The players will pay

Chapt. 23

I lay motionless on the cold tiled floor...staring at the wall, thinking about all the tragedies that occurred in my life. First, my parents than my sister, then the inevitable heartbreak and finally this-my uncle. It was just too much and so unfair. Why did I get all the bad luck?

I held a half-opened envelope in my lap. It was a modelling request from Vogue, they wanted me on the cover of their next magazine. The richest eligible hottie, Cassandra Lively, owner of Lively ltd. What bullfuck...people must think my life is so glamorous right? Got the looks, the money, the brains and especially the body. Oh, I'm blessed!

if only they knew...

Carlos was dead...gone. That fact still hadn't settled in my brain. It felt just like yesterday that I had officially accepted him as my dad...I was content for once in my life. But, no. That wasn't allowed to happen.

As I stared into nothingness, something bothered me. A constant pounding, along with someone who was calling me by name. It grew louder and louder when I snapped and discovered the source of the annoying noise.

The door. Somebody was calling me...ordering me to open up. HA HA.

It silenced down.

Then ,again, I heard a knock. Like always when people demanded to be let in, I chose to ignore it.

My uncle's death had a harder impact on me than I had anticipated. For 2 days since his funeral, I had locked the door to my room and sat down, wallowing in my unfortunate sorrow.

The knock came again, "Cassandra". A voice pleaded to me from the other end of the door. "Just open up "

It was Woods. That dude just didn't give up. He had been knocking on my door and calling my name since god knows how long. "I'm not leaving till you open the door, you know that right?" He said in his stubborn voice.

I didn't reply. Then I heard a thump and a noise indicating that he had sat down on the other end, with his back against the door. The same position as I was sitting in from my side.

We sat in silence for 5 full minutes when I finally spoke. "Forget it, Woods."

"No can do."

"You know that I push people away...that's just how I am. You should go. Move on with your life."

I heard Woods bang a fist to the door from the other end, "Oh hell no" he said angrily, "There will be no pushing me away, Cassie. If you push me, I'll grab you and pin you to the wall. You need someone to be there for you...and here I am. I'm not leaving till you open this dorr."

His words impacted me immensely. Something squeezed my heart. It caused me to stand up and prop open the door. Woods sensing the movement stood up and looked at me...with such warmth and comfort in his eyes. A single tear rolled down my cheek. HE was there and as much as I lied to myself, I needed him.

SO I hugged him and started sobbing into his shirt. Letting all the pain Carlos' death had inflicted be heard. I felt it. And I was glad I did because the relief that I felt after my tears dried up was the best feeling I had had in months. It was alarming how good it felt standing back into that cozy embrace of his.

His lean muscular arms were wrapped around me protectively and my head rested on his warm chest, with that soft beating of his heart. The rhythm made me calm. Nothing could harm me in the world as long as I stayed here.

"Thank you" I whispered.

Woods smiled and rubbed my shoulder soothingly. "Anything for you Cassie."

-

Days flew by and I realized that I had started to spend more and more time with Woods. Cameron never showed up. For the starting few days, I called him numerous times, calls which he never returned. But the more I hung out with Woods, the less I thought about Cameron. And soon I completely forgot about him. And surprisingly, I had recovered and moved on from my uncle's death remarkably. All thanks to Woods.