The Boy from New York City

I look out the window for the millionth time, trying to see the tiniest bit of land to figure out where we are. “Its winter Sam, you’re not going to be able to see out the window,” Alexzander tells me.

“Glad to see you awake, sleeping beauty,” I joke, giving up on the view since he was right. Alexzander had been sleeping for most of the plane ride, something about not being a fan of flights.

“Beauty huh? Are you only in this for my looks?” He jokes, wrapping his arms around me.

“You know it,” I lean back into his chest, “how much longer?”

“Not too long.” A comfortable silence fell between us after that. I don’t know what it was, but something changed in our relationship. Ever since that kiss, we’d become a lot closer, and not just on a physical side. It kind of feels as if that kiss sealed the deal or something. Before it was just an act, nothing we’d actually go through with. But that kiss changed it into a relationship, still an act, but a more believable one.

“How many days did you get off?” I ask, leaning my head to look up at him. He stares down at me, wide-eyed, as if I caught him in the midst of something. “You did take time off work, right? Like tell them that you were leaving.”

“Define take time off? I mean I am technically the boss…”

“We can’t just up and leave Alexzander!”

The captain gets on the speaker to tell us we were landing. “Oh hey, look, we’re here.” Alexzander says, obviously trying to ignore the conversation that was ahead of us.

“Oh no you don’t mister. You are going to call the office right now and tell them you’re going to be gone.”

“Calm down Sam, I do this often.”

“I don’t care if you do it every day. You won’t be doing that anymore. You need to respect the people who work for you, let them know when they will be alone, who will be in charge, all of that. If you keep taking random vacations, and they don’t, how do you think that looks? Especially this close to Christmas. How selfish are you Alexzander?”

“Shit, Sam, it’s just a short trip, cool your horses.” The plane comes to a complete stop, letting us gather our stuff to get off. “Now come on and let’s enjoy a few days away from everything.

“No. I’m not getting off this plane until you make the phone call.”

“I’ll look like an idiot.” I sit in my seat and stare up at him, waiting for him to call the office back in New York. “Fine, I’ll call them.” I watch his every move as he calls the office. He didn’t sound too happy about doing it, and actually seemed slightly embarrassed when there was laughter on the other end. Okay, so maybe I did overreact just a tad bit, but he still shouldn’t be neglecting his employees like that. Alexzander shuts the phone and looks down at me. “Happy?”

I stand up and walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, “please don’t be so pissed off about it. You should be respecting and following the policies just like your employees have to.”

“He laughed at me Sam. People don’t laugh at me.”

“Well tell him he’ll get a piece of me next time if he does so.” Alexzander raises his eyebrows, pulling me closer in a possessive type way. “Not like that you perv!”

“I was just thinking of how tiny you are and how cute it would be to have you try and fight someone.”

“I can put up a fight. Where exactly do you think I lived and worked through my teen years?”

He tenses up instantly at the mention of my past. Alexzander never really enjoyed talking about what went on in those years. To him it was a past to never think about or talk about again. And though I understood his reasoning, it was still my past, and I shouldn’t be too ashamed of it. “Let’s get going” He says in a tired voice, one that meant he didn’t want to fight anymore. I followed him out the plane, a gust of freezing wind hitting us as we step outside. I look around and notice snow and rocks everywhere. We were in the mountains, but where? “Whistler,” Alexzander answers my silent question.

I turn in his hold, a big grin plastered on my face, “and how do you know I do extreme sports?”

“Lucky guess.” He kisses the tip of my nose and intertwines our fingers, “let’s get settled in.”

“The cabin Alexzander got us was beyond gorgeous. It was fairly far from town, but I didn’t mind that. We could just stay here the whole week and I would be content. I start to unpack while Alexzander talks with the butler guy. Since I didn’t know where we were going, I didn’t get to pack for myself. And let me tell ya, Alexzander definitely packed like a guy would pack. There were my skiing clothes, a few dresses, and that was pretty much it. I didn’t even get pajamas.

“Want to stay in tonight?” I jump, startled at the sudden voice. Alexzander was leaned up against the doorway, watching me unpack our clothes.

“To where?”

“Liam’s in town with his wife and kids. He invited us over for dinner.”

I pull out the last item of clothing in the bag. It was a very see through piece of lingerie. I stare up at Alexzander, trying not to laugh, “And what? I’m dessert?” I joke.
He just smirks and walks over to me, “if you want.”

I laugh and lean up to quickly kiss him, “next time, I’ll pack my own clothes.” He frowns, which made him look way more adorable than it should. “And I’m fine having dinner with them. But that’s it this week. No more business, you promised.”

He wraps his arms around me, “I know. This isn’t business though. You of all people know that Liam and I are best friends.”

“I know, I know. What time are we heading over?” I ask, glancing over to the TV. We had been on a plane for hours and all I really wanted to do was rest and watch some television.

Alexzander looks at the clock behind me and then to the TV. “We’ve got time for a movie.”

I jump onto the bed and get comfortable, “you read my mind.” He just chuckles and climbs onto the bed next to me.

As the movie finishes up, I start to get ready. I had yet to me Liam’s family. And really, I had just ran into Liam himself at a few small get-togethers over the past couple months. From what I could tell, he wasn’t too fond of me. Though I’m sure he’s just one of the many who believe I’m some gold-digger…which I guess isn’t a total lie.

“You look kind of hot.” Alexzander comments as I enter the front room.

“Kind of?” I laugh and grab my coat, “that’s an insult to you since you packed for me.”

He wraps his arms around me, running his fingers along the fabric, “in that case it looks stunning.”

“That’s what I thought. Now let’s get going, the earlier we get there the earlier we can get out.” Alexzander follows me out the door laughing. He knew that Liam and I didn’t get along, which makes me wonder why he always forces us to be in the same room.

“Hey, you never know, maybe you and his wife Meredith will get along.”

“Are we driving or what?” I ask, curious since we were just standing in the snow and he wasn’t making a move towards the car.

He nods his head to the cabin up the driveway from us, “walking, unless you insist I drive you a few hundred feet.”

I glare at him and start walking towards the house, “of course you guys have cabins next to each other. Anything else you share with Liam?”

“Just our women.” He replies with a straight face, making me hit him, “kidding!”

“You better be.” We stop on the front porch and just as I’m about to knock on the door Alexzander walks right in.

Instead of being greeted with the tense Liam and his wife, two kids run up tackling Alexzander to the ground. “Uncle Alex!!” They shout as he grabs them both into a hug. I couldn’t help but stand at the doorway and smile at the interaction between them. Alexzander really was great with kids.

“Kids, let Alex breathe some please.” I hear a woman’s voice echo from the kitchen before she walks into the room. The two kids let go and turn to face their mother. The young boy, probably about five pouts as if he’s in trouble while the girl, closer to eight, didn’t seem to mind. The woman didn’t pay attention to them and walked over to me, “You must be Samantha.” She comments in an overly-sweet smile. “I’m Meredith, Liam’s wife, and these are our kids Rose and Jacob.”

“Hello!” The two children enthusiastically wave at me, grinning. There was something familiar about them but I couldn’t put a finger on it.

“Nice to meet you, and please call me Sam, everyone does.” I politely correct her.

Meredith nods and glances upstairs as if waiting for someone. “I apologize for my husband; he’s usually not late like this.”

Alexzander laughs at this, “Liam? He’s always late; I don’t know what you’re talking about Meredith.”

She playfully glares at him, “well maybe in the office, but under my room he’s on time.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at her comment. It was true that Alexzander wasn’t very strict at the office.

Rose comes up to me holding a board game in her hand, “would you like to play with me?” she asks in a sweet innocent voice that I couldn’t say no to.

“Of course.” We take a seat in the living room as she sets up Chutes and Ladders. Alexzander had disappeared somewhere, probably in search of Liam, while Meredith went back to the kitchen. Jacob sat next to his sister quietly waiting for the game to start.

“You’re very pretty.” Rose blushes as she lets the comment slip.

“Aw, thanks. Though I wish I had auburn hair like yours.” Her blush grew with my compliment.

“My daddy says I look exactly like his sister at my age, that’s why I’m named after her.”

“Well isn’t that sweet. Rose is a beautiful name.” She nods in agreement and starts the game. Jacob was silent for the most part; he would spin and move his piece but barely spoke a word.

Finally dinner came around and the kids ran off to wash up. Alexzander showed up from nowhere, standing by the fireplace smiling down at me. “What’s with the creepy look?” I ask, motioning towards his face as if he was hiding something from me.

“Nothing, nothing at all. Just love watching you play with the kids.”

I nudge his side, “oh really? Getting a little ahead of ourselves don’t you think?”

He grabs me and pulls my back against his chest, pressing his lips against my neck, “not with a wedding coming up.”

I pull back a little and smile up at him, “wedding or not, I want to finish school first.” Alexzander pouts which I must admit is an adorable look on him, “don’t give me that. You yourself told me we didn’t have to rush into that.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get to dinner.” We walk into the dining room and take our seats. Liam and Alexzander start on about some past thing that they did and I spaced out during it all. Roses’ comment ran through my head, about how she looks like her aunt. As I study the young girl and boy sitting across from me I notice that they don’t really resemble their mother or father. Were they adopted? Of course that’s a totally common way of having kids these days and could be the reason. But then what did Rose mean? I look at her a bit more, trying to pick out some attribute that would be similar to Liam and in turn his sister, but nothing stood out.

After dinner the kids run upstairs to watch a movie. I help Meredith clear the table while the guys continue to talk about good ol’ times. “So how long have you and Liam been together?” I ask as I put things into the dishwasher.

“We started dating in college and then I got pregnant and we married soon after, so about nine years. It’s been amazing though. Most people would think the marriage wouldn’t work out since it was based off a pregnancy but ours just fits. It was a very small wedding, and since Liam doesn’t have any family—a tragic accident—it was just my parents and Alexzander.”

“That actually sounds very pleasant.”

“It was. So much different than the weddings we attend now.”

“Tell me about it. It’s like every event you have to invite the whole office too.”

Meredith laughs, “So true. Hopefully you’re able to get a wedding somewhat to your dream.”

“Oh, we’re not-”

“Come on dear, we all know you’re going to get engaged soon.” I blush for no reason. It’s not like I can force a blush upon my cheeks, so what was I so emotional about? I knew she was right, but she didn’t.

“Maybe.”

Before she could give another comment towards the idea of a wedding the guys enter the kitchen, “Meredith could I speak with you for a moment?” Alexzander asks in a slightly nervous tone. I wonder what he needed.

“Of course.” She winks at me as she leaves the room as if she knew something about our conversation that I didn’t. Was he proposing at a different time than planned? I had no idea.

Liam stayed in the kitchen, glaring at me. I must admit it was kind of awkward. “Do you need something?” I ask, confused at his hostile appearance.

He takes a couple steps towards me, but keeps his distance, “I told you to stay away. Do you not take warnings?”

My eyes widen. Liam was the one sending the threats and warnings. Liam was the one who had those pictures. “What-What do you mean?”

“Oh come on, you know what I’m talking about.”

“Why do you care so much? I know he’s your best friend but honestly, am I that bad of a person?”

He shuts his eyes for a moment as if I’m stressing him out, “it’s not safe for you. You need to stay away.”

“Funny. Cause I’ve felt safer with Alexzander than I have for the past ten years.” I tell him. Might as well be honest since it seemed like Liam knew everything about me. “Now, how did you get those pictures?”

“Let’s just say that I’ve been keeping an eye on certain people.”

“Why?”

“There are innocent people out there who are in danger. And trust me Sam, you’re getting closer than any of them had. Break it off with Alexzander.”

“No.”

“Dammit!! Why did you have to get dad’s stubbornness!?!!”

And that’s when everything hit me like a brick wall. The pictures, the warnings, how he seemed to know my past. Rose’s brown hair, green eyes, small nose.

I look exactly like his sister.

She looks exactly like me.