Time for my second...
posting of a fanfic I wrote EVER. Yes in a shameless attempt to get MORE people to read this journal, I'm posting some of my fics on here as well. Pay attention there will be a quiz later.
Title: You lost me at Hello.
Author: Adrian_Tepes.
Rating: R.
Warning: Crossovers, cameos and guest appearances
ahead.
Disclaimer: I own neither Xander nor any of ME created
characters or anyone's characters save for ones I
created and those should be obvious.
Summary: Xander takes the first step of the rest of
his life.
Author Notes: As I said, I took some time off to
review and rework my earlier plans series into
something that was closer to what I wanted. I'm still
in the process of doing that but I've got a lot of
great ideas and bad ones to explore. ("") denotes
Speech, ('')thinking.
Every once in a while a story comes along that
redefines the genre and sets a new standard in
fiction.
This is NOT that story. This story will go places
where NO man has gone before. Most likely the ladies
room and beyond.
*******************************************************
Xander squinted reflexively in the heat of the
afternoon. He had just returned to the Norfolk hotel
from his latest foray out into the countryside. The
hotel, according to the brochure had a long and rich
history that was deeply entwined with Kenya's own
history. While he wasn't sure of the history part it
certainly was a luxurious hotel. Satellite TV, air
conditioning (something he quickly learned to classify
as being a luxury in this country) and a private bath
complete with it's own phone.
All paid for by the late members of the original
Watcher's council. And in Xander's opinion money well
spent. His only question was should the money have
been spent on him. That had been Giles's decision to
make. It almost made up for the fact that he was
essentially alone in a foreign country that was at
best a couple decades behind where the others were.
"Good morning Mr. Harris." The concierge spoke
impeccable English, which seemed both odd and
strangely appropiate in this setting.
"Good Morning Nate. How is everything?"
"Splendid as always Mr. Harris. Oh Miss Jones left a
message at the front desk. It was that as soon as you
awoke and were ready to please meet her at the
poolside bar."
The poolside bar was the place Xander had first met
Elizabeth. She was recovering from several, lengthy
emotional battles with her family over her life and
it's state. Fed-up at what she perceived as meddling
by her parents, she had packed up and come to Kenya
for rest. She was breath-taking beautiful and the
first woman in some time that he had felt a mutual
attraction with. Before he had gone into 'the bush'
last time, they had talked and he had tried to feel
her out about the subject. For her to leave a note
with the front desk meant that she had meant reached a
decision.
"Thank you Nate."
Xander took a deep breath and made his way out towards
the pool. He spotted her instantly sitting by herself
at a table near the pool. She was dressed in a
fashionable yet subdued dress reading over one of the
papers the hotel delivered daily. Confidence in his
step, he walked over to where she was seated. The
Englishwoman looked as he neared and gestured for him
to be seated.
"Good Morning, Beth."
"Alexander, you can't begin to imagine how happy I am
to see you today."
"Oh I can imagine quite a bit Beth." He smiled broadly
at her.
"Yes I believe that. Do you remember Robert?"
Robert was Beth's former boyfriend, like her, he was a
member of England's upper class though he came from a
blue collar family that made good as opposed to
inheriting his position. His father had risen up the
ranks of Britain's banking circles becoming a
millionaire in the process and earning a spot for him
and his family in the elite's eyes.
"Yeah, what about him? Has he done something else to
tick you off?"
One of the reasons Elizabeth had listed, as being
behind her decision to leave was Robert's apparent
inability to make a commitment to their relationship.
He had been considering going to America to work in
his father's overseas office without informing her of
that decision. Xander didn't think much of Robert
personally or at all.
"No Alexander, in fact, -"
"Ah, hello. You must Alexander Harris, the man that
Elizabeth told me about."
Xander looked up blinking as young man dressed in he
thought of as "English cut casual" joined them. He was
a few years older then Xander with lighter brown hair
and appraising brown eyes that seemed to be evaluating
the American ever so briefly before the man's smile
widened.
"I must say, you're quite different from how she
described. You look nothing like Charley."
He glanced over at the Englishwoman with a question on
his face, "Nothing like you described?"
Robert chuckled, "She said that you were like a
brother to her."
Ah, that made sense. Charley was Elizabeth's older
brother and like all brothers, he was in her words, a
tad over-bearing and a bit protective of his younger
sister.
"Well I'll take that as a compliment coming from her
and you."
Elizabeth spoke up, "Robert flew in while you were out
in the countryside on one of your excursions. We
talked a great deal and," she hesitated before showing
him her hand, glittering on it was a fairly expensive
looking diamond and sapphire ring, "He gave me this."
Xander took all that in and in less then a second let
a goofy smile spread across his face. "Well with the
size of that rock, I'm sure you could afford to
reserve the whole hotel for a week at least."
"Xander!"
"Seriously, I am happy for you both. Have you set a
date yet?"
"Oh good heavens no. We're still haven't told our
families yet. But we did agree on one thing. When we
do, we'd like to invite you as a friend of the
families. Will you be able to attend Alexander?"
He leaned back a little in his chair wearing a smile
he did not feel, "Nothing would please me more then to
be there for both of you. I do have my work but as
long as I get enough advance notice, I think it'll be
okay."
"Ah yes your work," Robert inquired, "What is it
exactly you do? I've rarely come across Americans in
this part of the world, especially ones in your
position."
What exactly did he do? What had he told Elizabeth?
"I'm a consultant for a fairly large British and
American firm that specializes in assisting developing
countries make greater use of their assets." That was
vague enough to be somewhat accurate he thought.
"And they let you stay here as opposed to being
somewhere else?"
"Well got to make full use of those tax write-offs
Bob." Both men laughed at that and soon the
conversation went to other topics including what was
going in their respective countries. Roughly half an
hour later, by mutual consent the breakfast meeting
broke up. Elizabeth and Robert were retreating to
their room to telephone her family. Xander had planned
on remaining in the hotel for a few days to rest and
recuperate but that had changed.
Now he couldn't wait to get out of the hotel and away
from civilization at least for a while. During his
packing and trip preparations he acknowledge to bang
his head twice, once on the interior roof of his Land
Rover. Unsurprisingly Elizabeth and Robert had not
been out of their room all day. He left a message for
the newly engaged couple saying he to attend to some
business out in the countryside and wishing them well
on planning their future nuptials before driving off.
He had been driving down one of the country's more
serviced and more traveled roads, thinking about how
long he was supposed to remain in Africa when it
happened. A sudden and violent explosion knocked him
right off the road and his rover right onto it's side.
As the cobwebs started clearing, Xander struggled to
unfasten his seat bet and get his door open. He was
greeted by unexpectedly bright sunlight that made it
hard for him to see anything. Squinting he walked
towards where he thought the road would be. That's
when a second explosion knocked him off his feet.
And into something wet.
"What the hell?"
He blinked the light somehow dimming substantially as
he did so. And was immediately certain of two things.
One, his car was nowhere to be found because he almost
certainly wasn't in Kenya or possibly in Africa
anymore. For you see, there aren't any swamps with
tall cypress trees in that part of Africa. It was this
first certainty that led Xander to the second. And
that was for the second time in less then a day, God
had elected to kick him square in the crotch.