thanks for waiting so long for the next part without bombarding me with emails including viruses or anything
I hope you enjoy this chapter - which is also the last because I decided to wrap it all up in one chapter since I'm starting to work soon and will have even less time to write than I have now!
Part 18
“How about ‘ManesStream’?” Alex asked, feeling pretty good about his idea.
“ManesStream? Dream on Mr. Manes! NO! Definitely NO!” Sam argued back.
The siblings plus Logan and Isabel were trying to come up with the perfect name for the bar. So far, they had had eight ideas, eight heated arguments, three bottles of beer (each of them) and 3 hours of wasted time.
“Oh man, it’s past midnight.” Isabel said yawning and laid her head on Alex’s shoulder, who was still sputtering around since Sam diced his idea – again.
“Isabel, do you have another idea?” Sam asked the other woman, smiling because of how close she and her brother were sitting. Even Logan had noticed that those two were spending more and more time together.
“Well,” Isabel started, “how about … uh … well, ‘Incognito’? I know it’s not good but … I have no idea what the bar looks like and … “ she said trailing off.
“It’s better than ‘The Palace’” Sam answered, ignoring Logan’s offended “Hey!”
“Wait, why haven’t you seen the bar yet?”
Isabel shrugged, “Well, you were all busy with finishing it and I didn’t want to be in the way.”
“Nonsense, you won’t be in the way! Alex, can you show her around tomorrow?”
“Of course!” Alex replied a bit too eager. “It won’t be a problem.” He looked at Isabel with a smile which she returned full force. Noticing this, Logan and Sam looked at each other knowingly.
“What about ‘King Bar’?” Sam asked suddenly, jerking Alex and Isabel out of their dreamy staring-at-each-other game.
“Honey, that’s not going to happen.” Logan said with a yawn. “That’s way too … arrogant. I mean, someone who sells burgers won’t call his business “King Burger” either! I like Isabel’s idea – it sounds pretty good.” Before Sam could say anything, Logan quickly added, “Why don’t we stop? It’s late and we still have a bit of time left till we need to settle on one name. We all could use some hours of sleeping.”
Isabel immediately got up, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder to lean on him. “Great idea, Logan. I’m totally beat, so I’m going to bed. Good Night!”
When Alex almost spit out the beer he was drinking, everyone looked at him strangely. “Sorry, went down the wrong pipe.” He answered with a blush.
’Get a grip, man!’ he scolded himself. When Isabel had put her hand on his shoulder, it seemed like a good idea to take a drink to cool off his suddenly heated body. But when she mentioned “going to bed” it didn’t seem such a smart idea anymore since his mind had obviously decided to come up with dirty images.
Shaking her head with a smile, Isabel patted Alex’s back before she left. After watching her disappear, Alex turned back to the table where he was confronted with two knowing smirks.
“What?” he asked in defense.
“We are just wondering how long you two are going to continue your little ‘we-are-only-friends’ game that you’ve been playing for so long now.” Sam answered sweetly.
“But we are only friends.” Alex replied.
“Yeah. Friends who constantly stare into each others’ eyes.”
“It’s only polite to look the other in the eyes while talking.” Alex tried to defend himself.
“Friends who keep sneaking wishful looks at each other and friends who have to touch each other as often as possible.” Logan grinned at Alex when he noticed the other man blush again.
“Okay, so we might … like each other – a bit.” Alex admitted slowly.
“Alex!” Sam said with a sigh. “I know that you like Isabel. Logan knows it and I’m pretty sure that Isabel knows it too.” Sam forced herself not to laugh at Alex’s panicked expression. Instead, she smiled reassuringly at her younger brother. “Isabel’s probably just waiting for you to make a move.”
“To make a move?” Alex cried out. Taking a deep breath, he continued in a normal voice, “I can’t make a move on her. I wouldn’t even know how to make a move on her.”
“Well, then you better learn that fast because Isabel told me that she wants to leave before the next month starts.” Logan told Alex.
“But … but today’s the 27th!” Alex muttered. He felt as if someone had hit him hard in the guts. “What am I supposed to do?” He asked his sister and her husband.
“You should at least tell her what you feel for her.” Sam advised.
Alex just nodded, not even bothering to ask how Sam knew about his feelings for the tall blonde. He feared that she’d only tell something embarrassing about his behavior if he asked. “And if she doesn’t care?” Alex questioned.
“She does care, Alex. Probably more than she’d like to admit.” Sam assured him. “She doesn’t show her feelings openly, she likes to hide behind a wall.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t trust other people with her heart easily.” Alex said to himself.
“You might have to be persistent to make her realize how important she’s for you, but you’ve proved that you can be stubborn when you joined the army.” Both siblings had to smile at that.
“So, you can guarantee me that I won’t make a fool of myself when I talk to her?” Alex asked.
“Alex, don’t get me wrong,” Sam started with a devilish smile, “But around Isabel, you easily make a fool of yourself.” Sam met Alex’s glare with a cheeky smile. “Seriously, she won’t laugh at you if that’s what you are afraid of. Just be honest and don’t give up too easily if she’s saying you are nuts. She likes you, you just have to make her admit that to you and to herself.
With that Samantha got up, kissed Alex on the cheek, wished him a good night and reminded Logan to not stay up for too long.
After a few moments of silence, Logan spoke up, “Did you and Isabel know each other well before all of this started?”
“No, not at all.” Alex replied. “When I saw her on the street or in a shop, I recognized her and I knew about her background but that’s it. I don’t think that she’d known more about me either.” Alex didn’t really want to say too much about Isabel’s – Rosemary’s – past life, that was something only Isabel had a right to talk about.
“You think I should follow Sam’s advice?” Alex asked his brother in law.
“You mean telling Isabel about your feelings? Yes, I think you should. You’d forever ask yourself ‘What if’ when you don’t confront her.” Logan replied. “Just don’t … ‘corner’ Isabel too much in case she is reserved when she responds. If you are too persistent, you’ll probably scare her away.”
Alex nodded. “That’s what I’m most afraid of, being too persistent and scaring her away or giving up on her without a fight and letting her go.”
“When she tells you that she isn’t interested in you for the second time while looking into your eyes and she appears serious, then I think you ought to believe her.” Logan said while standing up and walking to the door. Turning back to Alex, he added, “Just teller her without too much fuss about it. Sometimes, it’s best to be direct.” Logan paused for a second. “Don’t forget to shave before you talk to her.”
Alex looked at him perplexed and ran his hand over his slight stumble. “What does shaving have to do with this?”
“You want to look good when confronting her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but … it’s just a slight stumble and …” Alex sputtered.
“Just shave it off, Alex! Good night.” Logan said before he also disappeared, leaving Alex alone in the kitchen.
“Yeah, okay. Night.” Alex mumbled. Then his head shot up. “Hey, are you saying I’m ugly?”
The Next Day
“I think Sam and Logan will use ‘Incognito’ as name for the bar. That’s if you are okay with that.” Alex told Isabel, using the opportunity to look at the woman beside him.
The two were walking down the main street of Tucson. It wasn’t New York but a definite up compared to Roswell.
“Of course, I don’t have a problem with it.” Isabel replied good naturally. “But what about you? I mean, you put a lot of money into the business. Don’t you have a say in this too?”
“Oh, I’m okay with ‘Incognito’, I will vote for it. Besides, the bar is mostly Sam and Logan’s dream and as long as I can decide on the bands that will play there, I’m content.” Alex said. “And well,
I won’t really be missing the money.” He had to smile at that- a colder and more calculating smile than Isabel was used to - while he was thinking about the trouble the accountancy guys at the military must be in.
“Alex, is everything all right? You seem nervous.” Isabel said. She had noticed that he constantly wiped of his hands on his jeans as if they were sweaty and he had worn a concerned look since they started their trip half an hour ago. “If you are nervous about showing me the bar …”
“No, no. It’s not that.” Alex hastily reassured Isabel.
“Then, what else is the problem?” Isabel asked confused.
“Uh, I’d rather not talk about it, yet.” Alex said nervously. “And I hope that “it” won’t turn out as a problem.”
“Oookay.” Was all that Isabel said while she was feverishly trying to come up with an idea about what was going on. “Is it a surprise?” she finally asked.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’ll be surprised.” Alex answered.
“Will I like the surprise?” Isabel queried, wondering what it could be.
“I actually don’t know but I hope it will be a pleasant one.” Alex said honestly.
“And you really can’t tell me now or at least give me a hint?” Isabel asked again, feeling like a giddy five year old at Christmas morning.
“Nope. Can’t do that. You’ll have to wait till we are in the bar. We’ll be there in two minutes anyway.” Alex replied firmly.
’And you won’t be able to run away too easily if I shock you too much. At least, I hope you won’t.’ he thought to himself.
“Great.” Isabel said. “I can’t wait to see it and to get my surprise, of course.”
Alex put on a fake smile at her words, cursing himself for his stupid outburst.
’Why did I tell her about my ‘surprise’? Now, I really have to bare my heart to her and hope that she won’t crush it.’
Two minutes later, Alex stopped in front of a new looking building which windows were covered by white cloth. Fishing the keys for the door out of his pocked, Alex opened the door and motioned for Isabel to walk in.
“Uh, don’t you need time for preparations?” Isabel asked.
“Preparations?” Alex echoed.
Isabel blushed when she noticed that Alex had no idea what she was talking about and wished that the earth would open up and swallow her. “I mean, … well, I mean, making sure that everything’s like you want it to be and uh … ah, well the preparations for the … surprise.” The last was said in a whisper as she turned away embarrassed, realizing how stupid that sounded.
Alex looked at her for a moment, smiling despite his nervousness. “No, that won’t be necessary. The carpenters and the other workers will be back in an hour, so it’s best to not change a thing in there and the surprise I was mentioning earlier involves just something I have to tell you.”
“Oh.” Isabel said, glad that Alex hadn’t laughed at her stupid thoughts.
“Ladies first.” Alex said, bowing and then motioning Isabel inside.
“Thank you, kind sir” Isabel laughed and walked past him into the bar that Alex believed was worth stealing money from the armed forces.
Alex stepped in next to her and took a deep breath, preparing himself for both Isabel’s reaction to his sister’s dream and for what he intended to do. “Well?” he asked after a few moments of silence.
Isabel didn’t answer, instead she took a few steps into the room, waiting for her eyes to completely adjust to the slightly dark surroundings. The first thing she noticed was … dust. She chided herself for that thought.
’After all, it’s still in work.’ Then she made out a medium sized dance floor, surrounded by tables and some booths, all made of dark wood. Looking to the left, she saw some mirrors behind the big bar which was covered by cloth.
“Everything that’s at least partly finished is already covered, so it won’t be damaged before the opening in a few weeks.” Alex explained as if he had read Isabel’s thoughts.
“It looks really great.” Isabel said. “Way better than I imagined it actually.”
Alex smiled at her. “The only things missing are the coverings for the stools and the booths, the finishing touches to the stage where the bands will play …” he motioned to the end of the dance floor, opposite of the bar, “… the last few lights need to be installed and the drinks have to be bought.”
Isabel walked to the center of the – already finished – dance floor and looked around, imagining what the bar would look like when it’s ready for opening. “This is amazing, Alex. I love it, really. The place will be full of people non stop.”
Alex gave a short laugh. “Lets hope you are right about that.” Seeing Isabel on the dance floor, Alex decided that he would tell her about his feelings within the next few minutes. But before …
“Would you like to dance?”
Isabel looked back at him startled. Looking around briefly, she smiled a 1000 watt smile at Alex. “I’d love to.”
….
“Alex?” Isabel asked after a few seconds when Alex didn’t move.
“Oh, … sorry.” Alex mumbled blushing. He wanted to hit himself for his reaction but when Isabel had smiled at him, he just couldn’t move or even breath, because he was 100 % awed by the woman in front of him. Taking Isabel’s left hand and putting his other hand on her waist, they slowly started to sway across the dance floor in the silent room.
Isabel let her eyes wander around the semi dark room constantly, which was in her mind better than looking into Alex mesmerizing eyes the whole time. “I’ve never danced a waltz without music in a bar that’s deserted.” She said with a soft chuckle.
“Well, think of it as an exclusive V.I.P. room where not many people are allowed and … I could swear that I can hear music.” Alex whispered into Isabel’s ear.
Feeling a shiver run down her spine, Isabel desperately tried to come up with a distraction before she lost herself in Alex’s blue eyes. Finding a topic, she almost couldn’t contain herself from blurting her question out. Instead, she asked in an almost calm voice, “So, what did you want to talk about?”
Isabel instantly regretted her question, because Alex abruptly stopped dancing and after a few seconds of intense staring into each other’s eyes, Alex stepped out of their embrace. He took a few steps back, looking at the floor in concentration.
Alex was a bit thrown of his balance by the abrupt change of events. One moment he enjoyed dancing with Isabel and looking into her amazing eyes. Then, in the next moment Isabel asked him what he wanted to tell her which made him stop in his tracks. Trying to clear his mind for what was to come, he took a few steps back, wanting to put some distance between himself and the beauty next to him.
“Well, uh … this is kinda hard for me.” Alex admitted. “So, please forgive me when I’m a bit nervous and not making much sense right now.”
”Sure, no problem. The thing is, you are making me nervous too.” Isabel said. She was feeling both nervous and uncomfortable. Nervous because there were dozens of thoughts running through her head about what’s going on, like
’Is he inoperable ill? Will he tell me that Sam and Logan want me to leave even sooner than planned? Does he want a divorce? Thoughts like the last one were responsible for her feeling uncomfortable, since she wasn’t sure what to make of those thoughts and the feelings they caused. “It can’t be that bad, can it? I mean, no one is dead, or am I wrong?” Isabel tried to joke and to get Alex to finally talk about … whatever.
“no, no one died.” Alex replied nervously. “Logan said, I should be direct so, I’m just going to tell you, okay?”
“Oh God, they want me to leave their house today, don’t they?” Isabel cried out.
“What? NO! That’s not it.” Alex said, not getting why Isabel would thing something like that. “They like having you around, especially Sam.”
“Oh. Sorry for that.” Isabel said sheepishly, feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet.
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Isabel.” Alex assured her. Pausing for a moment he quietly said, “Just … don’t laugh at me after I told you, okay?”
“Of course not.” Isabel answered sincerely, wondering what was bothering Alex so much.
’Now or Never.’ Alex thought. “Logan told me that you want to leave in three days.”
Isabel shifted uncomfortable under Alex’s intense gaze, not sure how to take his neutral expression. “Well, uh …”
“I don’t want you to leave.” Alex said bluntly, intent on getting it all out.
“You don’t …” Isabel said stunned.
Alex took two steps forward, coming to a halt a foot away from Isabel. “No, I want you to stay … to stay with me … because … I love you, Isabel. More than I ever thought it possible to love someone. I … I want you to stay with me as … as my wife. I don’t want to let you go.”
He got silent, waiting for Isabel to make the next move. Alex was actually surprised about his calmness because compared to how he felt before he confessed his feelings, he was feeling rather calm now. So calm, it was a little scary to him. Therefore, he almost was relieved when his nerves came crashing back at him when Isabel didn’t answer for what seemed to be an eternity.
Isabel could only stare at Alex in shock at first, not sure if she had heard correctly. She had feared the worst when Alex said that he wanted to talk to her. Even after his assurance that Logan and Sam didn’t want her to leave, Isabel still expected … well, she wasn’t entirely sure what she expected but it was surely not hearing Alex say that he loved her.
“You want … you want me to stay?” she repeated dazed. She turned slightly away, almost standing with her back to Alex, totally lost in her thoughts and feelings. She actually forgot that Alex was still waiting for a response.
’He loves me! He loves me! He loves me!’ she constantly repeated in her mind. She wasn’t able to stop the grin from spreading over her face even if she wanted to.
Seeing Isabel standing with her back to him, Alex’s heart sank. Sighing, he chastised himself.
’What else did you expect, moron? As if she could ever feel the same for me.’
Misunderstanding Isabel’s stance and silence for her way of telling him her displeasure of the topic at hand, Alex beat a hasty retreat. “You obviously don’t feel the same way about me. I’m sorry for bringing this up, lets just forget about it all.” He quickly turned his back to Isabel, trying to force himself to act nonchalant about being rebuffed.
Coming out of her daze, Isabel heard Alex’s words and belatedly realized that her reaction to Alex’s confession hurt him a lot. Moving to his side, Isabel spun Alex around and before he even knew what was happening, Isabel kissed him. Coming up for air after a few minutes, Isabel put her forehead against Alex’s, trying hard to catch her breath again.
“No.” She finally got out. “I don’t want to forget about what you just told me. I was … I just couldn’t believe what you said.” She put a finger on Alex’s lips when he attempted to say something. “Please, you were honest with me, let me be honest now too.” Alex just nodded uncertainly, not able to tear his eyes away from Isabel’s.
After taking a shaky breath, Isabel smiled at Alex and continued, “I didn’t turn away from you because I disliked what you said. It’s the opposite, I felt so happy after hearing your words that I didn’t realize what I was doing. I was, and still am, so happy because … sometime during our trip, I fell in love with you.”
Closing her eyes, Isabel briefly kissed Alex, it was not more than gently touching his lips with hers but that simple act held so much emotion that Isabel felt her knees getting weak. Looking into Alex’s eyes again and returning his smile, she whispered, “I love you too, Alex. I love you so much and I want to stay with you too.”
Alex pulled Isabel close, hugging her tightly. Shifting so he could look at her again, he tried to come up with something appropriate to say for the situation, only to realize that words weren’t necessary in this moment. Tilting his head slightly, he captured Isabel’s lips with his, knowing he would never get tired of kissing Isabel Manes.
the only thing missing now is the epilogue, which I'm gonna post in the next few days
Trude
thanks for all the fb Kay, Keri, Kat, SW and the bump 
and since you "complained" (;) ), I'll mention Sam's rant in a later part, okay?