August 26, 2006

Something in the Way She Moves

Alexis steps into the house that Sonny likes to call Deke's house. According to Brooke's reports to Alexis, he refuses to go beyond one egress to the other. But since Sonny is drawn to any kitchen that's as far as he chooses to linger. She puts her purse down on the table and walks down the hall with only a small light gleaming through the window from the street.

In the living room, she notices a piano and an old-fashioned record player positioned next to it. She stops by the piano and runs her finger across the wood top and notices the dust. Her eyes wander and meet the album collection nice and tidy in the corner of the room.

Alexis pulls an album from the shelf with angels with harps covering the front and back of the cover. She frowns her mouth and realizes maybe she should check the inside of the sleeve.

"I almost wet myself!" Alexis exclaimed in her session the next day with Kevin.

He pulled the pen from his mouth and laughed till his stomach shook. "You almost wet yourself over an album cover with angels on the front?" Kevin asked a bit confused.

Alexis pulls out the album from the sleeve and gasps at the picture of the fabulous four crossing the street in the circle in the middle of the vinyl. "Abbey Road!" She exclaims like a child opening a favored Christmas gift.

Alexis throws the cover to the ground and completely forgets her surroundings. She dances herself over the record player with her favorite tune in her head and the record resting tight between her fingers. Once she throws the record on the player her spirits fall when she looks around and realizes there's no power.

She races to the wall and flicks the switch with a brief blink of light and then nothing. She kicks the wall like a child wanting her void filled right then and right there.

Kevin leaned in to Alexis to try to understand her pain. "So what you're saying is…you had a temper tantrum."

"I lost my freakin' mind." Alexis said to him. "But I was a fifth Beatle. I know the words to every Beatle song by heart."

Alexis closes the record player and throws that idea away. "A piano doesn't need electricity." She says as she plops down on the bench. She coughs amidst the dust and lifts the top. Wiping off the keys she starts to hum. "I was a musician in my day."

Alexis studies her face in the mirror above the piano and searches for the likeness to her mother. "Hi Mommy. I'm going to sing and play at the same time. Just watch me."

Kevin furrowed his brow at Alexis. "You play the piano and sing? At the same time? I find that fascinating."

Alexis nodded to Kevin with certainty. "I just think a good spirit was flowing through my body. And Kristin Bergman was sitting right next to me."

"In Benson Hurst?" Kevin questions with a grin.

Alexis ignores his dig. "But seriously Kevin, the fact that someone hid Beatles albums in the covers of Catholic hymns was brilliant."

Kevin rubbed his forehead. "Or it's a sign that instead of me someone else is going to be your tour guide in hell. Maybe Adela?"

Alexis grinned. "I pay you way too much Dr. Collins."

Alexis twinkles her fingers over the keys. "Ok Momma. You're gonna have to get me started."

Alexis takes a deep breath and Sonny awakens from his sleep in the tent. He opens his eyes to darkness and throws his hands over his ears.

"What is that?" Sonny questions as he crawls out of his tent and looks towards the house. "That is not a good sound." Sonny stands up and stretches his body. The music inside becomes familiar. "Who is that?"

"By sound Alexis. Play by sound. Just don't hit me if I'm out of tune Kristin." Alexis continues to play and sing. "Ob La Di, Ob La Da, Life goes on…"

Sonny continues through the kitchen not sure whether to laugh or cry. He stays in the kitchen and leans on the wall knowing the terrible singing voice anywhere.

Alexis continues to sing. "In a couple of years they have built a home sweet home. With a couple of kids running in the yard of Sonny and Alexis Corinthos...Ha ha ha ha ha."

Kevin leaned back in his seat and let out a boisterous laugh. "That's fifth grade Alexis! You did not insert your names into the song."

Alexis sat up straight on the couch. "I sure as hell did. And don't think I didn't turn a million shades of red when I saw his shadow from what little light was in that room. I could have crawled under the piano."

Alexis stops her singing from his shadow and drops the top back onto the keys as she often did in shock when she was caught in the music teacher's studio after-hours at boarding school.

Sonny steps into the room and leans on the doorframe with a smile. "I'm sorry. You didn't have to stop playing. I'm not going to pretend I was enjoying it." He tries to hold back the snicker in his voice.

"Can you tell me who the Beatles fanatic is?" Alexis questions.

Sonny yanks his belt from his pants and snaps it together making a loud popping sound. He rests the belt behind his neck "I got many many many ass whoopings. I also had my ways of getting what I wanted."

"So you hid them in your mother's albums?"

"My mother helped me. She listened to them too. We danced. I loved it when we danced."

"Did she let you stand on her feet?"

"Only in my bare feet. But yea." Sonny flashes Alexis his dimpled smile. "You wanna crank?"

Alexis looks at Sonny in confusion. "Huh?"

Kevin looked at Alexis perplexed. "He offered you meth?"

Alexis shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't know how to respond!"

Sonny realizes Alexis' confusion and motions his hand in a circular turn. "The record player cranks. We don't need electricity. You wanna crank up Abbey Road and I'll light some candles so you can see the grooves of the album?"

Alexis quickly jumps up and races towards the player. "I don't need light. I know every crevice of this album. Is there a particular song?"

Alexis stares at the brightness of Sonny's eyes in the darkness. He averts them and takes her hand in his.

"I'll show you how the handle works since you weren't getting the concept. If I told you the song I wanted I'd have to tell you a secret and that song wasn't on Abbey Road."

Alexis laughs and allows him to guide her hand to a place on the album. "I get the joke. Haha. Do you wanna know a secret. The album was called Please Please Me."

Sonny nods his head in agreement while forcing her hand with the needle to a particular spot. "There." He says. "I want it to stay there. That's the song."

Alexis leans her back into Sonny and directs him to crank. "I want you to turn the thing. You're strong."

Sonny does what she asks to both of their amusement. Alexis turns to him not surprised by his choice.

"Are you hitting on me Sonny Corinthos? Something? What a beautiful choice."

"Don't worry. I never danced to this with my momma. That'd be inappropriate relations." Sonny shyly smiles as he pulls up his pants and looks away.

Sonny offers his hand to her. "I really like your outfit. You're gonna have to take off the heels if you wanna dance on my feet."

Alexis looks at her business attire from her quick rush to the office then straight to Sonny's to gather his thoughts on his first session with Kevin. She figured he wouldn't want to discuss it because some things were better left unsaid.

After she kicked off her heels and playfully hopped on Sonny's feet to dance, she completely forgot his cursing her name in hatred in the tent. She knew he hated secrets just as much as her and they both realized that Alexis' days of dancing to her favorite songs were short. It was all that Sonny had left to offer and he hadn't seen her smile in wonder like a schoolgirl in years.

Kevin felt Sonny might prefer a different setup than normal. He forced Sonny to lie on the couch while he paced back and forth without his shoes on. Sonny's eyes followed Kevin's bare feet walking through the office.

"Why aren't you wearing shoes Kevin?" Sonny asks.

Kevin stops his pacing. "Did John Lennon always wear shoes?"

"Has Alexis been talking about me?"

"A little. She said you sang her a song and danced with her."

"For real?"

"Were you really hurt that Sigmund died Sonny? There are other ducks to love. Have you considered giving Kristina a duck as a pet? They're very docile animals."

Sonny stares upwards at Kevin leaning over him. "Is that the only way that you can relate to me is through a duck?"

Kevin sits and kicks his feet up on the edge of the couch. "Sing to me Sonny. Sing to me what you sang to Alexis."

Sonny maneuvers his body on the couch in a more comfortable position. "Wow. You know it's weird that I know the words to the song by hard, but I can't write them."

"Wasn't it better to just sing them to her? It's not who you are or what you say. It's what you do that matters."

Sonny smiles through his reverie. "Yea it was better." His voice falls into song. "Something in the way she moves. Attracts me like no other lover. Something in the way she woos me. I don't wanna leave her now. You know I believe, and how. Somewhere in her smile she knows, that I don't need no other lover. Something in her style that shows me. I don't wanna leave her now, You know I believe and how. You're asking me will my love grow, I don't know, I don't know. You stick around now, it may show, I don't know, I don't know. Something in the way she knows, and all I have to do is think of her. Something in the things she shows me. I don't wanna leave her now. You know I believe and how."

The Beatles, The White Album

The Beatles, Abbey Road