Alexis
woke up naked and nervous under her sheets. *Please let him be gone,
please let him gone,* she silently begged whatever higher powers
might be listening. She gingerly opened her eyes and felt the other
side of the bed. Empty. She listened: no sounds. *Thank you,* she
thought with a glance heavenward.
Sonny had, oddly enough, carried her to bed and curled up behind
her for a while after their -- whatever it was. It was a tender
gesture, directly opposite in spirit to how they'd been with each
other all night. But while Alexis' animal nature might have appreciated
falling asleep wrapped up in his scent, the last thing she wanted
was to face him in the morning.
*What the hell was that all about?* Alexis wondered, shaking her
head at her --their -- inexplicable actions the night before. As
she showered, she thought of all she had risked: Cameron's trust,
Carly's wrath, not to mention her own sense of self, her own integrity.
*I'm not the kind of person that does these things,* she protested,
pulling on her clothes and heading out the door. *Am I?* a small
voice in her head asked as she locked the door behind her.
****
The courthouse was teeming with reporters and camera crews when
she arrived. She wasn't trying the case, but she'd unearthed some
of the evidence that Scott Baldwin was using to prosecute, so she
felt compelled to witness the trial play out.
"Miss Davis! Miss Davis!" the reporters shouted, jutting
their microphones out towards her. "If D.A. Baldwin gets a
conviction against Joey Mancini, do you think that's the beginning
of the end of the mob in Port Charles?" "If Mancini goes
down, will you help the D.A. take down Sonny Corinthos next?"
Alexis stopped trying to push past the hoard and said into the nearest
mike, "I do not work for the District Attorney's office. But
I have said before that I am resolute in my opposition to organized
crime, and I will do my best, as a citizen and an officer of the
court, to rid this city of all crime bosses, up to and including
Mr. Corinthos." Just as she stopped speaking, she caught sight
of Sonny standing not ten feet away.
"Mr. Corinthos!" When the reporters saw him, they clamored
for his response. "What do you have to say to that?"
"Once again, Ms. Davis is leveling unfounded accusations. If
she persists, I'll take her to court for slander. She knows I won't
tolerate her groundless insinuations forever."
Sonny glared and stared, as he always did, and Alexis rolled her
eyes and turned away, as she always did, and when they walked into
the courtroom and sat as far apart as possible, Alexis felt almost
grateful. Things were back to normal. *Last night meant nothing,*
she thought, relieved.
But during the judge's recess, Max approached her with a folded
note. Alexis knew before she opened it she's see Sonny's handwriting
there. "Meet me in the corridor at four," she read.
Max walked away and she crumpled the note in her fist. She glanced
at Sonny. He was looking elsewhere. All of a sudden, she felt uneasy
and jumpy. She needed to walk. She needed to think. *What's going
on?* she thought as she left the room and took a few deep breaths
on the courthouse steps.
"Hey there, gorgeous."
Alexis gasped. "Cameron! What are you doing here?!"
"Just stopping by to see if you wanted to grab some lunch during
the break. Are you free now?"
Feeling anything but free, Alexis forced a smile. "Sure,"
she said, and walked arm in arm with him down the steps.
****
"Carly, I'll be home in two hours, okay? I just need to talk
to some people here right now," Sonny said into his cell phone,
then hung up when he saw Alexis approach.
The courthouse was nearly empty. The trial had adjourned for the
day at three, and there wasn't much else happening in that part
of the courthouse that day. It was nearly four. Only a few clerks
were left. And Sonny. And Alexis.
"What did you want with me?" Alexis asked, standing a
careful three feet away.
He stared at her intently, then took several steps toward her until
they could feel each other's heat. "I thought that was obvious,"
he said.
Alexis took in a shaky breath when he reached up a hand to touch
her hair lightly. "Sonny, what is this about? What are we doing
here?"
"Do you want me stop? You didn't last night," he said
in a low voice.
Alexis bit her lip when his hand moved from her hair to her cheek.
He caressed her softly there, and a traitorous tear dove down onto
his fingers. "I…I have commitments to other people, I
can't do this." She was being honest. She wasn't saying she
didn't want him. She was saying she couldn't.
"I have commitments, too, Alexis. But I have wants, and needs,
and I think we both found out last night, one of them is you."
He made a move to kiss her. She stopped him by pressing two long,
tapered fingers to his gorgeous mouth.
She wanted to tell him to stop. She wanted to tell him to go away
and never to speak to her again about…these absurdities. Instead,
she said, "People might see."
"Then come into my private office," Sonny said, smirking.
He tipped his head toward a hall closet. He saw her reluctance,
but he was bent on convincing her. "Come on, you owe me a birthday
present."
"Your birthday…Oh my God," Alexis said. It was his
birthday. The night before had been the anniversary of the first
and only time they'd made love. *Well, it doesn't count as the -only-
time now, does it?* her inner voice remarked mockingly. "You're
just remembering what we had in the past, Sonny. This is just nostalgia."
She tried to speak with the voice of reason, but she found herself
being pulled along by her hand towards the small closet.
"No," Sonny said, turning to face her, looking grim. "This
isn't nostalgia."
"Then what is it?" she asked. Their faces were so close
together, they were breathing each other's breath.
"I don't know," he answered, and pulled her with him into
the narrow darkness.
**continued in optional nc-17 addendum on the adult board**
