Coming Home to Aurelius 8

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Having changed into a pair of her own denim shorts and grey tank top that Mrs. Carmichael had had delivered from Aurelius, Alexis wondered how in the world she'd ended up against the garden wall with Oscar whispering silly jokes into her ear trying to get her to laugh loudly. There was nothing wrong with the jokes he was telling her, just that if she laughed, they'd be discovered in a rather crazy embrace which would be embarrassing.
"We're behind a rose bush." he stated with wiggling his rather gorgeous eyebrows.
"So?" Alex chocked back.
"If this had been a victorian romance my silly cousin reads, this is the part where the rake, that is I, would compromise you and then I'd have to marry you and you'd give me heirs," he whispered back.
Tempting as the option was, Alex replied,"But it isn't the victorian age. And I'm no swooning belle."
Oscar's eyes suddenly darkened as he pulled her closer than ever,"Don't I wish it were. Had it been so, I'd have planted bushes all along the state road to increase opportunities to compromise you into marrying me."
Blushing furiously, Alex murmered,"You could just ask instead of coercing. . . . ."
Pressing a feathery kiss onto her forehead his lips moved,"Where's the fun in that?"
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Even as Oscar drove Alexis back to Aurelius, he wished he'd asked her to marry him. He knew he loved her. But he also knew that despite appearances there were a lot of demons she had to face. If he pressured her, she'd run like a startled rabbit. Something that he wasn't prepared to risk.
"So I'll pick you up at three so we can pick Anna up from the station?"
Nuzzling into the hollow of his neck Alexis said," Only if you let go off me right now you big bully,"

Reluctantly, Oscar let her go and watched till she entered the house and turned back to wave. Damn that reporter for having asked for an hours time.
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"The young 'un looks happy boss."
The comment made by one of the older ranch man to his father made Oscar bristle.
But he couldn't help smiling. Yes, he was happy. What man in his place wouldn't be. Not that he wanted how other man to ever be in his place.
Whistling he rode off towards the homestead.
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"Alex, dear. I know you're going to pick Anna up from the station. I just wanted to inform you that her boss Mr.Luke Winthrope is accompanying her and will be staying with up for a month. He recently suffered an accident which is why his brother, Anna's friend from college thought that a break would do him some good. But Anna sounded a little distraught. I was hoping you may be able to find out as to what is disturbing her because she wasn't talking to me. "

Relating Mrs.Lane's message to Oscar, she wondered aloud as to what might have disturbing Anna.
"She did mention the Winthrop brothers. Jason of course is one of her closest friends. I net him the one time Anna and I met up in New York. But she was always very reserved when it came to the older brother. Her only adjective was difficult."

Oscar shrugged,"It's odd why she even got him along if he's such a pain. She could've said no."

Alexis gave him a dirty look as they walked towards the waiting lounge. Oscar baked off with a mock scared look," I know . I know. Sometimes it's just not possible."
Laughing, they hurried as they neared the lounge.
"Alex!"
Jerking her head to her left, Alex immediately spotted Anna and rushed towards her.
In her enthusiasm, she didn't notice the tall, gauntly handsome man standing a little away from Anna.
While the two girls were busy hughog and laughing, Oscar strolled up to the man,"Mr.Winthrope."
Oscar almost reared back at the pain visible in the man's eyes as he looked at Anna. He looked pale under what would once have been a tan, but his gilt coloured hair showed that he was perhaps just as old as Alexander but not older.
"Carmichael,"he acknowledged in a gravely voice.
Oscar grinned,"I thought the flannel and denim would throw you."
Anna watches as a small smile curved his mouth,"I'm not successful media person for nothing."

Alex watched covertly as Anna pulled herself together, stopped staring and the man with her heart in her eyes,"Mr.Winthrope, allow me to introduce you to my best friend, Alexis Knightley and another friend Oscar carmichael."
Luke Winthrope acknowledged Alexis with a nod,"You book was quite impressive for a young girl, Ms.knightley. And you must also allow me to offer my condolences regarding your Uncle's demise."
Alexis paled a little but shook his hand politely, "Thank you Mr.Winthrope, but please call me Alexis or Alex. And before you say it, I'll call you Luke."
While she said this, she squeezed Anna's hand, who smiled gratefully for diffusing the tension.
As Alexis and Oscar grabbed some of the bags to help and bumped into each other, Anna laughed,"I see that you both have sorted out your issues."

Oscar drawled, " She's such a pretty little thing, that it's easy to ignore that she's a witch under all that nice skin."
Aiming a kick at Oscar's shin, both of them tripped around a little as they exited the station, slightly aware that the two following them were gnashing their teeth loudly enough for the all of the county to hear.

Alexis made a huge task of settling the bags in the boot till Oscar got the hint and joined her, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Alex sighed, "That they're feeling intense emotions for each other and that it's messing with their heads?"

"So what're we going to do about it?"

Alex scrunched up her face, " I don't know now, cowboy, but I'll figure it out for you!" _______________________________________________________________________

"I'm here, I'm here, I'm here!" shouted Alexis as she jostled into the Lanes's kitchen, her arms full of pretty flowers and a bottle of wine.

"Good Lord child, I told you everything was taken care of!" exclaimed Mrs. Lane. She truly did love her kitchen, she spent a lot of time in their with her housekeeper Martha.

"I know! But I spent my afternoon baking, so I just had to bring some of the peach cobbler over!"

Still grinning Alexis entered the drawing room where her breath caught at the sight of Oscar. Wearing faded jeans and a black silk shirt with an equally black blazer with the sleeves pushed back to his elbows almost made Alexis swoon. But even within that haze she recognized that Oscar too wasn't impervious to her.
"Hmmmmm....look what got blown in," he commented dryly as he took in her deep purple fitted dress made of the lightest silk that stopped above her knees.

before either of them could react, Anna burst into the room looking supremely agitated even as Luke followed, his face impassive, but his eyes burning with rage. Or was it more than rage?

Time for some serious damage control, "May I attribute that impressive entrace to the fact that you couldn't wait to see me!"

Anna blinked for a second before she burst out laughing as she plonked herself down on the couch next to Alexis. Apart from their hair, Alexis and Anna could be passed off as twins. Will Alexis had been 'carrot-top' as a kid, they're called Anna 'fudge' becasue of the chocolate brown of her hair.Dressed in a leaf green dress, Anna truly did look amazing, which may of course be why Luke was watching her so hungrily thought Alex. As her eyes met Oscar's all thoughts flew out of her head because of the hungry look he was giving her own self.

"You both really should stop staring at each other that way!"

Anna's quip accompanied by a gurgle of laughter was enough to bring Alex back to earth.

"Why should they, because it makes you jealous that no man ever look at you like that?" snapped a voice from the background.

Alex's concern for her friend grew when she saw that Anna looked like she'd been slapped. Turning, she saw Candy sauntering in, her artificially enhanced body wrapped in a gauzy pink creation with the trademark revealing tendencies.

Alexis almost laughed. No she wasn't insensitive, it was because she knoew from Luke's expression that Candy wouldn't know what hit her.

And she was right.

"Anna, who is this............specimen?" sneered Luke.

Before Anna could open her mouth, candy had sidled over to Luke and ran her hands down his chest ,plastering herself to him, " Anna, did you get pregnant or something to hook such a man?"

The silence and tension in the room was so thick, that someone could have cut it with a knife. Luke looked as if he'd burst, he was so angry, but he hit home by saying, " I think I've been contaminated."

With that, he walked over to where Anna was sitting, pulled her up, wrapping his arm around her waist and murmured, " Show me to a vat of disinfectant will you?" and dragged a rather shell shocked looking Anna with him, leaving an equally amused audience behind them. Two were amused, one was just livid.

"What are you doing here Candy?"

That question from Oscar brought Alexis back to the present problem.

"Oh.....I just heard Anna was back in the neighborhood so I thought I'd visit. Of course now that I know that that dish of a man is here, i'll be spending a lot of time in this house!" said Cany airily.

Appalled by the very idea, Oscar and ALexis looked at each other. A slight rustle announced a new presence in the room as Mrs Lane came in, wearing an equally disgruntled look on her face, " Alex sweetheart, Luke and Anna have gone off somewhere on their own so I guess you and Oscar should take the night off too!"

Oscar grinned at the angry look on Cnady's face as she said, " Where the hell have the gone?"

Mrs. Lane only laughed, " I don't know. Must be somewhere young people go. You might want to check out Radley's."

Alexis noticed Mrs. Lane's body trmbling with silent mirth as Candy hot-footed out of the room.

"Mrs. Lane, what is it that you're not telling me?" Alex asked.

"That we were standing in the kitchen," said Luke emerging from the hall, still stering a rather flushed looking Anna.
Dinner was proving to be rather interesting.
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Only the slight murmur of the breeze echoed around them. Alexis smiles softly as the cool breeze grazed her swollen lips, courtesy Oscar. Right now, they were both sitting on the bonnet of a Chevvy, wrapped around each other and.....well.....necking!

Suddenly, she felt a mad urge to giggle, and she did.

"What my dear girl is making you laugh?" asked Oscar

"Well, I was just thinking.........................we're behaving like a pair of teenagers."

Oscar laughed too, " Can't be helped, since we didn't meet when we were 15, we have to make up for lost time, hence we nick a few minutes on bonnets."

Laughing, they lay on their backs watching the stars till Oscar finally lamented that Bertha would be sending out a search party for Alexis.
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A sharp sound on the glass doors of the balcony in her room woke Alexis from her deep slumber. Struggling up, she saw that the watch read that it was three in the morning. As something struck the door again, ALexis padded out of bed and opened the door to find a surfeit of small stones in the balcony.

"Aaalexx!" The muffled whisper drew Alex to the railings where she sniggered at the sight of Anna with a few stones clutched in her hand.

"What in the world are you throwing stones at my window for? There's a door in front? And why are you out at night you silly girl?" she whispered back.

She felt more than saw Anna roll her eyes, " Come on Alex. Remember how we used to sneak out when we were younger? Go wear something black and come down quickly!"

Wide awake and suddenly inordinately excited, Alex ran back into her room and dragged on the first pair of black jeans and full sleeves black t-shirt she could find. Rooting through the racks she even found her black converse. She was about to slip back out when she remembered something.

Easing her bedroom door open ery carefully, Alex ran down to the kitchen. From memory, she opened the drawer which contained spare satchels. Grabbing on, she raided the fridge and stashed away chocolate sauce, a tub of ice cream, all the mars bars and snickers (she couldn't help liking them) and then pulled out a few packets of biscuits and a bottle of strawberry jam before she hurried back to her room.

"Anna, grab the bag!" With that, she dropped the bag over the railing, which Anna deftly caught.

Swinging her leg over the railing, Anna grabbed the cornice, found an old foothold and then jumped lightly onto the ground.

Swinging up to face Anna, she laughed, "WOW! I so didn't expect to be able to do this at this age!"

Grinning, Anna motioned her to be quiet, and shivering with delight the two girls ran silently towards the main road where Anna had parked her car.

So much for maturity.
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"STOP!"

Alexis braked at Anna's frantic shout, " What the hell happened Anna?"

"There's something wet trickling from your bag!" came the complaint.

A bulb went on, "Whooops! It must be the ice cream. I completely forgot that it was a part of the snacks."

"This time Alexis did see Anna roll her eyes, " Well, then lets eat it before it turns into milkshake!"

Sitting in the car, on the state highway, top down, the two girls dug into the tub with spoons that Anna had remembered to put in her own bag.

'So. What brought this on?"

Anna didn't even pretend to not understand.

"WELL. Winthrope is a boor and he's irritating the hell out of me," proclaimed the poor girl.

And then she looked at Alex who was giving her a "tell-me-the-truth-and-nothing-but-the-blessed-truth" look.

"All right all right. The truth is, I like him. More than is permissible. He hates me. That hursts me. And since that ccar accident he's really been a whole lot worse."

Sighing, Alex took her friend's hand in her own, " Anna, I really don't hink he hates you sweetheart. Have you seen the way he looks at you? "

Anna snorted, " Yeah in that freaky contemptuous way."

Alexis grinned, " No! He looks like he wants to kiss you till you're faint."

Anna looked completely stunned by this new information.

"You're wrong. You're only saying stuff like that because you're completely rosy eyed because of all the kissing you and Oscar do!"

with that quip, anna burst out laughing.

disgruntled, but not mad, Alex cracked a tiny smile, " Perhaps, but how would you know about all the kissing Oscar and I do?"

"Oh puh-leeease! You both were kissing in the driveway before you left our house!"

Alex's eyes widened in surprise, "Ho\w'd you know that?"

Anna was laughing, clutching her sides, "We all watched from the window! "

Alex's options were to crackup and laugh or to get majorly pissed off. She chose to laugh along, her heart light after a long long time.

Still giggling, Anna and Alex were catching up, digging into the snacks they'd smuggled, when the stillness of the night was broken by the sound of an approaching car. As it pulled up close, Alex saw it belonged to the local sherrifs office.

As a relatively young but angry looking officer stepped out, Anna muttered, "Uh oh!"