Part 4
 
As Alex's key unlocked the door, she pushed it in with her hip, stepping back out of the way to let Cassandra and Inky to enter first. Cassandra stopped after walking a few feet into the room. She turned to Alex and said, " This is a firehouse. You live in an old firehouse?" Alex closed the door and locked it and turned to face Cassandra. She spoke proudly, " Yup. The city was going to tear down this old historical site and I managed to get enough money together to buy it before it was torn down. There was a lot of red tape, but Bud helped me with it and it's all mine now. My Father and Bud worked out of here when they were first starting their careers. My brother and I spent a lot of our childhood here. It has sentimental memories for me." Cassandra just looked at Alex and nodded her head. So, Alex had feelings after all, Cassandra thought to herself….very interesting.
 
Alex helped Cassandra get out of her coat and hung it up in the downstairs closet. She cleared her throat and said, " Let me give you the grand tour and then I'll get us something to eat." Alex described each room to Cassandra as they walked through them.
 
The kitchen was big with a tiled black and white checked floor pattern. There was a refrigerator, stove, and microwave on one side of the wall. On the other side there was a kitchen double sink and window looking out on to a deck. Sliding glass doors allowed Alex to eat out there when the weather permitted. There was an arc shaped island in the middle of the room with a small stainless steel sink and lots of drawers underneath the island to store pots, pans and bowls. In the corner, there was a beautiful wooden china cabinet that held cups, glasses plates and bowls.
 
Off the kitchen there was a small bathroom with toilet, shower and sink. Alex used this to cleanup after she worked outside on her plants or her Ford Explorer.
 
Alex's office was next to the kitchen area. Her computer, scanner and printer were here. She had a fax/phone and copy machine on her desk. One whole wall had book shelves full of fire fighting related manuals, articles and documents. In the center of the book shelves was a television and VCR. Alex would watch the training tapes here. The opposite wall had Alex's various awards, accommodations and trophies. Framed pictures dotted the walls in between the objects on the walls. There were several pictures of Bud and Alex's Fathers at various award dinners, either getting the awards themselves, or handing them out to someone else deserving.
 
The living room was a large area that had a high ceiling. The usual furniture was in here, a couch, a love seat with two reclining chairs attached, a coffee table, lamps and on one side of the wall hung a huge tapestry. It was made of brightly colored cotton weave, and depicted a herd of buffalo. The soft earth colors were beautiful. An old side buffet chest of drawers was decorated on the top by many different buffalo figurines.
 
There was a large fish tank on another stand filled with tropical fish,. The aerator motor had a calming effect. The stairs off to the side of the living room lead to the rooms upstairs. Once you were up here on the balcony you could look out over the living room area. There was a huge fan in the center of the living room ceiling.
 
Alex's master bedroom was just off to the right of the top of the stairs. There was a huge queen sized bed with a large wooden headboard with a shelf and sturdy wood doors for storage. A beautiful Indian print bedspread covered the bed. The room was papered in light brown, tan, peach and mauve colors. There was a ceiling fan over top of the bed. There was a huge walk in closet on one wall and several bureaus dotted the room. There was a television and VCR on the stand across from the bottom of the bed.
 
A large bathroom was attached to the master bedroom. It was finished in light blue and mauve tile. In it there was the usual sink and toilet, and a large vanity with mirror across most of one side of the wall. A large tub and shower were arranged across from this wall. In the back of the tub/shower area, a small waist high wall partitioned off the large Jacuzzi from the tub and shower. Alex spent many nights in the Jacuzzi after a long fire or a particular hard day of training. Alex thought to herself that she would enjoy getting in there later after supper. Her side ached pretty bad, but she had to cover until she was alone and could really see what damage had been done.
 
The guest bedroom was fairly large also with it own bath complete with tub and shower. There were two large bureaus and a large walk in closet. This also had a television and VCR in it. The bed here was a double with a pretty sea green bedspread. The wall paper was a light blue and white pattern.
 
The room next to the guest room had exercise equipment in it. There was a stair stepper , tread mill, a weight lifting bench, a stationary bicycle and a couple other machines that would work out the upper body muscles and the lower body muscles. One wall had a mirror on it. This was were Alex did her Tae-Bo exercises that were the new rage from Billy Blanks.
 
There was another smaller room next to the gym room and that was another office and dark room. Alex liked to fool around with photography and she developed her own pictures here. Some of the pictures were department related, but most were for her own pleasure.
 
Through out the firehouse Cassandra had noticed beautiful sunsets, sunrises, assorted close-ups of flowers and landscapes in all the four seasons and pictures of what she assumed were Alex's family. Cassandra thought to herself that there really was more to Alex than what was on the surface. She would never have thought Alex could see such beauty in life, let alone take the pictures and develop them. That would mean she would have to stop and really take the time and look. After Cassandra's' first meeting with the crude, obnoxious and abrupt Alex, she really was surprised at Alex's sensitivity.
 
The tour was over and Alex told Cassandra to take the guest room and why didn't she take a nice hot bath? Alex had some old sweat pants and shirts of her brothers that would probably fit her height-wise. If she left her clothes outside the door, she'd pick them up and wash them for her. Alex excused herself to go downstairs to fix supper and would be back up in awhile to get the clothes.
 
Alex pulled the hamburger out of the refrigerator and put it in a bowl. She added eggs, spices , milk and bread crumbs. She made small balls and microwaved them until they were done. Alex pulled a large container of homemade sauce out of the freezer and nuked that to defrost it. She then added the meatballs to the sauce and put it on to simmer. Alex took the ingredients for a tossed salad out and made a big bowl full of salad. She would add the greek olives and feta cheese later when she put the dressing on. A loaf of french bread was cut in half lengthwise and Alex prepared that for garlic bread. The angel hair would only take a few minutes to cook after the water boiled.
 
Alex thought they could eat informally in the living room. She had a fairly large collection of movie videos or they could watch television or read. Alex set up two TV trays in front of the couch and placed their silverware and napkins on them. The coffee table would hold the food once it was ready. Alex put two wine glasses and a bottle of chilling white Zinfandel wine on the table. Alex then went upstairs to change and get Cassandra's clothes to wash.
 
Alex snapped the light on in her bathroom. She striped herself of her sweatshirt and her dress uniform. Well, the shirt was ruined. Blood stains never came out. Alex filled the sink with nice hot water and she'd just wash up for now. Before bed she'd take a nice hot bath and then soak in the Jacuzzi.
 
There was quite a bit of dried blood on Alex's chest where Inky had dug her claws in for dear life. Once Alex got the dried blood off of her , she could see the pattern of the four nails repeatedly on her chest. There were small bruise's where the nails had gone through the skin. Alex turned herself so she could get a better look in the mirror. There was a bad bruise forming on her side from her ribs down to the top of the hip bone. It was a dark red and purple color. It hurt to touch it and Alex thought her ribs were probably bruised as well. She finished washing up and put on her tank top, boxers, a pair of sweatpants and her slippers. Alex ran the brush through her hair and then walked over to Cassandra's room to pick up her clothes. The small pile of clothes laid out in the hall in front of the door. Alex put the clothes in to wash and went back downstairs to finish cooking supper.
 
Alex was just draining the angel hair when Cassandra and Inky appeared in the kitchen. Cassandra looked tired but beautiful. Her long black hair hung loose around her face and she had on one of Alexs' brothers old white oxford shirts. She didn't have it tucked in to her maroon sweat pants and she had rolled up the long sleeves to the elbows and the first three buttons were undone on it down the neck line. Alex didn't realize she was staring at Cassandra until her green eyes meet those deep blue ones and Cassandra had raised her left eyebrow in question.
 
Alex shook her head and mumbled something about getting a bowl. Alex's face was flushed as she turned away. What was wrong with her? Why was she getting all hot and bothered by Cassandra and her long black hair, blue eyes and white shirt? Alex had to admit she was a good looking package, but certainly not her type! She had to remind herself that this was forced on her. Cassandra and her newspaper articles were forced on her and she resented it. Yeah, that's what she had to remember, not how good those three top buttons looked unbuttoned….
 
Cassandra smiled to herself as Alex turned away to get the bowl. She had noticed the blush on Alex's face and neck before she turned away from her. My, my, my. Was Alex the human cement block of personality and feelings embarrassed about something? She found it hard to believe Alex would be embarrassed about anything. Why was she staring at her? Was she trying to pick her up? She could save that for Ms. Mackenzie McGuire. She saw how Mac had looked and flirted at Alex at the meeting. Why was she getting so upset about that? She didn't care what the two of them did. It was none of her business.
 
Alex put the angel hair into the bowl and loaded up a tray with it and the sauce and meatballs. Cassandra followed her into the living room with the salad and garlic bread. They fixed their plates and Alex poured them both a glass of wine. They ate in relative silence watching the local news broadcast and there was film of the fire at Cassandra's apartment building.
 
After they had finished eating, Cassandra told Alex she was tired and would like to retire for the night. Did she mind? She appreciated her generosity at letting her stay there with her for the night. Alex responded that she didn't mind and she was gonna turn in early herself, after she'd put the food away.
 
Continued in Part 5