Cassie Gutierrez<br/>Location: GPC apartment 901.<br/>Tag: .Arthur Connington<br/>Time: Mid to late evening.<br/><br/><br/>For Cassie, this all seemed perfect, because essentially her knowledge of this sort of thing came from a distillation of various media sources, mostly silly RomComs. she thought about it as he turned on the music. But she knew all the drama and plot twists of those movies were a bit contrived for real life.  The company, the setting, and now even the music, all seemed perfect to her, right out of her ideal self-directed movie.  The passionate older man who needed to learn to love again, the naive but exuberant younger woman seeking companionship, not to mention maybe a place to stay where she won't risk discovery of her deepest darkest secret...<br/><br/>She paused at her last thought.   Was that it?  Did she want to use Arthur in that way?  She scrunched her nose .  Even if that had been a consideration when she had first thought about this, it turned out she really liked the man.  He brought out a side of her that felt so amazingly normal, comfortable.  He made her feel funny and pretty and special, and wanted.  And not wanted in a red carpet paparazzi looking to get<a class="link link--external" href="https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims3/GLOB/crop/1656x1088+92+123/resize/1028x675!/format/jpg/quality/85/http%3A%2F%2Fo.aolcdn.com%2Fhss%2Fstorage%2Fmidas%2F96e73aec745691a766685e4cc97cb865%2F204369457%2F609872638.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">a shot of her side-boob</a>kind of way , but in a very warm, thoughtful way.<br/><br/><br/>Her eyes twinkled with interest as she pulled her mouth back into a smile upon his return and at the music.  "Very nice choice.. i don't know if i have heard this one before, it sort of reminds me of Dave Brubeck"  Of course her depth of Jazz piano went about as far as Dave Brubeck or Vince Guaraldi , but she liked it.  Lately she had wondered about the world that her family and friends seemed to rule over from high above - how did it get here, where did all of it's intracacies come from?  And when did people become so obsessed with manufactured celebrity and banalities ?   She hated being a part of that world.  If she could, she would become Cassie forever and never go back.  She looked over at her date, wondering what he would think of her, if he knew she was the shallow little pseudo-celebrity with all the famous and useless pseudo-friends.  She bit her lip in worry and then smiled again  and the night went on.<br/><br/>She let a bit of small talk go on and then she dropped a question.  "Do you ever feel trapped Arthur, by what the world thinks you are or by what you have been told you are supposed to be?  Ever want to run away from it?  You know, like just go  anywhere, maybe by car or by boat or by plane, and just see if you can outrun it?"  She blushed a little bit.  "I like to think about going to some little island like out in the Seychelles , i think if you came to visit me there you should bring this album with you" she giggled a little bit .<br/><br/>She paused noticing the changes in tempo and mood in the album  "you know if this section is very long, maybe we could dance again?"  she asked, her eyes a hopeful , her slender fingers caressing the back of his neck with  her mouth curled with an inviting smile. Was she hoping for him or for what he represented?  And did that make a difference to her, or to him?  One thing for sure, she didn't want to give him an easy out.  They were both out of their comfort zones but she was finding she felt very comfortable and she  would do her best to make him comfortable as well. Despite the conflict she was beginning to feel inside... should she reveal who she was to him?  And which really was the 'real' her?