'Welcome, Alexis, to one of my favorite places in Boston.'

He had driven them to Boston Public Garden, and now they were standing on a bridge, overlooking a large pond.

'Very pretty.' Alexis was leaning up against the gilded railings of the bridge, and looking down to the water.

Nigel let the silence go on for a few moments, but broke it after he saw she was being pulled into the past all on her own.

'Hello, Alexis, where are you?' he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders. She fit perfectly, he noticed.

Tilting her head to lean against him, she sighed and said, 'A long, long way away…'

'Want to take me with you?'

Alexis sighed deeply, her shoulders rising and falling dramatically, and then she began.

'Me and Jessica go back since kindergarten. We were inseparable. But she was always jealous of me… always thought my life was perfect… always putting me down, always telling my secrets all over the place… even though she was always smarter, more talented, prettier – she was tall, thin, and blonde, you know, so I always felt short and fat next to her. Inadequate, I guess. And I was so introverted, I only ever had her and this other girl as a friend. Both of them were more social than me, would go out to parties, and socialize and whatever, so sometimes I would feel left out – but at the end of the day I felt proud that they were my friends. In grade… six? … her and her brother pretended to be a boy who had asked me to dance at this school thing, and then later on, they started calling me garbage and all this other shit though 'his' e-mail, and made me feel like crap about it… how no guy would think I was pretty coz I was so fat, or that I was gay or whatever. Anyways. After that, I think, our relationship just kind of went down hill… even though I should have dumped her for everything else she had done to me… she started talking shit behind my back, and using me, and belittling me… my best friend, you know, acting like… I dunno. But we stopped talking by the end of grade eight. Then one day, she shows up at my house, and says, 'what the fuck are you doing telling my dad that I do hard drugs?'... now, I hadn't spoken to her for about two years by this point, but for some reason I had thought she had come to apologize for everything. When she said that, I think my heart broke again. I never saw her after that. She stopped coming to school, and I heard through the social grapevine she had been kicked out of school. Imagine – my rival for so many years, A+ student, kicked out… even years after we had stopped talking, I used to say a prayer for her. Her brother was such an influence on her life, and I heard he was getting into drugs, and all that gangster crap, so I prayed that she would be okay…' Tears were making trails down her cheeks, and her voice began to crack. 'Then, there were the relationships… first guy I dated was older than me, and just about obsessed with me. Thought I was perfect, so I felt like I had to be perfect around him. I broke up with him because he bored me. Then, one guy was interested, he was older than me, too, and he invited me over, and he kissed me – right out of the blue, scared the crap out of me – I had never kissed anyone before. Then he made me feel like I had to kiss him back. I did, just so I could get out of there. I never talked to him again. Finally, there was the old friend. He had always had a crush on me, apparently, and I had always loved the fact that he was British.' She stopped, and shot a small smile in Nigel's direction. 'I always loved Brits. Anyways, we were friends, but when we started dating, he never talked. At all. It was like pulling teeth, having a conversation with him. I always told myself he was my first kiss – not the other guy. But then, he made me feel… kind of slutty, to tell the truth. I wanted him to be what I had always imagined. The morning after we, like, kissed and whatever, he was distant. I felt kind of like a whore… he was my last boyfriend. I was sixteen. I broke up with him not too long after that. Later on, his new girlfriends told me he had really really cared for me, so I thought I might have tried harder to make him talk, but it always felt so one-way, and like I was the only one trying, you know? Basically, my relationships with boys outside my immediate family made me feel imperfect, unloved, and dirty. I know, it doesn't sound so bad, but that's the thing: whenever I thought about it, and it made me feel bad, it just made me feel worse that I kept being so touchy about it…' She stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. 'Especially when my dad kept calling me fat, or pointing out that I should have tons of boyfriends because of my rack – and my mom complaining about me all the time, trying to get involved. It's like, she was trying to live vicariously though me, and she was trying to… raise me, I guess… oh, um, she was the working spouse, you know, so when she realized I wasn't a little kid anymore, I think she thought, 'oh, crap, got to step up my A game and raise her before she leaves for university.' It was kind of insulting, because she made it sound like she didn't like what I had become…' she stopped again, and said brusquely, looking over the water, 'This is stupid, I'm just going on and on… you're probably getting bored-'

'Don't say that,' Nigel interjected quickly, 'I want to understand. How about you tell me about your move to England? Did you move there before or after school?' He rubbed her shoulder slightly, and hugged her close, trying to make her talk.

After a moment, Alexis answered, 'During… I went to U of Toronto for pre-law study, and then I moved to England for an exchange. I was… twenty-one. That year was… horrible. My parents were killed in a car accident, and I was the sole beneficiary coz I'm an only child… then my granddad died, and barely a few months later, my grandmother. They, too, left me everything. They were pretty loaded, they had really good life insurance policies, and their house was worth about a million dollars. I was – am – a trust fund kid. My best friend got married to her high school sweetheart, started her family… and I was still in school. A coupla years pass, and my other set of grandparents died: they divided the money equally amongst their children and grandchildren, but since my parents were dead – his oldest daughter was my mom – I got my mom's share. By that time, I was single, rich, and a kick ass attorney earning a thousand pound sterling an hour. But I was single. The guys at the firm were narcissistic pigs who thought themselves God's gifts to the female population… and they either wanted me for sex, or for my money. Not exactly appealing for a virgin with a romantic idea of love… sometimes I would catch myself thinking that I should just take the least obnoxious of the lot because I wasn't skinny, and I didn't deserve to fall in love… even my mom was skinny when she got married… I didn't know anyone who had been fat and in love...'

'But… you're not...' Nigel told her, his hand still resting at her side, 'You're gorgeous.'

'Thanks – but I know. I tell myself that in the mirror every single day. But it all came down to how my dad had always called me fat… and then, a few weeks ago, I got a call from Jessica's father… and now here I am.' She sighed again, and said, 'This has made me realize that I've always been comparing myself to her… and even now I can't get her out of my head…' she said, her voice getting quieter and quieter. 'Well, that's it, really…' she added lamely, shrugging and wrapping her arms tighter around her body. 'What do you think? Am I still worth it?'

Nigel turned her round, held the sides of her face, and looked deep into her eyes. 'I think you've had it rough. I think you deserve much more than you got. And I knew you were worth it the moment I saw you.'

The only sounds that could be heard while Alexis searched Nigel's eyes were the lapping of the pond on the bridge supports, and the distant laughter of children. The silence drove Nigel insane until Alexis muttered two words. 'Alright, Nigel.'

Nigel and Alexis walked back across the bridge and though the park to Nigel's bike. When they reached it, he sat down sidewise on the seat to face Alexis. Holding her small hands in his, he said, 'You asked me if you were worth it… but am I?'

Taken aback, Alexis replied, 'What do you mean, are you worth it? Of course you are.'

'You answered too fast, luv. Think about it – do I, a coroner, deserve you, an ace attorney? Don't forget, too, I'm older than you.'

'How do you know that?'

'Logic: you were sixteen with your last boyfriend, and you've been single fourteen years. So you're thirty. I'm… well, let' just say I'm a little bit older than you.'

'Four years isn't so bad.' Nigel was silent. 'More than four?' He nodded. 'Five? Six? No, you can't be thirty-seven!'

Nodding, he said, 'Thirty-eight in a few months… so you're friends wouldn't mind I'm older than you? You don't mind I'm older than you?'

'My…my mom was four years older than my dad… it's no big deal. Besides… does it bother you that I'm almost eight years younger than you?'

Smiling, Nigel said, 'I'm living every man's dream, luv… I have a smart, beautiful, sweet, compassionate, young, rich, sexy woman falling for me. I feel like a cradle-robbing gold-digger!' That got a laugh out of her, and then a sarcastic nod.

'At least you're a doctor. My grandparents would be pleased.'

'Doctor? I suppose so. Alright. I deserve you,' he said, leaning in and tucking her hair behind her ear.

Before he could kiss her, however, she started, 'Although… I'm not easily won. You're going to have to woo me, you know.'

'Of course, m'lady,' Nigel said, standing and holding her hand to help her on the bike, 'Shall we? We'll stop by your hotel so you can change.'

'Change?' she asked as she stepped onto the seat, 'Now where are you taking me?'

'Ah, c'mon, Alexis, don't you like surprises?'

'…yay?'

'I'll drop you off, I'll change, and then I'll pick you up at, say, five-thirty?'

'Alright,' she said warily, 'But shouldn't you be at the morgue?'

'I have enough holidays saved up to be with you until Jessica's out of rehab, luv. Don't worry.'

With that, he revved the engine, and drove out of the parking lot.