Chapter 4
Alexis looked in
the mirror over analyzing herself from head to toe
She tugged at her
face, her shirt… nothing seemed to feel right or fit right or just be anything close to perfect
“If only
you could see you as I do”
Alexis spun around
to see Ric with Kristina in his arms
She couldn’t
help but smile, charmed by him, charmed by the sight of them together
Kristina clung
to him obviously missing him more than either of them realized
“I was just...”
“Over analyzing?
Self deprecating? Criticizing?”
“Yeah something
like that”
“You’re
beautiful”
Alexis turned her
eyes away from him shyly
“Sexy…”
“Ric”
she said a bit embarrassed
“And don’t
tug at your face it’s perfect the way it is… everything about you is perfect the way it is”
She could have
melted right there
She could have
run in to his arms and kissed him until only she was content
But she stood there
instead unsure of how to react to his compliments
He would change
the subject
“Viola let
me in”
Alexis let out
a deep breath almost relieved he did change the subject
“I didn’t
expect you to get in this early. I mean, I thought it would be later this afternoon”
“I took an
earlier flight”
Alexis shook her
head thinking of what to say next
“She really
seems to have missed you” she said as she watched the way Kristina still held her arms tightly around his neck as tight
as she could “Can you breathe?”
“I haven’t
really been able to since the day I walked out of here. Now I seem to be able to breathe a little better”
Alexis opened her
mouth to say something in response, she didn’t
Why was he making
it so hard?
Why was he saying
just the right things?
“Kristina
why don’t you go and get Ric’s picture you promised him?”
Kristina leaned
up from Ric’s shoulder to see his wide eyes
“Yeah I can’t
wait to see my picture!” He said sitting her two feet to the floor as she quickly ran to retrieve the picture
“She was
really excited about seeing you again”
“And you?”
he questioned hopefully
She bit her bottom
lip her and took a few fidgeting steps
“This game…
this game of wanting me to admit whatever to you…”
“Game? Alexis
this isn’t a game to me. I miss you, I miss Kristina every waking second. Nothing I say to you is a game”
The look on his
face
“I’m
sorry… I just, I don’t know what to think, I don’t know what to believe…”
The look on her
face
“I know,
I Know”
“Wic!”
Ric quickly went
to his knees turning his attention back to Kristina
“It’s
so beautiful! And you know what? I’m going to hang this up in my office where everybody can see what a wonderful artist
you are!”
Kristina bounced
up and down, clapping her hands excitedly
She knew of nothing
in the world was wrong, she knew nothing about a heart breaking
Ric picked her
back up in his arms
“It seems
like you’ve grown so much. You’re such a big girl now”
Alexis watched
them in steady conversation
She turned her
head and caught the tears before they fell down her face
But Ric saw her
“Hey Kristina
wants some juice?” Kristina shook her head yes “Why don’t you see if Viola will get you some while I talk
to mommy, ok?”
Kristina slid from
his arms as if she understood completely
Ric sat down on
the bed
Alexis fidgeted
with the clothes lying beside him
“I would
never do anything to make you sad” he said tugging at her arm
She said nothing
only fidgeted
“If you want
me to go?”
“No”
Her protest fell
out of her mouth
Who was playing
the game now?
“Um when
are you going back to New York?” she asked quickly
A conversation
starter
“Late Wednesday.
You?”
“I was thinking
Thursday morning, you know I didn’t want to leave Kristina for too long”
“You could
bring her”
“I will eventually.
It’s just hard to concentrate with a two year old”
“I could
take her when you needed to work” Ric offered
“You need
to work too”
“But a good
compromise don’t you think?”
Alexis smiled
“I’m
sorry I snapped at you earlier” she apologized
“Don’t
apologize you have every right to question”
“It just
I guess I need more time than I thought to learn to really trust you”
“Alexis” He said pulling her beside him on the bed “I’ve learned a very hard lesson…
I’ve learned that it’s possible to fall in love with someone so fast and lose them even faster. And I’m
not sure how you do really feel about me right now but I don’t blame you for feeling hesitant or guarded. But you know
what I’ll prove to you what you need to be sure of just please give me the chance”
Alexis wiped her
eyes once again and shook her head
“I want to,
please know I want to because there has to be something in the way all of this feels. It’s never hurt this much, it’s
never been this lonely…”
“I know,
I Know, God, I know”
Ric offered his
hand and tangled his fingers with hers
“Alexis just
give me a chance”
She let out a deep
breath, her eyes to the ceiling wishing she could stop the tears from falling down her cheeks
He reached up catching
them one by one
Silence said everything
that needed to be said at that moment
“We should
probably go and see what Kristina is up to” Alexis said finally as she tried to pull herself together
Ric shook his head
agreeing and stood holding his hand out once again for her
And she took his
hand again
++++++++++++++
Kristina was full
of giggles and juice stained almost to her nose
She was a relief,
a breathe of innocent air
“I guess
asking you two to dinner would be too much?”
“We…
can’t”
Ric shook his head
disappointed
“I mean…
I told Nicolas and Emily we would have dinner with them and…”
“I understand”
“I…”
She didn’t
have to have another excuse, they had plans
But she was as
disappointed as he was
“I should
probably go”
Alexis stopped
herself from saying anything for fear she would protest
“Kristina
I have to say bye, bye but I want you to take care of mommy. Can you do that?”
Kristina shook
her head yes, certain
Ric wrapped his
arms around her to give her a hug and a kiss
“You be a
sweet, sweet girl, ok?”
Kristina didn’t
let go of him
“Sweetheart
you have to let Ric go ok? You’ll get to see him again soon”
“I promise”
he said trying to assure her though his arms were still wrapped around her and his eyes were clenched tight
Alexis then took
Kristina in her arms though she still reached for Ric
Ric leaned in kissing
Kristina on the cheek “Bye, bye sweetheart”
And then just as
innocently Alexis’ cheek
“New York?” he asked with no explanation needed
Alexis gave him
a shy “New York”
Then she and Kristina
watched him go
End Ch. 4
