CHAPTER 20

Francis managed to keep Alice away from work for three days, and it was driving the woman crazy.

Alice liked being with Francis and Matthew, though she'd never admit that out loud. Especially, not to Francis. She didn't call him bad names or cuss him out, even though Matthew couldn't understand English. She just didn't have the heart to. Francis loved using that to his advantage and it infuriated her.

It made her think.

Thinking wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Thinking about the past, however was. For the first time in a while, Alice thought about him. She remembered her ex-fiancé. She'd been too busy with work and family to properly think about him for a year or two. Alice watched Francis and Matthew cook in kitchen together. They laughed and smiled at one another, Francis speaking French and Matthew responding in his own playful way. They were each covered in quite a bit of flour from the battle they had had earlier. They were making pancakes, Matthew's favorite.

Alice watched, smiling, but her insides felt like they were being torn apart.

It wasn't their fault, God, no. She was just overthinking things, she knew that. But with no work or liquor or even fag (cigar) to keep her busy, she couldn't help thinking about the past. About him. She thought about the day they first got together.

Her dress was torn. She was pissed, tired and sweaty. "Stupid Spanish fucker." She growled, kicking a vase that lay on the ground. It was somehow not smashed, even after the place had been raided by sky pirates.

Alice was pretty sure that no one had gotten hurt, but the place was fucking trashed. There was no way they were going to get paid, now. "I swear if I see him again, I'll -"

"Alice!" There he was. Her conductor. He stood in front of her, panting and looking positively disheveled. And yet the wanker still managed to look completely ravishing to her. "Are you all right? I saw you with that pirate. Did the bastard do anything?"

She was blushing. "Ah, err, yes. Yes, I'm fine. Just a little…messy." She suddenly felt horrible in her ruined dress. Good Lord, she was an idiot. "Um, are you okay?" She was cut off by warm lips. Oh. Maybe she'd thank that stupid pirate later.

It was her first kiss, actually. It was pathetic and cheesy, but she wouldn't deny that she loved every minute of it at the time. Alice wouldn't forget the first time they told each other that they loved each other. As painful as it was, she knew she could never truly forget it.

He growled, his face practically buried in his papers. "I just don't get it. Why can't I think of anything?!"

"Because you're mentally constipated." Alice rolled her eyes. "You've been pouring over that paper for over three hours. It's bloody ridiculous, really. Go outside for a bit, something will come to you."

"No." He muttered stubbornly. "I'm not going until I've written something!"

An idea popped into her head. "Hey, look at me." Her boyfriend looked up at her, eyebrow raised impatiently. She kissed him. It was slow and gentle. Nothing was rushed. Well, until she ran her tongue over his lip.

He shot back, bright red and embarrassed. "Wh-Wh-What? Why?"

Alice smiled, probably a little red, too. "I love you."

He went even redder, if that was even possible. "I-I-I…" He eventually gave up on trying to say anything. He looked up and said to her, shyly. "I have an idea." And she knew. He loved her too.

But she remembered the bad times, too. She remembered how the closer and closer wedding date came, the more on edge her fiancé became. Alice had brushed it off as just nerves. She should've known. He hadn't been ready for that kind of commitment. He showed that to her by fucking their soprano right in her hotel room. Alice had hated him for so long. Even still, she couldn't help but wonder.

What if he had been ready? What if she'd forgiven him and they had tried again? Would they still be travelling around the world or would they have settled down like every other couple? Would she have been a mother right now?

"Alice?" Francis voice echoed from the kitchen. He was watching her with a concerned look. "Are you all right?"

She looked up and smirked at him. "Worried, Frog?" Alice watched his cheeks turn pink. Her heart pounded from inside her rib cage. It was a stupid muscle, but sometimes it was better than her brain. And right now, the stupid muscle said that it was okay. She was here now and she was happy.