January 2
Max's POV
Last night, we sorted out the little problem of Logan. It felt really good - a huge weight had been lifted off me. I woke up early this morning to find Alec gone. 'Where could he heave gone?' I wondered. He was not a person to wake up early, so his disapearance surpised me even more. Then I turned over to find a note on his pillow...
Max,
I have some errands I need to run today. I know I promised that everything would be revealed today, and I plan to keep that promise. But these errands need to be done before I can tell you the truth.
Sorry about abandoning you so early today. =( I wish I could've woken up by your side.
Would you please be back in our suite by 5PM? I'll meet you for dinner tonight. Ok?
I think I love you Maxie.
-Alec
After reading the note, I felt myself soften to Alec even more. I could tell he was planning something for tonight. I smiled. I couldn't wait to see what it was. 'Probably something romantic,' I thought. 'Could he really love again? Love me?'
Since I was basically alone for the day, I decided that maybe I'd spend sometime in the Village shopping. 'Honestly, what else could a girl do alone?' I pondered sarcastically.
Alec's POV
I hated leaving Max with just a note, but I had to. There was so much to do today. Mentally I checked off what I'd already done. 'Dinner, check; room booked, check; clothes, will do; present, shit.'
Max's POV
For breakfast, I went back to the diner where we had our first meal together.
"Morning dear," Holly said. "It's nice to see you again. Where's your sweetheart?"
"He's off running errands," I said. Jokingly I pouted, "And left me all alone with nothing to do."
Holly laughs. "That's ok. He'll probably make it up to you later."
"Let's hope so."
"So what'll it be?"
"French toast, and a glass of milk, thank you."
Just as I was about to read the paper, a voice said "So, you are together after all?"
"Janice," I said as she sat down in my booth.
"Well?"
"Yeah, we are together, not that it's any of your business."
"Were you lying before?"
"No. I have to thank you though. Had you not told me how magical Whistler was, we probably wouldn't have gotten together," I smirked at her.
Janice scowled at me.
"If you'll excuse me," I said as my breakfast was being set down. "I'm going to eat now, in peace."
She got up and left. 'Thank god' I thought to myself.
The day went by pretty quickly, although it was uninteresting. It seemed that spending time without Alec was very boring. Quickly, I noticed that it was almost 5PM. 'Damn,' I thought. 'I'm going to be late.' I sprinted as fast as I could back to the suite without blurring and giving myself away.
I looked at my watch as I was just about to enter our suite: 4:59PM, just in time.
I stepped into the suite and there was Alec, sitting in the living room waiting.
"Hey," he said walking over to me.
"Hey. So what's going on?" I asked, noticing the apprehension written on his face.
"Just a little surprise," he said mysteriously.
"Ok," I replied.
"I've planned for a nice evening for us," he said leading me into the bedroom. On the bed, I found a box just like before, when we were in Vancouver. "That is for you," he said.
"Alec, you shouldn't have," I said quietly.
As though he didn't hear me, he continued "I'll be back to pick you up at 6PM. I've got to put the finishing touches on tonight." With that he placed a chaste kiss on my lips and left. Again, I was stunned and shocked by how this was all progressing. He's been the perfect gentleman this entire time. It perplexed me to no end that he wasn't even 'trying' to seduce me. I was feeling a little insecure now. 'What if he doesn't want me? What if I'm not attractive enough?' I sighed.
Well, I had an hour to get ready for tonight. Might as well find out what was inside the box.
I opened it up and it was just like last time. There was a beautiful dress sitting amongst the tissue paper. And included were a pair of sandals. I couldn't wait to see Alec's reaction when I showed up in this. I chuckled.
An hour later...
Alec's POV
I reached the door to our suite right at 6PM. I let out a big breath, trying to calm myself down. I was so nervous. Almost everything was riding on what was going to happen tonight. Actually everything was - my happiness.
I knocked on the door, once again holding my breath. The door slowly opened, and there stood a sight that I knew would forever stay with me.
Max looked absolutely gorgeous. She was in the gold lame single strap gown I'd chosen. The single strap showed off her shoulders, especially since she'd swept up her hair with just a few curls teasing her face. The gown's hankerchief hem accentuated her legs even more than usual, making her look even taller, especially with the ankle strap sandals I'd included. Because the material was a silky nylon, it clung to her every curve, making her even more beautiful and sexy - just as I'd pictured her when I got the dress. Of course, the dress came from a top designer, so that never hurt.
Still, I was shocked and stunned by her beauty.
Max's POV
Right at 6PM, I heard a knock at the door. Luckily, I knew he would be punctual, so I was ready. I smoothed out my dress and opened up the door.
There stood Alec looking more handsome than I'd ever seen him.
Alec was wearing an impeccably tailored black three-piece tuxedo by Hugo Boss. There was a notched lapel jacket, three button style, with a button front vest. With it he wore a white dress shirt, a silver satin tie and a pair of single pleated pants. He had his hair slicked back just like the rich guys right out of the movies.
He looked the very essence of elegance, wealth and power. Belatedly, I realized that was what Logan once used to be. I pushed Logan out of my mind as quickly as possible and settled on Alec once again.
Looking at myself, and then at Alec, I could tell that he had planned it all, with the silver and gold to match.
"Alec, come in. I've just got to finish up really quickly," I said making an excuse so he'd follow me.
And he did follow me, right to the full length mirror. I looked at our reflection together, and I became completely speechless. We looked like the perfect couple, one light, one dark, and dressed exactly the opposite of our complexion, making us look even more stunning.
"Max," he said softly bringing me out of my trance. "I have something to give you."
From inside his jacket, he pulled out a velvet jewelry box. He opened it and showed to me in the mirror reflection a simple white gold necklace with a one carat Asscher-cut diamond pendent. From what I could tell, it was from the Neil Lane Estate Jewelry collection.
"Oh my god," I said to Alec. "It's beautiful."
"Let me put it on for you," he offered, taking the necklace out of its casing.
Ever so slowly, he undid the clasp and gently placed the necklace on me. It was perfect. The pendent rested slightly above the neckline of the dress. The simple necklace accentuated the entire look even more. I gasped at the sight.
"Alec, you really shouldn't have. This must've cost you a fortune."
"Max," he said as he gently placed a kiss on the back of my neck. "Let me do this for you, spoil you."
"Thank you," I replied as I turned to him to give me a kiss.
"There's just one more thing," he said as he pulled out another velvet box.
"Alec..."
He opened it up and inside was a diamond bracelet to match, making it a grand total of two carats' worth of diamonds. I couldn't believe it.
"You really shouldn't have Alec. This is too much."
"Max, let's just say that I'm making up for lost time," he suggested.
I laughed. "Ok... but no more," I said firmly as he placed the bracelet on to my right wrist.
"Ok, for now..." he said.
I chuckled.
"Well my lady, are you ready to go?" he asked as he offered his right arm to me.
"Of course."
Meanwhile, in another part of the hotel...
"What do you mean we can't have the ballroom tonight?" asked an annoyed Janice.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but it's booked," answered Jeremy, the concierge.
"Last night, you told me it was free, and that you'd reserve it for us."
"Ma'am, as I said, I'm sorry. But we needed a confirmation, and you never confirmed. Now it is too late, the ballroom had been booked." Jeremy paused checking the booking schedule. "I could offer you another conference room instead."
"But the piano won't be there," Janice whined. "Could you move it in there?"
"I'm sorry, but the piano was also booked."
"What?! You told me that I had the piano yesterday, regardless of the room."
"Ma'am, I'm sorry. The piano goes with the room."
"I can't believe this," Janice exasperated as she threw her hands up in the air.
Suddenly, there was a lot of commotion coming from the elevator area.
"What is gonig on?" asks Janice as she sees that Jeremy is abandoning her and moving towards the elevator.
"Just give me a minute ma'am."
Jeremy walked toward the elevator, signalling the security to be ready. Janice looked up at the elevator and noticed a stunning couple riding down, dressed like the rich and famous. Everyone crowded around to find out who they were. Janice knew immediately. It was Max and Alec. But how?
"Mr. McDowell," Jeremy greeted as they stepped out of the elevator. "If you'll follow me."
Janice wondered what was going on. 'How come Alec was addressed by the concierge like he was someone important? Ok... maybe he was someone important'.
Max's POV
Wow! I guess we really do attract people a lot. As I looked down from the glass elevator, I found swarms of people being held off my security so that we could have safe passage once we reached the lobby. 'Was it that they'd never seen the rich?' I didn't think that was it. There was soemthing else.
"Mr. McDowell," Jeremy greeted as we stepped out of the elevator. "If you'll follow me."
Again, with the greeting and addresses. I looked over at Alec, and he just shrugged at me.
"All will be revealed in time," he said evasively.
I wished he'd stop doing that. Why couldn't he just tell me now? I had to be patient, I realized, if I ever wanted to know the truth.
We followed Jeremy into the ballroom that had been used earlier for the New Year's Eve party. However, this time it wasn't decorated like before with all the party stuff. Instead, it was really simple. There was a grand piano sitting on the side of the dance floor, and next to it was an elegant dinner table set for two. A stereo system was also set up nearby as well.
I let go of Alec and quickly spun around checking out the area. It was amazing. Even without the decorations, the ballroom was still magnificent.
"Thank you Jeremy," Alec said as he tipped the man.
"Please call if you need anything," Jeremy said as he left.
"Alec, this is amazing," I said to him.
"I'm glad you like it. Why don't we sit down for dinner?" he suggested, gesturing to the food that was waiting for us.
"Thanks," I replied, walking up to the perfectly set table.
Alec held out my chair for me as I sat down. He then joined me after grabbing the bottle of wine sitting next to the table.
Dinner went by fairly quickly with some idle chit chat. The food was magnificent. Alec had had the kitchen prepare filet mignon for two with a side dish of baked potato, and mixed vegetables. It was the best meal I'd ever had with the exception of the one in Vancouver. It was so rich.
"Alec, are you alright?" I asked concerned as I noticed he was once again staring out into space.
"I'm fine," he said. "I'm just thinking about how to start."
"Start what?" I asked.
"Our talk."
"Oh." I'd forgotten all about that. The entire night was too much of a distraction.
"Max," he said getting up and taking my hand. "There's something I'd like to do with you by my side. Come with me?"
"Sure," I said.
He led us over to the piano where we promptly sat down on the bench. He opened up the piano and stared at it.
"Alec?" I questioned concerned. "Are you sure?" I was recalling the past with Rachel and all the pain he'd gone through.
"I'm sure," he said firmly.
Calmly, he started warming up. I looked down at his fingers and saw the incredible power that was there. He was hitting the keys right, now.
"Any requests madam?" he asked jokingly.
"Nope." I smiled.
"Well ok then, my choice," he said.
At first, I didn't realize what he was playing, until after the opening chords. Alec was performing a piano version of "The Prayer". I closed my eyes, imagining the lyrics, but then I realized I wasn't imagining it. I slowly opened my eyes and there I found two singers walking into the room and moving to stand next to the piano singing along. I was in shock. I looked over at Alec, and all he did was smile at me. Silently, I sat through the entire song, just feeling the emotion coming out of both Alec and the two singers. It was a truly wonderous sight. When it was all over, I was still speechless.
"Thank you," Alec said turning to the singers, and dismissing them at the same time.
"How?" I asked.
"Just a little something I found during my errands," he said.
I smiled at him again, looking deeply into his eyes. There was so much emotion there. I knew he was holding it all in and that it was about to burst.
"Alec, I think I love you," I said to him as I pulled him in for a kiss. But he stopped me.
"I think there's something I need to tell you first," he said sadly.
"Ok," I said.
Alec's POV
Well, I'd gotten through the dinner and the performance. Everything went off without a hitch. Now was it, the moment of truth.
"This resort, it's mine," I said hesitantly.
"What?" exclaimed a shocked Max.
"I own this hotel," I said again.
"How?"
"Well... to be honest about it... I bought it."
"How? You've only been out in the world for less than a year. There's no way you could've acquired that much money in such a short amount of time."
"Let me explain, and please, no interruptions."
"Ok."
"I inherited a large sum of money, to be direct, Rachel's money."
Max stared at me, pupils dialated.
"Rachel had left me her inheritance. She was rich from both her father and her mother. And in her will, she left me all her money. But I'm sure you remember her father..."
She nodded.
"He fought me and the will that Rachel had drawn up. I really didn't want the money, but I couldn't really refuse it either. Rachel left this to me. So I suggested a settlement." I paused unsure of how to say what was next.
"Alec, it's ok, whatever it is, I'm here for you," Max assured.
"Berrisford wanted me away from his daughter's grave, and wanted his money. So that was what I offered. He could have 'his' money back, and I promised to stay away, if he'd give me his 'late wife's' money that I was deeded. He agreed. Since then, I haven't been to Rachel's grave, just like I promised." I sighed. "Instead, I bought this place. Rachel loved snow, and when I came here after the settlement, I knew this was the best place to spend the money."
I looked at my hands instead of at Max. I didn't know how she was going to react to this, especially since I hid this from her.
"Why didn't you tell me all this before?" she asked, hurt.
"I didn't know how. We'd never been really close before, and I'm not used to opening up to people," I said softly.
"Why the hiding?"
I paused slightly thinking about how to word this. "Because I bought it in memory of Rachel, and I didn't know how you'd react to that." Then there was silence. I was starting to get worried about what was going through Max's mind.
"Then I really must ask, was this entire trip a set up?"
"No. I didn't know." Panicked, I added, "I donated the trip so someone out there would enjoy their holiday. I had no idea that you would win or that you would take me with you." There was more silence after that.
"Ok, I can accept that."
"Thank you," I said letting out a sigh of relief.
"So is this where you've been disapearing to recently everytime you have vacation time?"
"Yeah. It's a nice and relaxing place." I smiled, then I looked into her eyes. "You wanna come with me next time?" I tried to have me eyes issuing their own silent invitation.
"Sure," she said, smiling back.
"So now that everything is out in the open, are we cool?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yes."
I smiled. Ok, so this didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would. Max wasn't mad at me for keeping this from her, nor was she mad at me for being filthy rich. This was good. I had to be honest with myself, it felt really good to open up to Max and tell her everything. It was nice to have someone to share things with, and it didn't matter whether it was good, or bad.
Suite 602, Max's POV
After our talk, we had some dessert, and Alec continued to perform for me some more. Then we returned to our suite and turned in. Now, I was watching Alec sleep. He seemed to be much more at peace then before. I never would've thought that Rachel was the one that made it possible for him to have something like this resort. I knew what he meant when he said he was afraid of telling me that this was how he'd purchased the resort. He probably thought that I'd be threatened by her memory. And to some degree I was threatened. But it was also all in the past. I knew that she'd want Alec to be happy. And if I made him happy, then there really was no threat.
Everything was now in the open and that felt really good.
We were returning to Seattle the day after tomorrow. There were still an obstacle or two back in Seattle, but I knew in my heart, that together, we could handle it. If only Logan would disapear before my return to Seattle, then all would be well. Oh well, I guessed a girl couldn't ask for that much.
THE END
Note: I hope you all liked the story. I'd like to give a huge thanks to Infie for being my beta. Sweetie, I knew it was hard work, and I appreicate it greatly. One thing, there will most likely be a follow-up to this story, but it'll be a short one. Let me know if you'd like to see what happens to our favorite couple next... in Seattle.
So, now that you've read the story and all it's part, please be nice, and give me a review. Let me know what you thought, and if improvements are needed.