Ready to Run

Part Three, Chapter 21

The writing session with Theo was intense. He came to her house, guitar in one hand and blank music sheets in the other. She presented him with her little notebook filled with words, phrases, doodles, patches of color in marker and pencil.

After a few hours she called out for lunch. After a few more he left with the bare bones of three songs, promising to return in a few days with something for her to sing. Lexi wasn't quite sure how eight hours sitting on the sofa could be so tiring, but she had another big day tomorrow, so she ate their leftovers standing at the kitchen counter before heading up to bed.

She was already wide awake when the alarm went off at eight. The baby had woken her twenty minutes earlier, fluttering gently, and she had been laying perfectly still ever since, hoping to feel it again. She took a long shower, using her favorite rose scented soap.

It's just coffee, she told herself as she smoothed the matching lotion over her body.

It's just coffee, she told herself as she brushed her hair until it shone like satin.

It's just coffee, she told herself as she agonized over what to wear.

She had been surprised to hear from Tom so soon after the concert; in fact, it was the day the boys left. Now, as she considered her wardrobe for their coffee date, she wondered if she should have waited. She wondered why she felt a nagging twinge of guilt.

Shaking her head as if to clear cobwebs, she grabbed her new favorite jeans and a body-hugging maroon silk sweater. She knew it accentuated the bump, but it also brought out her eyes and made her hair, left loose to fall to the center of her back, look even brighter. Chelsea boots and a navy pea coat completed her look.

"Casual yet classic!" she said to her reflection.

Grabbing her bag and sunglasses as she exited the front door, she was surprised to see several teenagers by the garden gate. Rory waited for her at the bottom of the steps.

"Would you prefer to take the car, Miss West?" he asked in a low voice as she came to his side.

"I'd really like to walk, but you're the professional. I'll take your advice."

The single boy in the group, with dark chestnut curls and wide blue green eyes, held up a sign that read, 'I'll be your baby daddy!'

The security guard thought a moment before answering, loud enough for the fans to hear, "I think we'll be ok. None of them look like they'll require the taser." The boy put down his sign.

Having learned fast enough always to have one or more on hand, Lexi pulled a Sharpie from her coat pocket and signed photos, a ticket stub from the opening show, and one very nice, laminated image from her solo that night, presented by the boy. "That's a great picture! Did you take it?"

His bright eyes gleamed. "I did. We had fantastic seats. It was quite a surprise, seeing you're... that you're..."

"Pregnant. It's ok to say it." She smiled. "What's your name?"

"Harry."

"And how old are you, Harry?"

"Fifteen."

"Let's see..." she wrote a bit more than usual before handing it back to him. As he read it his face lit up and his smile grew wider and wider. He had dimples. He'd be a lady-killer in a few years.

"Thank you, Miss West!"

"Harry, you can call me Lexi." Then turning to the others, "I'm going to be late for my appointment if I don't get moving. Thank you for coming to see me, but please understand that this is a one-time deal. You were the first ever to find me here, and that's why I stopped, to thank you. It's not going to happen again."