Home » The Archives » Chapter 12 » Playing with Fire
| Re: Playing with Fire [message #461 is a reply to message #460] |
Mon, 23 July 2012 21:02   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
|
Field Commander
Switzerland |
|
|
Dressed in her gi, Cassie headed down to the gym. The place was empty when she arrived. Going off to one side she put a mat down on the floor and began stretching out. It had been awhile since she had even practiced karate, the last time being some sparring with Mark before leaving.
After doing some stretching exercises, she moved on to practicing Kata. Feeling a little rusty, she started out with the simple ones that her uncle had first taught her. It wasn't long before her body remembered the feel of the motions. She moved on to the longer, more complicated sequences. She was so absorbed in the activity that she didn't realize she wasn't alone anymore until she happened to notice Dom standing by the door.
"Hello," she called out, as she stopped in the middle of the kata she was trying to remember.
Dom stopped in his tracks as he saw Cassie working out. The memory of their first encounter surged forward and he colored a little. "Good mornin'. Didn't know anyone was here. I'll leave you to your workout." In his mind, he was already fetching Joshua from Callie's apartment, and doing his own yoga workout in his living room.
"You don't have to leave," Cassie said quickly, though inside that's what she would rather he did. After their first encounter, she hadn't really had the desire to have another conversation with him. The fact that he had seemed to be avoiding her too, had made steering clear of him easier.
Still, we can't avoid each other forever, especially when we may very well have to work together on a rescue at some point, she thought to herself. She found herself forcing a smile as she said the next words. "The gym's big enough for the both of us."
He glanced from her to the gym, as if noticing for the first time how spacious it really was. There was indeed room enough for the two of them, and the thought of some time away from a fractious two-year old who would become easily bored as his father went through his yoga routine, appealed to him more and more.
Smiling nervously, he asked, "If you don't really mind?"
"No, it's fine," Cassie replied. "Just don't laugh at me if I mess up. I'm out of practice. In fact, I think I may have to email my brother for a reminder on this kata that I've been trying to remember."
"Ah, okay. Thank you." Dom entered the room, and pulled down another mat, positioning it near the windows that overlooked the patio. He sank down gracefully into the lotus position, closed his eyes, and began to breathe. Each deep, cleansing breath seemed to relax him more, and the tension in his shoulders and face seemed to drop away.
Cassie watched him for a few minutes, amazed at the change she saw. She had often heard that yoga was good for relaxation, but had never attempted it herself. Though she found karate and her other workouts relieved stress, she had never found them particularly relaxing.
Not wanting to disturb his concentration, Cassie started the kata sequence that had been interrupted over from the beginning. She worked through the moves, hoping that the familiar stances and arm movements would trigger her memory as to the ending of the pattern. When she got to that point though, she once again came up with a blank as to where she was supposed to go next.
Dom moved from the lotus to another, stretching position, trying to tune out Cassie's presence. He was only partially successful, and he knew that the only way he'd be totally so was to turn away and ignore her altogether, an act he felt was extremely rude. So, he turned to one side and tried to keep his eyes focused forward. Still, he noticed her sudden stop, and the puzzlement in her very stance.
Sensing eyes on her, Cassie glanced in Dom's direction. He had turned to one side but was looking in her direction, with a questioning look on his face. "I don't think I'm going to be able to remember the rest of the sequence," Cassie said, guessing as to what that look meant. "Maybe I should have kept up with the lessons with my brother instead of just keeping up with my karate through him and my uncle when I actually see him."
Dom held his pose for a moment longer, then shifted a bit. He flashed her an uncertain smile and commented, "Perhaps so." Then he arranged himself into another yoga pose, this one more intricate and making use of his flexibility.
"If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been doing yoga?" Cassie asked, trying to decide if she wanted to practice something else or just retreat to her apartment.
"Seems like forever," he replied, a touch of tension in his voice from holding the position he was in. He waited a few more seconds, then released, and sat on the mat to converse before continuing. "It's been very helpful in controlling stress." He nodded in her direction. "How long have you studied karate?"
"My uncle started teaching my brother and me during the summer we spent time in Japan with my mom's family. That was right before I started eighth grade. Both Mark and I started classes at a school in New York when we got back. I dropped out after about two years, but I still enjoy doing it for fun."
"So it's just a hobby?"
"For me, yeah. My brother has competed and is teaching some kids at the local youth club." Cassie shrugged. "I never saw the point in trying to get different color belts. Neither my grandfather or my uncle officially have a black belt but they could hold their own against anyone who does."
"They must enjoy the philosophy behind karate, then." Dom sat up and stretched, then moved into another yoga pose, holding it for a bit longer than normal. The stress of the past few weeks was still affecting him, and he needed the extra time to shower his head.
While Dom did his yoga pose, Cassie started working on some blocking techniques. She tried to think of something else to say. She felt that the awkwardness she felt around him was starting to decrease and she didn't want to let the opportunity passed.
Taking a chance, she decided to broach the subject that had caused tension between the two of them in the first place. "So where's your son? Joshua, isn't it?" she asked, trying to recall the name from the luau a week earlier when she had seen the little boy from a distance.
Dom was quiet for a moment, then relaxed his pose, breathing deeply. When he was through, he said, "Joshua, yes. Callie's watching him for me today. I needed a little time to shower my head, and a bored wee one doesn't quite help, if you know what I mean."
"I know exactly what you mean," Cassie said, a bit wistfully. To keep from thinking about Nathan too much though Cassie quickly asked another question that had been on her mind for awhile. "How did the custody hearing turn out?"
"Ah, that." Dom resumed the lotus position for the time being. "The meeting itself didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but later, my ex dropped her petition. So it was all a waste of time in the long run. Oh, and thank you for asking," he hastily amended.
"I'm glad it turned out well for both you and Joshua in the end," Cassie replied, mildly surprised at how easy the words were to say.
"Thank you again." He grinned, the first real smile she'd seen on his face since he'd walked in. "We're very happy about the decision... though Josh never got the opportunity to know what was going on around him. A good thing, too, to my thinking."
Cassie carefully considered the next question she wanted to ask. She knew it was personal but she had to admit she was curious. Now seemed a good time to ask it.
She paused with her practice and took a deep breath. Looking over at him she said, "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but did Joshua's mother ever want custody of him before this?"
Dom took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and said, "No. Never. She handed him over to me when he was born and walked away." He shook his head wistfully. "I used to love her. But now I love him more, and I'll fight tooth and nail anyone who tries to take him away."
He glanced up and frowned a bit. "What about you? You told me your wee one died. How did it happen?"
"A car accident back in June," Cassie said, quietly. It was still hard to talk about it but Dr. Lindon had kept telling her that talking about it would help, so she forged on. "My husband, Alex, had picked him up from daycare. Another driver ran a red light and ran into my husband's car. Nathan was pronounced dead at the scene. I'm just thankful my company hadn't been called to that accident. I don't think I could have dealt with seeing it."
Cassie felt tears on her cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away but continued on. "The accident wasn't my husband's fault but he blamed himself. I was grieving too much to be of any support and losing our son was to much for our already strained marriage so we went our separate ways."
Dom had started tutting a little in sympathy when she'd started her narrative, then he drew in a sharp breath when she mentioned the possibility of being called to the scene in the course of her duties. He nodded a bit when she described the dissolution of her marriage, but was left without much to say at the end. It was like watching her reopen a wound that had started healing. The only thing that came to him was, "You must have loved him very much."
"I do," Cassie said, a bittersweet smile coming to her face as she thought of her little boy. An awkward silence followed the statement. "I guess we'll never understand why some things happen," she commented, just to break the silence.
"No, we may never understand." The conversation was getting uncomfortable, so Dom decided that taking Josh for a walk on the beach would be a good idea. He got up in one fluid motion, and clapped his hands a little. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll take my wee man out for a dander on the beach. He likes to see what there is to find in the tidal pools."
Cassie nodded. She couldn't deny that being able to talk about what had happened helped at times, but it was still hard. She was grateful that Dom was trying to gracefully end the awkward scene that was unfolding.
"Enjoy yourselves," Cassie said, forcing a smile and trying to sound upbeat.
"We will." He paused at the door. "Have a good day."
He left the gym, feeling relieved, and a bit melancholy. He was physically relaxed, but the emotional side of him was still tensed up. He decided that a hot shower was in order, and then he'd fetch Josh, and go for that walk.
Cassie watched Dom disappear out of the gym. She thought about going back to her karate workout, but decided she wouldn't be able to concentrate. Instead, she decided she would head back to her apartment. First, I'll send a quick email to Mark, asking him the rest of that sequence, and then do some baking.
Written by Tikatu and starrynebulaon March 6, 2008
  
[Updated on: Mon, 23 July 2012 21:05] Report message to a moderator |
|
|
|
Current Time: Sat May 18 10:24:01 EDT 2024
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.01341 seconds
|
International Rescue: The Next Phase
Search
Help
Members
Login
Home
