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You guys are blowing me AWAY with the replies. I can't believe it and I am VERY happy and very grateful and feeling a lot of.............pressure, but in a GOOD way.

This was supposed to be a SHORT story!

So, I'm kind of stuck in a morning here. The stuff I want to happen next can't happen in the morning so this is a transitional chapter.

I hate those.

But I hope it is at least a little fun for you.

Thanks,

CQ



Chained 14

Alexis felt her mouth go dry. His arms were tight around her, almost like he was scared she would bolt.

But she didn't have to. His cell phone rang.

"Are you going to get that?" she asked on the fourth ring when he hadn't moved.

"We're taking the day off." He leaned forward and kissed her.

"It could be about your sister."

He let his head fall back to the mattress and sighed. Alexis looked at him expectantly and he finally relented and picked up the cell phone from the bedside table. "What?" he asked irritably.

There was a knock on the door. Lorenzo pulled the cell phone away just long enough to yell come in.

Alexis dove under the covers.

"Good Morning." Wong stood in the doorway. Lorenzo nodded to him but went back to his cell phone.

"Um, Ms. Davis?"

"What?" Alexis called from under the covers.

"There is a bit of problem."

"Can't it wait until I'm dressed?" Alexis wished she could climb under the bed.

"It's about Kristina."

Her head popped out. "What about Kristina?"

"I've made her breakfast.."

"But you're dressed," Alexis noted.

"Yes, of course."

"You can't get dressed until AFTER you feed her breakfast. She's not so much into eating food at this point as she is into playing with it."

"I have an apron."

"I recommend protective eyewear and maybe head gear as well."

"At the moment she is still asleep and it is getting late."

"Wong, we're not morning people."

"I'm getting that."

"Well I didn't say I wanted him DEAD!" Lorenzo growled into the phone.

Alexis groaned and climbed back under the covers. "I didn't hear that."

"Let him call his girlfriend. I'll be there in an hour." He snapped the cell phone closed.

"Wong, I'll be up in a minute." She heard the door close. "Do I need to lecture you on the state of New York's stance on murder?"

"I guess if anyone could get me off, you could."

There was an awkward silence and Lorenzo realized the weight of his statement. "I didn't mean..."

"I know, I know," Alexis mumbled as she scrambled out of bed and made a dash for the bathroom.

The morning was not turning out as planned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Elm street pier. H-H-Hurry!"

Then the line went dead and Georgie panicked. What the hell kind of trouble had he gotten himself into now?

Georgie raced past Kelly's to the pier. "Dillon?"

"D-D-D-Down here!"

Georgie looked around. "Where?"

"D-D-Down HERE!" Dillon called again.

Georgie looked over the edge of the pier. "Where? Dillon, is this some kind of joke?"

"L-L-Look under!"

"What?"

"Under the the the pier!"

Georgie looked around nervously and then climbed down on all fours and looked under the pier. "What are you DOING!?"

"F-F-F-Freezing to death!"

Georgie stared upside down at Dillon who was somehow..tied to a piling.

"How did..oh never mind I don't want to know!"

"Get me d-d-d-d-down!"

"Why should I?" she sighed.

"B-B-Because you l-l-l-l-love me?" he asked hopefully.

"What happened at the end of chapter four in To Kill a Mockingbird?"

"You're giving me a p-p-pop quiz NOW?" he asked incredulously.

"You're failing."

"Georgie, the water is c-c-c-cold! It's getting h-h-h-higher."

She could see it was already up to his knees. "Maybe you should have read the book."

"I-I-I might want to have kids some day!"

"So?"

"S-s-s-s-so if the water gets any h-h-h-higher..."

"I don't know if you should be allowed to breed."

"Georgie p-p-please!"

"Oh, alright." Georgie climbed up and looked around for a way to free her boyfriend from his latest crisis. "This is what a life of crime gets you. I hope you know that."

"H-h-hurry, I can't feel my my my l-l-l-legs!"

Georgie spotted a beer bottle, broke it over the railing and chose the largest shard of glass. She climbed back down and had to strain to reach the ropes.

"P-p-pretty smart. You're g-g-g-good at this."

Georgie frowned as she tried to cut through the ropes. "Just because I'm good at this doesn't mean I like it!"

"I know, it w-w-w-won't happen again."

"Sure it will, if you keep working for Alcazar. What did you do this time?"

"Wrong m-m-movie. Should have gone with M-M-Mr. M-M-Mom, Keaton was great in that one. Do you know he ch-ch-ch-changed his n-n-n-name?"

"Almost there." Georgie bit her lip. The ropes released and Dillon fell forward and managed to grab the edge of the pier. Georgie crawled back so he could climb up.

"Th-th-thank you."

"Well I hope you're happy, we are going to be late for school."

"School? How c-c-c-can you think of school? I-I-I could have d-d-died!"

"If I ignored my scholastic responsibilities every time you got in trouble I'd be in special ed by now. Let's get you to Kelly's so you can get warm."

"I-I-I can't feel my f-f-f-feet!"

"One bowl of chili and you'll feel them again."

"Chili for breakfast?" Dillon started to follow Georgie.

"What did he change it from?"

"What?"

"Micheal Keaton? What was it before?"

"M-M-Michael Douglas."

"That's just...weird," she frowned.

"Ya, he ch-ch-ch-changed it to Keaton because he liked D-D-D-Diane Keaton. Hey, have you ever seen Annie Hall?"

"Dillon."

"What?"

"Walk faster."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Okay, we're going in." Alexis and Wong stood in the hallway. Alexis had her hand on the doorknob and Wong nodded.

Alexis paused. "I don't think you are taking this seriously."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You need to prepare yourself," she warned.

"How?"

"Well, sometimes she throws things so be prepared to duck."

"Okay."

"She has good aim."

"I understand."

"And sometimes.. she just screams."

"Ms. Davis."

"Yes."

"I think you are procrastinating."

Alexis flinched. "She's my daughter, I love her. It's just mornings can be really..."

"We have to go in there eventually." He sighed.

"1,2,3." Alexis opened the door.

Wong and Alexis entered the nursery slowly, braced for anything but what they found was too shocking to even imagine.

"I thought you left already!" Alexis huffed.

Lorenzo turned around with a grinning Kristina in his arms. "I was just saying good-bye. She looked lonely so I picked her up."

Alexis eyed her daughter and then Lorenzo suspiciously. "Did you..did you give her candy?"

"No, I just picked her up." He shrugged and passed her to Alexis. "I've gotta go." He patted Kristina on the head, kissed Alexis's cheek and left.

Wong looked expectantly at Alexis.

"Um, must be a fluke. I'm telling you."

"I'll go and prepare breakfast." Wong left Alexis and Kristina in the nursery.

Alexis looked down at her daughter who was smiling and cheerful, hugging a stuffed lamb.

"Traitor." She kissed her cheek and took her to the kitchen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What do you mean she moved?" Gia stared at the doorman.

"Packed up yesterday and was out of here like the place was on fire."

"Where did she move to?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

Gia frowned. "I'm a friend of hers."

"Sorry."

Gia reached for her purse then remembered she wasn't exactly flush with cash these days. Law school was killing her savings. She tried to think back to the days before money. She had two options, use her best Brooklyn tough girl act or..

She smiled sweetly and leaned in a little too close. "Nice uniform."

"Lady, I'm a married man."

"So married men can't help a girl out and just give her one itty bitty address?"

"My wife would kill me just for looking at you, much less talking to you, much less helping you."

"It's just an address!"

"You said you're her friend, call her," he shrugged.

"Her cell phone is off and this is an emergency!"

"Look, I can tell ya this much. The move was local, she didn't skip the country or anything so just keep calling her and I'm sure eventually..."

"Eventually? I don't have eventually! Do you know how complex the US Constitution is?"

"Just keep calling."

Gia pulled out her cell phone and hit redial for the tenth time as she stormed out of the lobby.

Jason set the paper down and followed her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alexis picked the phone up, set the phone down, picked the phone up, set the phone down.

"Is it not working?" Wong asked as he cleaned the last bits of oatmeal off the wall.

"It's working fine," she sighed.

"You are procrastinating again."

"It's an ongoing theme today."

"Is there anything I can do to assist you?"

"You're going to be too busy trying to figure out a way to get that oatmeal off the ceiling."

"You were right about the protective eyewear, by the way."

"I still can't figure out how he got her up with out a fight. With out candy, I mean."

"He has a way with her."

"Yep."

"And she has a way with oatmeal," he smiled.

"I think she likes it here."

"I think you like it here as well."

"I didn't think I would. I mean, I'm not what you'd call a country girl."

"We are only two miles outside the city limits."

"That's two miles further than I've ever lived outside any city. Except back in Greece. But this is nice, has a kind of cocoon feel about it with the woods and all."

"It's very peaceful," Wong agreed.

"Not for long." She stared at the phone pointedly. "I have to call my brother. I don't know why, but I do. It's not like he cares. It's not like he's looked twice at his own niece and you know what the worst part is?"

"What?"

"I'll probably end up with one of those horrible gargoyle, dragon, candle stick, vase-like dust collectors as a house warming gift."

"We'll put it on the end table," Wong nodded.

"Can't we hide it behind a plant on the mantle or something?"

"Kristina won't be able to reach it there."

"But she'd just break..." Alexis smiled.

"There are many advantages to having a small child." Wong lifted Kristina from her high chair. "I'm going to change her clothes and take her out to explore the garden in the courtyard. Make your phone call and join us."

Alexis contemplated the oatmeal on the ceiling. If she had a ladder..anything to get out of talking to Stefan.

If she just had some work to distract her but there were no calls.

Calls. She'd turned off her cell phone.

Alexis went in search of her purse and found 7 voice mails waiting for her.

Most from Gia.

She hadn't made it through the last message before the phone was ringing again.

"Hello?"

"Alexis! Where are you?"

Alexis smiled. "In my house."

"House? What house?"

"My new house."

"You moved."

"Yes."

"In a day?"

"I had some help."

"Who moves in a day? I can't move my couch in a day."

"Gia, what do you need?"

"The founding fathers were sadists!"

"What?"

"How am I supposed to know what a bunch of old white guys meant when they wrote something over 200 years ago? They were sadists Alexis and the US Constitution was written to torture me. I hate it."

"Gia, that's blasphemy."

"What do I care, all lawyers go to hell anyway, right?"

"So you have a test?"

"Yes and the professor is on the side of the sadists."

"That's his job."

"Her job. She's a nightmare. I'm dropping out and going to cosmetology school like she suggested."

"She did what?"

"The woman hates me."

"Get your books, come on over. We'll show her."

"Alexis...she wears sensible shoes."

"Bitch."

"That's what I'm saying. So where do you live?"

"Right, you need directions. I'm not so good at that, hold on. Wong!"

"Wong? Who the hell is Wong?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I don't have a dentist appointment." Dillon looked at the woman behind the counter in the school office.

"Your Uncle is waiting out front."

Uncle Alan was taking him to the dentist? "Are you sure?"

The phone rang and she answered it, ignoring his question.

Dillon frowned and gave up. He grabbed his bag and wandered out front. His heart sank to his stomach when he saw a familiar Lamborghini waiting for him. He drew in a big breath and climbed in.

"So how was your morning?" Lorenzo asked cheerfully.

"Um, sorry about the movie," Dillon mumbled.

"Yes, well, those things happen, you ask for a nice light family type movie, end up with a satanic nightmare. Could happen to anyone."

"It won't happen again, sir."

"Right."

"Thanks for letting me call Georgie."

"What was it, 20 degrees this morning?"

"Feels a lot colder when you're wet."

"I'll take your word for it. Nothing..fell off I hope."

"She got there in time."

"Still have ten toes?"

"I counted, I still can't feel them."

"Hmmm."

"The thing is..that movie is a classic."

"Save it."

"So what, nearly giving me frost bite wasn't enough, now you're taking me to the dentist?"

"That was just to get you out of school."

"How did you do that by the way? They make people show like ten forms of ID and provide a blood sample to take kids off school grounds."

"Dillon, I'm an arms dealer, I smuggle things for a living. I can get a kid out of school."

"Can you get me out of detention because that could really come in handy."

"Dillon?"

"Yes, sir."

"You know that point in the movie when everything is about to happen, when everything falls into place and the big secrets are about to be revealed?"

"You mean the climax?"

"Yes," Lorenzo nodded.

"What about it?"

"You ruined my climax this morning."

"Oh."

"Don't do that again."