Chapter 11
The day came when they were going to the campaign, Thomas had a smile from ear to ear. Mrs. Shultz was going with them, to take care of Thomas while Cassandra was working.
Mr. Swan was there, “hey Cassandra! Oh you brought your son, that’s great, we’re still waiting for the other’s. Barbara is coming but you know she’s not a problem anymore.” He lowered his voice, “I’ll give you time to settle down with your son, we’re going to be hosting the event tomorrow, Thomas is going to be at a different hotel, but this is yours.”
He handed her a booklet, with a map of the hotel her and her son were staying at, “the reporters are going to fill the place where the event is taking place, so I took my time in putting you in a different hotel, don’t worry I pay all my models fees while they work for me, the hotel is paid for and it’s set for five days.”
“Five days? I thought we were doing this for two.”
“I did it just in case, it won’t have to take more than two days, but just in case you decide to stay longer, you don’t have to worry about fees.”
When everyone got there, they a boarded the plane, every one had a family member with them. Cassandra was happy to see she wasn’t the only mother and model.
Barbara was not speaking to her, but some of the models that got to know her better, were friends with her. Some were still jealous, but she was glad to have broken through some of them, after all they had to get along to work together better.
Thomas was excited to see all those planes, Mrs. Shultz was holding on to him when they went in, she had never been in a plane this was her first time.
They arrived, and Cassandra, took a taxi with Mrs. Shultz and her son to her hotel. Thomas was glad to be there with her, she was going to spend her time with Mr. Shultz and her son.
They went to their room, it was a suite Thomas loved the room he was going to have to himself, Mrs. Shultz took the room next to his and Cassandra took the room on the end of the hall.
After they rested, they went out to eat and she noticed the reporters were everywhere, they wanted to get a room in the hotel where the event was being hosted, but it was fun watching them wondering who Mystique was, when she was right there, and they didn’t recognize her.
Cassandra was just glad her private life remained private, but sometimes she feared Thomas would have to know who Mystique was. After all, being the investor and the host of the events to come, he was sure to find out sooner or later.
Whether she liked it or not she had to tell him, who she was. But would he keep her secret? She would hate it if he didn’t, trying so hard to hide from the press just to end up being discovered because of him.
When they arrived to the hotel, there was an envelope waiting for her on the door, it was from Mr. Swan he wanted to talk to her, she called him, he wanted to talk to her.
“Cassandra, I wanted to talk to you about Thomas, the day he saw you on my office with the mask on. I think he wanted to recognize you, he told me you seemed familiar, he’s going to find out sooner or…”
“I know, and you’re right, I am going to talk to him, I understand he will find out, I’m not always going to be wearing the mask. It’s better if I tell him, but I’m afraid that all I’ve done will be for nothing and he will discover me to…”
“Don’t worry, Cassandra he will keep your secret, I already talked to him, I didn’t tell him who you were, I just told him you wanted to have a private life, he understood.”
“I understand, I feel more comfortable now that I know he‘ll keep my secret, I’ll let him know tomorrow after the event.”
They left but decided to meet the next day before the event. When Cassandra got home, she called her parents house, her mother answered.
“Hello sweety,” she sounded cheery.
“Hey mom I was calling because I wanted to know if you had Cassidy’s preparations for her surprise party, I was looking at a few things for her, I don’t know what to get her yet.”
“Don’t worry just find something nice, that she could use, I’m sure she’ll love anything. You should look into what to get for Thomas, his birthday is coming up too.”
“I have something…” she looked back at him, he was watching tv not paying any attention.
“Is he there?”
“Yes,” she looked back at Thomas and he walked up to her, she handed the phone to him, “it’s grandma.”
Thomas took the phone, he sounded cheerful when he was speaking to his grandmother. He talked of what they did and where they went. He had took the pictures of his trip. Thomas passed it back to her, and they said their goodbyes.
The next morning Thomas felt cheery, he was with Cassandra as she was telling him that he would spend the day with Mrs. Shultz, he loved being with her, and they were going to spend their whole day out.
“Can I take my camera?” Thomas looked at his mother with those big eyes, “please?”
Cassandra couldn’t help but smile, “of course you can,” she gave him a hug, “I’ll see you later, sweety I love you.”
“Mommy, I love ya, more, I love ya… like this much,” he opened his arms as wide as he could.
“Oh yeah? I love you this much,” she extended his arms wide and hugged him, “ok sweety be good, and listen to Mrs. Shultz.
She hurried to meet Mr. Swan, he explained to her that the entrances were going to be sealed to the public, “but if you want your visitors to be present, their tickets are arriving to each of them right about now.”
“Thank you Mr. Swan, I have two, there’s one thing I wanted to talk to you about, I don’t know if my mother spoke to you, but I want you to know that I had nothing to do with this setup, my mother worries, about me.”
“Don’t worry, I know my mother has been trying to set me up for years, she fears that I might not like girls because I work with them all day.”
“My mother was worried because she thinks I work too much and I don’t date. But changing conversation, I have the mask with me, and…”
“Perfect, that’s great, I have the dresses that you will model, they’re all here, do you want to see them?”
“Ok, sure I think it’s a great idea, when should I be here to get ready?”
“You can’t leave, here, you will be seen if you go now, if it’s because of your son don’t worry he will be here shortly, they are your visitors and they will be with you. They will be invited back stage.”
“Thank you Mr. Swan I don’t know how to…”
“No prob. I do this for all my models… well actually the company, I’m just the designer, that’s why I needed Thomas’ help you see, I’m going to be the next president for this company my father is retiring.”
“Really?”
Mr. Swan was staring at her, like he wanted to tell her something, “you know what? I heard you majored in business, I was wondering, wouldn’t you like to work for a firm?”
Cassandra was speechless, Mr. Swan noticed “I don’t know what to say.”
“I need some one I can trust, and I know you wanted to go into the business, your mother told me. You could do great if you decide to, I need a personal assistant.”
“Ok, I’ll do it!” Cassandra was happy this would give her the stability she needed to give to her son.
“You are going to be the face of the company of course, you’re famous whether you want it or not, but you can still use it to succeed. By the way, you should start getting ready now, Thomas will be here in a few minutes you should get ready now.”
Cassandra wasn’t ready to face Thomas again, she didn’t even know if she wanted to go through with telling him who she really was. She came out when she was ready, all the models knew her as Mystique, so Thomas wouldn’t know who she was.
She wanted to go back in her word, but who could blame her? Her son was going to be there. She knew Thomas was going to want to see him. She would not allow it!
Barbara was there, when Thomas came in Cassandra noticed that Mrs. Shultz was standing right behind him, trying to get inside. What could she do now? If she went to them now Thomas would see her.
Suddenly, she noticed Mr. Swan walking towards Mrs. Shultz, and he took their tickets and walked them in to her. She was wearing the mask so she bent down, and whispered into her son’s ear, “sweety it’s me.”
He stared at her in amazement, “why is everyone wearing a mask?”
“Because it’s a mask party, sweety,” Mr. Swan handed Mrs. Shultz a mask and she put it on, “here sweety, wear this mask on ok?”
Thomas took it and he put it on, happily to join in the game his mother was playing, “ok mommy!”
Thomas walked up to Mr. Swan, “the event is about to start we should get everyone to their seats,” he announced to everyone to take their seats.
Cassandra stood and her son looked up at her, he hugged her, “ok bye mommy,” he ran to Mrs. Shultz, and they sat together.
Thomas stared directly at Mystique and her son, there’s something about her that reminded him of Cassandra, and he wondered if his son would have been about that age.
This sadden him, to think that his son didn’t live. The reporters started coming in, they were in the audience. They were trying to get a shot of Mystique but the security were stopping them.
They started to dance and Cassandra could notice that Thomas wanted to be with her, maybe because he didn’t know who she really was.
Mr. Swan was talking to a man who was asking about her, and she noticed Thomas was walking towards her. She stood, and walked towards Mr. Swan, when he called to her, “Mystique, this is my cousin…”
The man turned to look at her, and he seemed amazed, “wow, you’re Mystique? Your mother didn’t say you looked this beautiful.”
“Thank you…”
“Charlie my name is Charlie,” he extended his hand and shook hers, she was glad to talk to be talking to them, it got her away from Thomas.
Mr. Swan left them, to talk alone, “excuse me you guys, cousin behave until I come back,” he laughed when he saw Charlie’s face turn red.
“I’m sorry my cousin likes to embarrass me from time to time, so anyways your mom told me a bit about you, I know you have a son.”
Charlie was astounded by her, he wouldn’t stop looking at her, she was happy talking to him. When a slow song came on, they danced. “Will you excuse me for just a sec?” She didn’t want to leave her son alone.
When she noticed her son was playing with other children, she left happily, she was calm that he was ok, and happy. When she went back she saw Thomas talking to Charlie.
Thomas “I’m sorry I need to talk to Mystique for a moment, can I?”
Cassandra went wide eyed, Charlie didn’t notice with her mask on, “of course, I’ll meet you here when you’re done.”
Cassandra was speechless, Thomas took her by the hand and away from the crowd. Thomas felt weird about this, but not knowing who was behind the mask, was driving him crazy.
Cassandra freed herself, Thomas turned to look at her, but she looked away, “I know you must think I’m crazy but you remind me of someone I knew a long tome ago, I promise to keep your secret of your true identity, but can I see your face?”
She to look at him, “it doesn’t matter who I am, what matters is that I do my job, and that’s what I’m doing, but if you want to know, you’ll have to wait until I’m done.”
Thomas was astounded, is that really?…
“I have to go back,” she walked away without awaiting a response from him, he stared at her. She could feel him staring at her, but didn’t dare turn. Mr. Swan was talking to Charlie, and she waved her hand at Charlie as soon as she saw him, “Charlie!”
Charlie smiled at her, he leaned closer to her ear, “I’m sorry Cassandra, I didn’t know that, that was the famous Thomas everyone was talking about. Do you two still have feelings for each other?”
Thomas left, he felt jealous of her when he saw her with Charlie, he needed the air while everyone enjoyed being inside he needed to go out.
“None what so ever, I’ve been over him for years now, but he doesn’t know it’s me just yet. I’ll have to tell him today when the event is over, you see he’s the host of this company.”
“I see, so you guys are going to be working together?” Charlie was disappointed.
“That of course doesn’t matter, I’m not interested in him, and that’s all that matters, and by the way no we won’t be, we work in different departments, very separate from each other.”
Charlie smiled, “good,” he was satisfied.
Mrs. Shultz looked worried, pale as she walked up to Cassandra, “Mrs. Shultz, what’s wrong? Are you feeling ok?”
“It’s your son Thomas I can’t find him!”
Cassandra turned pale, and she felt her heart sink when she said that, no please not my son! “what? How did he go missing?”
“He was playing in the den with the rest of the children, and I left for a moment, I told him I would get him a drink, I just went to the machine and when I came back to grab my purse he was gone!”
“Did you check the play pen where he was? Did he leave with someone else?”
Mrs. Shultz, nodded, “I checked but…”
Cassandra ran to look for Thomas, and she felt empty when she didn’t see him, she went to the slide where she had seen him before. “The mask,” he had taken his mask off, and he was probably running scared not knowing where he was.
Thomas was outside, he felt stuffy in there, and he preferred the air, he sat calmly and took a deep breath.
Suddenly he heard a cry, he was following the noise and he noticed a little boy sitting on the floor. He was crying with his knees folded, and his head down, he bent down with him.
“Are you ok little boy?”
The boy looked up to him, he wiped his tears, “I’m not little I’m this old,” he lifted four fingers showing him how old he was.
“Four huh?”
He nod his head, “uh-huh, and I’m gonna be five next.”
“What’s your name kid?”
“My name is not kid! I’m Thomas.”
“Well guess what my name’s Thomas too, why were you crying Thomas? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t find my mommy, she was in there, I want my mommy!” Thomas started crying again.
“Ok, what’s your mommy’s…mom’s name?”
“It’s mommy, I always call her mommy.”
This wasn’t going to let him know who his mommy was, “ok, how does she look like?”
“She is very pretty, and she has long hair, longer than mine, and her face is pretty, she is taller than me.”
Thomas knew he wasn’t going to get very far, “ok here is what we’ll do I’ll take you to a security he’ll help you look for your mother, ok you’ll be fine.”
He bent down, to pick him up, “Where is your father? What’s his name?”
Thomas noticed that the child didn’t know what to say, he looked down and started to cry. He hugged him, “is everything ok?”
“I… I wanna go, I don’t want to be here…”
Thomas couldn’t help but feel his heart ache for him, “it’s alright Thomas, you’re ok, I’m sure your mother is scared looking for you, we should find her. Now where were you before you got lost.”
“I was playing in the slide, then I took off my mask, see right there, and Mrs. Shultz was going to buy me a drink, but I went to look for her and she wasn’t there.”
“Who is Mrs. Shultz?” He sounded worried.
“She’s my nanny, when my mom goes to work I stay with her.”
“Ok, then I know where we’ll go,” he took him to a security who was in the counter, “hey, I found a missing child.”
“Ok, fill out the form and you can take him.”
“I’m not here to take him, I’m here to return him, his lost he can’t…”
The security gave him a form, “fill this out first, you have to…”
Thomas was getting mad, “hey! I said this child is lost he can’t find his mother, he needs help.”
“What’s your son’s name?”
Thomas scratched his head, “he is missing, please he needs his mommy… mom!”
“Ok go ahead, I’ll take care of him,” Thomas was leaving but he turned to say something and he saw the security turning back around to watch the tv in front of him, and the boy was starting to walk away.
“Thomas, you can’t leave,” he turned to the security guard who was still looking into the screen. He sighed, what kind of help is this?
“Thomas, you can’t just walk away, like that.”
“Yes, I can I’m looking for my mother, I need to find her, he won‘t help me!” Thomas said crossing his arms over his chest.
Thomas ran his fingers through his hair, “ok I’ll help you look, alright?”
Thomas nodded, and extended his hand to hold his, Thomas took his hand and they walked around. While they chatted, Thomas was telling him of the trip he was taking with his mom.
He told him of the pictures he took and suddenly Thomas stopped, and bent down in front of him, “do you have the pictures with you?”
“Yeah, I have them right here,” he took the camera out and showed it to Thomas.
Thomas was surprised, he could’ve helped him find his mom long ago, “that’s wonderful, now show me a picture of your mom.”
“But, how will you know my mom, she is wearing a mask?”
“Good point, or maybe we can look for Mrs. Shultz, she’ll know who your mom is, right?”
“Right silly,” he smiled, “thank you my mom says never to talk to strange people, but I knew you were not strange.”
Thomas smiled, “thanks, kid.” I think he meant strangers.
“I said my name is Thomas, like my dad!”
Thomas was shocked, “Thomas?”
“Yes, I’m not kid, I’m Thomas, ok? Call me Thomas!”
He took him by his hand, and pulled him into a hug, “ok Thomas let’s find your mother.”
He carried Thomas in his arms, he stood in front of the microphone, “hello everyone, is there a Mrs. Shultz, Thomas is here looking for you.”
Mystique turned to look up to Thomas he was carrying him in his arms, she walked up there, without thinking.