A Drunken Man's Words
by SexisFan

chapter 4

Sonny stood at the window, still watching as the first streaks of dawn lit up the morning sky.

"Alexis," he whispered.

"Sonny?"

Sonny spun toward the door. He hadn't heard it open, hadn't heard her enter. But there she stood.

"Alexis!"

Somehow she was suddenly in his arms. He didn't know how it happened and he didn't care. She home, and she was with him.

"Alexis," he whispered as he held her tightly to his body. He breathed in deeply, taking in the sweet, sweet scent of her.

Sonny leaned back a bit, giving himself room to look into her eyes. She was so beautiful, so very beautiful.

Before he knew what he was doing, Sonny had raised his hands to cradle her head. Staring down at her lips, he ached to taste her. She knew what he wanted, he could tell that she did. And she wanted it, too.

He moved in what seemed to be slow motion, bending his head down toward hers. When their lips touched, the sensation was jarring. He couldn't believe that he was kissing her, that she wanted him to kiss her. He felt her arms tighten around his neck as she drew him closer.

Sonny moaned into her mouth, thrilling to the experience of her tongue tickling his, igniting his passion further.

She wanted him. And he wanted her. He felt the changes in his body that made his desire apparent. Arching his hips into her, he pressed himself closer to her warmth and he knew that she knew that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Sonny continued his loving assault on her mouth while his hands moved to free her from her clothing. He would have her, finally, he would have her.

Somewhere in his conscious Sonny registered the sound of the doorbell ringing. Determined not to be interrupted, he tried to ignore it. But the sound repeated, and repeated again. Why wasn't Johnny answering the door, he wondered.

The ringing continued, making Sonny wonder when he'd had a doorbell installed.

Suddenly, there was no Alexis. There were no hands in his hair, pulling him into her kiss. There was no warm body pressed to his. There was only the ringing of the g-- d----- phone rousing him from the most spectacular dream, and back to a world without Alexis.

Alexis! Sonny shot up from the sofa, stumbling across the floor in his urgency to get to the phone. Maybe this was news of Alexis.

"Yeah," Sonny barked into the receiver as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Sonny? It's Kristina. I just wanted to let you know that Alexis is fine. She. . ."

Kristina heard the line go dead just seconds before Sonny burst into Alexis' penthouse.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

Kristina gave the wrinkled mobster a slow once-over as she laid the telephone receiver back in its cradle.

"You look like hell, Sonny," she offered undiplomatically.

"Where is Alexis," he repeated, ignoring Kristina's irritating attempt at small talk.

"She's fine Sonny," Alexis' little sister soothed. "She's just taking a few days away. She. . ."

"Where?" Sonny cut in.

"I don't know!" Kristina shot back, exasperated. "But she's okay, really. She sounded more relaxed than I've ever hear her, and. . ."

"What did she say?" Sonny interrupted. "Tell me exactly," he demanded.

Kristina sighed. This was really ridiculous. Alexis was a full grown woman and Sonny was clucking over her like a mother hen. But if it would ease his mind and get him off of Alexis' back, Kristina was happy to indulge him.

"Listen," she instructed, reaching over to press the play button on the answering machine.

The machine whirred and beeped. After a click or two, Alexis' voice echoed through the penthouse. "Kristina, hi. Listen, sweetie, I'm taking a few days off. I know it's unexpected and I don't usually do anything impulsive, but I'm thinking I need to make some changes in my life and being a little impulsive seemed like a great way to start!" Alexis' voice was lighthearted and tinged with laughter. "Peter Hampton might call from Port Charles Realty. I left a message for him to put an offer in on a piece of land on the north end of the lake. If he hears anything back about the offer, he's going to call the penthouse so just take the message. Who knows, maybe by the time I get back, the new me will have a new home." There was the sound of someone - a male someone - talking in the background and Alexis answering that she was coming right away. "Okay, I gotta go. Talk to you soon. And don't worry, I'm fine." Alexis giggled out her parting words and the line went dead.

Kristina watched Sonny's face register confusion, concern, shock, anger and finally pain as he listened to her sister's message. He wasn't taking this well at all, and it didn't really make sense to Kristina. Sure, he might be upset about the possibility of Alexis moving, but the man seemed panic-stricken about Alexis being out of town for a few days.

"See, Sonny? She's fine," Kristina reassured him. "She's enjoying a little adventure. Now why don't you just go back to your beans and coffee grounds, and. . ."

Sonny looked up at her and the expression on his face was heartbreaking. For all of her teasing Alexis about her feelings for Sonny, it had never occurred to Kristina that Sonny might have feelings of his own for Alexis. Her sister was so certain that Sonny felt only friendship for her, and she had convinced Kristina to think so, too. But it was apparent that Alexis had been wrong. Sonny was terrified by Alexis' disappearance.

"There's something wrong with her," Sonny insisted. "I have to find her."

"But Sonny," Kristina protested, "You heard her. She's fine."

"No she's not!" Sonny yelled, slamming his hand down on the desk with a crash that made Kristina jump at least a foot.

"Sonny,"

"She purposely evaded my bodyguards, Kristina. She's on the run and doesn't want anyone to know where she is. That isn't Alexis!"

"Bodyguards? You were having my sister guarded? Is she in danger?" Kristina asked incredulously.

Sonny shook his head. "No, not the kind of danger you're thinking of. . ."

"What other kind of danger is there that entails having someone followed by bodyguards, Sonny? Tell me that!"

Sonny sighed. He couldn't explain it even if he wanted to. No one was going to understand his fear of losing people who were important to him. No one was going to understand that he had to know what was happening in Alexis' life when she wasn't with him, that it was his way of holding her close to him even though he could never share her life the way he might like. Knowing where she was, knowing that she was safe, knowing what she was doing and who she was sharing herself with was something he needed. It kept her close to him, even if it sometimes hurt him, like the night she'd gone out again with that lawyer.

"Sonny! Is my sister in danger from someone out to get you?" Kristina demanded.

"No!" Sonny snapped. And then softer, "No, she's not. It isn't about business at all. It's, uh, personal."

"Personal?!" Kristina erupted. "Personal? What kind of personal reason can there be for invading my sister's privacy?"

Sonny sighed. Alexis' little fireball of a sister could exasperate him and irritate him. But he had to admire her for her fierce loyalty to her sister. Still, she didn't understand Sonny and Alexis. No one did. No one could. Hell, Sonny didn't even understand himself and Alexis half the time.

"Look," he replied, "the reasons don't matter. What matters is that Alexis was upset, upset enough to drive like a maniac in order to get out of town without leaving a trace. Now, I have to find her," Sonny insisted.

"There's something you're not telling me," Kristina intuited. "And I want to know what it is."

Sonny looked down at his feet guiltily. He wished he knew everything that had happened, wished he knew what he'd done to upset Alexis so.

"Sonny?" Kristina prompted.

"It's personal," Sonny evaded.

Kristina let loose with a primal scream that bordered on a shriek. "You are the most infuriating man! No wonder Alexis ran away!" Kristina's reckless words hit with precision, drawing instant blood. But Kristina had no idea. All she saw was the shuttered expression Sonny wore so expertly.

"You have some nerve, you know!" she exploded. "I told you to give my sister some room. I told you that her feelings made her fragile. I told you that you could hurt her, and you wouldn't listen!" Kristina ranted on, not knowing that every word was hitting its mark. "Well, Alexis is doing what she needs to do for herself, and I'm happy for her!" Kristina announced. "And if I knew exactly where she was, you couldn't drag it out of me!"

With that declaration, Kristina stormed out of Alexis' penthouse, slamming the door behind her.

Sonny shook his head ruefully. Those two certainly were sisters, he marveled, seeing the resemblance in their temperaments.

Sonny stood mute for a moment, his head buried in his hand. He had to find Alexis. And the only clue he had right now was the message on her machine. Sonny looked up, eyeing the little black box on Alexis' desk. Sonny reached for the device and flipped the tape compartment open. Lifting the cassette from its bed, he slipped it into his pocket and turned on his heel. He would find someone who could help him find Alexis if it was the last thing he did, Sonny vowed as he stormed out of Alexis' apartment.

The door to PH2 swung shut, the click of the latch reverberating through the empty room. For a few seconds after the echo faded, there was silence. Until the phone began to ring.

*****

Alexis frowned as the line continued to ring with no answer. Obviously, Kristina wasn't home. But why wasn't the answering machine picking up, she wondered. After a few more fruitless rings, Alexis gave up and returned the receiver to its cradle. Oh, well. She'd just have to try again tomorrow.

Alexis pushed herself away from the desk before thoughts of Port Charles could settle too firmly in her brain. Crossing over to the dresser, Alexis picked up the hairbrush she'd purchased that day. Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, she remembered Sonny's drunken proclamation. "God, Alexis, you're so beautiful. . .So beautiful, and you don't even know, do you?" Could it be true, she wondered as she began to draw the brush through her hair in long strokes. Could she be underestimating herself as a woman? Could there be more to her than the mousy little Natasha she carried with her in the back of her mind?

Alexis skimmed the image of her slender body draped in its sheath of sea-foam green silk. Certainly she wasn't hideous by any means. Attractive? Okay. Beautiful? Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe some would find her beautiful. The problem really wasn't her appearance, but how she felt about herself as a woman. There was something she'd been lacking. Something she wanted to find. It was way past time to embrace herself as a woman.

Alexis' eye caught the reflection of movement on the bed behind her. Immediately a broad and genuine smile broke out across her face. Alexis turned to face her companion.

"Hey, Baby," she purred. "You ready for bed?"

chapter 5