A Million Reasons

The next morning she was wakened by the sound of her telephone ringing. She glanced at her bedside clock; '10:11AM', it read. She groaned in frustration, realizing she'd only been in bed three hours since getting home from work. "Wello," she mumbled into the phone. The sound of laughter floated across the connection. "Good morning sleepy head," Fox's cheerful voice greeted. Elisa felt a stab of guilt remembering she'd stormed out of the castle without speaking to Fox. "Hey." Elisa finally responded. There was an awkward moment as neither of them said anything. "I'm sorry about last night," Elisa uttered before she could chicken out. She heard Fox sigh. "Me too. I was looking forward to seeing you." Fox stated. Elisa flopped back onto her bed and covered her face briefly with a pillow. "Something happened last night Fox." Elisa stated not sure what or if Fox knew anything about the previous evening. "I know," Fox confessed. "David showed me the cheque." Elisa waited for her to continue. "He said the two of you had a misunderstanding about what happened at Nightstone." Elisa rolled her eyes. "It was a little more than that," Elisa responded. "He threatened to expose us if I didn't agree to his demands." Elisa paused uncertain if she should continue. "He also eluded to a possible three-way." A loud growl on the other end of the phone startled her. "I told David weeks ago you weren't interested in a menage a trois'." Fox exclaimed. "I would never ask you to do something you didn't want to do. And to be honest I don't want to share you with David. Or anyone else." Fox added in a soft voice. The silence that hung between them was thick with meaning. Elisa wanted to point out Fox was in no position to expect fidelity from her when she was still with her husband. "Did you know Dominique taped us in the conference room?" She asked, suddenly remembering their other problem. "I had my suspicions," Fox said. Elisa sat up in bed, pulling her hair in frustration. "Why would you leave the building without the surveillance tape? You know how she feels about me," Elisa stated. "I'll take care of Dominique and David; don't worry about them, "Fox calmly assured her. Elisa bit her bottom lip. "You need to make sure the tape doesn't end up in the wrong hands." Elisa said. "Lex broke into Nightstone's computer systems and erased the security tape from yesterday." Fox advised her. Elisa breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," She said sincerely. "You can show your appreciation by having dinner with me tonight," Fox said. Elisa shook her head at the persistant red head. "What about your husband?" Elisa asked, not wanting to cause more problems. "He's not invited," Fox said causing Elisa to chuckle. "Besides, my mother is going to be there. We try to have dinner once a month. David never comes with us." She paused briefly. "They don't get along so they avoid each other like the plague." Elisa hesitated. "If you'd like, just stop by my apartment after you've eaten. So that we can talk." She amended. "I've already told mother you might be joining us," Fox said. "But I accept the invitation to your apartment---to talk later," she said. Elisa laid flat on her bed staring at the ceiling. She could hear the inuendo in Fox's voice but chose to ignore it for now. "You need to let me get back to my beauty sleep so I can look my best for tonight." Fox's husky laugh caused her stomach to flutter. "If you get any more beautiful, I won't be able to keep my hands off you," Fox whispered into the phone. Elisa knew she was in trouble when her heart started to beat a little faster. (tbc)