"Great job on the deliveries, Alex. Here's one more."
Alex took the piece of paper from his boss and smiled proudly. "Thank you, Mr. Adler. I won't let you down."
"Of course not." Mr. Adler replied. "And as soon as you're finished you can go home. In fact, I'll pay you for the rest of the day."
Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Really? Well that's very generous of you. Thank you, Mr. Adler."
"Think of it as a bonus. But you'd better hurry. You don't want to keep the customer waiting."
"Absolutely not. I'm going right now." Quickly Alex surveyed the grocery order and then moved about the store making certain that everything was accounted
for. But as he walked out of Adler's Grocery, he paused on the sidewalk, glancing at the order form. The customer's address was extremely familiar.
"Stephanie…"
His mouth went dry and his pulse quickened. He hadn't spoken to her since right after that night. And truthfully she was the last person he wanted to see at the
moment. Why had he told Mr. Adler that he'd do another delivery? Even the prospect of having several hours off with pay wasn't appealing.
Stephanie had hurt him, almost to the point where he'd nearly sworn off girls and joined the monastery. That is, until his father pointed out that he'd have to
become Catholic. And for a split second, Alex considered converting. How hard could it be? But becoming Catholic would have to wait. He had a delivery to
make. He owed Mr. Adler that much, at least.
He walked slowly toward the place that he knew all too well; her apartment. Heck, if he hadn't delivered her groceries with Jennifer in tow, he might not have
met her in the first place. She was older-much older-in college writing her Senior Thesis. And her quest for knowledge is what attracted Alex to her. But he never
counted on falling under her spell. That spell, as it turned out, made him a man.
Once again he debated on whether or not to do the delivery. Would it be so bad to tell a small lie and say that she wasn't home? And that he didn't want the
groceries to spoil? Or he could say that he wasn't feeling well. For the most part it was true. No one would ever know that it wasn't the truth-except Alex.
But he was a man and as a man he had to accept responsibility. So once again he made his way toward the oh-so familiar building. And his heart was racing by
the time he reached her floor. Working hard to steady the grocery bag in his hands he knocked on the door. Seconds later she was standing in front of him.
"Alex?"
He shuffled his feet nervously. "Hi."
"What are you doing here?"
"I've come bearing fruit. Um, and vegetables and-."
"What?"
So much for his attempt at humor. Sophomoric as it was, he thought it was pretty funny. But Stephanie apparently did not get the joke.
"Your grocery order?"
"Oh right. Did you want to come in? I'll get my purse."
"Sure. Thanks."
He walked inside, suddenly feeling timid and small. "I'll just-I'll put these over here on the counter and get out of your way."
"Thanks."
After a long silence, they both spoke at once.
"Oh, Stephanie, I should probably-."
"Alex, I-."
"Please, let me go first. If I don't say this, I never will."
She nodded. "Okay."
"I'm sorry for the way I acted. You know, before."
"That night was very special. I'll never forget it."
"It was." Alex grinned. "I'll never forget it."
"Neither will I."
"Well, I just wanted to say that and well, there are your groceries. I really didn't mean to make a scene when that other guy was here. I just-I guess I wanted to
be the only guy in your life."
"I know. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him before."
"It was my fault for not calling first. I was trying to be spontaneous."
Another silence fell between them.
"Um, I was wondering. Maybe we could start over? Go to a movie or something? I'm free the rest of the day."
"That sounds nice, Alex. What movie would you like to see?"
"You pick."
"I've been dying to see Endless Love, but I know that's probably not your type of movie, so-."
Alex smiled in spite of himself and took her hand, remembering how just hearing the title of that movie had affected him when he thought he'd lost Stephanie
forever. Now it took on a completely different meaning. "Endless Love is perfect."
THE END
A/N: Endless Love is the movie that Elyse, Mallory and Jennifer went to see while Alex and his dad talked about what happened between Alex and
Stephanie when he'd gone over to her apartment.