Emma called Alexander back and told him that she was no longer in trouble.
"Oh… are you sure?" Alexander asked him as he was sitting on the back seat of the taxi.
"Yeah, I'm home. Thanks for trying to rescue me though. You're so nice," Emma replied. She really meant it.
"Okay, then. I'm going to my place to, I guess," he replied and she hung up the phone. Alexander arrived at his apartment over at Quirks. It wasn't such a bad place. His father had already bought this apartment, so Alexander was exempt of paying rent, which made everything easier for him. Arnold, his little guinea pig pet was running around in his little ball. The ball was rolling over the floor and Alexander jogged to it and grabbed. He opened the plastic ball in half and took out him out. He trembled, like all little guinea pig fellows did. He was furry and adorable.
"Hey, my man. You're looking in good shape," said Alexander as he held him in his hand. The little thing didn't stop shaking. He was a nervous creature. Despite knowing and being with Alexander for six months, he was still nervous about being caught. Alexander opened his little cage and placed the guinea pig inside. There was a wheel in it, a small plate for him and a bottle of water. The bottle was empty, so Alexander grabbed it, opened it and filled it with water.
"Here you go Arnold. You must be thirsty after that workout," Alexander said. The little guinea pig immediately went to the pump and began to suck on it. The little fellow seemed to be really happy about it. His white spot moved back and forth with the rest of his furry little body as he drank his water. He seemed both relieved and grateful about it even if he was unable to express it. Then Alexander grabbed the little guinea pig's plate and he filled it up with it's food. Arnold though, was very entertained with the water and he barely noticed the food. Alexander closed the little guinea pig's cage and went to the living room. If he watched three minutes of T.V. that was too much. It had been a long, tedious and stressful day. The T.V. was on, but he wasn't really paying attention to it. He couldn't. His eyelids slowly dropped once, twice and thrice. In the sofa he laid his head back and a little bit to the side and snored.
He woke up the next day with the worst neck pain he'd ever had in his life, or at least the second worst pain he'd ever had in his life because the first worst had been some other time. Alexander yawned. The T.V. was on and there was a cooking program on. It seemed that they were trying to sell dishware. He was still wearing the same clothes he had on from the day before, but he was kind of grateful that he had showered at Ashley's. He looked at his watch. It was noon.
"I slept that long?" He asked himself and then he brushed back his straight and sexy hair. His neck throbbed and he rubbed his neck trying massage it to feel relief.
"Ow…" he complained and yawned again. His eyes seemed a little stuck. His vision blurry, but it soon cleared. He got up. He had a terrible back pain. He stretched his arms and his chest. He had to get up. Alexander gazed upon Arnold's cage. He was awake and nibbling on a straw.
"Hey, dude. You're looking good," Alexander told his guinea pig. Obviously, his guinea pig didn't reply. He just continued nibbling at his straw. He seemed very entertained and proud about it.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" Alexander said. He was joking. Of course he didn't expect a reply from a guinea pig, but still it was nice to talk to someone. He noticed that Arnold had eaten all of his grains and had drank more than half of his bottle.
"Wow dude, you are costing me some cash," Alexander said. He was joking again, but Arnold really was eating a lot lately. He was growing, so it made sense. His little paws suddenly scratched his tiny little ears. Alexander smiled.
"I didn't mean that buddy. You're okay," Alexander said. He got the bag of guinea pig food from his kitchen drawer. He proceeded to open the cage, grab his plate, add the food as always. The bottle went through a similar, grab, open and add process as well.
"There you go buddy. You're good to go," he said. Alexander's phone rang, it was Ashley.
"Hey, I've been calling you. Are you okay?" Ashley asked him.
"I'm fine. I'm here with Arnold," Alexander replied.
"Oh. Listen, I want to tell you that I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. I know you're hurt by it," Ashley said.
"It's okay. It's not that bad," Alexander replied.
"Yeah…" Ashley said and a strange and awkward silence went on between them. Alexander wasn't sure, but he guessed that Ashley was playing with her short hair.
"Look, I have to go. Workout and stuff," Alexander said breaking the silence between them.
"Yeah, sure. I'm over here at the Precinct. Doing some paperwork and… I… I just wanted to know if you were okay," Ashley said.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Alexander replied.
"See you at six then," Ashley said.
"Yeah… I guess," Alexander replied. Ashley stayed quiet again. She wanted to tell him something, but she didn't know if now was the right time, so she decided to hang up. The news was on and Alexander saw his friend Emma on the screen. He couldn't wait to see her and when he did he was glad to. He thought it was something new, but it was actually it was repeated footage.
"Here, Emma Mia Ricci, reporting from Crave City Courthouse. The verdict ladies and gentlemen of the Mancinni, aka Big Boss case has been Not Guilty, due to technicalities in the search warrant. What this means is that he isn't guilty because of mistakes done by the police in this case. His actions however are not even being considered in this case, so, I'm not saying that he's guilty, what I am saying is that he was found not guilty due to errors and not due to his highly, suspicious and illegal activities. Now, as you can see over there, the head detective of the case Alexander Hardy is being escorted back into the building. Guys, I know that the majority of the media will tell you that Hardy's behavior is erratic, but think for a minute, if you were the lead detective of this case and you had pretty hardcore evidence that Mancinni is in fact committing illegalities, but has been found not guilty, you too would be frustrated. This wasn't a typical case of any random criminal, this was a major case. Now you can say that the department may have been incompetent, but you can also say that the judge was clearly blind. This is what happens ladies and gentlemen in a corrupt city. Crave City is clearly rotten to the core, as we can see. So, this guy can get away with many of the crimes he's been doing, but somehow you go to a store and steal five panties on a rack and you're the one who serves seven years in jail. I'm not justifying theft, but this verdict in my opinion is atrocious. Will the department make some sort of appeal or re-open this case? Will they take it to the Supreme Court? Frankly, I doubt it. But let's keep our hope high and let's see what happens, for the sake of our city. This was Emma Mia Ricci, independent reporter, Crave Mash."
Alexander loved her reporting and he loved her eyes. Emma always smelled of Vanilla. She had a great sense of humor, the perfect smile and there was something about her thin nose that he really liked and her body was very well built. Her hair though never made sense to him. He assumed she dyed her hair. It kind of made her look older than her real age, but he wasn't complaining. Young or old, she was still amazing. He didn't want to tell Ashley about it because he didn't want to break her heart. He liked Ashley and she was kind of fun to be around, but Emma was something else. She was out of this world and the problem was that he wanted to leave Ashley, but he didn't know how to break it to her. Ashley was a good woman. He had known her for a while, but ever since he met Emma things were never the same.
Emma was feminine, independent and brave, not that Ashley wasn't those things, but Emma had to deal with her looks, competition and financial issues. Although Ashley was tough, Emma was tough, but in a sweet manner and she just didn't seem to be aware of how attractive she actually was. It frustrated him so much to see her comparing herself with those other reporters. She didn't say much, but the way she was constantly checking her hair and wearing her lipstick gave him the impression that she was actually kind of insecure about her looks. He appreciated that piece. It was nice of her to help him out with her footage like that, but something told him that it probably wasn't going to work. Especially since the channel didn't have the best ratings. Alexander turned off the T.V. and changed into sports clothes. He decided he was going to head to the gym and workout. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a few bottles of water.
"Hydration," he said to himself and placed them in his exercise pack. He walked out of the apartment and down the stairs. Everything here was nice, not luxurious, but it was way better than Ashley's apartment building. The neighbors here were also nice. As he reached the front entrance, a neighbor of his by the name of Benny said hi to him. He waved back and walked out a few streets until he reached the gym. It was a one floor building with a flat roof and it had a glass door. Alexander said hello to the receptionist, who was actually just one of the trainers with short pants and t-shirt. He was big and muscular, as you would expect a trainer to be.
"Hey," the receptionist said.
"Hey," Alexander replied and he went straight to the cardio area. First, he stretched and then he rode a treadmill. He started walking and then ended up running. After he was done, his heart beat extremely fast. He went straight to weight lifting machines. He worked on his biceps, shoulders and full arms. His breath was pretty good and he had some serious sweat over his brow and cheeks. Alexander felt the pain, but enjoyed it. His body was strong and muscular. He then went to the floor and worked on his abs. It took him like two and a half hours to work on himself. After he was done, he headed for the showers. There was no hot water, but it didn't matter. He wasn't going to shower under hot water anyway. The cool water ran down his body and he felt its cool relief.
After his shower, he went back home. Ate lunch, saw some T.V. and at five he began to prepare for that "public apology" he had to do. The simple idea of it bothered him. He dressed casual but elegantly. He wore a white, long-sleeved buttoned shirt and jeans, quite similar from his courtroom look. He brushed his hair as neatly as possible and grabbed the note. He walked out his apartment, got a cab and reached the precinct. Captain Frederick Hardy was there wearing a uniform that was meant for official occasions. At first, he was going to scold Alexander for wearing casual, but decided to restrain himself, but later he thought that maybe it was better to save face with the department.
"Hi. I'm glad you're here," the Captain said. He shook his nephew's hand.
"Yeah," was Alexander's response.
"Okay. Just practice your lines and we'll be live soon. All you have to do is read the statement and that's it. Don't take any questions. You read and then leave. If they have any questions, I'll deal with them or dispatch them if I have to," the Captain said. Alexander nodded.
"Go to my office and close the door. I'll call you when it's time," The Captain ordered. Alexander nodded again and followed his instructions. As he was on his way to the Captain's office, he saw Ashley. Ashley smiled and waved at him. He smirked and left into the office. He was just too sad and annoyed to smile. The apology was trash. Mancinni was a piece of shit and he should have had a guilty verdict.
Alexander sat down on the Captain's chair and started to read his lines. They were so pathetic.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a public statement and I won't be commenting any further after I have exposed it. I would like to say to Mr. Nefri Mancinni and his family that I am sorry. I would like to express my apologies for my behavior. My job requires certain morals and ethical behavior… morals? What the fuck is this shit? Who wrote this?" Alexander said annoyed. He was so angry that he punched his uncle's desk. Bang. Captain Frederick Hardy heard the noise and ran into his office.
"Alexander?" The Captain asked him.
"Morals? Morals? Who the fuck wrote this?" Alexander said annoyed. Frederick thought about it.
"You're right. Scratch that shit out," Frederick told him. Alexander was too angry to respond. He just did what his uncle said. Then he continued to read the letter out loud.
"I regret what I did and have taken responsibility for my actions. The Crave City Police Department has rightfully punished me for my atrocious behavior… Rightfully punished for amy atrocious behavior…" Alexander commented annoyed and he raised an eyebrow.
"Just read the shit and leave," Frederick said getting annoyed with his nephew.
"Yeah… Rightfully punished me for my atrocious behavior and I will not repeat it ever again. Statement issued," Alexander said.
"Exactly. You just read that and I'll handle the rest of the press and their questions. This covers our asses," the Captain said.
"Yeah…" Alexander said. He really just wanted to take that paper and throw it in the garbage, but he knew better. They had to save face and pretend this was real.
"Okay," Alexander replied. The Captain looked at his watch.
"It's time, come on," the Captain said. Alexander and his uncle walked and went to the first floor where they were going to issue the statement and deal with the press. Then, Alexander would just return home. He was a little nervous about the press conference, but once it started, the Captain spoke and then when it was his time to speak, he read the letter and not once did he look up to anyone, so he went from nervous to numb.
"Statement issued," he finished and the press went wild. The Captain called for some police officers to help him leave without being swarmed by the press. As he predicted, the press would crucify him with questions, but Alexander didn't stay for the circus. After that shitty experience, he tore the paper in pieces and tossed the pieces on the sidewalk. A black man with dreadlocks and a skull ring watched him walk away as he sat in a black Sudan. He was smoking a cigarette.