The Art of Knowing [Completed]

22. • deception •

[to all who have been deceived, all who were incredibly appalled by the occurrences that you either never saw coming or evidently waited for.]

• • • •
"Oh my God!" Ryan hollered before he enveloped Cassandra completely with his arms. He could hear the overjoyed giggles coming from her as they rung out against his ear, all while wearing his own incredulous grin as he hugged her tighter than ever before.

The embrace was short lived as he grabbed the sides of her face before their lips collided happily. An immense amount of happiness overtook them both, the type of euphoria Ryan would have never thought was possible as long as he stayed in Chicago. Nevertheless, he was indeed in his home, and it was the first time he could feel a genuine grin play on his lips towards the person that had been running through his mind every single day. She looked absolutely radiant, he thought, eventually stepping back from the kiss as he took in the sight in front of him, which simply felt like a mere dream. Her eyes glistened as she looked up at him, all while mirroring the same unwavering grin she could see on his lips.

"You're not the only one who can ambush, you know." Cassandra's words held their humor as she spoke, only to then be accompanied with another quick peck on the lips once she raised herself towards Ryan.

"Okay, that was amazing. I never... How-" The brunette laughed at his inability to get some words out of his mouth, merely in awe at her presence.

"I owe Emilia my life," Cassandra answered almost immediately. A swift wave of revelation draped over Ryan's face at her remark. She honestly couldn't think of living the rest of her life without feeling the immense burden of Emilia's gesture, who had gone as far as booking a room in a near by hotel for her. Saying she had thought of everything was clearly an understatement. Regardless of that, the young artist allowed a content sigh to escape her lips as she smiled at Ryan, merely overwhelmed by the fact that she was actually in front of him. He seemed to share the same astonishment as he embraced her once again and kissed her head sweetly.

"I'm pretty sure Emilia felt my desperation then," he joked.

"Both of our desperation," Cassandra corrected as she rested her head against his chest. It was impossible to suppress the urge to cry- tears of happiness, of course. After so long, she still never understood how quickly it was for her to feel the incredible comfort in being around him. And yet, it wasn't long before she noticed his elegant attire, stepping back to inspect the white button down shirt he had on with a loose tie merely hanging around his neck.

"Do you have plans?" she asked. Immediate regret seeped into Cassandra's heart once she took notice. There was nothing worse than intruding in her opinion, and from the looks of it, Ryan clearly had somewhere else to be.

"Just that stupid gathering we do every year. The usual," he mumbled groggily as he stepped away from the hug once again, but allowed his hand to rest on her waist. He frowned once he met eyes with Cassandra's despondent expression.

"Oh, well... I can just hang at the hotel until then, right?"

"Are you kidding? The hell you are. You're coming with me," he laughed incredulously. "It's bad enough I have to go to this thing, might as well bring someone I actually want to talk to while I'm there."

Despite his aloof remark, deep fear settled in the brunette's heart towards the possibility. She had listened to countless atrocities when it came to the Eckhardt's from the son himself. In all honestly, she was rather flattered at Ryan's quick idea to bring her along, but her loud thoughts seemed to suggest a quick deny towards the offer.