"I take it that I meet with your approval," said Alex
smiling.
"Oh, yeah, you do. I'm beginning to reconsider your
offer," he said before stealing a kiss.
"Too late now; you owe me dinner," she joked,
grabbing her purse and heading out the door.
"Would you prefer to take your car? It'll be easier to
get in and out of in that skirt," offered James as she
deliberately headed for the SUV.
"No.
I like your truck; besides the skirt is loose
enough to allow me the freedom of climbing in this
behemoth.”
"Alright," he shrugged, helping her advance into the
cab of the truck, admiring the smooth show of leg
from underneath the skirt.
He felt his passion rise
and quelled it.
There was much to discuss
tonight.
James drove quietly to the W restaurant, not
trusting his mouth to keep from spilling the idea to
Alex prematurely.
James lit a Marlboro and
exhaled the tar in a heavy sigh. Alex heard the sigh
and turned to look at him.
He looked troubled and
she wondered if Francine was the source of those
troubles still.
Turning her attention to him, she
saw the fierce grip on the steering wheel and
compressed line of his lips as he dragged on his
Malboro.
He was too quiet for her liking and
something stirred inside her like a clap of thunder
announcing a storm.
"James, are you still thinking about Francine," she
asked across the span between them.
"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry. I should be paying attention
to you," he replied, reaching over to take her hand.
"No, that's alright. You and she have a lot to work
out. Visitation if you want it, how much monetary
support you'll be offering, that kind of thing. "
James turned into the parking lot and parked the
truck, "Alex, can I ask you a question?"
"You know you can," she said turning to him.
James parked the truck and looked at Alex, "Would
you consider raising the baby with me?"
Chapter 20
"Did I just hear you correctly? You want me to raise
Francine's baby?"
"Actually, us, you and me raising a child in the love
that we share.
What better parents could a child
ask for?"
"Its own.
I'm sorry, James, I just can't believe
you've asked me to raise another woman's
baby.
And not just any woman's, Francine's of all
people," Alex declared shaking her head, "I could
see us raising our baby James; yours and
mine.
But I can't and I won't raise another
woman's child for you just because neither of you
took precautions.
I want "our" children, James,
not Francine's and yours."
James attempted to pull Alex closer to him, but she
jerked away from his touch, backing herself against
the passenger door, "Alex, I'm sorry. I just want to
be part of this child's life. It's my child and I can't
stand the fact that it's not yours. Do you know how
much I would prefer if it was you who was
pregnant’ if it was you who would be providing me
with my first child.
Francine is determined to have
this baby, Alex.
And I'll be damned if I allow her to
raise it without my input."
"Then marry her," Alex stated quietly.
"I'm not marrying, Francine," James argued, "I'll
support the child, but I can't marry her not when
I'm in love with you. "
"Then how do you expect to have both worlds
James.
You can't.
You can't expect me to be the
love of your life and wait for you to finish with your
family.
I won't play second fiddle and I won't raise
another woman's child.
I know that seems harsh
and I can't believe I'm being this cold.
But I'll be
damned to hell if I let her ruin our love. "
"Alex, will you just think about it? Think about the
love we can give this child and the stable
home.
We can do this.
In time, the hurt will ease
and you and I can continue our lives and have
children of our own. "
"It's not going to be as easy as you claim.
How are
you going to explain it to your child that you
preferred me to its mother? And do you really
expect Francine to give up so damned easily. You're
deluding yourself, James. Even if I agree, Francine
will never let me have your child.
It's her trump
card; her connection to you.
It's the tie that will
bind you two together forever," Alex cried shaking
her head the tears flowing freely down her cheeks.
James tried to reach out and brush the tears from
her cheeks, but she lashed out and slapped his
hands away from her, "I can't continue this way,
James. I didn't fall in love with you just to have you
break my heart. You need to get your head on
straight and decide just what you want out of this
relationship and what you want from Francine. You
can't have your cake and eat it too. It's just not
going to happen. Why don't you go home and think
about it. I'll get a cab," Alex said grabbing her purse
and scrambling down from the truck.
James climbed down too and chased after Alex who
had headed for the restaurant.
He caught sight of
her as she gained the ladies room and closed the
door behind her.
James ran through the lobby of
the restaurant and to the door she had just gone
into.
He was rapping at the door loudly, when the
maître d' came to him.
"Excuse me," asked the host, standing at his
station.
"What," James replied angrily.
"Sir, you're going to need to stop banging on the
door. "
"Why?"
"You're interrupting the patrons, sir.
Please, step
away from the door and leave the premises. "
James saw how unreasonable he was being and
stepped back, "Can I borrow a pen and paper,
please," he asked.
The maître d' handed over the requested materials
and watched as James jotted down a note.
"When the beautiful red-head comes out from the
bathroom, would you please give her this," he
asked.
The young man complied, feeling sorry for
the other and took the message.
Alex emerged from the bathroom ten minutes
later.
She had washed her tear and mascara
stained face, composed herself and stepped
through the portal hoping like hell that James had
removed himself. When she saw no sign of him or
anyone else, she sighed quietly and removed her
cell phone.
"Hello," came the weary voice on the other end.
"Hi, Gray, it's Alex. Did I wake you?"
"No, I was just watching the baseball game. What's
up? Are you alright," he asked sitting more upright
on the couch and setting down his beer.
He heard
the tension in Alex's voice and became more
concerned.
"No.
.
. yeah.
I don't know.
I need a
ride.
Can you come get me?"
"Sure.
Where are you?"
"I'm at the W."
"I'll be right there," he said, hanging up the
phone.
Grayson quickly grabbed his jeans from
work and threw them on over his boxers.
He
pulled out the "Metallica" t-shirt, slid his feet into
his tennis shoes and charged out the
door.
Grayson raced to the top of the hill,
panicking all the way. Alex sounded shaken and
scared. He didn't like it. Part of him wondered if
James had told her about Francine over dinner and
then skipped out on her to deal with it alone.
"I'll wring the sorry bastard's neck," he muttered as
he pulled up in front of the restaurant.
Alex saw Grayson's car underneath the street lights
as it made its way up the road.
She moved out of
the relative safety of the restaurant and into the
dimness of the street lights. Grayson had just
brought his car to the curb, when Alex began to
approach it.
She was half way to the vehicle, when
a vise like hand snaked out of the darkness and
spun her around, bringing her hard against a male
body.
"Hello again, beautiful," came a rough growl.
Chapter 21
Alex shuddered at the familiar voice and drew a
deep breath to scream. Dan's hard, calloused hand
clamped over her mouth, "Now, now, now, we
don't want any of that," he sneered in the
darkness. She felt him pulling her deeper into the
night away from the dull lights that surrounded the
entrance way to the restaurant.
"Hey, pal. What's up," asked Grayson approaching
them.
Alex sighed quietly in relief.
She had momentarily
forgotten about him being there.
"Go away, pal, this don't concern you," bit off Dan,
continuing to half drag, half carry Alex towards the
back of the restaurant.
Alex continued to struggle
against Dan.
"Actually it does. That's my date," Grayson said
inching closer to the pair and reaching for Alex's
hand.
Alex put out her hand for Grayson to clasp when
Dan pulled her further away, effectively placing
himself between them. "Not no more. Go home,
Grayson. "
Grayson finally clicked on the voice, "Dan.
I knew I
should've kicked your ass outside of the Standing
O. "
"Yeah, well you won't be doing much of that
tonight," he smiled.
Neither Grayson nor Alex had seen second the man
hidden in the shadows until it was too late.
Alex
heard the sickening thud as the bat connected with
the back of Grayson's head sending him reeling into
the side of the restaurant.
"Grayson," Alex screamed and attempted to rush to
his side.
Dan caught her halfway and jerked her up by her
arms, "Stay away from him. You're not supposed to
get hurt, pretty lady. "
Dan spun Alex around and held her tight against
him, "Just watch and see how my friend takes care
of your little boyfriends."
Alex had squeezed her eyes shut and was sobbing
as she heard the sound of a foot hitting the soft
middle of Grayson's side.
She heard bones crunch
as he was repeatedly kicked and stomped on.
"Please, stop," Alex begged, crying.
"You get your ass back to D.C. before somebody
else gets hurt, darling," sneered Dan's partner.
Alex nodded dumbly and was thrown to the ground
where she skidded on her knees to a stop near
Grayson's unconscious form, as the tough pair
retreated back into the shadows and down the
sidewalk.
A short time later, she caught the sight
of their car roaring down street and she passed
out.
"Is she alright," asked Jeff.
"Yes; better than your other employee," responded
the doctor.
"When can I see her?"
"Right now.
She's awake finally," replied the
doctor, pointing to the curtained area where Alex
was.
Jeff thanked him and hurried as quickly as his bulk
would allow down the aisle to the cubicle.
The
hospital had called him an hour ago, frantic at not
being able to locate relatives for Alex and Grayson.
They had been carrying their insurance cards with
Hasani's name emblazed on them and Alex had
Jeff’s business card with his home number on the
back in her purse.
The pair had been found
unconscious near the railing of the W’s overlook on
the side of the restaurant, in what looked like a
robbery gone bad.
Grayson had a concussion, four
broken ribs, a broken wrist, three broken fingers, a
busted nose and an assortment of cuts, scratches
and bruises.
The doctor's assured him that
Grayson would be fine as would Alex.
Jeff stood in
front of the curtain indicated by the doctor and
coughed politely, "Alex, it's Jeff.
Can I come in?"
"Yeah, Jeff.
It's okay," Alex responded as she
pulled the hospital gown as low as it would go and
covered her thighs with the sheet.
Jeff shoved the curtain aside and walked into the
area.
Her blue eyes were red rimmed from
crying.
She had bandages covering her legs from
her knees to her ankles and her right palm was also
bandaged.
"How did you know," she asked quietly.
"The hospital called me. Fortunately, you had my
business card in your purse," he smiled.
Alex shook her head and began to cry again, "Is
Grayson okay? They won't tell me. "
Jeff walked over to the gurney and rubbed her back,
absorbing as much of the shock as Alex could foist
on him.
"It's over now.
Everything is alright," he
whispered against her hair, "Grayson's a little worse
for wear, but, he's okay. "
"How bad?"
Jeff explained the extent of Gray's injuries to Alex as
she calmed down, "The police need a statement
from you.
Are you up for that?"
Alex nodded her head and requested her clothes
from the nurse who came in to check her bandages,
"I'm not sure you want your blouse," replied the
nurse setting the items on her lap.
Alex thanked her and assessed the damages.
Her
skirt was soaked at the hem from the cuts on her
legs as she skidded on the concrete sidewalk.
The
blouse, however, was ruined.
She had lain near
Grayson's face where a great deal of damage had
occurred.
Her blouse had soaked the blood and
changed it from snow white to a garish burgundy.
"I'll get you a scrub top, if you want," offered the
nurse.
Alex nodded absently and tossed the
blouse into a nearby trash can.
"I'll step out and check on Grayson while you
change. "
"Tell him I'll be in shortly. "
Alex carefully pushed her legs into her skirt and
donned the scrub that the nurse brought to
her.
She had just finished getting dressed when
the police were escorted by Jeff into the
area.
"Alex, this is Officer Barclay from the
Ashmore Valley Police Department," announced
Jeff.
"Hi again, Alex," said officer Barclay, "If you'd like to
sit back down on the gurney while we do this, that's
alright. "
Alex smiled at the familiar face, "Hi Rob. I'm glad it's
somebody I know. And thanks, but I'd prefer to
stand. "
"You two know each other," asked Jeff.
Alex filled him in on the incident at her house
earlier in the day.
She explained that Rob and Sam
had come over to take her statement then. After
Jeff seemed satisfied with that response, he allowed
Rob to begin questioning her.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
"Sure," she replied trying to keep her
composure.
She didn't want to appear to be a
hysterical female, thereby possibly discounting her
statement, "I had called Grayson after my date had
left me stranded at the restaurant.
We had had an
argument.
I waited inside until I recognized
Grayson's car coming up the street towards the
building.
As he pulled up to the curb, I stepped
out of the lobby onto the sidewalk.
I was reaching