your one and only chance to finally see sexy-ass Jason Cole live and in person!

"I'm telling you, he's even more gorgeous now than he was back in the day. Not to mention we need a night out... you need a night out!"

Cassandra paused for a moment and then finally let out a defeated sigh.

"Okay, fine. But you're driving because I'm definitely going to need to consume some alcoholic beverages before the concert."

Eloise giggled, "That's fine by me. You'll have a great time and forget all about your problems for the night. You'll see."

"We will see," Cassandra said, and then hung up the phone.

"Well, great... What the hell do I wear to a Blue Moon concert? I guess this is a good excuse for a little retail therapy!"

Cassandra finished her cup of coffee and got dressed. She quickly threw her long locks up in a messy bun, grabbed her purse and her keys, and headed out the door. She would skip going into the office today and work from home later in the afternoon.

(•)

Cassandra was a real estate agent, and because of this, she was able to set her schedule. She had been with Jefferson & Chesley Realtors for the past eight years and thoroughly enjoyed her job.

She was a people person and loved meeting new clients. The flexibility in her schedule was a bonus and sure was coming in handy today.

She hopped in her little silver convertible and put the top down. Feeling the warm, late spring sun, she drove away, in the direction of the local mall.

She hoped this little shopping trip would help take her mind off the disastrous events of the day before, at least for a little while.

As she pulled into the parking space just in front of the mall entrance, her phone began to ring in her purse. She grabbed it and saw the call was coming from Michael.

"Oh hell no!" she thought as she sent the call directly to voicemail.

A few minutes later, her phone chimed, indicating a new text message. She glanced at it as she walked swiftly toward the mall entrance. The sadness of the day was quickly turning into anger.

"Cassie, please talk to me. I'm so sorry about what happened yesterday. She means nothing to me. It's you that I love. Please, let's try and work this out."

"Wow, this guy has some big balls," Cassandra mumbled to herself after deleting his message and throwing her phone down into the bottom of her purse.

(•)

Cassandra spent the next hour and a half perusing the shops in the mall. Finally finding the perfect outfit to wear to a rock concert, Cassandra was starting to feel a tinge of excitement about her night out with Eloise.

She chose a black corset-like top with white, lacey trim that accented her ample cleavage. She paired it with a set of white shorts with black lace that tied up each side. They hung low on her curvy hips, and the outfit really showed off her perfect, petite figure.

Cassandra was a beautiful girl but was too humble to realize how others saw her and only noticed her flaws.

For instance, she had thick, naturally wavy hair that was to die for, but she considered it to be nothing short of a "frizzy mess". Eloise always told her that other girls pay hundreds of dollars at a salon to get what God gave her naturally.

Cassandra left the mall feeling like she had gotten at least one thing accomplished. She arrived at her car and plopped down onto the warm seat.

She pulled out her phone to check for any client calls or work emails before heading home. She noticed three more text messages had come in from Michael.

He just kept sending the same thing over and over; how sorry he was and that he needed to talk to her right away.

But Cassandra could care less about his messages, and deleted all of them before speeding out of the parking lot.

(•)

Arriving home a short time later, Cassandra found a dozen roses waiting on the porch. She rolled her eyes because she immediately knew who had sent them.

The card read: "Cassandra, you are my one true love. Forgive me. Johnathan"

"Ha! Fat chance!" she said aloud as she threw the card down and walked right past the extravagant display of colorful petals.

Cassandra would do something with those later but, for now, she needed to go inside and find a bite to eat. Her grumbling belly was reminding her that she had not eaten since breakfast the day before.

Other than the vodka from the night before and the coffee that she downed earlier in the morning, she hadn't had anything else.

Despite the angry rumbling coming from Cassandra's mid-section, she didn't have an appetite. She managed to choke down a piece of dry toast and a cup of noodle soup.

Her headache was starting to wear away from her hangover but, she was feeling a bit worn out. She went to the couch to lie down for a bit and maybe take a short nap before tackling her work emails.

Just as Cassandra was about to doze off, her phone started ringing. Startled, she awoke immediately and saw that it was Eloise calling.

"Hey, Ellie."

"Cassie! You'll never guess what I just got for us!" Eloise was nearly shouting through the other end of the phone.

"Not in the mood for guessing games, Ellie. What is it?"

"My friend that got me tickets for the Blue Moon's concert Friday just called me back and asked if I would be interested in attending the meet and greet before the show!"

Cassandra replied groggily, "Huh? What are we doing?"

"Cassie, we are going to get to meet the band! You get to meet Jason Cole! How awesome is that"?

"Oh, wow, Ellie... that's actually pretty cool. I'm looking forward it," Cassandra replied with forced enthusiasm.

She just didn't share the same excitement as her friend.

Cassandra used to have a big crush on the lead singer, and any other time she would be over the moon about meeting him; however, the sadness of the whole Johnathan betrayal had returned and was weighing her down emotionally.

"Okay, see you then, and please try to cheer up," Eloise said.

"Yeah, I'll try. Goodbye, Eloise," Cassandra said and then she hung up, deciding it was probably time to do some work.

If she could get through the next couple of days, Cassandra knew that once she went out with Eloise and started having some fun, she would feel a whole lot better.

Tbc