~A Female rivalry

Before she knew it, Esmene's week had flown by in the blink of an eye. 'Oh, right. Today he goes back to work.' she said to herself as she got out of bed. It was nearly nine 'o clock in the morning and Esmene wanted to see Alex before he went downstairs for the day.

Walking out of her room, she saw him in the bathroom shaving the short brown stubble on his face. Before he noticed her presence, she quickly walked away and got herself something to drink.

As Alex walked out of his bedroom adjusting his bow tie, he walked into the kitchen and said, "Do you want to come downstairs for a while? I'm going to start getting everything prepared and the company would be nice."

"Sure. Why not?" Not like she had anything better or more important to do.

After taking some pain medication, Esmene made her way downstairs into the kitchen. At the top step she could clearly hear Alex along with another womans voice.

"So why did you close the restaurant for two weeks? I didn't get to eat my pie the whole time!"

"I already told you, my friend got sick and she needed someone to take care of her for a while. And you can live without my pies for a while."

"Oh, a girl! Listen up everyone, Alexander Taylor Adam's is finally moving up in the world!"

"Hey, keep it down would you Jen? Not everyone want's to know everything about my life like you."

From what she could hear, this Jennifer sure sounded like a trouble maker. Feeling spontaneous, Esmene decided to make some trouble herself.

Walking into the kitchen she said to Alex in a sweet tone, "Good morning again. What ya doing?"

"Just getting everything ready. Did you eat breakfast yet? I can make you something if you want. I got time."

"That would be nice. I'm in the mood for some eggs if you dont mind." she said putting on a smile.

"Yup, just give me a few."

"Okie." Sitting down Esmene noticed the woman named Jennifer was glaring at her. Ha!

Politely introducing herself she said, "Hi, I'm Esmene. Alex and I are roomies. How are you?"

"I'm good. My names Jennifer. Just call me Jen though. I'm one of Alex's employes." Saying this, she intensified her glare.

The next few minutes were spent by the ladies glaring at eachother. Feeling the energy in the room change, Alex looked over to the the two having a visual war. 'Is this something women usually do after meeting eachother?' he thought. Alex's sister Olivia had told him once that sometimes when girls are fighting over the guy they like, they have visual wars. Scary!

Placing the plate of eggs in front of Esmene he said, I already made lunch for you so when you get hungry you can just pull it out of the fridge when you are ready." Before heading to back of the kitchen to get something, he patted her head and walked away.

Seeing how affectionate Alex was being with Esmene made Jennifer's boil. She had tried to get close to him for years, yet this girl shows up and getting a pat on the head from him?! And they were roomates?! 'What the fuck...' she thought. 'Not fair.'

As Esmene was getting up from her chair to go to the restroom, Jennifer took it upon herself to trip her. Quickly putting her leg out in front of the crutches, she tripped her and Esmene began to fall forward when she was caught by strong arms. Looking up, she was surprised to see that Alex had caught her.

"Uh...thanks. I'm going to the bathroom now."

Alex was just walking over when he saw what Jen did. Glaring at her with the coldest eyes she had ever seen he told her in a volume for her ears only, "Don't fuck around like that Jen."

"Wha-what are you talking about, I didnt do anything." Jennifer had a hard time hiding the fear in her voice.

"You damn well know what you did."

"It was an accident!"

"Why don't you go home and take leave. I don't want you here if all your going to do is stir up trouble and hurt Esmene."

"What?! No! Why are you so protective of her? She's clearly just here for the free housing and care."

This time Alex's voice had a very assertive and dominant tone as he told her again, "Go!"

Jennifer didn't need to be told again. Alex was really scaring her. Grabbing her purse, she was out of there in an instant.

A few minutes later, Esmene came out of the bathroom and said, "What happened? Why was Faith yelling?"

"Nothing." He responded. Even though he was looking at the floor, Esmene saw a quick flash of anger run across Alex's blue eyes.

"Ok."

The rest of the day Alex seemed to be in a cold and distant mood. Anytime Esmene talked to him, he wasn't happy and just nodded. He seemed to be tuning her out. Not cool.

Being frustrated with this side of Alex, she huffed and went up stairs. 'What's his problem?'

The rest of the day, Esmene stayed up stairs and sketched in her notepad while she listed to the tv in the backround.

Several hours later, Alex popped his head inside the front door and called Esmene's name. "Esmene, I brought dinner up. You hungry?"

"Oh thanks." Esmene was relieved, Alex's voice didn't sound near as cold as earlier and she felt she could now talk to him. "Shouldn't you be downstairs though?"

"Nah. I always take my break upstairs to eat dinner."

"Ok." Walking over, Esmene saw dinner was pork chops and potatoes. Her favorite! 'How did he know that....'

"I want to apologize for earlier today. I was really distant after Jen left. I'm really sorry."

"Oh...um. Thanks. I was just worried because you looked so angry."

"I was, but I'm alright now. Again. I wolnt let my anger get the best of me next time."

After dinner was finished, Esmene insisted the dishes were left upstairs for her to clean. She desperately wanted something to do. After doing the dishes, Esmene was feeling tired and headed to her bedroom. After showering and brushing her teeth, Esmene was off to sleep.

Sometime later in the night, Esmene her a soft voice say, "I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to get hurt."

Saying this, Alex placed a caring hand on Esmenes cheek and gently rubbed it. "You'll stay with me won't you?" After giving her a gentle kiss on the forhead, Alex left the room and went to sleep as well.