Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Alexis looked at all the flowers surrounding her and groaned. It was so like Marjorie to go and overdo something. She was the one who'd called asking why Ray thought other men were courting her, courtesy of him calling her to ask who they were. Of course, Alexis had denied everything at first but after an hour of nagging, she'd given up and told her friend why she'd lied. She wanted Ray to chase after her. Plain and simple.

Connor hadn't worked for her time or affection. She had been so in love with him -at least she thought she was - that the second he'd kissed her she had agreed to be his girlfriend. And maybe that was why he took her for granted and cheated. Because she had been too easy. Isn't that what they said? Nothing that comes free holds it's value? In his eyes, she'd been willing to do anything for him. Even pay for his tuition. Looking back now she realized that wasn't her best moment. Love really was blind. Which was why she was walking into her next relationship with her eyes wide open. She wasn't going to give Ray or any other man a chance to cheat on her.

The flowers and gifts littering her desk were Marjorie's ideas. She had suggested that if she was going to make Ray believe her then she had to act the part. Meaning she would receive flowers and gifts from a lot of people, get calls she would pick up and act like she was flirting and avoid Ray at all costs. It was a stupid and childish plan but she was desperate. She wanted him to really like her, so much so that he wouldn't think about anyone else. Isn't loving you enough?

She reared her head back at that question. Of course, that confession had floored her. She hadn't expected him to say that so soon but it had given her butterflies just thinking about it. And that had been her problem. Thinking. The more she thought about what he'd said, the more she came to the conclusion that he'd said that in the heat of the moment. Any man was bound to say 'I love you' after getting a blow job. So why had she avoided him? Because she didn't want to see the look in his eyes when he took it back and said he didn't mean it. Or maybe she did it because she didn't want him to avoid her first.

Yesterday in the meeting she hadn't tried to charm Axel into leaving them. She had been doing it to impress him so he'd see that she wasn't just a pretty blonde. His assumption that she was trying to steal their clients had only been half true. She hadn't thought about it until he mentioned it and now it was all she could think about. Well aside from his mouth and lips and tongue and... Jeez. At this rate, she was going to end up chasing him. And she bet he would be thrilled about that, maybe even burst from his inflated ego. But the real question here was for how long was he going to chase her. How long until he was tired and looked for someone else?

She hadn't failed to notice how the other women at the office eyed him. Slutty Holly wanted to swallow him whole. The others had this longing expressions on their face and she'd heard them whisper amongst themselves about how 'yummy' he was. But her biggest threat was Bella slash Beth. The look in her eyes didn't sit well with her. She'd only seen it once when she was young. In Giselle when she looked at her father. Back then she hadn't understood fully what it meant because she was just a kid but now that she did it worried her. Bella was possessive of Ray as if he belonged to her.

.

Which raised some questions in her head. Did you they have a thing? Or was it unrequited? Sometimes she'd catch the woman eyeing her hatefully and when their gazes collided, Bella would hastily look away pretending to be busy. After the whole office had found out who she was, they'd taken a step back, distancing themselves from her. All of a sudden they treated her with caution, hesitating to talk to her. And Alexis found herself wishing that they would just stop acting weird around her. It was the main reason she'd dressed differently.

But there was nothing she could do now. Only Donnie and Anna talked to her and she was grateful she at least had friends she could talk to. Speak of the devil, Anna walked towards her, eyeing her desk. "Is it your birthday or something?"

"Ugh, I wish. All this" she swept her hand over the things in front of her "Are from suitors."

"Suitors? You sound like my grandma. Let's see" she bent down plucking a card from a bouquet of Marigolds and read it. "You leave me breathless.... Really?"

"If you can believe it. And that's among the best ones" Alexis said shaking her head. Clearly, Marjorie wasn't the romantic type. In fact, she would bet a huge amount of money that her friend had gotten that line from the song she was listening to while writing the cards.

"Your suitors might not know how to be charming but they sure do have taste. I bet those chocolates cost quite a fortune"

They were her favorites. At least Marj got that right. And as much as Alexis wanted to hoard them, there were at least five boxes. So with a heavy heart, she gave two of them to Anna "Here."

"Really?" Anna beamed making Alexis feel like an idiot for not offering them first.

"Yeah. Gotta watch my figure" she blurted out then slapped a hand over her mouth. It wasn't appropriate for her to insinuate that if Anna wanted to get fat then she should go ahead and eat all the chocolates. "Anna I didn't...."

"I know what you meant. And for this babies?" she shook the boxes in front of her face "I wouldn't give two fucks about what anyone said. Now I'll go back to my seat and stuff my face since I don't have to watch my figure." At Alexis' pale face, she laughed. "I'm kidding girlfriend. Chill"

The rest of the day went pretty well. Until Ray stopped in front of her desk. These days she found it hard to breathe every time she laid her eyes on him. Mostly it was because she'd realized how handsome he really was but there was a part of her that liked his bossy side. She wasn't someone who allowed herself to be ordered around, even if it was her boss but all Ray had to do was crook a finger and she was by his side. Asking what he wanted. The three-piece suits he wore weren't helping either. Gone was the annoying Ray who used to irritate her just by his presence. In his place was someone she'd come to respect. And like. And maybe love someday because it was that easy when it came to him.

In fact, everything was easy when it came to Ray. Why was it that she was seeing this side of him now? "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah." she stopped fiddling with the keyboard and looked up.

"In my office Lexi" he smiled down at her and her heart jumped to her throat. God, she could definitely learn to love him alright. Nodding, she got up as her eyes did a sweep of the room instinctively, noticing that everybody was busy with their own work. Well, except one person who was currently throwing daggers at her. If only eyes could kill, Alexis was sure she'd be six feet under.

Ray held the door open for her and followed her after she walked in. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'm leaving for Spain in a few hours"

Leaving? Fear and disappointment washed over her. Had she overdone it? Was he tired of chasing her already? "You're leaving?" he must have heard her panicked expression because he sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

"For business. I'll be back after a week or so"

"Oh," she sighed. That one word holding so much relief.

"You didn't think I was giving up. Did you?"

"No, not really"

"Have a little faith in me, Princess. I don't like that I said it out loud because you could use it against me whenever you want to but I won't ever give up on you. I will chase after you every time you run and be sure that I will catch you. However long it takes. Okay?"

"Mmmm"

"Good. Now stop sulking and kiss me goodbye" she kissed him reluctantly wondering what she was going to do for a whole week. "Alexis..." he groaned when he felt how distracted she was.

"It's just.... You'll be gone for a whole week"

"I know. And I'll spend every minute missing you"

"I.... I... " why was it so hard to say she was going to miss him too? Bending her head, she kissed him hoping her kiss would convey what she couldn't say.

The week Ray was gone was unbearable. All she did was think about him. What he was doing, if he'd found a beautiful Spanish girl he'd be willing to leave everything for, what he ate, did he think about her? And if he did, why didn't he call her? Those questions plagued her every day. The only good thing that happened was Jerkface apologizing. For real this time with flowers and all. He'd told her how sorry he was and that he didn't know what came over him. She forgave him of course but told him that she would still take his clients away. Just not all of them like she'd originally planned. He accepted her condition even agreeing that it was the least he deserved. Turns out, he wasn't really that bad. They spent a lot of time talking and trading college stories. She even invited him out once with Marj and Henry. But it hadn't gone well because Marj, ever the loyal friend, refused to like him claiming he was Ray's competition and that she was team Ray all the way.

It didn't make sense since Copeland hadn't made a move on her but Marjorie was adamant about going out with him again, so Alexis hadn't asked him to join them. Their work relationship improved and she loosened him up a bit telling him that he didn't have to be so stuck up when it came to his employees. Little by little he changed his attitude towards others and by the end of the week, he was sitting at the cafeteria with them during lunch break. Alexis thought she'd done an amazing job and Ray would be so proud of her when he got back but then he called saying he had to extend his trip for another week. It was her last week at the firm and he wouldn't be there. She felt like crying.

He hadn't even called her to say that. She heard it from Copeland. Why didn't he call her? With that, the doubts resurfaced. And she started questioning everything. Did she really like him? Did he mean what he said about chasing her or was he making false promises? What would she do if he came back and realized he didn't like her? She was starting to like him. She missed him so much since she'd gotten used to seeing him everywhere she went. At home, at the office, even when they went out. He was always there. Damn idiot. Why hadn't he called her?

"Can I have your attention for a second?" Copeland asked on Wednesday. "So since our friend Miss Barret is leaving we decided to have a little farewell party for her. At the Mohonk mountain house." People gasped but he continued "It's an all-expense-paid trip so you can rest easy. We leave on Friday after work so come prepared"

"You know you didn't have to do this," Alexis said following him to his office.

"I'd like to take credit for everything but I can't. This is all thanks to Raymond Lachlan."

"Right" since he wasn't there, he thought throwing her a farewell party would make up for not calling her or even sending a text message. How nice of him.

"You sound disappointed."

"No. I just.... You could have given me a heads up before announcing it to everyone so I could tell you not to bother. If I say no right now, everyone will hate me"

"You don't want to come?" Copeland asked approaching her.

"I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not? A weekend of fun is what you need to cheer you up. Don't think I haven't noticed how sad you've been these past few days."

"I'm not sad" she protested but she knew he was right. It was all because of Ray.

"Forgive me for intruding but I know that it's because of Raymond. I saw you guys kissing in the kitchen"

She should have been shocked but she just shrugged. "It was nothing"

"It didn't look like nothing. And I won't ask why your answers are different from his. What I will say is that if you were my girlfriend, I would have taken you with me."

"Thanks" another day, his words would have gotten a reaction out of her. Happy, giddy, maybe even blush. Today she wasn't feeling it.

"I can see that you don't believe me," he said brushing her hair out of her face. "You're a beautiful woman Alexandra. And any man would be lucky to have you as his girlfriend" she took a step back, nodded then left. Maybe Marj was right about Copeland having feelings for her. Too bad she was hung up on someone who didn't care. As if Connor hadn't been enough.

By Friday, the office was buzzing with anticipation. Everyone was excited to have a mini-vacation. Anna hadn't stopped bouncing with happiness. To them, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Working with them, she seemed to forget that they couldn't afford such places. Not everyone was as privileged as she was. Which was why she decided not to be a party pauper and go along with it. From what she knew about the Mohonk mountains, they had cottages and all she had to do was book one then lock herself in it all weekend. She was going to go but they wouldn't force her to participate in the partying. Not when she felt so sad and downtrodden.

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Copeland is definitely making moves on Alexis. What do you think Ray's reaction will be when he finds out? And why has gone MIA?