I came out of the shower wearing only a towel. On Alex's bed there were some clothes that she had left out for me. I recognized them. They were mine. As i put on the t shirt and shorts, my attention was pulled towards her nightstand. My novel was there. I picked it up as I sat on the bed. This bed where we had shared so many beautiful moments together. I flipped through some of the pages of the book. I smiled thinking how young I was when I had written these words.
"Hey." Alex said walking into the room. "How are you feeling?" She looked great. Amazing really. She was wearing a grey tank top and a pair of red short shorts. Her legs seemed to be going on for days. She had always been in great shape, but now she looked even better. I was staring. I knew I was. But I couldn't look away.
"I'm okay." I said, finally able to pull my eyes away. She sat on the bed, a little further from me than I would have liked. When I had arrived, Alex had tended to me as I recounted all of the events.
"I spoke to my dad." She finally said. "He's going to call someone at the L.A field office. We should hear back soon." Alex's father had been a prosecutor for the government. I was hoping that he still had some contacts that could help.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for dumping all of this on you." I said leaving the space empty between us.
"It's okay. It's for a good cause. I'm glad you came to me." She said looking at me. "I heard about the restaurant. I wanted to call but...but.."
"Don't worry. I understand."
"I know you've been having a rough time. I know you lost your job."
"I kind of saw that one coming. The moment I decided to go after Derek. When he found out, I figured that would be the first thing to go."
"How are Brad and Cindy? They must be devastated."
"They were. I haven't really spoken to them since the hospital. They're all mad at me."
"I'm sorry." Alex said finally inching close to me.
"They're right. I should have been honest with them and told them. I just didn't want anyone else to get hurt."
"I know... You were doing what you thought was for the best." She was even closer now. I also inched a little closer, wanting nothing more than to hold her.
"My best wasn't good enough."
"Hey, you got the evidence. There's actually a chance Stamp may go down. That's all thanks to you."
"I know. I just wish, none of my friends had to suffer for this."
"You'll make it up to them. I know you will. Just hang on a little longer." There was a moment of silence. We both sat there, looking away from one another. "How's Victoria?"
"She's fine. Recovered from the accident." I told her feeling a lump in my throat. Anticipating the next question.
"Are you two...together?"
"No. We're not."
"Oh. Why?" Alex said, tugging her hair behind her ears in that cute way she always did when she was nervous.
"Why do you think?" I told her grabbing her hand. The feeling was undeniable. The sparks that flew up my arm and through the remainder of my body were hard to ignore. She looked at me and from the brightness of her beautiful eyes, I could tell she was feeling the same thing. "This is why, i'm not with Victoria. It's because of you Alex." I leaned into her and she surprised me by standing up and walking away from me.
"Then why did you leave me that night? Why did you leave me all alone in front of everyone?" She asked with anger in her voice.
"I'm sorry about that Alex. I really am. I never meant to hurt you, or embarrass you. I just got the call from her sister. I had to do something. At least for her family who weren't even in town." I got up and walked towards her. She had her back turned to me. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and let her know exactly how I felt. "But it had nothing to do with how I felt for you. How I still feel." I moved closer and did what I was dying to. I wrapped my arms around her stomach and pulled her against me. She gasped as she felt my heart beating. "I love you Alex. I'm so sorry." She stepped away from me and walked towards the window of her bedroom. I stayed where I was. I didn't want to push her. "How have you been?" I asked her.
"It's been hard. I've missed you." She said making me feel a lot better. "I've been trying to stay busy."
"American Horror Stories."
"You watched?" She asked with an amused look on her face.
"Of course I did."
"But you hate that show!" She said laughing.
"I found that when you were on it, I didn't hate it so much."
"Always the smooth talker."
"Hey you always had the nice legs in the relationship. I had to have something." She laughed. How I had missed that laugh. "You look great by the way."
"Thanks. I've been working out for Baywatch."
"How are you doing with all that?"
"I miss cheese!" I burst out laughing. "I have this ridiculous trainer. I hate him. He won't let me eat cake." She continued.
"Oh no, no, no. That's just not right." I said in total agreement with her.
"He hates me, Duncan I swear. He makes me do these crazy drills. And then won't let me have cake. Or ice cream."
"What about Ramen?" I asked her as we sat across from each other.
"Oh you know I can't live without that. I sneak in at least one per day."
"Cheater!" I exclaimed.
"Hey I do ten extra sit ups to make up for it." She said pointing at her flat stomach. Her abs were even more defined.
"All of the work is paying off." I told her.
"Thank you." She said smiling and blushing. Another moment of silence.
"How's your mom?" I asked as I lay on the bed.
"She's great. She was in town visiting." Alex said joining me on the bed. "You should have seen her. Everywhere we went she would have to tell people that I was an actress and in movies, It was so embarrassing." We both laughed.
"I would have loved to meet her."
"I would have liked that too." She said.
"Do you think you'll ever be able to forgive me?" I asked her solemnly.
"Duncan." I had missed hearing her say my name. "I forgave you the moment you left. I just didn't want to be the rebound girl. The girl you were with to forget someone else."
"You weren't that. You're not that." I said getting nearer to her. I placed my hand on her cheek. She didn't flinch. She stared right back into my eyes. "You brought me back. I was lost, alone. I was angry. I wasn't me. But you... You brought me back. With your laugh, your smile, your generous soul. Those blue eyes. You made me love again. You reminded me there was so much more to this world than pain." A tear rolled from her eye and i caught it on my fingertips. "Don't cry."
