Let the Floods Cross

Alex gestured for the violin player to leave the recording booth, nodding at the Finnish woman as she appeared beside him. The violinist pulled a case from the floor and opened it gently. Alex watched the woman place her instrument back into its box, trying to ignore the digital clock on the wall behind her.

On the couch, Kaya is on her phone, texting or social networking. Knowing her, she is probably posting her studio progress on Instagram or Twitter. To Alex, this does not matter right now. He knows that Liezel is playing a tennis game right now against her former rival, Nisha Crekovik. As of now, he knows that Liezel can beat her since she already conquered the former rivalry.

He did not know how the match is going because he didn’t dare to check now. Kaya is settled on the other side of the room and he has a job to do. It is hard to do his job when Liezel is the only thing on his mind right now.

It has been over a week since Liezel left for New York with Zack in tow; and everyday he has been regretting his decision of not tagging along with her. He is trying to find a reason to blame her and convince himself that it is not his fault. In reality, he is the one who drove the wedge between the two and used marriage as an excuse to compensate for what he had done.

“Thank you, Freya! It sounds great!” Kaya complimented as the violinist made her way out of the studio.

The violinist grinned at the Lockheart woman and nodded enthusiastically.

“The material sounds great! I wish the best of luck to you on this album.” Freya said.

Alex thanked the violinist and watched as she exited the room. He got up from the seat in front of the booth, walking over to the blonde woman. She looked up at him and gave him a genuine smile. Her green eyes sparkled as she gazed upon him.

“I am so proud of the progress I have made in the studio; and I just want everything to be perfect.”

Alex placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It will be perfect! You have been perfect!”

Kaya pulled him down towards her and leaned over to him for a quick kiss.

“How do you feel about guest vocals?” She asked.

Alex moved away from her, turning back to the booth.

“Who do you have in mind?”

“Brad Paisley? Luke Bryan? Blake Shelton? Or come on, I really want Martina McBride.”

Alex laughed.

“How do you think I can get in touch with these people? I have no degrees of relations with any of them.”

The blonde laughed with him, shaking her head.

“God damn, I don’t have connections to them either, is that surprising?”

“However, I do have a connection to Devyn Crackhill.”

Kaya shot up from her seat in excitement, giggling as she did that. Devyn Crackhill has been dominating the music industry since she released her first album in 2007. She is a young, beautiful woman in the country music industry and Kaya strived to be like her.

“OMG, how?”

Alex’s face fell in realization.

“I-I um…” He sighed loudly, “…Liezel.”

Kaya’s excitement dropped immediately at the mention of her name.

“She met Devyn during their season of Dancing with the Stars and are basically besties.” Alex tried to ignore the pang of guilt in his stomach.

The aspiring singer shook her head at Alex and forced a smile at him.

“It’s okay, I don’t need guest vocals on my debut. I want to record Tears right now, is that alright with you?”

She did not wait for his response and just brushed past him to get inside the booth. Alex messed around with the panels, finally pulling up the instrumental to Tears. As the music started, Kaya started singing. Kaya does have a nice voice, but personally, Alex did not think she is extraordinary enough to be a country legend. Honestly, he didn’t even think she could top or out sing Devyn Crackhill.

Alex pulled out his phone from his front pocket, clicking onto the U.S. Open website. He waited impatiently as the live feed scores appeared on the screen. When his eyes met with the scoreboard, he grinned. Liezel won the first set and is two points away from winning the quarterfinals match.

“Come on, Liezel.” Alex whispered.

He watched and waited intensely for the scoreboard to change. It is nerve wrecking to be experiencing it. As much as he hated her for bringing Zack to the U.S. Open, he wanted more than anything for her to win. She feared that she is falling behind on the world ranking and needed a win to bring herself back up again. Liezel had not been on a winning streak, especially ever since her run-ins with Andonov this year.

Alex wants her to succeed because he loves her and would do anything to see her happy. Then why are you fucking this up? He shook his head at himself. He is the biggest idiot ever.

“What are you doing?” Alex nearly jumped when he noticed that Kaya is standing behind him.

Kaya pursed her lips at him, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.

“Surprised I actually finished my song?”

When Alex did not respond, she reached over to the panel and stopped the recording.

“Why am I here?” Kaya asked.

Alex bit his lips.

“To record?”

“Then stop thinking about her.”

He got up from his seat and turned away from her.

“Alex, talk to me.” Kaya called out behind him.

Alex ignored her, gathering his things and stuffing them inside his pocket. He made certain that he brought the house keys this time, pushing his way past the objects in the room. He heard Kaya’s footsteps behind him but he disregarded it and opened the door to the studio.

“ALEX!” Kaya yelled.

Alex stopped walking and turned to look at her.

“We will come back fresh tomorrow okay?” Alex asked, voice unusually calm.

The blonde studied him for a few seconds before nodding wordlessly. Alex smiled at her halfheartedly, and then walked to his car.



Liezel’s back was slammed against the tiled walls as she sighed heavily at the impact. He wrapped both arms around her waist and pressed his lips to hers. She can feel the water cascading down on them from the showerhead, shooting some sort of thrill up in her body.

He pulled away and looked at her.

“Is this a one time thing?” He asked, blue eyes widened in curiosity.

Liezel sighed loudly, biting her lips. She did not need to say anything because he already knew the answer.

“Berdy, you know we can’t do this.”

Tomas nodded at her, swiping a few strands of her dark black hair out of her eyes. His wet hands caressed her cheeks and she closed her eyes.

“You really love Alex, do you?”

She made a sound of affirmative.

“So even if you guys are broken up, you know you will get back together with him?” He asked.

Liezel nodded. She cannot get into this with Tomas because she will eventually go running back to Alex, and her friendship with Tomas means a hell of a lot to her. When the French Open ends, she will return to Baltimore and win him back.

“I love him, Tomas. I promise you that there’s no one else in the world for me.”

“Beckett?”

Liezel opened her eyes to see Zack waving a hand out in front of her face. She smiled at him dazzlingly as she tried to shake the memories off. The thoughts of her and Berdych had never been relevant to her life until now. When things between her and Alex are going seriously south, what she had with Tomas came flooding back to her. She didn’t even know why she was thinking about that.

“I can’t believe you beat Sharapova! That was amazing!” Zack gushed and patted her shoulder.

She smiled at the reminder that she is going straight to the finals against Andonov. The Bulgarian won her semi-finals match just this morning. It is inevitable that she’d have to face Andonov in the duration of this tournament; she just cannot lose this time around. It is a miracle that she even made it this far with Alex constantly hanging around in the back of her mind. She cannot screw this up.

“I know! I think you are my good luck charm.” Liezel exclaimed, pulling Zack into an excited hug.

The musician chuckled, patting at the back of her head gently. He is glad to see her succeed, even if the only person standing in her way is his favorite female tennis player, Andonov.

“Hope you bring the U.S. Open home.” Zack whispered when he released her.

Smiling, she wrapped an arm around his waist as they started walking away from the Flushing Meadows. When they made it to the parking lot, they found Berdych talking to Liezel’s parents in front of their rental car.

The three turned to their direction when they approached the car. Tomas beamed at her and walked up to the pair. He held out a hand for her, signaling a high five.

“You are the man!” He exclaimed.

Liezel giggled, returning that high five. The two smiled at each other for several moments before someone cleared their throat. They both broke eye contact; Liezel ran over to her mother and father, pulling them both into a tight hug.

“We’re so proud of you, honey.” Mrs. Beckett whispered, kissing the side of her hair.

“You are a champion!” Her father said.

“I’m only a champion if I kick Andonov’s ass.” She said quietly, making sure Berdych did not hear.

She did not want him to know that she sort of resented Andonov deep down inside her kinder façade.

Her parents chuckled at her, clearly amused by her competitive side. They both knew how desperately she wanted her tennis career to last. She fought so hard to make a breakthrough several years back, and they know that she will do whatever it takes to be back on top.

“Alright, I’m heading to my match in a few. Get some rest and kick some ass!” Tomas wrapped an arm around Liezel.

She grinned at him and nodded. He kissed her cheek.

“Who are you playing again?”

Berdych made it to the semi-finals, alike herself, and she prayed that maybe he will finally win his first grand slam title.

“Murray.”

“Great player he is, that Andy Murray!” Liezel said.

“Yeah, I’ll see you tonight!” Tomas released his grip on her and exited.

Zack got in the driver’s seat of the rental car while Liezel and her dad helped put her equipment inside the trunk. When they were done, Liezel got into the passenger seat and her parents sat in the backseat.

“I do not like the way you guys interact.” Zack whispered to her.

“You mean Tomas?”

“Yes.”

“It’s none of your business.” Liezel hissed back.

Zack shook his head, deciding whether to stay out of this. He is worried for his friend. Alex loves her more than anything, but he is making a grave mistake right now. He just wants to prevent Liezel from giving in to her attraction to this Czech tennis player. She can deny it, but he can see it. Being the quiet one, he has great observant skills.

“You need to watch what you do around him.” He advised.

Liezel rolled her eyes.

“Why do you care, Zack? I’m not going to do anything rash. Alike every single time shit like this happens to Alex and I, I always return home and fight for him. This is precisely what I am going to do this time around.” She explained quietly so that her parents would not hear.

“That’s what I want to hear.”

“You want me back with Alex.”

“Yes.”

“Then why haven’t you been helping me when we were falling apart?” Liezel questioned.

Zack briefly glanced at her but focused more on pulling out of Flushing Meadows. He did not answer her.

“Zack?”

The bassist ignored her once again.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Liezel sighed, turning away from Zack.

“I plead the fifth!”

The tennis player managed to smile.

“Okay, just because you dated a law enforcer…”

Zack smirked at her, shaking his head at her comment. They both smiled at one another, mutually glad that they are able to find amusement in such a heavy topic.

“And just so you know, if Alex does not appreciate your fight for him, I’ll kick his ass!”

Liezel grinned widely at his words.

“Zack, you are the best!”

Notes

Ohhh snap! Is Tomas going to be a threat? You can bet that he will!!! And I know Liezel apparently defeated Masha, and just so y'all know, I love Sharapova very much so don't take it personal, just happened for sake of storyline!

And is anyone worried about poor Alex? Or just pissed at him?

skullandcrossbones, you know you rock!