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She could feel the electricity coursing through her tablet as she tried to concentrate on the words she was reading. Outside her flat the rain was lashing against the windows something fierce. It’s not like rain in England was unusual or anything but this time it felt different.
The thunder seemed to be inching closer every time it boomed through the sky. The flashes of light caused by the lightning came again and again barely taking a breath in-between. Putting her tablet aside she rose from the sofa pulling the ratty jumper tighter to her frame. Walking to the window she tried to see how the storm was affecting the outside world but the glare of the lamp made it impossible. Slowly she walked back to the sofa and shut off the light next to it plunging the room into darkness.
This time when she stood next to the window she could see the rain coming down in sheets, quickly overloading the gutters, and dripping down the windows. The flashes of light seemed to be coming in all directions with long jagged streaks plunging from the sky to the earth. She took it all in only jumping when the roll of thunder would catch her by surprise.
She didn’t usually mind storms, watching them with an awe and a wonder. This one however spooked her and she didn’t know why. With the latest crack of thunder the streets went black and she knew from the abrupt sound she had heard behind her that they had lost power. A peek at the dark microwave clock confirmed her thought.
She’s not sure how long she stood there watching, watching as mother nature took its revenge against the Earth for their many wrongs. The power had tried to come on four, no five times at least never lasting more than a moment before going out again. Except for the occasions of lightning there was no light outside.
It’s what made it so easy to notice the headlights in the distance. ‘What idiot is out on a night like this?’ She couldn’t help wonder. She watched as the car parked, waiting while the person inside debated going out in weather such as this. Finally they jumped out of the car and made a run for it. She knew it wouldn’t matter they would have had to been soaked through almost immediately.
Going back to the sofa she tried to resume her reading but with the noises of the storm around her and the seemingly constant attempt of the power to resume she couldn’t concentrate on the words. Without recourse she gave up deciding to try to find solace in sleep. After all she would have a big day tomorrow filming. ‘Thank god we are shooting inside tomorrow.’
Using the light from her mobile she locates a few candles lighting them in both the washroom and the bedroom. With their soft glow she readies herself for bed by washing and moisturizing her face. Slipping on her silk pajamas she blows out the candles before sliding under the covers. Lying there she listens to the rain. Now it seemed to have even more intensity.
For some reason this storm frightens her. She’d never really been frightened by a storm before except maybe as a small child……so why does this one? As she lies there thinking about it, a thought comes to her….because this is when everything changes. Shivering she nestles down into the covers further trying to find comfort in them. She can mostly hide from the lightning flashes but the sound of the thunder not only vibrates her ears but through her chest causing her heart to pound relentlessly.
She nearly misses the tweet of her phone over the din of the thunder. Slipping her hand from under the blanket she feels for it on her nightstand pulling it back under her fortress. It’s a text from Matt. She smiles. It’s been ages since she’s heard from the idiot but just seeing his name on her mobile calms her.
‘Hey Alex, are you awake?’ It seems like a rather odd message considering its been what two months since she heard from him last but he’s distracting her from her own worries so she decides to play along.
‘Yes Matt, I’m awake. What’s going on?’
‘Oh nothing much. I was just hoping for a distraction. So I thought who can be more distracting than the Kingston.’
‘Why thank you darling. How can I be of distraction to you?’
He sputtered at all of the ways he could think of that she could be a distraction to him. Sadly she would know none of that having been completely oblivious to all of his flirting and innuendo these past four years. He’d come to the conclusion that his ‘problem’ with loving Alex Kingston was decidedly one-sided and never pursued anything.
‘Would you mind if I call you? If it’s not too late.’
Without bothering to answer she clicked out of her message app and pulled his contact up on her phone hitting dial.
“Hello? Kingston?”
“Who else would be calling you on my number, you idiot?”
He laughed, feeling better already. The sound of her voice did that to him….it made him feel better. Oh sometimes it made him unable to think straight but overall…better. “Hi Alex.” She could hear the smile through the phone.
“Hi Matt. What’s got you upset?”
“Who said I was upset?”
“You need a distraction? Ringing any bells, darling?”
“Oh yeah, it’s just I don’t know the weather’s got me a bit down. To be honest it’s rather weirding me out at the moment.”
“How so?” She snuggled further down into the blankets, the covers over her head cocooned in her own blanket fort, the phone pressed to her ear.
He sighed before saying anything more. “I don’t know it feels different…..as if something is going to change………….as if ….after this storm passes I will be changed.”
“Darling, aren’t you being a bit melodramatic?” Alex teases lightly.
“I know it sounds like that Alex but it’s how I have been feeling these past few hours. With every crack of thunder or flash of lightning I feel this sense of…..I don’t know….not so much foreboding as…as importance.”
Her nose crinkles as she thinks of him. “Darling what makes you think this storm is important?”
“I…I’ve been on edge all night, even as it was approaching. Every time the lightning strikes it feels like it’s coming closer……..as if it is coming for me.”
“Has this ever happened before?” Curious as to what brought this on.
Confused he replies, “What?”
“I was just wondering if this is the first time you have felt this way. Were you scared of storms as a child?”
“I’m Not….” He began to huff. Taking a deep breath, he continued. “I’m not scared. It’s just a bit disconcerting is all.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you darling. It’s just that often when something bothers us it’s related to something else. It can even be something from long ago that we have forgotten.”
“Why thank you Dr. Corday. I thought you were a surgeon not a psychiatrist.” He teases.
“Oh hush you! I’m just saying that the storm might be reminding you of something from your past that is making you uneasy.”
“I suppose.” He runs his hand over his face. “I can’t really think of anything though.”
“Well, it’s possible you have forgotten it.”
Feeling unnerved being the focus of this conversation he tries to divert her focus. “Have you ever experienced that, Kingston?”
She blinks wondering what they’re talking about. “Experienced what, darling?”
“Have you ever had something remind you of a past event?”
“Sure, lots of times.”
He settles further into his bed, pulling the covers up over his tshirt. “Like what?”
“Well like certain smells. There’s a smell like a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg that always reminds me of my grandma’s house. Whenever I smell it it makes me feel happy remembering baking cookies with my Oma.”
“That sounds nice.” He murmurs.
“Yeah, it is. Of course I have been known to become a weepy mess in front of the Cinnabon at the mall!”
The sound of his laughter over the rolling thunder brings joy to her heart. His laughter always does but she’s not about to tell him that. Nor is she going to tell him how his voice can calm her from a state of anxiety.
“What else?” He prompts.
“Well there is this other smell. It’s some kind of disinfectant or something that always reminds me of our family doctor’s office. Every time I smell it it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”
“Really? Why’s that?”
“When I was little antibiotics, particularly penicillin was all the rage. It seemed like every time I went to Dr. Sweterlitsch’s office he would give me a shot…..in my bottom!”
Matt was rolling in laughter at her admission then the more he thought of her gorgeous backside being revealed in anticipation of a shot he nearly choked. He has spent a great deal of time admiring Alex’s backside. Now lying here in bed, talking to her, thinking of it bare …….well he tries not to because that is not a conversation she would want to have.
“Matt? Matt are you still there?” He realizes that he had gone silent thinking about her decidedly gorgeous backside.
Coughing to cover his awkwardness he responds, “Yeah, yeah I’m still here. Just got caught up thinking about your backside.” He smacks himself in the face. ‘What the hell!!’
“Oh really darling!” She purrs.
That is not helping! Thinking fast he asks, “So is it only smells that reminds you of things?” See a perfectly normal question. He breathes easier.
“Well no but those seem to be the most frequent. Sometimes sounds or a particular color or shape will remind me of something.”
“Like what?” He settles in again like she’s telling him a bedtime story.
“A baby crying. I can’t hear a baby crying without thinking of Salome when I first brought her home. I was so grateful to finally have my baby girl but that child had a set of lungs on her. The first two weeks after we brought her home all she did was cry. Then of course, I would cry. I had waited so long, and gone through so much to be a mum then I felt totally unprepared for the role.” Tears started to from at the corners of her eyes as it took her back to that time when her child made her feel so inadequate.
When she quieted he sensed where this took her. “Hey, hey no crying. You’re a brilliant mum and Salome is the luckiest kid in the world to have you.”
She sniffed. “Thank you darling.” Her voice thick as she held back the tears.
“Well what a rubbish friend I’m being. I call you because I’m feeling down and now I’ve brought you down too. Maybe I should just let you go.”
“No! No, it’s alright darling. But remembering how rocky our start was makes me appreciate how good our relationship is now. She showed me how to be a good mum.”
“You were always a good mum.”
“You can’t know that. You weren’t there.”
“I know. I know you.”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded because he did. He knew her probably better than anyone. Too bad she never told him.
“So has any of this triggered any thoughts or memories of your past?” She needed to hear his voice for a while. The sound of it, the cadence of it, it’s lilt filled her with happiness.
Thoughts flashed across his mind in rapid motion: curls, jasmine, jodhpurs, laughter ringing naughtily, strawberry chapsick……. Every thought he has is about her. Everything reminds him of her. Could the storm be reminding him of her? Is that why he called her?
Realizing he had been silent too long he says the first one to come to his mind, “Jasmine.”
“Jasmine? What does Jasmine remind you of?”
A smile breaks on his face as he thinks of the smell that always reminds him of her as if it was her own unique scent. “You.”
“Me?”
“Of course you. Whenever I’m near you I smell the scent of jasmine. How could I not think of you whenever I smell it?”
“Really darling? I didn’t think you would have noticed such a small thing.” She scoffs.
“Small thing? How you smell is no small thing.” He breathes in trying to remember what she smells like. Lost in his memories of how she smelled he didn’t hear her next question.
“Matt? Did you hear what I said?”
Shaking himself from his memories he refocuses on her. “Um, sorry no I missed that. What was that again?”
“How does it make you feel?”
Slightly confused he’s not sure what she is asking him, “How does what make me feel?”
They continued to talk into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hiding beneath her blanket talking with Matt she’s nearly forgotten the raging storm outside until a loud clap of thunder catches her off guard.
“Ahhhhh!” She shrieks burying down further into the blankets.
He sits bolt upright in his bed. “Alex, what’s wrong?”
“Oh sorry darling. There was just a big clap of thunder. It startled me.”
“Yeah, here too.” He throws the covers off walking closer to the window. “This storm just doesn’t seem to want to let up. It’s been raging for hours. I got bloody soaked just trying to get from my car to inside.”
“Yeah I was watching some idiot doing just that earlier. He didn’t even bother with an umbrella.”
“It would have hardly mattered in this storm. It seems to be coming from all directions.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right. I just felt sorry for him. He had to have been soaked through.”
“Yeah, I ……………….” A sudden silent flash of lightning pierced the sky all the way to the ground. It seemed only meters away. “Holy shit!!” He jumped back from the glass, his heart racing. He kept his eyes focused on the spot in case it happened again. In case it got closer.
It was Alex’s turn to sit up, pushing the covers down as she held the phone tight in her hand. “Matt? Matt!?! What is it?”
He felt a bit embarrassed not wanting to tell her that the mere sight of lightning caused him to yelp. “Um, it was…….” An enormously loud clap of thunder drowned out his thoughts and words causing them both to start at the sound. “Crickety!!”
“Christ!!”
“God Kingston there was just the loudest clap of thunder here.”
“Here too, darling.”
Another flash of lightning bright like electricity seared through the dark sky to touch the earth. It seemed to be getting closer. Matt could feel the electricity in the air cause the hairs on his neck to stand up. He can never remember a storm unnerving him like this. “Arrrgghhh! There’s another one!”
“Here too, darling!” She repeats.
That catches his attention. “That’s odd don’t you think? That you’re having a similar storm in California as here at the same time.”
“But I’m not in California. I’ve been in the UK for a couple of weeks now filming.”
He sputters. “What!?! You’ve been in the UK and you didn’t tell me! Kingston, I’m devastated.”
She’s glad he can’t see her face as it blushes with all the reasons she hadn’t told him she was in the mother country. She tries to placate him with some rubbish about not wanting to bother him in his busy life.
“Alexandra Kingston, I am never too busy for you. All you need to do is let me know and I will make time for you. As soon as I get back to London we are going out to dinner.” He adds in a grousing mumble. “Too busy for my wife……as if!”
She chuckles at his last part which she doubts he meant for her to hear. “I’m actually not in London. I’ve been holed up in Cardiff these past couple of weeks. I have to say it’s incredibly dull without you, Karen, and Arthur around.”
“Cardiff? You’re in Cardiff?”
“Yeah I’m filming a mini series. It’s a period piece….all corsets and fancy updos. God, I spend an obscene amount of time in hair every morning.”
He got caught up in picturing her in a corset. The few times she’s worn them onset he’s had a hard time (ha ha) trying to keep his composure. The thought of her all squeezed in and pushed up seemed to be giving him a similar reaction at the moment. “Matt? Matt, you still there?”
Shaking his thoughts from his head he responds. “Yes, I’m still here. Sorry got lost in the thought of you in a corset.” He smacks himself in the head again. ‘Good God, can you not control anything that comes out of your mouth?’
He hears her giggling on the other side of the phone before it is drowned out by an enormous clap of thunder. Both of them jump at the sound and yelp into the phone. “God, that sounded like it was right on top of me.”
“Yeah, me too.” She whispered softly.
It was then that a thought occurred to him. “Alex, where in Cardiff are you?”
“I’m at the BBC Flats in Cardiff. Funny enough I’m only one floor down from my old place. It’s the same flat just right below the one I used to have. I guess they don’t have too many two bedrooms. Salome’s going to come over when school lets out in a few weeks so I had asked for the two bedroom flat.”
In the distance she hears a knocking on her door. Looking over at the clock it’s nearly half two in the morning. ‘Who could possibly be here at this hour?’
“Um sorry but someone is knocking at my door. I should probably let you go.”
“It’s half two in the morning. I’ll wait.”
“My knight in shining armour!” He grins at that.
The knocking persists as she pulls on her dressing gown before heading to the door. Looking through the peephole she sees a tall, gangly man with a phone in his hand. Pulling open the door there is Matt looking back at her, his phone still at his ear. Her mouth hangs open at the sight of him. ‘God he looks good even in a rumpled tshirt and old, worn-out joggers.’
“I think we can hang up now.” He grins at her. Pulling the phone from her ear she looks at it confused as if she can’t figure out how he got out of the phone and onto her doorstep. Sliding it into her dressing gown pocket she looks back up to see the most brilliant smile on his face.
Stepping into her he pulls her into his arms. Matt is unique in that he doesn’t just hug with his arms but his whole body. Suddenly she feels safe, safe from the storm, safe and loved. He doesn’t want to let go. This woman preoccupies his thoughts far too much for him to want to release her anytime soon. Luckily for him she doesn’t seem in too much of a hurry to leave.