Her phone roused her from a deep morning sleep. A ray of sunlight showed the lateness of the morning as it strayed in from the window. A deep, sleepy voice on the other end of the phone said, “Good Morning, Pens fan.” She smiled to herself drowsily.
“Good Morning, Alex.”
“You no go to class?” She’d forgotten all about her class with the night’s events.
“Oh… Alex, no I didn’t get there. I… um… well, it was a long night.” She really didn’t want to tell him about last night on the phone. She’d rather tell him in person. At least then he would make the effort to control his anger.
“Oh.” His voice sounded different and she realized he must think she had been lying about the class.
“Alex, I was going to go. But when I got home, well,… someone broke into my house.”
“WHAT? You okay? Was Dave?”
“I’m fine.”
“I be there in forty-five minutes.”
“Alex, you don’t have to…” she started, but he interrupted her, insisting. “Okay,” she agreed. “But I’m at Catherine’s.”
“Good. She good friend. I be there soon.”
“Don’t drive too fast. Alex?” but he had already hung up.
He made the trip a good ten minutes faster than he said. He wrapped his strong arms around Sophie as soon as she opened the door. It felt so good, better than she’d imagined. She was relieved to see him. That sense of calm that he brought out in her stole over her again. He wrapped his hands in her hair and kissed her forehead. The gesture was becoming a habit with him. She buried her face in his chest and held him tight. She didn’t want to let him go. He made her feel so safe. Finally, she released him and he led her to the couch and sat with her.
“Tell me.” He looked at her with such concern in his beautiful blue eyes. She swallowed hard and relayed her story. She watched his anger bubble under the surface. She watched his jaw clench and release and clench again. He looked away from her, casting his eyes down to the floor. His hand was clenched into a fist. He stood and paced the floor and stopped and glared in her direction.
“Why you not call me?” he insisted. She looked up at him abashed. His face softened and he came to sit beside her again. “I would be here. Why you not call me?” he pleaded in a gentle voice.
“It was so late and, well, I didn’t want to bother you with it.” She felt so guilty suddenly. He seemed hurt that she didn’t rely on him. “I’m sorry.”
He took her in his arms again and held her close to him. She was afraid she was going to cry again and she didn’t want to. She was done crying because of Dave.
“Come. I take you home.”
He drove her to the brownstone. He arranged to have someone meet them there to fix the window. He also contracted with a security company to come out and set up and alarm system for her. Her place was a bustle of activity. The security technician explained the system to them. A key fob controlled the perimeter and also full security mode. She was to use the perimeter setting when she was at home, but still up moving around. The full security mode was for when she was retiring for the evening. It would detect any motion in the house and also protect the perimeter. She should also use this setting when she left the house. He instructed her in how to use the key pad in the event that her key fob was forgotten or failed to work. She also was told to think up a security password that would need to be given over the phone in the event that the alarm was to go off by mistake. She wasn’t sure if all the instruction made her feel safer or made her realize how vulnerable she really was. It took a couple of hours for everything to be set up. Alex insisted that they test the system.
“Come, set alarm, then we go.” She did as he asked, locking the door and then using the key fob to set the alarm. He stepped down the first two steps when she called him back. Standing on top of the stoop, she was eye level with him for the first time. She reached up and brushed the dark hair from his forehead and kissed it.
“Thank you Alex. You make me feel so safe,” she confessed. He smiled and his gaze travelled over her lips again. He licked his own, took a breath and backed away offering his hand to escort her down the steps.
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