Alexia sat down on one of the more comfortable chairs in her apartment.
She reached beneath the cushion and pulled out a small black book, its cover
tattered and torn from years of ware and tear. As she slowly opened it, Alexia
stared at the first page. On it were six photos of her and her parents. Those
small snapshots where the only things she had to remember them by. Tears began
to well up in her eyes as she thought about Daniel and the way she’d be swindling
so much out of someone who loved her only the way her parents could love her.
“Why is my life so fucked up?” Alexia cried out loud knowing no one could
hear her through the soundproof walls. Her body shook as the tears streamed
down her face in an endless river. She couldn’t help what she had gotten herself
into, and now she was paying the price for getting too close.
“How can I betray him?” she asked herself. “He’s the only man that I’ve
ever really had a connection with. All he’s ever done to me was love me. Is
that a crime?”
The strong, overbearing voice in her head quickly spoke up, ‘It is a
crime because you’ll only end up giving yourself away to some lonely loser.
Quit the shit and get on with the con. You can spend the rest of you life worrying
about love and all that crap.’
The voice only made Alexia feel worse. She got out of the chair and put
the book back in its hiding place. She headed for her bedroom and began to change,
slowly slipping into her warm bed afterwards. Alexia pulled the covers tightly
over her body and tried to forget all the things that made her life so complicated
to live. The more she tried not to think of them, the louder the voice in her
head yelled at her for being stupid. Once the volume got to the point where
she couldn’t bear it anymore, Alexia pulled her pillow over her ears and tried
to fall asleep. The next day was only going to be as stressful as the last.
~~~~~~~~~~
Daniel stood outside the small, private airstrip in
A small white jet skidded to a halt on the runway and began to unload
its passengers and cargo. Alexia was the first to step out, her long blond hair
blowing in the wind as she made her way down the steps towards Daniel and his
waiting car, a black Lincoln Navigator. He smiled as he watched her approach.
“Hey, sweetie,” Alexia said as she wrapped her arms around Daniel’s neck
and kissed him softly. “I missed you.”
“I missed you more,” he replied, his insides turning into jelly.
‘He’s whipped,’ she thought, noticing the way he was acting.
‘That makes it easier for you,’ the strong voice in her head added.
‘Shut up,’ Alexia slammed back, pushing the distraction into the back
of her mind as Daniel led her to his car.
Daniel and Alexia drove back to his place, a small apartment in the suburbs
of the city. “You seriously need some help decorating, and maybe an upgrade,”
Alexia said as she surveyed the small space he called his home. The conniving,
deceiving part of her brain was surprised that he didn’t live in big mansion
now that he was an international star.
“What’s wrong with it?” Daniel asked. He knew exactly what she was used
to. His hotel rooms looked better than this place.
“Should I just ramble, or do you wanna give me some time to actually
make a list?” she sarcastically replied.
“I know. You hate it. So do I,” he said, setting her bags down near his
room. “What do you think I should do?”
“Get a new place,” Alexia answered bluntly. It wasn’t until she saw the
hurt expression on Daniel’s face that she realized how she was acting. “Oh,
I’m so sorry. I’m being a total bitch today. I didn’t mean that,” she apologized.
“No, I perfectly understand. A girl like you deserves something better
than this crap that I’m living in,” Daniel said, trying to convince her she
was right. “I know you’re used to the high life, and if I can’t adjust to that,
then I’m a bad boyfriend.”
“Now you’ve gone crazy. Just because you’re rich and you don’t really
wanna show it doesn’t mean you’re a bad boyfriend. You’re just being smart and
not letting people take notice you’re around. Who knows what might happen if
you owned some big mansion? You’d probably get swamped by fans, and I know how
much you hate fans,” she replied, turning the tables into her favor.
“I don’t know. I still think that I should be better off than this little
place. I have the money, why not spend it?”
“Okay, then, we’ll go house shopping tomorrow,” Alexia said as she felt
a gleam appear in her eyes. ‘Finally, I get to spend someone else’s money,’
she thought eagerly.
~~~~~~~~~~
“How about this one?” Alexia asked as she and Daniel passed a small mansion
on the other side of town, which was only a short distance from Darren’s apartment.
Daniel started at it for a few minutes in deep thought.
“No, it’s too small,” he replied, driving a little farther down the street.
He spotted another place for sale. It was a two-story mansion with a large driveway
and a very high fence protecting it from unwanted visitors. It almost reminded
him of Chance’s place, but not completely. “This one looks nice to me,” Daniel
said, pointing to the house.
“Yeah, it does look really nice. Come on, lets find out how much it’s
gonna cost you,” Alexia said as he pulled up in front of the mansion. She hopped
out and started up the driveway towards the front door. Daniel quietly followed
her and decided she should do all the talking since she probably knew more about
these matters than he did.
Alexia rang the doorbell and quickly touched up her hair before the door
opened to reveal an old man in a gray suit. “May I help you?” he asked, his
strong English accent very apparent.
“Yes, I would like to speak with the owners of this place. I saw a ‘for
sale’ sign outside and was wondering how much,” Alexia replied as calmly and
non-aggressively as she could.
The old man looked her up and down then answered, “One moment please.”
He closed the door and Alexia turned towards Daniel.
“That went well,” she whispered. He nodded as they waited for the door
to open again. After a matter of minutes, the old man finally came back and
ushered them into the house. Alexia couldn’t help herself when she stepped inside
the beautiful mansion. It was just like she had dreamed it would be, high ceilings,
large windows, and lots sunlight. She had already fallen in love with the place
and was dying to negotiate a deal with the owners.
Daniel tapped on her shoulder and said, “Here they come.” A young couple
walked down the main staircase towards them. As they reached the bottom, they
quietly whispered amongst themselves and headed towards Daniel and Alexia.
“I hear you’re interested in the house,” the man said as he looked at
the two of them, scanning their worth with his dull blue eyes.
“Yes, actually, we are. We’ve been looking for something to suit our
lifestyle, and this place is perfect,” Alexia spoke up after her amazement passed.
“I must say, it’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” the woman replied with a smile.
“Are you new in town?” the man asked.
“I am, but my boyfriend is from around here,” Alexia replied. “Pardon
me, I must be very light headed today. I forgot to introduce myself. My name
is Alexia Potter and this is Daniel Jones.”
“Pleased to meet you both. My name is Frank Rollins, and this is my wife,
Harriet,” Frank answered as he shook hands with Daniel and Alexia.
“Now, back to business. How much are you selling for?” Alexia asked,
wanting to get away from the strange couple as soon as possible.
“Two point five, maybe three. It all depends on how much my agent gets
in commission,” Frank answered. He took a cigar out of his jacket pocket and
lit it offering one to visitors. Both Daniel and Alexia declined, so Frank continued.
“Would you like a tour of the place?” he asked.
Alexia shook her head. She knew she was getting a bargain and didn’t
have to see the rest of the house to make sure it was the real deal. “I’d like
to offer you two point five right now, cash,” she said. Daniel quickly jumped
in to stop her from making such a decision without his consent.
“Alexia, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked, pulling her to the
side. Out of earshot, Daniel added, “Are you crazy? I can’t afford that!”
“I know you can’t, that’s why I wanna split the cost with you,” she answered.
Still, a very inquisitive look was left in Daniel’s eyes. He didn’t know whether
she was saying that just to get him to buy the house, or if she truly meant
it. As if she had just read his mind, Alexia said, “I mean it. We can split
the cost and live together. That way, I’ll get to spend more time with you and
we can both work on our own stuff.”
“I don’t know,” Daniel slowly replied.
“Okay, you can put a studio in here if you really want, then you’ll always
be close to your music, and no fans will end up attacking you,” she enticingly
said.
“You know I’m going to have to call my broker and have him check this
out before we actually make any kind of deal,” he told her.
Alexia shook her head. ‘Damn, he has a broker,’ her mind automatically
thought. ‘Let’s see if he’s as smart as he looks. Besides, I’ve been through
worse.’ They returned to Frank and Harriet. Alexia did the talking again, but
wasn’t as focused on it as she had been. Her mind kept running between good
and bad thoughts. ‘Why am I doing this? I must be stupid. I’m just asking for
trouble by using my own money on this one. What if he doesn’t pay his share
and cons me out of a house? What if I’m the one who ends up being the victim?
Okay, Alex, don’t be silly. You’re way smarter that him. You have so much more
experience in conning people out of their money. You’re the pro, he’s only a
musician.’
After her little pep talk with herself, Alexia began to feel better about
what she was doing, but along came another problem. ‘I can’t believe I’m doing
this to Dan. He seems to be so in love with me, and yet I’m always finding some
way to hurt him more when he finds out about who I really am. And I know I’m
totally falling for him. There’s no doubt about it. The signs are so clear.
I can’t stop thinking about him, I can’t go a day without his kisses, I can’t
even make it through one night without dreaming about him. Oh, Dan, if only
you knew. You could have stopped yourself before all this happened. It’s too
late to turn back now. I’m in too deep, and there’s no way out.’
~~~~~~~~~~
That night, as Alexia slept on Daniel’s bed and he slept on the couch,
all she could do was toss and turn. Something was troubling her, yet she didn’t
know what it was. She tried to no avail to get all the days events out of her
mind, but it was impossible. Alexia turned over so that her nose was pressed
up against the pillow. Her nostrils filled with the intoxicating scent of Daniel,
and she instantly stood up to find him. Maybe he could help her out with her
problems or at least try to even though he had no idea what was really going
on.
Alexia walked out of his room and down the hall towards the living room
where she could hear his snoring. She found Daniel rolled up in his blanket
and smiling in his sleep. A strange and funny feeling came over her when she
tried to imagine what he was dreaming about. ‘It has to be me,’ she thought,
a grin curling up around the edges of her mouth. Alexia sat down on the floor
next to the couch and reached up to touch Daniel’s soft cheek. It was then that
he awoke with a start to find her sitting beside his bed.
“Alexia, what are you doing here?” he asked as he rubbed his eyes to
adjust to the darkness of the night.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she quietly replied, looking up at him with her deep
blue eyes.
“You’re probably having trouble adjusting to the time zone,” Daniel said.
He took her hand and pulled her up onto the couch.
“Actually, it’s because something’s bothering me, and I don’t know what
it is,” Alexia answered. She lay down on his chest, feeling it rise and fall
with every breath.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
“Not really. It’s so complicated that I don’t know if you’ll understand.
Besides, why do I need to put myself down with these kinds of things? I’m here,
you’re here, let’s take advantage of just being alone, together,” she suggested,
her hand gently massaging his chest. Her problem wasn’t solved, but at least
she had diverted their conversation to something a little more sizeable.
Alexia’s diversion didn’t work as well as she though it would. “Are you
sure you don’t want to talk about it? You know I’m a good listener. Maybe we
can try and solve it together,” Daniel replied as he held onto her a little
tighter.
“This is one of those problems that I really don’t wanna talk about.
It’s hard to explain and even harder to understand. I wish I hadn’t mentioned
it now because I know it’s gonna bug the hell out of both of us. I’m so sorry,
Dan. I just can’t talk to you about this,” Alexia desperately tried to turn
the conversation again.
Daniel saw the sincerity in her big blue eyes as she stared at him in
earnest. They pleaded with him to drop it, and he did. “Okay, you don’t have
to tell me,” he said.
Alexia smiled and kissed him. After that point, her lips weren’t able
to separate from his. Her longing to be with someone was finally catching up
with her. Daniel was the first person she had ever really wanted, and now was
her time to take advantage of it, unlike back in New York when they both were
in bad moods and having horrible days. Her arms reached around his neck as they
pulled each other closer, softly kissing in the process.
“I want you,” Alexia softly whispered as Daniel made his way down her
neck with his delicate kisses. She let him slowly slip the straps of white tank
top down her shoulders and kissed him back to encourage him to go wherever he
pleased. Daniel didn’t need the encouragement; he already had the will to what
she wanted him to do. His lips traveled to the nape of her neck where they softly
sucked her skin, making her moan for what was next to come.
“Be rough with me,” Alexia ordered, wanting more physical control. She
weaseled her way out of his grasp and stood up. Taking the edges of her tank
into her grasp, she slowly began to pull it up, exposing the supple skin of
her stomach and her black silk bra.
Daniel pulled Alexia back into his grasp and kissed her more passionately
than before. He was trying to do exactly what she wanted, but had little idea
of what that was. As Alexia unhooked the straps of her bra, the phone suddenly
rang prompting both her and Daniel to stop dead in their tracks.
“Why is it that we’re always being distracted just before we have sex?”
Alexia cringed, her teeth grinding whenever she heard the ringing of the phone.
Daniel picked it up and said, “Hello?”
“Hey,” came Darren’s miserable answer from the other end.
“Daz, what’s wrong?” Daniel immediately asked knowing his friend was
in serious trouble from his tone.
“Honey, who’s on the phone?” Alexia almost whispered, feeling tempted
to yell at the person who had just interrupted them.
Daniel pulled the phone from his ear and replied, “It’s Darren. Could
you hold on for a few minutes?” He then returned to his conversation knowing
Alexia didn’t care much for details.
“Where do I start?” Darren asked, sounding even more miserly now that
he had to recount everything.
“How about at the beginning?”
Darren hesitated for a moment before he began to ramble about what had
happened that afternoon with Chance and her attempt to end her life by jumping
off a bridge. Daniel didn’t hear too much of Darren’s conversation because the
phone connection was bad, what he did catch, though, was, “I jumped in after
her.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” Daniel nearly yelled thinking Darren
had done something completely stupid. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“Let me finish, damnit!” Darren yelled back. He sounded more irritated
that angered by Daniel’s reply. “Chance is in the hospital with a severe head
injury and the doctors say she might die. If I hadn’t jumped in to save her,
she’d be dead by now,” he began to cry.
Daniel was left speechless. He didn’t know what to say, or even where
to begin his apology to Darren. When the realization of losing Chance became
as clear to him as it had become to Darren, he too was in tears. Daniel looked
over at Alexia, who was clearly concerned about what the conversation was about.
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck to comfort him.
“Could you please come down here?” Darren finally broke the silence with
his question. “This may be the last time we ever see Chance again.”
“Yeah,” Daniel choked out. He didn’t want to hear the last thing Darren
said. It was hard enough he wasn’t there to stop her. Seeing her in a hospital
bed near the brink of death would kick him into the realm of depression. After
all, Chance was the only person that he ever truly connected with. She was like
his sister, and he’d never get over losing a part of the family.
As Daniel put down the phone, he sat still to try and take in everything
that had just happened. Alexia still had her hold on his neck and wasn’t about
to let go.
“What’s going on?” she softly asked.
“Chance is dying,” Daniel replied as he nestled his head on her chest. He soon began to cry softly, and all she could do was rock him back and forth to try and calm him.