Episode 3
Lexi grinned as she watched Michaela Pratt get caught making out with her fiancé on Keating's doorstep. Apparently 'This is Aiden Walker, he works for the Mayor of New York' didn't mean shit to Annalise. Lexi couldn't wipe the smug grin off her face as she leaned forward to shake his hand.
"Alexis Gray," she greeted, just as Connor stepped out of Keating's office. Aiden's attention was immediately diverted to him and he dropped Lexi's hand limply. Connor was beaming.
"Aiden freaking Walker," he greeted, as the two men hugged. Michaela's smile was forced, while Lexi watched with interest. She had an idea where this was going, and she rather liked it. "My god!"
"You two know each other?" Michaela asked her fiancé reluctantly.
"Yeah, we went to boarding school together," Aiden explained, his eyes still fixed on Connor. "It's so good to see you, man."
Connor grinned at Michaela. "So this is your fiancé! Guess we have more in common than I thought," he whispered, before following Lexi down the stairs. Once they were out of earshot, Lexi grabbed Connor's arm.
"Tell me you slept with Michaela's fiancé," she insisted, beaming.
Connor grinned. "I slept with Michaela's fiancé."
"You little slut!" she smacked his arm, beaming widely. "God, I love you. You're going to make her life hell, do you understand me? She better not be able to stop imagining you screwing him once you're done with her."
"Obviously."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
"Hooker Mom turned out to be bomb Mom," Asher muttered, as he watched Bonnie and Annalise talk to who he'd assumed to be the sex-in-a-park lady. Who knew that she was actually responsible for bombing the World Financial Institute? Asher looked a little more excited than was appropriate. "I freaking love this job!"
"Her kids are sitting right there!" Laurel reprimanded him.
"Makes you wonder what secrets Aiden might be keeping from you," Connor said quietly to Michaela. Lexi had to cover her mouth to hide her snickering. She was loving the weirded-out look on the bitch's face right now.
It was a while before Annalise could convince them that they had a chance of winning the cause and that they shouldn't take the plea. Personally, Lexi thought the woman was insane. It would probably be safer for her kids if she was locked up somewhere. "Why do we get the creepy clients all the time?" she wondered out loud as they left the police station. "First Max. St. Vincent and now the terrorist mom. Does Annalise ever take on normal clients?"
Asher grinned as he slipped his arm around her waist. "Hey, I'm not complaining."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
"I hate these Law Review parties," Alexis grumbled as she entered the bar. She'd spent all evening going over files for the Elena Aguilar case, not to mention that they'd had to spend the afternoon interviewing Griffin O' Reilly as a potential client. The last thing she wanted right now was to be in a noisy bar with people screaming. "Just get me something strong," she snapped at the bartender.
He passed her a glass of flavoured vodka and she downed it in one shot. Laurel was in a corner while a cute guy chatted her up and Connor was flirting with Aiden. This is so unfair, she thought to herself. Where's my cute guy? She spotted Asher standing in the crowd of people that were actually listening to the guy on the platform. He was cheering him on, completely in his element. Lexi rolled her eyes. As she glanced around the bar, she spotted a familiar face.
Oh shit, she thought. It was Fiona Cartwright, a girl that Lexi had gone to high school with. She'd hated her with every fiber of her being- Fiona was the blonde version of Michaela. She always had to be the best at everything. She had to have the better boyfriend, the better grades, and the better life. Lexi suddenly realized that she was sitting alone at a law review party, downing shots of vodka. I can't let that bitch see me this way, she realized. Lexi quickly slipped off the barstool and went over to Asher, who was drinking with a couple of friends.
"Lexi! There you are! Want to do a buttery nipple?" Asher grinned, as Lexi quickly squeezed into the space next to him and kissed him hard on the lips. He slid his arm around her and grinned, breaking off the kiss but pulling her into his side. "Someone's horny. You're going to have to wait for a while, babe, I'm not done drinking yet. How about that buttery nipple?"
"I have no idea what that is, but whatever," Lexi replied. "You see that blonde girl over there- she's walking towards us. I used to go to high school with her. Just let me show you off, okay?"
Asher turned to see who Lexi was talking about and let out a low whistle. "She's hot."
Lexi glared at him. "Shut up! Don't you dare hit on her! You just keep your mouth shut and let me do the-"
"Alexis Gray! Wow, this is the last place I thought I'd see you!" Fiona Cartwright chirped as she made her way towards them. Lexi smiled widely and greeted Fiona, giving her a hug before slipping back under Asher's arm.
"Fiona! What a surprise! Are you planning to join the Law Review?" Lexi asked with a fake smile. She knew that Fiona couldn't possibly be a law student. "I didn't know that you went to Middleton. Surely we would have some classes together?"
"Oh, I don't go here," Fiona replied, although Lexi already knew that. Fiona hadn't managed to make it in, whereas Lexi was here on a merit scholarship. Already feeling slightly victorious, Lexi beamed at her ex-classmate. "My boyfriend studies here, though. He's on the law review team," she replied proudly. "He's got so many first years trying to join, he doesn't quite know what to do," she giggled, before turning to look at Asher. Lexi realized that she should introduce them.
"Oh—I'm sorry. Asher, this is Fiona Cartwright, we went to high school together. Fiona, this is my boyfriend Asher Millstone. You might have heard of his father, William Millstone? He's a federal judge," she put in, wondering if she was pushing it. But Fiona's smile was tightening and Asher didn't seem to mind her using him. He just looked down at Lexi, amused.
"Oh, that's nice," Fiona muttered, though it didn't sound as though she found it particularly nice. "Have you two been dating long? I never thought you were the type for a long-term relationship, Lexi. My boyfriend Travis and I have been together for about two years now."
Yeah, you probably sank your claws into the poor chap and won't let go. "Oh no, no for long," Lexi admitted, determined to make up for the shortness of her supposed relationship. "We met recently, actually. We're both working for Annalise Keating, the defence attorney? She takes a Criminal Law class at Middleton. She picks a few of her best students to work in her firm every year, and Asher and I got chosen. I suppose it was fate." She smiled sweetly up at Asher, who was sipping his drink to hide his laughter. Luckily, Fiona was too upset to notice.
"Well, isn't that nice," Fiona replied. "I should get back to Travis, he's probably looking for me. But we should catch up sometime!"
"Absolutely," Lexi grinned, as Fiona walked away. Once she was out of earshot, she turned back to find Asher smirking at her openly. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?" she demanded.
"You're a competitive little bitch, aren't you? Damn, that was one hot chick fight," Asher teased. "It was fate that we both landed up working for Keating, eh? Love at first sight?"
"Shut up," Lexi grumbled, turning away from him. "Finish your drink and come find me."
She spotted Connor sitting a little distance away, sipping a drink and looking entirely too pleased with himself. He grinned when he saw her approaching and made space for her, gesturing towards a corner of the room. "You're just in time for the show," he explained.
Lexi could see Michaela Pratt and her fiancée standing in a corner and talking in low voices. The room was far too loud for anything to be heard, but the expressions on both of their faces made it clear that the conversation wasn't too pleasant. "So, you told her that you slept with Aiden, then."
Connor grinned. "She didn't take it too well. I don't think she had any clue that he had ever been with a guy. Miss my-fiancé-works-for-the-Mayor-of-New-York would never have dated a guy whose past was anything but spotless."
"Ooh, he's getting mad too," Lexi observed, noticing that Aiden didn't seem to be pleading anymore. She started chanting under her breath. "Come on. Dump her-dump her- dump her… and he's gone!" Aiden had walked away, leaving Michaela looking furious.
Lexi turned and high-fived Connor. "Well, this was a rather fruitful evening."
"It was, indeed."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Lexi lay back in Asher Millstone's bed, trying to catch her breath. They'd both been drunk after the party and she smiled when she saw clothes were strewn all over the bedroom. Her bra was torn- Asher had ripped all the hooks off in his eagerness and it was now lying on the floor, useless. Yet somehow, Lexi found that she didn't care.
"Lexi?" she heard Asher mumble. She turned her head to look at him and saw that he was stretching his arm out, gesturing for her to come closer. She scooted up to him and put her head on his bare chest. "Wow that was amazing. Can we talk about something?"
"Is it about Fiona?" Lexi asked sleepily, rubbing his chest with one of her hands. Damn, he had such nice skin. She was almost jealous of it. "Look, we just used to be really competitive in high school. I wanted her to think I had a perfect, long-term boyfriend. Is it cheap of me to lie?"
Asher snorted. "Like I'm going to reprimand you for that. I tried showing you off to my Dad and he didn't even bat an eye. At least one of got some the satisfaction. Personally, I don't even know why you would compete with her. You're better than her in every way."
Lexi looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "You're trying to flatter me. You want something. We've already had sex and I'm too tired to do it again, so you can forget it," she replied, closing her eyes.
"It's not sex," Asher replied and then paused. "Well, it's related to sex. It's about your underwear."
"What?"
"Oh come on, don't look at me that way. It wouldn't kill you to wear some sexier underwear, you know. I bet my Mom wears sexier underwear than that." He used a finger to lift up her floral cotton panties. "These are granny panties."
Lexi snatched them back from him. "They're comfortable. Excuse me if I don't want to walk around all day with pieces of string getting stuck in my butt cheeks. Just because I'm having sex with you doesn't mean that you get to tell me what to wear."
Asher grinned and rolled her over so he was on top of her, pressing kisses to her neck. "Come on, babe. You know you're sexy. I mean, you manage to turn me on in old people underwear, I can't even imagine what you'd look like in black lace."
"We're not talking about lingerie."
"But-"
"No. Shut up. I'm not having this conversation, Millstone."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Lexi pushed her way into the courtroom and sat down in between Asher and Connor. She wasn't looking forward to the trial. There was something extremely creepy about bomb mom and even more so about Gabriel Shaw. Looking at him sent chills down her spine, and not in a good way. Just as she took her seat, Michaela sat down in front of her, clearly in a bad temper.
"Watch this," Connor whispered to Lexi before leaning forward to talk to Michaela. "I hooked up with pretty much all the hot guys at boarding school, if it makes you feel any better. Also, I barely remember what his penis looks like." Connor paused and grinned. "Oh no, wait. I still do."
Lexi wished she could see the expression on Michaela's face, but she was facing the front. The way her shoulders tensed showed that it had affected her. She decided to provoke Michaela a little further. "Guess that's what happens when you're with someone for what they have, and not who they are," Lexi replied. "Their dirty secrets come out a little too late for you to run away."
Michaela snapped. She whirled around in her seat and glared at Lexi. "You little hypocrite. Don't you dare comment on my relationship with Aiden, everyone knows you're sleeping with Asher for the money, considering you couldn't have afforded to study here without a scholarship."
There was a pause and Lexi saw red. She resisted the urge to lean over and slap Michaela. "Hey, bitch, I got a scholarship on merit. And I'm not sleeping with Asher for his fucking money, he's never so much as bought me dinner. So keep your mouth shut and your nose in your own problems."
Michaela looked amused. She glanced at Asher, who was watching her with this lips pressed together tightly, and then at Lexi. "You're kidding me. You're sleeping with him because you actually like him? That's even worse, you're stupider than I thought."
Lexi wanted to respond, but Michaela turned her head back to the front as the prosecution began to announce a witness. Lexi was forced to sit back and feel her cheeks flush red as the two men on either side of her stared at her curiously.
Gabriel Shaw's testimony, however, distracted them all from their personal problems. He turned on Elena on the stand, accusing her of being the mastermind behind the bomb plan. Annalise looked furious, but he stayed calm. He claimed that he loved Elena and he would have done anything to protect her. Despite him finally admitting that he'd been offered early release for his testimony, their case was still screwed.
"We have three hours to rebuild our defence," Annalise said to them outside the courtroom. "Look into forensics, crime tech, the FBI lab. This moment, right now, this is when you prove your worth."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
"You're kidding me," Lexi muttered. "She ran away? What about her husband, and her kids? Why did she get married and have them if she was going to throw them all under the bus for some weirdo cult leader eventually? How is Mr. Murphy going to explain her leaving to his kids?"
Connor shrugged. They'd stopped at the café opposite the courtroom to get some coffee before heading back. Lexi tapped her fingers on the counter as she waited for the order. "I don't know," Connor replied. "But whatever, that's over. I doubt they'll find her now. What I want to know is why the fuck you're sleeping with Asher Millstone."
Lexi sighed. "Connor, don't. It's none of your business. Like you tell me every time you hook up with some guy? Don't be a hypocrite."
"Michaela Pratt knew."
"She overheard something Asher said to me."
Connor frowned. "Lexi, if you're having problems with money, you know you can always-"
"Don't even go there," Lexi hissed furiously, causing the barista to stare at them over the counter. "Do I look like a fucking prostitute to you, Connor Walsh? We've been friends for years, do you really think I would whore out my body for money?"
"I didn't call you a prostitute," Connor muttered.
"It sure sounded like it. I've never taken anything from him, okay? Those flowers he sent me that day were the only time he ever spent money on me, and you fucking remember that."
"I'm not accusing you of anything!" Connor insisted, trying to make her calm down. He knew that Lexi could get extremely touchy when money was involved and he was trying his best not to hurt her feelings. "I just don't understand why you're sleeping with him. He's not your type, he's… Jesus, I can't even think of a word to describe him."
Lexi took a deep breath. "I do not want to have this discussion. Why I'm sleeping with him is my business, not yours. I don't want to talk about it. And for god's sake, I'm not taking money from him. Can we please leave it at this?"
"Fine," Connor muttered. He watched as Lexi tossed change down on the counter and snatched her coffee from the barista, before leaving the café.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
When Grace walked into the apartment later that evening, she saw Lexi sitting alone, staring at the blank screen of the television and a bottle of vodka lying on the coffee table. She raised an eyebrow, as she watched her lift the glass to her lips.
"You hate the taste of vodka," Grace commented lightly.
"I know," Lexi muttered. She didn't sound particularly drunk. "There's more orange juice in this than anything, I'm still sober. I have class tomorrow, I just had a really long day. What about you?"
Grace shrugged. "Fine. I saw your boyfriend downstairs, though. The judge's kid? He looked a little nervous, even though I told him to come in. Asked me to give you this. Did you have a fight or something?"
Lexi took the cardboard box that Grace handed her with a frown. "Asher? He usually just calls and asks me to come over, because he knows I have a flatmate." She sighed and set aside the glass of filtered down vodka and opened the box. She blinked at the contents and groaned. "Oh my god. I am going to kill him."
"What?" Grace moved over and peeked in, before reaching inside to lift up a sexy black negligee. It was almost entirely transparent and there was a black lace bra and panty set to go with it. "Well, well. I think someone's trying to drop a hint. You should go over there wearing this, he'll have a heart attack."
Lexi closed her eyes and groaned.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Asher opened the door with a big grin. "Well, hello there gorg- Hold on. You're not wearing it."
Lexi thrust the box at his chest angrily before storming past him and further inside. She stood in his living room in her jeans and an old t-shirt, a symbol of her resistance. "Of course I'm not fucking wearing it. I will never wear it. Exactly what do you think of me?"
"You're angry," Asher said slowly.
"Yes, I'm angry. And I don't expect you to have the brains or tact to figure out why, so let me spell it out for you. I told you the other night that I don't want to wear sexy lingerie. My underwear is comfortable and if you have a problem with it, you can stop sleeping with me," Lexi fumed. Her eyes were flashing red and Asher sat down slowly. He was starting to feel a little scared.
"Okay."
"Secondly, this was a pretty dick move considering I just got accused by two people this morning of whoring myself out to you, one of whom you heard. Either you don't give a shit or you really think that I'm cheap enough to sleep with you for money. I don't want your stupid gifts. We are in a mutual agreement that consists of sex and nothing else. I don't want to feel obligated to you in any way, so stop giving me gifts."
Asher sat up. "I don't understand. You didn't have a problem with the flowers."
"Flowers are different from lingerie. Tell me honestly how much you spent on this," she demanded.
"I'm not telling you-"
"Asher Millstone, you fucking tell me right now."
"Fine. Combined, it came up to about $200," he admitted. "And the roses only cost about $20. Look, I get it. I just don't know why you have to worry about it so much. Guys buy their girlfriends lingerie all the time, it's not like I bought you a godforsaken yacht or something."
She blinked at him. "I'm not your girlfriend."
"Well…" Asher shrugged, looking embarrassed. His gaze was tilted towards the floor. "Maybe I'm trying to change your mind about that."
Lexi felt a lump in her throat. She felt bad for losing her temper at him. Yes, he was insensitive and he didn't think about what he was doing a lot of the time. But somewhere in his mind, he'd been trying to show her that he cared. That was why he'd sent her flowers and even tried to introduce her to his parents. She picked up the lingerie box from the floor and set it on the table, slowly sitting next to him on the couch.
"Asher…"
"Look, I heard what Michaela said this morning, okay?" he cut her off, sounding annoyed. "And I know she was accusing you of sleeping with me for money and I wanted to tell her that it wasn't like that. That we weren't just sleeping together and that we actually cared about each other, but then I realized that I didn't know if we did. I mean, you told me that it wouldn't even bother you if we both slept with other people, so I kept my mouth shut."
Lexi bit her lip and looked at him. He was avoiding her gaze and she moved closer, taking his hand into hers. "It would bother me if you slept with other girls. I just didn't think there was any way to stop you from doing it, so I figured it was better I not delude myself into thinking we were having some kind of a committed relationship and later feel that you cheated on me."
"Why would I do that?" Asher asked.
"Asher, come on. How many serious relationships have you been in?"
He looked thoughtful. "Define serious."
"Millstone, don't make me yell again."
"Fine," he muttered. "All my sexual experiences have been with girls from bars or ended in less than two or three weeks. Are you happy? I've never had a serious girlfriend."
"Exactly."
Asher frowned. "I… I'm not even sure what you just proved to me."
"Look. When you care about a girl and you want her to know, you don't buy her lingerie. You tell her. Using words. Like a normal human being. Otherwise she might think you're buying her gifts to get her to have sex with you. Just look at me and say what you're feeling."
Asher turned and looked at her. His brown eyes were confused, but there was a different emotion in them as well. Lexi couldn't place it but it made her heart skip a beat. "I can't stand the thought of you with another guy. Just thinking about it makes me angry. You're mine," he replied heatedly. "And to be honest, if I have to share you with others, then we might as well end this right now."
Lexi flushed. "Wow, um… there's no need for that. I can be faithful."
Asher grinned. "Yeah?"
"But we need to make certain things clear," Lexi replied, blinking. She'd come here with a purpose and she couldn't leave without addressing that. She gestured towards the lingerie box lying on the table. "Don't ever spend money on me like that again. I told you about my family. I'm sensitive when it comes to stuff like this, and it upsets me. I got accused of being your prostitute twice-"
"Wait, Michaela and who?"
"That doesn't-"
"It was Connor, wasn't it? And you call him your friend-"
"Asher, stop it," Lexi snapped. "It doesn't matter what Connor said, that's between me and him. You don't need to buy me expensive gifts to get me to sleep with you. It makes me feel cheap when you do that. Can you understand this?"
Asher sighed. "Yeah, I get it. It won't happen again."
"Thank you." Lexi was still holding his hand and she squeezed it before leaning over to kiss him. Asher pulled her closer, his lips caressing hers softly. It reminded him of the soft kiss they'd shared outside her door the night of his parents' anniversary, but he knew what to do this time. His hands slipped into her hair and he pulled away gently, pressing his forehead to hers.
"Still feeling cheap?" he asked her.
Lexi smiled. "No."
"Good. So is there any chance you'll put on the-"
"No."
Asher sighed. "It was worth a try."
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
A/N – Thank you so much for your reviews! It's really encouraging! I'm glad you liked me revamping the story, I'm considerably more happy with it myself, which helps me write.
SeriousAliysa- I can't think of a better title. Any suggestions? :P
Alice – How did you guess that I was going to have Michaela bring it up in front of a clueless Connor? I honestly have no idea how to include Wes more in my story. I've been keeping away from his storyline for some reason so if you have any suggestions, do let me know.
I know I haven't been including the real time scenes and that's because I don't know where the show is going to take the plot. For now, I'm sticking to the flashbacks leading up to Sam's murder. I don't want to write something and then have the show make some amazing plot twist that renders my writing useless. But once the next episodes come out and we learn more, I think I'll do an entire chapter on what Lexi was doing the night Sam was killed.
Thanks! Leave your thoughts!