by Tia Lewis
"Alexa," I whispered.
"Oh, Dylan," she said weakly amidst sobs.
"Everything will be fine. I promise you."
25
Alexa
I opened my eyes weakly, and I was stunned by the brightness in the room I was in. My eyes snapped shut immediately, and I let them stay that way. My head and my whole body hurt like hell, and I felt like there were a million and one things poking at me from every angle. I took a deep breath and tried to open my eyes again. This time, I was expecting the light to sting, so it didn't hurt as bad as the first time. But it still didn't stop me from groaning in pain.
My groaning had apparently not gone unnoticed. I felt a shadow fall over me as I groaned, trying to open my eyes completely. The right eye cooperated but the left, not so much. The left eyelid felt so heavy that I didn't bother with opening it all the way anymore. When the person beside me spoke, I felt a sort of elation from within.
"Dylan?" I whispered.
"Yes, it's me. Thank God you're awake. You scared me. I've never been so scared in my life before," he said. I could hear the relief in his voice. He bent over and kissed my forehead lightly.
"How…how long have I been here?" I asked in a whisper.
"It's been two days. You've been slipping in and out of sleep since I brought you here."
"My God!" I cried weakly. My head started to ache almost immediately, and I groaned again in pain.
"Don't hurt yourself, Alexa. You'll be fine."
"No…I won't. You don't get it. I was so…so stupid. I didn't even think things through before I rushed into it. I let my emotions get the better of me. Again."
"Shhh...Don't dwell on what happened. You were grieving."
"I was stupid. If you hadn't found me, what would've happened to me?"
"Stop thinking like that. The important thing is I did find you, and you're now in the hospital, getting help. Okay?"
I could feel tears welling up behind my eyes…the tears made my eyes and head hurt like hell. "The truth is I could have died if it wasn't for you."
"Hush now, love. Don't go thinking of ifs and could haves. The thought of anything happening to you hurts me like crazy. Stop talking like that."
"Has…has father been buried?" I asked, half expecting him to say no.
"He hasn't. The funeral isn't until next week. He's going to be buried in New York."
"Oh."
"I know I shouldn't be talking to you about this now, but I can't help it. You think you can go?"
"No! I can't show up there. I can't go there." I started to get hysterical.
"Calm down, Alexa! I know you must be feeling really bad, and I can't even tell the number of things running through your head, but you should consider going to your father's funeral."
"I can't go back there. Everyone will think I came back for the money. Especially Paula. Don't you get it, Alexa Patterson is dead."
"I'm not asking you to go back, love. I'm not asking you to go back to your old life and appear at the funeral as his long lost daughter. All I'm asking is that you be present when you father is buried. No one has to even know you're there. You'd be going there as Alexa Grant, my friend."
"I don't know, Dylan. What if someone recognizes me?"
"No one will. You look very different from the Alexa that left home years ago. Your father deserves the last respect of your presence at his funeral. Promise me you'll think about it, okay?"
"I'll think about it," I promised.
Lying in this bed, I realized how short life could be. I could have been killed the other night at The Florentine. Anything could have happened to me, but it didn't. And it was all thanks to this man here.
"Dylan?" I started to say.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for everything."
"Anytime, my love."
Sitting in Dylan's car, trying to gather enough strength to get out, I began to reflect on my life. This was not how I expected things to turn out when I left home, but this was apparently how fate wanted it.
I was dressed in black like everyone else out here. We all had different reasons for donning our mourning outfit—Paula, because she lost her love a little too early—business partners because they lost a friend and a partner—I know some were only wearing it for the fun of it. They couldn't care less that Alfred Patterson was dead. This whole thing was just a front for them. I, on the other hand, was dressed in black mourning every single thing in my life. My father, the loss of my innocence, my mother, my life—every single thing. I had lost too much to not mourn. The only things I was grateful for were Patrice and Dylan.
Dylan more than ever.
Dylan nudged me. "You alright?" he asked, and I nodded. "You ready?"
"Yeah, I am," I said weakly.
Dylan climbed out of the car and came to open the other side for me. The funeral was a private ceremony. Only friends and family were allowed, but Dylan was somehow invited. He said he had done them both a favor once before and that she saw him as a friend. We were about the last to enter the cemetery. By the time we got there, the priest had started giving his sermon. The dust to dust and ashes to ashes sermon was not what hit me. It was the final realization that I would never set eyes on him again, the fact that the last time he saw me and me him, we had departed with a shouting match. This drove me to even more tears. I didn't know if I'd ever be able to forgive myself.
As the last of the mourners exit the cemetery, I hung back and watched as the grave was being covered with earth. Dylan pulled me into his arms, and I cried and cried without regard for the fact that I was in public and someone might recognize me. Chris came over to give his condolences in private, and I appreciated his discretion. No one else knew, and that was the way it was going to be until the end. Albert Patterson was dead, and so was Alexa Patterson.
"Dylan?" I heard a woman's voice from behind me. I pulled away so he could talk to whoever his friend was and that was why I set eyes on her. Paula. She didn't notice me at first, but as I tried to turn away, she stared at me. It was too late to turn away now. I stayed the way I was.
"Oh my God!" she whispered through clenched teeth.
"We're sorry for your loss, Paula. This is the subject for the expose. She wanted to come pay her respects," Dylan said, trying to cover for me. I hoped to God she didn't know it's me.
"I'm…I'm sorry about your husband," I managed to say.
Paula broke into tears immediately and started to shake violently. She walked up to me and pulled me into a warm embrace. "Oh poor child!" she said to Dylan, and I's utter confusion.
When she pulled away from the hug, she looked at me with a warmer look. Like she felt for me or something. "I spent the past years hoping to meet you one day, and this is how life chooses for us to meet. I can't imagine how you feel, Alexa. Your father would be smiling in his grave."
She knew. And she hadn't thrown a fit. Tears started to roll off my face again. "I don't think so. I hurt him too much."
"Dear child, your father never held a grudge. He looked for you until his last day on earth. He never gave up. I had no idea it was you Dylan was writing about. Oh, poor child! You've been through hell."
"That I brought upon myself," I said as I sniffed. "I should get going now. I just wanted to see him buried. I'm sorry I infringed at a time like this."
"Nonsense!" Paula snapped, and I thought I was glad she was finally reacting how I thought she would. "Alfred was your father as much as he was my husband. If I had an inkling you were so close, I would've waited for you to see him first before we buried him."
I was at a loss for words again. She really was not the bitch I thought her to be.
"You're such a nice person," I said, sniffing. "I don't deserve this kindness."
"You do, dear child. Now, let's go home. You need a lot of rest, and we have a lot of catching up to do."
"I…"
"I won't hear any of it, Alexa. Dylan, Alexa will ride with me. You can follow us in your car." She turned
to me and held my hand in hers. "Welcome home, Alexa."
26
Epilogue
Alexa
It had been five months since the funeral. It was still surprising to me the way everything had turned out. I couldn't for the life of me get over the quick turn of events. It had been quite hard adjusting to everything at first. Paula, the fact that I had to finally come out of hiding—living the Patterson life. None of it had been easy.
Paula had insisted vehemently on my coming back to the house and also taking back my identity as the Patterson heir. At first, I had thought she had a game plan, one that would end in something really terrible happening to me, but apparently, she had nothing sinister planned.
With the passing of each day, I found myself discovering the reason my father had fallen in love with this woman so quickly, and I felt like a fool blaming him. She had provided him with comfort, much the same way she had provided me with it when she met and accepted me. She listened to my story, cried with me, laughed with me, and went through the healing process with me.
Moving back to the old life had been hard, but she had helped me adjust to it gradually. When father's will was read, I was even more baffled. Other women would have found a way to change whatever was in the will, but she hadn't. I had gotten half of my father's estate and she the other half. And no matter how hard I tried to turn it down, she came at me even fiercer to take everything. Together, we worked on a viable plan to run my father's companies until I was done with college. She was not just my stepmother; she was my friend.
A couple of months down the line, when Dylan submitted the final draft of the article he had written about me, Paula had talked to the two of us about thrashing the article. She felt it would hurt me and my future if anyone found out I was the one in the story. Dylan thought the same thing too, eventually. But I thought otherwise. It was my story, and I wanted to share it with the world. If anyone found out it was I Dylan had written about, I didn't care. All that mattered was that my story would be of help to someone out there. We, of course, didn't add the fact that I was the daughter of a billionaire. Because of the feedback from my story, Dylan had started an expose on prostitution, one that had made cover story on two editions of the magazine already.
My phone rang bringing me out of my reverie. It was Paula.
"Hi, Paula."
"Hi, dear. I have good news," she said, obviously excited.
"Spill!" I said, my heart beating violently in my ribcage.
"I don't know if I should be the one telling you this, or if I should let Dylan tell you."
"Just tell already!" I said, not admitting to her that in the past months since I had returned as a Patterson, Dylan had been acting like just a casual friend to me and nothing more. I didn't blame him. He probably didn't want people thinking he was all over me because of the money. Very few people, after all, know our story.
"Dylan's exposes was just nominated for a Pulitzer!"
"You're kidding!"
"I'm not. The whole newsroom is chaos right now. Everyone is so excited."
"Oh My God! I'm so excited for him."
"I have to go now. Still coming for dinner tonight? Now we're celebrating something else."
"Yeah sure. Four Points still?"
"Yeah."
"See you at 8," I said and ended the call, bursting with excitement.
27
Dylan
I'd been nominated!
I couldn't contain my excitement as almost everyone in the newsroom walked up to my cubicle to congratulate me. At this point, I didn't care anymore if I won or didn't win. The fact that my piece was recognized enough to be nominated was all that mattered now.
"Congrats, man," Chris said, still lingering at my desk long after everyone had left.
"Thanks, man."
"So have you called her?"
"Who?"
"Alexa. Who else?"
I sighed. I ought to call her, but I didn't know if I should. Ever since she took the reins of her father's estate, I had found it increasingly harder to continue with the way we were. Considering that the feelings were probably one sided, I decided it was best to just keep it that way. I didn't want her thinking I wanted to be with her for the money.
"I haven't," I replied.
"You should. You owe her that much," Chris said. He knew about everything, and he still thought I was stupid to let her go because of my ego. "Even if you throw away what could have been a good relationship, don't throw away your friendship."
"I understand but Alexa is really special, and I don't know if it would be worth risking everything."
"You didn't even try, bro," Chris said. "Oh shit, speak of the devil," he said in the same breath.
I turned in the direction he was looking and there, sure enough, was Alexa looking beautiful as ever. She smiled at me and raised a bottle of wine in my direction. I took it she knew already thanks to Paula. I stood up from my desk and started to approach her.
"Good luck," Chris whispered.
I ignored him and headed on toward Alexa, and together we headed toward the conference room.
"Hi," I said.
"Hello, stranger," she replied. "I heard about the nomination."
"I wanted to call you."
"But you didn't. I wonder why."
"I would have, everything has just been really crazy here," I said and opened the door to the conference room. We walked in together. Thankfully, the place was empty.
"I keep wondering what I did wrong and that it crossed my mind that the only reason we aren't as close as before is that now, I am quite wealthy."
"I haven't been avoiding you if that's what you're insinuating. We talk."
"But we don't hang out. Funny cause we used to when I was a hooker, and now that things are different, you don't want to anymore."
I sighed in response.
"Look, Dylan, I understand what this is about. Trust me I do. But I don't see you that way. It's been five months, but those five months, I've been thinking about you every single day."
"I…" I started to interrupt.
"Shh...I'm not finished. When I'm done, you can talk. I know I told you before that I'm not looking for an exclusive thing and that I wasn't ready. But now I am, and I don't see anyone else I'd like to give a relationship a shot with but you. I know this sounds crazy and out of the blue. But you don't know how much it hurt that I wasn't the first person you called when you heard. Once upon a time, I would have been."
"Alexa…"
"I'm still not finished. I guess all that I am trying to say, Dylan, is that I really do like you and I don't like that life is getting in the way of that. Now I'm finished."
I was baffled by her honesty. "I don't know what to say."
"A girl just tells you she really likes you and would want to give a relationship a shot and you don't know what to say?"
"I really like you, too, Alexa. I'm sorry I pulled away from you. I just didn't want to come across as a gold digger."
"I don't mind if you are, Dylan. All that matters is that we're together. So what do you say?"
"I don't see why the hell not," I said, pulled her into my arms and planted a kiss on her lips. "This isn't much of a proposal, but it is a start. Alexa Grant Patterson, would you like to be my date to the award ceremony?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
28
Alexa
“Alexa! If you keep at it, we’re definitely going to be late.” Patrice called out to me.
“Just a minute!” I called back out to her. “I’ll be out soon.”
“Err, you said that ten minutes ago,” she replied, her voice sounding closer this time. She was right outside the door to my room, and I was not caught by surprise when she opened the door and came in.
“Even though we decided on this dress together, I have to say this again. You look amazing in that dress.”
“I know,” I replied and stared at my reflection in the mirror.
Clad in
a knee-length, white pleated Adam Lippes dress, I loved what I looked like in the mirror. That is partly the reason it was taking forever to get dressed. I had to look perfect. Despite the wealth I had come to, I normally wouldn’t indulge myself with such a dress, but the past couple of years had been amazing and for that I was grateful, so I thought why not? I didn't regret making that decision one bit now, seeing the way this dress looked on me.
“Alexa!”
“What? I’ll just touch up on the make-up a little bit."
“You’ll miss your own graduation, and the annoying thing is you’ll make me miss mine too. I’ve been looking forward to this day for so long, I won’t let you mess it up for me,” Patrice said.
“My graduation,” I whispered with a wide grin on my face.
It felt good to say those words. Today, I graduated from college with my management degree. That and a whole lot more. In those two years, I had lived, loved and made a difference. My new life as a rich kid had its perks, but it still took a lot of getting used to. Dylan and I might have started out unsure, but with the passing of each day, we were growing more and more in love. And, I finally got to do something for girls out there on the streets. After Dylan’s expose was published, we decided it was best to start a foundation for getting girls off of the streets and helping them build a better future.
My phone rang somewhere on the bed, and Patrice handed it to me.
“It’s Paula,” she said as she handed it to me. I answered the call immediately.
“Hello, CEO,” Paula’s cheery voice filled my ear.
“Stop getting ahead of yourself, Paula. I only just finished college,” I replied, laughing.
