Wow! 182 review! Woohoo! Thank you so much guys- you are all so lovely!
Also, in response to some of your questions… Firstly, I know you all want to see more of Will and Alexis, and that will come, so keep your eyes peeled. This chapter doesn't really allow much for that, but the reasons for that will become clear in my next chapter, which I am really looking forward to writing! Ahh- it's going to be so fun! Eeek! So yeah, this is a bit of a filler to set up for that, but you need to know this information anyway. Also, to the reviewer who thought I was Danish, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm actually English; I've lived here all my life. Where I'm from (which is also somewhere only a few hours from where Alexis is from) we say 'half past', or 'half one'- only rarely do we say 'half past one', although we do recognise that 'half past one' is the 'correct' way of telling the time. I think it's a colloquialism of my area, but I think it may be more widespread, as my friends from elsewhere in the UK say it like this too. We may well have got this tendency for the omission of the 'past' part from Denmark. Who knows? I pretty much write how I talk, as I think it sounds more realistic, so that's why my writing has a lot of contractions, and uses ungrammatical forms like: gonna and gotta. So yeah, prepare yourselves for some other linguistic quirks of mine!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It may not be that interesting, but it's fundamental to the story! Enjoy! And please leave a review! Thanks x
I'd just changed into my pyjamas, and was ready to crawl into bed when my phone rang.
"Hello" I answered with a barely concealed yawn.
"Hey, Alexis it's me. I was just ringing because I have some bad news, and I'm sorry." I sat up, alert.
"What's wrong, Will?" I asked, concerned.
"Nothing that bad, Lex, don't worry. It's just you know that thing I said my PA was messaging me about, saying it was urgent?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it turns out it really is urgent. Something's gone wrong with one of the program's protecting our files, and I'm having to head to London now to see if I can sort it out, as the tech guys can't work out what's wrong. We've got an office down there, as we were expanding, but if I can't fix it from there then I might have to fly back to head office. So, yeah, I won't be able to see you tomorrow. I'm really sorry, I wouldn't cancel usually, but this is really bad, I don't know if we've been hacked and-"
"Will, it's fine, honest. I understand."
"But it's not fine; I didn't come here on the pretence of spending time with you to then be constantly wrapped up in work, and unable to see you." He sighed, obviously aggravated by the situation. I didn't quite know what to say.
"Will, I'm still gonna be here when you get back. It won't be for long anyway, and I'm not exactly much fun on crutches, let's be honest; I can't hobble further than a few hundred metres before I'm practically winded." He laughed at that.
"Winded or not, I still want to spend time with you. It's just so frustrating, I mean we've not had a problem this big since I set up the company."
"You have spent time with me, Will. I'm not going to forget about you just because you're gone for a while. I mean, maybe I could even come and visit you sometime? I mean, if you have to go home for work." Shit! Where the hell had that come from? Go and visit him? We weren't even together! And how could I manage to afford return flights to America- Paris had been out of my budget. I facepalmed, trying to knock some sense into myself- I was coming down with a serious case of word vomit.
"Really?" He asked, chirpily. Shit, now I'd given him false hope.
"Yeah, sure." I answered, not wanting to let him down when he was already upset.
"That sounds good, babe. I'd love to show you round the Rockies."
"My own personal tour guide."
"You bet! I'm the best there is!" Of course he'd say that, he was Will Benedict; what else would he say?
"I'm holding you to that. I'm expecting a flawless tour."
"You won't be disappointed, I promise. Shit, I've gotta go, babe- I've got to speak to the hotel manager about checking out, and I'm at the front of the queue now. I'll call you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, Sweetheart."
"Night." I managed to get out before the phone went dead. I rested it back on the bedside cabinet, and slid under the covers. I couldn't deny that I was disappointed Will wouldn't be available to see me- I enjoyed his company far more than I let on. Still thinking about him, I fell asleep soon after, exhausted after the day's events.
XXX
I spent most of Tuesday marking, managing to finally get it all done. It was a massive weight off my shoulders, and it meant that I could finally focus on creating my lesson plans for the upcoming term since the Easter holidays were coming to a close. I like to get ahead with them as it meant that I wasn't as stressed and busy during term time; I'd learnt that lesson the hard way.
Will called in the morning, as promised, and we chatted for a good twenty minutes. He'd managed to drive to London overnight, and had gone straight to the office as soon as he arrived to look at what was wrong. He seemed to think that he'd be able to fix it from the UK, but wasn't totally sure. Since he'd worked through the night he was half asleep when he phoned, and off for a well deserved nap before he looked at it again. I promised to call him that evening, but only if he got a decent night's sleep- I didn't want him to get run down.
My ankle had improved overnight too- I now only needed one crutch, and had increased flexibility in the joint. Hopefully it would only be a matter of time before I was back on my feet for real.
It was about six, and I was just settling down to watch the next episode of 'Breaking Bad' when my phone rang. I answered it, expecting it to be Will ringing again like he promised.
"Hey, Will. How's it going?" I asked, hoping he'd managed to make some headway with the technical issues he was looking at.
"Alexis Anderson, does your best friend mean nothing to you now that you've got a boyfriend?" The voice on the other end of the line answered, cheekily.
"Rach, he's not my boyfriend.. He's just my friend, honest."
"Yeah sure, Alexis; because everyone answers the phone expecting it to be their non-boyfriend boyfriend." I really needed to start looking at my caller ID before I answered the phone- incidents like this were becoming far too frequent. I tactfully ignored her comment, knowing there was nothing I could say to her that could refute her claims.
"So what's up, Rach?"
"I see, I see, changing the subject are we, Lex? Don't worry, I'll get it out of you . Oh, yeah, I was ringing to check you were okay if I did lifts to netball this week? I'll pick you up at half past" Rach and I alternated with lifts to training and matches, as it made it fairer.
"Actually, I can't train this week, Rach. And I don't think I'll be able to play in the match on Saturday either, as I've sprained my ankle again. I'm on crutches at the minute, but I'm getting better. Mum thinks I'll be walking again by the end of the week."
"Oh my God, Alexis! When? How? Are you okay? You should have told me and I would have come round to help!"
"I'm fine Rach, honest. I was out walking in the Peaks on Sunday, and Monty ran off. Then, when I tried to catch him my foot went in a divot in the mud, and I fell awkwardly. It's just my luck, really."
"Oh gosh, Alexis! That must have been awful! Is Monty okay?"
"Yeah, Monty's fine. Will managed to get him before he'd gone too far." Shit. Word vomit, word vomit! I was trying to avoid the Will topic, not bring it up!
"Oh, so you were out for a romantic walk with your non-boyfriend boyfriend when it happened?" I sighed.
"No, not exactly- he didn't come with me. I was chasing Monty, then I fell and couldn't walk, and he found me and helped me down."
"Wait, he found you? Did you ring him to come and get you or something? Why didn't you ring me?"
"Rach, you were in Venice. I know you would have come running, but there wouldn't have been much you could do. And no, my phone was dead, so I couldn't ring anyone. He just.. found me"
"Okay, fair enough, I may not have been of much use in that situation. Wait, he just 'found you'? Come on, Alexis, you can't expect me to believe that. How could he have just found you in the Peaks- it's massive!"
"Honestly, Rach, he did. I thought I was going to die, and then he was just.. there." Rach didn't know about savants, so I couldn't really give her a better explanation.
"Alexis, that is some freaky shit. It's like a modern day miracle or something! Did you ask him how he managed to find you?" I had indeed, but I couldn't tell her the exact story.
"He said he just 'knew' where to find me. I don't know quite how myself." Well, I did, but I couldn't tell her that.
"Hmmm. So then what happened?"
"Um, he carried me down, and looked after me when we got home until I warmed up."
"He carried you down a mountain? This is like every cheesy romance novel I've ever read brought to life!" I blushed at that
"I think your fiancé taking you to Venice is really what classifies as a romance book brought to life! How was it?" I asked, referring to the surprise long weekend that Rach's fiancé, Dan, had booked for the two of them.
"Oh Lex, it was absolutely gorgeous! It was so romantic- the gondolas, the scenery. I mean, seriously, you have to go! Wait, maybe you and Will could go together for a romantic getaway! Oh, wait, no, I forgot; he's not your boyfriend. He's just your friend that carries you down a mountain in the rain and brings you home." She deadpanned.
"We'll see." I hedged, not wanting to confirm or deny her suspicions. She hummed down the line in response.
"Oh, and make sure you text Hannah." Hannah was the captain of our team. If we had a netball-related problem we had to let her know first. "She'll need to find a sub for Saturday if you can't play."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I'll text her to let her know now. I'll still come and watch, though. If I'm able to drive I'll come and pick you up."
"Okay, cool. I'll see you Saturday. Take care, Lex, ring me if you need me."
"I will, don't worry. See you soon, Rach." I said, as I cut the line. I texted Hannah soon after, informing her of my injury, and that I wouldn't be at training, or able to play in our match on Sunday. I sat watching another episode of 'Breaking Bad' before she replied, telling me to 'get well soon', and saying she'd sort out a substitute.
Will rang about half an hour later. He sounded exhausted. He'd spent all afternoon looking over his systems for a glitch, but so far he'd come up blank. I didn't talk to him for very long as I knew he was eager to get back to the problem at hand, and I didn't want to waste his time. He still seemed pleased to talk to me, though, and I enjoyed getting to know him a little better. It still wasn't the same as talking in person, but we had to make do.
By Thursday I was able to walk unaided, having rested and iced my ankle really well on Wednesday. The only upside to being injured was that I actually got my work done as I couldn't get up and get distracted. My ankle felt much better, although it still twinged a bit now and then. As a result, I was able to drive over and collect Monty from Savannah and Jack. Their house was overrun with flat-pack baby furniture when I arrived, and I spent most of my Thursday evening helping Savannah to set it all up. The pieces she'd picked were absolutely gorgeous- my niece or nephew was going to be absolutely spoilt.
Before I knew it, it was Friday- and I only had three more days of holiday left before the summer term began; it had gone so fast! Friday also brought news from Sam. He and his soulfinder, Elinor, were coming down from Edinburgh this weekend, so he could introduce her to his family. I was thrilled for him- he deserved a happy ending. I arranged to meet them both on Sunday evening at Sam's house to find out what had gone on between them, as Sam said he wanted to explain in person.
I was in the middle of my morning walk with Monty when my netball captain, Hannah, rang.
"Hey, Hannah. What's up?"
"Hey, Alexis- I was just ringing to double check you definitely can't play tomorrow. It's just, our usual sub, Clare, has just found out she's pregnant, so she can't play, and everyone else is busy! I wouldn't ask if it wasn't urgent- it's just this is our biggest match of the season so far. We won't get promotion if we have to forfeit the match against Ashbourne because we don't have seven players!" I sighed, I knew how important this match was, and how hard we'd worked this season to get to the top of the table. I wasn't going to let promotion slip from our grasp, especially just because we couldn't find an extra player.
"I know, Han, I know. Is there really no one else?" I asked. My ankle had improved, but it still wasn't ready to run around a court for an hour at my usual position of centre.
"Lex, I have rang everyone I know that knows something about netball. Heck, I even asked my Mum to play for us, but she's visiting my brother. Look, I won't put you at centre or anything; I'll put Rach there, I'll drop to wing for her, Grace can go to GA, and I'll put you as shooter. You wouldn't even have to move much- as long as you just stood there we'd be able to play- we'd have seven! The league will let us play as long as we have seven players on court" I considered her proposal. I mean, how much damage could standing on a court for an hour, only pretending to play do to my ankle? Besides, I already had ankle supports that I wore when I played. It wasn't like I could injure myself anymore than I already had.
"Okay, Hannah. I'll do it. But only GS or GK- I really don't think I can handle much more without injuring myself." She squealed in delight.
"Alexis, you are a lifesaver. I owe you, so much! Perfect! I'll see at the courts on Saturday- 11 o'clock kickoff, so be there for half ten for the warm up."
I promised her that I'd see her there on Saturday, and hung up, already slightly regretting my decision. My Mum was going to kill me. And Rach. And Will. Shit. Why did I always get myself into these situations?
So who wants to know what happened with Sam and Elinor; how could I forget about them? I won't be able to update for a couple of days, as I'm busy, but I'm going to try to update before Friday (if you guys want that?) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed; please leave a review- you guys genuinely make my day with your comments! Hugs x