Page 80 of Dirty Little Secret, Baby
"Sir?" I hear a voice beside us, belonging to Barney, his new assistant, who seems like an unassuming, nice, reliable guy, does his job properly, and was vetted within an inch of his life. Alex went a few weeks without an assistant because he didn't want to trust anyone anymore, but he was drowning in work, so we decided to choose the next candidate together. Barney seemed the best fit.
"What is it, Barney?" Alex asks.
"There's someone at the door. With flowers. I said we hadn't ordered any and..."
Alex and I look at each other and laugh, because we know that's exactly how it started with the two of us.
"Let us handle it, Barney. It's fine," Alex says, patting the confused-looking assistant on the shoulder.
"Hey, Beeeeth," says a woman's voice that sounds vaguely familiar as we're on our way to the door.
"Do we know each other?" I ask, stopping and turning around.
"It's me, Meredith. You know, head cheerleader at St. Patrick's? We were in the same year and..." she says in a nasal voice.
I say nothing and just look at her. Meredith. The name I remember all too well. She was the one who always teased me about my weight and told the other girls they should never pickMiss Fettyfor their team in gym class.
"You don't remember? Seriously? Though if I'd been as fat as you, I might want to repress it too."
"Bitch," slips out of me.
"I don't recall inviting you. Get out of my house. Now," Alex snaps at her. Back then, only Veronica stood up for me, she was always there. Which makes it feel all the better to have someone standing up for me now.
"Excuse me? I'm the plus-one of..." Meredith says in a falsely high voice.
"Don't care. Anyone who insults my wife is out." Alex turns around. "Barney? This woman is leaving. Through the back exit. See to it."
"Your wife? She's already married, in case you didn't know," snaps the offended ex-cheerleader, as Barney takes her by the arm and ushers her toward the side exit without much fuss so none of the other guests notice.
"I know. But you're not up to date. The divorce is finalized," Alex counters.
"I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't know she'd be here. And she probably heard about the marriage from Chris. It just keeps haunting me..." I say, glum.
"Hey," Alex says, gently placing his hands on my cheeks. "Don't let her get to you. I don't care if the whole world knows you were once married. What I do care about is anyone thinking they can insult you."
"Come here," I say gratefully, this time putting my hands around his shoulders, pulling him down to me, and kissing him. "Sometimes I think I'm dreaming," I whisper.
"Me too," Alex whispers back. "And all thanks to you." He pauses. "Hey, want to see who's out there with the flowers?"
"The old playboy's still in there, huh?" I say and swat his butt. "I'm not leaving your side."
"That's not what I meant. It's just..." Alex says, uncertain.
"It's okay, I was just teasing you a little," I giggle.
"You'll pay for that. Later I'm going to..." Alex growls playfully and nibbles the spot on my ear he knows makes me lose control. The world around me disappears and I feel my knees go weak.
"Hey. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Alex says, catching me.
"You didn't. I'll hold you to that," I say, my happy heart pounding up into my throat as the man of my dreams holds me in his arms.
"Sir?" again it's Barney's voice cutting through this intense moment.
"Barney?" Alex asks, without taking his eyes off me.
"I put the lady in a cab. However, there's still someone at the door..."
"We'll handle it. Thanks," Alex says, whereupon Barney nods and steps back.
