Jules was surprised when Ceaser brought her to a diner. Every time she thought she knew what there was to know about him, he'd go ahead and do something that made her take a step back and go Wait! What?

Jules sat opposite Ceaser in a booth in the cosy diner. It made her realize that there was more to Ceaser than fancy restaurants, designer suits, iron-clad will, strong exterior, the ladies-man and a lot more than she thought came with being rich.

There was that way he treated Ivy like she meant the world to him. If he were her father, he'd be amazing at it. Then there was also the way he was with his parents. Being around his parents brought out things in Ceaser that he constantly hides around everyone else. It was almost like there were two Ceasers – one around family and at work.

Must be tough having to be two different people every day but she found it admirable that he tried to keep the two things away from the other.

She came to the conclusion there was a whole lot more to Ceaser than what she had assumed or seen.

He cared a lot about Family, that she was sure of.

Family?!
She guessed that was what he saw Ivy as.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Jules snapped out of thoughts and just looked at him. They were seated in a booth next to the window. She smiled and looked out of the window into the dark night and the street lit with the street light. People here and there. Cars passed by once in a while.

"C'mon Jules. Clearly, you were thinking of something because you just zoned out on me into your own world." She looked at him and he seemed relaxed even though this was not his usual habitat.

"You."

Ceaser felt a smile tug at his lips.
"Me?" His brow creased with the smile still lingering on his lips. He had watched her the entire time and even though she had been looking at him, she wasn't seeing him. That's when he knew she was miles away.

"Yea." She said, "You're full of surprises."

"Oh?"

"You're more a Thompson at work. But outside work you're, Ceaser. Just Ceaser." She explained as she watched him for what felt like an hour. His expression was vague so she looked away and his face broke into a wide grin.

"That's a good thing, right?" He asked.

"Yea, I guess." She smiled looking out the window.

She felt his penetrating gaze on her before she heard him
"Jules?"

The way he called her name then was different from the other times he had called her name. It held so many unknown emotions attached to it. Just the way he called her name sent waves of unfamiliar pleasure through her. Down her spine to her bones. It made her heart stumble a few times before it got back up and started racing towards an unknown destination.

She looked right at him. Then swallowed at all the emotions she saw in his eyes. The emotions and the promises his eyes held scared her.

"I..."

"Have you decided on what to get?" They both turned to the waitress that interrupted what was about to be a serious conversation.

"Yea. We'll both have the large burger." Ceaser said.

"Drink?"

Jules zoned out again.

What was he about to say? It seemed important.

Was it about yesterday's headlines?

"Jules?" She looked up.

"Yea."

"You zoned out on me again." He said, "Am I that boring?"

She laughed
"No. I just...have a lot on my mind."

"Anything I can help with?"

She studied him for a moment.
"What happened?"

Ceaser knew what she was talking about.

"You just left without saying anything."

Ceaser sighed.
"I sued VoiceOutNews for the segment."

Jules stared at him speechless.

"The writer who wrote that segment works for Gossip-US – the celebrity gossip magazine. He hadn't had the big break he was looking for because the magazine ran his articles on some page and he wanted to be on the front page. VON was looking for a new story, a fresh writer so, he reached out and struck a deal with them. They could have his article only if it was on the front page." Ceaser said, "And his article happened to be about us."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Get the writer's real name from VON then I'll make sure he doesn't get a word of anything he ever writes published."

"Don't do that."

Ceaser looked at her in shock.

"Whoever this writer is, he just wants to be successful and he's clearly going about it the wrong way but the article would have been published regardless."

"Yea. In a random page of a gossip magazine that people barely read."

He had a point.
Jules thought.
But she didn't want to be the reason the man loses his job and his chance of ever getting one again.

"Please just let it go." She begged, "It's news, it would pass."

"You don't know these people like I do." Ceaser said "Once they're onto something, they don't stop. They just keep going."

Jules just stared at him and pleaded with her eyes until he gave in.

Ceaser sighed.
"Alright."

The ride to her apartment was silent, that was until her phone rang.

She took it out of her bag and looked at the caller's ID.

Andy?

Jules had called her previously but Andy hadn't picked up so she sent a quick text telling her se went out with Ceaser and she'd be back a little late.

"Hey, we're on our way back." She said when she answered her call.

"Jules, I-I..."

Jules' heart skipped a beat at the distress in her voice
"Andy, what's wrong?"

Ceaser snuck a glance at Jules.

"W-we didn't want to disturb you. We thought we could handle it..." She kept on.

"Handle what?" Her heart began to hammer in her chest.

Please no.

"Where's Ivy?" Jules asked out of instinct, her voice unsteady.

Ceaser's sent a quick prayer to whoever was up there.

"She was getting really hot. We sponge-bathed her and she became better. We let her rest but checked on her later to find her running a fever."

Fever?
Ivy had never had a fever before.

"Where are you?" Jules swallowed the lump in her throat.

"GC Hospital."

"I'm on my way."

"Where?" Ceaser asked immediately she hung up the phone.

"GC Hospital."

Her body which was ready to drop a while ago was wide awake now. She tried to think through the past couple of days for anything that might have caused Ivy to have a fever. She hadn't changed anything in her meal.

Ivy was in the hospital and she was going to be fine.
Jules exhaled the breath she had been holding.