Let the Floods Cross

Liezel opened her eyes to the sunlight blaring through the bedroom window. She blinked several times, a bit disheveled at the sudden brightness, before she allowed herself to take a look at her surroundings. Her body is turned by a pair of hands and suddenly she found herself facing Alex on his side of the bed.

He is awake, a small smile appearing on his face when her eyes landed on him. She reached over to him and placed a hand on the right side of his cheek. Sometimes she would look at him and believe that she is the luckiest woman in the world to be with him. Most people see the front man of a band, the sex appeal that he has towards the female consumers, but she gets to see the actual side of him that only people closest to him gets to see.

He treats her more than well, he goes through everyday with her—whenever he can, and he wouldn’t take her for granted, ever. With him around, she always feel loved, like she is always needed. The two get along so well, and it takes effort for them to still be here after knowing each other for over ten years. Although they’ve had several breakups between freshmen year of high school and now, they always come back to each other. They are the constant in each other’s lives.

She prayed that she would never lose him.

“You know, seeing your face first thing in the morning is quite delightful.” He said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

Liezel wrapped an arm around his frame and pulled herself closer to him on the bed. He chuckled when her leg went over his waist. She smirked at him when he eyed her with his dark brown eyebrows cocked up in interest.

“I miss this.” She whispered.

Alex placed a hand over hers, the one that was resting on his cheek. He thought about all of the changes that could happen in their lives right now. Everything seems different this time around, as if their relationship is in jeopardy. He is feeling her slip away from him, and is concerned that if he continued to let that happen, it will be the end for her. Even if she doesn’t realize it, he needs to be the one to hold the two together.

“How unfortunate that we have two of the most demanding careers ever?” Alex asked.

Liezel nodded in agreement, feeling a bit of disappointment sink in at the start of this topic. When they have time to spend together, she would usually try her absolute hardest to keep her mind off of the eventual separation. This time, however, Alex found time to accompany her to New York City for the U.S. Open, so they have a lot more opportunities to catch up and be together. She will cherish every moment of it, and hope that it will make up for lost time.

“But this time, we will have a lot of time together.” Liezel said as her fingers trailed down his face.

The singer eyed her intensely as he thought of the potential for the two to become even closer than they already are. He will finally be able to let go of what is eating him alive these past few months; things between them will be back to normal or even better if he is lucky. There are things that he regret doing, but if he can find a reason to let it go, he will.

“Are you in the mood to go back to Monroe Cuisine tomorrow night? Jamison misses you.” Alex asked.

The Monroe Cuisine is a special restaurant opened by Jamison Monroe; it is so expensive that most of the time, only the wealthy and the famous could afford meals there. Liezel is good friends with Jamison and actually enjoys the things that Jamison has on the menu. She hasn’t been to the restaurant since before summer. Her mouth watered at the image of Jamison’s beautiful looking food placed exotically on the table. She shot Alex a desperate look, accompanied with a nod.

“Yes, of course I am!”

“It’s a date then!” Alex winked as he lifted her off the bed and placed her on top of him.

She smirked at him as she brought their lips together in a soft kiss. They both pulled away at around the same time and just looked at each other. Sometimes they would have these moments where they would observe instead of involving themselves in action. It is something that cannot be explained but a habit that occurs in between their kisses.

“How about round one for the morning?” Alex suggested, hands roaming under her bra strap.

Liezel bit her lips in contemplation as disappointment started to sink in. She realized that Wilson wanted her to show up to practice in an hour.

“I would love that more than anything else in the world, but I need to get ready for practice.” She quickly kissed him and got off of him on the bed before he could protest.

Alex pouted at her and watched as she walked over to the closet. She took off her bra in one swift movement, turning to him with a seductive smile. He beckoned her over back to the bed but she shook her head in refusal.

“You are the absolute tease!”

She shrugged at him and then returned her attention to the closet in front of her. After shuffling through the drawers, she finally pulled out her practice attire. Alex bit his lips when she turned to look at him. His eyes naturally roamed to her bare chest and remained there until her white sports bra covered the area of interest.

“Eyes on my face, pretty boy.” Liezel teased.

Alex laughed as he got up from his lying position on the bed. Leaning his back against the headboard, he wrapped the sheets around his lower body as he continued to observe her. She put on her tennis top and skirt consciously.

“I’m no model like Dale, but I can strike a few poses for you if you’d like.” Liezel said casually as she approached him.

She sat on the bed and leaned towards him.

“I swear, only you would look sexy in your practice outfit.”

“Geez, you sure do know how to flatter a girl.” Liezel moved closer to him in order to give him another quick kiss.

Alex smiled at her, running his hands through her silky black hair. She pulled away from him and reached for her wristbands on the bedside counter, skillfully slipping them on her wrist.

“I really have to go, but I’ll see you when I get back?”

She is already at the door but she turned back for his confirmation. He grinned at her, nodding as a response. With his affirmative, she allowed herself to walk out of the bedroom. After grabbing her gear and a bottle of water, she left.



After practice, Liezel did not go home to Alex as she promised. She went over to the shared flat of Rian and Zack. However, Zack is not supposed to be home at this time since he went hiking with his camera in tow.

When Liezel walked into the flat, Detective Kovacs, or just Ace, was the first to greet her. After seeing Ace, Liezel finally understood why Zack was quick to leave the loft. The two had history and would try to avoid each other as often as they can—or at least on Zack’s part.

“So why did I ditch Alex to be here?” Liezel asked.

“I am so sorry for making you come here, Beckett.” Ace apologized as she gestured for the tennis player to follow her into the living room.

Rian is on the couch, talking to someone on the phone. He immediately dismissed the person on the phone as soon as his eyes landed on her. Smiling, he quickly hung up the phone and patted on the seat next to him.

“Thanks for being here.” Rian said.

Raising her eyebrow in suspicion, Liezel slowly walked over to her boyfriend’s band mate and sat down next to him. It is weird for her to come here after getting a phone call on her way home. Rian rarely called her for anything.

“This is kind of urgent.” Ace said as she paced around the room.

Liezel liked Ace well enough, since they knew each other in high school. Ace has been Rian’s best friend since before she knew Alex and after she started dating him, she was introduced to Ace. The two had their moments of close friendship but slowly drifted apart when Liezel went to focus on her tennis career while Ace worked her way to becoming a homicide detective.

Since they’ve drifted apart over the years, it is weird that Ace would be calling her over for a favor.

“So you know how my little sister is dating a tennis player?” She asked, biting her lips as she continued her pacing.

Liezel nodded as she recalled that exact fact. Ace’s younger sister, Breck, is going to be a high school senior after the end of summer vacation. She is also into girls instead of the opposite sex and has recently been dating a high school tennis star—very much like Liezel when she was in high school. What she did not get is the relevance it has to her.

“Well, she was murdered this early morning at the tennis club.” Ace said.

The tennis player’s eyes widened as she turned to look at Rian in confirmation. He gave her a brief nod.

“Oh my god, that’s terrible. I would love to help, but I’m not sure how.” Liezel murmured softly.

Ace bit her lips as she finally stopped pacing around the room. She walked over to Liezel and stopped just as she is standing in front of her. The raven-haired tennis player continued to look at her helpfully.

“My chief told me that this case is a bit personal for me, but they have no choice but to put me up to it, I’m told that I am his best. Anyways, you often go to that tennis club right?”

Liezel nodded in affirmative.

“The people there are very uncooperative. The security team even refused to release footage from the cameras until they reviewed it first. That can take hours! I need it now. I mean, you are Liezel Beckett, tennis super star, who would dare say no to you?”

Ace stared at her hopefully as she explained this.

“Wait, so you want me to tag along on your investigation?”

“Exactly! Please do it?”

Liezel noticed that this is a very personal case for her since she has to go figure out who killed the girlfriend of her sister instead of being at home to comfort said sister. She is in a difficult position right now and the fact that the members of the tennis club are unwilling to help creates even more stress for the detective.

“Sure, I can accompany you to the club.”

“Sweet! Can you come over to the precinct with me now? I need to bring you over to the chief to corroborate your participation in this case.”

Liezel froze and went on to share a look with Rian. The drummer shot her a pleading look on his friend’s behalf.

“Okay, let me just call Alex.”

She took out her phone and quickly dialed her boyfriend’s number. Alex picked up on the fourth ring.

“Where the hell are you, Liezel?”

“I’m at Rian’s place.”

There was a pause.

“You are at Rian’s house?”

She heard the implication in his voice.

“Whoa, no, Ace wanted to talk to me. There was a murder in the tennis club that I used to play at. It’s Breck’s girlfriend and Ace really needs me on this case and--”

“Hey, slow down.”

“I can’t come home right now; I need to go to the precinct for some business.”

“Okay, wait until I tell Jack about this!”

Liezel rolled her eyes even though he can’t see it. Sometimes he just doesn’t take things like this seriously.

“Yeah, and we can compare notes about the interior design of the station when I get back.”

Alex chuckled.

“Hey, I’ve been in there long enough to be part of that conversation.”

“Oh yeah, you stayed overnight!” Liezel exclaimed in realization.

Ace grabbed her bag from the floor and fumbled with the contents inside it until she pulled out her badge. After placing it in her pocket, she beckoned for the tennis player to wrap up her conversation.

“Hey Alex, I have to go now, okay? I’ll see you when I get back!”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“I love you!”

“Love you too, Liezel!”

And the line went dead.

Notes

Thanks to remembering--saturday for commenting on the previous chapter!