Chapter 235

Cassie

"What are you doing?" Ian , covered in sweat and something that looked like smears of black oil hesitated in the open doorway. "Where are the boys?"

Glancing up from my place on the sofa with my laptop balanced precariously on my lap I smiled. "Bathed and in bed. There's dinner in the oven for you."

Giving me a wide smile he kicked off his shoes he moved towards the kitchen area. "I'm sorry I'm late there was-" he paused. "What did you cook?"

Laughing in closed the lid of the laptop and turned to him. Curling my legs underneath me. "I'm better at cooking now." I pointed out and I was. Yanna and her family had been giving me lessons.

"I know. I was just asking." He retorted. "You know I'll eat whatever you try to cook for me."

I couldn't help it l laughed. The main word in that sentence was try because I might be getting better but I still wasn't good.

"I know but that's Yannas cooking not mine. I just heated it up because I didn't want another take out. I'm starting to put on weight."

With his head in the oven Ian made an appreciative sound. "Good you could do with putting on some weight." He reappeared again. Plate in hand as he came to sit opposite me.

"So what are you doing?"

It was such a mundane thing. Eating and chatting with each other every evening after work that I had begun to think it  was normal. And for any other family it probably was but we weren't a normal family and I'd never had anything like this growing up or with Julian.

I liked it though. I enjoyed our after work conversations and the fact he was hands on with the kids.

"So what are you doing?" He waggled his eyebrows. "Best not be cheating on me with random guys online."

Laughter burst from my lips. "Yeah cos dating is top of my to do list." Rolling my eyes I watched him eat and in return he stared at me.

"One day it will be."

There was was something in the way he said it that made me pause. "If you want to date you can Ian. We are only pretending to be a couple ,remember."

Like a deer in the headlights he stared at me and then shook his head. "No Cassie." He said softly. "We have to make this lie believable so I have to make it look like I'm crazy about you."

"Sure." I rolled my eyes. "But the offer is there. You could do it if you were careful. And there's plenty of pretty women around here. Like Yanna."

Ian's face closed down instantly. "Not happening Cassie. Now tell me what you are doing?" He pointed to the laptop.

"I'm making us some more money. With you working whatever jobs you can get and me only having part time hours in the doctors office around the children , I thought we could do with some extra."

Ian's eyes widened. "You're making money online?"

It took me a few seconds to understand his shock and horror but once I did I couldn't help it I laughed. "Not like that." Tossing a cushion at him I laughed even louder. "There's a website, a few of them actually that employ doctors to give advice online. I looked into it when I was first married and Julian took my job away from me."

"Oh ok. No wait." Ian's eyes flashed. "If he knows about these sites he might-"

"He doesn't, Ian. We ended up arguing because he thought I was cheating. I doubt he even remembers it happening."

"Ok," Ian scraped the last of his food from his plate and into his mouth. "Sounds like a good idea but are you sure you want to work in the evenings as well?"

Pausing I nodded. I had thought about that. At the moment I had a good work -life balance because I worked around the kids' school day.

"Yeah, that's the beauty of these sites. I can work the hours I want, just by signing in. And there's really not much for me to do after the boys are in bed."

Ian's face darkened. "I've been leaving you alone too much. I should take you out or something. I know how hard it is being in a new place. Especially when you can't make close friends and-"

I cut him off. "You don't need to take me out Ian. You've done too much already. If you want to head out one night then I'd love to tag along but honestly I'm not doing this because I'm lonely. I'm doing this because I'm a doctor and I want to be useful."

"I get that." He said softly. "And if it's something you will enjoy and it won't jeopardise your safety then I am fully behind it. You are a good doctor and it makes you happy so why not." He gave a small shrug and stood.

"Thanks. I've already registered my account so I can sign in and start helping people whenever I'm ready."

"Well no time like now hey? I need to shower and have an early night anyway." His eyes appraised me. "Unless you need me for anything."

"Go and shower Ian. You look tired."

"Well thanks."

My cheeks flamed. "I didn't mean it like that Ian. You're the best fake husband and father a woman could wish for. One day you will make a spectacular mate and father to a lucky lady."

"I don't think that's the life for me and anyway I have you and the boys now. Not exactly a great set up to meet anyone." He headed up the stairs.

"Unless you have already met her." I muttered under my breath.

Twenty five minutes later I had logged into the platform and was just finishing up a consultation when someone joined the queue to speak to me.

This was good, easy money.

Closing down the window, I clicked on the next.

Scrolling through the patient notes I frowned , a wave of unease flowing through me.

"Hi I'm doctor Cassandra. How can I help you today?" I typed quickly.

Three dots appeared. "Cassandra? Do people call you Cassie or Cass?"

"People call me Cassandra. How can I help you?" Rule number one of dealing with online patients was not to get too friendly. Some of them forgot that it was a professional relationship.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to overstep. I really do need your help. You see, this is kind of embarrassing but I think I'm dying."

"What are you symptoms? If you can quickly go through them then I can tell you the best course of action or phone for the paramedics if you need one."

The typed reply took much longer, almost like he was typing and then deleting whole paragraphs.

Finally his message popped up. "The love of my life left me, and I can feel her rejection and it's breaking my heart."

I stared at the words for a second and willed my heart to calm down. "I'm sorry to hear that."

His response was instant. "Are you Cassie?"

My fingers hovered over the keyboard, my heart slammed into my chest.

No, no,no

I slammed the lid of the laptop down and threw the thing to the other end of the sofa.

Julian had found me.