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Summer
Of
The Diarist
I’ve been in his room early this morning and I have to say I haven’t a clue. There’s something nostalgic about it, crazy, but it reminded me of my grandparent’s room. Surely the house is not sending me a grandpa! Ha! The room smells blue and green; I’m not that familiar with what that means, like newly mown grass, rain maybe. Interesting. The walls are painted green with red print curtains and a green and white stripped bedspread. It’s the furniture that looked old fashioned, it’s blond.
Something else, the house has redecorated. I think that’s so cute, it smells different too like a lemon pie. There’s a wreath on the door with real flowers, and the gardens are just blooming away. I really like this house and sometimes wish it was mine, but then I think about the seasons and think I couldn’t live like that forever. No, one day I will find someone and settle down but I’m not ready for that yet.
I just heard a horn blow, oh gosh he’s here.
Hallie Madison
Summer Romance Discovered
At
The House of Four Seasons
By Atonia
Part 1
Alex Ross tooted the horn and parked the car down by the garage. Might as well announce himself he thought. He shut the car door and pushed his hat back on his head, hands on hips, and surveyed the house and gardens; nice place.
He thought he might have been here before but couldn’t remember, something about it seemed familiar. He’d been briefed and knew who was here, he also knew about Maximus and was glad he was summer and not spring.
Hallie, dressed in a short white skirt and red knit top, ran down the stairs and opened the front door. He was walking toward her and she didn’t recognize him, good looking young man with a hat on. He stopped a few paces from her, nice looking doll, she reminded him of a doll, blond and blue eyed, petite.
"Hi, Alex Ross you must be Hallie?"
Alex Ross; still didn’t ring a bell but then she’d not watched all of the movies stacked in her room, too busy with Maximus. "Hi, won’t you come in?"
Alex came inside and removed his hat, took a quick look around and turned to her, "You don’t know me do you?"
"No as a matter of fact I don’t, sorry I’m not up on all the characters."
"Good," he smiled, "no preconceptions to deny."
He had a nice smile that lit up his face, "I’ve just made some tea would you like a glass?"
"Oh sure would," he followed her through to the kitchen and stood at the island while she filled two tall glasses with ice.
"Since I don’t know you, you’re going to have to fill me in, what do you do?"
"Ah bit of this and that, I’m a stringer…reporter for a LA newspaper, and lately a sometime PI, private investigator."
"Sounds interesting, what do you investigate?"
"Missing women," he grinned and accepted the glass of tea.
She smiled back, "None of them around here…only me."
"Maybe I’ll investigate you," He met her eyes for a moment and walked over to the glass doors, "Oh jeez I forgot about the ocean, there’s a beach right?"
"Yeah, it’s down the bluff, there’s a path. You’ve been here before?"
"It’s been awhile, let’s go outside." He opened the door and stepped out on the stone patio.
He had a lot of thick chestnut hair combed neatly, broad shoulders and a trim waist, Hallie smiled as she followed him out on the terrace wishing she had watched his movie, "What was the name of your movie?" she asked walking up beside him.
"Rough Magic, now don’t go sneakin’ around and watching it while I’m here. Just let it happen," he tilted his head and grinned.
"Magic, I’m all caught up in it here. I never believed in magic until I came here and discovered it could really be true."
"I believe in it. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Yeah pretty powerful stuff magic."
"Your movie was about magic?"
"I’m not sayin’."
"Okay if there’s one thing about you I should know what would it be?"
Alex turned to her, "I hate sausages don’t ever try and feed me a sausage."
Hallie laughed, "No, seriously what?"
"I am serious. I don’t know Hallie," he looked down swirling his tea round, "I wanted to be a writer."
"Why aren’t you?"
"Well the war came, I just couldn’t write about it…I bummed out."
"Which war?" He looked too young for Desert Storm.
"World war II. I guess you don’t know, that’s the era I’m from, right after the war, after the bombing in Japan."
"Oh I didn’t know," but that did explain the bedroom. "I feel so stupid not to know these things."
"No way you could know…you haven’t done your homework."
"And you won’t let me do it now."
"It’s too late for homework," he drained his tea glass. "I’m here already we’ll see what you pick up in class."
"I’m not a school girl Alex," There it was again was she going to have to paste her ID on her forehead. She sat down at the table under the umbrella.
Alex turned and looked at her and walked over and sat down, "I never said you were, we were talking in abstract here. I know how old you are."
"You know more than me, how old are you?"
"Thirty-three," he answered but he felt older, "I was thirty-three in April."
"You look younger."
"I suppose I should take that as a compliment." He looked up at her a little shyly and smiled.
He had the prettiest blue green eyes and that smile. "I thought we might take a picnic down to the pond if you’d like"
"I’m game, anything I can do to help?"
"Carry the basket," she smiled and went into the kitchen where a basket with fried chicken, potato salad and other goodies awaited.
"Hey I can do that, lead me to it." Alex took the basket and they walked down to the pond and found a spot to lay out the blanket she carried.
Hallie still was not comfortable with Alex, she didn’t know him at all but liked what she was finding out. He was friendly and open, she thought he might be fun for the summer. Alex thought she was cute, but noticed she wasn’t giving anything away, he might have to investigate her after all.
They spread the blanket and Hallie began unloading the basket.
"I told you want I wanted to be when I grow up but you haven’t told me about yourself." Alex took a chicken leg and began eating.
"Probably because I don’t know. I’ve been out of school for a year and can’t find a job."
"What did you major in?"
"History."
"Maybe you should teach."
"Seriously Alex would you think of me as a teacher."
He looked at her a moment, smile twitching his lips, "Probably be trying to make a date with you."
"See what I mean. I may go back to school, I just don’t know right now."
"You’ve got plenty of time."
"That’s about all I’ve got going is time."
Alex picked at his potato salad, "Maybe you should just get married, start a family not everybody is cut out for the business world."
"Married, ha…no Alex nobody is standing in that line either. I wouldn’t mind working with children though, younger ones like a preschool or something."
"Yeah I can see you doing that."
"Can you…really?" She asked glancing at him.
Truthfully he couldn’t see her doing anything because he didn’t know her and she wasn’t opening up to him. Maybe it was too soon, it would take time and he had three months.
"Honestly I can’t because I don’t know you well enough. You don’t tell me enough about yourself, what you feel or think for me to form an opinion."
"Sorry, I’ve never been good about that, talking about myself. I don’t share I guess, I was an only child and never had that many friends that I opened up to. That’s why I keep diaries."
"Locked ones?"
"Yes."
He smiled and lay back on the blanket, "Guess I won’t be reading them then…"
"Why would you want to? I can’t imagine my secret thoughts would interest you or anybody else."
"Because," he rolled over on an elbow, " I’d like to know what’s behind those pretty blue eyes."
"Sometimes I wonder that myself, maybe there’s nothing," she widened her eyes.
Alex gave her a strange look and picked her hand up from the blanket and played with her fingers. She was young, not much life under her belt.
"I was a wide eyed innocent myself one time, I believed in something and I joined the Marines, I fought at Iwo Jima. I was a journalist and sent to Japan right after the atomic bomb was dropped. I think something died in me all that gung ho shit was just that.
When you see peoples possessions melted together in the streets and you think about the people that owned them just disappeared into thin air…it…I couldn’t write about it, I couldn’t write home to my mother and tell her what I was seeing. I couldn’t go home, and began drinking pretty heavily trying to blot it all out. Got a job with a newspaper and nearly lost that. I ended up in Mexico sending in crap hoping something would get published and send me enough money for another bottle." He looked up at her, "That’s some of what’s inside me."
Hallie laced her fingers through his, "Oh Alex that’s awful."
He looked down at their hands locked together, Hallie had a strong desire to take him in her arms and comfort him but she didn’t, she lacked that confidence with him.
"Well it is but that’s part of life, Hallie, it’s not all good but it’s all we got." He suddenly sat up, " I don’t usually talk about this shit."
"I’m glad you felt comfortable enough with me to talk."
He looked at her, "Strangely…I do." He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them.
That he would tell her that made her feel good, warm inside, he’d given her something of himself and she treasured it.
"Thank you Alex."
He sighed and looked around, "Is that a boat house…with boat?"
"Yes there is an old wooden boat, want to take it out?"
"Sure we can do that." He got up and pulled her to her feet standing close for a moment looking into her eyes and then moved away, "It won’t sink will it?"
"I hope not," she laughed and ran along side of him to the boat house.