Breathless (11 page)

needed to confront them, James walked into the
office and coughed.
Grayson abruptly let Alex's hand go and left the
office.
Alex wiped her eyes quickly and turned her
attention to James.
James saw the action and
suppressed the urge to comfort her.
Whatever
was happening was between her and Grayson.
"How close are we to being done," he asked sitting
down in the chair.
"Not even.
Allen is walking the floor now to be
sure. "
"Okay.
How much longer for the shop guys? We're
running into overtime. "
"I know.
I saw the numbers.
Allen and Jeff are
trying to hurry them and correct mistakes later to
avoid that," she replied not looking at him.
James
nodded and then returned to the floor to help the
David, Joey, Grayson and Morgan.
Alex finished early and with permission from Jeff
left the factory early too.
Driving home, Alex
wondered if maybe she should just go home at the
end of her year and marry Tad.
She admitted to
herself after sleeping with Grayson that she was in
love with James.
But to admit that love to him
would open up to more pain.
James was obviously
too carried away with his fling with Francine to care
about her.
There was also the fact that nobody
would tell her the reason for his divorce.
"That's not true," she thought to herself, "I only
asked Grayson and he had his own reasons for not
telling me.
Maybe if I asked Morgan. "
Alex got home and checked her machine.
Again,
there were no messages from Tad which seem to be
the pattern recently.
Picking up her mail, she
leafed through her recent copy of the Washington
Post and found a picture of Tad with Senator Adler
celebrating another victory in Congress.
Shaking
her head, she laid down the paper and picked up
the phone.
Grabbing her phone list from her
briefcase, she dialed Morgan's number, hoping she
didn't get Melissa.
"Hello," Morgan answered.
Alex sighed.
"Hi Morgan, it's Alex. "
"Hey gorgeous. What’s up?
Are you coming
tonight?"
"I didn't know there was a party. "
"Yeah, at Grayson's."
"Oh, well, he didn't say anything to me so I won't be
there.
Besides, I have to get ready to go to D.C. for
the weekend. "
"You don't want to go there, do you," he whined.
Alex shook her head at the petulant child he
became to cajole her into staying town.
"We'll
see.
Anyway, that's not why I called.
Tell me
why James and Jean divorced.
Morgan's eyes widened on the other side of the
phone, he hadn't expected that question from
her.
He was under the impression that Alex and
Grayson were an item.
"Why?"
"Because I want to know. "
"I'll tell you if you promise to come tonight," he
said.
"Okay, I promise," Alex smiled at his
single-mindedness.
"Because he was fooling around on her. "
"You mean with Francine. "
"So you know about that, huh? Jean didn't and I
don't think she does even after the divorce."
"Then with who?"
"Everyone, basically.
James has a great problem
with commitment.
Monogamy is not in his
vocabulary. "
Alex sat down heavily and sighed.
So there it
was.
Just what she wanted to know and not
hear.
She listened as Morgan detailed what he
knew of James' affairs and travels.
When he had
finished, Alex said goodbye, reassured him she
would be at Grayson's at hung up.
Picking up the
receiver, Alex dialed Grayson to make sure she was
welcome and wouldn't be crashing.
Grayson said
it was okay and apologized for not asking her
before.
Then Alex made a third call.
The phone at the other end rang several times and
she was on the verge of hanging it up, when a voice
picked responded.
"Hello," answered the soft voice.
"Hi, I must have dialed wrong, I was looking for Tad
Pierce. "
"He's right here, hang on," said the feminine voice.
"Hello," responded Tad.
"Hi. "
"Alex? Hi, how are you?"
"Who was that?"
"Her. .
. she's the, um, cleaning lady. "
"You don't have a cleaning lady, Tad.
Who was
she?"
"Beth Majors. "
"Adler's press secretary?
You're sleeping with
Bill's press secretary?"
"No, not sleeping with her.
We're working on his
retirement speech.”
"She sure sounded at home.
Adler is retiring?"
"Yeah, in October.
He's not running for
re-election.
His doctors just diagnosed him with
prostate cancer.
He wants me to run in his
place. "
"Congratulations.
That's what you've been aiming
at for years. "
"I know.
Does this call mean you're coming
home?"
"No, not really.
I'm coming down for Rachel's
party on the Fourth.
But then I have to get back
here.”
"You'll be at Rachel's?"
"Yeah.
Are you going to be there?"
"I hadn't decided until now.
Yeah, I'll be there. "
"Oh, okay.
I also called to congratulate
you.
Looks like you and Bill got the paragraphs
you wanted inserted into the new crime bill. "
"I didn't think you would notice. "
"You know I always notice. "
"Where are you staying tomorrow night?"
"At Rachel's; she also called Peggy and Jeanine to
join us.
We're going to have an old fashioned
slumber party. "
"Oh, well at least I'll get to see you for a few
hours.
Are you coming home permanently soon?"
"It hasn’t been decided. "
"Well, if we're going to get married, you need to
come home. "
"Tad, we'll talk this weekend, okay?"
"Yeah, sure.
I have to go.
Beth and I are
supposed to have dinner with Bill and Marjorie
tonight. "
"Okay, good-bye Tad. "
"Bye, Alex.
Take care. "
Alex hung up the phone and knew deep in her heart
that Tad was lying about Beth.
The tone in her
voice when she answered the phone was too
comfortable, like she had been there a while.
Alex
sighed and went upstairs to get ready for the party.
Alex arrived at Grayson's at seven and was startled
to see the absence of cars that accompanied the
masses for his parties.
Shaking her head at the
possibility of being early, Alex knocked on Grayson's
door.
"Alex, come on in," said Grayson upon answering
the door.
"Thanks, where is everyone," she asked divesting
herself of her shoes in the entranceway.
"In the dining room playing cards.
There's OJ in
the fridge. "
Alex smiled at him and fixed herself a screwdriver
with the vodka she had brought with her then went
into the living room.
She smiled again as she
found all of Grayson's band buddies there as well as
Morgan, Joey, David and Shane.
Sitting down in
the living room, Alex took a long swig of her drink
and settled in to watch the baseball game.
"Alex, come join us," called Grayson from the bar.
"Not this time," she smiled and hollered back.
"Come on, we promise not to play strip poker," he
begged, coming into the room and pulling her off
the love seat. "
"Okay," she decided letting herself be lead into the
dining room.
Grayson had thoughtfully grabbed
her drink and set it on the bar next to Morgan.
"Hey sweetie; our talk help?"
"Yeah, it did.
Thanks a lot. "
"What talk," asked Grayson curiously.
"Alex called me to ask about. . . “
"Inventory," she interjected noticing Morgan's
questionable look out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh, okay," Grayson said reluctantly returning his
attention to the card game.
Alex had played several hands of "21" and had had
several screwdrivers when James came in.
Alex
hadn't heard him come in the door because of the
loud music that thrummed throughout the
house.
Glancing at him briefly, she returned her
attention to her hand and announced ’21.’
When James drove up, he noticed Alex's car and
hesitated about staying.
He too had recognized
the absence of other cars and realized that the
Hasani employees had come in one car and
Grayson's band had come in another.
He decided
to stay and make sure that she would be
alright.
He remembered her drunkenness from
last week.
"Hey, Jimmy, pull up a stool.
Alex is beating the
pants off of us.
Good thing we're only playing for
pretzels instead of clothes or money.
She gets
better as she gets drinks more," said Morgan
coming into the kitchen where James had posted
himself against the jam.
"How many has she had," asked James.
"Only a couple, she's buzzing.
Alex is doing better
this time, Jimmy.
Besides, Gray'll take care of
her. "
"Of course, he will," James responded sarcastically.
"Oh, by the way, Alex asked me the strangest
question today. "
"Really? What was that?"
"She asked why you and Jean got divorced. "
James took another swallow of his beer and felt it
trace its way into his system.
His stomach felt like
somebody had punched him in it.
Why was she
asking Morgan? "What did you tell her," asked
James calmly, more calmly than he felt.
"I told her what I knew. "
James' face fell, Morgan knew a lot.
"Thanks for
the heads up. "
"Sure, I didn't see any harm in telling her," Morgan
continued as he mixed another JD and coke, but
when he turned around, James had already moved
into the living room.
Shrugging, Morgan went
back to the card game.
Grayson saw Morgan and James talking in the
kitchen and then watched as James moved into the
living room rather hurriedly.
Excusing himself
from the game, he said good-bye to the band as
they left and went to talk to James.
Morgan and
Alex sat at the bar, finishing their drinks and the
game.
"What was that about," asked Alex.
"What? In the kitchen? I just told James about our
conversation. "
"You did what," asked Alex astounded.
It hadn't
occurred to her to ask Morgan to be quiet about the
phone call.
Casually, she glanced at James who
was having a rather animated discussion in the
living room.
"Dammit, Morgan," Alex swore, rubbing her
temples.
"What'd I do?"
"Nothing.
It's my own fault.
I have to go.
Tell
Grayson I said goodbye and to keep the vodka.
I'll
see you Tuesday," she stated sliding off the
barstool.
"How could you let Morgan tell Alex about my
divorce," questioned James anxiously.
He saw any
hope he had of a future with Alex fading before his
eyes.
"Jimmy, calm down.
I didn't even know they had
talked about it until now. "
"Bullshit, Grayson, anything to get what you
want. "
"It's true.
I don't want to see her hurt and this
could hurt her."
James took a long drag on his cigarette and
followed it with a swallow of his beer.
He wanted
to believe Gray, but could only think about
Alex.
"Look, let's go talk to her.
She'll tell you."
James and Grayson turned their attention back to
the dining room only to find Morgan playing
solitaire.
"Where's Alex?"
"She had to go get ready for her trip to D.C., I
guess.
She left rather suddenly.
She said to tell
you good bye. "
"What trip to D.C.," asked James.
"Some friends invited her to a party for the
Fourth. "
"Damn.
I suppose Tad will be there," Grayson
thought aloud.
"Probably; I guess that's that," responded James
"Yep. "
Morgan watched silently and shrugged.
He didn't
understand what was happening, but he noticed a
rift between his two best friends that he hadn't
seen before.
Morgan and the rest of the Hasani employees left
shortly thereafter. He was sure that Grayson was in
love with Alex.
And he would have bet money that
James loved her too.
But, he had no idea where
Alex's emotions lay.
He supposed her questions
about James answered that question, though.
"I'm stepping aside, James," offered Grayson.
James looked up from the bar in surprise.
"Yeah, I'm giving you a clear shot at Alex.
Just
don't hurt her. "
"After what Morgan told her, I doubt she'll have
anything to do with me.
But thanks for the
offer. "
"Why don't you find out? You should at least try,
James, and you should also get rid of Francine."
"Alex knows.
Or at least I think she knows. "
"She knows;' 'responded Grayson.
"I thought so.
She must think I'm the biggest dirt
bag. "
"Call her or go see her, James.
Neither one of you
will be happy until you explore these feelings.
"I'll talk to her on Tuesday. "
"Then you'll be too late.
You know she's going to
D.C. tomorrow.
She may never come back"
"I'll see you Tuesday, Gray.
I need to make a
phone call," said James grabbing his coat and
running out the door.
Grayson moved from the dining room to the couch
as James left to claim Alex.
Sighing, he sunk into
the couch, grabbed his guitar and played a sad
melody, a song of lost love and desperation.
He
felt as if the future he could have had with Alex now
belonged to James.
Halfway home, Alex pulled over and beat her head
against the steering wheel.
She was furious with
herself for getting involved, but she had no
choice.
She cared for each of them and against
her better judgment had fallen in love with James.
Frowning, Alex flicked on the interior light and
reaching into the back seat.
After rummaging
around for a while, Alex located the piece of paper
she was looking for.
Last fall, when she first got to
Hasani, James had invited her to a cookout, which
she declined.
Fortunately, she had stashed the
invitation in her car that provided her directions to
his house.
Flicking the light off, Alex turned her
car around and headed for James'.
He only lived a
few miles from Grayson's and she should be there
in a few minutes.
She was aware that James might
still be at Grayson's partying, but was ready to wait.
Chapter 13
James pulled into his driveway and stared at the car
absentmindedly.
It didn't click right away, but
soon realized it was Alex's.
Alex saw the
headlights and emerged just as James was shutting
his car off.
Quietly, James got out of his car and
approached her.
The cool night air served to sober
the both of them.
James reached out and brushed his fingertips
against Alex's face causing her to inhale sharply in