Goodbye Isn't Forever (12 page)

“Nothing
was meant by that, Alex.  I just noticed in the kitchen that you seemed to
know where to find things.  Unless you are just that lucky to find things
in the first place that you look.”

Alex
let out a laugh.  “That’s doubtful, don’t you think?  Otherwise, I
would have checked in London when I was trying to find you years ago, instead
of L.A.”

“Good
point.  But you still haven’t answered my question.  Have you been
here before?”

“Yes,
Zand, I have.  I think the better question is why are you staying
here?  These suites are privately owned.  Do you have a connection to
the Gadds?”

Zand
occupied himself with an unusual glass sculpture on a nearby table.  He
didn’t want to answer that question just yet.

Zand
chose to answer with a question. “You have been here before.  Any
particular reason, Alex?”

What
the hell! Alex wondered.  Why wouldn’t Zand answer the question.  She
was pretty sure that Gaddy had been telling the truth about not knowing
Zand.  So, that only left Judith.  That must be it.  Gaddy did
say that Judith was a client of Zand’s, and knowing Judith, she would insist
that Zand stay here if he was in L.A.  Easy enough, Alex deduced. 
But why wouldn’t Zand just tell her that?  That wasn’t a big secret.

“Alex?”

Alex
looked questioningly at Zand.  “What?”

“I’m
waiting for an answer.  Any particular reason you have been here? 
Parties, or personal reasons?”

Alex
finally understood what Zand was getting at.  She decided to play with Zand
for a minute.

“Well,
let’s just say that I know someone that likes to bring me here,” Alex answered
vaguely.

She
watched Zand’s eyes for a reaction.  True to form, she saw them faintly
narrow.  Alex suppressed a grin.

While
Zand’s appearance had visibly changed over the years, his eyes still betrayed
him.  Alex had become adept at reading his expressions years ago and those
memories came flooding back.  She admitted that Zand had become better at
concealing his emotions.  But those small tell-tale movements were still
there if you knew how to read them and Alex did.

“Oh?”
Zand pressed.

Alex
let a small smile hover on her lips.  She fixed her gaze on the table as
she pretended to be lost in some wonderful memory back in time.  Suddenly
she had an image from the past of Zand trying to talk her into wearing the
one-piece swimsuit to the pool.  He would visibly cringe when Alex would
leave in her skimpy bikini and go to swim class.

She
decided to have a little more fun.

“Well,”
Alex drew out, grinning like she was letting Zand in on some naughty secret,
“did you know that the Gadd’s have their own private pool in this hotel?” 
Before Zand could answer, Alex continued, wrinkling her nose, “And they even
have these distasteful, monogrammed one-piece bathing suits for their guests to
wear.  But, you know what I think of one-pieces, so, I just prefer to go…”

“Alex!”
Zand didn’t let Alex finish her sentence.  “Are you telling me that you
swim in the nude in a hotel pool?”

“Zand,
it
is
their private pool.  It’s not like everybody else swims in
it.  It’s only for the Gadd guests to use, so when we…”

“Oh
my God, Alex!  We?  What kind of partying do you do?  Hot,
nude…groupie…,” Zand couldn’t finish his own question.

Alex
laughed out loud at the expression on Zand’s face.  She decided to relent
a little.  “While my ‘hot’ swim preferences, whether alone, with a friend,
or even friends, is really
none of your business, Zand, I will admit
that I have not swam in the nude in this particular pool.  I have,
however, attended several parties that were held in these suites and that’s why
I am familiar with it.”  Alex held up her hand before Zand could question
her further.  “Some of the parties have been business and some have been
personal, and that’s all that I’m saying, except that you have been in New York
way too long!” Alex added grinning.

Zand
raised an eyebrow at that last comment. “Are you implying that I am a stuffy
old shirt?”

Alex
grinned before answering, “Well, if the stuffy old shirt fits.”

Alex
watched as Zand approached her and started to pull his shirt over his
head.  She sat up quickly on the couch.  Zand definitely had her
attention.

"What
are you doing, Zand?"

Zand
smiled as he continued his slow strip and sauntered to the couch. 
Shrugging, he answered nonchalantly, "I'm just getting rid of this stuffy
old shirt.”  Zand pulled the shirt off and tossed it to Alex.  He
smiled at Alex and turned, walking toward the front door.  Zand glanced
over his shoulder and suppressed a laugh at Alex's shocked expression. 

"Are
you just going to sit there, Alex, or are you going to join me?"

Alex
found her voice and huskily asked, "Join you?  Where are you
going?  And without your shirt?"

Zand
flashed his trademark smile. "Oh, that stuffy old thing?  Just leave
it here.  With yours."  Zand opened the front door and called
back as he left, "Better hurry, Alex.  I
'm
going swimming.  L.A. style!

As
the door loudly shut, Alex, still clutching Zand's shirt, jumped off the couch
and ran toward the door.  She let out a squeal of laughter as she grabbed
the door knob, hurriedly exited, and mumbled under her breath, "Oh, no you
don't, Gabriel.  No way in hell are you swimming L.A. style without
me!"

“Hurry
up,” Toni called as she opened her car door.  “I don’t have all day. 
Things to do, people to see, and all that.  I’m a busy person.”

Kate
rolled her eyes as she slowly brought up the rear.  “It’s Saturday
afternoon, Toni.  I think that you can take a break from your ‘busy’
schedule for one day!”

“Hey,
Toni,” Gaddy called as she winked at Kate.  “We can call my driver if
there isn’t enough room in your car for Kate and I.”

Toni
halted before getting in her car.  She glanced at her four-door compact
car and looked questioningly at Gaddy.  “What are you talking about? 
Five people can fit in here and there is only three of us.  Plenty of
room!”

“Well,
your head takes up enough room for three people, Toni, and I didn’t want to be
cramped,” Gaddy retorted.

Toni
erupted with fake laughter.  “Oh, Gaddy, Gaddy, Gaddy!  You are so
funny!  Such a funny, funny little person you are!”  Toni sat in the
driver’s seat and closed the door as Gaddy started to get in.  The click
of the lock sounded as Gaddy tried to open the door.

Toni
started the car and let the window ease down.  “Sorry, Gaddy, guess I’m
already in and you can’t fit in behind my
big
head.”  She glanced
over at Kate, who had just settled in the passenger seat, and nodded towards
her.  “I’m sure that you can fit behind skinny over there.  Thanks,
Gaddy!”

Toni
grinned at Kate as she pushed the button and watched the glass rise upward,
effectively cutting off Gaddy’s caustic reply.

Gaddy
glared at the closed window and walked around the front, still fuming and swearing
at Toni.  Kate scooted forward in her seat as Gaddy climbed in the back,
still mumbling expletives.  It was already a hot and sweltering day and
Gaddy’s good mood had soured.

Gaddy
wiped her brow as she settled in her seat.  “I think that I am sweating,
Toni!”

Toni
adjusted her rear-view mirror and glanced at Gaddy.  “Of course you are,
Gaddy.  It’s one-hundred degrees already.  If you didn’t sweat, you’d
probably explode.”

Kate
grinned and couldn’t keep from adding, “Wouldn’t that be implode, Toni?  I
don’t think that ‘explode’ is correct.”

Toni
glared at Kate.  “Oh, right, Kate, since you are a master of the written
word because you write for a living.  No. Wait. You don’t write, do
you?  Let’s see, who does write for a living?  Oh, wait, that
would
be
me
!”

Gaddy
rolled her eyes as she listened to the conversation.  “Certainly the
master wordsmith could not possibly have used the wrong word!  Oh, my
God!” Gaddy suddenly yelled out.

“What? 
What is it?” Toni yelled excitedly, slamming on her brakes.

“It’s
your head, Toni!  I think that it just tripled in size!  Look out,
Kate.  It’s growing by leaps and bounds right towards you!” Gaddy
exclaimed wickedly.

Both
Gaddy and Kate laughed at the sour expression Toni had on her face. 
“Again, Gaddy, you’re just hilarious!  Make me wreck next time, will you!”

Gaddy
smiled broadly.  “Why, thank you, Toni.  You are too kind!”

While
Toni muttered under her breath, Gaddy couldn’t help but add, “And I believe
Kate was right, Toni.”

Toni
met Gaddy’s eyes in the mirror and looked questioningly at her.

Gaddy
smirked and added, “It is ‘implode’!”

Toni
missed a gear as her car sputtered and jerked its way to the freeway. 
“Damn this little car,” Toni muttered.  “Next time we will take Gaddy’s
gas-guzzling, environmentally unsafe, limo.  At least it comes with
alcohol!”

“Did
you say something, Toni?” Kate teased.

Before
she could answer, Gaddy leaned over the console and turned a switch.

“What
the hell are you doing?  You really do want me to wreck, don’t you?” 
Toni yelled.

“It’s
miserably hot in the back.  I wanted to turn up the air.  And for
God’s sake, Toni, you are not on the freeway, yet!”

“You
could have just asked.  Geez, Gaddy, you’d think this is the first time
that you’ve ever sweated.”

Gaddy
plopped back in her seat and frantically adjusted the air vents her way. 
“According to my mum, Gadd’s don’t sweat.  They perspire!”

Toni
grinned as she turned around to glance at Gaddy.  “Gadd’s don’t sweat alright!  
But that little bit of ‘perspiring’ that you’re doing, Gaddy, is soaking my
backseat!’

“Oh,
bloody hell, Toni!  It’s too damn hot outside and it’s too damn hot in
here.  Just turn the air up more, will you, please?”

Toni
looked at her controls.  “Gaddy, it is turned as high as it will go. 
It is just going to take it a few minutes to get cool.”

“I
can’t wait that long.”  Gaddy peered out the window to see where they
were.  “Why don’t we go to the hotel?  It’s not far away and we can
go for a dip in the pool.  What do you two think?”

Toni
glanced over at Kate.  “What about Drew and Alex?  I sent Alex a
message from the restaurant since she didn’t show for breakfast.  She
still hasn’t called back.”

“Drew
is still at the gym for her usual Saturday morning workout, and Alex, well, who
knows?  She’ll get back with us sooner or later, I’m sure,” Gaddy
offered.  She grabbed her phone out of her purse.  “I’ll just send
them a text letting them know where we are going.  They can join us there
if they wish.”

“Swimming
sounds wonderful to me, Gaddy,” Kate added.  “I love your mom’s pool in
the hotel.  It’s lovely and very private.”

“Yes,
it is.  Since Mum left for New York yesterday, no one should be
there.  We should have the entire floor to ourselves.”

“Maybe
we should make a few calls and have ourselves a little brunch party, if you
know what I mean, Gaddy,” Toni hinted.

“Maybe
later, Tone.  I’m too hot to even think about entertaining right
now.  Let’s cool off first and just go from there.”

“Sounds
like a plan,” Kate quickly added.

“Yeah,
yeah, okay,” Toni reluctantly agreed.  “I guess having an entire pool to
ourselves isn’t a bad thing.  If we get bored, we can always take turns
throwing ol’ skinny here in the pool,” Toni added mischievously, looking over
at Kate.

Gaddy
laughed at the look of disdain on Kate’s face.  “Oh, we’ll have plenty of
fun later, girls.  Right now, all I want is a nice and refreshing dip in
that lovely pool.

As
Alex left the suite, she ran toward the private elevator that led to the pool,
but only caught a glimpse of Zand as the doors closed.  Alex hit the
button immediately in hopes of catching it, and as the doors re-opened, a black
object came flying out.  Alex quickly caught the object before it hit her
chest and looked in amazement at the black garment in her hand.  Wide-eyed
and open-mouthed, Alex looked into the elevator and could only stare at the
semi-naked vision in front of her when the doors closed once more.

“Damn,”
Alex swore as she repeatedly hit the elevator button to no avail.  She
grinned as she looked at Zand’s shorts once again and ran toward the door
leading to the stairs.  Thank goodness the pool was accessible in two
ways.  Since it was a private area, the elevator was exclusive to the
suite floor only.  Alex kept that in mind as the opportunity might arise
to satisfy a long-time fantasy involving a certain Mr. Gabriel and an elevator.

She
almost lost her footing as that thought crept in her mind.  She quickly
pushed it aside for another time and, after flinging open the door, ran quickly
up the steps, taking two at a time.  If she was lucky, she might actually
beat Zand to the pool.  The elevator opened in front of the work out area
and the pool was down the hall from that, whereas the steps were directly
across from the doors to the pool.

Breathing
rapidly, Alex burst through the door and could hear the dinging of the elevator
as it approached.  She smiled broadly as she raced across the hall and pushed
open the glass door leading into the pool area.  Taking a moment to regain
her composure, she took in the large enclosed area at a glance.

With
an atrium-styled retractable glass roof, you could truly open up and invite the
outdoors in as much as you wanted while maintaining the utmost privacy. 
Judith had outdone herself when she found the young and innovative architect
that designed the pool and connecting gym areas.  Of course, it hadn’t
hurt that he was sharing her bed at the time.  Funny how the novelty had
worn off after the contract work was completed.  Judith liked to say that
everyone deserved their fifteen minutes of fame, and, with her wealth, she
could afford plenty of fifteens!

Alex’s
mind was brought abruptly back to Zand.  Twelve long years had already
passed, and Alex refused to wait any longer.  Come what may, Alex was
going to take her “fifteen” with Zand and see where it led.  It was worth
a shot and would undoubtedly be one hell of a ride!