The Alexis Sonny saw when he opened his door that afternoon wasn't the same he had seen the previous evening. She was the Alexis he'd always known, the picture of efficiency in her gray suit a briefcase in one hand and holding a bulky file against her chest with the other.
"I hope this is a good time?"
"No, I mean, yes. Come in." He led her to his study. She gave out an exaggerated sigh as she finally put down her file.
"I've been carrying this around town," she said with a smile.
"Where did you go?"
"I had to meet Zander today. I thought you knew…"
"Yes, of course." He knew but he'd forgotten about it. And he hadn't even known Chloe. "I just thought that with everything that happened…"
A shadow passed over her face. She looked down as she opened her briefcase to get her reading glasses. Her hands were trembling slightly as she opened the case and put them on.
She kept her eyes on her files, scanning them quickly while she spoke. "Zander needs me," she said simply. "He depends on me. I can't forsake my responsibilities to him and my other clients. Speaking of whom, have you studied the contracts I gave you last week?"
Forsake my responsibilities, Geesh, thought Sonny. And then, contracts? What contracts? Oh yes, these contracts I tried to study but first Carly, then the commotion in the hallway then Carly again…
"Sure, I've read them," he lied. "But Alexis, you know they can wait."
"Why should they? All they need is your signature. I've already checked them."
He put up his hands. "Slow down, will ya? You're giving me a headache."
Alexis stopped everything she was doing, amused by Sonny's exasperation. They were both silent for a while.
"You're staring at me," Alexis said edgily.
"I'm trying to figure you out."
"Oh, when you do, let me know," she said drily.
Sonny chuckled. "How about we sit down for a moment? Maybe have a drink."
"I don't drink when I'm working."
"Then you're not working. I pay for your time, what I want to do now is you to sit down and have a drink with me."
She arched an eyebrow. "Congratulations. You just made your Harvard educated attorney feel like a whore. But since you're not Richard Gere and I'm not Julia Roberts and you don't want to sign your damned contracts I think I'll take advantage of my free time to wash my hair." With that she turned to leave.
"You don't have to try so hard Alexis."
Alexis froze half way from the door. "What do you mean?" she said without turning.
"You don't have to pretend that everything is alright. You don't have to be brave." He put his hands on her shoulders from behind and rubbed them gently. "And for God's sake stop pretending you don't like me. That act is wearing thin."
She gave out a small laugh at that. "I'm your attorney, I give you my best. Whether I like you or not is irrelevant."
"I thought I was more than just a client."
"Ok, you're also my landlord."
"Do you mean to tell me that you discuss you doubts about getting married with all your clients?"
"Why, yes! Jack the Weasel gave me some wonderful insight into the matter the other day."
That got a hearty laugh from Sonny.
"You do not have a client called Jack the Weasel. Not with what I'm paying you, Alexis!" He'd let go of her shoulders and she missed the contact though she felt vaguely relieved at the same time.
She looked down. "I don't have a client called Jack the Weasel," she said softly. "And I haven't cried in the arms of any of my other clients over… anything."
Sonny was taken aback at her mention of what had happened a couple of months ago. Alexis hadn't wanted to discuss it afterwards and he'd respected that.
"I just happened to be there…" he said lamely.
She turned and stared at him with a vague smile. "I wouldn't mind a gin and tonic."
They'd been drinking in silence for a while after they'd settled in Sonny's comfy living room chairs. A wirring noise came from Alexis. I sounded as if her stomach was growling but Sonny realized it was her mobile when he saw her reach for it in her briefcase. She didn't take the call.
"Ned," she answered his silent question.
"You said you'd talk to him today."
"I lied."
"Has he been calling all day?"
"More or less," she said calmly.
"I'm not exactly Ashton's greatest fan but I don't understand why…"
"I don't want to talk about Ned," she interrupted him curtly.
Sonny wasn't used to being spoken to in this tone but he let it pass. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked.
"Nothing yet, my glass is empty."
"The first one went fast," he commented wryly but got up to fix her another drink.
"Where's Carly?"
"She's gone shopping with her mother," Sonny said casually.
"How do they get along?"
He shrugged. "Fine, I think. There you go."
"Thank you." Alexis held her drink in both her hands staring at the glass absent-mindedly.
Sonny studied her face carefully. An interesting face. She wasn't traditionally beautiful or some ing?nue yet she intrigued him. He tried to put a label on what he was feeling but couldn't. Attraction? He did find her attractive but in an abstract way, she was an attractive lady lawyer. He imagined kissing her to test that. It felt wrong somehow, risky. It would introduce a new element in their relationship, one he wasn't sure he needed there. He played the scene out in his head. Alexis slapping him, Alexis looking shocked and hurt, Alexis responding leading to whatever. And where did Carly fit in all of this? The funny thing was, kissing Alexis felt wrong to him not so much for Carly's sake as for Alexis'. He respected and cared for her too much to put her in the role of the other woman, assuming it would be a role she would accept.
Alexis could feel Sonny's scrutiny but didn't raise her head. "Figuring me out again?" she teased him with a smile.
He smiled at the thought of telling her exactly what he had been thinking of. "How was Zander?"
"He's trying to play tough but I can see he's scared to death. He understands that he's between the death penalty and whatever Sorel might do to him if he testifies."
"He can count on my protection if he testifies."
"He knows that."
Their conversation run along those lines for a while, Zander's case and the parts of Sonny's business that Alexis was allowing him to discuss with her. Alexis smiled at him at times but the smiles never quite reached her eyes. Her eyes were dead.
Sonny got up to fix Alexis and himself yet another drink. It had to be their fifth that afternoon or more likely his third and her fifth, he'd lost track.
"You drink like a fish, Counselor."
Sonny had his back turned to her but heard her smile in her voice.
"I can hold my liquor," she stated. "I realize it is not a very female trait. We women are supposed to get dizzy, start slurring, our inhibitions gone after a couple of drinks. I can be that way if I choose but I guess there is no point. It's not what we're about.
Sonny nodded, surprised at her frankness as well as how their thoughts had been running on similar tracks. Alexis' smile was gone. Sonny met those dead eyes again burning a hole in his heart. He wanted to get her to talk about Chloe. He knew it would hurt her but he desperately wanted to see some emotion in her eyes. They sipped their drinks in silence as Sonny tried to find the words to approach the subject. He hadn't admitted as much to Carly but a lot was bothering him about Alexis' reaction to her best friend's death.
Alexis gave out a slight cough.
"It's getting late… I think I'd better get going."
"After you finish your drink."
She stared at her glass, almost surprised to see it in her hand. "I'm not myself," she whispered.
"I don't care."
Her eyes widened.
Sonny shrugged. "I don't mind. I accept you as you are. You want to be moody? Fine. Angry? Even better. I'm here and I accept you as you are. Friends do that, you know."
Alexis closed her eyes but not before Sonny could see her pain reflected in them. "I don't have many friends," she said thoughtfully, keeping her eyes to the floor. "Coming to think of it, Chloe was my only female friend and I don't mean just in Port Charles. I was mostly friends with guys in law school. There was one friend I kept in touch with, we were roommates for a while in New York."
"Did you drift apart?"
"Well, it was just painful for her to be around me after…"
"After what?"
"After someone broke her heart. I tried to help her, to explain."
"I don't understand. Did you fight over a man?"
She gave out a dry laugh. "No… not exactly. She fell in love with my… with Stefan. I tried to explain to her what he's like, what we're all like but I couldn't. She got over what happened eventually or so I like to think but she couldn't bear to be around me anymore… it hurt too much. At least she's alive," she added with a sigh.
Sonny nodded vaguely. Without thinking he reached and took a hold of Alexis' hand. She welcomed the gesture after an initial hesitation.
"Stefan…" she whispered and left it at that. Later that night Sonny wondered what she had wanted to say and whether she would have said it had Carly not walked in. Carly holding around four large shopping bags, then Johnny holding around half a dozen more, followed by a pale Leticia holding a half asleep Mikey. Sonny tried hard not to laugh out loud at Johnny's expression. Having Alexis witness his humiliation had heightened the bodyguard's discomfort.
Carly's eyes had narrowed at the sight of her husband and his attorney too close for comfort. Alexis' gaze met hers steadily. Anger rose in Carly's throat nearly choking her. Alexis was in her house and acting as though Carly was an intruder.
Leticia staggered to Mikey's bedroom, greeting Alexis with a wan smile.
Carly set her bags down heavily staring hard at Sonny who was still holding Alexis' hand. Johnny also set his bags down avoiding Alexis' sympathetic gaze, absurdly hoping that although his face was burning he hadn't blushed.
"Where's your mother?"
Carly gave a start at Sonny's calm voice. "At home. Tony was paged to the hospital so she had to be with Lucas."
"I see."
Alexis gulped down the rest of her drink and got up to leave. She finally felt the force of the five or so gin and tonics she had downed. Sonny was quick to steady her. Alexis could feel Carly's eyes burning a hole in her. She shrugged off Sonny's hands.
"I'm alright," she murmured straightening her skirt. "I'd better get going."
"I'll see you to your door."
"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped at the same time stumbling on the foot of the table. This time it was Johhny's quick reflexes that kept her on her feet.
She breathed deeply. Ok, I guess it isn't always an act," she murmured. "I'll tell you what," she said casually taking Johnny's arm, "Johnny will walk me to my door, won't you Johnny?" Johnny who had turned crimson by now nodded, too shocked to speak. Sonny handed him Alexis' file and her briefcase. Alexis' slender body leaning on him gave Johnny a warm feeling, painfully reminding him of how long it had been since he'd last been with a woman. The combination of her delicate perfume, her shampoo and the alcohol in her breath was making him dizzy. He was sure that carrying his boss' wife's shopping bags and half-carrying his boss' drunk attorney to her house should not be part of his job description but he didn't particularly mind the second chore.
"Ned Ashton is camped outside," said Johnny.
Alexis froze. "Outside were? My front door?" The fear in her voice made her sound almost lucid.
"No, he's outside the building. Francis is keeping an eye on him but he hasn't tried to get in."
"I don't want to see him."
"You won't see him."
She didn't turn to Sonny's voice but it seemed to calm her. Johnny did turn, feeling Alexis' soft hair against his cheek. He met a twinkle in Sonny's eyes and bit on his lip to stop a response that would take him back to highschool. Instead he turned his eyes to Carly and back to Sonny with a twinkle of his own. You're screwed boss.
Having had the last "word" Johnny led Alexis back to her house.