A Graduation Gift

"Mother, please don't. Whatever it might be that Rufus is doing right now has nothing to do with me anymore. I stopped caring a
long time ago."
Deep in her heart, she was so hesitant to tell her mother about the conversation she had with Rufus. She knew full well that her
mother would lose her mind and judge her if she found out about their meeting.
"Fine then. I'll keep my nose out of it. But you have to admit, Clark is such a great guy no matter how you look at it. He gave you
a comfortable place to stay in, and he took care of everything for you. He even went through lengths like confronting Rufus to get
an explanation because it might have an impact on your reputation. As your mother, I would like to encourage you to stop looking
back and move on with your life. Just give him a chance to prove himself to you!"
Having a hard time holding it in, Edith began to persuade her daughter. She had been blabbering so much that Cassandra felt
like she couldn't breathe.
It was as if her mother was even more worked up than she was. From the way Edith saw things, Clark was a man who was more
than capable of taking good care of her daughter and keeping her safe from harm, while Rufus, on the other hand, paled in
comparison.
"Mother, please calm yourself down! Yes, I may be going out with Clark now. But those things take time. I'll make my decision
once I get to know him better. It's already late. Why don't you just go back to sleep?"
Stretching out her hands, Cassandra pushed her mother back into her bedroom. She just had enough of her mother's incessant
talking.
Afterward, she headed back to her own bedroom as well. She got on the bed and sprawled on her back. A smile instantly crept
on her face when she indulged herself in reminiscence and remembered how Rufus told her he was sorry, her heart overflowing
with so much tenderness.
Up until midnight, all she did was stare right at the ceiling. All of a sudden, the sound of someone playing the piano brought
music to her ears. Fairy tale! She must have heard this song more than a thousand times already, but it still brought butterflies in
her stomach every single time.
Tossing and turning a little, she was finally able to peacefully fall asleep with a smile on her face.
A couple of days later, inside Cassandra's office, Lyndsy flung the door open, headed directly toward the sofa, and casually lay
on it without a care in the world.

"Please mind your manners, my dear movie queen! Have you forgotten that you'll be standing in a sea of cameras and flashes of
light in that fancy dress? Please stand up, or you'll ruin your dress before you could get to the red carpet!"
Shaking her head, Cassandra was left at such a loss for words due to Lyndsy's conduct. Far from the distinctive air of elegance
and sophistication, Lyndsy was always careless in speech and demeanor in private.
Although that star's masterful performance had utterly taken her breath away, Cassandra was aware that even Lindsy was just
another regular person off camera.
"Come on, Cassandra! Do I really have to put on an act even if it's just you and me? Please give me a break!"
Lyndsy replied feebly and was a bit subdued. As if it wasn't bad enough that she was already drowning in her busy work, before
she could take some time to rest, she would first need to show up for the press conference of her upcoming film. The mere
thought of the harsh questions the press might've prepared was plenty enough to give her a headache.
"Oh, but wait a second. Cassandra, your voice is getting better!"
Springing up from the sofa in an instant, Lyndsy intently stared at Cassandra with her eyes dilating, glistening, and full of
excitement.
"Do you really think so? Now that you mention it, I am feeling much better actually!"
Feeling her neck, Cassandra came to the realization that indeed she hadn't noticed her throat feeling so dry in the past few days.
"Of course, I am! Your voice sounded quite awful when I saw you ten days ago! Well, if I'm being honest, your voice actually
sounded akin to that of a dying goat. But I'm so happy for you! You're finally getting better!"
Lyndsy had always been a straightforward kind of person, always speaking her mind. But even though Cassandra had already
somewhat gotten used to it from the time they spent together, she was still a bit agitated with the way she worded it.
The sound of a dying goat?! Just where the heck did Lyndsy hear such an unpleasant voice? However, since it was just Lyndsy
being Lyndsy, Cassandra was able to easily smile it off.
"Maybe because I have been feeling good, and it helped improve the effects of the medicine I'm taking!"
Cassandra couldn't hold it in, so she smiled like a Cheshire cat while they were talking. Lyndsy, on the other hand, squinted her
eyes out of curiosity, intrigued with what she just blurted out.

"Oh, that could be it! So, what was it that made you feel good? Could you be in love? Let me in on this, come on!"
Getting up on her feet straight away, she darted toward Cassandra's desk and focused her attention on her, not blinking her
eyes, with a cunning smile embedded on her face.
"Oh, no, my dear. I think you're getting overexcited! I've been getting myself busy with the work that needs to be done in your
studio. And it's not like I would have the time to go on a date if I were actually interested in someone!"
Cassandra bowed her head a little to try to avoid looking Lyndsy straight in the eyes, but the obvious look of happiness on her
face remained, and she couldn't get rid of it.
With her eyes deeply fixated on Cassandra, Lyndsy playfully smiled at her, desperate to find out more about it. But luckily, for
Cassandra, Lyndsy's agent suddenly came in right at this moment.
"Lyndsy, please get yourself ready. Everybody's waiting for you! We have to go ASAP!" the agent pressured her to hurry up.
Shrugging her shoulders out of disappointment, Lyndsy then politely nodded toward Cassandra before leaving with her agent.
When the door was closed and the office got peaceful again, Cassandra felt her neck with a hand and wandered in her thoughts.
It had been ten days since she stopped drinking the honey Clark gave her. She tipped her hat to Lindsy for helping her realize
that things were looking up and her sore throat was making progress.
And although it still hadn't fully healed just yet, at the very least, there was a noticeable improvement, and it was not as awful
sounding anymore.
People who would be meeting her for the first time might assume that was her natural voice, and it was horrible.
Cassandra wondered whether there was something that got mixed into the honey to deliberately keep her throat from getting
better. Was it the reason why her throat had been sore for so long?
She was thinking back and looking hard into her memory. There had been a lot of instances where Clark had been trying to
convince her. He mentioned that the honey would be good for her sore throat, so it would be best to drink it two times a day, one
glass upon waking up and the other before going to sleep. He even reminded her mother to ensure that she was really drinking
it.

In fact, he was the one who set an appointment with his friend, who was a doctor, to check up on her condition. Upon giving her
a diagnosis, the doctor also wrote her a prescription. After that, she did just as she had been advised to and didn't bother going
to a hospital any more. Was it Clark's plan all along? Cassandra started to have her doubts.