Chapter 9: The Aftermath

Casey's POV

"Heather, please let me explain," Casey begs.

Casey hates himself for being the cause of the pain he sees on Heather's face. He wants nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and completely lose himself in her. Unfortunately, he can't.

"It was a mistake… I understand. I should go. I will see you on Monday with the information about the account holder." Heather says plainly, but Casey can hear the hurt in her voice.

He hates that he hurt Heather. It is the last thing he wanted to do.

"Wait, Heather. Don't go. We need to talk about this."

"What would you like to say, Casey?" Heather says, anger coloring her tone.

"I never should have kissed you, Heather. I am your boss. Nothing like that should have ever happened. I hope you can forgive me." Casey regretfully explains.

"Like I already said, I understand. Goodbye, Casey." Heather says as her eyes well with tears.

Heather walks away from him and this time Casey lets her. He can tell she is trying to hide how much she is hurting and feels like the worst sort of person for it. Casey wants to be with Heather, and tonight he gave in to that desire. But they cannot be together. He won't let himself cross that line and ruin her reputation.

Casey looks around his office and all he can see is Heather. The kiss they just shared is fresh in his mind and every moment they have shared together plays out in his mind. Desperate to get away from the scene of his mistake, Casey leaves his office and heads back down to his car, where his driver is waiting for him. He does not see Heather as he is leaving and hopes she gets home safely.

On the way home, Casey allows himself to remember how incredible it felt to kiss Heather. The whole night he felt himself getting closer to her and at that moment he had to kiss her. Casey has been with plenty of women in his life, but he has never been so affected by a single kiss. Which makes sense because he has never felt for another woman the way he feels for Heather.

Of course, the woman he most wants, the most incredible person who also seems to truly understand him, is someone he cannot have.

***

The next morning, Casey is sitting in the kitchen of his family home enjoying the solitude. He barely slept the night before, thinking about Heather and worrying about how he will handle seeing her on Monday.

Thankfully, his parents are in New York City for the weekend and his siblings did not come home last night. The last thing Casey needs right now is for his family to notice something is wrong and bother him until he talks about his feelings.

"Well if it isn't my big brother! Why are you brooding over your cup of coffee on this fine Saturday morning?" Aidan says, startling Casey out of his contemplative state.

Aidan strolls into the kitchen still wearing his clothes from last night. Apparently, Casey is not so lucky after all.

"I'm not brooding Aidan. I was simply enjoying a quiet morning without any noisy disruptions."

"Well then if you're not busy then you can make your favorite brother your famous breakfast sandwiches to help with this pesky hangover," Aidan doesn't even bother asking, knowing his brother will cook for him.

Casey started cooking when he was in high school as a way to cure his own hangovers. As they got older, Aidan and Molly started following him to the kitchen and he would cook for them. It is one of the few rituals that he continued with his siblings whenever he was on leave from the military.

"First, you are my only brother, which means you are also my least favorite. Secondly, what do I get in exchange for making you breakfast?" Casey asks with irritation, even though he knows he will cook for his brother.

"I will tell you all about my exploits last night and then I will graciously listen to you tell me what is causing you such consternation," Aidan offers with a smirk.

"Aidan, I told you I'm fine. I will make you breakfast, though."

Casey pushes away from the table his frustration with his actions the night before blinding him to the ingredients he's gathering from the cupboard. Cooking is a soothing experience for Casey and hopefully, it will distract him from his troubles. Aidan will prove to be a distraction as he starts talking about his evening.

"I know you hate nightclubs Casey, but you have to start coming out with me sometimes. These girls were throwing themselves at me and as you know I am a gentleman and therefore had to give them all my attention. If you had been there there would have been another handsome, rich gentleman to appeal to them. It would be good for you to get out there. I'm not our mom, I'm not talking about marriage or even a relationship. But seeing how uptight you are right now Casey, I think going out and getting laid would cure what ails you," Aidan regales his brother with the tale of his evening and cannot resist nagging Casey about his celibacy.

"You think sex is the answer to everything, Aidan," Casey rolls his eyes as he responds and focuses on not overcooking the eggs.

"Well, it works for me. Look at the two of us right now. One of us is the relaxed and happy whose biggest problem is that he is hungry. The other is brooding and grumpy and taking his frustrations out on the food he should be cooking quicker," Aidan compares himself and his brother to Casey's irritation.

Casey turns to glare at Aidan, but Aidan is immune to his older brother's glares. He just smiles impishly in return. Casey turns his attention back to breakfast by aggressively flipping the bacon. He tries to ignore his brother who seems determined to get Casey to talk.

"I know something is bothering you, Casey. And it seems like more than the normal business problems or parent problems. If you aren't going to talk to me, who will you talk to, big brother?" Aidan asks with genuine concern.

"Aidan, please stop," Casey sharply retorts.

"I will as soon as you start talking. I'm worried about you, Casey. All you do is work. I thought you were doing better, definitely smiling more the past couple of weeks, but now you're brooding alone again. If I didn't know better I would say you were heartbroken," Aidan says with concern.

Casey cannot look at Aidan or form a response. He focuses on finishing cooking, but his silence is enough of an answer for his brother.

"Oh my god! It's about a girl! Casey Sullivan has met a girl and she has you completely tied up in knots. This is incredible!" Aidan gleefully declares.

"It's not. Just shut up and eat your breakfast." Casey slams the plate in front of Aidan and sits next to him with his own breakfast.

Part of him wants to leave the room and avoid this conversation with his brother, but the larger part of him does want to talk about Heather with someone. Aidan already has it mostly figured out and he won't let it go until he knows everything, so Casey might as well tell him.

"Fine. There is a girl."

"I knew it. Tell me all about her. What's her name? Why are you so mopey?" Aidan is practically bouncing as he peppers Casey with questions.

"Her name is Heather. I met her a few weeks ago and last night we kissed. It was a huge mistake and now I don't know what to do," Casey sums up the situation as briefly as possible.

"What's the problem? You like her, she likes you. Sounds simple to me," Aidan shrugs his shoulders as he speaks with his mouth full of food.

Casey is slightly disgusted by Aidan's display. There is also a bit of pride because he knows his brother only eats his food so eagerly. It also reminds Casey of when they were younger and the nostalgia eases a bit of the pain in Casey's heart.

"I'm her boss Aidan. It is completely inappropriate for us to have any kind of romantic relationship. You should have heard the way our father spoke to her when he met her. He assumed she was nothing more than a woman looking to get ahead by sleeping with a powerful man. Heather deserves better than that and that is why I have to stay away from her," Casey feels lighter after finally sharing his worries with someone.

"Well, your chivalrous tendencies have always been admirable, brother. But don't you think you actually talk to Heather about this and see how she feels," Aidan rightfully points out.

"It is not about how she feels or how I feel. I am her boss. That's it. We can't be together. She is probably going to do everything she can to avoid me now and I can't even blame her," Casey clearly states while filled with regret.

"So, you weren't planning on avoiding her? Because it sounds like you were planning on avoiding her," Aidan pokes holes in his brother's statement.

Casey doesn't know how to explain everything to Aidan. His brother has never had a serious relationship or been in love. Not that he is in love with Heather, he doesn't think. But he has never felt so connected to someone before. Heather seems to understand him and being with her brings him a sense of peace Casey has never before felt.

"I don't want to avoid her, Aidan. But I don't know how to be around her without wanting more than a professional relationship," Casey confesses.

"Casey, you are the boss to almost everyone in the company. Unless she is your assistant I think you could find a way to make it work," Aidan says, trying to help.

"Heather is not my assistant. She works in the accounting department, but she is helping me with a special project. Someone is stealing from the company and she is helping me figure out who it is. We have to work together one-on-one and I am her direct superior with this project," Casey explains to his brother.

"Wait, someone is stealing from the company? From dad?" Aidan asks, shocked by the news.

"Yeah. Heather and I are close to figuring out who it is and then I won't have any reason to be around her."

Casey realizes how much he is afraid of losing contact with Heather. They cannot be together, but he still wants her to be in his life. Needing to distract himself from his depressing thoughts, Casey gets up to start cleaning up the kitchen. He hadn't even had a bite of his sandwich, but he cannot stomach the thought of eating.

"If you are determined not to date her because you are her boss, then you should try being just friends. You say you're close to figuring out who the thief is and then you won't be working with her directly. There is nothing wrong with being friendly. You can have lunch and hang out sometimes. Introduce her to your incredibly handsome brother and make her a part of your life," Aidan offers the suggestion like it is an obvious solution.

Casey takes a moment to process what Aidan is suggesting. It could work, but Casey is not sure he is capable of just being friends with Heather. It does sound better than not having her in his life at all.

"You're right Aidan. We can be friends. I will talk to Heather on Monday and tell her that I want to be friends."