by Laura Storme
"I will; Matt's playing soccer tonight. " "Tell him good luck for me," she said, remembering
the chubby six year-old she had met recently at a
barbecue that Jeff had at his house.
"I will, Nancy will be bringing him by tomorrow for
lunch."
"Okay. Tell Matt that if he wins, I'll have a surprise
for him.”
Jeff shook his head in agreement, warned her about
staying too late and left the office, again locking the
door to the plant behind him.
James sat in his office quietly, listening to Alex move
around her desk and the office. He overheard the
conversation with Allen and Jeff and wished like hell
he could communicate with her on that level and
not want her so badly to himself. His dreams last night had been filled with her and
he was sure that the same would take place
tonight. He had decided to stay late as she did and
possibly avoid another attack, if another was
forthcoming. He lit a cigarette, leaned back in his
chair and listened to her humming to a song on the
radio as she shuffled papers and typed labels for the
files. James had sat there for a half an hour,
feeling like a peeping torn.
"Here I am, listening to her, instead of talking to
her," he said softly to himself. James stood up
decisively and tromped into the center office.
Alex was working with her back to James'
office. She had turned up the radio on her desk,
removed her heels and the barrette that had held
her hair back. James studied her for a moment, admiring the way her pants clung to her hips and
the light played with the gold toned streaks in her
hair.
Alex was totally oblivious to James behind
her. She was concentrating on getting the filing
done tonight so that she could get other issues
accomplished tomorrow. Occasionally, her
thoughts strayed to the outer office and every now
and then she peeked in to make sure she was
alone. Alex was just finishing a file, when she
turned and caught James staring at her.
James saw the look in her eye when she turned
around. He had obviously scared her. Silently,
he cursed himself for not making his presence
known to her before and for frightening her. "I'm sorry," he pleaded, "I didn't mean to scare
you.”
Alex sat down in her chair heavily, trying to calm her
nerves.
"It's okay. I shouldn't have had the radio up so
loud. Was it bothering you," she questioned.
"No, I was just, uh, coming in to check on you. I
had gone into the plant for a moment and wanted
to make sure you were okay," he lied.
"I'm fine. You don't need to check on me. The
doors are locked."
"Okay."
James hesitated before returning to his
office. That had not gone well and he wasn't sure
how to start over. He was just breaching his office, when he heard a knock on Francine's
door. As he turned around, he saw Alex moving to
open it and admit whoever was there.
"Alex, wait," he said stumbling behind her.
"Hi, are you coming with us?"
James stopped in mid-stride and listened to the
conversation.
"I can't, Morgan, but thanks. I have a thousand
things to do; besides I don't think it's a great idea.”
"Why? I thought you liked us."
Alex chuckled, "I do, I like all you guys. It's just
that, urn, well, I," Alex fumbled for an excuse. She
didn't know how to let him down and had never
been faced with this situation before. She knew
she had to be gentle, but also firm. "Look, Morgan, I really appreciate the offer, but I
can't, I really have a lot to do and um, I'm not real
comfortable yet with my new surroundings."
Morgan looked at her a bit confused. He
understood the fact that she was new here, but he
didn't understand why she didn't want to go out
with them.
"Alex, are you scared of us?"
Alex looked a little shocked at how he had been
able to pick up on that feeling from her.
"It's not that, Morgan," she hesitated, "maybe a
little. You have to understand that this is very
scary for me," she said, sitting down in one of the
arm chairs, "I don't know you guys well enough to
not know whether I should be scared of you or not.” Morgan looked down at her and shook his head in
agreement. He sympathized with her feelings and
understood the hesitation she felt. Morgan and
Grayson had both been instantly attracted to Alex
since they met a month ago. They both agreed
that it was the hair and eyes that made her special,
but also her ability to be a chameleon and interact
with all of the shop employees on any level. Most
of the guys in the factory were talking about the
latest addition to the office staff and her instant
chemistry with everyone. It seemed as if Alex cast
a spell over the plant when she walked in the door.
"Look, I know you're alone here," began Morgan,
"but you don't have to be.” Alex looked up at Morgan and smiled. She knew
he was just trying to be nice, but she was still very
hesitant about going out with them.
"I'm sorry, Morgan, I can't," she said finally,
standing up from her chair.”
"Okay, maybe when you're more comfortable with
us," he asked hopefully.”
"Maybe," she muttered.
Morgan smiled and watched the way her hair
spilled around her face, framing it with the flame
like tresses. His gray eyes pierced her blue ones,
as he watched the concern over hurting his feelings
fade from her features.
"I gotta go. They're waiting for me. "
"Okay, have fun. " Morgan left the office, James retreated into his and
Alex returned to her desk to finish up. James was
truly been afraid that she would accept and go out
with Morgan and the rest of the guys that he hung
out with. He could sense Alex's loneliness setting
in. She had attended a few dinners at Jeff’s, but
still kept herself at a distance. She would listen to
Frank complain about his wife or Allen complain
about his ex-wife, but she never talked about
herself.
James heard Alex closing her filing cabinets and
settled into his chair to wait for her to finish up so
he could join the crowd at the bar. Since her
attack and refusal to continue to stay after hours,
James had appointed himself guardian and chose to
stay with her. She didn't know that was what he
was doing. He made it look good by going back to the machine shop on occasion, but still staying close
to the office.
"What the hell," exclaimed Alex from the other
room.
James heard her yell, jumped from his chair and ran
into the office. He found Alex standing at her
desk staring at the roses in her hands.”
"Where did those come from," James asked.
"I don't know. I heard the door open and
shut
quickly and when I went out to see who was here, I
found these," responded Alex holding out the
yellow roses.
James reached for the roses and removed the
simple card attached to the ribbon that bound them
together. "I'm sorry if I scared or hurt you," read James aloud.
"James," asked Alex.
James heard the frightened tone in her voice and
wanted desperately to hold and comfort her. As
he looked up, he saw that the color had faded from
her face and the scared tone of voice had moved to
her eyes.
"That's it, you're going home and you're not
working after hours anymore," James declared.
"You're here, I'm not alone and I refuse to allow you
to tell me what to do. I will do as I please,
James. I didn't lock the door after Morgan left and
that's my fault. Obviously, whoever it was feels
bad about it and wanted to apologize. I have to admit that it's bad timing considering, but he may
not want to get into trouble or get fired.”
"He should be fired or worse, Alex. He should
never have touched you. I can make this worse by
taking it to Jeff again. I don't want to have to
worry about you.”
"Then don't," interrupted Alex icily. She stood
there glaring at James as if he was her attacker. "I
don't want or need a babysitter, James. I want to
be able to come and go and do my damn job. If
you have a problem with that, then maybe you
should have been here when I was hired.”
The color had returned to her face and the fire in
her eyes should have burnt down the building.; he
thought she looked glorious standing there fighting
him. He couldn't blame her for wanting to do things her way, but he couldn't let her jeopardize
herself.
"I can't let you do it, Alex. There's no way, I won't
let you stay after hours anymore. Please don't
make me pull rank," James pleaded not wanting to
further isolate her from him.
Alex grabbed the flowers and threw them in the
garbage. "That is how much, I think of this
subject," she spit out, pointing to the garbage, "I
will do what I want, when I want and I will not let
anyone dictate their rules to me again. Do I make
myself clear, Mr. O'Reilly?"
James stood there in shock at the tone in her
voice. He didn't know exactly what she was mad
about anymore, but it was clear that it just wasn't
about the attack. Alex grabbed her coat and purse and again charged out of the office, wishing like hell
she hadn't come to Ashmore Valley.
"Maybe Tad was right," she said to herself as she got into her car.
Chapter 5
The phone was ringing off the hook when she
walked in the door. A glance at the answering
machine noted three messages as she reached for
the cordless on the coffee table.
"Hello," she answered.
"Where have you been," asked the voice on the
other end.”
"At work, Tad, that's why I'm here. "
"You're there to escape me, I thought. "
"Tad, don't do this again," she pleaded, realizing he
had or was drinking.
"So, how is life in the primordial soup?" "Not that you really care, but fine. I'm really
enjoying myself," she lied.
"That's great, I guess you won't be coming home
anytime soon then.”
"Tad, look, we talked about this. I really need this
time to branch out and be independent. Why
can't you understand that?"
"Because I love you; and I don't want you so far
away from me. You belong here, not in some
backwater town catering to some filthy, backwater
rednecks," he bit out acidly.
Alex sighed at the familiar argument. She truly
didn't want to argue with Tad, especially over the
phone. Tad heard the sigh at the other end and knew that
he was pushing the right buttons. He truly didn't
think Alex should be independent from him and was
determined to get her back at any cost. He down
his fourth glass of scotch and moved in for the kill.
"Alex, I'm sorry, if I sound selfish. I always thought
we'd be together forever. Not apart, in two
different cities. Do you forgive me," he begged.
"Of course, I do Tad. But you know our
agreement. Give it a year. I'll be home then,"
she promised.
"No you won't," he said petulantly.”
"Yes, I will Tad. This is just a breather. " Tad gulped down another shot of scotch and stared
at a picture of Alex. He remembered how furious
she had been the night she left.
"I have to go, Tad. I just came in the door and I'm
starving. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Tad reluctantly said good bye and hung up the
phone. He moved around the empty condo
remembering and cursing her in intervals. Tad
refused to think that she wouldn't come back, but
had a feeling she would remain in Connecticut
forever. It was her home and as much as she tried
she never really liked Washington. Tad
remembered the night Alex had told him about the
job. "How can you do this to me, Alex? You know what
you mean to me, how much I care about you. I
just don't understand," demanded Tad.
Alex moved out of the bed and crossed the
room. She and Tad had just finished making love
when she told him about the job offer and her
acceptance.
"It's only for a year, Tad. They gave me a contract
for one year. At the end of the year, I'll be home.”
"And what if they want you to stay? Or you want to
stay? What becomes of us then?"
"Tad, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I
won't make any promises to you. I also will not
allow you to change my mind because you don't
want me to go.” That set Tad back on his heels. He had thought he
would be able to control Alex and so far he had
accomplished that. She was doing what expected
of her.
Alex had been fed up with Tad for months. He had
set up an interview that she didn't want with
Senator Adler's office after losing her lobbying
position. The picture that had been taken of them
had cost her her job at American's for a Brighter
Future. After that, Tad had taken control of her
life, moved her into his condo and groomed her to
become a political hack in Adler's office. But Alex
hadn't wanted that. She really did like her position
at ABF. Losing her job there had come as a hard
blow to her. "We agreed that this was sex and business, Tad. I
never wanted anything emotional. "
"Bullshit, Alex. You dredged up the
emotions. You begged and pleaded with me to
feel something for you. And now that I do, you
want me to turn off those feelings and let you ruin
your career by going to work in some
manufacturing company in the middle of
nowhere. How are you going to work your way
into the White House staff from Smallvill
e?"
Alex was truly furious with him when she turned
around. The color had risen to her face and her
breasts heaved as she took large gulps of air to calm
herself down.
"I never wanted to work at the White House,
Tad. You know I was perfectly happy at ABF before that stupid picture was taken and got me
fired. John Adler didn't fire you for associating
with a lobbyist! I want to do some good with my
skills, Tad and I don't think I can by working in
somebody's political machine," she yelled.
Alex grabbed her clothes from the floor and put
them on quickly. She had to admit that she had
first accepted the position with Hasani to spite
Tad. But at the interview, Jeff and Forrest
McGuire had made it more than appealing to
her. She felt that she could truly grow with this
company and be a success. Alex had finished
dressing and was in the process of locating her keys
and purse, when Tad sprung from the bed and
grabbed her arms. "Please, Alex, don't go," he pleaded pulling her
against his hard body.
"I want to do this, Tad. I won't let you stop me,"
she said finally and released herself from his grasp
and left.
Alex hung up the phone and listened to her
messages. It was just as she thought, Tad had
called her three times before she came in the
door. Alex was still fuming about her argument
with James and the flowers. She didn't know who
was doing this to her or why, but she wasn't happy
about it. If it wasn't for the fact that Tad would
never let her live it down, Alex would have packed
up and left for Washington that night. But she
knew that Tad would make her remember this mistake forever and decided to tough it out.
James was concerned about Alex. He left the
office in a rush, trying to catch up to her and explain
his motivations, but he was too late. He decided
to stop into the bar where Morgan and the rest of
the guys had gone for a few drinks. He couldn't
imagine going back to the empty house. He would
only think about Jean or Alex.
"No, what I need is a night out," he muttered to
himself as he started his car.
The Standing Ovation stood invitingly before James
as he thought about maybe not staying. It had
been a second home to all of the Hasani employees
at one time or another. It had seen more than its fair share of fights between the co-workers and
their wives and the co-workers themselves.
James finally gave up the battle walked into the