Good Times Can Lead To Changed Lives

4.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Alex states quietly, leaning against the bedroom doorframe as he watches Jack place the sleeping Molly carefully into her crib, a sense of admiration for his friend shining brightly in his eyes.

“Do what?” Jack asks absentmindedly as he smiles proudly down at his daughter, contentment filling his body as he leans on the side of the crib, arms folded and watches her sleep.

“You know, this! Taking everything so damn smoothly! How’d you do it?” Alex asks, slightly taken aback at Jack’s laid back reaction to everything.

“Shh! You’ll wake her up, come on!” Jack shushes as he walks over to Alex and pushes him lightly into the corridor, closing the door to his bedroom over slightly.

“I’m sorry but it’s just…you’re too calm! I would have thought, no I expected, you to freak out about it,” Alex says as he led Jack into the kitchen and leant against one of the counter tops.

“And what good will freaking out do? I can’t change what’s happened now and to be quite honest with you, I don’t think that I’d want to,” Jack explains as he leans on the counter tops next to him. “I know that it’s going to be hard to raise a kid and accept everything that‘s going on, but, I’m actually looking forward to it. It’s like a challenge to me. It‘s…exhilarating!”

“That maybe all well and good Jack but, how are you going to juggle Molly and work? You can‘t take her with you.”

“I know that I can’t and I’m working on it, but honestly Alex, I feel good about this. I‘m feeling both confident and determined that I can do this, that I want to do this,” Jack smiles as he reaches for his wallet as a knock came from the front door. “Food’s here!”

Alex shook his head, letting out a small chuckle as his friend practically ran to answer the door, leaving his words to swim throughout Alex‘s already cluttered and pounding mind. Despite being more active during the day after a night of drinking, Alex felt slightly refreshed and for the first time in ages he had actually had fun relaxing with his best friend and shopping for things that his daughter, Molly needed, more than he thought he would have done.

****

“Thanks for dinner Jack, I really needed it,” Alex smiles at his friend as he pushes his empty plate away from him and leaning back in his seat, letting out a content sigh as he closes his eyes.

“It’s the least I could do, and I suppose you haven’t had anything decent in a while, what with you…” Jack starts to say but trails off his speech thinking it would only get Alex mad and just ends up shrugging his shoulders lightly and reaches for Alex plate, surprised when he leans forward suddenly and grabs a hold of his thin, exposed wrist.

“What with me what?” Alex growls lowly as the anger from earlier at lunch, the disagreement, comes blazing back into his eyes.

“I didn’t…I mean…” Jack sighs before putting the plates down and taking to his seat again, shrugging lightly as Alex’s hand remains clenched tightly around his wrist. “I was just saying that with the increasing amount of alcohol that you’ve been consuming lately, it will have done you some good to have something decent to eat finally. That’s all. I didn‘t mean any offence at all by it Alex.”

“I’m sorry, I just thought that you meant…never mind,” he says a little wearily as he lets go of his friends wrist and let him carry on with the task that he was about to start before he had grabbed so rudely and inappropriately at Jack’s bare wrist.

“It’s alright Alex, don’t worry about it,” Jack mutters reassuringly as he takes the empty plates and cutlery into the rather posh looking kitchen.

Alex watches as Jack walks out of the room and decides to see if he wanted some help tidying up but even before he had reached the kitchen, he was instantly drawn towards Jack’s bedroom. Alex looks over his shoulder towards the kitchen before silently opening the bedroom door and walking towards Molly’s crib without a sound, peering in at her sleeping. As much as this was a surprise to Alex and after letting it sink into his mind, Molly really did resemble Jack, so even if he tried to make this a joke, there’s no way that he’d be able to it pull off. The more that Alex thought about it, Molly really didn’t have any of…

“What are you doing?” Jack asks curiously from the doorway, causing Alex to jump from his thoughts.

“Jeez, don’t do that!” Alex hisses as he jumps away from the crib, a hand to his chest as Molly starts to stir slightly but falls back to sleep again before Jack even made it over to her.

“I’m sorry but you didn’t answer my question. What were you doing?” Jack replies as he looks down at Molly, making sure that she’s still asleep and not just keeping quiet.

“I wasn’t doing anything, I…I was j…just thinking about how much she looks like you and that there doesn’t seem…doesn’t seem to be any resemblance of Kaycee in her, that was all… I’m sorry, look I’m probably thinking about someone else, I’m sorry. I’ve gotta be heading off, I didn’t mean to…sorry...” Alex panics as he heads out from Jack’s bedroom towards the front door, never looking back once, never seeing Jack follow him with a look of confusion and concern etched across his features as he watches his friend depart so suddenly.

Getting out of Jack’s house was some sort of relief for Alex, he didn’t want to get into the whole shenanigans of Jack’s past loves and compared to Alex, it wouldn’t actually take that long, but some things are better left unsaid and to Alex, Jack and his past relationships, are one of them. Besides, when did he have the right to judge whether Jack was telling the truth about Molly’s mother really being Kaycee and not someone else? That’s the thing, he didn’t. He’s just a friend and as a friend he knew when to keep things bottled up…sometimes.

As soon as Alex was safe in the confines of his car, he could begin to relax and let out the deep breath that he’d been holding ever since he disembarked down the steps to Jack’s, resting his head back against the head rest. There’s only one effective way that Alex knows works best to relax, for him, and that’s drinking. Without even hesitating he was turned the key in the ignition and was speeding down towards his favourite bar, ready to drown the incident with Jack from his mind.

****

The flashing lights and pounding music of the bar washed over Alex as soon as he stepped through the door, his hearing starts to muffle as the music fills his ears, his eyes start to struggle to focus against all the strobe lights for the first few seconds and to Alex it was the start of a great night. As soon as he had a drink in front of him, he started to feel his worries just slip away, that was until he saw her, Susie Jones, on the dance floor staring at him before moving swiftly towards him.

“Well, this day just keeps getting better and better,” Alex mutters disdainfully under his breath as he downs the last of his drink, a corona, before slamming it down on the counter and slinking as best as he could throughout the overly crowded bar, in the hopes that Susie would lose track of him, but Alex wasn’t holding his breath.

The people that were gathered near the door, were doing everything they could to make this escape harder for Alex, it’s like they know what’s going on and want to make sure that this situation gets very uncomfortable and fast, it‘s the kind of situation that Alex hates. Imagine you were a wild deer and you were being hunted by a hungry lion, well it’s that kind of situation that Alex is in, and it’s definitely the same situation that he hates, mainly because he absolutely loathes feeling like he’s trapped. Instead of being the lion, when he goes after girls, he’s the one in the reverse role the poor defenceless deer so desperately trying to escape from the predatory lion, which in this case the lion is Susie and Alex doesn‘t like it. Not one little bit.

“Alex!” Susie’s shrill voice calls out from over the heads of the crowd on the dance floor, her voice only making Alex more determined to leave.

Applying more force during his swift yet slightly staggered movements, was no easy task but he managed to successfully reach the club door just before Susie emerged from the group, trying as best as she can to catch up with him, despite Alex radiating signs of no interest in her or anyone else around him.

The evening air felt refreshing, as soon as it hit him he felt his mind clear, he knew what he was going to do, the only problem was, deciding whether to go back to his house or somewhere quiet. Alex opted for his house, mainly so he could drink himself into next week by himself, nothing but his thoughts to keep him company, that is until the sound of fast approaching heels coming up behind him and the scent of perfume drifting along with the wind, washing over him in an intoxicating manner, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

“Come on Alex, don’t be a fool,” Susie purred into his ear, dragging him under her spell.

“Who says that I‘m being a fool?” Alex replies, his voice straining slightly under the pressure of keeping his mind clear as she moves closer to him, her hand placing itself on his shoulder, a shiver coursing down his spine.

“It’s so clear Alex. You know and I know that you want me, almost just as much as I want you. So don’t fight me any longer,” Susie’s voice was light, a slight air of humour attached. “Give in to me, Alex, my love.”

“I…” he sighs defeated before pulling away to face her, pulling her hand roughly from his shoulder in the process. “Am not your love!”

Susie looked seductively into Alex’s eyes, not the slightest bit fazed or spooked by his actions and just stood there, laughing at him. This response, to say the least, shocked Alex but it gave him a few seconds of distraction to grab his car keys from his pocket and into the door, wrenching it open before Susie had come to her senses. It only took her a few seconds to realise what was going on around her but it was enough to give Alex the chance to drive away quickly, watching her run feebly after him before rushing to her own car.

“Oh give me a break, for crying out loud!” Alex hissed as he saw the headlights of Susie’s convertible behind him.

It’s not everyday that you get a crazed woman stalk you, and to Alex, he just wished it wasn’t him that was being stalked, he’d rather it be someone else, anyone else. It wasn’t until he reached his driveway that he thought up a plan to get Susie Jones out of his life, he just hopes that there is at least a God on his side to make this work.

He waited until the crazy woman had gotten out of her car before getting out of his own, confidence building up inside him as he tried his best to act like he wasn’t scared, when deep down, he was petrified.

“So…You’re finally going to give in to me?” she purred excitedly, taking a slow step towards him.

“No, I’m not giving in. I’m drawing a line in the sand, metaphorically speaking,” Alex says clearly, standing up straighter as he carries on, darkening his tone so the amused glee leaves her eyes to be replaced with curiosity. “I have never, or ever will be, interested in you, alright? For one you’re not my type and second, you freak me out!”

That last statement was the one that placed the smug smirk on her face, knocking Alex off guard slightly, letting his confusion show.

“If this is some sort of plan you’re trying to follow, it won’t work. I know that you want me, you just don’t want to let your guard slip.”

The smugness in her tone was enough to make Alex sick to his stomach, he knew he had to act, and act fast if he was to get Susie out of his life for good.

“Let me make this clear. You are not my type because…because I’m gay!”

“Oh don’t make me laugh Alex! Ever since High School you were always the one with a way to get into any girl’s pants that you so desperately desired. I know you’re not gay.”

“How can you be so sure? How do you know that it wasn’t a creepy stalker woman like you who made me rethink my way of living, my relationships,” No matter how hard Alex tried, he just couldn’t keep the snarl, the anger out of his voice. “Now if you don’t leave the premises of my property, I will call the cops and place a restraining order on you. So save yourself the aggravation and leave me alone!”

It was with those words that Alex stormed up the steps to his place, bursting through the door and slamming it shut on Susie‘s anguished cries. As soon as the door closed, he was engulfed into the darkness, stumbling like a blind man to find the nearest light switch.

Never before has he wanted to leave the party scene as much as he had tonight, or at least without hesitating and it’s all because of one thought that was swimming through his mind, one thought that he never would have guessed he’d have whilst out and drinking. That one thought, contained his best friend and his newly found daughter. It was that thought that lead him to think over his own life and thinking whether or not Jack is coping alright, especially with it being his first ever night as a proper daddy figure. It’s thoughts like these that turns Alex to the drink, to the parties, to the girls, each drink numbing the thoughts inside his head, relieving him of all the unnecessary stresses that life holds out to him.