The Forgotten Night

by Becky Andrews

  “Sorry, just the look on your face, it was priceless.”

  “Why? I just couldn’t understand what you were saying. It sounded good,” he hastened to reassure her.

  Cassidy studied Andrew a moment longer, hoping she could catch a glimmer of what had really passed through his head the moment she began speaking to him. “I was just saying that classes were good—”

  “I gathered that,” he said with a smile.

  “Yes, then I said that I only have a few more classes to fulfill my course requirements. I also said you have no idea what I’m talking about.”

  “So are you and my sister going to take that long awaited cruise you’ve both been talking about non-stop since your freshman year?”

  Cassidy laughed as Andrew spun her out and back into him. “I’m not sure, I’m applying for grad school and if I get accepted into the program I want, I would have to start this next summer to finish in two years.

  “You want Columbia, right?” Andrew asked and Cassidy nodded.

  “How’s your first year of law school?” Cassidy asked, moving in step with Andrew to the music. Andrew was in his first year at Yale University. Cassidy knew he had his heart set on Harvard, but he wanted to know he had been accepted for his academia and not based on the fact that his parents were alumni and just happened to be one of the richest families in the Northeast. Andrew had applied secretly and when he had received his acceptance letter from Harvard, Cassidy was the first to know about it. She was happy for him, even if it meant being further away from him. It wasn’t until he received a second letter from the Dean that he knew his parents had made a phone call. It was after this that Andrew decided upon Yale.

  “Cassie?”

  Cassidy looked up at Andrew. “Huh? Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

  Andrew smiled at her. “I was just saying that the first year has been difficult, but worth every minute.”

  “I’m glad,” she said, smiling back just as the music stopped.

  “Oh children, that was wonderful! Sexy ten!” Aunt Cecile cried, mimicking Bruno from Dancing with the Stars.

  Cassidy had a soft spot for the aging woman, but groaned at the thought of Aunt Cecile saying ‘sexy ten’. Something about the way she said it just made the words anything but sexy. “Thanks, Aunt Cecile.”

  The woman nodded and walked away to join the other women congregating in the corner.

  Andrew let out the laugh he had been holding and Cassidy joined in. “You should have seen your face when she said ‘sexy ten’.” Andrew smiled. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

  Cassidy groaned and buried her head against his chest. “The dancing or your aunt?”

  “My aunt…or the dancing…both,” he said defensively.

  Cassidy laughed and lifted her head to look at Andrew. “The dancing was perfect, Andy, as it always is. The comment however, I could’ve lived without the whole ‘sexy ten’. She’s getting worse, I hope you realize.”

  “Yes, but no one can convince her to stop watching the show. You know she lives for Monday night.” Andrew smiled.

  Cassidy hit him playfully on the chest. “Stop joking, she probably does live for Dancing with the Stars.”

  Andrew caught her hand before she could hit him again and brought it up to his lips and kissed it gently. Cassidy never took her eyes off his, even when she felt tingles branch up through her arm, sending shivers down her back. “I'll see you later tonight, Cassie, but for now I must bid you farewell,” he said with an over-exaggerated bow. “I must perform my sonly duties and mingle with the guests.”

  Cassidy watched as he retreated into the crowd and began talking with some men she could only assume worked for Andrew's father.

  “Hey Cass, what did Aunt Cecile say this time?” Rachel asked as she came up beside Cassie.

  “Ugh, you don’t want to know,” Cassidy replied.

  “That bad, huh?” Rachel asked.

  “Does ‘sexy ten’ sound bad to you?”

  “She didn’t? Really? She’s getting worse.”

  “Exactly what I told your brother, Rach,” Cassidy said. “I think I’m ready for some alcohol, so I can get these horrible images out of my head.”

  Cassidy laughed with her friend as they made their way over to the bar for a couple of drinks. “Shit!” Cassidy said softly as she took the drink offered to her.

  “What?” Rachel asked as she too took her drink.

  “I just realized that my book is in Andy’s coat pocket.”

  “You’ll see him again before you leave. Don’t forget you have to haul his drunken ass up to his room.” Rachael smiled. “I still don’t understand why he only wants you to help him every year.”

  “Maybe I’ll ask him tonight in his drunken stupor.” Cassie laughed, taking a sip of her drink. It had become somewhat of a Christmas Eve tradition between them. Andrew was actually not much of a drinker, but every year, at this party, he let himself kick loose, and Cassie always mopped up the mess.

  “You can always read when you get home, it’s not like you haven’t read it before,” Rachel said pointedly.

  “How do you know which book I brought?” Cassie asked, raising a brow.

  “Cass, it’s the same book you always bring to a party. You’ve read it a million times. I would think you’d have it memorized by now,” Rachel joked.

  Cassidy laughed and continued to sip her drink, knowing it was going to be a long night without any real entertainment. She wouldn’t see Andrew again until someone came to fetch her to notify her of his drunken state.

  Cassidy never minded doing her job, even though sometimes she grumbled for outward appearances. She always found him absolutely adorable when he was sloppy drunk. Of course, she found him adorable all the time, so that wasn’t really a surprise.

  “Hello Cassidy, Rachel,” Ashley Kingston said in a syrupy sweet tone behind them.

  Cassidy turned, as did Rachel. Cassidy gave an inner moan, knowing the night was about to get worse. She and Ashley had never gotten along.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t Ashley Kingston,” Cassidy said, matching Ashley’s over-sweet manner. “I haven’t seen you since last summer when you had to get your implants repositioned.”

  Ashley narrowed her eyes at Cassidy. “Wow, Cassidy, I didn’t know you actually liked to have fun at a party. Aren’t you normally reading in the corner somewhere?”

  “Listen, Ashley, the only reason why you are even allowed in this house is because my parents invited your parents,” Rachel said, setting her drink down.

  “Just because you don’t like me and don’t want me here doesn’t mean that Drew feels the same,” Ashley smirked.

  Cassidy narrowed her eyes at Ashley. “Andy wouldn’t give you the time of day when we were in high school, and he hasn’t paid you any attention since then either. What makes you think he feels differently now?”

  “You don’t know everything about Drew, Cassidy.” Ashley smiled and walked off.

  “Chienne,” Cassidy said under her breath.

  “You got that right,” Rachel agreed.

  “You know what I said?” Cassidy asked with a smile on her face.

  “The one thing I have learned from all these years of listening to you speak French, would be curses. You just called her a bitch, and I couldn’t agree with you more.” Rachel smiled.

  “That would be the only thing you’d learn,” Cassidy said then laughed with her friend.

  * * *

  A couple hours later, Brian Fisher, one of Andrew’s best friends, found Cassidy in the ballroom, dancing with her father. “Cassidy,” Brian said, interrupting the dance.

  “Where is he?” she asked, needing no clarification. Andrew was the only reason Brian would seek her out.

  “He’s outside with the rest of the guys, he’s starting to get—”

  “All right, I’m coming,” she said then turned to her father. “Daddy—”

  “Go, sweetheart. I’ll see you later at home. I assum
e you will be leaving after you help Andrew upstairs?”

  Cassidy nodded then turned to follow Brian outside. Cassidy loved her father, she truly was daddy’s little girl. She was the only child in her family and her father spoiled her horribly.

  “It’s only midnight, what were you guys doing?” Cassidy asked. Usually she wouldn’t help Andrew upstairs until the early hours of the morning.

  “Just Kings, several rounds,” Brian said, sliding the kitchen door open to reveal the guys sitting around a table on the deck.

  “But…how…”

  “We didn’t play with beer, uh, we used vodka, and Drew just happened to draw the last King every round, among other things.”

  “You know he can’t handle—”

  “Cassie!” Andrew called from the table. “There you are!”

  Cassidy shook her head then advanced toward him. “Come on, I have to get you upstairs.”

  “Aw, no. Play with us. One round,” he slurred.

  “You can’t even speak without slurring.”

  “One round, then we can go,” he said, picking up a bottle off the table.

  “Andrew Eugene Winbright, put the bottle down now!” she said sternly, and somewhat to her surprise, Andrew listened. “Good, now get up, I’m taking you upstairs.”

  “Sorry, guys, the woman said no,” Andrew said, pushing his chair back.

  The guys tried to hold in their laughter as Andrew stumbled to his feet.

  “Come on, hot shot, let’s go,” Cassidy said, wrapping an arm around Andrew’s waist as he draped an arm around her shoulders. Slowly and rather clumsily, Cassidy helped Andrew into the kitchen and up the back stairs. “You know you can’t handle vodka, Andy.”

  “It was not that much,” he said as she practically pulled him up each step.

  “God, would it be too much to ask that maybe one of these years you wouldn’t get drunk?”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  “Cassidy, Drew!” With an irritated sigh, Cassidy stopped and pushed Andrew toward the wall to rest.

  “What do you want, Ashley?” she asked.

  “It just looks like you could use some help. I can take one side—”

  “I don’t need your help, Ashley,” Andrew said seriously.

  “You’re drunk, Drew,” Ashley said with a laugh. “You don’t know what you want.”

  “You’re just jealous, get a clue. I don’t want you. I don’t need you. You’ll never be who I want. You’ll never be as good as her,” Drew told her belligerently.

  Ashley huffed in anger and stalked off.

  “Come on, help me to my room,” Drew muttered.

  Cassidy took her position once more, trying to figure out what he’d meant. They reached his door and Cassidy pushed it open and helped Andrew sit down on the small sofa that was situated to one side of the large room.

  “Let’s get you out of this suit. Your parents will kill you if you ruin it.”

  “It’s not like we don’t have money to buy another,” Andrew said as Cassidy helped him take off his jacket.

  She walked across the room to his large walk-in closet, almost like the one in her room at home, only slightly smaller and not as many drawers and racks for shoes and other accessories. She took a hanger off the rack and hung the jacket up with his other nice suits.

  Cassidy walked back out and found Andrew still sitting where she had left him. She sat down in front of him on the small coffee table situated in front of the couch and helped him take off his shoes. “Andy, can I ask you something?”

  “Anything, Cassie,” he said and she noted he had stopped slurring.

  “Why me? I mean, why do you only want me to help you?” she asked as she slipped the other shoe off and set them to the side.

  Andrew paused then took Cassidy’s hands in his. “Do you know what I thought when I rescued you from the pool when we first met?”

  Cassidy shook her head, wondering what that had to do with anything.

  “I wondered how someone who stood three feet taller than the height of the water could be so stupid as to drown in the kiddy pool—”

  “How is this relevant?” Cassie cried indignantly. “And I resent that! You know that Danny Watts punched me for stealing his ball—”

  “Just let me finish,” he said, putting his hand up to her mouth to stop her from speaking. “But then when I pulled you out and looked into your eyes…I mean, after all the coughing…”

  Cassidy pushed him lightly on the arm.

  “Okay, okay.” He laughed slightly. “When I looked into your eyes, I knew. You had such an effect on me, Cassie. You still do. So you want to know the reason why I only want you to help me? It’s the same reason I come and visit you and Rach so often at NYU. I want to be close to you.” Cassidy tried to speak but Andrew cut her off. “No, I have to tell you this or I will never strum up enough courage—”

  “I think you mean drum,” she said, her heart racing.

  “I will never drum up enough courage. Cassie, ever since I first laid eyes on you, I knew I could never live without you in my life. I know it sounds crazy. I mean I was only twelve and you ten, but it was as true then as it is tonight. I love you, Cassie,” he said, looking down at her. “Are you going to say anything?”

  “I—I love you too,” she said, and a smile crept on his face at her words. “And it doesn’t sound crazy, because I’ve known since that day too.”

  Andrew cupped her face with his hands and wiped her sudden happy surge of tears away, then leaned forward. Cassidy’s breath caught in her throat when Andrew’s lips were inches from her own. Andrew smiled slightly then closed the space between them and kissed her.

  Cassidy had thought a lot about what it would be like to kiss Andrew, and her fantasies were nowhere near as wonderful as the actual thing. Andrew captured her lips with his and bestowed soft tantalizing kisses that left Cassidy wanting more. She hadn’t realized there were so many different ways to kiss a person. She had never really kissed or been kissed by anyone, for that matter. She was always so focused on school and no one ever seemed as appealing as Andrew.

  He moved his hands down to rest on her hips as she wrapped hers around his neck, playing with his hair. She wanted more, no, she demanded more. Cassidy opened her lips slightly, and Andrew followed suit. Andrew ran his tongue across her bottom lip, and she made a noise halfway between a moan and gasp. He smiled against her lips as he continued to trace her mouth. Cassidy moved her hands to grasp the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her. Andrew held her tighter and deepened the kiss.

  Cassidy was the first one to pull away, her breathing was heavy and she could feel Andrew’s labored breaths tickling her face as he rested his forehead on hers. “Wow, that was—”

  Andrew chuckled. “Yeah, it was.”

  “You need to sleep, you’re still drunk,” Cassidy said softly.

  “I’m not drunk, Cassie. You don’t realize the power your kiss has, the power your touch has over me.”

  Cassidy smiled and pulled away from his grasp. She stood up and held out her hands to help Andrew up. “That still doesn’t change the fact that you need sleep. You will have a killer headache in the morning.”

  Andrew placed his hands in hers and stood up with her help. He wrapped his arms around her waist. “You’re beautiful, Cassie. Did I tell you that tonight?”

  She shook her head and started playing with his hair again.

  “You keep doing that, and I’m going to lose any self-control that I might have right now,” Andrew threatened.

  “Oh, really?” Cassidy brushed her lips across his.

  Andrew could only make a neutral ‘mmm’ as he deepened their kiss. He ran his hands down her back and rested them on her hips. “I’m serious, Cassie,” Andrew murmured against her lips.

  “You don’t see me complaining, do you?” she asked before he kissed her lips.

  Andrew moved to kiss her jaw and down to her neck. Cassidy moaned and tilted her head back as he
kissed her neck, moving back up to reclaim her lips. Cassidy slid her hands down his chest, and he tensed at her touch.

  “You’re killing me, Cassie,” he said, resting his forehead on hers.

  “Now I don’t want that.” She smiled coyly.

  “What do you want?” he asked huskily as she continued to trace lines on his chest.

  Cassidy looked up and noticed his deep blue eyes had turned a shade darker. “You,” she said softly, not even sure she said it herself, until Andrew’s lips crushed hers, showing her just how much he wanted her, needed her.

  She grasped the front of his shirt as he continued to kiss her, running his hands up and down her sides. Slowly she pulled out his tucked-in white dress shirt. She started at the bottom and slowly worked her way up, unbuttoning as she went. Andrew removed his hands from her hips for only a moment while he shrugged his shirt off. Cassidy lifted his undershirt to feel his bare chest and Andrew complied, breaking the kiss to pull it off. After he had discarded it, he passionately kissed her. Cassidy let her hands roam his chest and stomach, satisfied in knowing her touch had such an effect on him.

  Andrew again began to kiss her jaw and moved down her neck to her shoulders. He moved his hands to her back and found the zipper at the top of her dress. Slowly he drew the zipper down, brushing his fingertips down her back. Once she was completely unzipped, he pushed the dress down so it pooled at her feet in a puddle on the floor. She gasped as the air hit her naked skin.

  “Now this just doesn’t seem fair, you still have your pants,” she said while Andrew raked his gaze over her body. She fought the urge to cover herself, but the appreciation in his eyes gave her courage.

  “You’re completely right,” he said, capturing her lips as he fumbled with his belt.

  Cassidy steadied his hands and slowly and rather tantalizingly undid his belt and unbuttoned his suit pants. Slowly she unzipped the pants and pushed them down so they, like her dress, fell to the floor around his legs. Cassidy broke from their kiss and looked down at Andrew.

  “Like what you see?” Andrew asked with a smile on his face.

  “Mmm, and you?”

  “Baby, everything about you is perfect,” he said, scooping her up in his arms.