Breathless (10 page)

took a stack of papers.
"Great, now I'm down to two piles," she smiled then
walked through James' office on her way to the
coffee machine.
"Morning," she said to James and Grayson as she
passed through.
"Morning," they replied in unison.
Alex retrieved her coffee, calmed her nerves and
walked through again.
On Saturday, she hated
herself and by Sunday she had come to terms with
her actions, unfortunately by Monday she was
completely ill and took Tuesday to recover.
She
was determined to carry on business as usual.
"James, don't forget the safety meeting
today.
That's the only reason I moved my ass out
of bed this morning," she remarked to him on her
way through.
"Nice talk, Alex," said Grayson to her retreating
back.
Alex laughed and went to sort her desk.
Grayson left James' office without ever talking to
him about Alex.
If James wanted to know so badly
he could ask the source.
Grayson was still upset
about what happened.
It wasn't that he didn't
understand her behavior, because he did.
What
pissed him off was Alex's casual attitude to
him.
Grayson wasn't going to tell James about
Alex's whispering his name.
It took something
away from his ego.
On his way back to the
machine shop, Grayson saw Alex emerge from the
office and saunter into inventory.
He watched as
Doug and Dave welcomed her back, and asked how
she was.
She laughed off the flu, promised she
wasn't contagious and got down to business.
After lunch, the safety committee was called into
the second floor conference room.
Adam
suggested that Hasani form the committee to keep
up on maintenance and safety issues.
It had
served as a good tool.
Another inspector from
OSHA was scheduled to come through in several
weeks and nothing major appeared to be at issue.
Alex climbed the stairs, set her stuff on the
conference table and continued into the R&D
offices.
"Afternoon gentlemen," she said, "who's coming to
the meeting?
"We're toast if the place burns, Alex.
Why
bother?
The only other safety issue is Harry's
smoking here. "
"That's why we put the chain ladder in, Frank. "
"I'll be jumping down onto Jeff’s Lincoln
Continental, before I use that damn thing. " Alex
laughed at his sarcasm and stayed for a few minutes
while everyone else assembled.
When the noise
level was right, Alex went into the meeting.
"Hi,
sunshine," remarked Dave pulling out her chair.
"Hello again, Dave.
How's Claire?"
"Great, we're getting divorced again. "
"You two change your minds more than your
underwear.
I'm beginning to doubt if you will ever
get divorced. "
"We will, someday, when the time is right.”
Alex shook her head and began to take
attendance.
Everyone was present except the
chairman, James.
Alex was just getting up to call
him, when she heard his footsteps on the
stairs.
James took his usual position at one end of
the table, while Alex sat at the other.
He paused
to stare at her for a few moments, remembering
the feel of her skin on his hands, then called the
meeting to order.
A brief mention was made about the impending
visit of another OSHA inspector and the overall
condition of the factory.
James was happy with
the hard work that everyone was putting into the
factory's maintenance as well as the machinery.
Alex watched James generously lay out praise for
the committee.
Often she would catch his eye and
he would study her briefly before making another
point.
The coldness in his eyes let her know that
he knew about her and Grayson.
She wasn't sure
if he cared or not.
Alex did care.
She knew it was a mistake what
happened between her and Grayson.
The person
she really wanted was across the table and looking
at her like she was nobody.
Alex wondered what
that meant.
If his passion and love had been
squelched in one miserable night, could he or did he
really love her? Alex sighed quietly and took a long
gulp of her coffee before making some final notes
on her pad.
James finished up the meeting and
left abruptly.
Alex went back to her desk, typed the minutes and
laid them on James' chair for his perusal.
She was
about to leave his office, when he came in.
"Alex, hang on a second," he said catching her at
the doorway.
Alex turned back into his office and
shut the door.
James noted the action with
care.
Alex hated closing the doors to the offices.
"Have a seat," he offered, lighting a cigarette and
walking around the desk to sit in the armchair
beside her.
Alex perched herself on the edge of
the chair cautiously.
James reached across the span between the two
chairs and rested his left hand on Alex's
right.
Removing the cigarette and laying it on the
available ashtray, he turned his head to study
her.
Alex, however, was not looking at him.
She
was staring across the desk to his chair where he
should have been.
"There's a few things you need to understand,
Alex," he began, "First, Friday night didn't happen.”
"Excuse me," Alex replied caustically.
"I was never there.
As a matter of fact, neither
were you."
Although he couldn't see her face clearly, he sensed
the confusion setting in.
Alex had considered
removing her hand earlier, when he first touched
her, but the grip was too strong.
The sensation
running through her hand went straight to her
heart.
His squeezing of her hand was a squeezing
of her heart.
Gently, she finally extracted it and
again tried to cool the touch.
"I don't get it.
If we weren't at Grayson's then
where were we?"
"Just know that as far as anyone is concerned, we
weren't at Grayson's and we never attended that
party. "
"You may not have been there, but I was," she
retorted, "I don't know what you're trying to
accomplish, James, but I was there.
Your words
cannot erase that fact or the fact that I had a damn
good time. "
James thrust himself against the back of his
chair.
Alex stood and paced the floor.
He was
sure that if the floor hadn't been concrete, Alex
would have gone through it.
He watched the
emotions cross her face.
The confusion had
retreated and left in its wake an angry
woman.
Her face was flushed with the anger and
her blue eyes sparked fire.
James noted the way
her breasts pushed against the thin fabric of the
cotton dress.
Her red hair spilled around her face
accenting the roses of the dress.
Angrily, Alex
finally stopped in front of him and met his
eyes.
She was about to reason with him, talk to
him about his feelings when a knock resounded
through the office from the plant door.
James stood and reached for the knob.
He was
about to ask Alex to stay while he dealt with the
person, but found her already gone.
Silently
swearing at the intrusion, he unlocked the door and
went back to his desk.
Alex sat down heavily on her chair and willed
herself to calm down.
Francine was still jockeying
for her position and getting upset about this would
not help.
"Alex, remember that we're doing second quarter
inventory Friday.
I'll need all the shipment sheets
tomorrow," said Allen from his side of the wall.
"Yeah, I remember.
I have most of the
information here.
I just need to get two things
from Doug and I'll be finished. "
"Okay.
Can you stay Friday until we're done?"
"Yeah. "
Alex worked late and to her relief James didn't find
it necessary to stay too.
Several of the shop
employees stayed late also to prepare for the
inventory.
Alex was doing some data entry when Grayson
came into the office.
She hadn't heard him
because he came in from the shop and she had
turned up the radio.
Not wanting to scare her,
Grayson waited in the doorway for her to
acknowledge him.
As Grayson watched, he thought back to their brief
time together and wondered what went
wrong.
His fingers still remembered her skin and
his lips still tasted her kisses.
He knew James was
smitten with her, but James also knew that Grayson
was falling fast.
He thought that Tad must be a
fool for letting her go.
Sensing that somebody was watching her, Alex
looked up suddenly to find Grayson staring at
her.
Still thrown by her conversation with James,
she smiled at Grayson as he crossed the room to
her.
"What's up," she asked.
"More raw material sheets. "
"Thanks, just what I needed," she smiled and took
the sheets from him.
"Are you really busy?"
"No, not really busy.
Why?"
"Can we talk for a few minutes?"
Alex knew this was coming but dreaded it
nonetheless.
Reaching beside her desk, Alex
pulled the armchair closer to her for Grayson to sit
on.
"Grayson, I know what you're going to say," began
Alex," but there is no need to apologize.
I'm
fine. "
"I was going to apologize, but I also wanted you to
know my feelings too.
I think I have loved you
since we met in the machine shop on your first
day. . . "
"Gray, stop.
You can't love me.
You don't even
know me. "
"Is this about James? Do you love him?"
"I don't know.
This is all new to me. "
"Why? Hasn't Tad ever told you he loves you?
You're supposed to marry him.
.
. "
"Supposed to; technically, it's a bet," she stuttered.
Grayson sat back briefly at her words.
"A bet?"
"Yeah, if I return to D.C. in a year then we get
married. "
"Christ, Alex," exclaimed Grayson standing up
suddenly, "He didn't propose, he basically waited
until you fell flat on your face to make you marry
him.
How can you do that?"
"It was the only way.
He never would have let
me leave D.C. otherwise.
Grayson, there are so
many things you don't know.
Just understand,
please, that you and I will never be together. "
Grayson's face fell and his anger and disgust
showed.
He knew that Alex would live up to her
promise if she was forced to return to D.C. and
leave Hasani.
"Well you can't go back.
It's that
simple. "
"Nothing's that simple, Gray," she said standing and
taking his hand, "You can't tell anyone about
this.
I would much rather you and I stay friends,
Grayson.
I need one and you're basically all I
have. "
"Alex, you should know better.
We are friends and
everything will be alright.
What about James?"
"What about him?"
"You never answered me, do you love James?"
"Yes, I think I do," replied Alex looking at the
floor.
Nothing was turning out as it should have
and she was more depressed than ever.
Grayson took Alex's face in his hands and raised her
face from the floor.
"It's okay.
We'll find a way
for you to tell him," he said kissing her forehead.
"No, we won't. "
"Why not?"
"Because I said so.
You can't tell him anything.
I
don't want him to know.
Just go with me on this
okay?"
Grayson nodded his assent and left her.
He was
still confused about her request but he knew that
he loved Alex and would do anything she
asked.
Shaking his head finally and retrieving a
Pepsi from the machine, Grayson went back to the
machine shop.
"So what are you doing for the fourth, Alex," asked
Harry as he handed his count sheets to her.
"Going to D.C., a friend of mine is having a barbecue
and invited me down for the weekend. "
"You'll get a chance to see your fiancée, right?"
"Maybe, I haven't talked to Tad recently so I don't
know for sure. "
"Well, if you change your mind, come over to my
place.
Susan is throwing another holiday bash and
you're invited. "
"If something changes and I can't go south, I'll be
there.
Thanks. "
Harry nodded, took the rest of his count sheets and
headed back into the factory, passing David and
Grayson in Francine's office.
"More sheets, Alex," said David, planting himself in
the available arm chair.
Grayson leaned against
the door jam and watched her look over the
numbers and locate another list of parts for them to
count.
"Dave, are you sure this number is right?"
"Which one?"
"The cold rolled steel.
I thought you had at least
two feet of that yesterday."
"We did," interjected Grayson, "Joey ruined it trying
to cut it for gears."
"Was it on the scrap sheet," she asked turning her
attention to him.
"Yeah, the sheets I gave you last night."
"Oh, okay.
Here's the rest of your list then you’re
done.
Grayson moved to take the papers from her
and paused to look in her blue eyes.
The pain was
still evident and her loneliness had increased since
losing the opportunity to tell James her feelings.
"Dave, go on ahead.
I have a question on this raw
material number for Alex," commented Grayson.
Dave nodded his head at the excuse and left the
office.
"Are you doing okay," he asked
"Yeah, I'm fine. "
"You still won't tell him will you?"
"No, I won't.
Not as long as he and . . , never
mind. "
"Alex, remember, I'm your friend.
What's wrong
with telling him?"
"Why did he and Jean divorce?"
Grayson sat down in the arm chair and stared at
her.
He wasn't expecting that question.
He
would tell her anything but that.
She may not be
interested in him romantically, but the man she did
love didn't need to be bad-mouthed.
"You need to ask James that, Alex.
I'm not going
to tell you. "
"I need you to tell me, Gray.
Please," she begged,
reaching for his hands.
James walked in at that moment and found them
like that.
Staring so intently at each other, his
heart clenched tightly and a wave of nausea hit
him.
He stared at the woman he had fallen in love
with, the woman he was sure would make him
mature.
She was so beautiful and obviously in
love with Grayson.
She was probably better off
with Grayson, especially since he was too weak to
break it off with Francine.
James knew that Alex
was aware of the affair, her accusing glances had
cut him to the quick.
Summoning the courage