Pursuit For Lucidity (Crashing Waves) (13 page)

“
No, Alex, please don’t.  I will respond to the email very professionally.  I will handle it myself,” I said.

“
Okay, baby,” he agreed.  “So Taryn called you Clara, huh?” he laughed.

“
It’s not funny, Alex.  She’s mean and evil,” I added.  Alex laughed again.

“
She’s weird, but I don’t know about mean or evil.  She’s just different from the rest of us, I guess.  Don’t let her get to you, baby.  It’s just the way she is,” he clarified. “I’m happy about your friend Laura, she sounds like a nice girl,” he added.

I warmed the f
ood and we sat down and enjoyed it with a glass of wine.  His cooking tasted even better as leftovers.  After we finished eating and cleaned up, we went outside on the veranda to enjoy the view and the beautiful weather.  Alex held me from behind with his arms around my waist.  “Will you stay at my place this weekend, Claire?” he asked.  “I promise not to do anything to make you feel uncomfortable.  I really enjoy your company,” he confessed.

“
Sure, I will stay with you this weekend,” I told him.  It was getting late and we had to go to bed.  Alex didn’t want to sleep in the guest bedroom and promised to be on his best behavior if I let him sleep in my bed.  I thought it would be worth a try.  He changed into his Burberry pajama pants, sitting low on his waist, shirtless.  “Uh, do you always sleep without a shirt, Alex?” I asked.

“
I do, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I can put on a shirt,” he said.

“
No, that’s okay…that’s totally okay with me.” I said gazing at his perfect body.

We crawled into bed, Alex pulling me close to him until my head rested on his chest.  He
kissed my hair and whispered, “Goodnight, baby.  Sweet dreams,” and before I knew it, I was out like a light bulb.

<><><>

It wasn’t even five in the morning when Alex’s alarm went off.  He groaned and complained a little, gave me a kiss and jumped out of bed and into the shower.  I went in and out of sleep, knowing I would have to get out of bed an hour after he did.  Alex, dressed in his scrubs, sat on my bed for a few minutes and ran his fingers through my hair, “I should be out of the OR by one today, maybe we could meet for lunch.  The rest of my day is at the clinic,” he said as he leaned down and kissed me. “Bye, beautiful.  Miss you already,” he said and stood up and headed out to work.

I ended up sleeping in an extra fifteen minutes
, so traffic was pretty bad for me.  I was a little late to work, but fortunately there weren’t any issues at work that morning.  Laura had taken care of a few things that needed my attention, so I was very grateful for that.  I decided to respond to Mark’s email in a very professional manner and let him know I was not interested in getting to know him better.

Dr. Kohler,

If you need assistance with anything work related, I could ask my boss, Walter Wells if I could assist your department in my free time.  Otherwise, I am unavailable for any personal arrangements.

Thank you,

Claire Morgan, MHA

Administrative Assistant to

Mr. Walter Wells, CEO

Downtown Memorial Hospital

I was confident that email would keep him away.  I thought about how I would have responded if that email were from Alex instead of Mark.  Alex was different. He was very charismatic, not creepy like Mark.

Laura had a meeting for a few hours through lunch and wouldn’t return until after two o’clock
, so I decided to text Alex and let him know I wouldn’t be able to make it to lunch, since I’d be covering for Laura.

Hey, that’s ok.  A
ctually, I have to take care of something as well.  I’ll see you tonight?

Sure, that sounds great.  I’ve been meaning to ask you when your birthday is.

September 1
st
.  And when is yours?

November 11.  Hmmm, yours is coming up.  What do you want for your birthday?

I want you, Claire.

I’m serious.  Please tell me, it will make it much easier for me to shop for you.

I’m serious too.  Claire, please, I really don’t want anything.  I’m happy with everything that I already have, especially you.

Ok, we will discuss this in person later.

Miss you.

Alex seemed to have something on his mind.  Sometimes, when I would be speaking to him, I knew his mind was elsewhere.  I knew it was something unpleasant because he had an unhappy look on his face before I asked him if he could come back to reality.  I knew he didn’t like to talk about it, whatever it was, but I was getting more and more curious.

I didn’t hear from Alex until much later that evening.  He apologized that he hadn’t called
, but he had gotten busy at the clinic and was given a few more patients than he was scheduled to see.

“
I just left work.  I’m going to pick up my clothes for tomorrow and I will be there soon, that is if you still want me to stay,” he said.

“
Of course I want you to stay.  I will make pasta for dinner.  I hope you like pasta.  It’s one of the few things I can make,” I said.

“
I’m sure it’s going to be delicious.  I’ll see you in a bit.  Miss you,” he added.

“
Miss you too,” I hung up the phone and started to make dinner. Kathy called to thank me for Sunday’s get together. She mentioned me how much she liked Alex and how she hadn’t seen me so happy in a very long time.

“
He really likes you, Claire.  You better keep him,” she said.  I finished making the pasta and tossed a salad and waited for Alex.  I lay down on the couch and turned on the television while I waited for Alex to arrive.  I must have dozed off when the phone rang.  It was the guard at the front gate letting me know that Alex had arrived.

I opened the front door and waited for Alex to park his car.
  He smiled when he saw me with the door open.  He held his duffle bag in one hand and flowers in the other hand.

“
Hey, beautiful.  I thought you might need new ones.  The old ones are wilting,” he said as he kissed me and walked inside.

“
Thank you, Alex.  What have I done to deserve you?” I asked, smiling.  “I was thinking about giving you one of the front gate remotes.  That way when you come over, you don’t have to stop and speak with the guard, you can just open the resident gate and drive up here,” I told him.

He smiled, “Sounds good, and I will give you my secret code to open my ga
te,” he said. “It smells so good in here.  I’m starving, baby,” he said as he put his arms around me and started kissing my neck, my ear lobes, and finally my lips.  I pushed him away.

“Hey, I’m off the menu, remember?” I asked.

He laughed, “I keep forgetting I can’t have the best thing on the
dessert menu,” he frowned.

During dinne
r, I told Alex about my reply to Mark’s email.

“
Why, Claire Morgan, I didn’t think you had it in you to tear him a new one professionally.  No wonder he was in a bad mood today,” he laughed.

“
He was?” I asked.  “How was he acting?”

“
He was just being a jerk to the nurses when I walked by the nurses station.  I guess that’s how he reacts when he’s rejected by the most beautiful woman he’s ever asked out,” he grinned.

“
By the way, we weren’t finished discussing what you wanted for your birthday.  I know, I know…what do you buy for a man who has everything, right?” I asked.

“
I do have everything, Claire.  The most important thing is that I have you.  You seem to be able to tolerate me quite well,” he chuckled.  “We are going out Saturday night.  Be sure to pack your dancing shoes when you come over for the weekend,” he smiled.

“
Where are we going?” I asked.

“
No questions.  Just wear something short and hot,” he commanded as he kissed me.  I wasn’t going to ask any questions.  I was excited that we’d be going dancing because it was one of my favorite things to do. “Let’s carpool to work on Friday.  I don’t have to be there until eight or so and I’m only going to see patients in the clinic most of the day.  That way we can go straight to my place afterwards,” he shared his idea.

“
That’s not a good idea, Alex.  I don’t want anyone to see us going to work together.  What will they think?” I asked.

“
Claire, please, nobody will see.  I will park at the medical plaza across the street.  Honestly, I don’t care if anyone sees.  People are allowed to carpool.  What’s it to them?” he asked, irritated.

I gave him a long kiss on his lips, which seemed to calm him down.
  “Fine, we will carpool.  Don’t get your boxers in a knot, okay?” I kidded.  Alex started to tickle me and scooped me up, carrying me up the stairs to my bedroom and continued to tickle me.  “Alex, please stop, I hate to be tickled,” but he continued to tickle me.  “Please, please stop tickling me,” I begged.

“
Okay, sorry baby, I didn’t know you hated to be tickled.  You’re really funny when you’re laughing and almost crying at the same time,” he joked.  Alex’s face turned serious.  He lifted up my chin with his thumb and slowly leaned down and pressed his lips against mine softly.  His kisses moved down my chin to my neck, then my ear lobes.  His lips made their way to my lips again and this time his kisses were firmer, his tongue moving against mine.  My mind wanted to push him away, but my body refused.

He lay me down on the bed without his lips leaving
mine.  His hands were everywhere, under my top, on my breasts.  I grabbed his hands and removed him so he would get the message.  “Sorry, I got carried away,” he stopped.  “You’re just very difficult to resist,” he admitted.  “I’m just going to take a cold shower now,” he said as he headed toward the bathroom.

“
Alex, it’s not that I don’t want to take it to the next level. I just need some time.  I don’t think I’m ready,” I admitted.

“
Claire, you don’t have to explain.  We’ve talked about this before.  I’ve already promised that I would never do anything that you’re not ready for,” he clarified.  “Okay?” he smiled as he gave me quick peck on the lips and headed to take that cold shower.

I took a shower in the guest bathroom while Alex was using my shower.  I wanted to wash my hair
, so I didn’t have to worry about it in the morning.  I dried my hair, brushed my teeth and headed for bed.  Alex was already in bed, shirtless.  Oh, the sleepover business was probably not a good idea.  Alex just held me, and buried his nose in my hair, “Mm, you smell so good.  Goodnight, baby,” he said, kissing my shoulder.

“
Goodnight, Alex,” I responded.

<><><>

I was running again, as fast as I could.  The white van was parked up the way and began getting closer and closer as I approached it.  I tried so hard to run past it.  The shadow was chasing me.  The faster I ran, the faster it followed.  The side door of the van slid open and the pair of hands tried to grab me.  I was grabbed from behind as I collapsed.

“Claire, Claire, it’s okay, I’m here.”  It was Alex.  I had awakened scre
aming again, soaking in sweat.

“
I’m sorry, Alex,” I said as I got up to change into something dry.  I crawled back into bed, unable to stop the tears from building up.  Alex pulled me close to him, “Shh, it’s okay, don’t cry.  Nobody’s going to hurt you, I promise,” he said, kissing my forehead.

I looked at the time and it was three o’clock in the morning.  My heart was beating so fast it was going to take a while for it to slow down to a normal rate.  I somehow drifted back into slee
p shortly after I calmed down.

Alex wanted to carpool
, since he would be leaving my place the same time as I did, but I declined.  “We will carpool on Friday, Alex.  I promise,” I said, putting a damper on his morning.

“
All right.  But only on one condition, we snooze for ten more minutes,” he bargained.

“
I won’t argue with that,” I replied, snuggling closer to him.  The ten-minute snooze felt extremely short and we still had a few minutes to eat breakfast before we headed out.  I gave Alex the extra remote for the main gate before he left, so he wouldn’t have to wait for the guard every time he came over.  He hugged me and gave me a long kiss and whispered in my ear, “Miss you already,” and got into his car.

“
Miss you too, Alex.  See you tonight,” I watched him drive away and left just a few minutes later.

<><><>

When I arrived at work, Taryn seemed to be meeting with Walter in his office.  It was obviously not something I had scheduled, since it was not on the calendar.