Breathless (4 page)

the other armchair to James' left.
"Alex, are you
all right," asked Jeff.
She looked hard at James, knowing what he
did.
The color rose to her face as she blushed at
the scene that he must have painted for Jeff.
"I'm fine.
I didn't want anything said," she said
pointedly at James.
Jeff studied her for a few minutes.
He saw the
dark circles under her eyes and the shyness in her
approach.
She was slightly scared of being back
here, but refused to say anything.
He had to
sympathize.
She was alone, in a new town with
new people and nobody she really knew that she
could confide in.
Jeff had not heard or discovered
a similar incident happening to Francine, and hoped
that this was an isolated incident.
He hadn't
thought about how to find out who had attacked
her or how to reprimand him; he had, though,
decided that the office doors were to be locked if
one of the women stayed late to work.
He knew
Francine would never stay late, but Alex would,
whenever she could and he wanted to prevent this
from happening again.
"Alex, this has never happened before.
Francine
has been here for two years and she has never had
any problems like this.”
"Jeff, I just want it forgotten.
I already have and
I'm fine," she lied.
Alex stood and getting no
argument from either of them, left the office.
Francine had noticed Alex's hasty departure from
Jeff’s office and heard the slamming of the
bathroom door.
She smiled to herself, thinking
that maybe Jeff had smartened up and sent her on
her merry way; either way, Alex was not a happy
camper and that made Francine a very happy one.
Alex stayed in the bathroom for several minutes
before collecting herself and going back to her
desk.
Just as she was sitting down, in the still
uncomfortable chair, James was leaving Jeff’s office
and going into his own.
Instinctively, Alex got up from her desk and
followed James.
He was sitting down at his desk,
lighting a cigarette, when she walked in and closed
the door.
"How dare you," she hissed, "You had no right to
tell Jeff anything.”
"Alex, he is your boss and this stuff needs to be
reported,” he said not believing his own
words.
He had told Jeff so that he could conduct
an investigation without a lot of questions from
him.
James leaned back and took a heavy drag on
the Marlboro while he studied the color that had
flared into Alex's cheeks from her anger.
She was
furious with him and her attacker too.
She had
every reason to be.
He had seen her run into the
filing cabinet and assumed that her arms were
bruised by the way she reacted to the bump.
"I don't care.
It was my decision to tell him or not
and I thought no.
I will not be coddled or treated
differently.
Francine isn't, she is treated the same
as any man around here and I want the same
thing.
Leave it go, James.
I won't ask again," she
said finally and retreated from his office.
Alex returned to the inventory area to work with
Doug on the rest of the bills of materials and stayed
there until 3:30 working through lunch.
She was
deliberately avoiding the office, Jeff and
James.
She didn't know who they had told, if
anyone and didn't feel up to answering
questions.
Alex and Doug had finished outlining
the problems in inventory and now headed back
into the office to talk with Allen.
Clutching her
tablet to her chest, Alex walked from inventory to
the break area to grab a Pepsi and a bag of chips.
"Hi, again," said Grayson.
Alex turned from the machines to find most of the
first shift machine shop behind her.
Slightly
nervous about the numbers, but also realizing that
she was basically in public, Alex paused a few
moments to talk with the machine shop.
Alex
noticed more employees gathering around and she
took the opportunity to study Grayson more closely.
It seemed that all of the machine shop employees
looked like heavy metal band rejects with their long
hair or unshaven faces; some of them had both and
combined with their blood shot eyes, seemed
determined to live life now.
She studied his features more closely, his blue eyes,
behind wire rimmed glasses were alert, despite the
fact that he smelled like he had fallen into a beer
vat.
His sandy blond hair hung loosely compiled
into a gum band and pulled through the opening in
the back of his hat, like Morgan's.
"Hi," she said finally, "What's up?"
Morgan stepped forward, took Alex by the hand
and led her to the picnic table.
"We just wanted
to make nice, that's all," he said as she sat down at
the table.
"All of you," she asked, looking around at the
group.
She saw that they were not all from the machine
shop, but in fact scattered all over the factory
itself.
They were all shapes and sizes and each of
them seemed to contain the irrepressible desire to
smile mischievously.
Alex found it contagious and
sat talking with them for several minutes before,
one by one, they began to disperse.
"There you are," said Allen approaching the table
and finding Alex engrossed in a conversation with
Morgan, Grayson and David Robbins, the machine
shop leader.
"I'm sorry, am I late," she asked
glancing at her watch.
"No, it's just that I had a few minutes and thought
we'd start early, so you could get out of here on
time. "
"No chance of that.
Have you seen the filing that
needs done?"
"Yeah, I put it there," he replied laughing.
"I'm on my way in now," she remarked, grabbing
her notes and Pepsi.
Allen nodded his assent and walked to the machine
to retrieve a Mt. Dew and went back into the offices
through James' door.
"We'll we gotta run.
I have a date with a cold
beer," stated Morgan standing up from the table.
Alex walked with them around the offices to the
front door, said good night and went into the office
through Francine's door to avoid James.
Allen was standing at her desk when Alex came into
the office talking with James.
She hesitated briefly
and strode to her desk cautiously.
"Allen tells me you're working late again tonight,"
said James as she put her stuff down and collapsed
into her chair.
"Yeah, so?"
"So?"
"James, don't say anything.
It's not your place,"
Alex said icily and turned to Allen, "Shall we get
started?
Allen took in the exchange quietly, but felt the
tension.
There was something here that he was
missing.
James and Jeff had told Allen about the
attack.
They had also told Francine, to keep her
aware of her surroundings and to leave the lights on
in the front office.
James left the center office as Alex and Allen dug
into the pile she had accumulated in the past
month.
Allen excused himself after an hour, to
pick up his boys from their day care.
He had been
divorced once, obtained custody of his two sons
and was now making plans to marry again.
Allen
and Samantha, his new fiancée, were taking the
boys to be fitted for their miniature tuxes tonight.
"I want to see a picture of those two in their suits,
Allen.
They'll be so adorable," said Alex.
"You will.
I'll be taking a million pictures between
now and the day they go to college," he smiled,
grabbed his briefcase and left.
Alex had heard him pop the lock on the door from
the plant into the offices.
She shook her head at
the new precautions that were being taken because
of her and felt slightly guilty.
"Maybe Tad was
right.
I should have stayed in Washington," she
said to herself, before moving to the table behind
her desk to start her filing.
"Alex, I'm leaving," hollered Jeff from his office.
Alex shook her head and hollered back, "It's a good
thing we have an intercom system.”
"I know," Jeff said smiling from behind her.
"Have a good night. "
"I will; Matt's playing soccer tonight. "
"Tell him good luck for me," she said, remembering
the chubby six year-old she had met recently at a
barbecue that Jeff had at his house.
"I will, Nancy will be bringing him by tomorrow for
lunch."
"Okay.
Tell Matt that if he wins, I'll have a surprise
for him.”
Jeff shook his head in agreement, warned her about
staying too late and left the office, again locking the
door to the plant behind him.
James sat in his office quietly, listening to Alex move
around her desk and the office.
He overheard the
conversation with Allen and Jeff and wished like hell
he could communicate with her on that level and
not want her so badly to himself.
His dreams last night had been filled with her and
he was sure that the same would take place
tonight.
He had decided to stay late as she did and
possibly avoid another attack, if another was
forthcoming.
He lit a cigarette, leaned back in his
chair and listened to her humming to a song on the
radio as she shuffled papers and typed labels for the
files.
James had sat there for a half an hour,
feeling like a peeping torn.
"Here I am, listening to her, instead of talking to
her," he said softly to himself.
James stood up
decisively and tromped into the center office.
Alex was working with her back to James'
office.
She had turned up the radio on her desk,
removed her heels and the barrette that had held
her hair back.
James studied her for a moment,
admiring the way her pants clung to her hips and
the light played with the gold toned streaks in her
hair.
Alex was totally oblivious to James behind
her.
She was concentrating on getting the filing
done tonight so that she could get other issues
accomplished tomorrow.
Occasionally, her
thoughts strayed to the outer office and every now
and then she peeked in to make sure she was
alone.
Alex was just finishing a file, when she
turned and caught James staring at her.
James saw the look in her eye when she turned
around.
He had obviously scared her.
Silently,
he cursed himself for not making his presence
known to her before and for frightening her.
"I'm sorry," he pleaded, "I didn't mean to scare
you.”
Alex sat down in her chair heavily, trying to calm her
nerves.
"It's okay.
I shouldn't have had the radio up so
loud.
Was it bothering you," she questioned.
"No, I was just, uh, coming in to check on you.
I
had gone into the plant for a moment and wanted
to make sure you were okay," he lied.
"I'm fine.
You don't need to check on me.
The
doors are locked."
"Okay."
James hesitated before returning to his
office.
That had not gone well and he wasn't sure
how to start over.
He was just breaching his
office, when he heard a knock on Francine's
door.
As he turned around, he saw Alex moving to
open it and admit whoever was there.
"Alex, wait," he said stumbling behind her.
"Hi, are you coming with us?"
James stopped in mid-stride and listened to the
conversation.
"I can't, Morgan, but thanks.
I have a thousand
things to do; besides I don't think it's a great idea.”
"Why? I thought you liked us."
Alex chuckled, "I do, I like all you guys.
It's just
that, urn, well, I," Alex fumbled for an excuse.
She
didn't know how to let him down and had never
been faced with this situation before.
She knew
she had to be gentle, but also firm.
"Look, Morgan, I really appreciate the offer, but I
can't, I really have a lot to do and um, I'm not real
comfortable yet with my new surroundings."
Morgan looked at her a bit confused.
He
understood the fact that she was new here, but he
didn't understand why she didn't want to go out
with them.
"Alex, are you scared of us?"
Alex looked a little shocked at how he had been
able to pick up on that feeling from her.
"It's not that, Morgan," she hesitated, "maybe a
little.
You have to understand that this is very
scary for me," she said, sitting down in one of the
arm chairs, "I don't know you guys well enough to
not know whether I should be scared of you or not.”
Morgan looked down at her and shook his head in
agreement.
He sympathized with her feelings and
understood the hesitation she felt.
Morgan and
Grayson had both been instantly attracted to Alex
since they met a month ago.
They both agreed
that it was the hair and eyes that made her special,
but also her ability to be a chameleon and interact
with all of the shop employees on any level.
Most
of the guys in the factory were talking about the
latest addition to the office staff and her instant
chemistry with everyone.
It seemed as if Alex cast
a spell over the plant when she walked in the door.
"Look, I know you're alone here," began Morgan,
"but you don't have to be.”
Alex looked up at Morgan and smiled.
She knew
he was just trying to be nice, but she was still very
hesitant about going out with them.
"I'm sorry, Morgan, I can't," she said finally,
standing up from her chair.”
"Okay, maybe when you're more comfortable with
us," he asked hopefully.”
"Maybe," she muttered.
Morgan smiled and watched the way her hair
spilled around her face, framing it with the flame
like tresses.
His gray eyes pierced her blue ones,
as he watched the concern over hurting his feelings
fade from her features.
"I gotta go.
They're waiting for me. "
"Okay, have fun. "
Morgan left the office, James retreated into his and
Alex returned to her desk to finish up.
James was
truly been afraid that she would accept and go out
with Morgan and the rest of the guys that he hung
out with.
He could sense Alex's loneliness setting
in.
She had attended a few dinners at Jeff’s, but
still kept herself at a distance.
She would listen to
Frank complain about his wife or Allen complain
about his ex-wife, but she never talked about
herself.
James heard Alex closing her filing cabinets and
settled into his chair to wait for her to finish up so
he could join the crowd at the bar.
Since her
attack and refusal to continue to stay after hours,
James had appointed himself guardian and chose to