A Twist of Fate (17 page)

“Of course you
have, don’t be ridiculous. You aren’t going to throw away the
chance of a lifetime to work for me. I’ll fire you if I have to,”
she smiled.

“You wouldn’t
dare fire me!” I protested.

“Lexi, I’ll do
whatever I feel I need to do. If the only way to get you to take
this job is to fire your ass, well then that’s what I’ll do. I am
sure sleeping with the client would be enough grounds for
dismissal,” she smiled.

“What?” I
stammered.

“Oh Lexi, how
long have we know each other? It’s cute that you think I didn’t
know, but it’s obvious you’re bedding one of them.” Kate
smirked.

“Obvious how?”
I asked, I thought I’d covered my tracks.

“They are
young, good looking, talented and you are spending a lot of time
with them. It’s the law of averages. I’m not even mad; I just
haven’t worked out which one yet. Justin and I have a wager,” she
laughed.

“I cannot
confirm nor deny that,” I smiled.

“Spoken like
the excellent publicist that you are,” She sighed. “Now go call
Chris before she leaves town. I can have our legal department look
over your contract. You are more than capable of making your own
amendments. They can just solidify the deal for you. I’ll have your
exit form signed by close of business.”

“Kate...” I
paused.

“Lexi, you’re
not going to cry are you?” Kate teased.

“Are you
kidding me? I don’t cry! Except for that one time I lost my Prada
handbag, but that was very distressing,” I laughed.

“You’re tragic
you know!” Kate hugged me.

“Yeah but it’s
part of my charm.” I hugged her back. “Thank you.” I sniffed, I was
NOT going to cry!

She ushered me
out of the room. “Pleasure was all mine, girl! Anytime you want to
come back, the door is open. Now go! You have shit to do!”

~~~~~~

Matt was
waiting for me outside the door. “So the rumour is true?” he
asked.

“What rumour?”
I quipped.

“You, leaving.”
He uttered.

“Yes, it’s
true.” I saw him visibly slump. “Matt, I will make sure the rent is
paid for the entire time you are here so you don’t have to stress
about finding a roommate and you can have my car. I’m not going to
screw you over.” I promised.

“I’m not
worried about that stuff Lex, I’m just going to miss you. You were
a true friend.” He muttered.

“Stop talking
about me like I died!” I exclaimed. “I’m not going to Mars, you
tool! You can come visit me when you go see your folks for
Christmas and I’ll come back too. Just think when you move back we
can road trip. You can take me to the place that makes the kick-ass
sandwiches,” I assured.

“Primanti’s.”
He corrected.

“Yeah, Yeah
whatever! I must see what causes a guy to get a hard on for two
pieces of bread and some filling,” I teased.

“Bite your
tongue woman!” he scoffed. “Between Primanti’s and the O’s fries,
it’s the only thing that got me through late nights in
College.”

“Oooooo, I like
the sound of the O,” I joked.

“Trust you to
turn something so wholesome into something dirty. Actually the
place is quite dirty so you’ll fit right in.” He laughed.

We both left
early. I had “shit to do” as Kate had put it and she had given Matt
the rest of the day off to help me get my affairs sorted. I’d be
leaving in two weeks so that didn’t give us a lot of time. What do
you pack when you are leaving indefinitely? I was going to need a
bigger suitcase

~~~~~~

The remaining
leg of the Australian tour went well. Sold out shows in Sydney and
Perth, even with additional dates added to the calendar. I commuted
between all three cities, tying up loose ends before departing for
good.

Matt decided to
keep his room, seeing as everything was already in there. My room
would remain my room for whenever I visited. As part of my contract
I negotiated both our portions of the rent to be paid in full for
the duration of his stay so that he could use his money for more
important purposes; namely, visiting me. Sol tried to fight it, but
I got my way (much to his disdain) and I chalked up another “win”
against him, it gave me such pleasure!

Chris found me
an apartment in Manhattan, close to her office, informing me it was
only a 3 month lease so if I hated it they would find me something
else. They provided me with everything I needed to work from home
so I could do my job there as well as at the office, given the
crazy hours we worked in the entertainment world. This included but
was not limited to a brand new PowerMac computer and MacBook pro
for when I was on the road, with state of the art peripherals. I
had to admit, I’d always been fond of gadgets.

Once the tour
was over the boys were flown back to the States, while I returned
home (while it still was my home) to pack up and finalize the last
of my affairs before jetting off to my new life. I was excited and
yet slightly nervous. Not about the job, I had worked abroad before
and if there was one thing I was sure about, it was that I was damn
good at my job. Alex was the unknown in this new equation. How were
things going to be when we were living in the same city, seeing
each other all the time? Would he get sick of me? Or I of him? Was
it going to be enough for either of us? When I was with him it was
so intense, surely at some stage that would wear off? Or would the
intensity be our ultimate undoing?

“Last Box! Gee
you have a lot of shit,” Matt teased as he taped up the last of my
storage boxes.

“This feels so
final, I can barely believe that in a week I’m going to be living
somewhere else,” I replied.

“Having second
thoughts?” Matt asked cautiously.

“No, no second
thoughts. I want to ride this wave out and see where it takes me.
Either way, it will be good for my personal and professional
growth. I’m just going to miss this place. I’m going to really miss
you too.” My eyes misted slightly. I was starting to lean on Matt
in a way I hadn’t with my other friends. He never judged me, he
heard me out and if he didn’t agree with me, he said so. We
laughed, we argued, we watched trashy TV, but most of all we
talked. Honestly, talked. I had never been so glad in my life to
NOT have slept with someone. As much as I think the sex would have
been outstanding, what we had was far more worthwhile. I was going
to miss him, miss this.

“Awww Lexi,” he
sighed bringing me into a tight embrace.

“I’m not
crying, It’s just hay fever. Damn anti-histamines, not one of them
work!”

“Yeah, right.
Allergies,” he reassured as he wiped a single tear from my eye. He
gently pulled me down into a sitting position on the floorboards,
surrounded by boxes and tape and kissed me softly on the forehead.
“You’re going to be great in New York, Lexi. The city won’t know
what hit them. AND, I’ll be seeing you in a couple of weeks when I
fly home for Christmas.”

“Yeah, I know.”
I sniffed.

“Besides, in
just over 3 months, I’m heading home. We’ll see each other all the
time.” I knew he was right; the first three months of his exchange
had flown by at almost breakneck speed. So much had changed.

“So what’s
going on with you and Anna?” I asked, needing to change the subject
before any more tears betrayed me.

“Hmmm....Good
question. I don’t know Lex. We are having a good time but I know I
eventually have to go. Not sure a long distance relationship will
work. I really like her though, she makes me laugh. I guess we wait
and see. Maybe I can convince her to move to Houston?” his eyes
gleamed with hope.

“You know, I
think she’d probably move to the moon for you.” I laughed; Anna was
more than just a little smitten with Matt.

“Ya think?” His
voice was hopeful.

“Yeah, just
take it slow ok. I don’t want have to fly all the way back to kick
her ass if she breaks your heart. That will be one expensive flight
and I will be mega pissed,” I scoffed.

“Lexi, my
eternal protector,” he crooned.

My phone
buzzed. “Jesus Lexi, don’t you ever turn that thing off?” Matt
teased as he feigned annoyance at our “lost” moment.

“Hey don’t hate
cause I’m more popular!” I quipped, retrieving my phone from the
coffee table.

“Hi Lexi,
this’s Terry from Allied Movers. We’ve the truck down stairs, just
wonderin’ if we can come up and start loadin’?” His thick Aussie
accent was loud and brash.

“Yes, we’ve
just finished the last box. Everything labelled is going into
storage” I answered back

“No probs love,
me and Bob will have ya loaded up in no time” he responded before
ending the call.

“Trucks here” I
chirped.

“I guessed
that” Matt teased.

I was
officially moving out.

I was tired and
restless but couldn't sleep; the day packing had been emotionally
and physically exhausting. My body hurt and not in a good way. My
mind seemed to echo the sparseness of my room, all traces of me
gone except my bed and dresser. I had five days left in this room,
in this apartment with Matt and I wanted to absorb every last
second before I left.

It was just
after midnight when I got my nightly text from Alex, a ritual that
was fast becoming the highlight of my day.

- Didn’t sleep
last night, my bed is empty. Miss you Alex xx

- I miss your
bed and will be in it soon enough. PS Miss you too Lexi xx

- Both my bed and I
want you to jump on an earlier flight. Surely you’re making enough
money now to pay minions to pack for you. The only thing you should
be “tying up” is me

- While you may choose
to spend your money frivolously, I am a lot more prudent preferring
to spend it on more important things such as shoes! I’ve been
wielding packing tape all day; your request is not a problem except
for the distance xx

- This distance is
bullshit, I curse every mile. Seriously - earlier flight xx

- I’m still on
kilometres here. It’s only 5 more days. What’s that saying??
Absence makes the hard-on stronger? :-P xx

- I believe the words
are “heart grow” and my hard-on couldn’t get any “stronger”. If you
were here you’d see that!:-P PS There is a Virgin Australia flight
leaving MEL in 6 hours. Earlier flight, hint! Xx

- I’d like to see this
hard-on you speak of, my memory seems to have a tough time
recalling. A pic might be nice, HINT! PS There is a United flight
leaving JFK in 4 hours xx

There was a
long pause after my last message. I stared at my phone, willing it
to buzz. Why didn’t he respond? Finally after fifteen long minutes
it vibrated to life.

- Baby, I would like
nothing more to refresh your memory but I can’t do photos I’m
sorry. I can’t risk if that shit ever fell into the wrong hands,
phones can get hacked. I’m sorry baby. xx

Oh Shit! I
hadn’t even thought of that and I’m the fucking publicist! I can’t
believe I would ask him to take a risk like that, what was I
thinking? Of course he couldn’t send a photo, the risk was too
great. I mentally scolded myself for being so foolish. If I was my
client now, I’d be firing my ass!

- No, I’m sorry. I
wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe you should be refreshing my memory
that I’m your publicist and you are paying me to make sure shit
like that doesn’t happen. I’m an ass, sorry xx

- You have an amazing
ass, just like the rest of you. Don’t be sorry baby, I wish I
could. PS Flight booked see you soon, thanks for the tip xxx

WHAT?! Was that
what I thought it meant? I was kidding about the flight. I mean
there was actually a flight but I hadn’t meant for him to be on it.
Was he serious? Or was this like when he said he was printing out
business cards??

- Alex, are you
serious? Lexi xx

- Yes, flight is
confirmed. Can you book me a hotel? Use the credit card Chris gave
you. Emailing you my itinerary. 5 days is too long, see you in 20
or so hours. Alex xx

OH MY GOD!!!!!
He was coming HERE!!!! This was crazy, what was he thinking? What
was I thinking? He can’t just hop on a flight for a booty call,
surely that was just plain insane. Part of me was elated, the fact
he would travel all that way just for me was impressive but another
part of me was appalled that I needed that validation. This is so
not “playing it cool”. I did what I hadn’t done up until this
point, I dialled his number. It rang and rang, finally his cool,
smooth voice filled my ear.

“Hey this is
Alex, I hate talking on this thing but leave me a message and I’ll
see what I can do. Later!” BEEP

Crap, voice
mail! Damn it. I hung up and my phone buzzed.

- Phone calls? Really?
I thought we had an agreement? :-P I knew you’d try and convince me
not to come, wasn’t going to give you a chance. I need to see you.
Don’t fight me on this one. Alex xx

- Fine! I’ll have my
packing tape ready. :-P You know this is crazy right? Don’t think
I’ll be able to sleep tonight either. Xxx

- It’s not crazy,
right now it seems like the sanest thought I’ve had all day. Try
and sleep baby, you won’t be getting any once I land. PS wish you
had left a voice message

- I don’t think either
of us have had a sane thought between us lately so that’s a BIG
call Mr. Stone. I look forward to sleep deprivation. PS I hate the
sound of my recorded voice- YUCK

- Your voice is
perfect. You are perfect. Need to go now, but I’ll see you soon.
Alex xx

- See you soon- Lexi
xx

~~~~~~

The night and
the day that followed were horrible. Every second and minute seemed
to linger longer than it ever had before. I’d organised Alex’s
hotel at his request, and a town car to pick him up from the
airport. I didn’t trust myself to drive; I knew I wasn’t going to
be able to keep my hands off of him. It had been 2 weeks since we
last saw each other.