Alex and Annie: A Bad Jokes Spinoff

Chapter 19 (Alex): This Woman

About three months after Annie and I had dinner with my parents -- and Annie had pretty much become a permanent fixture at my parents' home with me every weekend -- I headed over to her desk mid-morning, dreading what I had to tell her.

Sliding a Snickers bar onto her desk, I asked her to take a quick walk with me. I grabbed her hand and she looked up at me with resigned eyes, knowing eyes. I took her outside and asked if she wanted to grab a coffee from the shop on the corner.

"No, Alex. I want you to tell me what you came to tell me. No more stalling."

"I think, Annie, you already know."

Looking away, she nodded. 

"Just got an assignment. Leaving in an hour."

She knew that was all I could tell her. Although this wasn't the first time I'd been sent out in the months we'd been officially dating, all six times it'd been for no more than four or five days. Leave on a Monday, back no later than Friday night and back in my Annie's arms. Unfortunately, during the emergency briefing this morning, my luck had finally run out.

This unexpected assignment was much more complicated and was going to be longer, unfortunately. Two months, minimum. Most likely three. I'd wanted to cry like a baby when I'd heard that but was able to hold it in. Barely.

Now, faced with Annie's sad eyes, I wanted to cry again. 

"Miss me like I'm going to miss you."

She shrugged, trying to be brave and make me laugh. "I'll see if I can work it into my schedule."

I pulled her into a hug and whispered into her hair. "It's going to be a while."

"I'll be here whenever you get back unless another man brings me a really nice pebble."

Laughing, I kissed her hard and fast. "I love you, Annie."

"I love you, too," she whispered against my chest. But I could still hear her because her words slid right into my heart.

Three months turned into four, and, once again, despite the faulty intelligence we'd been given that set us back a month, we figured shit out, achieved our objective and added another successful mission to our tally.

And not a fucking llama in sight, fortunately, or I might have lost my shit. As it was, I hadn't enjoyed the mission like I normally did and each day that had passed, bringing us no closer to the conclusion, made me impatient and short-tempered. I had to work hard not to show any of that and keep my team running smoothly. But finally, we were on the plane headed home and I was figuring out how many minutes and seconds the seven hour flight translated to before I could see Annie. Four months without being able to speak to her had made me antsy. I hoped she hadn't been rethinking us without me around. 

Before I'd left, I'd sent my mom a text so she'd know I'd been called out, and she'd texted back with her usual I love you, son. Be safe.

Then she'd added, We'll watch out for Annie.

She'd known how to reassure me even without me saying anything, and I could head out, knowing that mom and Gracelyn and my cousins would keep Annie in the family fold. I'd also asked her to arrange daily deliveries to Annie and gave her a few ideas of what I'd been doing for my girl.

We went straight to the office from the plane at ten in the morning, tired, grubby from traveling, not wanting to debrief but required to. We had at least three hours before we could head home, shower and sleep. I saw my director in the hall outside her office and I gave her the just a minute sign, and detoured right to Annie. I walked right over to her as she jumped up and launched herself at me, pressing her face into my neck.

"I missed my girl," I said. "I missed you in my arms."

"Alex," was all she said, but I knew what my name meant on her lips. Everything.

I pulled back and kissed her, wondering if I could get everyone out of her area, bend her over the desk and --

"Shit," I muttered. "I'm hard as a fucking steel beam now, and I have to go into a meeting right away. Just had to see you first."

"Well, go and try not to think about how ready I am for you, desperate for your cock --"

"You want to explain to the director why I'm late?" I grumbled in her ear.

"Think about...llamas," she suggested. "Think about...hippo mating rituals."

That made me both laugh out loud and grimace at the memory of when we'd stumbled onto that bit of knowledge I could have done without. With that horrible visual in my head, I was able to get away to my meeting before too long.

Later that night, Annie was still straddling me, practically passed out on my chest after four months of deprivation. I reached over and pulled out a box in my nightstand.

"Annie, did you know common ravens like shiny objects?"

I could feel her smile against my skin at the strange, but not entirely unsurprising, subject. "No, I didn't."

"They do," I said. "Some people think they steal and hoard shiny odds and ends to show off to other ravens. I think maybe they're the dragons of the bird world with their treasure hoards."

"Really?"

I put the little box on my chest in front of her. I'd filled it earlier before Annie came over after work. 

"Yeah. I decided to try hoarding shiny things to become one with my raven side."

Well used to me by now, she burst out laughing and started picking out the treasures.

"Rolled up ball of aluminum foil," she said seriously. "If I were a raven, I'd be seriously impressed."

She continued to sift through the objects. "Paper clip. Very nice. Tab from a can of pop. Sweet. A screw.  Silver key. Shiny button. Best treasures ever. Let's see, a --"

A sudden intake of breath told me she'd found it.

"Alex?"

"I think that's my favorite treasure of all," I said. "Shiny and sparkly. What do you think, Annie?"

"I think...it's beautiful."

"But it's one treasure I'm willing to part with if you'll wear it for me every day for the rest of our lives."

"Negotiating, Alex?" she smiled at me, and either her eyes were watery or mine were. Most likely both.

"Annie, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and showing you that you're everything to me."

"You do have impressive feet and dance moves," she said slowly.

My Annie would always fill my life with laughter. She was so fucking perfect.

"Will you marry me? And before you answer...I want you to know that this last mission, I want it to be my last one, if you're OK with that. Hated being away from you, hated not being able to call you, hated not hearing your voice. So, I'm thinking, if you agree, I'll become a trainer or maybe an operations director. Pretty normal hours, home with you every night."

"I think I could deal with that," she said. "So, yes, I'll accept your shiny object and marry you."

Taking the ring from her, I slid it onto her ring finger, and then kissed her hand. I flipped her over onto her back and her hands came to my face as I held myself above her.

"Thank you, Annie. I'm going to work hard every day to make sure you know just how much I love you and how fucking grateful I am that you never gave up on me."

Her eyes positively twinkled so I braced myself.

"It shouldn't be a surprise, Alex," she said primly. "I mean, I always wanted to marry a man like you."

This woman.

She burst out laughing, and I gathered my Annie close. I was never letting her go.