Cassy II: BREAD AND CIRCUSES
by Rhondda Lake

Cassandra held her breath a moment outside of the door, simply staring
blindly at the brass number 42 in front of her face. Was he home? Was he
busy? He had asked her to clear up tomorrow for him? That request had been
rather cryptic. She knew she could drop her shields and sense his presence 
and his mood, however she preferred not to. 

Not only because it felt like cheating, but because doing so left her 
open to more then just him. It left her mind open to the ebb and flow 
of emotions all around her. Threatening to drown her. It was better, 
safer, to save the empathic stuff for emergencies and more... interesting 
moments. Moments when physical contact allowed her to limit what she 
sensed to the one she touched.

Cassy smiled thinking of the last three months. Whenever Mulder 
was in town, they would have dinner in these little out-of-the-way 
places, or just veg out in front of a rented movie. They would talk 
for hours about everything and nothing. He told her about his work, 
of his obsessions. She told him about her childhood, her job, her rather 
boring life. 

She knew he was working on a case that disturbed him. More by the fact 
that he steered conversation away from it then anything else. Well, the 
haunted look to his eyes was also a good indication. 

He seemed to grasp at their time together with a certain fierce urgency. 
A desperate determination to seek human contact. A savage need to relax 
that was, in itself, at cross purposes with what he hoped to accomplish.

It would be comical if it were not so heartbreaking. To add to her frustration
he held this distance, this wall between them, not allowing her to cross. The 
only compassion he would take from her was the mask of normalcy she offered. 
The only comforting he allowed was in the sweat-soaked confines of his bed.

They had been spending more time together recently. The more engrossed he
became in his work, in his cases, the more often he would demand to see her. To
seek his false escape into her mundane life. It seemed as though he were using her
to feel human again. She was his escape from madness. 

It scared her, sometimes, that she allowed him to do this. But her compassion 
drove her to try and help him. Her heart drove her to try and reach beyond
the walls, and to touch that man. The man and the shattered child he hid beneath 
the mask of cool indiference he offered to the world. 

So she continued to see him, much to the apprehension of her over protective 
roommate.

"The guy is trouble. He's away more then he's home. He's always got 
these weird friends tromping through at the oddest hours. Frankly I think 
he's a ensign short of an away team. You are gonna end up hurt Cassy." 
Tammy would rant.

Cassandra didn't really argue, just let the lectures roll off her. She considered 
Mulder more *troubled* than trouble, and he was, she had to admit, terrific 
in bed. Out of the three lovers she'd ever had he was definitely top ranking. 
Must be all those movies and magazines, she chuckled to herself.

She shook her head at her own foolishness and knocked. She was
surprised to hear a few high pitched yapping noises before the door
opened. Cassy felt her heart leap to her throat for the instant her eyes
met Mulder's, but then her attention fell on the four pounds of reddish
fluff sniffing at her ankles. She let out a laugh. 

"I always figured you for the Basset Hound type. Who is this?" She
shoved the boxes into his hands and scooped up the adorable bit of large
eyed dog and scratched it behind the ears.

"I'm the fish type, you don't have to take fish for walks. Watch it,
he's a man eater." Mulder moved aside to let her in, frowning at the boxes
he now held. 

"Yah right. One day he's gonna grow up to be a mastiff. So when did
you decide to get a dog?" Cassy moved into the living room and sat on the
couch still coddling the little dog, who seemed to adore the attention.

"I didn't. Queequeg is Scully's. She's in New York for a symposium on
Forensic Pathology and dumped him on me for three days. She seems to think
three years of feeding my fish when *I'm* away equals the humiliation of
walking around town with a glorified dust bunny on a leash."

"Aren't paybacks a bitch? But he's precious. Um... Queequeg?"

Mulder shrugged. "She has a Melville fetish. Believe me, naming the
little monster after a cannibal was eminently fitting."

"I bet he has a sweater, doesn't he?" Cassandra teased.

Mulder groaned. "Yeah.  But I am NOT dressing up a dog. Even I have 
more compassion than to embarrass him, and myself, like that." 

He set  the boxes down and began shoving the papers that had been 
spread across the table into a folder. He was not fast enough for Cassy 
to miss the pictures of several children's desiccated corpses. She swallowed 
hard and went back to concentrating on the dog. He hadn't noticed 
her reaction, at least.

"Paperwork never ceases, huh?" She pasted on a smile as he shoved the
file under a book of astrology.

"Uh... I just finished working on a profile for the VCS. Jenkins will
be by to pick it up later."

Cassy nodded. How could he stand getting getting into the minds of 
psychopaths and sickos? 

He had told her about his early days with the  FBI Violent Crimes Unit. 
She'd heard from him all about his quick ascension through the ranks, 
of how people had expected him to inherit the mantle of department head.  
He had been good at profiling. She knew that if he had been favored as 
future department head he had to be damn good. She wondered why 
that didn't upset her. 

Perhaps it was something they had in common. This  ability to get into 
other people's heads. Even if the gift was so vastly different.

"Well, *I* visited a craft show after work, and I got you something.
Every time you come back from a field assignment you look like shit, and I
just know you aren't sleeping. So..." Cassy set Queequeg down and handed
Mulder the smaller of the two boxes she had brought.

He looked at her suspiciously, but opened the top to look inside. He
smiled like a little boy at Christmas as he looped his finger through
a leather thong and drew out a decorated hoop, its center a webwork of
some sort of string, feathers and beads falling from three points at the
bottom. 

"A dreamcatcher." He watched the Native American charm turn in the
light of his table lamp.

"Yah. I saw them being sold by a woman named Mary Slyfox... and I
just couldn't resist." Cassy's eyes twinkled with amusement. "It was a
sign from above..." 

He gave her a slight smile, "Yah, it said Dreamcatchers for sale." He 
bent to kiss her cheek, "thank you. I'll pack it next to my ties every 
time I travel."

Cassy made a face. "Don't do that, the spirits will get offended.
Anyplace but next to the TIES. Oh, and the second box is dinner. If you
have already eaten it'll be just as good reheated."

He opened the box and frowned. "What is it?"

"It's Kibbe. Our neighbor was Lebanese when I was growing up, and we
learned how to make it. It's extra lean beef, cracked wheat, pine nuts,
onions and some other good stuff. Don't look at me like that! TRY it. It's
good, but if you don't like it I won't be offended I promise." 

Mulder shrugged. "OK I'll try it, but you have to eat it with me,
that way if this stuff kills me I'll at least take you with me."

Cassandra laughed and pushed herself up off the couch, heading for
his kitchen. "Fine. I'll see if I can salvage a salad or something out of
this wasteland you call a refrigerator." 

Cassy opened the appliance to be confronted by two pizza boxes and 
a plethora of half-finished Chinese food containers. Opening the salad 
crisper she wrinkled her nose. It was not great, but better than she 
expected. If she chucked the outer leaves of the wilted lettuce and grated 
those two carrots before they went limp she'd actually be doing them a 
service by using them before they fell to the demise of the trash compactor.

Mulder was surprised he actually liked the kibbe. Cassandra just gave
him a knowing grin as she ate her portion and passed on his offer of a
beer. 

"So what are these mysterious plans you have for us tomorrow?" She was
actually delighted to do whatever he wanted. He had that urgent edge again.
He needed the temporary escape whatever plans he had offered him.

When these moods hit she enjoyed the escape as well. It meant they would do 
something other then write a paper on her abilities or explore her family history 
in search of why she was able to do what she could.

Their relationship might be casual, but she was glad he had begun to view
her as a friend at least. He had even begun to tell her why he had the dreams 
that brought them together. 

It had been two weeks after they had first begun dating. He was questioning
her on her family history.

"Anyone else in your family ever show evidence of psychic events? Visions, 
psychokinesis, telepathy, anything like that?" He was scribbling notes on a 
yellow legal pad. 

"Why do I feel like I'm taking my SATs again? My grandmother was a twin
and it's said that she and her sister could talk without words. But I can't swear 
to that, as her sister died in a fire when she was fourteen. I've been answering 
questions all night. Now it's your turn." Cassy dropped the remains of her slice
of pizza back in the box and wiped her fingers on her jeans.

"Uh-oh, You're not going to ask me why I have the full collection of Star Wars
models in my closet, are you?" His tone was teasing, but she could see him 
shift uncomfortably. 

The grand inquisitor didn't much care to have the light shone in his own eyes.

"Why are you so interested in this? In paranormal phenomenon?"

He shifted again. "It's a long story."

"I have tomorrow off. I got all night." She crossed her arms, informing
him she wasn't going to drop the subject.

He wouldn't meet her eyes. "It started when I was twelve..."

As he related to her the story of his sister's disappearance she could see his 
discomfort. She didn't need to be an empath to pick up on his fear of rejection, 
of ridicule. He fidgeted, toyed with the corners of his legal pad. The tale was 
told in a flat voice. The story was incredible. She could see how others might react
badly to it.

"Calm down, Mulder. I'm an empath. If *I* can exist, then why not 
UFOs? Actually it's pretty egocentric of people to think earth was the 
only planet that produced intelligent life in the vastness of the universe."

He sat there, stunned for a moment, before giving her a huge grin. 
"Marry me." 

Cassy had laughed and tossed a pillow at his head.

Later she had learned how close he had come to losing his partner
and best friend in much the same manner. It helped her understand 
him better.

Cassandra snapped out of her reverie at the sound of Mulder's voice. 

"I got these." Mulder pushed an envelope across the table as Cassy
was sneaking a piece of kibbe to Queequeg. Cassy wiped her fingers on a
napkin and took the envelope while the dog gave his sitter a look of
annoyance at the interrupted indulgence.

"Tickets to the circus?" Cassandra grinned. "You are taking me to the
circus?" She looked up and met Mulder's incredible eyes. "Do you know I
have never in my life been to the circus... the closest I ever got was
watching the Cirque de Soleil on A&E."

"You are twenty five and you have NEVER been to the circus?" He
grabbed at his chest in feigned shock. "You have lived a sheltered life."

"So you are going to attempt to educate me?" Cassy began clearing the
plates. "Well, keep dragging me to circuses and amusement parks and I'll
get all spoiled."

"Oho, so now you want amusement parks!"

Cassy stuck out her tongue. "I was NOT fishing. Now... since you are
being generous and taking me to the circus I will spare your wounded
machismo and walk Queequeg for you. Maybe I'll rent a movie while 
I'm out. Have you ever seen EXCALIBER? The sword fighting scenes 
are awesome, and the music is divine."

"I'm beginning to detect a pattern here. Last three movies you rented were 
CONAN, LADYHAWKE and FIRST KNIGHT. Do you have a Xena
complex?"

"Some psychologist you are... it took you THIS long to see a
pattern?" She asked as she grabbed the leash that lay on the counter.

"Not really, I noticed when you got LADYHAWKE. So tell me, does this
fascination of yours have to do with the sword as a phallic symbol?"
Mulder gave her one of his sardonic smiles.

"This from a guy who collects porn and chose a career where he gets
to carry a gun? Give me a break. I bet you didn't know I was a member of
the SCA did you?" Cassandra clipped the leash on Clyde and led him to the
door enjoying the surprised look on Mulder's face. 

"Are you serious?" he called as she made it to the door.

"Completely. I'm Lady Elvina Malcom, and a handier lass with a
helbard or rapier you'll never be meetin." Cassy fell into a heavy Scots
accent. "Now ye be mullin that over as I git out and tend this bit o'
fluff and bring us back a wee bit o' entertainment."

When Cassy returned Clyde was given a full meal then they retired to
the couch to watch EXCALIBER. After HER choice of movie Mulder 
slipped one of his in with a chuckle at Cassy's groan. 

She waited a full ten minutes into this deep study of a pair of
blonde hookers and a parade of businessmen before she started. Mulder
laughed, because he knew he couldn't stop her and had even joined in the
last time he'd played one of his collection with her there.

"What? You mean, like, this isn't the stick shift?" She bounced her
head from shoulder to shoulder in her best dumb blonde imitation.

"This is a cheap hotel, not a car, now come here and try some of the
candy I put on the pillow." He took over to Cassandra's amusement.

"Hello... hello... testing one, two, three... is this thing on?"
Cassy snickered. "And now she will sing Great Balls of Fire into the magic
Karaoke machine. Watch out buddy, she could be the illegitimate child of
Hannibal Lector and Lorena Bobbit."

"Well, the Bobbit part's right..." Mulder grinned and shut Cassy up
the best way he knew how, covering her mouth with his own.

Cassandra's hand fumbled for the remote as she let her tongue dual
pleasantly with his. She turned off the tv with a click, breaking the
kiss. "You don't really need to watch that now, do you?" She twisted,
swinging one leg over so she sat astride his lap and facing him. "Now when
the real thing is right here in front of you." She kissed him deeply as he
hands tugged his tee shirt from his jeans and she slid her hands
underneath to rest them lightly on his ribs. His distraction was pressing 
against the seam of her jeans.

"But that's all part of my diabolical plan.  Every time I put on one
of my tapes we end up doing this, just so you can get them turned off." He
ran his hands up her back and she could feel the callouses on his hands as
they slid over her flesh.

"Aha... do you really think I would miss something that obvious? Turn
the movies off and turn you on, huh?" She slid her hands down to undo the
button of his jeans, easing the zipper down. "Are you turned on, Mulder?"
One hand slid down the front of his jeans. "Mmmmm... getting there fast."

She withdrew her hand and pulled off his shirt before she began
kissing his neck, the line of his shoulder, then the slightly puckered
scar of a gunshot wound on his shoulder, touching that reminder of
violence with her tongue before moving on. That was the one and only scar
she had ever asked about. He tried to make light of it but she could feel
the internal pain when he declared, "My partner shot me." Sensing the
mistake, especially so fresh into their tentative relationship she had
joked with him.

"Well next time a woman tells you she wants chocolate fudge swirl
don't try to substitute pistachio and you'll be safe." She was intensely
curious about the other scars, but never asked again. She'd seen his
nightmares.

In the here and now she felt him undoing her own jeans fastenings. 
"Be nice and we can go without the raincoat tonight." She whispered in his
ear, she licked the outer edge of his ear for emphasis.

"Ummmm..." She felt his hesitation. It was a big step, after all.

"You're clean. I'm clean. I have two years to go on my Norplant.
What's to stop us?"

He unbuttoned her shirt and slid it off her shoulders, she wiggled a
bit letting it fall to the floor. His fingers caressed the tiny scar on
her upper arm before he kissed it. "Remind me to thank your OBGYN."

"Thank me. I'm too scatterbrained to remember breakfast some mornings
let alone a pill."

She smiled and sighed as he unhooked her bra, a caress following the
straps as they slid down her arms. He pressed his face between her
breasts, kissing her here and inhaling the scent of her skin mixed with
the  faint scent of her perfume.
  
She wiggled her hips pressing herself as close to his growing arousal
 as she could through two pair of jeans. "Are we going to give little
Queequeg a show?"

Mulder looked at where the dog was sitting on the chair across the
room, watching them with his head tilted to the side. "Watch and weep, ol'
buddy."

They wasted no time divesting themselves of the rest of their
clothing before Cassy pushed him back on the couch.  She straddled his
hips and began to nibble her way along his chest, pausing to suck and
tease each nipple before tracing the line of each rib with her tongue. 
Her body slid down as she went, the texture and friction of skin flowing
against skin. 

"Ummm... Mulder, brace yourself." That was all the warning
he got before she dropped her outer shields allowing an empathic link to
flow between them, binding them as they shared each other's sensations so
it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. It was a hell of
a rush, and gratifying to no end to know just how one affects one's
partner. Right now she could feel just how much she affected him, as if
the proof were not pressing rather uncomfortably against her ribs. She
slid down some more, nipping at the taught flesh of his abs before
descending further.

"Like, is this the stick shift?" One hand cupped him, she adored the
feel of the springy hair against her palms, of the soft velvet. She ran 
her tongue up his length and licked at the tip.  He groaned and she felt 
his hand in her hair, neither forcing her down nor drawing her away, 
just touching her, allowing her to choose. 

Feeling his reaction every bit as much as he did she felt a surge of 
dampness between her legs. They both shivered in delight as she took him 
into her mouth, smooth and hard, salty to the taste. She thumped
her tongue in a rhythm against the tip as she began to suckle while her
hand rubbed and kneaded, moving her mouth up and down. 

His grip in her hair became painful. There, just like that... she was so 
close, close enough to the brink now herself that she knew she had to 
stop.  She wanted this to last a while more. 

With a final kiss to the tip of his sex she moved on, kissing his thighs, 
then licking along the dangerous looking scar along his inner left thigh. 
Wasn't there a major artery there? How did he survive that one? 

He sat up and moved his hand from her hair to cup her head just above
her neck, dragging her up into a kiss.  He nibbled at her lips then ran his
tongue over them to soothe, before plunging deep to taste as much as he
could.  He managed to somehow shift and twist on the narrow confines 
of the couch so that she was under him. His mouth left hers to blaze a trail 
of fire down her throat. His lips touched her breasts, lathing each tight bud 
with his tongue before suckling gently. All to soon he was moving away 
to plant kisses on her stomach, to dip his tongue into her navel before he 
pressed a kiss lower still. 

Cassandra bit her lip as she felt his mouth on her, his hands moving
to cup her ass and tilt her up as his tongue ran over her every hidden
fold and crease, flicking, suckling. Cassy was going mad and she had to
fight against the rising orgasm because, linked together as they were she
knew if she gave in so would he. It was a heady mixture of pleasure and
the pain of fighting against release. She wanted him inside her.

"Stop!" She gasped as his tongue flicked inside her to taste the
sweetness of her own arousal and need. "Oh Lord. Mulder, stop. I want you
inside me."

He did stop and moved up her again, claiming her mouth in a kiss that
allowed her to taste herself on his tongue, a sweet saltiness. 

His hands spread her thighs and he entered her in one smooth thrust. 
She grinned and twisted, throwing them both off balance and off the 
couch to land with a crash on the floor between the couch and the coffee 
table. She barely noticed that she banged her arm on the table in that 
maneuver. She had the desired effect; she was on top. 

She began to  move before he could protest. His hands moved to her 
waist helping to guide the pace as she moved, impaling herself on him 
again and again; they were both to close for it to last long, though. 

In moments she arched her back and neck, throwing her head back, 
crying out as her body was  wracked with the first powerful convulsion, 
tightening around him in wracking spasms. She looked down at him to see 
the particular look of pleasure and pain on his face as he spilled into her. 

Exhausted she fell forward to rest her head against his chest even as
she pulled her shields back up, separating them even if they were still
physically joined.

She had stayed the night. Cassandra found that sharing a shower could
be fun as well, if not conducive to actually getting clean. She had to
return to her own apartment to change, however. The circus started at noon.

Tammy gave her an exasperated look when she came through the door. In
three months though she knew that words would mean nothing. At least Tammy
helped her pick out something to wear. A nice broom skirt and a green
sweater with ankle high black suede boots. Mulder knocked at the door at
eleven.

Tammy answered as Cassy was still finishing her make up.

Cassy came out to hear Tammy humming the theme to the Twilight Zone.
She smiled when she saw he was wearing a green sweater in the same shade
as hers.

"Shut up, Tammy. Great minds think alike.  Besides, we both have green
eyes and any fool know wearing green shows them up."

"And here I thought it meant you were horny." Her friend smiled at
her and dodged the playful slap aimed at her arm. "Now you kids remember
that if you get sick from eating too many candy apples and cotton candy,
Aunt Tammy is NOT going to hold you while you're sick."

*****************************

There wasn't a big top. The circus was inside a large armory building
with bleacher seats surrounding three brightly painted rings. Their seats
were close enough to the center and high enough up they had a pretty good
view of everything. 

Mulder bought her a headband made out of a twisted balloon and made
her wear it. 

She wore it because she was not only enjoying herself, she loved the way 
Mulder looked at that moment. The lines of care and tension were washed 
away leaving an innocent little boy face she usually only saw when he was 
sleeping dreamlessly. He was the most intriguing mix of troubled and sensitive 
adult and childlike charm. Now if only the darkness lurking in his eyes would 
go away as well... It belied the fact that he was trying so very hard.

They watched the parade and the trapeze, and she poked him in the
ribs at the speculative look in his eyes at the trained dog act.

"Don't even think it. If you kill the dog she'll shoot you again and
I have an attachment for the place most likely aimed for." Cassy stage
whispered to him over the applause of the crowd.

He only grinned and pointed to a group of clowns coming out to make
everyone laugh at their outrageous antics. They fed each other cotton
candy and awful hot dogs. It was wonderful. Cassy licked the last strands
of Mulder's fingers when she caught the look in his eye. Her own eyes grew
wide. 

"You can't be serious..." 

He just took her hand. The high wire act was on now, and everyone else was 
looking up, people barely even noticed the two of them leave the bleachers.

This was insane, unbelievable, he couldn't be serious. She felt her
hand enveloped in his as he pulled her along, taking her around and
leading her UNDERNEATH the bleacher seats, surrounded by paper 
waste and bits of popcorn. 

"Are you crazy? I am not going along with this." Cassy pulled her
hand away and crossed her arms. "An exhibitionist I'm not. This goes 
way beyond sane and rational."

"Don't you have any adventure in your soul?" He gave her a completely
bedeviling grin.

"Plenty, but this isn't adventure... this is... I COULDN'T!" 

He moved closer to her as she talked, until she backed up against a
bleacher support.
 
"Everyone is watching the high wire, and after that the lion tamer.
We are in the back of the building, no one walks by here." There it
was, that desperate, haunted look in his eyes. 

He wanted this. He wanted the risk, and the escape of it. He wanted this 
so he could, for this brief moment, become completely lost in her. The circus
itself wasn't working as well as he had hoped. 

She realized with a painful twisting of her heart, that he had been putting on
a show most of the time here. Painting on the mask of carefree delight and trying
to convince HIMSELF that it was real. She had been unable to sense it before now, 
due to the multitudes around them. 

"This is the CIRCUS, Mulder. We are surrounded by hundreds of people." She 
tried to rationalize even as she accepted that she would give in. She could not 
refuse him what he so craved.

He kissed her then, reaching under her sweater to cup her breast, his
thumb rubbing against her nipples through her lace bra. She felt herself
coming alive at his touch. She moaned into his mouth and leaned closer. 
 
He kissed her neck, gently sucking at the spot just below her ear.
She shivered.

"I... I can't drop shields here. All these people... it would burn me
out." She trembled as his hands gathered up her skirt to slide along her
hip. No pantyhose.

"So don't. Be yourself. It's nice, but not everything." His fingers
traced the outline of her panties, over her hip, down the front, cupping
her.

She writhed against him. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She kissed
him back then, reaching under his sweater to touch and stroke him. The
very fact that anyone could walk by behind the bleachers sent a wildly
wanton thrill through her. 

She undid the fly of his jeans, feeling that he was already hard, his
erection straining the fabric of his jeans. She tugged the jeans down a
bit, freeing him into her hand, heavy and ready. 

He grasped her waist and lifted her up, her back against the brace,
and she wrapped her legs around him, she didn't need any more foreplay and
he moved her panties aside before he lowered her onto himself. He was
holding her, supporting her against the wooden brace as he began to move. 

Cassandra bit her lip, not wanting to make a sound to draw the
attention of all the people above them. Not that she would. Wild applause
echoed through the building and she heard the distant roar of the great
cats.  

She buried her head against his neck, moving with him, taking all
of him as the pace quickened. Her nails dug into his shoulders and her
teeth clamped where his neck and shoulder met as she felt herself climbing
up, up... only to explode in a cacophony of light and wonder. He followed
her quickly. She whimpered, tasting blood she realized she had actually
bitten him. 

Applause surrounded them.

"Think that's for us?" He joked into her ear as he let her slide down
and helped her to clean up and arrange her clothes.

"It might as well be." She smiled. "You are a terrible influence on me,
Fox Mulder. A quickie at the circus is not my usual style."

He straightened up his jeans and grinned before kissing her again.
"But it becomes you. Come on, let's go watch the rest of the show."
 
"You want to go back out there? You are bleeding because I bit you."
She pulled out another tissue and dabbed at the spot. "A hickey is one
thing but that is ridiculous, it might get infected."

"It would be worth it." He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "But my
sweater will cover it, and the horse show hasn't come out yet."

"You are insane. Alright, but I'm going to be convinced that
everyone will just be staring at us and KNOW what we just did."

"They won't. Come on." He tugged on her hand again.

"I already did" She giggled.
*****************************

They returned to the apartment complex late. They went for some
real food after the circus and just sat and talked about little things.
Silly things, like why he wore such God-awful ties to work, and why she
let her boss push her around too much. 

He took her back to her apartment, even though she had offered to
walk Queequeg again for him tonight.

"I better do it. Scully will kill me if she thinks I foisted him
off on someone." He kissed her goodnight and stayed in the hall until
she closed the door behind her. 

Tammy wasn't there. She had left a note on the fridge. 
 
            Gone out with Chuck. Be back by midnight. Did you enjoy      
       the circus?
                           Tammy

Cassy smiled to herself as she went to get a nice, hot bubble bath.
She would never look at the circus quite the same way again.

==============================================