04. Alex and Emily
1834 Words
She turned to face him and for a moment, Emily forgot what she was supposed to be doing.
The stranger stared down at her, his squinting blue eyes seemed to stare into her soul and his thin pink lips curved into one of the sexiest smiles she had ever seen. His diamond shaped face gave him an even more unique look, it was obvious that he was young, but at the same time he looked masculine.
He was tall, much more taller than she was. Since Emily was 5'3ft, she estimated that the stranger would be around 6ft or 6'2ft, and even through his shirt, it was obvious that he was ripped.
His biceps were visible and she could easily make out the hardness of his chest.
He had a head full of silky wavy hair that reached his shoulders, and the color was beautiful as well. Something between silver and platinum blonde.
His outfit wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just a pair of jeans, a white T shirt and a leather jacket. But it looked amazing on him. He finished it off with a pair of air Jordan sneakers and a golden wrist watch.
"You could take a picture, it'll last longer."
Emily wasn't ready for the way his deep voice rambled her system when he spoke. He sounded cool and seductive at the same time.
"What?" She said, still somewhat in a daze.
"Well it seems like you're really enjoying staring at me, so I was wondering if you'd like to take a picture." He said, still smiling at her.
Emily didn't realize she had been staring that much, and who could blame her? She had never seen anyone as handsome as he was.
"Don't flatter yourself." She frowned. "My boyfriend is way better looking than you are." Brody wasn't ugly, but compared to the stranger, his looks were nothing.
She tried to free herself from his hold but instead of letting go, his grip on her wrist was tightened. "Hey let go!"
"I wasn't done talking." He said, a full smile on his face.
Who the hell did he think he was?
"You show up here like an hour late, and now you're refusing to take me home?"
"Take you home? What-" When Emily realized what he meant, her eyes widened as she let out a soft gasp. "Alex?"
"Hello big sis, long time."
★★★
"Oh Alex, it is so good to have back home after so long." Her mother pulled him in for a hug and he hugged her back.
"It feels good to be back mother. You haven't aged a day since I saw you last."
"Oh don't try to flatter me."
"It's true. One might think you're sisters with Emily." Emily's mother smiled at the compliment while Emily just rolled her eyes. "I know I don't have to ask where my dad is."
"He actually wanted to stay at home to welcome you, but something urgent came up."
"And it was more urgent than his son he hadn't seen in twelve years?"
"Come on now Alex, your father loves you, he just had no choice. But he did promise to come back early."
"Like hell he would. Oh and please mother, I'd like you to call me Lex from now on."
"Of course."
Emily was glued to the sofa, a sour expression on her face as she watched her mother and step brother relate like they were besties. She couldn't believe that he would even call her mother, something she had wanted to hear all those years ago.
Rather than yelling at her or calling her all sorts of terrible names, he was laughing with her and even hugging her every second.
Emily was still having a hard time believing that the man with her mother was the same boy she spent her childhood with.
The Alex she knew was a blonde, freckled boy with thin arms and legs. She was even taller than him back then.
Now, he was different, in every way possible. From his hair, to his height, and his impossible handsomeness. Then what was with that body of his?
Emily shook her head to get the thoughts out of her mind. She couldn't believe that she was checking out her step brother.
"Emily, what are you doing over there? Come here and have a talk with your brother."
"Oh we talked plenty on the way home." She replied without looking at them.
"Mother, does my big sister still have hateful feelings towards me?" Alex asked.
Emily wasn't looking but somehow she knew he was staring at her, and it made her uncomfortable.
"Of course not. Your sister doesn't hate you, Emily, here. Now!"
Emily groaned and got to her feet. Whenever her mother used that authoritative tone, there was no refusing her. "I'm here, what?"
"I'm going to get his meal ready, and I want you to keep him company while he waits."
"Keep him company? It's his house, he doesn't need anyone to keep him company."
"Emily!"
She was using her warning tone again. "Ugh fine. I'll sit with him. But he is not my brother!"
"You won't just sit with him, you two are going to have a conversation." She shot Emily a warning glare before leaving both of them alone.
"You know sis, you look kinda different since I last saw you." Alex said, his gaze running over Emily's profile.
"What can I say? Twelve years is a long time."
"I know, but that's not what I'm talking about. You seem to have lost your…your fierce edge."
"My what?"
"Back then, even though you were just a kid, you had this fierce side to you. I always admired it, but looking at you mow, it's gone. What happened?"
Emily still didn't understand what he was talking about. She maintained her frown and nonchalant attitude, hoping he would stop talking to her.
"Am I making you shy? You can't seem to look me in the eyes. Don't tell me, are you crushing on me?" Alex teased, reaching out to touch Emily's hair.
"Not on your life!" Emily's shot back, slapping his hand away.
"There, you finally looked. Was that so hard?"
"How did you recognize me at the airport?" That was what had been on Emily's mind ever since then. She had wanted to ask him about it on the drive home but she still felt awkward about admiring him so they just rode in silence.
"This." He pointed to her.
"What, my T shirt?"
"That's dad's."
"What?" She looked down at the shirt she was putting on and that was when she realized it. It was the shirt he got from a highschool reunion he went to. She had a similar T shirt so she must have been deceived by the color and picked the wrong one after laundry.
She quickly took off the shirt, leaving only a bra top underneath. "Maria, thank goodness. I need your help." She said as one of the helps walked by.
"Do you need something?"
"Can you please have this cleaned up and back in Mr York's wardrobe?"
"Of course, I'll get right on it." Maria was one of the staffs working at the York home, and she was a friend of Emily. She was older with two years and Emily had been trying to get her to stop addressing her so formally, but of course, it never happened.
She turned to Alex and found that he had been staring at her body. "What?"
"Nothing, just…it's nothing. You still call dad Mr York? After all these years? I can't imagine how he must feel.
Well, thank you, for your exclusive company, but I'm afraid I have to leave you now. I need a shower, but you're more than welcome to join me if you went." He winked at Emily who frowned even harder before going up to his room.
★★★
"Are you joking? There is absolutely no way that he's that different."
"I'm telling you, when I saw him, I didn't even recognize him. He's a completely different person, still an annoying brat though."
"Aww, you talking about me?"
Emily jumped as she heard Alex's voice from behind her. "Ugh what do you want?"
"In my house? Don't be silly big sis." Emily rolled her eyes at him and he smiled. His gaze shifted from her to Hannah who couldn't hide her shock. "Hey, is this Wilson? Damn sis, she's way hotter than you."
Hannah grinned from ear to ear, blushing at his compliment. Emily didn't know why but hearing him say that Hannah was prettier than she was made her feel almost sad.
It was obvious that Hannah looked better than her, but she had never put much thought into it, until Alex mentioned it.
What made her feel worse was the fact that if it was any other man who said that, she knew she wouldn't have been bothered by it.
"Wow Alex, you look…different." Hannah managed to say after a while, still smiling giddily.
"Really? Thanks." Alex smiled back at her.
It had been a while since Emily had seen Hannah react like that over a guy, and seeing the attention Alex gave her made her feel envious. "Hannah!"
"What? I'm just saying hi to him." Her gaze still didn't leave Alex and he kept staring at her too.
"Well you've said your hello, now let's go." She stormed off and Hannah reluctantly followed her to her room. "Hannah, what the hell was that?!"
"What?"
"What were you doing with Alex?!"
"Em, are you for real? That dude is straight up sexy. Like he is literally dripping with sexiness. I mean, so so hot."
"I get it." Emily was aware of all that, she just didn't like admitting it because it made her feel unconformable.
"Why didn't you tell me your brother is now a super model?"
"I'm sure I did."
"No, you said he changed. Change could mean anything. What I saw was a complete glow up. If there's anything more than a glow up-"
"I get it, he's hot now! Just promise me you won't go near him."
"What do you mean?"
"Regardless of what he looks like, that is Alex! The annoying brat who pranked me when we were kids. He's the villain in my story that's stealing away everything I've worked for. You are my best friend, you're supposed to hate him with me.
Besides, he's only twenty one-"
"Twenty one isn't bad."
"And you're twenty six! Crushing on him is strictly forbidden. Is that clear?!"
"Yes mom."
"Good. Now we're going to go back downstairs, and ignore him like we should, or else I won't let you stay for the party."
"Wow you're so mean."
Emily wasn't sure why she got so angry at the fact that Hannah liked Alex, but she knew it had nothing to do with their age difference. If anything, she was just pissed that he thought she was prettier than her.
- Writer
