"Oh look, Hillary." Hillary's sister said as she entered the sitting room carrying a newspaper. Hillary's nieces and nephews were all spread out over the sitting room watching cartoons. He had decided to supervise them until breakfast was ready.

"What is it, Marie?" Hillary asked, looking away from The Tweenies.

"Isn't this is lady you work for?" Marie asked, showing him the large color photos on the front of the newspaper. The first picture was taken while Lara and Alex were at the vet. Lara's head was resting on Alex's shoulder, with his arm around her. There was another photo showing Lara and Alex when they had gone out to the Chinese food restaurant. Neither looked like they knew they were being photographed. The caption beneath read; 'Tis The Season For Tomb Raiding Romance!'.

"Oh no. . ." Hillary murmured. He took the paper from his sister and scoured the article. "Oh no. . ." He repeated as he read the article.

Illustrious tomb raiders Lara Croft and Alex West were spotted together again at a small Chinese food restaurant near to Lara's multi-million pound estate. A friend of the couple said; "Alex always fancied Lara. They make the cutest couple, don't they? In fact, Alex started asking me what kind of wedding rings would look best on Lara."

Hillary put the paper down. I leave her alone for a month and she's already getting married. . . "Marie, would you please inform mother that I have some urgent business to take care of and I will be leaving right away?"

"Sure, Hillary. But who's this Alex West bloke? He's right handsome." She said, looking over the pictures.

He's going to be right dead when I get my hands on him. Hillary thought angrily as he went upstairs to pack his things to return to the Croft manor. Although he tried to encourage Lara to think of Alex as a man instead of her competition Hillary knew exactly what was going on. Lara was upset about being alone for Christmas and the kitten and was in a very delicate state. Alex had obviously manipulated her somehow.

Lara bearly gave him the time of day, and now she was being seen with him in public? And practically snogging, no less! Then again, the story could be completely fake. The tabloids never really paid that much attention to Lara and might have invented it to boast their sales during the Christmas season. Hillary placed his last article of clothing in his suitcase and closed it. Either way, he had a feeling that Lara was going to need him.

***

Hillary arrived at the Croft manor about ten that morning. He paid the overly talkative cab driver and walked up to the manor. The grounds were unusually quiet. Hillary looked around as he approached the front door. Lara was normally up by then and practicing on her training course or testing out her new weapons.

"Lara?" Hillary called out as he entered the house. He wanted to see Lara come out of the kitchen, say hello, look at the papers and have a good laugh about it before assuring him that nothing of the sort happened. However, Lara was no where in sight.

Hillary set his suitcases down and checked in the sparring room. Simon was sitting in the corner of the room looking untouched. Hillary walked out of Bryce's computer area and into the kitchen. No Lara. He checked the dinning room, her junk room, and the down stairs bedroom.

She must be sleeping. Hillary thought. He walked up the elegant flights of stairs to the second floor. Maybe she was doing some night training on the grounds. Or perhaps she was up too late doing her bungee ballet. Hillary pondered as he walked into Lara's room.

"Lara?" The lady in question was wrapped in her sheets, curled up against an impression of where someone else had lain the night before. Lara was obviously naked under the sheets. Hillary looked around before gently touching her shoulder. "Lara? Wake up, dear." He said.

Lara moaned softly and lifted her head from the pillows. "Alex?" She asked.

"No, Lara, it's Hillary. Are you alright?" He asked.

Lara sat up and looked around her room, holding the sheets against herself. "Alex?" She glanced at Hillary. "Where's Alex?" She asked him.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him. Were you dreaming?" Hillary asked, hopefully even though he doubted that was true.

"No, Alex was here." Lara said. "Where did he go?" Lara slipped out of bed, pulling on a white terry cloth bathrobe. She began looking around the room. Alex's clothes were gone.

"Lara?" Hillary had discovered Alex's letter to her that was laying innocently on her nightstand. "It's for you." He said, handing her the slip of paper.

Lara snatched it and read over the words. "What?" She said, pretty much to herself. She re-read the letter.

"I'm sorry, Lara." Hillary said solemnly. He knew exactly what happened.

"How. . . . How could he do this to me?" Lara asked, holding the letter away from her. "He said that he wouldn't break my heart. . ." She read the letter at the distance.

Hillary sat down next to Lara, placing a hand on her shoulder. Lara shook him off. She stood up and walked towards the door to her room.

"What happened, Lara?" Hillary asked. "I saw the newspapers but I would like to hear the story from your point of view."

"My point of view?" Lara asked, turning around. "My point of view was that I had fallen in love with someone and was going to be able to finally love someone and trust someone and not be so bloody paranoid about men and now, at the drop of a hat, he runs off and doesn't even tell me to my face!" Lara shouted. "How dare that uneducated prick do this to me!?" She walked out of her room and down to the kitchen, ranting all the way. Hillary followed her, happy simply that Lara Croft's vengeance would not be directed at him.

Lara picked up the phone and punched in a number.

"Lara? Who are you calling?" Hillary asked.

"Smoke."

"Lara! I don't think a paid assassin is in order right now!"

Lara looked up. "You're right. I should do it myself." She replaced the phone and walked to her gunroom.

Hillary finally caught up with Lara, he gripped her arms making her look at him so he knew that he had her full attention. "Hold on, Lara, killing Alex simply because he's a insufferable prick is not justified. If all the insufferable pricks in this world were killed there would be a serious decline in the world's population."

"My concern ISN'T the world's population. If that prat thinks that he can get away with treating me like one of his air headed bimbos that he uses for sex and gets rid of whenever he gets tired of them, then he has got another thing coming." Lara picked up a revolver that was laying on the desk in the gunroom and cocked it.

"Lara, think rationally!" Hillary said.

"I am rational! I can simply say that he attacked me and I shot him dead in self defense. It worked on the thousands of other men that I've killed. That is, IF I get caught for it. Come to think of it, I don't think that anyone would convict me for ridding the world of such an idiot!" Lara thundered.

Before Lara realized what was happening, Hillary picked up a glass of water that was resting on the desk and splashed it on her face. Lara stopped in mid sentence and froze. "Cool down, Lara. Homicide is never the answer." Hillary said, quietly.

Lara glared at him as he continued. "I can understand that you're upset, but I'd much rather you cry then attempt to kill anyone." Lara leaned back against the desk, replacing the revolver.

"I can't. My father always told me, you should never cry over someone who's not worth your tears." Lara said, in her regular soft manor. She brush some of the moister away from her place.

Hillary wrapped his arms around her. Lara turned to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Why did I do that, Hillary? Why did I let myself get hurt again?" She was about to cry, the reality of Alex's betrayal finally setting in. It robbed her of her rage and left her only with a feeling of emptiness.

"It's alright, Lara." Hillary said, trying to comfort her. "You're much better off without him. A male who doesn't know a woman's worth can never be a man."

"Thank you, Hillary." Lara murmured.

"However, I don't suggest telling Bryce about this. He might be the one who tracks him down with a revolver if he finds out."

"But he would have seen the papers by now."

"I doubt that, Lara. Bryce doesn't know about anything unless it's online."

Lara laughed. "Yes, that is true."

"Come on, let's get you something to eat." Hillary said.

***

Alex stretched out on his bed, punching in Lara's phone number. He smiled, finally, after a week of his annoying customers and their even more annoying children he had enough time to call Lara. He had been dying just to hear her voice for days.

"Croft residence." Hillary's voice after he picked up the phone.

"Hey, is Lara around?" Alex asked. He was in an unbelievably good mood, picturing Lara's face, her smile, remember the peaceful way she slept, being able to hear the sounds of her breathing.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "Mr. West, I presume?" Hillary finally said.

"Yeah, can you put Lara on?"

"Mr. West, Lara does not wish to speak with you and requests that you do not ring her again."

"What?" Was this some kind of dumb joke?

"You heard me the first time." Hillary said.

"What do you mean, Lara doesn't want to talk to me?"

"She is not a bimbo, Mr. West and she will not tolerate being treated as such. If you want someone just to sleep with then I suggest you find a prostitute." Hillary hung up.

"Hey! Hillary!" Alex shouted. He was greeted only with silence. "Damnit!" What the hell is he talking about?! 'Someone just to sleep with'? He wasn't even there for crying out loud! Alex thought angrily. What's going on!? He looked up. Maybe Lara had misinterpreted his letter. Alex rubbed his eyes and sighed. That had to be it. Lara thought that he had used her for sex and left her before he got bored with her.

Alex sat down at his laptop which was set up on the small desk in his hotel room. He said that I couldn't call. He didn't say anything about e-mailing. Alex thought happily. He opened his e-mail account and began to compose a letter.

Dear Lara,

How are you?

Alex closed his eyes. THAT was a stupid question. If Lara thought that he had used her and had moved on, she was probably gutted. Lara didn't seem to love easily, Alex didn't expect her to take heartbreak well. He erased the line and started again.

I've missed you.

He looked back on the words. Missing her was open to interpretation. . .

"Shit." Alex muttered. He knew he should have paid more attention in English class.

There was a soft knock on the door. Alex looked up. "Come in." He said, flipping the screen of his laptop down.

Devin, one of his employer's children, and the only one that Alex actually liked and just didn't tolerate, stepped in.

"Are you busy?" Devin asked in his soft British accent.

Alex glanced at his laptop. "Well, I'm trying to write a letter to someone, but I don't exactly have a way with word, to put it lightly."

Devin's ears pricked up. He was a college student who was majoring in poetic writing, which Alex was not aware of. "Would you like me to help?" He asked.

"That would be great." Alex got up, letting Devin sit down in the desk chair. He flipped the screen of the laptop up as Devin found his key fingering.

"Alright, now what do you want to say to this person?" Devin asked. He couldn't care less who this person was and why Alex was e-mailing them, he had been dying to be back on a computer.

"Well, this person is someone who I care very deeply about." Alex began.

"Romantically?"

"Oh yeah. And she thinks that I used her after we got romantically involved and then I got the job here so I had to leave really quickly. I wanted to tell her that I'm going to be back as soon as I can." Alex paused. "And that I love her." He added.

"Have you told her that you love her before?" Devin asked, his fingers already flying over the keys.

"No. This would be the first time. I would like to tell her face-to-face, but that's not possible right now."

"Okay, one second." Devin said, continuing to type at a rapid speed. Alex sat down on his bed, stretching.

"Right, done!" Devin smiled.

"Whoa, that was quick." Alex said, standing up.

"Come here and tell me what you think." Devin said motioning him over. Alex leaned over the computer desk and read the letter.

Dear Lara,

I'm in Mexico right now, wishing that you were here with me and dreaming about you every night. I'll be coming back to you as soon as this job is over, which should be in a week or two. Please know that this was the reason for my haste. My heart was crushed when I felt that you thought I had been using you. You are the only reason that I have gotten up everyday. I work for hours and hours knowing that I can come back to sooner that way.

Thoughts of your smiling face, your soothing voice and your irresistible charm are my only company in this lonely place. I didn't want to say this earlier because I wasn't sure, but I'm positive now. I love you, Lara. I love you with all my heart. Every second that I've been away from you is torture, I pray for the days to go faster so I will be back in your arms.

Love always,

Alex

"That's, uh, a little flowery, don't you think?" Alex said. "I mean, I don't want her to know that I didn't write this."

"Pretend that you have an untapped poetic side that was awakened by your suffering. Believe me, women love a poet." Devin winked at him.

"I'll quote you on that." Alex smiled. "Want to send it for me?"

"Over e-mail? Alex, that's a little impersonal."

"Impersonal?" Alex asked, confused.

Devin stood up, taking a clean piece of paper from a pad that lay on the desk. He picked up a pen from the small black container that lay beside the paper and handed it to Alex. "Write it instead and mail it to her. It will help the sincerity of the letter."

"How?" Alex asked.

"Seeing your hand writing will help. Now, write it down and send it off." He said, patting Alex on his shoulder.

"Okay, if you say so."

Alex began to copy the letter onto the stationary.