To all my new readers, thank you for stopping by to read and comment. And thanks to the person who rated my story :D.

(And to all my old readers and stalkers, I just posted Chapter 24!).

Yay another update! Good one! :thumb:

Alex awoke in a familiar room, someone was leaning over the bed, caressing her forehead. She knew him, but somehow she couldn't remember his name. She frowned in concentration... the more she stared at him the more confused she became.

Alex sat up suddenly in bed, disorientated and dazed, her heart pounding furiously in her chest. "Where was she?"
"Hey? Is everything okay?" Jake asked.

Alex glanced across the room. She leapt out of bed and raced across the where Jake stood. "Look at me!" she demanded. She reached out and traced the faint scars travelling across his face. "How did you get these?" she insisted.
Jake pulled his face away, "A car crash." he replied quietly, turning away from her.
"Did you used to wear a red hat, or bandana, in your hair?" she persisted.
He picked up his clothes and headed for the stairs, "Yes!" he replied angrily.
Alex sank onto the couch. "Who was he?" she wondered. The first time she laid eyes on him she had a sense of deja vu, but that dream has seriously rattled her. Time to hit the road!

She decided to brave the icy shower before heading to the bus station. As she walked across the cold landing towards the mouldy restroom she noticed a guitar on the far side of the room, she walked over, curious. On the table next to it was a photograph, she bent down to inspect it. She gave an involuntary gasp as she looked at the pictures.
"What's wrong?" asked Jake appearing behind her.
"That girl! Who is she?" she stuttered.
"Beth," he replied faintly, "She was my girlfriend."
"Was?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied, with an edge to his voice. "She died in the car crash."
Alex felt her head spinning, she stumbled against the table, pushing Jake away as he tried to help her. Time to go!

By the time Jake got downstairs she had gone. He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. As he approached the bus station he could see a commotion outside, with a sinking feeling he drew near the furore. Alex was having an altercation with the bus driver.

He stepped between them to intervene, the driver, seeing his opportunity, climbed aboard the bus and pulled away. "What's going on?" he asked.
"That stupid driver! He says my ticket is out of date!" Alex spat.
"Let me see it!" Jake said, taking it out of her grasp. He examined it closely, "It is out of date!"
"Yeah, well, it wouldn't have been if there had been buses running yesterday!" she exclaimed. "I hate this town!"
She tore the ticket from his hand and thrust it in the nearest bin, spun on her heels and took off down the street.
"Wait! Alex," he called running after her, "Where are you going?"
"Home! I'll hitch if I have to."
Jake grabbed her arm, spinning her round to face him. "Where are you going? I could maybe lend you the money for your ticket..."
"Ha!" she gasped. "I've seen where you live! What you going to do, rob someone?"
"I've got a bit of money... if it's not too far..." He saw a momentary glimpse of confusion pass across her face.
"I... never mind!" she relied harshly.
"Come on then," he said, "Let's find you a job."
"What?" she asked, in confusion.
"You want to get out of here, you need a ticket, and to get a ticket you need cash."
She pulled away from him, gazing longingly at the open road ahead of her. Eventually she turned back to Jake, "Sure," she said, "Why not."

Two hours later she was serving coffee in the same small cafe she'd visited yesterday. She would have laughed at the irony of it if the pay wasn't so pitiful. But what could she expect with no ID the duty manager had said, "Duty manager my ass!" she thought, "Jumped up little waiter more like!" Tomorrow, she had the joy of cleaning the beauty salon to look forward to, she sighed inwardly. "Never mind," she thought, "In a few days this dump will be history. Meantime, I need to find out more about Jake, maybe he can help me..."

hmm...would that have been me...hehe
well you deserve it!

Thank you Jenny!

Alex finally finished her shift and walked reluctantly back home, "No!" she thought, "Not home! Definitely not home. Just a cold, empty warehouse."
As she passed the pizza parlour the delicious smell of oregano and melted mozzarella hit her. She hesitated and looked hungrily inside at all the smiling faces and happy families, normal people. Twenty minutes later she stepped outside, pizzabox in hand, as an afterthought she went into the Off Licence next door and bought a couple of bottles of beer. She hurried back to the warehouse, all her hard-earned cash spent.

"I come bearing gifts!" she announced as she pushed open the rickety old door.
"Mmmm, pizza!" Jake grinned. "I'm in heaven."
They sat down and ate pizza whilst Alex told him about her afternoon at the cafe, and the annoying Duty Manager, Gary. "He's such a cretin! He won't do anything without checking the Rule Book first!"
"So," asked Alex, "What do you do for money?"
"A bit of this, a bit of that, construction, painting, just whatever I can get. In the summer I busk, for the tourists."
"Would you play something for me?"
"Sure." he replied and headed upstairs.

She sat on the cold floor as he tuned his guitar, he began strumming a few chords, then started to sing quietly. Alex closed her eyes and listened.

"... I miss you more than words can say, A part of me has torn away...
... But things are gonna heal again, Eyes once blind will see again, I miss you more than words can say..."

As Alex listened to the words she felt a tear roll down her cheek, she felt a great emptiness inside her as she thought of all she had lost.

When she had composed herself, she looked up and realised Jake had gone back downstairs. She followed him down and went over to her bag, "Here." she said, pulling the bottles of beer out of her bag, "I forgot about these." Jake hesitated, then reached over to accept one. "Thanks."

They sat and drank in silence for a few minutes.
"The girl in the picture..." Alex began.
"Beth?" Jake asked.
Alex nodded, "She looks... she looks just like..."
"You?"
"Yes." said Alex slowly, "She could be my twin..."
"I had noticed!" said Jake.
"Do you feel guilty?" aked Alex.
Jake looked confused for a moment.
"About the crash." added Alex.
"Ha!" Jake laughed harshly. "Why does everyone assume I was driving!"
"Oh! I'm sorry! I just thought... What happened?"
"A brick wall happened!"
"Oh! Did she lose control?"
"Oh no, she meant to hit it alright."
"What!" Alex exclaimed.
"Can we change the subject please!"
"Sure, I'm sorry."
"Can I ask you a question?" Jake asked.
Alex shrugged, "You can ask..."
"Is Alex your real name?"
Alex thought for a moment, "As far as I am aware, yes."
That was certainly a strange way to answer his question. "Are you in trouble with the police?"
"What!" she exclaimed, "No!"
"Then why do you carry a knife?"

That night Alex slept fitfully, she felt bad about her fight with Jake, and lay listening to him tossing and turning on the sofa.
She wanted to get up and apologise but something held her back.
She woke later, bathed in sweat, remembering vividly her dream, the dream of Jake caressing her brow. How could the dream seem so familiar?
She crept carefully upstairs to the restroom and stepped under the benumbing shower, it's icy jets clearing her head. Dressing quietly she sneaked out the door before Jake awoke.
Jake watched her silent departure...

Working at the salon wasn't too bad she decided. She liked cleaning, she found it soothing and reassuring, as if it was something she had done many times in the past.

She looked up and caught Riley, the stylist, watching her in the mirror, she smiled inwardly, the job had other perks too! She found herself wondering if he was gay... she hoped not.

Later, working the afternoon shift at the cafe, Riley came over on his break. Gary was in the middle of giving her a lecture about politeness to customers, "Great timing." she groaned to herself.
"Is everything okay?" asked Riley, as Gary headed to the backroom.
"Yeah," she relpied, "He's always an ass!"
Riley laughed, "You got that right! Hey, I was wondering..."
Just then the rowdy, after-school crowd arrived. "Sorry." shrugged Alex, and turned to serve them, trying hard to be civil, feeling Gary's critical eyes upon her.

I could almost bet my left pinky finger she is Alex...is she??? (i had to ask) Update soon i am sitting on the edge of my chair dying to know what happens next!!

Are you sure you want to do that?
Thanks for commenting, I was beginning to think no one was reading! I'll put up some more chapters later.

again, came to your site... where has gone the story??? Romy, I'm at chapter 27 I cannot wait till you post it here all again!

The earlier chapters are locked for now, I'll unlock them once it's all posted here. (If you have missed any chapters let me know and I can unlock them ).

P.S. Chapter 28 is up

"Here," said Alex, thrusting the bag into his hand. "It's my way of apologising for last night." Jake peered tentatively into the bag and smiled at the sight of steaming hot coffee, sandwiches and fruit. "Did you pay for this?" he asked cheekily.
Alex coloured, "Umm, just call it a perk of the job!"
"And does your boss know about your little perk?"
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." giggled Alex, "But that's a shame, I wouldn't mind hurting him, severely!"
"Bad day at the office?" inquired Jake.
"No," smiled Alex, "Quite good actually." she said, picturing Riley's toned biceps!
They sat and ate, "I really am sorry about last night." sighed Alex, "I just... I guess I just don't liked being accused of being a criminal!"
"Hey!" said Jake. "I'm sorry about that, I don't know what I was thinking. I was..." he looked up to see her shoulders jerking as she tried to suppress a laugh. "Why you little..."

Later Alex pushed her way through the hot, thronging crowd at the Black Nightclub. She could see Jake, but he was always just out of reach. Every time she got close he moved away. "Jake!" she called. He turned towards her voice, "Hey!" he shouted above the deafening noise. She reached out to him, but the room started to spin. "Jake!" she cried alarmed. "Jake!"

Alex startled awake, gasping for breath.

She glanced over to where Jake slept peacefully, glad he hadn't woken.

The dream was different this time. "The Black Nightclub!" she thought suddenly remembering the name from her dream, did it exist? She fought the urge to rush over to Jake to waken him and ask him. She rubbed her eyes wearily, she wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight.

Alex roused herself groggily, she'd finally fallen back to sleep just before dawn. As her dream came back to her she turned to ask Jake about the Black Nightclub, but the couch lay empty. A glance at the light streaming in the grimy windows told her she was already late for work...

"Sorry Gary!" she called as she rushed through the door, "My alarm didn't go off!" she lied.
"He glanced pointedly at his watch, "I'll be docking you 2 hours pay!"
Alex glanced at the clock, she was just over an hour late, but she didn't have the energy to argue with him. She grabbed her apron and set to work.

It was pretty quiet this morning and she was glad when she saw Riley pushing open the door. "Hi, gorgeous!" he grinned, making her blush.
"I bet you say that to all the girls." she quipped.
"Damn! You got me there!" he laughed, "My usual, please."
She started to prepare his coffee, "Is there a club in town called the Black Nightclub?" she asked.
"Used to be," he replied, "But it was just called 'Black'. Burned down about 3 years ago."
She silently finished serving his coffee. "Why did you ask?" he enquired.
"Oh, just curious. I heard one of the customers mention it the other day, thought I might check it out."
"If you're looking for some action, 'Mercy' is the place to go. Maybe I'll see you there on Saturday?" he said with a questioning look.
"Maybe!" she smiled.

She arrived back before Jake, wondering where he had been all day. She glanced up as she heard the door creak open. She couldn't help but laugh as Jake walked across the room, "Hmmm," she mused, "I'd never have taken you for a lumberjack!"
"Quit it!" he bantered, "Some of us actually do real work!"

Later, as they sat and chatted, Jake couldn't help but ask, "So, where is home?"
"Pardon?" Alex replied.
"On Monday... you said you were heading home."
"Oh..." she said and fell silent.
"Are you going to tell me or is it some big secret?" Jake asked after a moment.
"Tell you what, I'll answer your question if you answer one of mine!"
"Okay." said Jake, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Why do you live here?" Alex asked, gesturing round the cold, barren room.
"It's all I can afford."
"But why don't you get a job? A proper job?"
"Ah!" he exclaimed, "That's two questions, you have to answer mine first."
Alex shrugged sadly, "I don't know."
"But... You said you were going home... That doesn't make sense!" Jake retorted, confused.
Alex just shrugged.
"So... are you going to answer my question now?" she asked.

Great story, you definitely leave the reader begging for more :D

Jake sat in silence, Alex held her breath. Eventually, with a long sigh he started to explain, "I can't read." he said almost inaudibly, obviously embarassed.
"But... but I've seen you read." said Alex, bewildered.
He shook his head.
"But..." Alex eyes flitted round the room, apart from a couple of old magazines and a yellowing newspaper, she could see no books. "I remember!" she exclaimed, "My bus ticket! You read it!"
Jake shook his head again, "No, I just looked at the numbers. I can do numbers, dates, time..."
"But why?" Alex asked perplexed.
"My turn." said Jake looking up. "Where were you born?"
She shrugged again, "I don't know."
Jake frowned, not sure whether to believe her...
"I was home-schooled." he said. "Where do your parents live?"
"I don't know!" replied Alex insistently. "Why didn't your parents teach you to read?"
"Enough of the questions!" Jake snapped, "You haven't told me a single thing about you!"
"Well, now you know as much as I do!" countered Alex angrily.

Jake looked at her, she was an enigma. "Geez, I thought I was messed up!" he brooded.
"Come here." he said kindly and gathered her in his arms. He felt awkward and bumbling, but as she rested her head on his shoulder he relaxed, her body fitting perfectly against his. He could smell her shampoo, it smelt of aloe vera. It reminded him of the old lady next door who used to put it on his cuts when he'd been in a fight, Miss Florence, that was her name...

Jake took a deep breath, "My mother... the only education she ever gave me was how to shoplift bottles of vodka without getting caught, and how to clean up after her..."
Alex tried to imagine what that must have been like, but drew a blank. "I'm sorry." she said.
"When you said you were going home, what did you mean?"
"Just that! I've spent the last 3 years travelling around looking for my home. Every time I arrive in a new town I hope that something will look familiar..."
"What happenend to you? Did you lose your memory or something?"
Alex shook her head, "I don't know. All I do know is my life started 3 years ago."
"That must be weird, not knowing anything about your past, kinda sad too..."
Alex held on tight and bit down on her lip, she was going to keep her dreams to herself for now...

Wow, that was fast! Thank you...

They sat there for a while, just enjoying the silence, then Jake extracted himself from her arms and stood up. "Hey!" she called after him. He paused and turned to face her, "Thanks." she said. He went to turn away, "And," she added, "I'm going to teach you to read."

As he walked away Alex felt a warm glow suffuse her, it filled her veins with hope. "Wow!" she thought, "So this is what it's like to feel happy!"

On Saturday, Alex was working the morning shift at the salon. It was a hectic morning and Riley didn't have time for any playful flirting. Just before lunch, a girl came in and walked striaght up to Riley.
"Can you fit me in for a trim?" she asked sweetly, fluttering her eyelids.
"For you, anything!" beamed Riley.
Alex glanced over as he sat her on the chair, she was pretty in a spoilt kind of way. She sighed to herself, "Looks like he's got a girlfriend after all." and went back to sweeping the floor.

On the way home she stopped by the Thrift Shop, she still hadn't forgotten her promise to Jake to teach him to read. She sorted carefully through the old, dog-eared books and selected a few, paying her money at the counter.

"Surprise!" she said to Jake as she walked in holding the books aloft.
"What the..."
"It's time for your first reading lesson!" she said cheerfully.
He examined the covers, "But these are kids books!" he exclaimed sharply.
"How do you think people learn to read, Shakespeare!" she replied sarcastically.
After 20 minutes she could sense he was getting frustrated, "Typical male!" she thought, "Wants to learn it all in one day."
"Okay, lesson's over." she said, to his relief. "I was thinking about checking out 'Mercy' tonight, do you fancy coming along?"
Jake thought for a moment, "Sure, it's not really my sort of thing but I could do with a change."
"Great!"

I'm up to Chapter Thirty on my LJ page so I'm trying to catch up as quick as possible! Thanks for reading

And here I thought you were doing those "fast" updates just for me!

I need a direct link because the links I already have don't work... I am soooooo sad :sad:

When we arrived at Mercy, Riley spotted me through the crowd and waved me over. I turned to speak to Jake but he had disappreared through the dancing throng. I pushed my way through to the bar, ordered a drink and wove my way through to Riley.

He shouted something unintelligible into my ear, then led me over to the bar where it was fractionally quieter. As he leant close to speak and I gazed into his mesmerising pale green eyes...
"Hey!" a voice interrupted. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?"
I turned and saw Riley's girlfriend standing there, my hopes sinking.
"Sorry, sweets! Alex, I'd like to introduce you to my exceedingly spoilt and annoying little sister, Ciara."
"Sister!" spluttered Alex through a mouthful of soda.
"Yes," she replied cattily, "And you must be Alex, you're the one that hangs around with that weirdo, Jack."
"Jake!" retorted Alex angrily. "And he's..."
"Well, ta-ta for now, see you later! Be a good boy Riley!"
"Sorry about that." said Riley, "She can be so embarassing as times!"

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Alex still upset by Ciara's words.
"Come on." said Riley pulling her to her feet, "Don't let her spoil our evening, let's dance."
"I'm going to ask the DJ for a request, back in a minute." said Alex.
She leant over the decks, "Can you play 'Let Me Go' by Turracoo?" she shouted over the din.
He gave her a funny look, "Sure babe, whatever you want!"
As she walked away he called her back and pushed something into her hand, she looked down at the piece of paper, it was too dark to read it so she shoved it into her jeans.

Riley was waiting to drag her onto the dancefloor. She closed her eyes and let the rhythm of the music wash over her. "And this next song is for the mysterious red-head..."

Alex snapped her eyes open and looked around embarassed, Riley gave her a grin, "Mysterious, eh?" Alex started to laugh but then it hit her, this wasn't the song she requested. She glanced over at the DJ confused... he must have misheard her.

Later she sat at the bar once more with Riley, exhausted but exhilarated. "So, Alex... the night is still young..."
"Oh my god," she thought, "didn't he have a more original pick-up line than that?"
She was saved from answering by Jake appearing at her shoulder. "I'm heading home now. Do you want to walk with me, or..." he said, glancing over at Riley, "do you have other plans..."
"I'm ready to go!" she replied brightly, glad of an excuse to avoid Riley's advances. Afterall, she didn't want to appear too keen! "I'll meet you outside in five."

Alex and Jake walked slowly back to the warehouse, arm-in-arm. "So," he asked, "How was your 'date'?"
Alex giggled, "Well, he's pretty cute, once you get over the fact he's a hairdresser! Did you see his awful sister? I wanted to punch her on the nose!"
"I wish you had!" laughed Jake, "It would have stopped her pestering me all night!"
"Did she? I hadn't noticed."
"No, I don't suppose you did, you only had eyes for one man tonight..."
Suddenly Alex ran into the park pulling him with her. She threw off the boots and sock and jumped into the fountain, laughing and splashing. Jake stood watching her, an ache growing in his heart. "Damn!" he thought, "She looks so much like Beth."
"Come on in!" she yelled.
He paused then jumped in to join her.

"I don't think that was such a good idea!" exclaimed Alex, as they stood shivering in the bitter cold warehouse.

"Come here, I'll warm you up." said Jake pulling her towards him.

Ahhh....*looks around* what would happen if i said yes? LOL
And i am hooked..i am dying to know who she is and whats the deal with Riley (i don't know if i want to trust him), so i will always be reading.

hi romy it's nice to know that you've posted it here. i've been reading this in your journal.

btw is it okay for you to post the link of your LJ coz i can't seem to remember it. thanks....

it's a really nice story :D

Another one of my lurkers Thanks for commenting.


Aww... why does nobody like Riley?