“Here Comes Trouble”

“Ross,” Abby said impatiently, a slight grin on her face, “have you even been listening to me?”

Alex looked up at her, his mouth full of the sandwich he’d been eating. “Huh?”

“That’s what I thought,” Abby chuckled, shaking her head.

“Sorry, doll,” he replied, swallowing his bit of food and wiping his mouth with a napkin. He sat back in his chair and grinned. “What was it you were saying?”

She let out a sigh. For the past month Abby had been trying her best to get Alex to agree on a house from the list of them they’d looked into so far. As much as she loved living with Alex she didn’t think she could take another day of living at Millie’s Boarding House. Not that she disliked the boarding house itself or the owners for that matter, it was just, well, cramped, for the two of them living in Alex’s small room there. Besides, if they were going to take their relationship to the next level then they really needed a place of their own to call home.

“I was saying,” Abby began then stopped mid-sentence, her eyes wide with surprise as she watched Kate Harbor walk into the diner with her baby. “O-M-G!”

“What?” Alex asked, quickly turning his head to see what had suddenly caught Abby’s attention. He grinned, “Well, lookie who’s fled the castle to spend some time with us lowly peasants.” He looked around, scanning the room for Kate’s husband, Sid. “Hmm… odd.”

“What?” Abby asked, trying not to stare as Kate made her way to a little booth near the back of the diner.

“She’s never - and I mean never – out in public anymore without that husband of hers in tow. Wonder what the scoop is there?” He reached into his pocket to pull out his notepad and pencil but Abby placed a hand on his and stopped him.

“Alex, really, do you always have to write down everything you see going on in this town?”

“Sorry, doll. Habit,” he said with a lopsided grin. “You know me, always on the job.” He took another bite of his sandwich, wondering to himself if it would be wrong of him to print something in the Tattler about his backer’s wife.

Just as he was about to stuff the notepad back into his pocket, he stopped, nearly choking on his food.

Abby reached over and began slapping him on the back, worriedly. “Are you alright? What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost!”

“This story just got a whole lot juicier,” he said, opening his notepad and jotting down a few lines.

Abby opened her mouth questioningly as she sat back down in her chair and turned to see what Alex was staring at. There, across the room, standing in front of Kate’s table was none other than Colin O’Brien.

“O-M-G!” Abby said again, shocked by this turn of events. “Here comes trouble! Alex, Go. Do. Something. Before that idiot gets himself killed!”

Alex grinned, shook his head, “Oh no, I ain’t getting involved in whatever that is. Not on your life, dollface.”