Bring Me to Life Ch. 02

Smiling, it was her turn to interrupt, "You're more than welcome to stay over any night you want, or if you need I could always drive you home." She didn't quite hide the look that showed she was hoping I'd opt to stay over.

Repressing a grin at how cute she looked waiting for my answer, I tilted my head a bit as if seriously considering before responding, "Well, I suppose that could work, me staying over that is, on one condition anyways..."

"What condition?" I had to fight to stifle a giggle at the look of confusion in her eyes.

"My parents are hosting a New Year's Eve party on Wednesday, and I need to go. I don't need to be there before 10:00, so it won't interfere with work, but I need a date. Do you know anyone available? Preferably a sexy blonde Portfolio Manager with the type of eyes that someone could happily drown in?"

Lexie's responding laugh was loud enough to draw a couple looks, and she blushed as she quickly lowered her head, "I can't say that I do, but if you'll accept me as a poor substitute I'd be honored to go as your date?"

The slight lift in tone at the end of her response was uncharacteristically uncertain of her, making it sound like a question rather than the playful response I think she had intended it to come across as. Reaching across the table to take her hands in mine, I locked eyes with her and, lowering my tone to emphasize just how serious I was, replied "Lexie, no-one in their right mind would ever consider you as being a poor substitute."

Her blush deepened, but the smile I caught was bright as she finished the last of her sushi. I quickly followed suit and with an unspoken agreement we settled up the bill and headed back to work.

Returning to task, I noticed I had an initial response to the analyst report waiting for me providing guidelines on energy sensitive sectors and countries that would let me start work on the secondary follow-ups. I buried myself in accounts, spreadsheets, and numbers for the next couple hours before being reasonably satisfied with the plan I had put together, and glancing at the clock realized it was nearly 9:00.

Stretching, I found Lexie staring out the window, though with how dark it was I doubt she could actually see much. Thinking to catch her unawares, I quietly slipped out of my chair and snuck up behind her, but just as I was about to wrap my arms around her she leaned back into me and rested her head against my shoulder, "I think we should call it a night here if we're going to be of any use at all tomorrow," she said.

"How did you...?"

Lexie laughed in my arms, "Window, can't see a thing outside, but with the light on inside it's basically a huge mirror."

Grinning sheepishly, I glanced at the window and realized she was right, we were clearly reflected in the glass. "Well, I think I've put together a solid list for early contact, and I even got the preliminary analysis I asked for earlier to put some things together for next week. Altogether, I think I can keep you pretty busy."

"How would you feel about handling some of the follow ups?"

Shocked, I just stared at Lexie's reflection. She didn't let anyone manage anything more than basic maintenance for her clients, she even made sure they had her personal cell phone so they could reach her on vacation if something really important came up.

Seeing my look, and interpreting it accurately, she continued "You've proven your judgement is sound, you're fully qualified, and if anything comes up that you actually do need help with, I'll be right here with you. I was thinking it would be good for you to be more involved though, and good practice for the future."

"Thank you Lexie, I know how much trust you're putting in me..."

"You've earned every bit of it, don't you ever think otherwise," smiling warmly at me, she continued, "You know me well enough by now to know that I wouldn't ask you if I didn't have complete faith in you professionally, all personal feelings aside."

"You're right, of course, I'm just so used to working twice as hard to get half the recognition because of who my father is. Even trying to keep it quiet, you know how word gets around, and there's always someone saying I only got this or that privilege because of him"

"Well, between us, I doubt too many of them saw your current assignment as a privilege... and I don't give a damn who your father is OR how good you are in bed, so you can rest assured if I give you an opportunity it's because you earned it fair and square."

Laughing, and feeling my cheeks warm as a blush surely covered half my face, I turned back to the main concern, "Ok, but we'll need to plan where to recommend reallocating the assets we sell before we start, do you need me to do anything for that?"

"Who sent you the preliminary analysis?"

I closed my eyes for a moment as I thought, then replied "Had to be Tom."

"Good, he's always been good at anticipating what I would need to save both of us some work. Before we clock out, can you check and see if he included an inverse relationship analysis detailing which sectors performed particularly well during previous energy corrections?"

Walking back to my desk I opened up Tom's email again to read what he'd written, I'd gone straight to the attachment earlier, and answered, "He only sent the initial analysis but promised a final draft and an inverse correlation analysis no later than 10:00 tomorrow."

"Alright, well we won't be able to do much more until we get that, so let's plan to start tomorrow at ten and we'll review the report together. After that we can plan our recommendations, and we should be able to start calling clients after lunch." Grabbing her coat as I finished shutting down my computer, she continued, "Ready to go home?"

My heart skipped as I registered Lexie's question: not her place, home. I knew I must be grinning like a fool as I answered, "Yeah, I don't know about you but I could do with a glass of wine." I barely remembered to do one last check to make sure everything was secured. That one word seemed so innocent, home, and yet hearing her say it...

"Mmm sounds like a plan."

As we left the office, I felt Lexie take my hand, bringing a smile to my face. Her condo was only a short drive from work, and before long we were lounging in the living room sipping on a chilled Italian Moscato. Max, after an initial fuss at our arrival, was curled up between us on the couch sucking up the attention as we each pet him with our free hands.

Looking around, not having had a chance to do so this morning, I noticed that the decor told Lexie's story rather well to a keen observer. It was too perfectly matched, and flowed too smoothly from one section to the next, to have been Lexie's doing. While there were accents on tables and shelves, even those looked to have been selected with an eye to fitting with a larger theme. Overall, the entire space spoke to having been professionally done by an interior decorator. More telling, then, was what wasn't present.

There were no pictures, no personal touches, to make this a home. It was just a place for Lexie to sleep and eat, somewhere she could go when she wasn't at work. My heart constricted, Lexie had run away from her home, and the memories that dwelled there, and made sure not to bring any of those memories with her.

Looking over at Lexie, I saw she had her head down towards Max as she scratched his ears. Feeling my shift, her eyes lifted to meet mine and my heart swelled as I saw the warmth of her smile. She had been through a lot, but she was getting better and was able to let herself be happy with me. Reaching over she brushed a strand of hair back from my forehead and then took my glass, now empty, and stood to set both on the kitchen counter, "I'm beat, are you ready for bed Mikey or were you staying up a while?"

Stifling a yawn, I shook my head, "I could do with a good night's sleep too, we'll need it for tomorrow." Following her to the bedroom, I saw the professional decor continued to flow through here with one exception. On one of the side table was a picture frame, but it was face down. Without really thinking about it, I found myself drawn to this one personal touch and, moving to the bed, lifted the frame. As I turned it over, I saw a picture of a beautiful redheaded woman, a light spattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and dark green eyes crinkled with laughter mirrored in her smile.

From behind me I heard Lexie's strangled gasp, and I turned back to find her looking worriedly at me. Glancing back at the photo still in my hands I understood the significance immediately, "Is this Sam?"

She nodded, silent for a bit before adding, "It was the last picture I took before... when I packed everything else up I couldn't seem to let go of that one." Her eyes dropped to the ground and she hesitantly added, "I guess I should get rid of it now though..."

Carefully setting the picture back, sitting upright this time, I crossed to Lexie and lifted her chin with my finger so that her eyes met mine, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, we're together now, and..."

Seeing where she was going, I prodded her to continue, "And...?"

Lexie continued "I just... I keep thinking about Sam, about what she would have thought of you... I think she would have liked you. I just... you deserve for me to leave her in the past, and I don't know if..."

Brushing her cheek gently, I gave her the only answer I could: "No."

Looking confused, Lexie tilted her head which also had the effect of resting her cheek against my palm, "No?"

"No, your feelings for me, or anyone for that matter, should never require you to forget what you lost, and if that was what I expected then I wouldn't deserve you. Sam, your past with her, that is a part of you and always will be," I paused considering my words carefully before continuing, "Do you have feelings for me?"

"Of course!"

"And do you still love Sam?"

I felt the weight of Lexie's chin press into my hand as she tried to look down again, but I kept my eyes on hers, seeing a hint of tears form as she answered, "Yes... I..."

Cutting her off before she could say more, I continued with what was, to me, the most important part she needed to realize, "Do you feel, in your heart, that loving Sam takes away anything at all from how you feel about me?"

I smiled as her face transformed from the worried expression she had been giving me into one of confusion, and then as her eyes lit back up with realization, "No... it doesn't, does it?"

"No sweetie, it doesn't at all." Brushing my lips to hers and pulling her into my arms, I held her close for a moment before asking, "Ready for bed now?"

"Yea-ahhhhh," her reply was interrupted by a yawn and she blushed slightly, "umm, I mean yeah, I'm exhausted."

Slipping into bed, she pressed her back against my chest as I wrapped my arm around her and kissed the back of her head, "Good night sweety"

"G' night..." she muttered back sleepily, already drifting off.

Alexis - Tuesday, December 30th, 2014

I woke up feeling Mikey's warmth pressed to my back exactly how we'd fallen asleep. Blinking sleepily, I opened my eyes to Sam's face smiling at me from the side table. My mind flashed back to the day before, when we'd stopped in to drop off Max in the morning I had turned the picture down to hide it from Mikey, knowing she would be staying over, but she had seen the frame and looked at it... and she wasn't upset. She understood that Sam would always have a place in my heart, and moreover had helped me to realize that loving Sam didn't mean I loved her any less.

I smiled as I relaxed back into Mikey's embrace, I didn't know how she managed to do it but bit by bit she was gradually banishing the darkness that had clung to me for so long, and she made the parts that still lingered so much easier to bear. I didn't know what I had done to deserve her, but I silently thanked whomever may be listening for sending her to me.

I felt Mikey stir behind me, then her lips press against the back of my head followed by a low, "Sleep well sweety?"

"Like a baby, a woman could get used to falling asleep in your arms."

"I certainly hope so," she chuckled, "What time is it?"

Glancing at the clock, it was a bit later than I would have liked, but since we wouldn't be able to really get started before 10:00 regardless, it wasn't too bad. "About half past eight, we should just have time for a proper breakfast if we hurry up getting ready."

Nibbling at my neck, she responded mischievously, "And if we don't hurry?"

"Mmmm, if we don't hurry, we may never leave the bedroom, and as much as I wish otherwise, that's simply not an option today."

Sighing dramatically, she returned, "I know, but you owe me one."

I laughed as I turned and brushed my lips to hers, "Deal. Think we can behave if we share the shower?"

Her eyes smoldering, she replied "As much as I'd love to lie to you, I don't think that would be conducive to us leaving on time. How about I use the guest bathroom for this morning and I can make that one up to you next time?"

Smiling back at her, I answered "I'll hold you to that."

By this point Max had heard us waking up and came in to demand that we say good morning to him as well. The next hour passed by in a flurry of getting ready for work, Mikey took Max out for a short walk while I let Gary know we were leaving, and then with a parting scratch to Max's ears, we headed out to work.

Making our usual stop for coffee, I turned to Mikey and confirmed, "Light roast, skim milk, no sugar, right?"

Beaming a smile back at me, "Yep, but if you're going to start remembering Jonathan's order you better remember mine too or you might hurt my feelings."

"Yeah, because light roast, black with one sugar, is so hard to remember?"

Ignoring my sarcasm, she just quipped "Good girl, but remember: raw sugar or none, I try to avoid processed sugar" and pulled out her phone to check for updates from work.

Shaking my head at her I ordered our coffees, and picking up the drink holder with our cups and I asked, "Anything I need to know?"

"Tom sent along the inverse analysis report as promised, and added an additional report from the technology team with a note that he had heard them discussing their outlook and thought you'd be interested even if there wasn't necessarily a correlation with energy. Wow, he really does go the extra mile for you, doesn't he. Little bit of a crush?"

I laughed and replied, "Nope, more like because of his position as an analyst he's not allowed to make his own trade decisions, and I manage his portfolio with full discretionary trading. So the more I know..."

Mikey joined me in laughing, "The better he does financially."

"I picked up several of our analysts' portfolios as a junior portfolio manager, most managers drop them as soon as they reach their client limit since we don't make much commission off them being staff. I realized early on that the analysts whose portfolios I was managing were a lot faster to respond to inquiries, and a lot more detailed in their information so over time I picked up a few more. I think I'm managing investments for about fifteen of our analysts in different markets, and have a steady flow of good information because of it."

Mikey was looking at me mouth agape, before accusing, "You mynx! And here I thought you didn't bother with office politics."

I threw her a sly grin, "Never said that, just that I had no time for the bloody useless gossip. If someone can be useful to me and my clients, I have no problem making sure they are taken care of in turn."

We were still giggling as we got to Jonathan's desk, and the look he offered me set me off even more. Composing myself, I removed Jonathan's coffee and handed it over to him, "Skim milk, no sugar. Just how you like it, right?"

His eyes flicking to Mikey and back to me, he nodded, "Yes, thank you Alexis."

"Oh, and Jonathan? Thank you very much for being so accommodating with my schedule. If there's anything you need, let Mikey or me know ok?"

"Ok, uh I mean, I will, and it's my pleasure Alexis, I know how busy you are."

Deciding to take pity on the poor guy, I looked over at Mikey and commented "I was thinking we could get started in about ten minutes? I have a couple things to do first."

Smiling, she responded, "Alright, I'll be along in a minute."

As I walked away, I heard Jonathan interrogate Mikey, "Ok, seriously, who was that and what did you do with Alexis's body? Do you need an alibi?"

Mikey's laughter followed me down the hall as I entered our office, closing the door behind me. Sitting at my desk, I sipped my coffee while waiting for the computer to power on, I was already thinking strategy. I wanted Mikey to get involved with some of the client interactions, and was mentally sorting which clients would be best for her to start with.

As my system finished its startup sequence, I heard the door open and smiled at Mikey, "So, did Jonathan provide you with a suitable alibi?"

Laughing, she answered "I've assured him that you are the real Alexis Hart, and that you are in full mental health. It took some convincing, but he believed me eventually." Hanging up her coat and settling in at her own desk, she continued "I skimmed through the report Tom forwarded, seems like there are promising signs that the recent surge we've seen in U.S. markets is just the tip of the iceberg, they're projecting a strong bull market for at least one to two years, and our technology analysts are convinced that tech will lead the charge."

I nodded thoughtfully as I opened the report, confirming the synopsis Mikey had provided, and commented "This fits with what I've been expecting based on past reports, the U.S. still hasn't fully recovered from the crash in 2008 and they have been overdue for a significant recovery. It couldn't be better timed either; the U.S is always an easy sell to clients, and it will provide a familiar safe port for the storm about to hit the energy sector."

The next couple hours were spent digging through the various reports Tom forwarded, identifying investments that provided strong potential returns coupled with familiar names our clients would recognize, and splitting up the contacts between Mikey and me. She balked once or twice when I would recommend a larger client to her, but each time I reminded her that the complexity was less about the size of the portfolio and more about the client's personality. Assuring her that these clients were relatively knowledgeable and easy to speak with, she would defer to me and accept the responsibility. By lunch, we had identified twenty clients we would contact today, with an additional thirty for tomorrow, dividing the list roughly equally between us.

About a quarter of my client portfolio had signed discretionary trading agreements allowing me to manage their funds without needing to consult them, so for them I drafted a written communication to send out along with the trade confirmations that would be received advising them of the changes. Between those agreements and the calls we'd make over the next two days roughly half my clients would be accounted for, the remainder would have to wait until after the New Year.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, we managed to reach all the clients we wanted and once done Mikey helped me fulfill the discretionary trading instructions for the accounts we had authority on. Even with a break for dinner, we were able to finish earlier than we had predicted and by 8:00 we were already back at the condo. Pouring a couple glasses of my favorite Moscato, we relaxed comfortably on the couch, Max sprawled at our feet.

Resting my head on Mikey's shoulder, a small part of me remarked how easily she had filled the role of the protector in our relationship. With Sam, I had always been the strong one, it had been instinctual, but somehow with Mikey those same instincts told me I didn't need to be... that I could just relax and let her take care of me. "Thank you for helping out today, I know it took you out of your comfort zone."