Alexander jumps over the back of the couch and joins me.
“We should get her to one of the activation events and do a video with her.”
“Great minds,” I say as I scroll through more videos. “I was just thinking we could create a new #LeaveItToBrewed hashtag.”
Some videos have people spilling their coffees all over themselves. Others forget to put the lid on their blenders for the ice-blended coffees, leaving a mess all over their ceilings.
I fire off a quick email to Chloe and Caryn with links to the viral videos, while Alexander DMs the mum to find out where she’s located and if she’d be open to doing a video collaboration.
I’m so used to doing everything on my own, with Sara always too caught up in Tony to ever help and Olly still coming to grips with everything, that it’s weird having Alexander sitting beside me and helping bring this idea to life. But it’s a strangely comforting feeling that I could get used to.
“She’s already messaged back!” Alexander’s excitement level is almost as high as the ceiling. “Apparently her daughters love me, and she’d be down to do the video. She lives not too far from here, in Amarillo, Texas.”
A quick look on Google maps highlights that she’s roughly two hundred sixty miles away, but that’s not exactly close either. God bless Americans and their idea of a distance that far being relatively close.
“What time and where is the store?” He’s already typing away into his phone.
“It’s midday, just down by the riverway. Let me send you the address.”
I pick up my phone and ping him with the details.
“Got it. I’m just going to get changed for bed.” Alexander gets up, kisses me on the head, and leaves me to continue working my way through emails. My attention is briefly drawn by his quiet confidence as he walks back through the adjoining door to his suite.
I had been concerned about how today would go, but things went smoothly. Alexander’s been in good form, both kind and caring all day. The way he spoke with Marcelo at Brewed in Manhattan. How he politely took pictures with all the stewardesses on the flight. The way he held open the door for everyone to enter the hotel tonight, brushing Rob away.
The selfish, careless, and reckless character I’d portrayed him as after he left me back in June is being erased, one small action at a time. He’s offering me a snapshot of how things could be between us in the future, and correcting the rocky foundations our relationship was previously built upon, leaving me cautiously optimistic.
It’s almost 2 a.m. by the time I finish getting through my emails. Alexander is asleep in his suite. The sound of him softly snoring drifts through the adjoining door, barely audible over the raging wind outside.
I deliberate whether to join him, but I’m desperate for some rest, so I settle instead for crawling into my own bed. I pull off my jeans and top, drawing back the duvet and sliding into the comfort of the crisp Egyptian cotton sheets. The floral scent helps ease me into a sleepless state, so I grab my phone and flick through Instagram.
The latest pictures Andrew has posted of his birthday celebrationsshow him smiling and laughing in each one. They’re reassuringly comforting, even if he’s still pissed off at me.
Just as I put my phone down to the side and plug it into the charger, a piercing sound emanates all around me. My phone and Alexander’s iPad, left on the table by the couch, both light up. A loud groan from next door tells me Alexander has awakened. The darkness from his suite is replaced by a soft light along the carpet.
I reach for my phone and my shoulders tense as I see the message.
Emergency Alert
National Weather Service: TORNADO WARNING in this area until 5:45 AM CDT. Take shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. Check media.
19.Alexander
Thursday
Agoddamn tornado!
Christopher finally lands on the local news channel KOKH Fox 25 News and I rub my eyes in disbelief at what I see on the TV. The weather reporter appears on-screen, desperately holding on to the hood of her dark-green rain mack, attempting in vain to provide an update. The wind and rain attack her from all angles.
“We have reports of a tornado spotted on the ground in Canadian County, just south of Mustang, moving in a north-easterly direction toward Oklahoma City airport and the city. I can’t repeat this enough, but don’t make unnecessary journeys, don’t take risks on treacherous roads, and seek shelter immediately.”
Chills run down my spine at the mere mention of the tornado heading our way. My leg bounces up and down as I sit on the arm of the couch. Is it wrong to be excited that I actually might get to see a tornado up close and in person?
Seven-year-old me was heartbroken after he’d watched the original Twister film and my parents said we were in the wrong state to chase tornadoes. But now, after seventeen years, I might finally get to see one.
“Thanks, Gemma,” a pale news anchor in a cream suit and yellow tie says when the shot switches back to the studio. “We’re just getting some footage of the tornado from a viewer now.” His hand goes to his earpiece while the screen splits, showing a shaky video clip taken from a back yard. The tornado is just visible in the distance when sparks fly from the power lines in the dark night sky.
My heart rate spikes at the sight.
