Lifeless (Book II)

Grand Opening

~Chapter Two~

Two Years Later

Alex pulled off the bed feeling every bit of his muscles ache as he tried to stretch and inhale at the same time. Moving out of his old apartment into a new house was indeed tiring. He rose off the bed and quickly searched for his jeans pulling into them. Ruffling his hair he proceeded to stumble his way into the restroom and splash his face with cold water. For a moment he looked at his reflection seeing his once shinning blue eyes only glimmer. There had been fire in those eyes once. Now the light in them seemed to die every day that passed.

He watched as the droplets of water quickly melted off his face and touched at the end of his chin dripping back into the sink. Wiping the remainder of the water away with a small wash cloth he tossed it into the laundry basket and walked out of the restroom after freshening up.

Every night was the same dream after the funeral. He'd dream Vicky was burning inside the wreck screaming for him to save her. It tormented him knowing that she had probably done exactly that in the last moments of her death.

"I'm going crazy," Alex sighed clumsily making his way into the living room. He slumped down on a couch and laid his head back to look at the spinning ceiling fan rotating above him. Closing his eyes he furrowed his brow and took a deep breath trying to calm his shaking hands. It gave him chills just remembering her screams echo into the back of his head. Alex would have given anything to switch places with her, he would have preferred he'd die instead of her.

Don't do this to yourself, he thought as he rose off the couch shaking his head slightly. The therapy he had been seeking had helped a little, and a new life is what he had to start, although he didn't want to, not one single bit. The bakery was still open for business and believe it or not it was one of the most successful ones. After a few weeks of Vicky's passing, Alex had finally coughed up the courage to let Mr. Elven in on the plan Victoria and he had made. He had simply responded with a small chuckle and a shake of his head.

After that the business had multiplied, they were now opening two more bakery's a few towns away. Fame of Victoria and Alex story spread all over town and he became quite the celebrity after her death. He didn't enjoy it one bit, but he loved talking about his one and only love to anyone who asked who she was. At time's he found himself talking about her for hours but then reminded himself that he had to stop before he broke down in tears in front of people. The story of Mrs. Elven and her fight for cancer had spread as well; she was interview by a lot of members from the Fight for Breast Cancer charities and even started a small campaign herself to help other woman fight it.

Everyone seemed to be moving on with their lives, even Max had popped the question to some blonde he had dated for over a year now. Everyone except for him, and it was time to pull himself out of this depressing hell hole he had dug.

"Vicky would have wanted it this way," he kept repeating.

He finally rose off the couch to get ready, dressing in a nice pressed dark grey suit, no tie and leaving the first button undone. One glance at his calendar told him that today they would be opening the new bakery in a town called Journey. The bakery was no longer called Elven, but of course Vicky's, in honor of the Elven's daughter.

Grabbing his car key Alex took a deep breath and let it out sharply through his mouth before jumping into his car and driving off.

*****

"Wake up Grace! Wake up."

Grace groaned and rolled over to her left side trying to avoid her two year old little sister's screams. The bouncing on the bed was driving her insane as her head bumped up and down on the mattress.

"Lacy!" Grace hissed rising off the bed and throwing off the covers. Lacy giggled and jumped off the bed darting for the door. Grace was of course faster than her and caught her before she could run past the threshold.

"Come here you," she laughed tickling her little sister. Lacy burst out in a fit of laughter and tried wiggling away from her grasp.

"Grace, you're going to be late for your first day of work, let the child go and get yourself dressed." Her mother chuckled.

Lacy pulled free and ran to hide behind her mother holding a bunch of her skirt into her small chubby little hands.

Grace rose from the floor stretching and smiled as she inhaled the smell of pancakes. Even though she was a twenty three year old she still felt like a kid. But all of that was soon about to change, she would be going to work for a new business that was opening up today. Hurrying into the restroom she took care to ready herself and soon descended the stairs in a pink and black uniform.

"Honey you look wonderful," her mother gushed. She reached out to adjust the collar of her pink shirt and adjust her black pants.

"I'm nervous," Grace sighed, slipping into a chair.

"Did you remember to put on your contacts, you know you always forget," her father chuckled as he scarfed down his pancakes.

"Let's see...outfit, check...contacts, check...and my trusted cell phone." She chuckled.

"Just making sure," he replied rolling his eyes.

"I'm fine, don't worry, I think I got this, after all I need to do this, you both now how it was hard for me to get myself back together...,"

"Honey, let's not talk about that and just eat a nice breakfast and drop you off at work," her mother said placing a plate of fresh pancakes in front of her.

Grace said no more and quickly tucked in her short brown hair behind her ears and picked up her fork.

Today was her big day, and baking cakes what something she had been dreaming of doing. Her mother had called her a natural at it, and she hoped deep inside that it kicked in when it came time to show the owners her skills.

****

Alex pulled up in front of the building and let out a sight, he didn't really want to go in there. All of the new staff had been patiently waiting for him to arrive. There was nothing more he wanted than to go home shut the blind and rest his head. However, Alex knew that wallowing in misery would never solve his depression.

"You got this," he whispered pulling out of the car. He didn't want to give it a second thought as he forced a smile on his face and pulled open the door.

****

Grace tried looking over the tall blonde in front of her, their boss had just entered the building but she had no clear view of him at all. She hopped about trying to peek through a few gaps but failed to see him. Only a small peek is what she got off the side of his face as he went about shaking hands with the employees. She finally gave up and slumped down on a chair watching as they all surrounded him.

"I would like to thank each and every one of you for showing up today..," she heard him say. She furrowed her brow and lifted her gaze to catch his full appearance between a gap the blonde and the brunette in front of her made. The sitting position she was in gave her a clear view of the most handsome face she had ever laid eyes on. Grace felt a blush creep up on her and reached to touch her cheek.

His voice was masculine, deep and filled with something she couldn't quite get her finger on.

"Any questions?" Alex asked.

The blonde in front of her shot her hand up and he turned and looked in her direction. Grace almost felt herself getting lost in those deep aqua blue eyes of his as he stared at the woman in front of him. Something in her bosses stare didn't seem quite right as Grace looked at him. If she wasn't mistaken she swore she could see just how much he didn't want to be here. There was pain in those breathtaking eyes, a pain that somehow she felt hit the center of her chest as she stared at him.