Two Days Later
Neverland

"Lexi!!!!"

Michael's voice drifted across the hall from the bathroom, and a small creak erupted from the mahogany drawer I was opening.

"Lexi! Have you seen my shoes? Please tell me you aren't hiding my stuff again."

Shaking my head no, I dropped the socks I had pulled out to rearrange and rolled my eyes, inwardly smacking myself when I realized he couldn't see me.

Smooth Lex.

"Nope! Not this time sorry."

Michael's frustrated grumbles drifted back in response, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from giggling at his chronic disorganization.

He had been losing things WAY before I had started playing that game. Knowing him he would end up finding them shoved under the couch.

"Baby have you tried under the couch?"

More grumbles.  A few more moments passed and I heard a loud crash.

"Found them!"

Letting out an amused sigh, I smiled and glanced up in the large silver mirror overlooking the dresser.  Taking in my appearance I cringed.

Definetly needed some work.

   Glancing back towards the windows, large sheer lace curtains billowed cool air indoors and the smell of mountain air wafted inside creating a slight flutter on the plush celery colored downy comforter.  Birds chirping in the distance, beams of light danced against the silver fixtures on the lamp, the picture frames, and created a prism of colors along the crystal drop light fixture overhanging the bed.


"Lex?"

I turned around. Wearing a black fedora, Michael wore a crisp apple red button up shirt, black suspenders, and dress slacks.  Staring at me from the doorway Michael shot a quick look at this cell phone and nodded towards the staircase.

"I'm going to head out now, call me if you need anything okay?"

Nodding my head, Michael came at me like a whirlwind, pecked me on the lips, and spun around to leave.

"Hey!"

Stopping at the doorway, Michael spun around again and gave me a panicked look.

"Lex I got to go."

I folded my arms across my chest and waited.

"I love you."

Tapping his foot impatiently, I rolled my eyes and gave him a wry grin as he smirked cheekily, gave me a small wink, and spun back around to race out the door.

"See you tonight for dinner!"

Letting out a small frustrated sigh, Michael's absence was poignantly felt as I glanced around the room, silently debating what I was going to do today.

Like almost every other day. At least he'd come with me to the jail the other day.

Trying to figure out what to do today, I realized in frustration i didn't have a lot of options.  Janet and Nahla out of town, Frank was on duty and Brooke had become Michael's new stylist so she was out of the question as well.

Unless.. I headed down to the set.

No.  I'd think of something else.  Maybe i'd work on a bit of my coursework.  Taking my classes online I was only a few courses short of graduating.

Shrugging my shoulders, I gave the room one final look and headed out towards the hallway.

The floorboards creaked, and the wood felt cool against my bare feet as I moved down the hallway towards the stairwell.  Wrapping my arms around my chest I glanced at the walls and took in the various pictures as I passed them.

Pictures of Michael and I covering the walls, my loneliness grew as I passed our smiling faces and relived the memories each one capture.

One in particular caught my attention down at the very end of the hall and I stopped, running my fingers along the glass.  On the beach, Michael had me hoisted over his shoulder in the photograph and I was screaming, strands of sandy hair covering my eyes.

Giggling, I remembered the moment that Frank shot the photo.

Moments after he had tossed the camera on the beach and had joined Michael into tossing me in a large sand hole.

Maybe we could do that again sometime soon.

Releasing a sigh I resigned myself to a boring morning of coursework and headed downstairs and into Michael's office.  Walking purposefully towards the desktop I flopped down in Michael's leather swivel chair and jiggled the mouse to turn it on. 

Drumming my fingers on the desk, I squished my toes in the lush red carpet and shivered from the chill. The computer hummed and after a few clicks I was at the home screen.

I probably needed to grab a pen and write down my assignments for a reference.

Glancing down, I gave the top drawer a tug and frowned when I realized it was locked.

Well, that was weird.


Letting out a small sigh I bit my lip, and tried to think of where Michael would keep a key.  Turning towards the computer, I picked things up and checked underneath them, until finally I found a small gold key attached to the bottom of a paperweight.

Bingo.

Spinning back towards the drawers I worked the key in, and let out a small shriek of excitement when the key turned, and the door slid open with ease.

Rummaging through Michael's files, I came across a wad of pictures and I smiled, wondering why Michael hadn't mentioned the photos from our last trip had been developed.

Sticking the key on the desk, I slid my finger under the envelope and pulled the pictures out.
 
Wait, what was this? And why would he have them?


Curiously I flipped through a small stack of baby photos.  The baby, a complete mystery to me, stared back with dark brown eyes and thick curls.  Furrowing my brow, I flipped the photos over but to my disappointment saw that they were blank on the back.

Had someone we knew recently had a baby?

My assignments momentarily forgotten, Sitting back in my chair I bit the inside of my cheek and tried to think of any of our friends or family that had recently had a child.  Not thinking of anyone I shrugged and slipped the photos back in the envelope.  Setting them back where I found them I rummaged some more until I finally found a pen.

Making a mental note to ask Michael about the pictures later i shoved them back in the drawer and locked it.  Putting the key back where I found it I was just about to get back on the computer when my phone buzzed.  Glancing down I saw that it was a text from Brooke.

Lunch?

Deciding i'd work on my coursework later I responded with a yes and both of us decided to meet over at the shoot and head to a resturant nearby.  Hopping out of the chair I raced down the hallway to find something to wear and checked my watch to see that I only had about an hour and a half to get ready. 

I was going to have to hustle.  Especially since I hadn't had a shower yet.