seats and clutched Alex's hand.
He was confident
that the love that he and Alex shared would be
strong enough to withstand the truth about
Francine's condition.
He didn't want to lose Alex
and telling her the truth might hurt her, but lying to
her would only drive a wedge between them that
would be impossible to remove.
James and Alex arrived at her house a short while
later and were greeted by Alex's next door
neighbor, Mrs. Thompson.
"Alex, thank goodness you're home," she said from
her porch.
"What's wrong, Mrs. Thompson?"
"I hope you don't mind, but I let your exterminator
in while you were gone.
He said you were having a
terrible problem with earwigs. "
"Huh," Alex said confused.
"That's what I thought, but he seemed so
sincere.
You'd think that if you were having
problems with those little suckers I would be too,"
the older woman continued near hysterics.
"It's okay, Mrs.Thompson.
I just must have
forgotten about it," soothed Alex reaching into her
purse for her keys.
"Oh, goodness.
What kind of world is this when
you can't even trust the exterminators," said the
kind woman going back into her home mumbling.
"You don't have an exterminator, do you," asked
James as Alex unlocked the door.
"Nope.
I've never even seen so much as a fly in
this house. "
"I'll go in first then, just in case. "
"My hero," smiled Alex as James opened the door
and charged into the house.
Alex waited in the
living room while James searched the attic, upstairs,
closets and basement.
"Alex," shouted James
from upstairs.
Alex went up the stairs and found James in her
bedroom looking at her bed intensely.
"What is
it," she asked, then gasped as he moved aside and
left her a clear line of vision at the bed.
The sheets
had been shredded and rose petals had been left all
over it.
"Oh my, god," she said moving closer to
the bed.
"Don't touch it, I'm calling the
police.
Where's your cell?"
Alex handed James her cell phone from her purse
and then went back downstairs to the
porch.
James called Sam Vandergrift, who was a
part-time Ashmore Valley police officer and a full
time Hasani employee.
Sam promised to leave the
plant right away and head down to Alex's. Alex was
still standing on the porch with her arms wrapped
around her when Sam and another officer arrived.
"Hi, Alex," said Sam as he made his way onto the
porch, "This is Rob Barclay, he's my partner.”
James and Alex shook hands with the second officer
and led them upstairs.
"How'd they get in," asked
Rob.
"My neighbor, Mrs. Thompson let in a man she
thought was my exterminator."
"And why did she have a key?"
"She's my landlady and I asked her to keep a key in
case of emergency. "
"Do you think she can give a description of this
guy?"
"Probably, she doesn't miss much even though she's
70.”
Officer Barclay excused himself and went to talk to
Mrs. Thompson.
She heard the near hysteria from
the lady as a description poured forth.
"Is anything missing, Alex," Sam asked finally.
"No.
I just checked my drawers and my jewelry is
all there. "
"Okay.
You can clean this up whenever.
We're
done here.
Alex, I would advise you to leave your
doors locked and ask your landlady not to let
anyone in. "
"Don't worry, Sam.
She's coming to my house,"
James insisted.
"I'll be fine, James.
I can't stay at your place
forever.
Besides, this just may be an isolated
incident. "
James wrapped his arms around Alex's
waist.
"Why can't you stay at my place forever?
The dogs love you, I love you and the house is
looking better every day. "
"James, are you really asking me to move in with
you," Alex asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I am.
I love you more than anything,
Alex.
I won't say it will be all roses, but it will be a
great beginning to our life together.
Please say,
yes, Alex. "
"Yes," Alex smiled up at him.
James stole a
passionate kiss from Alex at her reply and nearly
laughed out loud.
"Ahem," came a sound from the doorway, "Here's a
description of our guy," said Rob handing Sam a
clipboard.
"Pretty plain looking, fella; standard height, weight,
eyes are brown, hair is brown and receding.
I
doubt we'll ever find him.
He could blend in and
disappear anywhere.
Even so, we'll check with the
exterminating company she said he was from and
find out if any of their people fit this description.”
"Thanks, Sam," said James clasping the other man's
hand, "I owe you one."
Sam and Rob excused themselves and made their
way through the house and back to their
cars.
Alex watched from her window as Sam got
into his pick up and Rob got into the cruiser.
"You're going to need clothes," whispered James in
her ear as he nuzzled it.
"I know," she responded glancing at the bed, "I'll
need to clean that up first."
"I'll do it while you pack," he offered.
Alex directed James where to find the trash bags in
the kitchen as she dug out a larger suitcase from
her closet.
After packing some essential items,
clothes and her jewelry, just in case, they loaded up
the two cars and headed to James' house.
James grabbed Alex's suitcase from the trunk and
took it in the house as Alex carried her jewelry case
inside.
Sly and Sasha greeted her eagerly licking
her hands as she made her way through the house
to the living room.
"I better go grab a shower so we can go to dinner,"
she said making herself comfortable on the couch.
"We've got time.
Our reservations aren't until
6:00," he said sitting down beside her and wrapping
her in his arms.
"Well then, I better call Jeff and give him an update,
then follow up with DMAO."
"You're going to work?"
"I'm staying here and working," Alex smiled, "Just
for a few minutes."
James relinquished his hold on her so she could
make her calls, "Then I'll be back in a bit.
I need to
go feed the dogs and let them out."
"Okay."
James headed to the kitchen and Alex concentrated
on making her calls.
Jeff was relieved that the
machines wouldn't need to be repainted or
transported back to Ashmore Valley.
Additional
spare parts packages would still be sent along to
comply with the half of the contract addendum that
was legit.
Alex heard his sigh as he released the
pent up frustration of having this type of dilemma.
"Jeff, I'm really sorry this happened," Alex
apologized.
"Don't worry about it," he responded, "You weren't
at fault and you removed the obstacle.
Hasani
owes you big for this."
"If it hadn't been for me, Hasani never would have
experienced it.
"Well, be that as it may, you saw the problem, knew
what you had to do and fixed it.
I don't know how,
but you did it.
Thanks Alex," he said shaking his
head.
"You're welcome, Jeff. "
After finishing her conversation with Jeff, Alex
called DMAO in Cleveland and they assured her that
the funds were being transferred to Hasani's
account as they spoke.
She hung up the phone
and lay down on the couch, listening to James play
with the dogs.
As she dozed off, a thought crossed her mind about
Tad.
Could he have sent her mysterious
exterminator to search her house for copies of the
materials she left with him.
"There's a possibility,"
she muttered and closed her eyes.
James poked his head into the living room and
noticed Alex sleeping peacefully.
Smiling, he went
into the dining room and hit play on the answering
machine.
It was Francine.
"Hi, it’s Francine.
Look, I've decided to have this
baby and keep it.
I know you're not happy about
it, but that's tough, James. It's my child. Talk to you
later. "
"Damn," James sighed lighting a cigarette.
"What was that all about," asked Alex from the
doorway.
"I thought you were sleeping," he responded not
looking at her.
"Just resting my eyes.
You haven't answered me,
what was that all about?"
Snuffing out his cigarette, James crossed the room
and took Alex's hand.
Leading her back to the
couch, he sat down with her there and told her the
truth, "Francine is pregnant with my baby.”
"Excuse me, did you just say that Francine is
pregnant," Alex asked in shock.
"Yeah; she is claiming, I'm the father.
She just told
me this afternoon."
"And when were you going to tell me?"
"Tonight; after dinner, I wasn't going to lie to you
about this, Alex. I'm so sorry."
Alex let the tears come, "She's pregnant.
Can I ask
why you two weren't more careful?"
"She said she couldn't have children and I believed
her. "
"I see," Alex began to shake with the shock as the
tears continued to flow down her face, soaking her
cheeks and blouse, "What are you two going to
do?"
"I've already told her that I want her to give it up for
adoption. Or that if she decided to keep it, that I
would provide monetary support. "
"You aren't going to marry her?"
"I couldn't do that, not when I love you so
much.
It wouldn't be fair to the baby to grow up in
a home like that.
Alex, I know this hurts. "
"You're right, it does," she intoned her voice
shaking, "But it's better than you lying to me. We'll
get through this. "
"We will? You don't hate me?"
"I'm really pissed right now, James; at you and at
Francine.
But I know you didn't plan this and that
you love me.
And somehow, we'll make this
work.
But between you and me, I don't relish the
idea of Francine having a tie to you in any fashion
for the next eighteen years or more. But I'll not
deny you your rights to be a father to this child if
that's what you want to do. But James, please don't
expect me to be friends with her.
I somehow think
this is all a big crock of crap, but there is little I can
do about it."
"I love you, Alex. I love you more for understanding
this situation. This can only serve to make our love
stronger," he murmured wiping away a tear from
her cheek and kissing her, "Why don't you lay down
and finish taking a nap, while I grab a shower. I'll
wake you when I'm finished. "
Alex nodded her head in response.
James covered
Alex with a blanket and headed for the stairs.
He
was elated that Alex had been as sympathetic as
she had been.
She was right though, lying to her
would have been worse.
James shed his clothes in the bedroom and climbed
into the shower.
The initial blast of cold water
startled him, but as it blended into a warm flow he
let out a sigh and felt the tension flow from his
body.
He could understand Francine's desire to
have her baby.
It may be her one and only shot to
have a child.
But he didn't feel she was capable of
raising it.
He thought back to when Francine had initially
come to Hasani.
She had had her run at almost all
of the eligible men in the factory; now most of them
dealt with her as little as possible, preferring to go
to Larry, Jeff or himself.
She had worn out her
welcome long ago, but Jeff didn't have a single
reason to fire her.
"Alex would make a great mother," James
muttered, grabbing the soap, "If only she were the
mother of my child instead of Francine," he
continued as he bent over to soap his legs.
James stood straight up in the shower as if he had
been scalded.
It wasn't such a weird idea, "I'm
sure it's been done before," he said aloud, "I
wonder what Alex would think. "
James rushed through his shower working out the
details.
He knew that Francine would kick and
scream, but Alex just might consider it.
Jumping
out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around
himself and headed downstairs.
James was
reaching out to wake Alex, when another thought
hit him.
"Maybe I should think about this a little
more. Sound Alex out on it," he mused, "Yeah,
that's what I'll do," then he woke Alex.
"Shower is free. I took your suitcase upstairs. There
are drawers in the dresser empty for you to use.”
"Interesting outfit," she smiled, "You wearing that
to the restaurant?"
"No, I'm not.
I just wanted to get you up before
you slept all night."
"No chance of that.
This couch is a poor substitute
for you," she chuckled reaching out for his hand.
James clasped her hand and held up his towel with
the other, "You better get going before I decide that
dessert will come first. "
"I say, life is too short, eat dessert first," Alex
chuckled, getting up from the couch and rubbing
her body against him.
"Alex, we'll be late and we have reservations. "
"Oh, let's just skip dinner," she begged, kissing at his
neck and running her fingers through the thick mat
of hair on his chest.
"I'm starving.
Let's go, please. "
"Oh alright," Alex relented, kissing him on the lips
and going upstairs to grab her own shower.
During her nap, Alex had dreamt of Francine and
her baby.
She had dreamt of the delivery and
James' look when his child had been presented to
him.
He had instantly fallen in love with both
Francine for having the child and the child
itself.
Then as the dream went on it was too late
and Alex had lost James to Francine and their
child.
As she stood under the hot jet of water,
Alex vowed not to let that happen.
After her shower, Alex had taken the liberty of
unpacking the two bags she had brought with
her.
She chose a light blue silk skirt and white
cotton wrap around blouse that tied at the waist
then she pinned her red hair up in a banana
barrette then pulled it back down after noticing the
resemblance to Francine.
Shaking her head with a
frown, Alex decided to let her hair lay loose on her
shoulders and after slipping on a pair of sandals and
pronounced herself ready for dinner.
James whistled as Alex descended the stairs.
She
made a great site with her hair lying lose against the
vivid contrast of the white blouse.
The skirt had
three slits, one on each leg and one in the middle
and was held closed by seven buttons which
stopped just above her knee.