Sɪɢɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Tɪᴍᴇs | Sɪᴍᴏɴ Bᴀssᴇᴛ

o0o - sɪɢɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇs - chapter three

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𝑪𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑨𝑵 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐕𝐄. Poor Daphne was being chaperoned by Anthony, who was chasing away all possible suitors. As he descended down the stairs, he found that the desperate mamas that he wished to hide from were all flocked around some uncomfortable gentleman. He snorted as the unfortunate man's eyes swept around, looking for an excuse to escape. He had been in the same position quite often, and while he pitied the man, he was grateful that the hawks had found another prey. He watched as the said gentleman excused himself and walked as quickly as he could in a dignified matter over to him.

"I am Simon, and we are now close friends from childhood."

"Why hello Simon, childhood friend of mine. I'm Cal, but you already knew that because we are the best of friends." Simon gave him an appreciative look before chuckling slightly.

"Congratulations, by the way, Simon."

"For what?"

"You have managed to escape the mothers trying to sell you their daughters."

"Ahh yes. I thought I would never break free." 

Cal giggled at his reply, before adding in, "Well childhood best friend, please remind me and tell me more about yourself because I seem to have forgotten over the years we have not seen each other."

"I'm Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, which is why they cornered me."

"Oh you poor thing. I'm Callan Bridgerton, but if I ever hear you calling me such I must denounce our friendship."

"Bridgerton? I believe I went to school with your brother."

"My condolences." Cal gravely patted the Duke's forearm.

"Yes, my life is a terrible tragedy."

Cal pretended to wipe his eyes at Simon's words. He was going to speak again before Daphne came to them for the same reason as Simon. 

"Cal, please hide me."

Cal hurried to move to cover Daphne from view. "Oh alright. But I do believe that you should have went to some other gentleman who is less noticeable in the crowd," he grumbled. "Simon, this is my younger sister, Miss Daphne Bridgerton." Cal stood watch as Daphne and Simon interacted, cringing at the awkwardness between them. Before long, he told Daphne that the coast was clear and she hurriedly scurried away.

"Basset!" cried out Anthony as he made his way over. 

"Bridgerton!"

"Come here, old friend!"

The two men exchanged greetings before Anthony turned to his brother. "I see you have met my dear friend."

"Well yes, we are childhood best friends after all," Cal replied before looking at Simon. "Isn't that right?" 

Simon nodded at this as he hid a grin. "Yes indeed."

Anthony looked between them, confused, before seemingly giving up. "Have you seen Daphne? I must have lost her sometime along the way."

"I think she went that way," Cal said before pointing to the opposite direction he saw Daphne go. 

Simon and Harry burst into laughter as soon as he left, already so comfortable with each other. The two spent the rest of the evening chatting and getting to know each other, and by the end of the ball, it truly felt like they had known each other all their lives. 

"Well Simon, it's late and I must leave soon."

"Oh! I promised your brother I would meet him at the club. I too, must depart. I will see you at the next ball, Cal?"

"Hopefully. And if not, I will keep in touch. After all, you are my dearest friend." 

When Cal went home, he was met with his sister in tears. "Dearest, why are you crying?"

"Oh Cal, the ball was terrible! I understand Anthony wishes to keep me safe, but all he did was chase away all of the possible suitors! I didn't dance once! If this happens again, I will have no choice but become a spinster!"

"Daph, don't think like that! It is only the first ball! But if that is how you feel, I will speak with our dear brother. And if he does not change, I can always escort you to the balls instead."

"Thank you, Cal. I do not wish to be dramatic, but knowing Anthony, he will prevent me from even speaking from a man that he deems 'unworthy'."

"Do not worry, dear sister. Why don't you go to bed, and I will speak with him when he returns home from the club." 

Daphne thanked him once again, and headed to her room to go to sleep. Worrying herself would do her no good, and she trusted her brother to take care of it.

When their father had died, the responsibility of being the "man of the house" went to Anthony, the eldest. Anthony had so many things thrust upon him that he had no idea how to handle. Anthony was the father figure of the siblings, but Cal was always the extra mother. While their mother was a formidable woman, she couldn't handle nine children all by herself, so Cal did what he always did. He took care of them. He didn't even notice it, he was just so used to taking care of everyone, until his mother pointed it out.

Maybe it just came with his love for children. He couldn't wait for the day when he would have children of his own. Someday, he mused. Someday.

Anthony had never come home that night, and Cal fell asleep cold. 

- author's note : [future c - there is no way i wasn't insane here.] so I deleted the previous note because I don't know what was going on through my head...anyways, if you haven't checked out my comment at the top of this chapter, I didn't do any fixing up on this chapter besides the most basic grammatical things (I added a singular comma) and I changed up the wording of the last sentence to give it more oomph. Comment, tell me what you guys think!