yessirmrjohnson | (no subject)

(no subject)

There was something off about Cave. It bothered her as she made his coffee and plagued her mind as she went about typing up his reports. By time she had to bring him his lunch, she was convinced she had to ask him. It was probably all in her head, the lack of that personal smile in the morning, the quietness on the radio between her desk and his.

No, it was probably all in her head. Not worth worrying about and certainly not worth bothering him over. With a deep breath, Caroline lifted his lunch tray and knocked twice before stepping into his office.

"Here is your lunch, Sir."

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Cave took a moment to spit the coffee he was drinking across the room.

"And what, exactly, was all that spent on?"

He was already trying to figure out a way to get this wedding written off as a tax deduction. Maybe insurance would cover it. This was a KIND of natural disaster, right?

"Location, food, lodging, workers, entertainers, decoration, the wedding dress was nearly a million on its own. You gave your fiance the right to make executive decisions with your money. All these services and products have already been bought and booked. You have to pay the money."

Cave muttered several things under his breath. There's gotta be SOME kind of tax dodge here. It would be okay. He was a billionaire, wasn't he? Just a drop in the bucket. So...why did this bother him so much?

It's not hers. It's not right.

He took a deep breath, trying to push away his bad thoughts.

"Of course. It's not an issue."

"Wonderful! I look forward to seeing you there!"

The wedding came up pretty quickly. It was set in a garden and there was pink pretty much everywhere. Pink cake, pink canopy, pink everything. There was extravagance in almost everything with disgusting overspending everywhere you looked. Nothing in it reflected Cave at all. The hundreds of people there were all strangers for him. No Aperture employees were invited, not one familiar face in the crowd.

At least Elena was beautiful in her custom made dress with hand placed real diamonds. And she looked incredibly, perfectly happy. They had a fabulous honey moon booked for the whole next week in Europe. Just the two of them.

Cave looked...well, he didn't seem unhappy. That has to say something, right? Look at how pretty Elena is. Everything is amazing and immaculate. The European trip should be amazing.

So why couldn't he enjoy the moment? Was this just jitters? Sure. That's gotta be it. Cold feet. Everyone gets 'em.

Caroline would hate this. It's so tacky, even by your standards.

Cave looked around the room recognizing no one except the bride. Well, of course. He didn't invite anyone. He had no one to invite. He didn't even have a best man. The only person in the world he'd entrust such an honor to was locked away in stasis for two more days. If she survived.

He sighed, maintaining a stone face forward.

It was the 4th and they were in France on a yacht when a call came through to Cave from Aperture. "Sorry to interrupt your honeymoon, Sir. I thought you'd like to know the results of the stasis tests."

He apologized to his now wife, taking the call.

"Go on."

His heart was pounding. He just wanted to know she was okay.

There was a long pause but finally a familiar voice replied. "I'm fine, Sir. The test was a success."

Cave nearly collapsed in relief. It was as though he'd been holding his breath a month, only breathing just now.

"Oh. Oh thank-- I was so worried. I'm so sorry. About everything. I didn't know, and-- and I should have."

"It's fine, Sir. Just enjoy yourself. I'll see you when you return." She sounded genuinely fine and happy. Maybe she didn't know how much he knew.

"It's not fine. I didn't know you felt like that...for so long. It was wrong. I was wrong. You're special. I didn't ignore that. I didn't. And I'm sorry."

"Feel like what? I'm sorry, I don't understand, Mr. Johnson." There was no hint of joking in her voice in insincerity.

He cleared his throat, not sure of how to continue.

"I..er..you wrote a letter. Don't you remember?"

"Oh. Dr. Hastel warned me this might happen. Part of the experiment was also selective memory elimination. There were a few things I elected to forget, but I obviously don't remember what they were. Should I go over everything that I remember, Sir?"

"That.. won't be necessary, Caroline. That can wait until I get back. Man the fort while I'm gone, eh?"

He laughed, hanging up the phone. After hanging up, and showing the first rage he'd allow himself since she'd been in stasis in the first place, he threw the phone overboard.

What was he even angry about? Did he know? He was happily married, right? Right?

When he'd get back, everything was perfect like normal and there Caroline sat at her assistant's assistant desk. As soon as he came in, Caroline stood and came out from behind her desk to shake his hand. "Welcome back, Sir." It was a perfectly polite smile, but it was one of a..a secretary and not a friend or partner.

He entered looking...well, terrible. He just didn't appear to be himself, lacking in his usual vibrant aura.

Cave nodded a short greeting to Caroline on his way in. He'd been briefed on her status, and could take a guess as to what memories she'd erased. But, she was healthy and she was happy. He wasn't in a position to want anything more from her.

Elena took her seat at her desk, looking haughty as ever.

"Well, well. Good to see you! So glad you made it out of that test okay. What are the odds? You missed an absolutely beautiful wedding, with a honeymoon to match."

"I wish I could have seen it. I'm sure it was lovely. So, what can I do for you today Mrs. Johnson?" There was no stifled pain, no struggle, just an honest cooperative attitude.

"Tch. How boring. I was hoping to have at least a little fun at your expense considering this is my last day and all.

That's something I'm sure you're happy about, isn't it? I don't need to be here anymore. I won. I got my white picket fence. Well, its more like a large golden mansion. You get the idea. I don't need to work anymore, I can just sit back and spend his money, and you get your dinky little desk back."

Caroline pressed her own desk's intercom button as she moved into a better position to hide it.

"But, you love him, don't you? You and Mr. Johnson seem happy." Whatever she said would be broadcasted straight into Cave's office.

Elena laughed at the question.

"Love? Wouldn't every women love such a lifestyle? The money. The power. The decadence. What's not to love?"

"But do you love him as a man? Are you interested in anything he stands for, other than his profits?"

"Stands for? What's to stand for? He makes money. That's enough, isn't it? I don't think I understand what you mean."

"Science, innovation. You've worked here for months. You didn't see anything that interested you? These are the things he's dedicated his life to."

She paused, and took a moment to seriously consider this.

"Hmm. They're cute hobbies I guess. Not really much of a point in them without the profit, right? Science is kind of pointless in the long run.

Still, good to have hobbies. Something to do."