Burning Desire

Billionaire. Womanizer

As he walked out of the park, towards his car, Devin was astonished. He couldn't believe he had asked the blonde with dreamy brown eyes, what was her name again?... Cassandra, out for a cup of coffee. He was shocked but at the same time pleased that he did.

He had noticed her staring at him when he was helping the little boy, thanks to his military-trained instincts. At first, he didn't know who was watching him but couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. After a while, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed a blonde lady with a camera watching him and instantly became alert. It's not every day an ex-soldier gets followed by a reporter hungry for news about his base.

When he saw her approaching, noticing her petite and delicate features, with large childlike brown eyes, he knew immediately that she was harmless and relaxed.

When she asked for an interview and his pictures, he tensed up again, thinking it had something to do with his brother who was always sought after by different people from the press, but when she said she was a photographer for a photo log, he relaxed once more. His brother would never be involved in anything that has to do with photo blogs unless he was featured as " The most stylish man of the year". He found things like that boring.

As he opened his car door and sat down in the driver's seat, he took out her card and fiddled with it. He looked at it and smiled at the graphics used to design her name; Cassandra Donovan. He put the card back in his pocket and turned on the car. Giving one long look at the park, he drove off.

She stood with her mouth still open as she watched him awkwardly make his way out of the park, sticking out like a sore thumb with his military uniform. She shook her head in disbelief and smiled.

" Wow…." She said, still looking dazed " I can't believe he asked me out for a date. He was acting all glum and uninterested" she chuckled and started packing up her camera stand.

" Well, goodbye Central Park. I had fun today and I hope I will next time" she said smiling as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. she walked to the car park, opened her car trunk, placed the stand inside, and drove off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The crosstown traffic was heavy and the drive to her studio apartment took longer than she'd expected. She pulled her green Chevrolet Malibu into the driveway of a two-story Victorian apartment building. She got out of her car and walked into the building pulling her camera stand along with her and opened the door.

The door slid open and she stepped into the lightly sparse sitting room with its white walls decorated with modest paintings. She made her way up the stairs, across the hallway into a room that was very obviously a mini studio. The room was large and brightly lit with its central focus being a seamless expanse of white wall, curving from the ceiling to the floor. Numerous lights and reflecting panels were scattered around the room and at the center, she placed her tripod stand and camera.

Moving to the corner of the room, she sat on the single sofa and grabbed her laptop which was placed on a makeshift desk along the wall. Her photography instruments were placed on the table: four different cameras, a dozen lenses, and boxes of film. Near the sofa were the shallow containers of chemicals that she uses to develop the films.

She placed her laptop on her lap and took her camera, glancing through the pictures she took at the park. She smiled as she saw the pictures of the young couple she had interviewed earlier, gazing into each other's eyes, looking happy. She stopped when she saw the picture of Mark.

He looked serene as he stood under the tree, the lightning effect of the sun reducing his tan and enhancing the beauty of his green eyes. She stared into those green eyes of his that held a secret she can't seem to place and felt as though he was staring back at her, his defiant chin raised as if daring her to look closer. She exhaled sharply and felt as though she was in a trance, trapped in the lovely sea of his eyes. The door burst open causing her to jump, startled, she looked at the culprit.

" Mom!" She said sharply, " Why didn't you knock? You startled me"

" I heard the sound of a car and I came in to investigate. Why didn't you tell me you were back? And what were you doing that you were startled just by the sound of the door opening" The woman said as she walked into the room. She was also blonde but her hair was slightly turning gray. She was the chubbier and older version of Cassie with her large mahogany-brown eye and small frame. She was dressed in a long-sleeved plaid casual shirt and black jeans with her hair plaited back in a thick braid. The clothes and her style of hair made her appear younger than she was and with the absence of the rebellious gray hair peeking from the corners of her hair, she could easily pass as Cassie's sister.

" I didn't know you were in " she replied and gingerly placed her laptop back on the desk.

" So, how was today?" Her mother asked, moving closer to her and taking up her camera, " Did you take any good pictures? ...gosh, who am I kidding? you always do. I meant to ask, did you have fun?" She said grinning.

"I did have fun today," she said, taking the camera away from her hands " I'm not done editing it yet".

" Really?" Her mom nodded thinking ' oh, I saw that sweetie. Just waiting till you mention it yourself', hiding her smile.

"Yeah… I have to edit them first"

" Don't you normally use your laptop for that?" She said with feigned concern " Just asking though, I'm not the expert, you are".

" Uh…" she paled and blinked " I do but today's photos are different….yeah that's why".

" So," she said, walking slowly around the room, " Did you meet any interesting people today? Any special person?"

Cassie stood up, shifting from one foot to the other, trying to sound as casual as possible, " Yeah, I met some interesting people. I also interviewed one ex-soldier and a lovely couple"

'Ah ah...got you finally' She thought to herself and cleared her throat, cleverly baiting her. " So, a soldier huh?"

" Not really. Ex-soldier" she corrected, avoiding eye contact with her.

" What's he like? This soldier"

" Oh... He's okay, I guess like other soldiers" she replied tossing her an impatient glance.

" Oh sweetie, I meant his facials. Is he good-looking?" Her mom asked, unable to keep a straight face.

" I don't know…." She blinked furiously " I didn't get a good look at his face"

That did it. The statement let loose of the tiny thread of control her mother had and she burst out laughing, her body shaking uncontrollably with the rhythm of her laughter while Cassie stood watching her, confused.

" You couldn't get a good look at the face of the guy whose picture you took?" She asked in between laughter.

Like a deer caught in red lights, Cassie didn't know what to do and wasn't sure what to say as she watched her mother roar with laughter.

" Fine, you caught me " she finally said after her mother stopped laughing, " Yeah he's good looking"

"He's not only good-looking, honey, but he must also be stunning for you to be gazing at his pictures and drooling" she teased

" I wasn't drooling"

" Yeah right, if you say so ma'am," She said with obvious mockery, " So, did this super handsome Soldier tell you his name? Or are we going to keep drooling over a nameless face?"

" I told you I wasn't drooling," she protested and sighed, her mom can be frustrating at times. " His name is Devin Evans"

"Devin huh?...nice name. Evans…." Her mother mused loudly " I've read about that last name somewhere. Anyways, Evans is a common last name so…" she trailed off

" I'm hungry" Cassie yawned and dropped her camera, " What's for lunch, Investigator Sophie?" She teased

" I was wondering if we should order pizza" Her mother replied, chuckling and moving towards the door, " Is that okay?

" Yeah, as long as you order ham and pineapple"

" Okay, you got it," she said and walked out of the room.

Cassie sighed contentedly and smiled at her mother's obvious good mood. She had always hated the days when she comes back home only to find her mother in a terrible mood.

Ever since the incident ten years ago, her mother had always had fluctuating moods, being depressed most of the time. She shook her head to clear the memories and picked up her camera again. Looking at the pictures of Devin, she suddenly became curious as to who he is and took out her laptop.

She sat on the sofa and placed the laptop on her desk. She opened her browser and searched the name ' Devin Evans' and the information that pulled up left her speechless.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The pizza arrived a few minutes later and they sat down in the sitting room with two bottles of beer. For the next hour, they ate together, talking quietly in the familiar ways they always did in the past.

As the evening slowly wound down, Cassie found herself warming up to this lively version of her mom and felt the need to confide in her about her discovery of Devin.

" You know, I did some research on Devin and I found some pretty interesting things" she started dropping her almost empty bottle.

" Oh really?" Sophie said, sitting up and leaning forward with obvious interest.

" Yeah.." She replied " Turns out he is a billionaire," she said casually.

" A what?"

" That's not all. He has a reputation for being an infamous womanizer and that's what puzzles me"

" A womanizer huh?.... That word just always fits right with rich men" her mother scorned, " What puzzles you?"

"When I saw him, he didn't strike me as someone who was a womanizer, heck, he didn't even strike me as someone flirty. He was all tight-lipped and serious. I was even shocked when he asked me out for a cup of coffee" she said, tilting her head sideways, confused.

" Honey, if he wasn't a womanizer, he wouldn't have asked you out, no offense there, but he might have been feigning disinterest just to get your attention. That's how men are, f*****g scumbags".

" I still don't believe that. I'll have to see for myself."

" You shouldn't trust these men, they are snakes "

" Yeah..yeah. I won't" she said as her phone rang

" Hello, who is this?"

" Yeah, it's Cassandra …..mmmhmm. Yeah...okay. No problem".

" Who was that?" Sophie asked as soon as she ended the call.

" That was Devin. He called to tell me where we are to meet tomorrow" she replied

" You are still gonna meet him? After all that you read about him online?" Erica asked perplexed.

" Yeah. Besides, I don't believe everything I see on the internet" she said, dismissing her mother's concern.

" Where did he ask you to meet?"

" A restaurant near the park" she lied, not wanting her mom to be more worried.

" Okay, if you insist on seeing him. But be very careful".

" Yes ma'am" she replied and sighed, her mother was always so wary of men.