Let the Floods Cross

“Alex, can you zip me up please?” Liezel asked as she held her long black hair up with both hands.

A pair of hands landed on both sides of her hips and suddenly, she is pressed against him. Alex’s lips lightly traced her neck from his position behind her, forcing a giggle out of her. She turned her head toward him and gestured toward her unzipped dress with her eyes. Face lighting up in realization, Alex removed his hands from her waist and zipped up her dark blue dress.

After he was done, he teasingly slapped her rear end before he positioned himself in front of the mirror to fix his tie.

“Alex!” Liezel squeaked.

Alex chuckled as a response as he buttoned up his shirt. The tennis player winked at him and walked in front of him, blocking his view in the mirror. She wrapped an arm around his neck, quickly stealing a kiss on the lips. He leaned in to prolong the kiss but being the tease that she is, turned her head downward to focus on his incomplete attire.

“You are really good at this.”

She snickered as she proceeded to help him button his shirt with two fingers.

“At what? Buttoning your shirt?”

“I was going to refer to the teasing, but I personally believe that you are a lotbetter at unbuttoning my shirt.” Alex replied suggestively.

Liezel helped him adjust his black colored tie and nodded proudly after she was done.

“Alex, save the bedroom talk for later; you know dinner won’t completely fulfill my appetite.” She leaned closer to him, whispering huskily.

The singer laughed lowly, nodding in agreement.

“I don’t doubt that.”

“I’m going to come at you like a tiger—a starving tiger. Are you ready to handle that, big boy?” Liezel flashed her teeth and showed off her claws, pretending to be menacing.

Alex shook his head and allowed his laughter to take over. She is a woman with such a personality that sometimes he isn’t sure how he kept up with her. Despite being a focused tennis player, Liezel is a woman with a strong personality. She has a lot of thoughts and ideas in her head, and is quite hotheaded when angered. It is something that he always admired about her.

“Well, let’s get going! Madison Cuisine is waiting, but it won’t bare to wait any longer!” Alex tugged at her arm, gesturing toward the door with his free hand.

Laughing, Liezel proceeded to follow her boyfriend out the bedroom door. However, her phone went off just as she brushed past the doorframe. Muttering curses under her breath, she pulled her phone out of her bag and rolled her eyes at a glance of the caller ID.

“Wilson?” Alex guessed.

“No, Hale.”

She accepted the call, pressing the device to her ear.

“What do you want?”

“Yo Beckett, it’s time for a late night practice session!” Hale exclaimed.

Liezel opened her mouth in protest as she met eyes with Alex. His dark brown eyes blinked at her several times in question, earning a shrug in return.

“Hale, tonight is my date night with Alex.” She argued.

A loud sigh is heard from Hale’s end of the line.

“I’m so sorry, Beckett, but we need to practice and cannot spare a day without practice.”

She cursed herself for putting her tennis priorities in the back burner for even a slight second. Today, she spent the majority of her day with Ace, investigating on Taylor Wilkin’s murder case at the tennis club. She pretty much spent most of the afternoon with the detectives and then went straight home to get ready for the date. She didn’t even think about tennis and for that she is guilty.

As much as she loved spending time with Alex, she needed a rain check. She will never let herself live it down if she disregarded practice for the day. If she loses the U.S. Open, this single day without practicing will eat at her alive.

“God dammit Hale, when?”

“Geez, you make it sound like it’s a chore.” Hale teased.

Tennis has never and will never be a chore for her. Liezel loved every single moment on court, through all the good and the bad times. She never once found her tennis career to be a burden to her. The only trouble she’s ever felt regarding the sport is the weight of pressure to do her absolute best.

“You know you’re just cockblocking.”

“Indeed I am, try to make it to the court in half an hour alright Beckett?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

When she hung up, she gave Alex a guilty look. At a glance of her face, he knew that something was up. The plans for tonight have been involuntarily changed. Sighing loudly in exhaustion, he folded his arms across his chest expectantly.

“Rain check?” Liezel asked uncertainly.

Alex’s dark brown eyebrows narrowed in frustration as he threw both of his hands up in the air. He is doing everything he can to hold it together, but it is complicated. This night is supposed to be the night to help him fully remember why he chose her over all else in the world. He needed tonight to bring himself back to the right state of mind, to reduce the guilt he has been harnessing.

Now that opportunity is taken away from him.

“What now?”

Liezel’s expression lightened as she walked over to her boyfriend.

“I’m sorry, babe, Hale called for a night session. I need to practice.” She reasoned.

Alex breathed in heavily, trying to maintain his level of anger.

“Why can’t you just sacrifice this one night to be with me?” He questioned.

The tennis player did not know how to reply since he is putting her in a very compromising position. As much as she loved him, consistency in her routine is very important to maintain. She will never forgive herself for skipping out on a day if she let this night slide without time on the tennis court.

“Alex--”

“Liezel, is winning the U.S. Open more important than me? We get this fortunate opportunity to spend these next few weeks together, and we only have two weeks to ourselves before tennis takes that away from me. Do not let tennis be the reason why we can’t be together tonight!” Alex pointed his index finger at her as he went on a tangent.

Liezel did not know what to do. Alex never lashed out on her like this before, even after years of knowing each other and tolerating her demanding schedule. Usually he would complain but in the friendliest manner only. This time, it was as if he is placing the blame on her for doing what she can for her career.

She is seeing a change in Alex and it worried her. He seems more on edge, as if he feels like their relationship is being threatened by something. Right now, she fears that their relationship might be threatened if he kept acting like this.

“Alex! Did you know what happened today? I forgot about tennis! I let the fact that I did not go to tennis practice today slip from my mind. It never happened before and I feel so guilty, and you don’t even understand!” Liezel fired back, poking at his chest as she made her point.

Alex huffed in frustration, unable to contain his anger anymore.

“Okay, since we’re talking about guilt, I’ll give you another reason to feel guilty: ditching me and leaving me home tonight with a canceled restaurant reservation.”

Liezel absolutely cannot believe that this is happening. They are actually having an argument about her dedication to her tennis career; it has never ever happened before. Usually, they would argue due to their clashing personalities, or commonly just the severity of hers. This time, the conflict is focused on something more personal like her career.

She is supposed to get to the tennis court in half an hour and she must have wasted five arguing with him.

“Then it is too damn bad that I do. I’ll keep the double guilt in mind when I hit some practice shots tonight.” She muttered under her breath and turned from him.

Sighing loudly in anger, she stormed to the master bedroom, dramatically slamming the door behind her.



Alex flung his tuxedo jacket across the living room, groaning loudly when it fell on the floor instead of landing on the sofa. He kicked at a chair beside him, continuing to stare at the closed front door.

Liezel left the house ten minutes ago, and he is still standing here, wallowing in his rage. He had everything planned out; things were set up and things were going to change for the two of them. Reaching into his pant pocket, he pulled out a tiny blue box and chucked it at the garbage can beside the couch.

He realized that Liezel is a woman who prioritizes things in her life, but he never knew that she would choose something else over him, and of any night, tonight. Shaking his head, he paced around the living room several times, unsure of what to do with his life. He needed to get his mind off of the matter, and suddenly, he wants to do something he has been telling himself not to do for the last few days.

Alex made up his mind and snatched the keys off of the kitchen counter, making a beeline out the door. He needed to get out of the loft. Staying would only piss him off further.

He got into his car and started driving. His hands on the steering wheel knew instinctively where his mind wanted to go since he still ended up at his final destination. During his drive to the destination, he kept his mind on Liezel and what he was about to do tonight. He had everything planned out, and he let himself think ahead to the future. He was going to change the toxic part of himself for her.

He was going to put an end to what he is walking into right now.

“God damn it.” Alex cursed under his breath as he parked outside of the flat.

He got out of his car and checked his watch. It is around dinnertime, but he did not care if the timing is inconvenient; his entire life is inconvenient right now. Without hesitation, Alex walked over to the front door and rang the doorbell several times. While he waited for the door to be answered, he briefly looked down at his shiny dress shoes. The polished shoes reminded him of how he pictured this night to turn out.

Everything didn’t go his way. He probably deserved it, considering the fact that what he is doing right now breaks every rule of what he could’ve gotten by the end of tonight.

The door opened, revealing a small blonde woman. Alex shot her a small smile only to be pulled into the house. The woman quickly closed the door behind him, making sure to lock the doors. She shot him a look of shock since she did not expect him to be here at this time.

“Why are you dressed so formal?” She asked in a small, dazed voice.

Alex placed two hands on either side of her shoulders.

“Kaya.” He sighed.

The blonde woman understood what he meant by that. He did not want to tell her his story and how he even brought himself to her front door. She never asked questions, just did what she was asked.

That is exactly why he was so keen to turn to her, even if it is the wrong thing to do.

Notes

Okay, who totally didn't expect the "other woman" to be Kaya? And who totally did? I dropped some clues off in the last story (if you've read it) and yeah! The beginning where Jack's like "oh, I think my band mate banged Kaya or something" during Kaya's birthday party in the beginning of the first story. And then with Kaya being all secretive and defensive about Alex and Liezel as well as the "condom" instance with Kaya, Dale, and Loki.

Anyways, leave your comments! How do you think Liezel and Alex's relationship will go down?

And special thanks to remembering--saturday and welovealexxxxx for commenting on the previous chapter!!!

Keep em' coming!!!!