Chalk Butterfly: Part One (First Time Erotic Romance) (15 page)

“If you changed it, you didn’t post it in
the break room,” Elizabeth remarked sourly. “And if you didn’t post
it in the break room then--”

“Elizabeth would be pleased to note that the
schedules are posted, and have been for the past month, in the coat
room!” Elijah said angrily, standing to meet Elizabeth’s angry
gaze.

“Why would you post them in the coat
room?”

“Alexander, explain to Elizabeth that
they’re posted in the coat room because--”

The verbal battle continued back and forth
between Elizabeth and Elijah for what seemed like a small eternity.
Alexander felt like his head would pop.

His mood was down to begin with, and now
with the added stress of his two best friends fighting, he thought
he might lose his mind. Alexander sat between them, eyes staring
past the computer screen, trying to mute out their shouting
match.

They’d been at it all morning, and, unlike
David, he hadn’t been able to sneak away from them. He was working
on the new catalog with Elizabeth, though Alexander seemed to be
doing most of the work.

Or rather, all of it.

Elizabeth had made a few suggestions earlier
that morning on the new system, mostly to do with Elijah’s
incompetence at picking a compatible program and his obvious
uselessness at organizing anything other than his comic book
collection.

That one had hit home, Alexander knew.

“Alexander, tell Elizabeth that if she wants
to get into my personal life… that she shouldn’t!” Elijah shouted
directly at Elizabeth.

“When you kiss me, your personal life
becomes mine!” Elizabeth retorted, and Alexander sighed.

Alexander was sure the argument would last
well into the afternoon before Elijah broke down like a small child
and begged for forgiveness. Elizabeth seemed to have that effect on
men.

So much so, that Elijah had been entirely
too caught up with Elizabeth to even remember what had gotten him
in the argument with her in the first place.

The bathroom.

Daniel.

They hadn’t said a word to Alexander about
his date, and while he enjoyed the mini holiday from their prying
ways, he also felt a bit put out. It wasn’t that he wanted to talk
about Daniel, really.

No, no, it wasn’t that at all.

It wasn’t like he’d spent an entire evening
nursing a rather intolerable ache for the older man, either.

Completely untrue, it had lasted until the
morning hours.

He just wanted them to ask about the date,
so he could politely request that they not. Alexander frowned
again, watching Elizabeth make vulgar hand gestures at Elijah.

And then the bell at the front door
rang.

“I’ll get that,” Alexander mumbled, quickly
exiting the room. Neither Elijah nor Elizabeth noticed his
departure, something Alexander found quite relieving. 'Thank God,'
he thought.

David was greeting someone at the door, and
Alexander walked by, intent on straightening out the adult fiction
section.

But he stopped dead in his tracks as David
stepped aside.

“There he is,” David said merrily, turning
to Alexander.

Alexander gaped. “What are you doing
here?”

Chapter
Nine

back to top

“What do you mean?”

Alexander sighed heavily. “Mum, you could
have called first.”

“I don’t see what’s so bad about a mother
driving all the way into New York to visit her son for a few days.
You haven’t been returning my calls dear, and I worry,” Natalie
Price said, unwinding the large scarf she had wrapped about her
head. She removed a pair of leather gloves and folded them neatly
into her jacket pocket.

“But, Mum…” Alexander said softly, his words
faltering as Natalie placed a warm hand on his shoulder. “Mum.”

“I thought it was rather sweet of me,” she
cooed. “What do you think David? It is David, correct?”

“Yes,” David said, looking at Alexander with
an awkward expression on his face. “And uh, yes, yes Ma’am.”

“Oh, call me Natalie, dearie,” she said
sweetly. “Just look at you, Alexander. Darling, you look pale.”

“Mum, I’m fine,” Alexander protested,
feeling his face redden. Natalie made a frustrated huffing noise in
response and pushed Alexander’s hair back from his face, feeling
his forehead with her palm.

“Doesn’t he look pale?” she asked, not
looking to David for the answer. “And you’ve lost weight since I
last visited. I tell you, I’m not getting any younger, and my own
son won't even take a few days out of his busy schedule to come
visit his mother. I have to make the trip. The drive here is
treacherous, simply unpleasant.”

“Mum,” Alexander whined, clenching his hands
together involuntarily. He regretted the move immediately, as a
soft hiss of pain left his mouth and his mother’s eyes shot open,
wide and concerned. “It’s nothing,” Alexander said, shrugging her
hands away.

“Oh, it’s always something with you,” she
said, a short chuckle escaping her tightly pouted lips. Mrs. Price
was nothing if not a social animal, dressed immaculately with not a
hair out of place. She wasn’t a wealthy woman, she never had been,
but no matter what, she always looked put together. Alexander had
clear memories of her meticulously curling her hair and applying
her makeup before begging the landlord for an extension on the
rent.

Alexander was quite the opposite of his
mother, and their differences tended to clash from time to
time.

Now was one of those times.

“I’m starving,” she continued, turning to
David and smiling brightly. “Would you join us for lunch,
Devin?”

“David,” David corrected, and Alexander shot
him desperate look. “I have a group in ten,” he lied quickly,
placing a hand on hers apologetically.

“And I’m filing,” Alexander added. “Mum,
what if you came back after we closed. We’re only opened until two
and--”

“Whatever shall I do in SoHo for two and
half hours?” she thought aloud, clutching at her pocket book. “I
suppose I could go shopping, though I already feel woozy from lack
of sustenance. You know I tend to get car sick, Alex, and so I
didn’t eat before I left, and those vendors outside looked just
reproachable.”

“You could pick up something at the shop
across the street,” Alexander suggested. “Get something to tide you
over.”

“All right then,” Natalie said with a
resigned sigh. “Ring me on my cell and I’ll pop on over whenever
you finish your little book filing.” Alexander nodded and she
leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Bye, Mum,” Alexander said, allowing her to
embrace him in a tight hug.

“It was nice seeing you again, Mrs. Price,”
David said, finding his own armful of the petite woman.

“You too, darling,” she said, pulling her
gloves on. “Ta.”

And with a quick turn, she flounced out the
door, the bell ringing shrilly in her wake. Alexander let out a
large sigh of relief and shared a look with David.

“Lovely lady,” David finally said and
Alexander leaned heavily back against a bookshelf.

“I’ve lived with her for over twenty years,”
Alexander muttered. “Imagine that in the morning.”

David smiled. “Hey, my mother paid more
attention to the bottle than she ever did me, so count yourself
lucky.”

Alexander frowned. “I’m sorry, David, I
just--”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, still
smiling. “I’ve got to set up for my group. Why don’t you head back
and get Liz up front. Break those two apart for half a second, make
sure Liz doesn’t do any lasting damage to Eli’s masculinity,
eh?”

Alexander shook his head and giggled. “What
masculinity?”

“I heard that!” Elijah called striding from
the back room. David made a face and grabbed his book bag, quickly
hurrying into the reading room. “Alexander, I thought I heard your
mother out here…”

“No, no,” Alexander said, a tad flustered.
“You’re just hearing things.”

As much as Elijah was frightened to death of
Natalie Price (or mostly her ideas about his relationship with
Alexander), he also loved the petite lady. Natalie had that way
about her, charming near everyone she came in contact with.

“That’s odd,” Elijah said adjusting his tie.
“Do you want to get lunch before we go grocery shopping?”

“Bollocks,” Alexander cursed under his
breath. He’d forgotten that it was shopping day. How would he hide
his mother from Elijah?

He hated when the two ganged up on him. He
knew they meant well, but their constant suggestions and concern
made him feel like a child. Not to mention that he was still a bit
hurt that Elijah hadn’t asked how his date had gone.

Even if there was no chance in hell he’d
actually tell him.

“Eli, I’ve got plans after work,” Alexander
said carefully. “What if we went shopping on Monday?”

“But we always shop on Saturday,” Elijah
said, a bit dumbfounded.

“Yes, but this time I have plans.”

“What kind of plans?” Elijah raised an
eyebrow.

“Well, I need to...” Alexander mumbled,
rocking from foot to foot. “Fine, my mum’s taking me out to lunch,”
he stated sourly. “Happy?”

“I knew it!” Elijah crowed.

“You’re not coming,” Alexander said.

“Why not?” Elijah asked, pouting.
“Alexander, why not?”

“I’m cranky with you,” Alexander answered
evenly.

“Is this about Elizabeth and me this
morning?” Alexander shook his head. “Just tell me, Alex.”

“Not now,” Alexander said. “And don’t even
think about sweet talking my mum, either.”

Elijah grinned. “What, me?”

***

“I can’t believe you sweet talked my
mother,” Alexander groused, folding his arms together tightly as
they sat at the small cafe table.

“I was hungry,” Elijah replied. “Besides,
you then proceeded to sweet talk Elizabeth.”

Alexander sighed, unfolding his napkin
cleanly across his lap. Elizabeth and Natalie were currently in the
restroom, and Alexander picked up his fork slowly. His hands were
bothering him quite a bit. Be it from the anxiety of yesterday or
that very day (or perhaps a mixture of both), Alexander didn’t
know.

“Let’s just have lunch without event,”
Alexander said, forking some of his salad. “And please, can we not
mention--”

“Those bathrooms were completely
deplorable,” came the biting voice of Natalie Price. She and
Elizabeth rounded the corner, making their way back toward the
table. Alexander thought back to their first flat in the States
that didn’t even have its own bathroom. “Really, what are the
health codes in this city? Utterly nauseating, that was.”

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, sending
Elijah a quick, sharp look. He rolled his eyes and took a large
bite out of his sandwich.

“So,” Natalie said, as she seated herself
primly in the cushioned chair. “Elizabeth’s been telling me all
about her smashing new beau. An architect, did you know that
Elijah?”

Elijah choked on his sandwich.

“He worked on the Chrysler building
renovations and the--”

“Yes,” Elijah interrupted, wiping some
mayonnaise off his chin. “I heard.”

Elizabeth beamed happily at Natalie and
sipped on some of her iced tea.

“So, anyone special in your life?” Natalie
asked Elijah, giving Alexander a quick look. Alexander blushed
hotly, and Elijah choked on his sandwich for the second time.

“No, Mum, he doesn’t,” Alexander said,
embarrassed. “You know that.”

“Keeping your mother up to date on my love
life?” Elijah gritted out.

“Well, what about you, Alex?” she asked,
humor in her eyes, and Alexander reddened even more. He knew his
mother didn’t expect him to find someone, and he almost wanted to
tell her about Daniel then and there just to see the look on her
face. But he knew it was a horrible idea and he’d never hear the
end of it from his mother.

Besides, that’s what he had Elijah for;
taking his horrible ideas and making them reality.

“I guess you could call Daniel special,”
Elijah blurted out, realizing the mistake the moment he said
it.

“Daniel,” Elizabeth said, her eyes widening.
“Oh, Alex!”

“Who?” Natalie asked, long lines forming on
her brow. “Are you… seeing someone, Alex?”

“No!” Elizabeth cried, nearly knocking her
tea to the floor. “Elijah is.”

“I am?” Elijah asked. Elizabeth made a quick
cutting motion in his general direction.

“Yes, and I’m terribly sorry I forgot to ask
you how your date went last night,” Elizabeth continued, staring
hard at Elijah. She turned slightly to Alexander and gave him an
apologetic look. Alexander nodded, his hands clutched painfully
together.