As I drifted to sleep that night, my mind wandered in and out of labyrinths of ideas and memories. Everything that happened during the day,the visit by Beverly, Alexis's support,mixed together in an indistinguishable concoction. And then, as consciousness began to fade, another scene took shape before my mind's eye.
The ballroom was an ostentatious display of glittering chandeliers and an onslaught of sparkle from fine jewelry. I almost watched the scene from afar, like a play that I didn't quite know the script to. A vision in midnight blue caught my eye; dark hair cascaded over her square shoulders in flowing waves. There was something about her that seemed so familiar, yet it hit just out of my memory's grasp.
She swam through the sea of bodies with practiced ease, her laughter tinkling like crystal as she charmed a set of well,heeled gentlemen. Yet it was her eyes that drew my attention,soft and warm on the surface, but with a glint of something sharper beneath. Something calculating.
"Ava, darling!" A portly man in his sixties waddled up, his tuxedo fighting a losing battle with his expansive girth. "There you are! I have been searching everywhere for you."
The woman,Ava,turned, her face brightening with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Charles! I'm so sorry, I got stuck talking with the Vanderbilt's. You know how Margot loves to gossip."
Charles chuckled and laid a possessive hand on Ava's lower back. "No worries, my dear,imperfectly perfect is the only way to explain you, anyway. Come, there's someone I want you to meet."
As Ava allowed herself to be escorted away, I caught her face when Charles wasn't looking. The bright smile dropped like a mask to disclose a cool calculation. A shiver travelled down my spine and I couldn't say why.
The scene shifted, blurring and re,forming. Now Ava was in a darkened study, rifling through papers on an ornate desk. Her movements quick, exacting,nothing like the languid grace she'd displayed in the ballroom. She found what she was looking for, a file folder stuffed with documents, and began snapping photos with a tiny camera.
In the next instant, there were footsteps out in the hall. Ava's heart stopped for a millisecond before she sprang into action. By the time the door opened, she was sitting on the edge of the desk, her dress hiked up enough to intrigue without being scandalous.
"Charles!" she exclaimed, her voice a perfect mix of surprise and coy invitation. "I was just looking for you. I got a bit turned around in this big house of yours."
Charles's face, flushed from alcohol and something more primal, broke into a lecherous grin. "Well, well. What a delightful surprise. Perhaps I can help you find your way."
But as he reached it, Ava's gaze darted to the file drawer she'd just closed. A triumphant smile pulled at the edges of her lips, there and gone so fast I wasn't even sure I'd seen it.
The scene began to fade, the drunken advances of Charles and the practiced giggles of Ava blurring into a mist. But just before it dissolved completely, I caught one last glimpse of Ava's face,the mask of seduction fell away, showing a cold, satisfied expression.
I woke with a jerk, my heart racing. The dream still clung to me, cobwebs of it leaving me with a vague sense of unease that I could not shake off. Why did it have to feel so real? And why was it that woman, Ava,somehow,felt hauntingly familiar?
"Mr. Anderson?" Alexis's soft voice cut through my muddled thoughts. "Is something the matter? You do look a little pale."
I blinked hard, bringing into focus her worried face. In the soft morning light filtering through the curtains, she looked all warm brown eyes and soft smile,like an angel. The anxiety of the dream melted away.
"I'm okay," I said, trying a weak smile. "Just a weird dream. No big deal."
Alexis nodded, but her brow remained furrowed. "Dreams can be unsettling, especially when one's going through so many changes. Would you like to talk about it?"
For a moment, I was tempted. But the details were already slipping away, leaving only a vague sense of disquiet. "No, it's alright. Thank you, though. What's on the agenda for today?"
Her face brightened, the concern replaced by her usual quiet enthusiasm. "Well, we have your physical therapy session this morning. And then, if you're feeling up to it, I thought we might work on some of those business reports you were looking at last night. I had a few ideas I wanted to run by you."
Alexis walked me through the morning routine, the same that had become almost soothing because of its mere existence, and I found my eyes on her. There was a fluidity in her movements, a silent assurance in the execution of her acts that tugged my memory. And every time it seemed to grasp, it slipped away like smoke.
The session of physical therapy was grueling, as always. But with Alexis by my side to encourage and support me, I fought my way through the pain and frustration. By the end, I was exhausted but oddly exhilarated.
"You're making incredible progress, Mr. Anderson," Alexis said as she wheeled me back into my wheelchair. "Dr. Henry was very impressed with your range of motion today."
I nodded, too out of breath to say anything. Inside, though, a glow began that had little to do with the exercise. Alexis's pride in my progress meant more to me than I cared to admit.
As we walked back to my office, Alexis bubbled excitedly about some of her thoughts on how to simplify a few of the company processes. Keen were her observations, and impressive, her grasp of some pretty complicated business concepts. I was reminded once more of the nagging question: How had someone so young become so expert not just about healthcare but also business?
"Alexis," I interrupted her, as she was launching into some particularly brilliant cost,saving measure. "Where did you learn all this? Your knowledge goes way beyond what I'd expect from a caregiver, even a very skilled one."
She hesitated for a moment, a flicker of something,surprise? wariness? ,crossing her face before her normal warm smile reappeared. "Oh, I have always been interested in business. I would read financial journals for fun as a teenager. Bit of an odd hobby, I know, but it has come in handy."
Her laugh was light, a self,deprecating chuckle, but there was something in it that rang false. Before I could press further, though, she changed the subject smoothly.
"Now, about those quarterly projections. I did notice a discrepancy in the manufacturing costs that I think we should look into."
The rest of the afternoon just became a blur of spreadsheets and financial reports. Alexis's insights were priceless, which helped me find those little pitfalls and opportunities that I may have missed on my own. For the first time since the accident, I left there feeling in control of my company.
"Thank you, Alexis," I said, as she gathered up the last of the papers. "I don't know how I managed without you."
She smiled,her warm, genuine smile that never failed to lift my spirits. "It's my pleasure, Mr. Anderson. Seeing you regain your confidence, your passion for your work,it's why I do this job."
As she turned to leave, a shaft of late afternoon sunlight caught her profile. For just a moment, I saw a flash of someone else , a woman in a midnight blue gown, her eyes cold and calculating. I blinked, and the image was gone. Alexis was just Alexis again, her face soft with concern.
"Are you alright, Mr. Anderson? You look like you've seen a ghost."
I shook my head to clear the odd double vision. "I'm fine. Just tired, I think. It's been a long day."
Alexis nodded sympathetically. "Of course. Why don't you rest for a bit while I prepare dinner? I was thinking of trying out a new recipe,a heart,healthy version of your favorite pasta dish."
As she turned and left the room, I leaned back in my wheelchair, my head spinning in a blur of confused thoughts. What was happening to me? Why did I keep seeing these odd flashes, these echoes of a woman who couldn't possibly be Alexis?
I must be more tired than I realized, I told myself. The stress of recovery, the emotional upheaval of the past few months , it was all taking its toll. I was seeing things which weren't there, making connections that didn't exist.
Alexis had been a godsend, a beacon of light in the darkness that had swallowed me whole since the accident. She was kind, compassionate, brilliant. It was an impossibility, utterly preposterous, to even consider that she might be anything other than precisely as she appeared.
And yet.
The nagging doubt persisted, a splinter in my mind that I couldn't quite dig out. There were moments, easily passing and dismissed, where I saw something else behind Alexis's warm smile. A hardness in her eyes, a calculation in her movements that did not go with the quiet, soft way she had.
But every time I tried to focus on these moments, to examine them more closely, they slipped away. All that remained was Alexis,nice, considerate Alexis,who, since the first day she had arrived, had done nothing but help me.
I was being paranoid, I decided, letting my imagination run riot because of some screwy dreams and the residual effect of trauma. Alexis had given me no reason to feel this way. If anything, I should be grateful for the support she had given me, for sticking by me through this sometimes painful recovery.
I exhaled noisily, pushing those disturbing thoughts away. Present time was what really mattered now: the progress. Thanks to Alexis, things in my life and my company were under my control again. I was becoming a new, different person, maybe even stronger than before.
As the sun began to set, painting the sky with colors in bright shades of orange and pink, I heard Alexis's steps approach. The scent of garlic and herbs closed in, my stomach growling appreciatively.
"Dinner's ready, Mr. Anderson," she said warmly. "Shall we eat in the dining room, or would you prefer staying here?"
I turned toward her, taking in her soft smiling, kind eyes. Whatever doubts had plagued me now seemed to melt away into the face of such genuine caring.
"The dining room, I think," I said, returning the smile. "I'm feeling up for a change of scenery."
As Alexis wheeled me out towards the dining room, chatting easily about her day, her plans for tomorrow's therapy session, a sense of peace settled over me. Whatever trials lay ahead, whatever ghosts from my past might try to haunt me, I knew I could face them as long as Alexis was by my side.
Little did I know just how that belief was going to be really tested.
*****
The night wore on, until Davis was comfortably tucked into bed, and Alexis stood in front of the bathroom mirror under the harsh glare of the fluorescent light. She looked at herself in reflection, watching the soft, caring expression she had worn all day melt away slowly.
In its place came a look that was hard. The warm brown turned cold, calculating. The gentle curve in her lips straightened out into a thin, set line. For a moment, Alexis Cooper was gone, taken by something else altogether.
Ava…
She allowed herself a small, triumphant smile. Everything was going according to plan. Davis implicitly trusted her, the wariness in his eyes worn down by weeks of careful nurturing. She had access to his home, his business, his innermost thoughts. Soon, she would have everything she came for.
But it was gone in an instant. Ava's brow furrowed, and a flicker of something,some doubt? some regret? ,crossed her face. She thought of Davis's dogged efforts in physical therapy, his gradual reawakening to life and business. And that vulnerable moment they'd shared, when he'd finally allowed himself to break down in her arms.
The mask completely slipped for one telling moment. The woman that stared back from the mirror at her looked lost, conflicted. This wasn't supposed to happen, Ava thought, pressing a fist to her shoulder. I wasn't supposed to care.
She cleared the disturbing thoughts with a jerk of her head. She was Ava, the ultimate scammer. She had a job to be done, a fortune to steal. Davis Anderson was no different from all the rest she had encountered through the years.
She took a deep breath and watched as Alexis's meek features reasserted themselves,the kind eyes, the soft smile,all perfectly in place, ready for another day of deception.
But as she turned away from the mirror, a flicker of that inner conflict remained, a shadow of doubt that would not be entirely banished.
Alexis,or was it Ava? ,wasn't sure which unsettled her more: the growing success of her con, or the unexpected emotions threatening to derail it all.