There was silence for a long time, complete and absolute silence, and then there were faint noises; the kind of ones that sounded like they were coming from a closed glass window. The sounds had Alexa's eyelids twitching slowly beforw her lashes finally fluttered open.
And for a moment all she did was lie still as she stared at the blurry white ceiling which seems so far and unfamiliar, she tried blinking a couple of times to clear her vision and it worked, and it was only when everything became clear that she begun to feel the dull throbbing in her head. She let out a small groan as she looked around slowly.
From the look of it she was either in a hospital or the school clinic, and she couldn't help but scold herself for having been so stupid as to wind up here.
"She's awake sir". She heard a female voice say.
Probably the nurse informing Micheal that she had regained consciousness. Micheal......
It truly was unfortunate that it took her falling from a flight of stairs to get him to act like he cared about her; she may have hit her head hard earlier but she could always recognise Micheal's voice, she'd always know his smell.
"Mrs Grant?". The nurse spoke again.
And Alexa's gaze flickered to the direction the voice had come from in time to see a young lady walking towards her with a warm smile.
"Good to see that you're awake". She said on getting to the bed.
And she was about to say something when Caan's voice suddenly cut in.
"Alexa". He said as he walked in.
Her gaze flickered to meet his; his eyes were darker and almost stormy as he advanced towards the bed, it was clear to see that he was either worried or angry.
"Hi.....".
Her voice sounded low and weak, so low that she had to try again.
"Hi". She said when he got to the side of the bed.
His eyes narrowed to slits as he reached out and gently brushed some hair from her face.
"What have you done to yourself?". He asked her.
He didn't sound happy at all.
Her gaze flickered around uncertainly, she didn't know what to say at the moment. Of course she knew it was foolish to have been walking down the stairs when her gaze had been glued to her screen, but she had just woken up, she didn't need the scolding now.
"I'll just be outside if you need me, Sir". The nurse said quietly before walking away. She had probably sensed the tension between the two.
"I slipped.....". Alexa said quietly.
"Yes, and you could have been seriously hurt because you were distracted by your phone". He said.
Her gaze continued to flicker around and they stopped on sighting Micheal standing by the door, his eyes seemed just as dark as Calan's.
"What was so important that you literally risked your life for?". Calan was saying.
Her gaze flickered back to his. How was she to tell him that she had been thinking about her party, that she had been looking stuff up. It would only make him hate the thought of her ever being in parties.
"Are you just going to scold me?". She asked him quietly.
He let out a breath and he seemed to deflate.
"I'm sorry, i was just worried about You". He said to her as he caressed her cheek softly. "I almost lost my mind when Micheal called me".
She let out a breath of her own. Her gaze flickered back to Micheal's and he averted his gaze from hers and she returned hers to Calan's.
"It's how i feel when you're unwell and i find out from Mildred". She said quietly.
Calan shook his head.
"It's not the same". He said quietly.
"It is". She said.
He wouldn't understand, he wouldn't know how she felt.
"It's not". He said as he took her hand in his. "You could have been seriously hurt".
"And what about you? You could have.....". She let her words trail off. Just thinking about the fact that he could have died caused her eyes to well up with tears.
"Hey, hey don't start crying". He soothed quietly as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
She dragged in a deep breath before nodding once, she winced as her head once again throbbed painfully.
"How are you feeling?". He asked her.
"My head hurts". She answered quietly.
He was about to say something when Micheal spoke first.
"I'll be leaving now". He told Calan, and then he let his gaze meet Alexa's at last. "I wish you a quick recovery".
She shook her head slowly. She was glad that Calan was here now, that way they could all talk this out.
"You've changed". She said quietly.
He averted his gaze just as Calan turned to face him.
"I've had a lot on my mind". He replied.
That wasn't an excuse she was going to buy, she knew him, and she knew he had changed drastically.
"That's not it". She said. "It's almost like....you're mad at me".
Calan arched a brown at Micheal who's gaze had flickered to his.
"What is this about, Micheal? I said keep away from my wife, i didn't say make her feel like she's offended you in someway". He said.
Alexa's eyes widened slightly.
"Calan". She said.
Of course she was shocked that he had asked Micheal to stay away from her, but she was more shocked as to how bluntly he said it, as though it was nothing at all. But then, it should have been nothing at all if there was nothing between Micheal and her.
His gaze returned to hers.
"We're all here, we might as well talk about it". Calan said to her. "When i got back after everything i asked Micheal to keep away from you because it was obvious that he had feelings for you, that's if the feelings weren't mutual".
She averted her gaze from his as her throat constricted painfully.
"I didn't think he'd take my words to the extreme". He said.
"Are we seriously doing this?". Micheal asked.
Calan nodded simply as he turned back to face him.
"When i asked you to keep away from her i didn't mean you couldn't be friends at all, i just meant you keep your relationship with her simple, as it should be, for all of our sakes". He said.
"You'd be surprised to know that it's not as easy as you may think". Micheal said.
His gaze flickered to Alexa who now had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"This is my way of keeping things simple between all of us, this is my way of making things right". He said.
Alexa blinked and more tears left her eyes. This wasn't what she had had in mind, but she was glad they were talking about it.
"You're on the edge, Micheal, you're unravelling". Calan said.
He had known him long enough to know that he was dangling dangerously over a cliff; he could see how torn he looked, tortured even.
Micheal let out a breath before rubbing his temple wearily.
"I've always had a thing for Alexa since the first day i met her, we all know that, we've known it for a while now". He said.
Indeed, they all knew that, however, it had been in check then, it had been under control, it didn't affect him much, but at some point he found himself unable to get her off his mind, and he was just learning to get her out of his system now.
"And then you guys got married, and you went ahead and fucked up". He said to Calan. "And now you want to make things right as do i, you don't think it will be complicated?".
Calan averted his gaze from his.
Micheal's gaze once again returned to Alexa and his eyes softened.
"It was never you, Alexa, i should have sad that from the start instead of just pretending like we were never what we used to be". He said.
She couldn't look at him, how could she?
"And i apologise for the discomfort my attitude has caused you, but I'm afraid it's my way of moving on". He said. "You understand, don't you?".
Alexa nodded slowly.
It was crazy but she felt better now that they had talked about it, she felt....lighter.
"I'm sure we can all continue to be friends in the future, but we have to accept that the relationship between all of us is rather strained at the moment". Micheal said.
And Calan nodded. Strained, yes, but it didn't mean they wouldn't have each other's back when they needed to.
"Yeah". He said.
"I'm glad we had this talk". Micheal said.
"So am I". Calan said.
And they nodded at each other before Micheal turned around and walked out.
A/N
Thank you for coming this far! Your support so far is greatly appreciated.
Third person’s pov Not much had been said after Micheal had left them alone, Calan had simply asked her if she needed some sometime to fully gather her bearings before they left and she had nodded. And after sometime; when she was sure she wouldn’t lose her balance from the throbbing in her head she let him know and he informed the nurse who gave her some pills to take before going to bed. And in the car she sat with her head leaning against the closed window even though Calan had tried to get her to lean against him instead. It wasn’t like she was mad at him or something, she just didn’t feel like talking to him or anyone else, not even Micheal, perhaps it was herself she was angry at, perhaps she was angry that it took having such a humiliating talk with her husband and his best friend to get her to straighten up. She let out a tired breath before brushing her hair from her face, she couldn’t wait to get home and get some sleep. “Are you upset?”. Calan asked her, his voice was
Alexa’s point of view I woke up to the sound of someone softly knocking at the door, and it was only when I blinked to clear my vision a couple of times that I realized it was bright and streaks of sunlight were streaming into the room through the slightly parted curtains. My eyes widened slightly as I realized I had overslept, I pushed the covers off me quickly and climbed out of bed, I felt a lot better now, the pills had helped, they had probably contributed to why I had overslept too. I hurried to the door and pried it open to find Calan standing there looking slightly worried, his temple was creased and his brows were furrowed, however, they smoothened out on seeing me.“Are you alright? I’ve been knocking for some time now”. He said to me.I cleared my throat quietly before nodding.“I overslept”. I said. “Good morning”. “Good morning. Trust you’re feeling better”. He said and I nodded once more. He reached out and gently brushed my disheveled hair from my face. “You’ll s
ALEXA’S POV I tried not to gawk as I stepped into the grand workspace which was Calan’s office; it was darkly furnished and even more captivating than the rest of the building, understandably so since he was the boss here. And for a moment all I did was stand at the entrance staring at everything and nothing in particular, it was all so awkward, so….weird. “Come on”. He said on noticing that I hadn’t moved from the door. I cleared my throat quietly and nodded. I followed him further into the office and settled down on a couch when he asked me to. “Did you have breakfast?”. He asked as he settled down beside me. I nodded. “Good to know”. He said. “I like your outfit, you look…..”. His gaze raked over me once more as he probably thought about what to say. “Different?”. I asked him. He nodded. “Yes, older”. He said. Older? Was I to take that as a complement? I cleared my throat once more, I truly didn’t know what to say. “Older, as in…matured”. He elaborated. Matured
Calan’s Point of view There was something calming about her presence, I had known that for some time now yet I was always surprised to confirm it again and again. It was almost too good to be true, almost like she was the medication no doctor had prescribed for me, no, it was more than that, it was more like magic. Though I didn’t fall asleep I felt relaxed and rested just lying there, just breathing in the soft fragrance of roses, just immersing myself in her softness and warmth. I lost track of time, I didn’t know for how long I remained like that, didn’t realized that so much time had passed till my phone pinged from my desk reminding me that I had a meeting now. I dragged in a deep breath before I reluctantly sat up; I was amazed to find that she had fallen asleep, and for a moment all I did was sit there and stare at her, I took in how peaceful she looked, how calm, how…..beautiful. I felt my lips curve upward in a faint smile, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and g
Third person’s Point of View“You should be hungry”. The words left Calan’s lips quickly as he turned around and begun heading out. He truly couldn’t explain how he was feeling at the moment, he couldn’t describe what it was that he had felt just now, it had been too much, too intense, it was something a man like him who despised hassles never wanted to feel again. It was no secret that over the last two years he had forced Layla into a dark and quiet corner of his mind, that he had tried to move on with his life as though she had never been in it. He had gotten rid of almost everything that reminded him of her because the guilt he felt when thinking about her was always too much, too consuming. HE wasn’t necessarily a good person and he hadn’t been the perfect lover to her, but she had been everything to him, she had been everything he wanted her to be, she had been loyal, patient, she had been caring and understanding, she had played the role of nurse more times than once, and h
Lunch had mostly consisted of silence, except for the occasional clinking of silverware against ceramic plates. They both were toying with their food in every honesty; pushing chucks of meat and vegetables back and forth and around the plates, each doing it subconsciously but noticing the other’s disinterest in the food. Calan spoke first like always.“Do you not like the food?”. He asked her. And it was only then she realized that she hadn’t taken a single bite, that she had been toying with her food like a child.“I…I do, I must have….trailed off”. She stuttered quietly.Her gaze flickered to his plate and she realized she hadn’t been the only one who hadn’t been paying much attention to the food.“Please eat”. Calan urged her. He didn’t want her skipping meals on his watch; he didn’t want her skipping meals at all.“You too”. She said quietly.He set his fork down as though her replied had completely destroyed his interest in the food. Knowing he had to address the matter at han
Alexa’s point of view Perhaps going to his office had actually been useful, perhaps it had helped more than I knew, perhaps I just had to be open minded about it. But who was I kidding? It obviously wasn’t that easy, I felt as though my heart had been ripped out of my chest, felt as though I had been stabbed over and over and over again. Sitting there beside Calan in the car during the drive back home was torturous, I wanted to cry but he had literally begged me to put an end to my crying, and I had forced the tears back and had locked them somewhere knowing they’d break free the very second I was away from him.He hadn’t said much since he got me to stop crying, he had simply sat there absentmindedly staring ahead, I could tell that he wasn’t in the best of moods at the moment, but a lot of that was going around so the entire drive was quiet. And when we finally got home he got out of the car, walked to my side, opened the door and helped me out like he always did. I had expected
“You might want to think twice before drinking too much, after all Alexa has lost too much already”. Micheal’s subtle voice came smoothly from behind him. “You said it yourself”. He occupied the stool next to Calan’s and signaled to the bartender.“I’ve only had two”. Calan said quietly. He knew it probably wouldn’t end well for him but he didn’t care at the moment.“And I assure you there’ll be no more”. Micheal said to him. He nodded“Yeah, that’s probably why I had you come here”. He said as he let out a heavy breath. “Alone, I’ll get myself killed before the night is over”. Micheal shook his head.“What’s the problem?”. He asked him just as his shot arrived.“Sore conscience”. Calan replied. “Very, very sore conscience”.Micheal raised the glass to his lips and downed the shot.“What have you done this time?”. He asked him. “And how’s your wife?”. Calan raised his tired gaze to meet his.“She’s better, physically”. He replied. “But I suppose she’s a wreck emotionally, at lea