Part 11
Cordelia walked in just as a growling Angel approached Bob.
“Where’s Cordelia?”
“She’s right behind you.” He spun around. “Miss me?”
“Where have you been? What took so long?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Bob walk away. “After my session with Bob, I ran upstairs for a minute. Does the growling mean you missed me?”
“Always”
“Sweet talker” She gave him a quick kiss. “Let’s pick a couch. Group is about to start.” Angel tried to drag her to the one in the back corner. “Let’s sit here.”
The couch she pointed to was in the middle of the room. “No”
She ignored his response and sat down. She patted the spot beside her.
Angel plopped down and folded his arms across his chest. He knew there’d be no snuggling or touching if they were so exposed. He was surprised when she grabbed one of his arms and draped it around her shoulders.
She smiled up at him and snuggled into his arms. It was time to be a loving affectionate couple outside of their room. All the missing couples had been happy by the end of the retreat. They needed Bob to believe they were happily in love if they were to be next. She glanced at Angel’s goofy grin. It shouldn’t be too difficult considering they were a couple happily in love.
Bob tried to avoid looking at his Cordy wrapped up in Angel’s arms. “Good morning all. I hope everyone had a pleasant evening.” He received some nods and a few grunts. “This morning we’re going to be focusing our attention on the issue of trust.” His eyes connected with Cordelia’s.
“Cordelia, why don’t you start us off? You and Angel seem pretty happy. Does this mean you’ve resolved your difficulties with trusting Angel? You no longer fear he’ll push you away the next time he’s feeling overwhelmed? That perhaps he may be unfaithful again? That he’ll lie about it like he did before?”
Angel felt Cordelia stiffen beside him as she was barraged with questions. If he had a heartbeat, it would be racing.
Cordy was officially pissed off. She didn’t know what Bob’s problem was but it was time to stop his attacks on Angel once and for all. “Let’s tackle those one at a time, shall we?”
Angel relaxed when he heard her Queen C tone of voice. He’d never tell her but it turned him on when she got so…forceful.
“Do I fear he’ll push me away the next time he’s feeling overwhelmed? No. I’m fairly certain he’ll try. It’s his dumbass way of trying to protect me, but I’m not the same girl I was before. He’ll try and he’ll fail because I’m not going anywhere. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”
“Do I fear he’ll be unfaithful again? Technically he wasn’t nor do I think he ever will be.” She looked at Angel. “He knows I will kick his ass if he even thinks about it.” She returned Angel’s smile.
“Do I fear he’ll lie to me again? I don’t think he’ll purposely lie to me. We’ve known each other for awhile but there are still things we haven’t shared yet. They aren’t lies or secrets exactly. We just haven’t told each other yet. It can be a little intimidating at times but it’s also exciting. I like the fact that he still surprises me.” She took a deep breath before continuing.
“And Angel doesn’t exactly have a monopoly in the lie department.” She fidgeted. “I was sick. Actually I was dying.” There were several gasps. “I’m fine now.” She waved away their concerns. “Radical treatment. Anyway..” She grabbed Angel’s hand. “I never told Angel. I kept it a secret from all of my friends. I decided to face it alone.” She looked directly into Bob’s eyes.
“He found out when I had a really bad…episode and he almost lost me. Once I recovered, he was angry. He yelled a lot. He growled a bit too but he never froze me out. He never condemned me. He simply made me promise never to keep anything so..important from him again.” There were tears in her eyes when she looked back at Angel.
“And even now when I get angry about what happened with Darla, he never throws my lies in my face. He just apologizes for hurting me and he promises he’ll never do it again.” She reached out and cupped his cheek. “I believe him.” She looked back a Bob. She wiped her tears away and settled back into Angel’s arms. “I believe him.”
Angel had gone from fear to pure joy as he listened to Cordelia’s words. He knew she had to hold back a lot. It’s not like she could mention her visions or his..their mission. And she really couldn’t mention the fact that he risked his soul and what losing it would mean to her and everyone she loved.
Bob stared at them holding each other. Her words had stunned him into silence.
Jake arched a brow at his associate’s lack of composure. “I’m very glad to hear you’ve made such a breakthrough in your marriage.”
Bob managed to pull himself together. He would deal with her revelations later. He reminded himself that her lies didn’t give Angel the right to be abusive. “Yes. I’m happy for both of you.” He managed a small smile. “Laura, how about you and Rob?”
Cordelia felt giddy. It seemed like Bob had finally heard her. *Now maybe he’ll choose us as the next couple to…whatever*
Angel leaned in to whisper. “I love you.”
She turned and kissed his cheek. “I know.” She gave him a saucy smile. “Now pay attention.”
***
They broke for lunch at 11:30. Cordelia was confused by Bob’s occasional cold glares. She and Angel were the perfect happy couple. Bob should be pleased. He should be plotting against them right now. She didn’t understand why he cringed a little every time he looked over at them cuddled on their couch.
Angel pulled her out of her thoughts and the couch. “Let’s go.”
She tugged back. “You seem to be in an awfully big hurry to get to the dining room.”
“What?”
“‘Cause that’s where we’re going. I’m starving. There seems to be a conspiracy against my eating breakfast. I am not missing lunch too.”
“I’ll grab you a sandwich and meet you in our room.”
“Cordy, would you guys like to join us for lunch?”
“We’d love to, Donna. Wouldn’t we Angel?”
Angel winced when Cordy’s nails dug into his hand. “Yeah. Sounds..great.”
***
“So you were sick?”
“Yup”
“That’s kinda big as secrets go.”
“I know”
“I mean really big.”
She smiled sweetly at Donna. “I still know.”
“Leave her alone, honey. Angel wasn’t exactly the model of honesty.”
Cordelia and Angel listened as Donna and George proceeded to argue over which one committed the greater transgression.
Cordy rested her cheek on Angel’s shoulder. She glanced up at him. “I love you.”
He leaned in and lightly brushed his lips to hers. “I know.” He gently smothered her giggle with his mouth.
When Cordy finally came up for air, George and Donna were smiling at them.
***
“I have reached a decision, Robert.”
“Master?”
“Angel and Cordelia are to be invited to join us.”
“But..”
“No buts. I believe them to possess a strong bond of love and a healthy marriage. They will make an excellent addition.”
“But..forgive me Master. Angel is..”
“I have watched them and I listened to them.”
“I know what she said this morning but..”
“I had already made my decision. The woman, who playfully teased her husband in their bathroom last night, is NOT afraid of him.”
“What about the way he tackled her to the floor? What about the way he put her in such a submissive position? She was on the phone! To show his wife such disrespect is disgraceful.”
“Their wrestling was a bit..agressive but neither appeared to mind and many people enjoy that particular position. I myself..” He cleared his throat. “Perhaps it was inappropriate to do that while she was on the phone but that hardly makes them an unsuitable choice. His strength will come in handy. I have made my decision and I expect you to follow my directions.”
“Yes Master”
“I’m willing to overlook the fact that you focused your efforts on Cordelia even though I instructed you to work with Angel. The important thing is their marriage is strong and soon they will join us. You know what to do.”
“Yes Master”
“Has there been any success in accessing their computer transmissions?”
“No sir. It’s not surprising since he owns his own computer company.”
“True. Be sure to question them about their family and friends. They have not made any phone calls and we do not know to whom they write on their computer. We need to be prepared for whomever will come looking for them. Our day draws near. We cannot risk exposure.”
***
Angel was doing his best not to pout. They’d only been given an hour break for lunch. He hoped they would go back to their room. *She finally said she..believed me. She didn’t actually say she forgave me, did she? Damn! We really need to be alone!*
Cordelia didn’t seem to be in a hurry. She and Donna had chatted throughout the meal. Laura joined their conversation shortly after the dishes were cleared. Angel had made an effort to talk to George. Once Rob joined them, he turned his attention to staring at Cordy.
He was doing his best to will her into leaving. Plus their morning lovemaking hadn’t gone as planned. What with the interruptions and the..interruptions. He looked at the clock. Fifteen minutes until they had to go back. *Damn*
Cordelia finally turned to her pouting vampire. “Time for round two.”
“Whatever”
She grabbed his hand as they started walking. “What’s the matter?”
Angel pulled her aside, letting the other couples pass by. “I wanted some time alone. We need to talk.”
“It will have to wait until later.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “The retreat is almost over. It’s time to be the loving affectionate couple so we’ll be the next couple targeted. You need to relax.” She planted kisses along his jaw. “Do you think you can do that?”
His answer was to pull her in for a passionate kiss.
She responded with equal hunger for a few moments before breaking the kiss. With glazed eyes, she looked up at him. “Ready?”
“You have no idea.”
Cordy pressed her hips to his. “Mmmmm..I think I do.”
“Tease”
She stood on her toes and licked his bottom lip. “Occasionally”
Angel let out a groan when she stepped away. “Let’s go before I end up taking you right here in the hallway.” He dragged a giggling Cordelia behind him.
***
Jake stood before the group. “We talked about trust earlier. Now I’d like to talk about keeping secrets and telling lies.” He smiled at Cordelia and Angel, who were cuddling on the same couch as before. “I’m going to put you two on the hot seat first. Who thinks Cordy keeping her health problems from Angel was an acceptable secret?” No one raised their hand.
“Who thinks Angel lying about his liaison with another woman was acceptable?” A couple of husbands raised their hands until receiving death glares from their wives. “Now these are extreme instances but lots of big secrets and lies start out small. Married couples are still individuals and individuals do deserve a certain amount of privacy. Some might say your body is a private thing. Cordy would you mind telling us the evolution of your secret?”
“It didn’t start out a secret. Ummm..I was in the hospital a few months before Angel..broke up with me. I…had been in an accident. A few days after our breakup, I had a follow-up appointment. My doctor wanted to run a few tests just to be sure there were no lasting effects. Among them was a CAT scan. He found a shadow. We weren’t together so he wasn’t exactly around to tell.”
Angel shifted uncomfortably. He could feel his guilt rising.
“One doctor became a few doctors. They told me due to its location operating was not a possibility. Unless I wanted to become a vegetable. They were confident if they could discover what was causing the damage and stop it, I would be fine. They had never seen a case quite like mine before.”
She cautioned a glance at Angel. “They gave me medication for my migraines and continued to run tests. After we got back together, I thought about telling him. The doctors had become…they said if they didn’t discover the cause soon, I would be dead in a year. I wanted to tell Angel but I knew he would…try to help. I couldn’t allow that.”
Cordy noticed their confused faces. “I mean..I knew he would toss his miss..umm..company aside to take care of me. I refused to let innocent..employees suffer because of me. People depend on Angel and I help him in my own way. If I was going to die, I wanted to do it on my own terms. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone by keeping it a secret. At the time, I thought I was doing what was best. You know in the big picture.”
She threaded her fingers with Angel’s. “I had an episode and slipped into a coma. That’s when Angel found out I was sick. He found my test results and…consulted my doctors. Thanks to some experimental measures and some hard choices, I made a full recovery. My doctors were pretty shocked but then they’d never fully understood why I was sick in the first place.”
“If you had it to do over again, would you make different choices?”
“I wish I’d been the one to tell him.” The truth was she would do it the same way. Angel and the others would have found a way to get rid of her visions and there was no way she would ever allow that to happen.
“So you’ve learned your lesson about keeping secrets?”
“Well you made a good point about it being an extreme instance. Secrets usually do start out small and the line can be pretty blurry.” She refused to look at Angel when he squeezed her hand.
“There was this one time when we were working on a…business deal. I had noticed something small about one of the guys who ran the other company. Tiny really. Practically insignificant. It seemed silly to even mention it. Angel can be so melodramatic and it wasn’t enough..to react to. It wasn’t even really a secret. I mean Angel had to notice the same thing I did. I may have…I kinda told Wesley about it. He’s a friend of ours as well as the..manager of Angel’s company. I asked him to check into the guy. Now that part I guess was a secret ’cause I sorta told Wes not to mention it to Angel. But like I said it was nothing and it wasn’t enough to go on. Now…I mean once Wes found something else that was slightly suspicious and I noticed something else about the guy, I totally plan..I mean I told Angel all about it. So he shouldn’t..have gotten mad ’cause it was barely a secret. It’s not my fault if what was completely obvious to both of us didn’t make him suspicious.” By the time Cordy had finished her rant, she had thoroughly confused Jake.
“I have to say I only understood about half of what you said. How about you, Angel?”
“I’m afraid I did.” He looked into Cordelia’s nervous eyes. “And it was definitely a secret she should not have kept.”
“But..”
“If it was worth telling Wes then you should have told me.”
“Hmmph” She relented under his glare. “I’m…umm..I said I was sorry.”
“Uh huh. I’m waiting for the part where you promise never to do it again.”
She rolled her eyes. “I promise never to do it again. But you have to admit you are melodramatic. It could have easily turned out to be nothing and you would have ruined our…deal with your patented burst of..melodrama. Then where would we be?”
“I don’t know but at least we’d be there together.”
Her face light up in a full megawatt Cordy smile. “I like the sound of that. Forgive me?”
“Yes”
She planted a quick kiss on his lips. “I love you”
“I love you too even though you drive me crazy.”
“It’s a gift.”
Jake slapped his hands together. “Excellent. I think. Let’s move on. Perhaps our next couple won’t be quite as confusing.”
Cordelia and Angel snuggled into their couch oblivious to everyone around them. Angel nuzzled her neck. “I expect to hear the specifics about your secret and what Wes found out.”
“I promise. But no take-backs. You already forgave me.”
“We are going to talk about your other secret as soon as we get home.”
“We will.”
***
Angel was eager to return to their room as soon as the meeting ended. They only had 45 minutes before the workshops began. *If Jake tells us not to have sex again, he is a dead man*
Cordelia and Angel were about to leave when Bob appeared. Cordy squeezed Angel’s hand to silence his growling.
“Angel, I was hoping to meet with you for a private session before the workshops.”
“Actually we..”
“Angel would love to. There’s nothing more important to him than our marriage. Isn’t that right honey?”
“Absolutely”
“I’ll see you later.” She pulled his head down to kiss his cheek before whispering in his ear. “Watch your back around Bob.” She released her grip. “You boys play nice.”
Angel’s blank look was soon replaced with an evil smirk. *Bob is evil. Oh yeah. I knew it all along. I hope this means I get to kill him…for the sake of mankind and the mission* “I’ll be good.” For now, he silently added.