What’s In A Name?
by Trude (marti_ms@hotmail.com)
Disclaimer: Roswell belongs to Melinda Metz, WB/UPN and New Mexico. I own nothing (except two books)
Category: Alex/Isabel and AU; when I wrote “AU”, I really meant it, I am rewriting history cause this definitely never happened, but it is my world! Ha! (and isn’t every fan fiction AU?)
Summary: after “Summer of ‘47”, how Rosemary and Sheridan Cavitt could have met again. Since I don’t know Rosemary’s last name, I just made one up.
Thoughts are marked with these ‘’
Part 1
“Sir!”
Sheridan Cavitt turned to the sergeant who called him. “Yes?”
He looked at the young man in front of him. ‘So young and so enthusiastic, even after everything that happened lately’, he thought disgusted.
“Sir, Colonel Cassidy wants to talk with you after you are back from your drive to town.”
Suppressing the sigh that was building, Sheridan told the soldier arrogantly, “Tell the Colonel that I’ll be back in two hours if everything with the press will work out!” With that he walked away, not caring if the sergeant has anything else to say.
“Stupid asshole. Hopefully you will die out of sex-abstinence!” The sergeant muttered under his breath as he also turned to walk back to the Colonel’s office.
Driving through the desert of New Mexico, Cavitt let his thoughts wander. Sheridan, or Dan what he preferred to be called by his friends and family was thinking about said family. In particular his older sister Sam (Samantha) who was living near Tuscon and who he wanted to visit soon. Hopefully very soon.
His father, who was also in the military, died ten years ago and his mother was living in denial since then. So all he had left was Sam and even though she constantly called him Danny (he hated that), she was everything he had left of his family and he loved her deeply.
He was so involved in his thoughts about Sam and her family that he didn’t notice the sudden curve that appeared in front of him.
He did, however, notice that the jeep was racing towards the cliff of the, probably only, hill and that he could do nothing else than try to jump out of the jeep before it crashed.
In Roswell
Rosemary Drakan carefully walked down the stairs to look into the hall downstairs.
‘Damn, they are still here! Looks like I have to do something drastic!’ Walking back quietly, Rosemary thought about what to do.
Ever since Carver left three days ago, she was watched by some guys of the military. They didn’t even try to be subtle. Where ever she went, she could see them walking behind her or on the other sidewalk. Someone probably thought that one of the guys she spent some nights with told her some ‘top secret’ that she shouldn’t know.
Hell, the only thing that should stay ‘top secret’ and that those losers she spent the nights with could tell her, was that they sucked in bed. Well, most of them did. And since Valenti (one of the losers) said something about Carver being a problem, she had the sneaking suspicion that she was most likely to become a problem for the military too – since she ‘knew’ many of the soldiers intimately.
So, she decided to take matters in her hands.
She quickly dialed a number that she knew by heart.
“Hello?” “Mr. Smith, this is Rosemary Drakan. There are some ... problems here and I need it sooner than I thought. Is it possible to already get it today?”
“Today? That will mean that it will cost more Miss. And that it probably won’t look as perfect as ..:”
“I don’t care about the prize, my ex-husbands left me enough money. As long as it will work I don’t care, I just need it today!”
“Okay, you’ll get it. Lets meet Mr. Brack in the evening. Eight o’clock, at the soap factory?”
“Eight sounds good, Mr. Smith. Uh, you wouldn’t be able to arrange a drive for me?”
“A drive? In such a short time? That’s impossible!”
Rolling her eyes, Rosemary said in a small voice, “Please, Mr. Smith. You are my only hope! You know how hard it is for a woman to travel save these days.”
Hearing the defeated sigh on the other end of the phone, she grinned. Men are so easy!
“Okay Miss Drakan. I’ll arrange someone who will treat you like a lady. Just ... don’t expect too much.”
“I won’t. And thank you Mr. Smith!” The last she said in a husky voice that send most men into their dirty little fantasy land. Putting the phone away, she quickly walked into her bedroom and began packing.
Outside Roswell
Looking at the burning jeep, Dan couldn’t help but grin at his unbelievingly luck.
‘YES! Thank you god. That’s perfect. Now I just have to quicken my plans and everything will be perfect.’ He quickly threw his jacket into the fire, together with a piece of his bloody trousers and some hairs.
‘That should be enough to fake my death.’ he thought while walking away from the car wrack after it exploded, ignoring the slight sting in his left leg where the stones had cut deep into his flesh and left a bleeding wound.
Taking the newest military phone, that he was able to save from the flames, he quickly dialed a number that he knew by heart. (AN: The military probably didn’t have such phones, but in my story they have)
“Mr. Smith? It’s Sheridan Cavitt. There has something happened that changed my plans a bit. I need it already today!”
“Today? Mr. Cavitt that’s very short notice. I can’t guarantee that it’s possible, I’ll ask Mr. Brack but I am just the contact person and ...”
Dan sighed in frustration.
‘As if the military wasn’t complicated enough!’ Interrupting Mr. Smith, he told him, “I don’t care about the prize as long as I get it today and as long as it will work! Oh, I want a car too! Mine ...” he looked briefly back to the wrack, “ ... has some problems with the motor.”
“A car too? That will cost more, but since you said that money is no problem. Uh, would you mind if someone else is driving with you?”
Dan frowned at that. “Someone else? Someone I know? Or who knows me?”
“Yeah, you probably ... know each other, but she is in the same situation as you are – so, I am sure it will work out. Besides, I probably won’t be getting another drive for you.”
Dan thought quickly.
‘A woman? Hm, could get interesting, even though I doubt that she is in the same situation I am in.’ He chuckled a bit at that.
‘No, definitely not in the same situation!’
“Mr. Cavitt? Are you still there?”
“Yes, I am still here Mr. Smith. Okay, I’ll take the lady with me – just tell Mr. Brack to be finished today!”
“Yes, sir. That will be arranged. Meet him at eight o’clock at the soap factory.”
“Sure, no problem. And thanks Smith! I owe you.”
‘Way too much money’ Dan thought to himself.
“Mr. Cavitt, please promise me to be nice to the woman you will travel with. You know how the times are and that women have ..”
“Don’t worry Smith – I will behave.” With that Dan ended the call.
‘Hm, they will probably notice the car in one or two hours, that should give me enough time. It’s good that I already packed everything.’ He dialed another number and waited for a few moments before speaking. “Hey Sam, it’s Dan. I have some good news ...”
Part 2
“Where the heck is he?” Rosemary muttered quietly to herself. “It’s almost eight and he isn’t here yet. And men always say that *I* am late! I hope he hasn’t forgotten or something else ...”
Hearing someone approaching, she quickly ducked into the shadows, unsure who was coming. Looking at the newcomer, she saw that it wasn’t Brack. Brack was old and as broad as he was tall (and he really wasn’t tall), but this guy was tall and slim, even a bit lanky.
“Cavitt?”, Rosemary said in surprise when she saw his face.
The other officers mentioned him once or twice during the little conversations she had with them. They didn’t talk very nicely about him, saying that he was an ass who’s only interested in his career. Personally, Rosemary thought that he didn’t look that bad, when you put aside his thin frame, but she hadn’t had the chance to get ‘to know him better’. Only met him twice and then he was always polite but also very distant and closed off – not showing the interest and lust all the other men did. But, it can’t be Cavitt. She had heard that ...
Having heard someone saying his name, Dan turned towards the mysterious, female voice. “Hello? Who is there?”
Out of instinct, his hand wandered to his revolver that he had hidden underneath his jacket. Seeing a figure stepping out of the shadows, he asked, “Who are you? And what are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same, Captain Cavitt, couldn’t I? Especially since you died this afternoon!”
Dan smiled a bit at the last. “News travel far. You still haven’t answered my question. Who are you?”
Seeing the woman now in the last sunlight of the day he recognized her. Barely, since her normally long blonde hair was now barely touching her shoulders and a nice shade of chestnut brown.
“Miss Drakan? What are you doing here?”
‘Oh man, she looks so beautiful in that red dress! … Damn it! Stop that Dan. You don’t have the time to think something like that! She is just a woman!’ ‘Yeah, a woman you have been lusting after for almost a year!’ a little voice in his head said evilly.
‘Shut up voice!’
“I am just waiting for someone. And you Captain, waiting for God or one of his angels?” Seeing his confused look, Rosemary explained, “Well, I heard that you were killed in a car accident today.”
Smiling a bit at that Dan said, “Really? Well, things are not always what they seem Miss Drakan.”
Rosemary smiled at that.
‘If he only knew how right he is.’ Hearing a car approaching, she turned around. “Finally!” She said in relief.
‘Finally? What the heck does she mean with ‘finally’? It can’t be her, who ...’
“Miss Drakan?” Rosemary turned back to Cavitt with a raised eyebrow. “Could it be possible that you are also waiting for Mr. Brack?” Dan asked, not sure if he would prefer a yes or a no.
“Yes I am. Why? You too?” Rosemary asked unbelievingly.
‘Don’t tell me that he is the ‘gentleman’ Mr. Smith was talking about. Well, if he thinks that I am an easy lay then he better has another thought coming! Rosemary Drakan and everything she used to do will stop to exist in a few minutes, so he better gets used to that!’
With that thought in mind, Rosemary turned back to Brack, trying to ignore Dan’s presence.
‘Great, great, great, that’s just great!’ Dan thought miserably.
‘It would have been bad to travel with any woman, but traveling with the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and wanted is ... is just cruel!’ He also turned his attention to Brack, but couldn’t help notice how great Rosemary looked in that simple dress.
‘Yeah, this will be a very long trip.’ He thought again.
Dan was attracted to her, he maybe even loved her – even though he never talked with her. But that didn’t mean that he would try something! No, he would be strong and not let her distract him!
‘I think she already did distract you buddy!’, the nasty voice in his mind said again. Okay, then he wouldn’t let her distract him much more than she already did. Or he would at least try to not be distracted too much.
‘Yeah, trying sounds good!’ Dan thought with a smile, not noticing that he had been staring at Rosemary Drakan for two minutes now, instead of listening to Brack who was already talking.
“Hello. I suppose you two are the ones Smith was talking about? The ones who wanted to get out of town immediately?”
Rosemary looked at Dan, who seemed to be lost in his own world and turned to Brack. “Yes, that’s us. Do you have everything?”
“Well Miss, that depends if you have something for me!”
Sighing Rosemary reached into her purse and took the money out, showing it to Brack but not giving it to him yet. Brack nodded with a false smile and turned to Dan. “And you buddy? Where’s your money? Or do dead people travel without money?”
Grinning at Brack, Dan also showed him the money. “Normally we travel without money, but for you, the devil allowed me to make an exception.”, Dan told him sweetly, enjoying the glare on the other man’s face.
“Oookay, you two.” Brack said slowly, still glaring at a smirking Dan.
He reached into his bag and took two bundles of several papers out of it. “Your new ID’s, birth and school certificates and everything else a person needs to not raise suspicion about who he, or she, is.”
After a short glance at each other, Rosemary and Dan gave Brack the money. He quickly looked through it and grinned. “I like it when people don’t try to fool me.”
Giving Dan one bundle of papers he said, “Welcome in this world Mr. Alex Manes.” Turning to Isabel he gave her the other bundle, saying, “And you Mrs. Isabel Manes.”
“WHAT?” both Dan (or Alex) and Rosemary (or Isabel) shouted at a surprised Brack.
“What do you mean with ‘Mr. and Mrs. Manes’? Is this some kind of sick joke?” Dan angrily asked Brack.
“A joke? What do you mean kid?”, Brack asked clueless.
“What he wants to know,” Rosemary said also in fury, “is why you gave us new identities that say that we are married!”
The last word was shouted so loud at Brack, that even Dan took a step back in surprise.
‘Whoa, what a woman. She definitely knows what she wants! … God Cavitt, stop that kind of thinking!’
Dan chided himself for those thoughts, but still kept glaring at Brack – who resembled a frightened kid that was facing the monsters from underneath his bed.
“Well? Are you going to explain?” Rosemary asked taking a step towards Brack – who stepped promptly two back.
“But, but ... aren’t you ...” Brack said, slowly getting angry himself, “aren’t you two the young couple who wants to leave the town with false papers that say that they are married?”
“NO!” Rosemary shouted at him, looking ready to kill Brack if he said something wrong.
Slowly gaining his composure again, Brack shrugged, “I am sorry to hear that, but those are the only ID’s I have today. New ones would take several days and at least you” he said turning to Sheridan, “aren’t having time to wait for them.”
Looking at Rosemary again, he told her calmly, “You can wait a few days if you want and I make you a new one. It would cost something of course and Smith told me that you sounded very desperate at the phone, so I am not sure if you have time to wait either. So, do you want me to make new ones?”
‘Damn. Damn. Damn.’ Dan thought frustrated.
‘I don’t have time for new papers! They already think I am dead, that’s the perfect opportunity. I have no other choice. I wonder what she will do.’ He thought glancing at Rosemary who was lost in her thoughts.
‘Damn that stupid Smith!’ She thought angrily.
‘If I ever meet him again .. he’ll wish that he never heard of me! I have no choice than to take this identity, if I don’t than they’ll see that I colored my hair and they’ll realize that I have planned something. They would watch me closer than they are doing now!’
She looked at Dan for a moment.
‘It could be worse. Cavitt I can easily handle. And it’s better than to travel alone anyway. Ah, what the heck!’
She turned back to Brack who was waiting patiently for an answer.
“Okay, I’ll take these papers. But please, hit Smith for me! Hard.”
Nodding, Brack turned to Cavitt with a raised eyebrow. Sighing Dan also nodded, “You heard the lady. I’ll take them too.”
Smirking Brack motioned backwards, “Your car is waiting there for you. It’s the best that I could get.”
He turned and started to walk away but after a few moments he called back over his shoulder, “Have fun on your honeymoon!”
Dan and Rosemary could hear him laughing for minutes.
After a while of just standing there and starring at the car, Dan took his bags and asked Rosemary while already walking towards the car.
“Well, ‘Isabel’, ready to go,
honey?”
He choose to ignore the insults she was shouting after him.
Part 3
They were driving for almost an hour now, neither saying a word. They were both lost in thoughts about their future and this unexpected turn of events that left them married, neither was sure how to go on from their current situation.
“Why did you fake your death?” Rosemary asked finally, not able to take the silence anymore.
Dan looked briefly over to her, judging how much he could tell her. Finally, he decided for the safest, most distinct, possibility, “Why should I tell you?”
“Well, when you tell me, then I am going to tell you too! Besides, I am curious about the secrets my ‘husband’ is hiding from me.” Rosemary said with a frustrated sigh.
“Yeah, sure.” was his only reply.
‘What else can I do?’ She asked herself irritated.
‘Every other man would already be a puddle of drool, why not him? What makes him so different from the others?’ She knew that he wasn’t gay – even though she suspected it at first, but the way he looked at her from time to time to her told her that he wasn’t. The only problem was, that she had no idea how to handle him. He was interested in her (who wasn’t?), but he didn’t fall for any of her female tricks (like the eye bashing, the sultry looks that only lasted for a second, …) or anything else she had, casually of course, tried in the last hour. It was frustrating. Not that she wanted him, oh no! It was just that ... it was just very frustrating! That’s all! Right!
“Okay, what about this: I tell you why I am leaving and then you tell me in return why you are.”, Rosemary tried.
After another short look, Dan nodded, “Sounds good to me.”
Rosemary grinned at him, “Great!”
Taking a deep breath, Dan quickly looked back at the street.
‘She better stops smiling at me like that if she wants the car to stay on the street. God, she has a great smile, no, a dangerous smile.’ He smirked a bit at that thought.
‘Yeah, dangerous is the perfect description.’
“Well, Rosemary, start your story!” Dan told her smiling. Then he frowned. “Or should I say Isabel? I mean, should we practice our new names in case we meet someone or should we stick to our old names?, he asked unsure.
Rosemary frowned as well. “I am not sure. If we call us Alex and Isabel, it will be strange.”
’Especially since we’d be married.’ “It would be easier to call us by our real names, but if we don’t use the new ones, we might not be able to react on them when someone says them. I guess it is the new ones then. What do you think ... Alex?”
She looked over at him for a moment and looked away almost immediately.
‘He looks really good with the sunset shining at him in that angle. A dangerous sort of good looking! Yeah, dangerous is the perfect description. Not to mention a strange one since he isn’t looking as ... well, jock like than all the other men I used to date. Ah, stop that Rosemary … I mean … Isabel! God this will be one hell of a trip!’
After thinking about her question for a moment, he shrugged, “I guess you’re right Rose..., I mean Isabel. So, didn’t you promise me a story?”
Taking a breath, Rosemary – now known as Isabel – began, “Well, after Hal left four days ago, because of this crash of a ...”
“Weather balloon.” Dan/Alex said automatically.
Isabel looked at him, “Was it really just a weather balloon?”
Dan merely said, “Yes!” which earned him a suspicious look from the beauty next to him.
‘I am so not buying this weather balloon story.’ Isabel thought to herself.
“Anyway,” she continued, “after he left I was watched constantly by some soldiers.” Seeing Alex nod at that, she said certainly, “You knew about this – me being watched, didn’t you?”
Alex just nodded.
“Why? Why did you watch me? What was the point of it?” Isabel asked angry.
‘Why am I even surprised? I should have known from the beginning that he knew about it. Hell, he could be here to just to keep an eye on me. Great Rosemary, you try to get away from them and what happens? They are still after you! Just great girl! Maybe this saying about stupid blondes ...’
Isabel’s thoughts were interrupted by Dan’s answer. “I don’t know why you were watched – no one told me and I didn’t ask about it. It’s probably because you ...”, he hesitated for a moment before going on, “... know so many from the military. They were probably afraid that an officer told you some top secret information.”
He shrugged. “At least that’s what I think.”
“Top secret information?” Isabel echoed. “Like information about certain weather balloons?” She asked sweetly, clearly showing that she didn’t buy the story about the balloon.
“For example.” Dan told her after shooting her an angry glare.
‘Damn, why doesn’t she just drop it?’ Sighing, he asked, “So, you are going to visit your family now?”
“No. I don’t even know my father – I doubt my mother does.” Isabel explained bitterly. “And I left home when I was seventeen. I am sure that my Mom was glad when I was gone.”
Alex glanced at her. “Sorry for bringing it up.”
Isabel just shook her head. “Don’t be. I accepted that all years ago. So, I am just going to Tucson and stay there for a while and then I’ll move to LA and try to get some money. Any ideas how I could manage that, Captain?”
The last was said in light tone, trying to show that she really didn’t care about her family.
“Modeling.” Alex said way faster than he wanted to.
Isabel raised an eyebrow at him. “Modeling? Hm, always thought about becoming an actress but I guess being a model is easier – no text to learn, just smiling. On the other side, I really don’t want to be the object of dirty soldier fantasies anymore!”
Looking over at Alex, she quickly added, “Sorry, didn’t want to offend you.”
Alex just smiled at her. “No problem, I am not in the military anymore.”
Come to think of it, Alex realized that he also didn’t want her to be in the dirty dreams of some soldiers. He shook his head slightly, trying to get over this jealous feeling that came up from nowhere.
“By speaking of that,” Isabel said, “why did you fake your death?”
“Are you already finished with your story Isabel? It’s somehow hard to believe that just because you were watched you were doing all this.” Alex told her in return.
“Stop changing the topic Alex! I told you my story now you’ll tell me yours, because that’s exactly the reason why I left. I would have left Roswell anyway, this just made me act a little quicker. And before you ask why I would have left, I wanted to start a new life because I didn’t like being Rosemary Drakan, girlfriend of every soldier anymore. Now, it is your turn!”, Isabel told him angrily.
‘Who does he think he is? Letting me tell him my secret and then thinking that he won’t have to tell his! Men!’
Alex looked at her briefly, sighing inwardly. “Revenge.”, he said simply.
Isabel looked expectantly at him but when he didn’t say a word for more than two minutes, she asked a bit confused. “And? Would you care to explain what revenge has to do with faking your death?”
Alex let his gaze drift over his surroundings, debating with himself whether he should tell her or not.
‘Why not? Since we are already married I can tell her.’ “Okay Isabel, I’ll tell you.”
“I’d think so!”, she said satisfied, but shutting up quickly when she saw Alex’s look.
“My father was in the army and I had actually no intention of becoming a soldier or let alone an officer in the military. My father died in the second World War seven years ago. He didn’t want to fight since he didn’t want to leave his family alone. You see my parents had a small farm and we barely had enough to live – but it was enough. Anyway, when he left to fight in Europe, my Mom had to sell parts of the farm, so she, my sister and I could live. It was a hard time, but we all thought that it would be better when Dad came back.”
Alex swallowed hard before continuing. “Well, he didn’t come back. He died four months after he left. Samantha, that’s my sister, and I were heartbroken and my Mom … she denied it. She didn’t want to believe it, so in her mind Dad still lived. She was always talking about how happy Dad would be when he came back to us again and how great life would be then.”
Alex stopped for a few moments, gathering his thoughts before continuing and ignoring Isabel’s sympathetic look.
“About six weeks after we heard about Dad’s death, some military people came to our farm. Colonel Cassidy was one of them – I guess, he was too much a coward to fight, so he stayed home. They told us that the military was needing money and people so they sold
‘our’ land and now we had to leave ‘cause it didn’t belong to us anymore.
They put Mom into a mental hospital cause she really stopped living in the real world then and started to believe that Dad was already back and that we are living happily together. That’s when I decided that I wanted revenge from the military, because I thought – and still do, that they destroyed my family. While Sam went with her boyfriend – now husband, to Tucson , I joined the military. I worked hard, doing whatever was necessary to become a high officer, because only as such I could do what I had planned.”
There was a brief silence in the car before Isabel asked, “What was your plan?”
Alex motioned to the backseat. “Look into the brown suitcase.”
Reaching back, Isabel pulled the suitcase to her, opening it.
“Oh my God!”, she gasped out when she saw what was in it. “That’s ... that’s ...”, Isabel was still too stunned to actually get out a real sentence.
“One hundred and forty thousand US dollars!” Alex grinned at her. “Stolen from the army, to be exact.”
He waited for a response from Isabel and when he got none – she was still staring shocked at the money and at him, he continued, “Well, my family needed money back then more than anything, so I thought stealing it from the army. Knowing that I need a high rank to be able to get the money, I did everything to get one. I decided then that one hundred and fifty thousand dollars would be enough and even though I could have taken more, I stuck to my old plan.”
He looked at her expectantly, a bit proud and shy at the same time – which Isabel found absolutely cute, even though she would rather die than admit that.
“That’s why you were in the army? To steal money?” Isabel asked unbelievingly.
“Yeah.” Alex said blushing slightly.
Isabel just nodded.
‘Wow, he definitely knows what he wants. Cute, he is blushing. Who would have thought that someone as smart as him is shy? Argh! Stop that Rosemary ... I mean Isabel! He is dangerous – he just proofed it, so don’t think about him as cute!’
“So,” she said, trying to sound casual, “that’s why you faked your death? Because of the money? How long have you planned this?”
‘I can’t believe that I have so much money in my lap.’
Then another thought struck Isabel. “Wait a minute! You said that you stole one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, but before you said that this are one hundred and forty thousand dollars. What happened to the other ten thousand dollars?”
“That’s a lot of questions! Okay, lets answer them: Yes, I faked my death because of the money. I already have it for almost ten days. It will probably take another month before they notice that it is missing. My original plan was to just leave in a week when I was supposed to travel to Washington because of ...” he stopped for a moment, “... some problems. But well, today my jeep crashed and exploded so I thought: Dan, that’s perfect. Let them think you died.
And about the missing ten thousand dollars, well the new identity cost a little bit, especially since I wanted it sooner and the rest of the money .... Well, I gave it someone else who had to leave the military.”
“Oh,” was Isabel’s first response, then after a moment, “wait, to someone who also had to leave? Did you give it ... Hal?” She asked him disbelieving.
“Yeah, even though he doesn’t know that it’s from me. He got it a long with a letter from an “anonymous friend”. It is enough so he can make a fresh start I think.” Feeling a bit nervous under Isabel’s gaze, he shifted a bit. “What?”
“Well, Hal told me that he can’t stand you.” Isabel told him.
“Well, the feeling is returned, but he was just used as a pawn and it reminded me of my father, so ...” Alex trailed off. “Look, we can talk about anything else tomorrow. I am tired and I think I found us a place to stay this night. So, what do you say? Lets end this absolutely strange day?”
“Yeah, sounds good to me.” Isabel replied and looked up at the stars, hoping that she made the right decision.
Part 4
Alex slowly opened his eyes, blinking as the sunrays hit his eyes. Rolling onto his side, he was surprised for a moment to find himself on the floor.
‘Where the heck am I?’, he wondered before he remembered last night.
Flashback
“But ... but that’s a ... a hut!” Isabel cried in disgust. “You can’t be serious and want to stay here!”
Alex sighed tiredly, he knew that she wouldn’t like their first
‘Honeymoon Suite’. “Listen Isabel,” he started carefully, “we can’t go into a motel or something. We are still too close to Roswell, someone might recognize us. And this would be bad for both of us, wouldn’t it? So, please, it is just for one night – tomorrow we are miles away from Roswell and can take a motel.”
He looked hopefully at the pacing woman.
“Only for one night?”, she asked surrendering.
Alex nodded smiling.
“Good”, Isabel said, “I’ll take the bed!”
She marched towards the only other room in the small hut and stopped before opening the door. Turning around, she said icily, “Alone!”, lookinf at Alex who had been following her.
He looked a bit confused at her hostile tone, before he realized what she thought. “Oh! No, no, I was just looking if there is any food in here and maybe some extra pillows and blankets!” He explained quickly while motioning at the closet on the wall.
“Good!”, Isabel said before closing the door in front of his face. And that was the last he saw from her.
Present Time
Alex didn’t sleep very well that night.
Not only because the wood floor was a very hard one, but also because he had been hearing Isabel wandering around in her room for a few minutes. It isn’t very easy to fall asleep when you imagine what the person in the next room – who happens to be your wife! – is looking like in her nightgown.
No, Alex didn’t have a good night.
He closed his eyes again, just for a few minutes he thought, when someone was suddenly hammering against the door. Jumping up, he quickly reached for his revolver. Smoothing the wrinkles on his shirt a bit, he put the revolver under it, so he could reach it quickly, if necessary.
Walking to the door, he took a calm breath before opening it and almost getting hit in the face. Almost, because he was able to duck his head before the man outside could hit him.
“Sorry pal,” the stranger mumbled, “I just wanted to knock again when your face appeared.”
Alex nodded slowly. “Knock? More like break through the door.”, Alex said a little pissed.
“Well, that wouldn’t have been necessary if I knew who you are and what you are doing here!”, the stranger asked challenging. “Well, who are you and why are you here? This hut belongs to my neighbor and he never lets strangers in!”
Alex paled a bit. “Well, uh, you see that ...”
The other man nodded slowly and dangerously. “I see what? I tell you what I see! I see a man here in my neighbor’s hut, a man I never saw before and who is not looking very trustworthy! So, ...” he made a pause for effect, “I guess I’ll just call the police!”
Alex looked panicked at that. “Wait you can’t just ...”
“Oh? And why not?” the stranger asked threatening.
Alex really didn’t know what to say or do. He didn’t want to shot the other man, hell, he never shot a person before and he didn’t want to start with someone who wasn’t armed.
He didn’t have to worry about that for long, because out of nowhere Isabel appeared beside him. A towel wrapped around her body – a very short towel to be exact.
Smiling first at Alex and then at the stranger, she asked “Honey, what’s wrong? Who’s that?”
“Uh, Isabel, ... sweetie ... that’s uh ...” Alex trailed off, looking at the man questioning.
He was glad that he was able to form a, somehow, full sentence, he had problems thinking coherently. He could barely focus on something else than the smell of her soap and her body so close to his. His eyes constantly flickered between Isabel and the stranger, always resting a bit too long on Isabel.
“Uh, my name is ... Curtis Johnson. Nice to meet you, Ma’am.”, the stranger said, also totally swept off his feet by the beauty in front of him.
“Do you own this place Mr. Johnson?”, Isabel asked smiling, since Alex obviously lost his ability to speak.
‘Yep, definitely not gay’, she thought after flashing her
‘husband’ a quick smile that made him gulp.
“Just call me Curtis. And ... ah, no, my neighbor is the owner and that’s why I am here. Well, you see I was just asking him”, he made a vague motion in Alex’s direction, “why you are here.”
“Did you already tell him, honey?”, Isabel asked Alex and put an arm around his waist, moving closer to him.
“Uh, ... no!”, Alex said very surprised and clueless, but he couldn’t care less what she was talking about, he was faced with bigger problems at the moment: forcing his body to stay calm and smiling at both Isabel and Mr. ‘Call me Curtis’ Johnson as if everything was fine with him.
‘That jerk is already picturing her without the towel!’, Alex thought angrily. [/i]‘And he isn’t the only one!’[/i], this little evil voice in his head said malicious.
‘But he is not married to her!’, Alex snapped back, before turning his attention back to the conversation between Isabel and Johnson.
“Well, Alex and I just married yesterday!” Isabel told Curtis happily and gave Alex a quick peck on the cheek which caused Alex to go back to dreamland again.
“But our parents don’t know it yet and won’t be very happy about it. There’s something Romeo and Juliet like going on with our families.” Isabel explained and managed to look deeply sad about that ‘fact’.
Mr. Johnson nodded quickly, “I so know what you mean! I just heard the story of those two a week ago.”, he said knowingly and making clear that he had absolutely no idea what “Romeo and Juliet” was about.
“Anyway,” Isabel said after a second of silence, “we two decided to drive away for awhile and since there wasn’t a motel anywhere that we could afford we two ...well, we decided to spent our honeymoon here.”
Isabel beamed up at Alex, who looked just as surprised as Johnson did. He recovered quickly after Isabel hit him discreetly on the head. “Uh, yeah. That’s why we are here.” He quickly told Johnson. “We will be gone in a few hours again. No one will notice that we were here!”
“Oh, no problem. I am really sorry that I interrupted you two.” Johnson said understandingly.
Then he frowned when he saw the blankets on the floor where Alex spent the night, he raised his eyebrows at Alex.
“Uh, well, it was worth a try.” Alex said quickly, grinning and blushing a bit.
Sighing Isabel said, “Well, it was nice to meet you Mr. Johnson, but if you would excuse us now. Good bye.”
With that she walked back into the hut towards the bedroom.
Alex just stared at her smiling, before turning back to Johnson and frowning at the older man who was looking in the direction Isabel just disappeared with open lust.
Blocking Johnson’s view, Alex said, “We’ll be gone in one or two hours. It would be nice if you tell no one of us – her parents are probably already searching for us.”
“Sure, no problem!” Johnson said grinning. “Goodbye and ...” he grinned a bit more, “have fun!”
Alex face darkened a bit more. “We will, thank you!” With that he slammed the door shut.
Part 5
Alex sighed and turned away from the door, seeing Isabel come back into the room – dressed again.
‘Damn!’, Alex thought,
‘I hoped that she would still be in the towel when I get back and .... argh! Stop that Da ... Alex!!’ He smiled briefly at Isabel, “That was a really good idea, Isabel.”
Isabel glared at him for a moment, then said with a frustrated sigh, “It was not a great idea. It was the truth!”
When they looked at each other awkwardly, she quickly added, “Sort of. But ... what was wrong with you? You were just standing there, your mouth open,”, Isabel forced herself to hide the smirk on her face at that thought
‘He was definitely not staring at the stranger’, turning back to Alex, she continued, “you were looking like a complete fool!”
“And I hoped that I was only acting like one!”, Alex said teasingly.
Seeing her smile at that, he couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face. “I think the guy believed you more than he would have believed me anyway; since he couldn’t stop himself from staring at your ... lips.”
‘Next to other body parts’, Alex thought darkly.
Isabel just shrugged, used to such behavior. “Well, at least he seemed to buy the story. Ready for breakfast?”
With that she sat down and looked over the only food the found in the hut –conserved food.
Deciding that she wasn’t very hungry, she asked, “What have you planned with all the money? Buying a farm?”
Chuckling, Alex sat down next to her, “God, no! Anything but a farm – I never liked living on a farm truth to be told. No, I was thinking of giving it to my sister.”
Noticing Isabel’s unbelieving look, he smiled at her, “Yeah, really. She and her husband Logan own a small café/club and I thought that I could investigate the money and then maybe, there could be bands playing in there every night, things like that.”, he shrugged a bit insecure, for the first time telling his thoughts someone else than his sister.
“Do you think it won’t work?”, he asked when Isabel didn’t say a thing.
“Oh, uh, I am sure it will work.” Isabel said caught by surprise.
She hadn’t really noticed that he had stopped speaking, since she was, for some strange reason, totally lost in his eyes. Trying to gain her composure again, she added,
“I am not an expert in those things, but I think with the right atmosphere and maybe some pool tables and with talented bands, ... yeah, I think it could work.”
“Great.” Alex grinned at her and failed to notice how nervous Isabel was under his intense gaze.
“If you ever need a job, I am sure there will be something for you to do in the club.”, he said, also deciding that he wasn’t very hungry.
“As a waitress?”, Isabel asked unbelievingly and somewhat arrogant.
“Oh no!”, Alex said, thinking quickly “I was more thinking of someone who announces the next band, helping with the organizing, ... such things.”
“Oh.”, Isabel said blushing and sorry for what she said.
They were both quiet for a few minutes.
“You think that they will search for me?”
The question hung in the air, both knowing who Isabel meant.
“Yeah, I think they will.” Alex answered finally, “But they won’t be searching long, I guess. They have bigger problems at the moment.”
“Bigger problems?”, Isabel echoed.
Realizing that he maybe said to much, Alex quickly said, “Yeah, well, first of all there are the newspapers which are all saying something like “Oh my god! Invasion of the mean Aliens” and then, a great young officer called Cavitt died yesterday!”, he finished with a cheeky grin.
“I guess you are right.”, Isabel said, looking at the table.
‘God! Does he have to look at me like that?’, she thought irritated to herself, having no clue why she was attracted to him.
‘Well, maybe his eyes, or his cute smile and ... god! Stop that Rosemary! ... I mean Isabel! You aren’t going to lust over Sheridan Cavitt! well, Alex Manes who just happens to be your husband and ... GOD, girl get a grip! You act as if you’ve never been married before!’
With that thought in mind, she abruptly stood up and went over to one of her suitcases.
“Are you already finished with breakfast? We should really get away from here quick.”, she told him over her shoulder as she was searching for her white scarf.
Shoving the awful food away from him, Alex stood up too. “Yeah, you are right. Lets just tidy this place up a bit before we leave. I am sure we can stop somewhere to buy some food.”
Half an hour later, they were leaving. As Alex put their things into the car, Isabel said, “Since we are already stopping to get food, I’ll take the opportunity and shop a bit.”
“No, you won’t!”, Alex stated calmly as he put Isabel’s last suitcase in the trunk.
“Pardon me?”, Isabel snapped. “I need some clothes!”
“You need clothes? Isabel, you have four suitcases. Four! I have only one and the bag with the money. So, why would you need new clothes?” Alex asked irritated.
Isabel sighed in exasperation, “Because I am a woman!”, she calmly, seeing Alex questioning look, she added, “Women always need more clothes than men. For you, it is okay to wear the same clothes three days a week, but women ... it’s just not possible for us.”
Alex stared at her totally confused. He was still trying to find any kind of logic in what Isabel just said and was totally surprised by Isabel’s next words. “Alex, kiss me!”, she practically demanded and quickly put her arms around his neck.
“Wh...what? K...kiss you?” he managed to get out, his eyes widening and his brain obviously not working anymore. It just had to stop working, because this beautiful woman would surely not ask him out of nowhere to kiss him. Yeah, his brain stopped working! That was the only explanation. Satisfied with his conclusion, he was quite surprised to hear Isabel’s voice again.
“Curtis is still here and watching us with open curiosity. And for a newly wed couple who just had their honeymoon, it seems logical to kiss.”, Isabel explained, hoping that she wasn’t blushing at her stupid explanation, her eyes constantly flickering to Curtis Johnson.
Realizing that Alex wasn’t going to kiss her – which she really couldn’t understand – she decided to take matters in her hands. Pulling her body closer to his, she held his head in her hands and gave him a deep, slow kiss.
Alex completely stiffened for a moment, before he started to act on instinct and put his arms around her waist and hold her tightly.
After a few minutes, they broke apart, panting heavily. They looked at each other confused and surprised.
Noticing Curtis’ grin, Isabel whispered in Alex ear, “I think he is convinced. We better leave now.”
Still unable to talk, Alex just nodded. Turning away from Alex, Isabel walked to the driver’s seat, casually saying, “Oh Alex, I definitely will go shopping!”.
Alex cleared his throat before answering, “Yeah ... sure ... no ... problem.” A bit dazed, he walked over to the passenger’s seat.
‘This is going to be a very interesting trip.’, Isabel said to herself with a satisfied smirk as she started the car, while Alex looked out the window, still trying to comprehend what just happened.
Part 6
Alex stared at the street as he was driving away from Fair Oaks.
‘How did she manage to talk me into letting her shop and me going with her?’, he asked himself.
‘Well, maybe the kiss had something to do with it!’, a certain nasty voice in his head whispered.
‘Probably, but still ... spending almost two hundred dollars on clothes! I don’t get it.’ Again, the voice had to say something,
‘At least she bought you a nice blue shirt.’
Alex grinned a bit at that as he remembered Isabel’s words, “Alex you have to buy it! You look absolutely hands... er, good in it.”
‘She even blushed a bit’, he thought still grinning.
“I am impressed.” Isabel stated after looking through the things Alex had bought. “You have to be the only man I know who knows how to buy good food.” She smiled a bit at him, liking how good he looked in the blue shirt she had bought him. Okay, so he had paid for it, but it was still her idea.
“Thanks for the compliment Mrs. Manes.” Alex gave her a cheeky grin. “I have to admit that I am also impressed. I’ve never seen someone who managed to make a shop assistant cry because of a blouse.”
“She didn’t cry! Besides, is it my fault if she doesn’t know the difference between purple and red?” Isabel defended herself, not believing that he was still teasing her with that, since it happened at the beginning of their shopping trip – almost four hours ago.
“Okay, so she didn’t cry. But I am still impressed. You have to be the only person I know who can shop for over three hours with so much energy and enthusiasm! Not to mention, the money you spent on the things!”
“Oh please, you can afford the money! Besides, the skirt and the camisole are a ‘must-have’.” Isabel told him, smirking when she noticed Alex’s blush when she mentioned the camisole.
‘Yeah, the camisole is really ... nice.’ Alex thought, even though he was still a bit shocked that Isabel had dragged him into the lingerie section of the department store. He had been blushing the whole 40 minutes he was in there, and all the giggling women hadn’t been helping him gaining his coolness again either.
Noticing that Isabel was smirking at him, he told her, “Hey! That was not funny in there! I am a man, I am not supposed to be in such a store! Especially not when my wife is trying different ... uh, outfits and asking the other women there if her husband would approve of it! And god, I don’t even want to know what you were talking with them when I wasn’t listening!”
Isabel couldn’t hold back anymore and started to giggle, “Oh, trust me, you really don’t want to know what we talked about you.” Seeing his look, she explained, “Well, it’s not often that the husband is coming with his wife, looking like a tomato.”
Hearing Alex groan at her words only made her laugh louder.
‘He’s too cute.’, she thought. “Don’t worry Alex, the ladies and I were just talking about how long we are married and they said that we make a very cute couple. That’s all. We didn’t make any jokes about your masculinity or so.”
“Now I am really soothed.” Alex said shaking his head in mock horror, grinning a bit.
‘A cute couple? Cool!’
They drove in a comfortable silence for an hour before Isabel asked, “So Alex, what did you do when you were a little kid? I mean aside from planning your complot against the army.”
“Nothing special, I guess.”, Alex replied. “Helping with the farm, going to school, trying to get good grades – so I could have a chance for achieving my evil plans. Oh, and of course, I tried to stay away from the mean children.”
“Mean children?”, Isabel asked confused.
“You know, staying away from the big bully guys with small brains, who always beat up the smaller scrawny ones. That was a hard job: either you make their homework and try to stay out of their way, or you are beaten up almost every day.”
“That really sucks.”, Isabel said, once again glad that she wasn’t male.
“It got worse after Dad died and Mom started to live in another world. For some reason, that made the others attack me even more.” Alex said casually.
“What? They didn’t leave you alone? Instead they started to beat you up more? That’s ... that’s cruel!” Isabel said shocked and angrily.
Alex just shrugged.
“The world, and especially children can be very cruel, even though children often don’t know it better. Of course, back then, I thought the whole world had something against me and that I am getting punished for something. Thinking back now, I realize that they were just as scared as I was, they were just showing it differently. I mean, many of their fathers were in the army too and the fact that mine died must really have scared them a lot. In beating me up, they probably just tried to hide their own fears.”
“I can’t believe that you are defending them!” Isabel said surprised. “After all they did to you.”
“True. But that also gave me more determination for fulfilling my plan of revenge. I mean, I was very angry at them back then, but I also realized that I couldn’t best them in an open fight. I had to strategize if I wanted payback. So, I just let the girls know how small their ... best friends are. Come to think of it, I don’t think that the guys had many dates back then.” Alex told Isabel, trying to lighten the mood after his serious monologue.
“Oh my god!”, Isabel laughed, “You didn’t?”
Seeing Alex nod, she laughed harder. “That was a great idea! But why didn’t the boys beat you up because of those stories?”
“Because I didn’t tell the girls personally. When I was talking to a friend in the classroom and some girls were near, I just said something like ...
‘Jesse is the proof that big bully guys have the smallest ....’. That really worked perfect.” Alex explained, grinning at the memory.
“That’s fantastic!”, Isabel managed to get out while laughing. “Remind me to never piss you off!”
“Don’t worry, I am normally nice to women.” Alex reassured her, laughing himself. “What about your childhood memories? Anything you want to share?”
“Well, you already know that I left home early.” Isabel started, “As a child and teenager ... well, I was playing with dolls and such things. Most of the time alone, because I am a very closed off person. Always was, always will be, I suppose. My mother wasn’t there very often either, always working or out with different men, so I learned to occupy myself quite early.”
“As a teenager, I was the queen of High School, well, for the time I went to High School. I met a boy there, whom I thought I loved and loved me back. “, Isabel paused for a moment, searching for the right words, “Well, we didn’t love each other, even though he made me believe it back then. He was one of the reasons I left my home, because he was telling practically everybody about our time together and ... it just got too much.”
“Sorry. If it makes you feel better, I think the bastard would kick himself if he knew what he lost with you!”, Alex told her sincerely, smiling comfortingly at Isabel.
“Thanks, but you don’t need to say that”, Isabel told him smiling, getting a strange feeling in the stomach.
“I know. I am just saying it as I see it.” Alex told her seriously.
Smiling gratefully at him, Isabel continued quickly, “After leaving, I met my first husband, married him and after he died, I just moved on, met the next one ... I guess, that I am just trying to find real love and happiness since I didn’t have much of it as a child. But I obviously did it wrong, since I haven’t found my Mr. Right yet.”, she finished with a sigh.
“I guess that’s a part of life: having to go through some bad experiences, so that we can truly appreciate the real thing.” Alex said thoughtfully. “At least I hope it is that way. It would be very sad if it isn’t like that.”
“I hope the same.” Isabel said, looking out the window. “Hey, there’s a motel where we can stay tonight!”, she exclaimed.
“Uh, ...” Alex didn’t get further cause he was interrupted by Isabel.
“We are staying here, my dear! I am not sleeping in a hut again! There’s only so much a woman can take! And now, park the car!”, she commanded.
“Yes princess!”
Part 7
“Come on, lets go out!”, Isabel suggested, leaping up from the chair she was sitting in.
“Going out? Aren’t you tired?”, Alex asked surprised. He had been quite sure that Isabel would want to go to bed soon, since she took so much time in choosing the ‘perfect’ room.
“A little bit, but ... we are newly wed!” Isabel exclaimed, blushing a bit when she noticed Alex questioning look. “Well, young couples are supposed to go out, aren’t they?”, she tried to explain.
Alex tried, not for the first time, to find some logic in her words. “Uh, yeah, I ... guess so.”, he answered lamely.
“Great! Then, we can go! Come on, there is a bar just at the corner!” Isabel pleaded.
“Okay.” Alex sighed, knowing when he was beaten. “Lets go.” He stood up and walked to the door but was stopped by Isabel.
“Wait! I still need to change! Give me thirty minutes.” With that Isabel disappeared in ‘her’ bedroom, leaving Alex alone.
Sighing, he flopped down onto his bed – the couch.
‘First she can’t wait to get out and then she needs time! Women!’, Alex thought slightly amused, remembering the times when he was waiting for his sister to get ready. He contemplated calling her before leaving, but decided against it.
‘Tomorrow is soon enough.’ he thought.
After almost an hour, Alex already thought that she might have fallen asleep, Isabel came finally out of the bedroom again, wearing a simple, but still stunning looking red dress.
After staring at her for a few seconds, Alex managed to get out, “Wow, you look ... wow!”
Pleased with the reaction she got, Isabel smiled, “Really? I am not overdressed, aren’t I? That’s the last I would want.”
‘I knew that he would like that outfit!’, she thought satisfied.
“Don’t worry Isabel, you aren’t overdressed – I am just underdressed!”, Alex stated, self-consciously looking down at his clothes – black trousers and a green shirt.
“You look great!”, Isabel reassured him, blushing a bit when she realized what she just said. Gathering her purse, she walked to the door. “Shall we?”
Five minutes later, they entered the small bar, Isabel immediately becoming the interest of every man in it.
“Well, let the fun begin.” Isabel said, already making eye contact with two men.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea!” Alex said more harshly than he wanted.
“Oh, and why not?”, Isabel asked challenging.
“Uh, you said it yourself ‘We are newly wed’. It would be strange if you already start flirting with others.” Alex explained, trying to ignore the jealous feelings that shot through him.
Isabel scolded a bit at him and said, “Why don’t you get us some drinks while I sit down on a table over there?” She motioned to a table near the pool tables, where many young man were gathered around.
Alex glared at some men who were obviously undressing Isabel with their eyes, before turning back to her. “Okay.” he said, not glad with her choice of the table, “But remember, we aren’t in Roswell anymore. The men here, especially in a bar like this, are often not taking a ‘NO’ for an answer.”
“Don’t worry ‘Daddy’. It’s not the first time that I am in a bar.” she said annoyed, while looking at some well built guy. “Well, I really want to sit down, so ... why don’t you get the drinks now?”
With that she turned and walked to her chosen table, swaying her hips more than necessary.
Sighing, Alex went to the bar, ordering a beer for himself and a Martini for Isabel. When he got the drinks, he had to wait almost ten minutes for them, they so need another waitress he thought, he walked back to Isabel.
He was greeted by a disturbing sight: four men were harassing her. And even though he was sure that Isabel somehow encouraged them to by her flirting, the fear written over her face made his blood boil.
Walking over to the table he heard a bit of their conversation.
“Please, just leave me alone!”, Isabel said both demanding and fearful, the later more obvious.
“Oh, come on honey! Don’t act as if we are bothering you! You want us to stay.”, one of the men, tall with broad shoulders, said laughingly.
“No! Just leave!”, Isabel said again. True, she started making eye contact, but just out of boredom. She really hadn’t expected the men to take a “No” for a “Yes”. Alex was right, this really isn’t Roswell. The men are very different here.
Looking up, she was glad to see Alex coming towards her, a neutral expression on his face.
Placing the drinks on the table – and pushing two men out of his way in the act, he said calmly to the four men, “I think my wife asked you to leave!”
The four men were eyeing Alex for a few moments before bursting into laughter. They couldn’t believe that this lanky guy who was way smaller than they were, was trying to order them around!
“Well buddy,” a blond man said, “I think your wife wants to have us around! She probably just wants some real men for once. With you as husband, I can really understand that.” Laughing, the other three moved a bit closer to Alex and Isabel.
“Funny.” Alex stated dryly, noticing that the whole bar was watching them now and no one seemed to mind that the four idiots were bothering Isabel and him.
“In case you haven’t learned that yet, ‘No’ means: leave me alone, I am not interested! Or if you don’t understand ‘No’, it has the same meaning as ‘Fuck off’!” Alex told the leader of the group.
Isabel stopped breathing for a second.
’Is he crazy? They are all twice his size! They will kill him. God I so hope that we won’t get hurt.’
The little group also didn’t seem to be happy about Alex’s answer. Angrily, their leader took a bottle of beer in his left hand, saying, “Listen Buddy, all we wanted was some fun with your wife, but since you were so unfriendly, we just have to teach you a lesson! Watch my left hand!”
The stranger slowly raised the hand with the bottle and broke the bottle just by pressing his fingers together. He didn’t even seem to notice the few cuts that the glass made.
“Oh God!”, Isabel said quietly, taking a step back.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself a bit, Alex said, “That was .. uh, impressive. But now, watch my left hand!”
Alex also took a bottle of beer and raised his hand a bit, so that all four men could see it. He waved it around a bit so he could get their attention. As he raised his left hand behind his head, he swiftly kicked the man nearest to him in the groin and quickly pushed him back against two other men. He then, threw the bottle towards the fourth man, who clumsily caught it and didn’t even see Alex’s fist till it was too late.
The two men who weren’t hurt yet, got quickly up to their feet, both advancing on Alex. Alex went behind a chair, but instead of hiding behind it like the men thought he would, he threw the chair forcefully at one man and launched himself at the other one.
Since the man was very surprised by Alex’s attack, Alex quickly had him knocked out. Turning around, he realized that the only man who was left was already advancing on him again, a broken bottle in his hand.
“That’s it buddy!” the man started, “you’ve had your time, now it’s mine. I hope you have a good doctor because you wi...” his talking and moving were stopped by Isabel, who hit the man with another bottle of beer effectively on the head.
Alex looked up at Isabel, who seemed as surprised about her actions as he was. Quickly getting on his feet, Alex took Isabel by her arm and began to lead her to the exit.
“I guess it’s better if we go now, before these guys are up again or the bar owner wants us to pay for the damage.”, Alex said, noticing that everyone was staring at Isabel and him.
Still shaken by what just happened, Isabel only nodded weakly.
“Hey man! That was cool! They really needed a beating!” One man shouted at the leaving couple, clearly happy with the winners of the unfair fight.
Ignoring him, Alex guided Isabel out of the bar.
After walking half the way, he stopped and asked her, “Are you okay? Did they hurt you before I came?”
Isabel shook her head. “No, they didn’t hurt me.” She managed a half smile as she remembered who actually got hurt.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked again.
“More or less. I am a bit … shaken by what happened, but … I’ve been through similar situations before. I’ll survive!” She answered with fake enthusiasm. “Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“Well, uh …” Alex blushed a bit, “I told you that I was a geek and constantly beaten up by some jocks. Well, I realized early that my only chance I have to survive such a fight is when I use my brain a bit.”
“Like telling all the girls how smalll their … uh, brains are?” Isabel asked smiling, remembering what Alex told her.
“That too.” Alex explained, “But I also realized that I was faster and more mobile than they were, so I usually threw something at them which they could barely catch. Then I hit them once and ran away as quickly as I could. I know that it sounds lame, but it actually worked most of the time.”
After a moment of silence, Alex said, “I think we had enough small talk. How are you really feeling?”
Sighing, Isabel started to walk again. “Well, I am still a bit … shocked, I guess. I mean, it just started with a little flirting and suddenly they were cornering me and asking me to leave with all of them for some ‘fun’”
“I am sorry that I wasn’t there earlier, but … they didn’t hurt you, did they?” Alex asked quietly.
“No, no!” Isabel said. “They just scared me a bit. I guess you were right when you said that this isn’t Roswell anymore. I should have listened to you.”
Alex softly grabbed her arm. “Hey, don’t think like this.” He said, trying to calm her down. “Nothing ‘really’ bad happened after all. And you really couldn’t know how your flirting would turn out. So, don’t act as if it was your fault.”
Isabel just looked at him for a minute. “Thanks.”
Leaning forward, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Well, it was intended to be a quick kiss, but when they drew apart, they were both flushed and panting heavily.
Not knowing what to say and how this happened, they turned away from each other.
’God. What just happened here? I just wanted to give him a small thank-you-kiss, and then we are involved in a mind blowing kissing marathon.’ Isabel thought surprised.
’Hm, maybe we can do that again one day.’
Did she really just kiss me? And did I kiss her back? Kiss her pationately? That’s fantastic! Hopefully I get the chance to do that again some day!’ Alex thought to himself.
“It’s raining.” Isabel stated after a few minutes.
Looking up at the sky, he noted the drops for the first time.
“You are right.” He said matter of factly.
With that, Isabel hooked her arm through his, both running back to the motel.
