She was around 5′ 7′ with blonde hair and an athletic build, wearing olive colored yoga pants, white sneakers and a white Tampa Bay Buccaneers t-shirt that contoured to her body perfectly. Much like Cassie, she wore her hair in a ponytail and shared the same hazel colored eyes. However what drew her attention was the small black beauty mark below the outer corner of her left eye.
With her was a man a couple inches taller with wavy dark brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a white and pink flamingo short sleeve button up paired with brown loafer shoes and blue shorts.
Where do I know her from? Cassie thought.
Cassie followed the couple and took out her phone. Pulling up Facebook, she typed in the name “Natalie D’Errico” and when her profile populated her screen, she knew she hit pay dirt.
“I fucking knew it…” She muttered to herself as she looked forward. It was Aiden’s ex-fiance. The one that had broken his heart.
She followed behind them as they entered the main area of the terminal. Wading among the crowd of people, Cassie kept her eye on them and saw they were heading towards the concourse that, coincidentally, Aiden & Cassie would be departing from.
Watching from a distance, she saw Natalie and the man she presumably left Aiden for, holding hands, talking and occasionally laughing.
She has no right to be laughing! She furrowed her brow.
Cassie remembered her conversations with Aiden immediately after the break-up. How much he felt his life had imploded on himself. Even after the two cousins fell in love with each other, Aiden would occasionally still talk about how the break-up had absolutely destroyed his trust in others. Not necessarily with Cassie but with other people in general.
Having those conversations with Aiden was some of the most heartbreaking things Cassie had ever heard, and this girl she was following was the root of it all.
Finally the couple came to their gate, an ANA Flight bound for Tokyo. She watched as Natalie sat down, while her boyfriend mentioned something about doing some light shopping before they left.
Cassie watched as the man walked away. She observed Natalie for a few minutes as she took out her phone, smiling down at the screen and letting out an occasional giggled. All while Cassie watched from a few rows away.
She finally made her move when Natalie let out a loud snort as she began laughing at something on her phone.
It’s go time…
Cassie stood up from her seat and began making her way towards Natalie. She walked up to her from the side like she was Arnold Schwarzenegger seeking out Sarah Connor in The Terminator.
Natalie was too preoccupied to notice Cassie standing next to her as she watched a video on her phone, smiling brightly as she scrolled to the next video.
The audacity of this bitch! She has no right to be happy after what she did! Cassie raged in her mind. It was time this woman answered for her crimes.
Cassie cleared her throat “Natalie D’Errico?”
The girl looked up with a raised eyebrow “Yes? Can I help you?”
Cassie sat across from her “I’m Cassie and I’m just here to talk. Well…more specifically, I’m here to talk about what you did to someone whom I care deeply about. You probably know him…”
“What are you talking about? Who exactly are-…” Before she could finish her question, she figured out the answer and her face went pale. “Oh shit, this is about Aiden isn’t it?”
“Mm-hmm and I’m his girlfriend. As for Aiden, he’s here but he’s out checking some shops at a concourse on the other side of the airport. He has no idea you’re here and I intend to keep it that way.” Cassie folded her arms.
A panicked look came across Natalie’s face as Cassie raised her left hand, the palm facing towards her. “I’m not here to hurt you or do anything of that sort. So I’ll try to make this brief: Why? Why did you do it? Why did you break Aiden’s heart?
Natalie shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she locked her gaze at the tall blonde staring back at her.
“Well…I went back home to Florida prior to our breakup for a family reunion. While I was there, I realized that I still had strong feelings for my first love: my current boyfriend, who I’ve known for years. When we reconnected, we both realized the feelings we felt & shared so long ago were still there. So I listened to my heart and made the…hard choice to break off my engagement to Aiden.”
Cassie stifled a laugh and shook her head “I don’t believe you…”
Natalie’s face was red with shame “I know how it sounds, but my heart was telling me that he was the one. Make no mistake, I still feel awful about what I did to Aid-”
Cassie interrupted “When I say ‘I don’t believe you’ I mean it as in I think you’re making it all up. C’mon Natalie, what really happened? How long were you screwing this guy behind Aiden’s back before you ended the engagement? Did your heart tell you to absolutely destroy my boyfriend’s life by fucking some rando as well?” She asked in a mocking tone.
“I-I’m telling the truth! I never cheated on Aiden once while we were together. The worst thing I did while me and Aiden were still together was just the one kiss that me and my now-boyfriend shared. Look, what happened is something that’s complicated. You wouldn’t get it!” Natalie was now panicking.
Oh that’s rich…
Cassie pressed her lips together. “Try me.”
Natalie shook her head vigorously and said in a hushed whisper. “No you don’t understand. If I say anything, It could ruin everything I have with my boyfriend!”
This selfish cunt…
Cassie was now pissed. She angrily pointed a finger at Natalie “Just like how you ruined everything for Aiden? You will get zero sympathy from me, especially from all this bullshit you keep giving me. Truth be told, I’m actually kind of surprised you’re SOMEHOW still dating this guy that you left Aiden for. Quite impressive considering how much of an unfaithful skank you are!
Natalie was trying to think of something to say. At the same time, something about Cassie seemed familiar and Natalie couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“L-look, my boyfriend knows about what I did. He insisted that I…s-stay with Aiden. He didn’t want him to experience the same pain that he did. I w-wasn’t ready to lose my boyfriend again to anyone else. I made my choice and I have to live with it…” Natalie nervously stammered
Cassie sarcastically laughed at her “Oh so you’re a rebound kind of girl, are you?”
“N-no! That’s not what it is at all” Natalie’s voice became frantic
Cassie snared “I know what you are: a manipulative, sociopathic coward. You did all of this knowing EXACTLY how much pain it would cause Aiden. What you did absolutely destroyed any sense of trust he had for anyone. It took him months to be able to trust anyone again! What’s worse is that you pulled off this stunt when he needed you the most.”
She wanted to slap her as she began to see red.
“For someone who claims how bad they feel about their actions, you seem to be living with yourself quite well. Tell me, does your conscience ONLY kick in when someone decides to hold you accountable for your actions?”
Natalie was keeping something from her and Cassie knew it judging from her guarded responses. She was about to press her further when Natalie said something that stopped her dead in her tracks.
“I’m sorry but, Cassie was it? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before…”
Natalie grabbed her phone and pulled up her photo gallery. She scrolled back to her photos from a few years back and started looking through the ones from the Christmas get-together at Aiden’s house.
“Whatcha doing, Natalie? Trying to look online for valid excuses to justify stabbing Aiden in the heart?” Cassie glared at her.
Natalie ignored her and kept browsing her photos. She finally came to a photo which showed Cassie & Gabe sitting on the couch together with their arms over each other’s shoulders.
It all came back to her. She remembered Aiden introducing her to the tall blonde in front of her at the get together and how she was…
There was no way…
Her eyes went wide as she stared back at Cassie.
“Wait, you aren’t his girlfriend. You’re… you’re his cousin!”
Cassie just smiled at her, her composure unwavering.
“Well look at you. I must say that it took a dunce like you long enough to figure it out. Also he’s not just my cousin, he’s the love of my life and I’m not ashamed to admit it.”
A cold feeling ran through Natalie. This wasn’t happening. Her breathing quickened.
“Look, can you please leave? My boyfriend will be back soon and I don’t want to get him involved in any of this!”
Cassie leaned forward. She knew for certain Natalie was hiding something and she intended to find out. “Now I really need to know what’s going on…”
Natalie looked around the room in a panic. She could grab her things and run away but she knew Cassie would be able to keep up with her.
******
Aiden was shopping for a couple of bottles of high end champagne for him and Cassie at the duty-free shop. He had already grabbed a bottle of Chanel perfume for her when he suddenly heard a voice come to the left of him.
“I’m digging the shirt man. I must say that ‘First Impressions of Earth’ is one of my favorite albums!”
Aiden turned to see a guy smiling brightly at him. He was about Aiden’s height with wavy brown hair, blue eyes with slight Asiatic features and a light 5 o’clock shadow.
“Thank you! I know that everyone goes nuts for ‘Is This It’ but this is my personal favorite Strokes album..” He gestured at his shirt “…so you have great taste!” He extended his hand “I’m Aiden!”
The man with the wavy hair shook his hand. “And I’m Vincent, but you can call me Vinny.”
“So what brings you here?”
“Well me and my lovely girlfriend are flying out to Japan to see some extended family on my mom’s side of the family. Figured I’d bring them some stateside goodies for them to enjoy.” He held up a box of cigars and an expensive-looking bottle of wine “What about you?”
“Well my girlfriend and I just returned from Hawaii after spending a week there. Our layover is here at LAX before we head back to Denver.”
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